By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 1/5/2016
Please note the "FIGHT!" title is a joke—Tony is a wonderful human being, and we're just having a good old fashioned argument, like friends do. But this is the internet and we must ratchet up the appearance of conflict so.... Read the rest of this post
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 7/21/2015
“Dogs and cats, living together!” – that’s what immediately popped into my mind yesterday when I read Tony Isabella praising DC on Facebook for how it was treating him in regard to Black Lightning.I’ve never seen the original contract between DC and Isabella in regard to Black Lightning so I have nothing to say of substance in regard to the property’s legal status, but as anyone who has followed Tony’s online writing over the years can tell you, Isabella’s statements about DC’s treatment of him and his landmark creation have not exactly been complimentary. That changed, however, yesterday, when Isabella called attention to an Amazon listing of the April 2016 release of Black Lightning, volume 1, the first of what could be a series of collections featuring DC’s first African-American superhero to star in an an eponymous book.
According to Isabella, the rapprochement is the result of outreach by Dan Didio and Geoff Johns, and Isabella is confident that DC will treat him fairly in regard to the payment of royalties. He also raised the possibility of doing more work for DC given sufficient reader demand; the prospect of Isabella working with, say, the creators of the revived Milestone line on a multi-generational crossover is particularly intriguing, given certain thematic resonances with Milestone’s nuanced reflections on creative identity.
To say that Isabella’s announcement is the most unexpected Facebook post of the year is an understatement — it’s one of the most dramatic turnarounds I’ve seen in decades of reading about comics-related disputes, and kudos to all involved for bringing about what I hope will be a truly lasting peace in our time.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 12/18/2012
The big day is finally here! Ladies and gentlemen of The Beat, gather your young ones and race onto the street. Proclaim for all to hear, TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL DARKSTAR DAY, AND I FEEL GREAT!!!!
On this day we share the joy of Darkstar, Marvel’s least celebrated yet best superhero. Now you’ve returned back to your computer fresh from the street, lungs aching from the stress and feet covered in dirt (you could’ve at least put some shoes on, y’know – but I admire your impatience), let us bask in some of the art sent to me by a bevy of lovely artists!
First up is Isaac Leiro, whose work you can find every week at Stardark City. He offered both black/white and coloured versions of her, and I simply couldn’t choose between them. So I include both!
Up next is the work of Dr Sonic, who cuts characters into shape via construction paper and a rather sharp knife. Find him at http://docgold16.tumblr.com!
He appears on DeviantArt only as MohoFrappe, and his Darkstar could not be any more lovely! Look how she swishes!
Zhaxra offers a redesign (and new haircut) for Laynia Petrovna with his piece here, and you can find more of his art over at his DeviantArt page!
Brilliant ol’ Rance Sims also offers a smart new redesign for the character, which captures ALL her class! He is on DeviantArt too!
Finally…. oh dear, Isaac Leiro’s shown up again. And this time… well.
Folks, International Darkstar Day is also my birthday. Can you even believe just how self-indulgent this entire post has been? I certainly can! But at least we all got some lush and tidy artwork out of it, can you not agree? What a great day this is. Three cheers for Darkstar! And hey — not forgetting…
EDIT!! More Darkstar has just arrived, from Studio YOLO’s Christa Cassano! If you look out the window right now, you’ll be able to see a small trail of sparks flying up out of sight, because MY HEAD JUST EXPLODED!
A Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday to all, and to all… A HAPPY INTERNATIONAL DARKSTAR DAY!
“Basically, there are very few comics elitists left.”
I’m one!
Perhaps they should change the title. Also, you have a really glaring typo in your headline.
I love Heidi, but I did once see her kill a man just to watch him die. Whereas I have never take a life. Just saying..
A classic comix fight: each of us with our eyes closed and heads back and slapping rapidly at each other…
It’s more a respectful debate, than a “fight.” I like Tony and I’ve read his columns for years, all the way back to the old Buyer’s Guide in the Eighties. He’s always been one of the mainstreamy guys most open to new types of comics, and I’m not saying that because he just gave a glowing review to my new book, Trashed, or lauded me here in his BAC takedown. I just think he missed the mark. BAC is certainly fair game for criticism, that’s not the point, I just think but the vehemence of his rant was a bit much. I know and respect quite a few of the creators in this year’s BAC, so I raised my hand and made my case.
I dunno, if you look at that table of contents, you’ll see that Lethem and BAC this year were looking exclusively at solo creators, whereas just about everything done not just by DC and Marvel, but also Image, Dark Horse, Boom! and IDW are done by writer/artist teams. So, no “Bitch Planet,” no “Saga,” no “March,” no “Lumberjanes.” If you don’t view comics as a collaborative artform, you’re going to miss a lot of the “best” work.done in any given year.
Derf has a press persona and his usual one. He’s the same guy who has outbursts at shows because other, better guests, have a schedule to keep even though he’s had a good two years since the French have made him a darling. But he thrives on whining and has the attitude of a bitter suburban teenager wearing a heavy metal shirt. Derf is the sort of guy who probably went to the Mall when he was younger, just so he could stand against the wall and mock and criticize the passerby.
Isabella is a marginal talent whose blog entries far outweigh his actual comic scripts in terms of accessibility and entertainment. Perhaps this is because he has more of a chance to insert himself into the narrative. Poor Tony. Without his life-defining struggle against DC to elicit his passive-aggressive and whiny remarks, he seems to be without purpose.