Hellboy 1944-2011

Indie Comics Digest: Shaky Kane’s cult classic to be published in America, Pogo goes to print and Mike Mignola kills Hellboy

-by Eric Buckler

– Shaky Kane’s Monster Truck appears in America! Originally a limited edition 500-book run in the United Kingdom, Shaky Kane’s cult classic collection of psychedelic monsters, toy cars, and dismembered dolls will now be published by Image comics in November. The new edition will be a larger format, rescanned, and re-colored to better represent the high intensity color schemes and giant spreads of the original. There are only a few of the original comics floating around in the U.S, so this should be a welcome edition to fans of Kane through Bulletproof Coffin (with David Kine) and all of his other great work. Here is a link to a write-up in USA Today.

Shaky Kane's Monster Truck

– Finally, Chicago has an offering in the way of alternative comics conventions that looks to be profound enough to stick around. Comics Beat reported that CAKE: The Chicago Alternative Comics Expo will include over 100 exhibitors along with panels, workshops, and lectures. The show will be June 16 and 17, 2012. For more information, head here.

– The long awaited POGO book by Walt Kelly is on its journey to printers. Fantagraphics Books (where I work, fair warning) has been working with Mark Evanier on restoring the strips for years. Evanier made the exciting announcement on his blog post here. POGO, which takes its name from the main character, a possum, is a newspaper comic strip from the late ’40s that ranges from complex wit to slapstick. Combining a whole cast of endearing creatures, POGO is considered to be one of the greatest comic strips ever printed. The first edition will collect the first two years and some bonus early strips, along with essays and text from editors and friends. The book and dust-jacket will be designed by Carolyn Kelly, Walt’s daughter. POGO is tentatively up for release in November. Here is a link to the book at Fantagraphics.

Walt Kelly's Pogo is on its way to print

– Why did Mike Mignola kill Hellboy? Mignola talks to Newsarama rather definitively in a new interview about the character’s death in Hellboy: The Fury #3. The hornless, stone-handed icon will continue his journey dead, eyeless, and in Hell, in Hellboy in Hell, a new series that Mignola will pencil. Hellboy was one of Darkhorse’s flagship titles, spawning many series such as BPRD and Witchfinder. Check out the interview about the end and the subsequent new beginning here.

Hellboy: The Fury cover

– Timothy Callahan, author of many pieces for Comic Book Resources, finished his two-part review on the entire run of Cerebus (1-300). Cerebus is a three foot tall gray Aardvark, created by Dave Sim in 1977. The strip humorously and artfully explores the state of everything from politics to philosophy while following the misanthropic beast. Callahan reads the entire series through the “phone books” or giant graphic novels that author Sim published independently with Aardvark-Vanheim. Each of the 16 volumes is given its own sizable chunk of text including a loose synopsis and review. Something to chew on for fans of the irritable Aardvark. Here is a link to the article on CBR.

David Sims' Cerebus

– Grant Morrison speaks his mind. In a new interview with Rolling Stone entitled “Grant Morrison on the Death Of Comics”, the acclaimed creator shares on a number of topics including his opinion on several key individuals in comics. The man responsible for We3 and The Invisibles offers a stark and unfiltered opinion on Chris Ware, Alan Moore, and his former protege Mark Millar. Morrison also gives his take on the general state of comics and moments in his personal life. The interview, in part, is on Rolling Stone’s website and can be found here.

Grant Morrison talks the death of comics