Written by Shaun Daniels and Edited by Sharon Wong
San Diego Comic Con has once again come and gone, and hopefully your convention hangover is gone as well. If you attended the Con and barely remember it (blame it on the jam-packed schedule or was it the numerous after parties?) or like many of us you couldn’t go, we’re here to deliver the news that caught our eye. For the most part, there wasn’t one major news story, not to downplay any of the announcements, but SDCC 2011 was more about catching up with old friends (like Buffy’s Sarah Michelle Gellar in the CW’s Ringer) and as usual, seeing what’s coming up in 2012.
Fantagraphics Books Acquires Licence to Reprint EC Comics!! With a company of the caliber of Fantagraphics, there is no doubt these classic comics are in good hands. The licence for EC is not limited to just horror books but the entire catalogue, including Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear, Crime SuspenStories, Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Two-Fisted Tales and Frontline Combat. As of this article, no timeline or release schedule has been announced.
Marvel Takes the Day and Date Digital Plunge. Don’t be mistaken…Marvel is not taking the full plunge in the day and date digital pool but it is expected that the Spiderman and X-Men lines will be day and date digital by years end. This initiative starts next week with Amazing Spiderman 666 and the following issue which is the first of the much-talked about Spider Island story, written by Dan Slott with art by Humberto Ramos. The X-Men family will go day and date in October with the launch of Wolverine and the X-Men and the relaunch of Uncanny X-Men. The price point has not been talked about as of yet.
Disney Goes Boom! Or At Least Goes Away from Boom! Studios. Starting in the fall, the remaining Disney properties at Boom! Studios will be pulled from the publishers catalog. Yes, this isn’t horror news but it is horrible. The titles being published at Boom were in the great hands of Ian Brill and Warren Spector, just to name a few. Marvel has not announced their plans to publish Darkwing Duck, Ducktales or Chip ‘n Dales Rescue Rangers. As for other Disney properties, Marvel is publishing a Cars magazine format which was previously a top-selling Boom Studios! book, so at least there is some hope.
Marc Silvestri Returns to Marvel Again. Marc Silvestri makes his return to the company where he made a name for himself. With the current series set to wrap this August, he will be joining writer Jason Aaron as the two relaunch the book. This stint for Silvestri will last about six issues with nothing being said about future issues. The last time he worked on a Marvel title, it was Grant Morrison’s last arc on New X-Men, which was a four issue run. Silvestri has been plagued with lateness in the past but it seems he has some breathing room for this series. Overall it sounds like fun with Aaron writing and Silvestri drawing.  One word… HULK SMASH!
Spike to Go Digital and Other Whedon stuff! At a Darkhorse panel, Joss Whedon and Darkhorse editor Scott Allie announced there is going to be a digital only release by the uber-talanted Jane Epsen about everyone’s favorite punk bumpy-faced vampire Spike. This news, coupled with various books spinning out of the Buffyverse featuring other characters, makes us do the happy dance. Speaking of Buffy, Whedon stated that Buffy is returning to a much familiar place with the opening of season nine with hints that it will be a familiar place to viewers of the TV series. Don’t forget ongoing Angel & Faith starting in April. There are still no plans to do a Firefly season 2 comic but for the record, we’ll offer to write it for free!!
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Feedback is always welcomed at shaun@horrorhaven.com and sharon@horrorhaven.com
