How to use this Page

Marvel Now! was always going to claim some victims before relaunching, and now it’s made revealed (through that most sneaky of revealers, the solicitations listing) that nine of their current books will die in order for Marvel Now! to live.

Those nine titles are: Captain America, Fantastic Four, FF, Incredible Hulk, Invincible Iron Man, New Mutants, The Mighty Thor, Uncanny X-Men and X-Men Legacy.

This isn’t completely surprising in every case, because Brian Michael Bendis already said that Uncanny would end and several of the other books were winding up long-standing runs with big name creators. Matt Fraction was already set to leave Invincible Iron Man, while Jonathan Hickman and Ed Brubaker were both already known to be leaving the Fantastic Four titles and Captain America, respectively.

What does this mean for the characters? Well, Captain America, Thor and X-Men Legacy’s Rogue are all in a team together anyway, while Iron Man will surely find a place in one of the Avengers titles. But what of the Fantastic Four? They’ve completely dropped off the map, apparently, and the World’s Greatest Superhero Family look set to pack up their bags for a one-way trip to the one place they’ve never been before: comic-book limbo.

It’s interesting to note that most of these books were handled by the ‘Architects’ of Marvel, and that some low-selling titles like the beloved Journey Into Mystery have survived this new purge. Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man also escapes the destruction, so that much-teased ‘big change’ in issue #700 isn’t going to see the book cancelled, thankfully.

Three X-Men books are chopped, including flagship Uncanny X-Men. Which is a massive surprise, because most were predicting that the pointless titles – adjectiveless X-Men and Astonishing X-Men – would be the two to go. New Mutants was expected to go, and does. But it’s still surprising to see just how big a change Marvel seem to be making. What new books are going to replace these ones, which surely were the backbone of the Marvel Universe?

Author, director and screenwriter Nora Ephron has passed away. She was 71 years old. She created such memorable films as When Harry Met Sally…, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail and Julie & Julia.

Ephron had written a number of books, including Crazy Salad, I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman and I Remember Nothing: And other Reflections. In the video embedded above, she talked about her writing on The View.  Here’s more from The New York Times:

Ms. Ephron’s collection I Remember Nothing concludes with two lists, one of things she says she won’t miss and one of things she will. Among the “won’t miss” items are dry skin, Clarence Thomas, the sound of the vacuum cleaner, and panels on “Women in Film.” The other list, of the things she will miss, begins with “my kids” and “Nick” and ends this way: “Taking a bath. Coming over the bridge to Manhattan. Pie.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Artist and author LeRoy Neiman has passed away. He was 91-years-old.

Neiman published 15 books over the course of his life. Earlier this month, he released his memoir, All Told: My Art and Life Among Athletes, Playboys, Bunnies, and Provocateurs. The artist was best known for his vibrant paintings of athletes. You can explore his work at this link. Here’s more from his official obituary:

It all began at the age of ten, on his grade school playground of St. Vincent’s in Duluth, when he began plying his trade as a tattoo artist to his classmates, until the practice was squelched by his teachers.  But the fire had been ignited, and pursuing his innate talent became both an escape from his Depression surroundings, and an entrée into the world at large.  His insatiable curiosity and passion for living, lead to a life that lead to developing Playboy with long-time friend, Hugh Hefner, becoming artist-in-residence at every major sporting event of the past century, establishing friendships with Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra and a panoply of celebrities. His iconic images of Ali and Sinatra, the Playboy Femlin, jazz musicians, U.S. presidents, Olympic athletes, Los Vegas gamblers, the animals of Africa, and the world’s most elegant restaurants and watering holes will endure well beyond his passing.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Author Erica Kennedy has passed away. She was 42-years-old.

