Alfred E. Neuman Funky Pop
Funko has released a Pop figure of MAD mascot Alfred E. Neuman; this one more aligned with the current look of their collectibles rather than the 2012 edition. Though Tom Richmond, with the help of Photoshop, corrected a couple discrepancies.
© EC Publications
SOI Maurice Sendak Exhibit and Bake Sale
The Society of Illustrators is sponsoring an exhibit of Maurice Sendak art thru July 10.
…more than a hundred pictures: pencil sketches, ink drawings, full watercolors and lithographs – including for the first time on public display original art from Sendak’s first book, also studies for published illustrations, poster designs and operatic stage sets.
The SOI also has Sendak prints available.
© Maurice Sendak
AFAIK Berkeley Breathed didn’t do a Calvin County strip this year.
So a Facebook fan stepped up.
© Berkeley Breathed & Bill Watterson
King Features and Boss Fight expand partnership
Flash Gordon and The Phantom are available, Popeye is coming soon.
But the Boss Fight collection of King Features comic strip figures is still expanding.
© King Features Syndicate
New Talent ’21
School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “New Talent ’21,” an invitational exhibition of multidisciplinary artworks by newly admitted students to SVA. Organized in coordination with SVA Admissions, this online exhibition is curated by SVA Galleries and will be on view from Tuesday, April 6, through Tuesday, May 4, at galleries.sva.edu.
The SVA was founded in 1947 as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School by Silas Rhodes and Burne Hogarth. Through the years some of the new talent that emerged from the school have been Ross Andru, Bill Gallo, Steve Ditko, Dick Hodgins, Jr., Herb Trimpe, Peter Bagge, Ray Billingsley, Jerry Craft, and more.
Norma Martin Gets Some Claims Revived in Trademark Suit
The widow of cartoonist Don Martin convinced the Eleventh Circuit to revive some of her claims that MAD Magazine used her husband’s name and sold counterfeit versions of his cartoons without permission.
Norma Martin’s allegations for works published before 2015 were properly barred by Florida’s four-year statute of limitations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said in an unsigned, unpublished opinion. But it revived her claims based on publications the defendants issued more recently.
© Don Martin
Skating with Betty and Veronica
Archie Comics is teaming with the Everyone Skateboard Company for a new line of boards and gear featuring the teens of Riverdale. “Hey Everyone! We are honored and thrilled to announce this classic collaboration with [Archie Comics], the most beloved comic strip of all time!!”
The news comes from Comic Book Resources.
© Archie Comic Publications, Inc.
HarperCollins Acquires Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
No one in the industry was surprised last week when HarperCollins emerged as the buyer for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media, the sixth-largest trade publisher in the U.S. Ever since HC and its parent company, News Corp, lost out to Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House in its bid to buy Simon & Schuster last November, HC was seen as the favorite to acquire the HMH trade operation.
Some quotes from the Publishers Weekly report:
To keep growing in what is, overall, a generally flat trade market, publishers need to make acquisitions.
[HarperCollins] is particularly excited about HMH’s backlist of 7,000 titles, which according to News generated about 60% of HMH’s revenue last year.
The HMH purchase will keep HC firmly entrenched as the country’s second-largest trade publisher.
© Dell
