Pixel will release collections of The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician in digital format

Hello,

I got permission from Brazil's best comic news source,Universo HQ, to translate and reprint their biggest news articles. Let's start off:

Ediouro Publications started to make their Pixel comics imprint available in digital formats beginning last year. The first titles were Little Lulu, Tubby Tompkins and Little Lulu Teen. And, ringing in the new year, this digital venture will continue expanding.

Ediouro Publicações

The albums – The Phantom:Pirates of the Sky and Mandrake the Magician: The World of the Mirror and Other Stories- just migrated to the new format for the users of Apple Store, Google Play, Kobo Books(Brazil), Livraria Cultura(Brazil), Livaria Sariva(Brazil) and iba (Brazil). They cost US $5.99 in the Apple store and $11.40 reais($4.80 US) in the other apps.

Ediouro Publicações

“Due to the grand success of the printed version of these books, we firmly believe in their potential in a new format and we hope to appeal to everyone. The e-books already are available in the main retail stores of the country and the reader can buy them and read them on their smartphone, tablet or e-reader,” the publisher explained.



The printed versions of these albums are being distributed a second time to the newsstands of Brazil.


Stateside we can buy the Portuguese version at the following sites:


O Fantasma – Piratas do céu – A saga completa: Apple Store, Google Play, Kobo Books,Livraria Cultura, Livaria Saraiva e iba.


Mandrake – O mundo do espelho e outras histórias: Apple Store, Google Play, Kobo Books, Livraria Cultura, Livaria Saraiva e iba.


(Translated and reprinted with permission from Universo HQ,article originally written by Samir Naliato.
 read the original text in Portuguese here)

Ediouro Publicações

This is a great step for Brazilian publishers! As I mentioned in the previous post, the Brazilian newsstands are booming but they haven’t opened up to the possibility of digital quite as fast as US publishers. Little Lulu and The Phantom are great brands to test this market on and real staples of Brazilian comics! Like true relics of comic history, Little Lulu Teen blends the classic romance comics with the after school soap operas being exported by Nickelodeon and Disney, making the genre a huge seller month after month (More on that in a later post)! I look forward to Brazil’s next digital offerings and hope they will be available internationally. Disclaimer: There might be an international chargewhen purchasing the e-books outside of the itunes store. Consult your bank.

Grant Morrison's Robin returns in new animated feature

In 2006, DC Comics made waves contracting Grant Morrison to take the reigns of Batman.  The  world renowned Scottish author, scribe of such works as All Star Superman, JLA, The Invisibles, We3, New X-Men, The Authority and countless other works started his Dark Knight tenure by introducing an illegitimate son,  Damian, the lovechild of Bruce Wayne and a terrorist’s daughter, Talia al Ghul.

Much of Morrison’s off and on story line involves Damian coming to terms with who he is as a human as well as who he is within the Batman family, forming strong bonds with Bruce and the original Robin, Dick Grayson. Damian assumes the role of the fifth in continuity Robin. The Bat-family saw many changes over the years, but Grant Morrison welcomed and referenced the changes, culminating in his two volume, Batman Incorporated- a celebration of the varied cast that Batman has met over his 70+ years as the caped crusader.

In 2011, DC editorial decided to revamp their whole universe, relaunching fifty two new series with unstable ties to the past. Grant Morrison (promoted to Action Comics(Superman) writer), was given mostly free reign when he restarted his Batman Incorporated series, picking up almost seamlessly from the past continuity. His 7 year tenure ended this past  July with Inc.’s issue 13, effectively taking his toys and going home. For now, Damian Wayne is out of service (save for the four issue miniseries taking place in an uncertain future…comics are complicated).

 Damian was a breath of fresh air in the sidekick position. More cunning, rebellious and dangerous than his wide eyed teen counterparts, the child quickly grew on readers. It came as no surprise when DC Animation announced an animated adaptation of Morrison’s first Bat-tale, Batman and Son- featuring the introduction of Damian. This Direct to DVD movie will be available this Spring. The cast has been announced but the production crew is still unknown.

If this movie is anything like the two-part The Dark Knight Returns adaptation of Frank Miller’s  1986 classic reinventing the art of the graphic novel…it will do well. But, I have a feeling most of the public will buy this while asking the question, “Batman has a son?”

In the meantime, I recommend checking out “Batman and Son” available at bookstores, comic book stores or on Amazon. I am waiting for an omnibus that will collect the whole Batman, Inc series; no doubt DC will release it this year in the absence of new Morrison Batman stories.

Check out the trailer for the movie here!
Update 1/22/2014
Warner Bros Animation has confirmed that the DVD is to be released on  Tuesday May 6, 2014. This will be following Free Comic Book Day weekend and the opening of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Seems to be a great time to be a comic book fan! Check out the cover art!

Warner Bros Animation/DC Entertainment

State of the Union: A code for comics

Visiting New York around Christmastime came with ulterior motives. The Big Apple: where reality and dreams converge to produce the truly spectacular! The backdrop for many movies, the punching bag for many action scenes, where up until two weeks ago, you could see a grown man in spandex swinging around a Broadway theater...singing! Historically, US comics started here, until 2015, the two biggest publishers can be found here (DC is going west coast to join their Warner Bros backers...)... but, where are the comics? Sure, Toys R Us has  Lego Hulk and there are many comic book stores scattered around the city, bootleg superheroes can be found in Chinatown and Times Square... but this isn't getting the comic book into tourist hands.