Kennedy wrote the novel Bling and designed the cover herself. She started writing as a special correspondent for the New York Daily News, and her work was published in Vibe, In Style, Paper and Elle UK. Over at xoJane, author Bassey Ikpi wrote a heartfelt tribute to the author:

Her ability to tap into your fear and then allow you no excuses to shy from doing “it” (whatever “it” was) was a gift. She was a visionary. She was revolutionary in the way she approached life and work and friendships and networking. Erica and I would have long conversations about everything under the sun. We would laugh until our sides hurt and then with one word she would have my heart aching so furiously that I wouldn’t be able to see the sun if it asked for me. Then out of nowhere — just a quick turn of phrase — and I’d be back to laughter.

 

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

.

The Los Angeles Times has reported on the passing of Ray Bradbury.  He leaves behind 11 novels, over 400 novelettes and short stories, at least 45 collections, numerous dramatizations, and various work.  Wikipedia has an incomplete bibliography, and the Grand Comics Database lists the various comics adaptations.

Among his many accomplishments:

• Two awards named for him (The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, bestowed by the Science Fiction Writers of America for screenwriting (recently won by Neil Gaiman; The Ray Bradbury Creativity Award, administered by Woodbury University, which bestowed upon him an honorary doctorate in 2003.)
• An impact crater on the Moon, named “Dandelion Crater” by Apollo 15 astronauts.
• An asteroid, 9766 Bradbury.
• An Emmy Award for “The Halloween Tree“.
• The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, awarded in 2000 from the National Book Foundation.
• The National Medal of Arts
• From his peers: the World Fantasy Award for life achievement, Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association  for life achievement, Science Fiction Writers Association  Grand Master, SF Hall of Fame Living Inductee, First Fandom Award, and Science Fiction Poetry Association Grandmaster.
• In 2007, a special citation from the Pulitzer Board, “for his distinguished, prolific and deeply influential career as an unmatched author of science fiction and fantasy.”  (John Coltrane was also so recognized.)
• A starship (and starship class) on Star Trek.

However, his greatest honor will probably be the Butterfly Effect, originally presented in his seminal 1952 short story, “A Sound of Thunder”, first published in Colliers.  The idea: a small deviation (for example: .506 instead of .506127) can create a far-reaching rippl

The great science fiction writer Ray Bradbury has passed away. He was 91-years-old. io9 broke the sad news this morning.

His 30 books included The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes and I Sing the Body Electric!, Quicker Than the Eye, and Driving Blind. His unforgettable body of work included nearly 600 short stories, earning a spot in more than 1,000 school anthologies.

Share your Bradbury memories in the comments section. In a Paris Review interview, the writer shared this thought: “I discovered me in the library. I went to find me in the library. Before I fell in love with libraries, I was just a six-year-old boy. The library fueled all of my curiosities, from dinosaurs to ancient Egypt. When I graduated from high school in 1938, I began going to the library three nights a week. I did this every week for almost ten years and finally, in 1947, around the time I got married, I figured I was done. So I graduated from the library when I was twenty-seven. I discovered that the library is the real school. ”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Leo Dillon has passed away. Over a career that spanned five decades, the formidable illustrator, along with his collaborator and wife Diane, won numerous awards, including two Caldecott Medals (Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, 1976 and Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, 1977), a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and several Coretta Scott King Honors.

Editor Phyllis J. Fogelman shares her thoughts about the Dillons in a 1976 piece in The Horn Book Magazine.

In this entertaining article from a 1977 issue of The Horn Book Magazine, Leo and Diane pay tribute to each other — and son Lee talks about them both.

The Dillons in 1977. Photograph by Kenneth M. Bernstein.

The Dillons at the Eric Carle Museum in 2008. Photo by Deborah Hallen.

Ellen Levine, award-winning children’s author and tireless advocate for social justice, has passed away. Here are some Horn Book reviews of her most influential works.

