Comics A.M. | Batman #1 fetches record $850,000 in private sale

Comics A.M. | Batman #1 fetches record $850,000 in private sale

Batman #1

Comics | A near-mint copy of 1940's Batman #1, which marks the first appearances of the Joker and Catwoman, sold this week for $850,000 ' a record for that issue ' in a private transaction arranged by Heritage Auctions. The seller purchased the comic just two years ago for $315,000. [CNN]

Publishing | Cory Casoni is leaving his position as director of marketing for Oni Press for a position with NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. as the head of marketing for ShiftyLook comics. Thomas Shimmin and Amber LaPraim, who joined Oni earlier this year, are taking joint positions as marketing coordinators. [press release]

Creators | Alison Bechdel discusses her family, her psyche, and the challenges of drawing a memoir that's set in therapy sessions: 'I watched all the episodes of 'In Treatment' at one point, to see how they managed to make two people sitting in a room so very dramatic. And it was basically just good writing and good acting. So that gave me the hope that I could pull this story off without adding a car chase or an explosion. Though there is a kind of a car chase, now that I think of it, when a Sunbeam bread truck almost runs me off the road. My story also goes in and out of other texts ' movies, psychoanalytic papers, children's books ' which creates some more overt visual excitement. And I use a dream to begin each chapter. I know you're not supposed to write about your dreams, but the dreams have a dramatic sweep that everyday life doesn't.' [The New York Times]

Creators | Michael Cavna talks to Matt Bors, the winner of the Herblock Prize, about the state of editorial cartooning: 'The diminishing numbers of cartoonists in this field is not a good sign. I've become kind of the Perennial Young Cartoonist. That's great ' I can have that field to myself. It's a small list, and there are less people to compete with. But it's not as vibrant a field as it was. [Look at] a lot of guys [who] came up in the era of Herblock ' you could have a real cush job and be well-paid and well-known. Now, you can still be well-known, [thanks to] web traffic. On my website, I have as many readers as a larger paper. [Readers] have just shifted. [The political cartoonist's job] just doesn't come with the same amount of money. I came up never trying to get a gig at a major paper. ' What political cartooning does require is someone paying you.' [Comic Riffs]

Alex Ross

Creators | Alex Ross, who's receiving the 2012 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the American Academy of Art, is profiled by WTTW's Chicago Tonight. [Redeye]

Comics | MTV Geek visits with cosplayer Alisa Farrington, the model for George Pérez's Supergirl. [MTV Geek]

Comics | Paul Boutin takes a look at the internet phenomenon of rage comics. [The New York Times]

Manga | Andy Nakatani, editor-in-chief of Viz's Shonen Jump line, talks to Deb Aoki about the reboot of the classic series Rurouni Kenshin, which will be carried in the digital Shonen Jump Alpha magazine. [About.com]

• May 11, 2012 @ 07:15 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
• Tagged: Alex Ross, Alisa Farrington, Alison Bechdel, auctions, Batman, cartoonists, collectible comics, comic books, comics a.m., comics industry, cory casoni, digital comics, editorial cartoons, George Perez, manga, Matt Bors, oni press, rage comics, Rurouni Kenshin, Shonen Jump, Shonen Jump Alpha, supergirl, Viz Media

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