What have we been doing at TwoMorrows HQ these last few weeks, while this blog has remained largely silent? One of the things going on has been gearing up for the launch of our new magazine, BrickJournal! It’s the ultimate resource for Lego enthusiasts of all ages, and is produced with assistance from the corporate LEGO Group headquarters in Denmark. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s edited by my old pal Joe Meno, and spotlights all aspects of the LEGO Community, much the way our currrent mags cover the art and history behind comic books.

Joe’s been producing BJ for several years, but only in digital form (much like the new PDF versions of our other mags). The first eight issues have averaged over 100,000 downloads each, so there’s a really strong, vital Lego community that’s embraced the mag already. Now we’ll be branching it out into a print edition as well, starting with a new issue #1 (Volume 2) shipping in February 2008. In the meantime, the new issue (#9) is available as a FREE digital edition by clicking the link above, or here. So click away, and if you like what you see, consider subscribing, and getting the first 8 digital editions!

So, why would TwoMorrows opt for a magazine about LEGO, when our core audience is interested in comics? Well, anyone who’s been to Comicon International: San Diego in recent years undoubtedly saw the LEGO Group’s massive booth and display (with the life-size Batman statue shown above). As in the past, this year’s con saw large crowds engulfing that booth, proving there’s a fair amount of crossover between Lego and comics fans. I see the two audiences as very compatible, if not joined at the hip. LEGO enthusiasts are just as rabid about their hobby as comics fans are about theirs, and if each audience exposes the other to their interests, it’s bound to impact both in a positive way.
Besides, LEGO is something I grew up with (and my two daughters are currently as well), just like comics. You had LEGO bricks at your house, and you know you loved them. Just like with comics, I suspect our readers will be amazed when they see what adults are doing with them.

You can find out more about the past, present, and future of BrickJournal and the Lego community at www.brickjournal.com

If you saw Image Comics’ recent hardcover Silver Star volume (collecting all six Kirby issues), you know what a nice job they did representing Jack’s work. I’d been able to send them crisp black-and-white copies of almost all the original art, and the book turned our really beautifully, with great new coloring to make it well worth the cover price.

However, we don’t have nearly as clean art for Captain Victory, and though we sent Image what we had, there’s a lot missing that would have to be rescanned from the printed comics. Since this is a once-in-a-liftime chance to re-present Captain Victory, Image has decided to cancel orders on their upcoming CAPTAIN VICTORY hardcover and resolicit for early 2008. In the meantime, Image is putting out a call to all art collectors who are in possession of Kirby’s original Captain Victory pages. Anyone with access to original CAPTAIN VICTORY artwork is encouraged to e-mail Image Comics via info@imagecomics.com.

If you’ve got good repros or originals of CV, send ’em in, so this volume can be as good as it can be!

If you enjoyed the digital editions of our magazines we offered back on Free Comic Book Day in May, you’ll be glad to know you can now purchase our latest mags as digital editions for only $2.95 ($3.95 for the oversized Jack Kirby Collector)—less than half the price of the print editions! These PDF versions are in FULL-COLOR, and contain the full content of the printed issues, at excellent resolution for viewing on screen and zooming in. Currently available are:

Alter Ego #70, 71, and 72 (with #73 going up within a week)
Back Issue #23 and 24
Draw #14
Rough Stuff #5 and #6
Write Now #16
Jack Kirby Collector #49

These digital editions are posted weeks before the printed issues hit stores. And if you’re a subscriber to the print edition, you’ll automatically get the digital edition FREE to view while you’re waiting for your printed copy to arrive in the mail! (Just make sure we have your correct email address on file, so we can send you the private link for your freebie.)

We’re trying this as a test through the end of 2007, to gauge response. If enough people are interested in getting digital editions, we’ll work on adding all our older (and out of print) issues as digital versions as well next year.

So log in to www.twomorrows.com today and hit the “Digital Editions” category in the upper lefthand of our home page to see what’s new!

…Jack Kirby Collector #49, I mean. Thanks for everyone’s patience at this blog (and those sending emails to me), while I was working away to get the issue finished. It’s at the printer now (with quite possibly the most gorgeous cover we’ve ever run), and should be shipping in two weeks. Now, to get caught up on all the emails that have piled up…

Check out last week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine (Aug. 31st issue, with the “Summer of Scandal” cover feature). Each issue, on the letter’s page up front, they have a feature called “Obsessive Fan Of The Week!”. Our own Benjamin Holcomb, author/designer of our upcoming book Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys! is said whacko fan this time out; a honor he earned, based on the amount of effort he put into this book.

We got the printer’s proofs yesterday, and it’s huge, gorgeous, full-color-on-every-page hardcover, and crammed over capacity with Mego goodness. If you, like me, had a couple of the Mego “action figures” as a kid (sorry, we called them “superhero dolls”), you’ll be amazed at the intricate depth of detail Benjamin covers on every figure. And if you’re a Mego collector, this is an invaluable reference tool, showcasing every freakin’ variation of the figures’ arms, legs, heads, boxes, costumes, accessories… I could go on and on. It’s just so amazing that one guy could put together something this exhaustive, particularly with covering the history of this long-defunct company.
The book’s being printed now overseas, which takes a lot longer to get shipped back to the US than many of our other books, but it should be out in early November, just in time for the holidays. I think it’d make an awesome gift for anyone with even a passing interest in Megos. I know if I weren’t publishing it, I’d be tickled if Pam had it under our Christmas tree for me.