Jean Craighead George

Washington Post obituary

The Filipino comics world has lost another giant with the passing of Ernie Chan at age 71. Chan, originally known as Ernie Chua, was another one of that generation of artists who could and did draw anything, but he got has start doing covers for DC before going to the mystery/barbarian genre which made such good use of the heavily illustrative Pinoy style. Chan also had a long run as a definitive inker for John Buscema on Conan. This is a page that Chan only inked but there’s a lot of his embellishment in the image.

Chan was a fixture of the earliest comic-cons of my youth; he’d always be sitting there in his cap, sketching away in Artist Alley with his wife at his side. I was too shy to get to know him, but the remembrances of a fun, gentle man are coming in.

Gerry Alanguilan continues the month’s sad remembrances: :

I am saddened to hear of Mang Ernie’s passing. I heard from Tina DeZuniga that Ernie had been feeling sick during that convention, and he found out he had cancer soon afterwards. It’s sad to lose one, but it’s truly crushing to lose so many in such a short amount of time.
But Mang Ernie lived a full life. He had accomplished a lot. There was a point in time that he was one of the hottest artists working comics. DC wouldn’t give you the honor of drawing so many cover on their mainstream titles if you weren’t so well regarded. He deserves to be remembered and recognized as someone who contributed positively to the image of Filipinos and their talents worldwide.

I am saddened to hear of Mang Ernie’s passing. I heard from Tina DeZuniga that Ernie had been feeling sick during that convention, and he found out he had cancer soon afterwards. It’s sad to lose one, but it’s truly crushing to lose so many in such a short amount of time.

Jean Craighead George

School Library Journal obituary...

Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes has passed away. Mexican president Felipe Calderon shared the sad news on Twitter.

The great author had won the Miguel de Cervantes Prize and the Latin Literary Prize. In July, Dalkey Archive Press will publish his novel, Vlad. They also published his books Terra Nostra, Where the Air Is Clear, and Distant Relations. Here is an excerpt from his novel, Inez:

“We shall have nothing to say in regard to our own death.”

For a long time this sentence had been going around and around in the aged maestro’s head. He did not dare write it down. He was afraid that consigning it to paper would make it real, with fateful consequences. He would have nothing more to say after that: the dead man does not know what death is, but neither do the living. For that reason the sentence that haunted him like a verbal ghost was both sufficient and insufficient. It said everything, but at the price of never saying anything again.

(Image via)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Tony DeZuniga, co-creator of Jonah Hex and The Black Orchid, has passed away at age 71. He suffered a stroke in April and had been battling a series of health problems since then. DeZuniga was a seminal figure in the “Filipino Invasion” of the ’70s and ’80s which saw artists like Nestor Redondo, Alex Nino, and Alfredo Alcala entering the US market. He helped introduce many of the artists to US editors and then served as an agent for several years. Like most of the artists in this wave, DeZuniga was an impeccable draftsman who could draw just about anything. He’s best remembered for his contributions to the barbarians and Westerns of the day, but he also drew romance, adventure, superhero, horror….like we said, he could draw anything.
Mark Evanier offers some history:

Tony entered the flourishing comic book industry in The Philippines in 1957, working as a letterer to finance his college education at the University of Santa Tomas. Despite warnings that a Filipino artist could not crack the American marketplace, Tony came here several times to try and do so and in 1970 secured work at DC, inking other artists at first, then doing complete art. His style was unique, at least to American comic books, and exciting for its blend of realism and energy.

Artist Gerry Alanguilan offers his own tribute:

On a personal level, I found Mang Tony’s presence at conventions gave me a sense of security. He was a rock. An anchor. A steady presence I knew I could count on. He was there every time without fail. I knew that if I went to a comics convention, he would be there. And that was comforting to me. He was, and still is a huge inspiration. I’m not exactly a very young man anymore, but whenever I think of Mang Tony, who was still active and still pushing his artistic boundaries well into his 70′s, it was terribly, terribly inspiring. I wish I could be as active and creative when I reach his age.

Tony, always a smile and a hug…always interested and focused …always an inspiration. He had a style that was all his own.

