PW Comics World: More To Come

AT&T plans to merge WarnerMedia (and DC) with Discovery Inc. as it exits the entertainment industry; Diamond’s new wholesale terms for Marvel comics; the current state of cons, including a preview of the U.S. Book Show; and Alex Segura ankles from Archie Comics for Oni-Lion Forge.

Penguin Random House's video update on its distribution deal with Marvel, and speculation on Diamond’s plans; dramatic sales increases for manga and other graphic novels; and digital news on Webtoon, Tapas Media, OverDrive, Black Sands, and Madefire.

In this Stargazing special episode, Calvin talks with PW graphic novels reviews editor Meg Lemke about their personal Staff Picks: Keiler Robert’s ‘My Begging Chart,’ and Bill Campbell and Bizhan Khodabandeh’s ‘The Day the Klan Came to Town’. Plus graphic novel recommendations on PW’s Summer Reads listing.

A look at whether the Big Two of superhero comics (Marvel and DC) are a bad deal for creators; rising prices ($5.99!) for periodical comics; the impact of streaming TV and film adaptations on graphic novel sales; offer a WTF on NFTs; and update news on New York Comic Con 2021.

Kuo-Yu Liang (known universally as Ku), a 30 year publishing veteran who has worked as an executive at ReedPop, Diamond Book Distributors, and Random House, talks about the blockbuster distribution deal between Marvel and PRH Publisher Services, the future of the Direct Market, and in the wake of the pandemic looks ahead at the status of pop culture conventions in 2021.

A survey of pop culture conventions in 2021; PW’s annual comics retailing feature; more on the impact of the comics distribution pact between PRH Publisher Services and Marvel; 'RUN: Book One', a posthumous sequel to John Lewis’s March trilogy; and more on Ray Fisher’s charges of racism against Joss Whedon during the filming of the Justice League movie.

Kickstarter and the challenges of the 2020 pandemic, a new union, graphic novel projects, setting up on Bookshop.org, and the continued growth of the publishing and comics crowdfunding sectors on Kickstarter.

Penguin Random House takes over distribution of Marvel comics in the direct market from Diamond, the anniversary of Diamond’s Covid shutdown, S&S graphic novel distribution, Keanu Reeves’s Netflix deal, DOJ looks at Crunchyroll sale, and the Snyder Cut.

A look at Comics After Covid, an online panel organized by the CBLDF; WonderCon and the San Diego Comic-Con go virtual again, with hope for the fall; comics publishing news with familiar names at new publishers; and a discussion of 'WandaVision', 'Raya and the Last Dragon', and other movie and streaming news.

Historian Brian K. Mitchell, artist Barrington S. Edwards, and editor Nick Weldon, on 'Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana', a graphic nonfiction account of the nearly forgotten but remarkable life of Oscar J. Dunn, a New Orleans-born former slave, who became the first African American lieutenant governor and acting governor in U.S. history.

A report on the ComicsPro retailers conference; plans and rumors about DC Comics’ publishing program; the Snyder Cut, a forthcoming graphic novel from Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki; and comics stars help save a Black-owned comics store.

Fred Van Lente and Crystal Skillman talk about 'King Kirby' - their new dramatic podcast about the life of Marvel Comics legend Jack Kirby - in an interview with Heidi MacDonald about their show, comics, Jack Kirby and creating an audio drama in a pandemic.

Allegations about Joss Whedon; Disney’s shutdown of Bluesky; a jump in pandemic graphic novel sales; a convention update; and Calvin moderates a panel on Ken Quattro’s ‘Invisible Men: The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books’ published by Yoe Books.

This week on More To Come's Stargazing Calvin talks with PW graphic novel reviews editor Meg Lemke about David Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson’s ‘The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History’ ; and Shira Spector’s graphic memoir ‘Red Rock Baby Candy’ .

Two virtual conventions: the SchomCom Black Comic Book Festival and the Angoulême Rights Conference; Dark Horse acquires YouNeek Studios; Ku Worldwide, and Endpaper launch; and the annual ALA Awards and YALSA 2021 list.

Tim Fielder interviewed about the publication of his new graphic novel 'Infinitum: An Afrofuturist Tale', an epic adventure and meta-fictional tale of survival that celebrates the presence of the Black man and Black woman in genre storytelling from the beginning of time until the end of the universe.

The Comic Book Shopping Experience, a new comics retail platform; celebrate Gene Yang; named Comic Book Industry Person of the Year by The Beat; Rob Salkowitz’s examination DC Comics; and new staff and growth at indie publishers Z2 Comics and TKO Studios.

A look back on a year like no other: from pre-pandemic travels abroad in early 2020 to the lockdown in early March, the shutdown of retail and distribution, the cancellation of comics conventions and festivals, the impact of the Black Lives Matter protests, layoffs at DC, and a few of the books we loved.

An interview with GlobalComix (https://globalcomix.com/) founder/CEO Christopher Carter and director of business development Eric Tapper about their digital comics portal that offers comics from AWA, Markosia and indie creators. They hope to offer more tools to creators for monetization, including Crowdfinder, a new tool for discovering more crowdfunding campaigns

News from Disney; programming and movie turmoil at WarnerMedia; Sony’s purchase of Crunchyroll; a farewell to BookExpo and BookCon; and the best graphic novels of the year as chosen by the ‘New York Times’ and ‘The Guardian.’