Compare this to Sao Paulo, Brazil, 7th biggest metropolitan area in the world ( New York is at 4). There, newsstands- found on every block, in every mall, in all parts of town- they are all littered with comics! Translated comics, original comics, mangas,graphic novels, imports and art books, comics in English and Spanish to teach the languages, educational comics, activity books...these are street sized meccas promoting literacy and imagination at every corner. Sao Paulo alone has more than 14 comic publishers of various sizes, putting out new and previously released material.

There is a reason for this. Historically, the collected comic book started as promotional packages. They were then sold exclusively at newsstands, with the promise to the vendor that unsold comics can be returned. This is still where Brazil is...newsstands and distributors have a rotating shelf for comics. Most have a 1 month- 75 day lifespan and after that they are returned to the publisher who oftentimes fulfill mail orders.

Around the 70's, comic book stores sprouted up all over the US, promoting collections and increasing the value of back issues. This meant comics didn't need to be returned to the publisher quite so often and they didn't have to return their profits. Back issues were cherished and promoted. Collector editions, reprints and sets allow the reader to catch up on long histories. Collectible variant covers and pack ins added value and assured various copies of the same issue were bought by serious collectors. Comics fell from newsstands leading to this month when Marvel clarified that they will no longer be sending floppy single issues to Barnes and Noble-one of the last remaining American bookstore chains. Comics are digital or found in Comic Book Stores...

Photos taken by Ana Carolina Diederichsen, Sao Paulo, Brazil 

Back to Brazil: comic book stores are scarce but starting to gain speed. Bookstores, newsstands, grocery stores all have the newest adventures of favorite comic characters. Sebos- used book stores often have stacks of old comics, sometimes back issue bins- it is not uncommon to find a whole room dedicated to used comics sold at a discount. Comics are being sold online, plagued with high prices and high shipping cost- but available nonetheless.  Children's libraries have whole reading rooms, filled with back issues. Reading comics seems to be promoted and encouraged. Not surprising that FIQ-Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos(International Comic Festival held in Brazil) is the largest comic convention in the Americas.


As I search for a comic in New York's Port Authority- I yearn for comics to have this level of accessibility and acceptance. Digital is great but nothing beats a page turner.
Jeff**

Best news of the week!

This week had some exciting news, let's get down to business!

Nightcrawler 1(Marvel)

*IDW will make Angry Birds Comics. This weeks Sonic Super Special (Archie Comics) has a story about the Sonic Dash mobile app. Is a Where's My Water miniseries too much to ask for? 

*Marvel, IDW and Dark Horse release their April solicitations(so far away!). 

*Big changes for Spider-man

*Galactus is leaving the Ultimate Universe alone and 3 comics result (After Ultimate Spider-Man 200), Ultimate FF, All New Ultimates and Spidey are (over) represented...but where are the non-Kitty X-Men?

All New Ultimates(Marvel)

*Chris Claremont returns to X-Men with a Nightcrawler solo series...does this take the fun out of Amazing X-Men? Probably not!

 *Daredevil 1.50...Imagine a 50 year old superhero? How old are superheroes in comics anyways?

*"Series finale" of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s Kick Ass, ending with Volume 3's issue 8

*Co-creator of the Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman returns for the (semi) annual annual...bringing the time traveler Renet into the fray with a tournament that is reminiscent of the Battle Nexus Championship from the middle Ninja Turtle cartoon. Brazilian  Mateus Santolouco returns to the main series with issue 33. 

*Panini Brazil also announce that in February they will resume printing Tartarugas Ninja- their reprint of the IDW Turtles. They left off with their edition 9, issue 5 of the main series(December 2011). They have their work cut out for them!

Turtles Annual 2014(IDW)

*Dexter(the  animated red head, not the killer) follows Ben 10, Samurai Jack and the Powerpuff Girls as IDW's newest animated adaptation. 

*Bam! Pow! Disc not read...Adam West's Batman is coming to DVD this year!

*Vertigo is producing quarterly anthologies with a color theme(the four main colors of print comics). With a great medley of talent: I am hoping this will live up to Loeb and Sale's superhero color series(Spider-Man:Blue, Daredevil: Yellow) Very excited to see where this goes!

Next week: A better picture of April, movie trailers(fingers crossed) and more surprises

Jeff**

Bienvenidos, Bem vindo, Willkommen, Welcome, Accueil, Velkommen, Benvenuto, Powitanie, Welkom, Sambutan, Maligayang pagdating

So, welcome!
I am Jeff. For a while now I have been looking for a forum that really welcomes the international world of comic books...and that has lead me to here. As someone who enjoys comics and traveling, it was inevitable to fall in love with international comic books! As a lifelong learner, I needed to research and learn all about comics in all reaches of the world.
Stateside, Fantographics and NBM are the main publishers of imports, but is that enough? During my time in Brazil, I got to know the 4th biggest entertainment company in the world, Mauricio de Sousa Productions(Think Walt Disney Studios combined with Stan Lee's name brand). In its flagship title, Turma da Monica (Monica's Gang), they often display Sousa's travels to various licencing shows, ambassador visits etc, often times in the US... Yet, when walking into New York's largest comic shop and asking where it is possible to purchase comics from Brazil-"Brazil" was their best guess. Should these comics really be so foreign?
To me, this is a very limited view; we should be opening our arms to other viewpoints and art styles, and opening our hearts to other characters!
This blog aims to be a labor of love. If I can figure out a scanner and photoshop software I'd like to try my hand at translating (Portuguese and Spanish for now, French and German are the next languages to dominate!) Think of it as a cultural exchange in the world of comics.
Feel free to give recommendations, ask questions or anything!
Time to take over the world!
Jeff**

Me and Brazil's Stan Lee: Mauricio de Sousa- leader of Brazilian comics, creator of more than 200 characters and in the business for more than 50 years!(Copyright Saraiva)