— Jimmy Palmiotti (@jpalmiotti) May 11, 2012

Here’s a video int

Writing about the death of Maurice Sendak, the New York Times reported that My Brother’s Book will be posthumously published next February: “a poem written and illustrated by Mr. Sendak and inspired by his love for his late brother, Jack.”

The brothers forged an early partnership as writers. Jack Sendak died in 1995 and published six kid’s books (including Circus Girl and The Happy Rain with illustrations by Maurice). His HarperCollins biography explored their relationship:

Jack Sendak was born in 1924 in Brooklyn, New York. He began writing at a very early age, working with his brother, Maurice, writing and illustrating their own story books. Sendak often credited his father for his love of books, citing inspiration from nightly bedtime reading. Reviewers have called Jack Sendak’s books humorous, magical, and mysterious. Having served in the US Army during World War II, Jack Sendak went on to work for Emerson Radio and Television, as well as the US Postal Service.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Read the whole thing at Blown Covers.

Novelist Harry Crews has passed away. Above, we’ve embedded a YouTube video of the author talking to Dennis Miller about his time in the military, his E.E. Cummings-inspired tattoo and his Scar Lover novel.

He wrote many novels, including The Gospel Singer and A Feast of Snakes, but he also produced an extensive body of nonfiction work. You can explore the novelist’s prolific career at the Henry Crews Bibliography. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Vice Magazine about his work as a writing teacher:

“Well, thank God the University of Florida gave me this deal that every writer needs. I worked with 10 or 12 graduate students a year. They were just young people who thought they wanted to be fiction writers. By and large, they fell in love with the idea of being a fiction writer and then they were introduced to the slave labor of it and they pretty soon decided, “No, I don’t want to do this.” … If you’re going to write a book, you don’t know what you’re looking at. You have to disabuse them of all these ideas they have that they are sure are right but which are almost exclusively, always, all of them, wrong.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Famed kitsch painter Thomas Kinkade, who claimed to be the most collected artist in the world, has died at the sadly young age of 54. Like anyone who was rich and famous, he had a controversial side: gallery owners accused him of unfair business practices and he was known to like a tot or two.

Fire up your backlit monitor and let’s all pay tribute to a one-of-a-kind artist.

Over the weekend, Cory Marder passed away after a long illness. The wife of Beanworld creator Larry Marder, Cory was best known to a small group in the industry, but loved by everyone she touched. Charles Brownstein has a beautiful tribute here that says everything. My heart goes out to Larry on this irreplaceable loss.

I adore this picture.  Look at her, out in Africa, in the presence of the elephants she so dearly loved, the breeze tousling her hair and unbridled happiness flowing from her smile.   This lady personified optimism, and had the disposition of the sun — bright, cheerful, warm, kind, funny, nourishing and filled with delight.  If you didn’t smile around Cory then it was a clear indication that you were in need of the sort of psychological care that only a specialist can provide.  If you didn’t love Cory, then your capacity to love was broken.

Leila Berg

Guardian obituary... with apologies for delay in posting this link

Leila Berg

Telgraph obituary...

RIP Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak, “widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century,” as the Times put it, has died at age 83 following complications from a stroke.

It was, of course, Where the Wild Things Are that cemented Sendak’s place as the minstrel of the wild and forbidden adventures on the path to adulthood. In the Night Kitchen was another journey into a dangerous dark world, this time illustrated with a tiny, sexless penis which caused librarians of the day to paint diapers with white-out. Last year’s Bumble-Ardy was his first children’s book in 30 years, and equally dark.

Sendak’s works were adapted into film and opera and anything else you could think of. He was a lifelong comics fan—he contributed to Mouly and Spiegelman’s Little Lit series—whose work, while labeled a “picture book” and therefore acceptable, used words and pictures just as deftly as any cartoonist.

In his later years, Sendak left behind some memorable interviews, such as this one from NPR, and these from The Colbert Report.