Americas

United States

Business

Marvel takes the top spots for comics in the month of May. Based on total unit sales of products invoiced for the month, Original Sin #1, Amazing Spider-Man #2, and Amazing Spider-Man #1.1 ranked first, second and third respectively. Link (English, MB)

Diamond News reports on the top graphic novel titles for May, 2014. Based on total unit sales of products invoiced for the month, Batman Volume 4 Zero Year Secret City (DC), Batman Volume 3 Death of the Family (DC) and Black Science Volume 1 How to Fall Forever (Image) took the top three spots. Link (English, MB)

Culture

Diamond announced their exclusives for this year’s Comic-Con International: San Diego. Comics, figurines, toys, and statues will be available in very limited quantities. The exclusives will be at their booth, Diamond Previewsworld Booth #2401. Link (English, MB)

The lineup of free comics for the third annual Halloween ComicFest (HCF) has been announced to take place on the 25th October. Similar to the Free Comic Book Day event held each May, where local comic shops give away free comics and hold contests and special promotions, the free comics will be horror themed to celebrate the holiday. Link (English, MB)

Research

Sequart has recently released the book, When Manga Came to America: Super-Hero Revisionism in Mai, the Psychic Girl, by Julian Darius. Link (English, WG)

Sequart has recently released the book, The Anatomy of Zur-en-Arrh: Understanding Grant Morrison’s Batman, by Cody Walker. Link (English, WG)

International Journal of Comic Art Volume 16, Issue 1, has recently been published. Link (19/06/2014, English, WG)

Critical Inquiry Volume 40, Issue 3 has been published – a special issue focused on Comics & Media, and edited by Hillary Chute and Patrick Jagoda. Link (English, WG)

Stan Lee’s Comikaze is accepting programming proposals for the expo which takes place between the 31st October through to the 2nd November. The deadline for proposals is the 15th August. Link (English, MB)

New York Comic Con is now accepting panel submissions for the event to be held between 9th and 12th October. Submission forms are due no later than the 30th July. Link (English, MB)

Asia

Indonesia

Culture

The 5th April marked the first RA Kosasih Day. The pioneer Indonesian comic artist died two years ago at the age of 93. Link (Indonesian, LCT)

The inaugural Comic Art Festival Kuala Lumpur was held on the 7th and 8th June. Link (English, LCT)

Europe

Belgium

Business

Bande dessinée publisher Zephyr, specialist in military, aviation and railway comics, is to merge with Belgian company Dupuis. Link (12/06/2014, French, LTa)

France

Culture

The popular series Seuls, by Fabien Vehlmann and Bruno Gazzotti, is being adapted for the cinema. Casting is open and the film is scheduled for release in 2016. Link (17/06/2014, French, LTa)

Germany

Business

Stefan Piëch, head of television company Your Family Entertainment, has acquired the rights to the comic characters Fix & Foxi. Link (25/05/2014, German, MdlI)

Culture

A series of presentations and talks on webcomics took place at Comic-Salon Erlangen from the 19th-21st June. Link (02/06/2014, German, MdlI)

A musical adaptation of Die Abrafaxe is shown in Greifswald and other places from the 14th June. Link (German, MdlI)

An exhibition of comic author Ville Tietäväinen is shown in Berlin from the 15th May – 31st August. Link (05/06/2014, German, MdlI)

An exhibition of a youth debt prevention comics competition is shown in Munich from the 27th June – 12th September. An accompanying lecture is going to be given by Dietrich Grünewald on the 7th August. Link (09/06/2014, German, MdlI)

The winners of the Max-und-Moritz-Preis have been announced at Comic-Salon Erlangen. Link (21/06/2014, English, MdlI)

Education

Peter Lorenz and Matthias Harbeck are going to give a workshop on comics in libraries in Berlin on the 26th September. Link (23/06/2014, German, MdlI)

Research

The Arbeitsstelle für Graphische Literatur (ArGL) at Hamburg University is going to award its ‘Roland Faelske-Preis’ to the best theses in the fields of animation and comics from the last two years. The deadline for submissions was the 1st July. Link (German, MdlI)

Neil Cohn gave a workshop on Comics and Linguistics at the University of Freiburg on the 21st June. Link (16/06/2014, German, MdlI)

The German Society for Comics Studies (ComFor) has released the programme for its 9th annual conference in Berlin from the 25th – 27th September 2014. Link (19/06/2014, German, MdlI)

A workshop titled ‘Future Visions: Speculation and Anticipation in Graphic Narratives’ will take place in Bayreuth on the 11th July. Link (30/06/2014, German, MdlI)

Portugal

Culture

The Gallery El Pep in Lisbon is hosting an exhibition by the Portuguese comic author André Caetano. The exhibition can be visited until the 4th July. Link (18/06/2014, Portuguese, RR)

The Associação MAPA in Elvas is hosting an exhibition by the Portuguese comic author João Sequeira until the 14th July. Link (07/06/2014, Portuguese, RR)

Until the 21st July, the Espaço Inovinter in Moura is hosting an exhibition to commemorate the centennial of Jijé. Link (21/06/2014, Portuguese, RR)

Spain

Business

At least 14 artists have resigned so far from the humor and satirical comics’ magazine El Jueves. Publisher RBA destroyed 60,000 copies of the publication which had portrayed the abdication of king Juan Carlos I on its cover, and changed the cover. Link (06/06/2014, English, EdRC)

The magazine was already fined for “vilyfing the crown” and saw its edition pulled from newsstands in 2007. Link (13/11/2007, English, EdRC)

The artists who abandoned the magazine have released a new on-line comics magazine focused on the Spanish crown. Link (18/06/2014, Spanish, EdRC)

Culture

Óscar Nebreda, Santiago García, Toni Guiral, and Manel Fontdevila discussed the relationship of comics and football in the event, Letrak & Futbola (Letras & Fútbol), Encuentros de Literatura, Cómic, Periodismo y Fútbol, which took place on the 4th June. Link (Spanish/Basque, EdRC)

Ellas en la industria del cómic, a roundtable about women and the comics industry took place in the library, Eugenio Trías, Madrid. Link (08/06/2014, Spanish, EdRC)

The exhibition, Do comic a novela gráfica. A banda deseñada en España no século XXI (From comics to graphic novels. Comics in 21st century Spain), is being shown in the Museo de Pontevedra from the 20th June until the 20th July. Link (03/06/2014, Galician, EdRC)

UK

Culture

The Edinburgh International Book Festival, which takes place between the 9th and 25th August, have released a list of its comics related events. Link (English, WG)

Education

The department of Media and Communication at the University of Leicester is offering a PhD studentship for a project relating to Cross-Media Seriality – Production, Text, and Consumption. Link (English, WG)

Research

European Comic Art Volume 7, Issue 1, has recently been published. Link (English, WG)

There is a call for papers for the Scottish Heroes & Villains: The First Symposium, which will take place on the 11th October at the University of Dundee. The symposium is part of Scottish Heroes & Villains Month, which will include an original Comics Exhibition and Q&A (in collaboration with The Scottish Centre for Comics Studies). Link (English, WG)

 

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News Editor: Will Grady (comicsforumnews@hotmail.co.uk)

Correspondents: Michele Brittany (MB, North America), Enrique del Rey Cabero (EdRC, Spain), William Grady (WG, UK), Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Germany), Renatta Rafaella (RR, Portugal), Lise Tannahill (LTa, Belgium & France), Lim Cheng Tju (LCT, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines).

Click here for News Review correspondent biographies.

Click here to see the News Review archive.

Suggestions for articles to be included in the News Review can be sent to Will Grady at the email address above.