chip zdarsky

I don't know about you, but I did not wake up this morning expecting to see the phrase, "Jughead relaunch from the writer of Sex Criminals." And yet, here we are. Following up on the upcoming relaunch of Archie with Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, Archie Comics announced today that they plan to expand the rebooted Riverdale through a Kickstarter campaign. The goal is set at $350,000, with the money going to a trio of rebooted comics: Jughead from writer Chip Zdarsky and an unannounced artist, Life With Kevin by Dan Parent and J. Bone, and, maybe the most surprising one of all, a new Betty & Veronica #1 written and drawn by Adam Hughes.

Few comic book writers are as hot right now as the wife-and-husband team of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction, so it’s not all that surprising that the couple has signed a deal with Universal to develop their work into television shows. What is a little surprising is that this duo found their success creating deeply personal and wildly experimental comics, which means that some of the best comic book writers working today are going to adapt some of the best comics currently being published. This could be something special.

Caitlin DiMotta goes by @ComicsLawyer on Twitter and she is exactly that. As an attorney and partner at Impact Law Group, she works with many comics creators as their lawyer. Her clients include Kelly Sue DeConnick, Ed Brubaker, Rick Remender, Chip Zdarsky, and Jeff Lemire. Her top priorities are protecting the rights of artists and educating them about their legal rights. ComicsAlliance sat down with her to learn more about the work she does.

The post-credits scene for Guardians Of The Galaxy featured a rather unexpected comic book character, which inspired fan speculation over whether or not this particular character would make another appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While we won’t see him on the big screen again anytime soon, he is getting his very own comic book sequel to help explain how he ended up in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Sex Criminals co-creator Chip Zdarsky and Infinite Kung Fu author Kagan McLeod plan to take readers to colorful, strange, and rather gay new worlds with their new Image ongoing title Kaptara this April. Announced by Zdarsky himself and Image publisher Eric Stephenson at the one-day Image Expo in San Francisco on Thursday, the book sees a waylaid earthman sent on an odyssey through peculiar worlds inspired by the action figures of the 1980s, on a mission to save his home planet. The two Toronto-based writer-artists have known each other for years, and as they told ComicsAlliance, the roots of this collaboration go back to the studio they once shared. Kaptara is written by Zdarsky and illustrated in full color by McLeod, an acclaimed magazine illustrator making his return to comics. The story offers echoes of Flash Gordon and John Carter, and of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' Saga, only... gayer. More gay. ComicsAlliance met with the team to find out just how gay, and to get the ball rolling on Motivational Orb mania.

Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik's Howard the Duck is a tough nut to quack. The character has fallen fowl of ownership disputes in the past, and had to duck-and-cover after the disastrous 1986 movie. He's ruffled few feathers since, but really got audiences pond-ering a return after just a poultry post-credit cameo in Guardians Of The Galaxy. No doubt egged on by the warm reception for Ryan North and Erica Henderson's Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Marvel has doubled down with another comedy book, an all-new Howard the Duck series, with Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones billed as the plucky creators. This begs the question; waddle Marvel do next?

If you've been reading Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky's Sex Criminals (and honestly, I'm pretty sure that if you're reading this, you are), then you've probably noticed that one of the best parts of the comic comes in the letters page where the two creators offer the reader tips for a better sex life. Wait, no. "Better" is probably not the right word. Oh well, you get the idea. Either way, the tips have been very enthusiastically received, and with the success of Sex Criminals, Fraction and Zdarsky are looking to spread the word and penetrate the market by collecting them in Just The Tips a handsome, 96-page hardcover that will look great on your coffee table, or hastily thrown under the sofa when your parents visit. And just in case that doesn't arouse your interest, we've got a massive 23-page preview of the tips and sex positions ready for your perusal. Please be advised, though, this is extremely not safe for work, unless your work is 100% cool with drawings of boners and buttholes, in which case you probably work for ComicsAlliance and saw it already.

Chip Zdarsky is clearly his own man. While other comic creators took their places behind their tables at Toronto's Fan Expo comic convention this past weekend, the co-creator of Sex Criminals set up his own independent 'Zdarscon' in a park across the street -- in the shadow of the CN Tower and a short distance from the Blue Jays baseball game at the Rogers Centre. Even his co-author Matt Fraction wasn't invited. The day started with torrential rain, followed by blazing heat, but Zdarsky was attended at all times by Alex Hoffman, the life model who provides the likeness for his Sex Criminal character Jon. ComicsAlliance found Zdarsky seated on a sun-baked armchair on a wheeled platform, with his recently won Eisner Award bolted to a table. We grabbed five minutes with the writer/artist to ask... why, Chip? Why?

Among the colorful cosplay, massive booths, interactive displays and walls of merchandise at Comic-Con International in San Diego — colloquially known as SDCC — remains the most important component of the show: comic book creators. ComicsAlliance photographer and Loikiamania podcast host Pat Loika hit the show floor to catch the men and women who tell our favorite stories in sequential art and captured the enthusiasm that comes from fans getting to meet their favorite storytellers at one of the biggest conventions of the year. Check back with ComicsAlliance throughout the weekend for more of Pat’s great photos from San Diego.

The 2014 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony took place Friday 25th July in the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, as part of San Diego Comic-Con. It was a good night for Saga, Hawkeye, and the Hernandez brothers. Presenters included Orlando Jones, Reginald Hudlin, Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick, Sergio Aragonés, Phil LaMarr, and Kevin Eastman. ComicsAlliance has a full list of winners, as well as the other nominees in each category.