The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

INDUSTRY NEWS

Starting in April 2017, IDW will be moving its book distribution from Diamond to Penguin Random House, joining long-term Penguin partners DC Comics, Dark Horse and Archie. It’s another sign of Diamond’s overwhelming monopoly shrinking in increments. IDW’s monthly issues will remain at Diamond.

This is big news primarily for the huge success it represents for Penguin. IDW has a lot of licensed comics that draw attention, but more importantly it's the home of Top Shelf --- and by extension, the home of hugely important, barrier-crossing comics like March. In the linked article above, retailers have been showing up in the comments, including Brian Hibbs, to offer their thoughts on what this means.

 

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EVENTS

The Brooklyn Book Festival is currently underway, and features a number of comics-related events as part of its programme. There are panels for Kyle Baker, Chip Kidd (who put together the poster you see above) and Margaret Atwood. Publishers including First Second and Drawn & Quarterly will be in attendance as part of their “literary marketplace.”

MECCAcon takes place this weekend in Detroit; that's the Midwest Ethnic Convention for Comics and Arts. Comics talents including Regine Sawyer, N. Steven Harris, and Karl Bollers will all be in attendance throughout the week, which will also feature book signings, film premieres, and more. There’s a nice feature on the convention over at Model D, which is worth a read.

Canton, Ohio, will have its first comic show in 15 years, as the Hall of Fame City Comic Con (jeez, what a name) comes to town next weekend. Guests include George Perez, Jim Steranko and Howard Chaykin, which is a pretty impressive inaugural lineup.

 

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PODCASTS

The Comics Alternative Podcast has continued its winning streak as of late, with a recent episode featuring MariNaomi, Gina Wynbrandt and Will Dinski, each in turn talking about their various works at 2cloud and elsewhere.

MariNaomi is on particular form for her chat, which also addresses her upcoming new release I Thought You Hated Me, out later this month by Retrofit Comics. Here’s a profile on her over at LA Mag!

 

WEEKEND READING

Steve Lieber writes for the San Diego Comic-Con website to offer a guide to best practice when bringing a portfolio of artwork to a convention for review. It seems like every convention brings a number of potential talents who make some very basic errors when assembling their work (it’s high pressure, after all), and it’s nice to see a pro like Lieber take the time to offer some smart pointers.

With the website Panels now closed, the comics content has been folded into the central Book Riot website, with several of the writers for the site making the jump across. Among the posts at the new home is this one from Jessica Plummer, addresses the evergreen question; does trade-waiting hurt comics? Comics professionals may say so, but why should readers be shamed for how they buy comics? If people are reading comics, isn't that victory enough?

 

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Al Rosenberg’s piece on WomenWriteAboutComics about character portrayal in the work of Noelle Stevenson was a fascinating read, deftly written in a way that slowly opens up the topic in a clear manner. The piece takes the reader through the thought process in a way that really makes the subject matter feel so much more personal and accessible.

A round-up within a round-up! I saw Daniel Elkin’s consistently high-quality weekly link-blog of comics criticism and was heavily tempted to just steal all the links for Weekender. But no! That’s wouldn’t be cricket. So instead I’ll simply recommend that you take a look at some of the writing he recommends this week.

 

AND FINALLY

Yesterday marked the start of Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month, which is a great opportunity to celebrate Latinx comics creators. The #LatinxsCreate hashtag has been set up as a way for writers and artists to share and promote their work, and has helped a wealth of brilliant comics work get a new spotlight. You should all go take a look at the work being done over there, and get involved!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Have a tip you’d like to share for Weekender? Get in touch at steve@comicsalliance.com!

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