Yep, I’m finally wrapping up issue #49 of The Jack Kirby Collector this weekend, so it’ll be going to press next week, and shipping three weeks after. Really meaty issue this time (as if any Kirby issue isn’t, right?). But boy, finding time to put my own mag together is getting harder and harder these days. Still lots of fun, though; I never get tired of seeing Kirby art, and learning more about the guy.

I got a copy of the second Fourth World Omnibus from DC Comics yesterday; I sent them a bunch of Kirby pencil scans to run, and man, they ran them all! It’s another gorgeous volume, although some people complained about the paper they’re using. My first reaction was the same as others: “Man, why’d they print this hardbound, full-color book on crummy newsprint?” But upon looking more closely, I saw what the designer had in mind; he/she chose a really nice paper that just LOOKS like crummy newsprint. It actually prints lots, lots better than newsprint, and looks 10x better than the original comics, or the 1980s color reprints. I highly recommend it; Mark Evanier’s afterword is really a fun read.

Here’s a link to Newsarama’s review of Image Comics: The Road To Independence.

Really nice op-ed piece on Jack Kirby in yesterday’s New York Times. Check it out!

Yep, just completed our first week of kindergarten for our eldest daughter Lily (5 at the time, but just turned 6 yesterday). That first day (and some the rest of the week), there was a lot of sobbing and tears over the start of “real” school, as opposed to preschool. No, Lily did just fine (in fact, she frankly loves her new digs); it was mom Pam who was weeping and gnashing. At this school, you just let your child off at the front of the school, while one of the sixth grade boys escorts them in, and helps them find their classroom, which didn’t sit too well with mommy, whose been hand-escorting her into her classroom for the last 3 years. (Gotta admit, the sight of my little girl walking off, hand-in-hand with an older man didn’t exactly thrill me either…)

But, we all got through it, and it’s actually one of the coolest schools we’ve ever encountered, with a lot of parent volunteers helping out (including Pam and me, who’ll soon be doing our part in the school cafeteria a couple of times each month). Pam’s already been recruited to design logos and brochures for the booster club as well, and as several people who have kids there have told us, our involvement with school activities is apparently only beginning.

Next up: carpooling. I’ve got an ample supply of Kleenex ready.

Spent close to an hour talking to George Khoury today, who just got back from handling our booth at Wizard World Chicago for us. From what George says, it was definitely one of the slower Chicago shows of recent years. Since Wizard continually insists on having theirs right after Comicon, it’s no wonder WW seems to be shrinking a bit rather than growing.

Wizard needs to face facts; they are not going to compete with Comicon. It’s the mag-daddy of all conventions (at least in the US), and it just keeps growing every year. We always take an extra week after Comicon to vacation in California (hey, I’m not likely to get on a plane to CA more than once a year, so I’ve gotta take advantage of my time there). This year, Wizard World was less than two weeks after the close of Comicon. This made it incredibly difficult for us to get our books shipped to Chicago in time; we got back to NC late Saturday night, so then had to 3-day Express ($$$!) our stuff on Monday to make the Thursday “Preview Night” at Wizard World. (Preview Night at Wizard World was apparently pretty sparsely attended as well this year, whereas at Comicon, it rivaled Saturday for the biggest crowd.) And frankly, if George hadn’t been able to do the Chicago show, we’d have had to skip it; two big conventions that close together (during our busy summer work period) is too much for me.

Next year, Wizard’s trying to have their con BEFORE Comicon; so at least we’ll have a couple of weeks off before heading to San Diego. But what does Wizard do? They schedule it the weekend AFTER Heroes Con (a perennial favorite of TwoMorrows; Shelton Drum knows how to put on a great, fun convention). Remember last year when Wizard decided to have their first-ever Atlanta Con the SAME weekend as Heroes Con? So many pros boycotted the Wizard show (out of respect for Shelton) that they ended up canceling it.

Why they feel the need to go up against other cons is beyond me; it just ends up hurting their own show. There are plenty of weeks from May-August to choose from, without causing everyone to get burned-out by too many, close together. And as great a city as Chicago is, Rosemont (where the con is held) just isn’t the kind of vacation destination that San Diego and Southern California are.
The New York Comicon is rapidly becoming the new “must-see” con, and next year’s move to April should insure even better attendence than their successful ’07 con (and considering NY is charging MORE than Comicon for their booths—while Comicon has at least 4x the number of attendees at NY—they better bring in more people!). I won’t be surprised to see NY blow right past any of Wizard’s shows in popularity, to become the new #2 show. We’ll be in New York in April ’08, and we’ll be in Charlotte for Heroes Con in June. But at this point, I can’t say for sure we’ll be in Chicago the following week. And I know we won’t be at any of the other Wizard shows. Chicago’s by far their best attended one, and when you factor in airfare, booth rental, hotels, and shipping costs, the others don’t make sense, at least for us.

But we’ll be back at Comicon July 23-27, 2008. It’s the one “can’t miss” event for us.
One other way Comicon’s got it all over Wizard; they use a seniority system to determine your booth placement. The more years you’ve been exhibiting, the better your booth location. That’s why we’ve got such good visibility at Comicon. And Wizard? Once again, they stuck us in the back, facing the loading docks, despite our having exhibited at Chicago (and some of their other cons) numerous times over the years. No, our booth isn’t as flashy as Wizard’s own booth, or their pro wrestling/fighting/martial arts/whateveritis stuff, but we’ve been a pretty loyal customer for a lot of years. I wish that had some bearing on things, but for us anyway, it doesn’t.