lucy_anne | 
06 28th, 2003| 
Marvel’s press conference for 1602 not only received very detailed coverage on CBR, but Heidi MacDonald posted a long piece about it last night on Pulse as well. I am still not quite understanding how this is not a “What If…” story, but am pleased it does not seem that one will need to be consulting an encyclopedia of Marvel characters to follow along. History books, perhaps, but that is more what you would expect.
Jun
27
From the COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE Electronic Bulletin 1548.1
NEWS: GAIMAN: BACK IN COMICS, WORKING LIKE A MAD THING
By Maggie Thompson
Neil Gaiman told CBG, I am still hanging on by the skin of my teeth for the designation of The Most Famous Author I’ve Never Heard Of.’
But his anonymity may not last much longer for bookstore readers - and it’s not true at all in the comics field, which will see - in late summer - the almost-simultaneous release of three Gaiman comic-book projects: The Sandman: Endless Nights with art by P. Craig Russell, Milo Manara, Bill Sienkiewicz, Miguelanxo Prado, Barron Storey, Glenn Fabry, Frank Quitely, and Dave McKean for DC, The Wolves in the Walls, an all-ages graphic novel with McKean from HarperCollins, and the first issue of 1602 with Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove for Marvel. It’s an interesting place of coming together, Gaiman said.
In a general press conference June 27 Gaiman discussed how he came up with the idea for 1602, the story of the Marvel universe set in the same year as its title.
1602 came about in part because I was plotting it the week after Sept. 11. The first week planes were flying, I had to go to Trieste in northern Italy. I ended up with a day in Venice just to plot what I was going to do. Whatever I did, it WASN’T going to have skyscrapers, bombs, guns, or planes in it. I said I don’t think this is stuff I want to put into my fiction right now. When the idea for 1602 fell into my head, I called Joe Quesada and asked if anyone had done this before and he said they hadn’t, Gaiman said.
Gaiman commented on how impressed he has been with the art. Andy Kubert’s art is really cool - and gets better and better with each issue. I keep throwing things at him I thought he’d find difficult, and he’s just nailed it. I’m looking forward to seeing what Richard Isanove does with it.
His current, simultaneous stresses are a final reworking of an Endless Nights script to take into account Bill Sienkiewicz’ contribution to the story and, concerning 1602, getting everything that has to happen in 66 pages with no room to wiggle.
You can read an exclusive interview with Gaiman at:
http://www.collect.com/interest/article.asp?id=7799
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On a related note Wolves in the Walls will be reviewed in the upcoming Publishers Weekly
Jun
27
From teacher Holly Atkins’ June 23rd St. Petersburg Times article on Hot Reads for a Cool Summer:
Then “Hot Reads for a Cool Summer” recommends: The button-eyed “other” mother with her disgustingly long fingernails tap, tap, tapping on the table will creep you out like you won’t believe! Warning: This may not be the best choice to help lull you to sleep at night. Got a younger brother or sister at home? Gaiman paired up with illustrator Dave McKean to create The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish. This ultracool, quirky graphic short story for 4- to 8-year-olds (ah, heck, this is great for everyone with a sense of humor) will end up being the most begged-for bedtime book on the shelf. Older teens and adults should check out Gaiman’s graphic novels (yeah, they look like comic books, but they’re so much more; definitely not for the younger set). The Sandman series is one of Gaiman’s most popular.
Reader Profile - If you are:
Coraline by Neil Gaiman, read by the author. The CD version of this novel, a 2003 Audie Award finalist, is soooooo cool! Same creepy cover as the book, plus awesome graphics on each CD and original music by the Gothic Archies. Graphic novelist Gaiman’s deep-toned British accent wraps around your head and pulls you into a world that young Coraline discovers behind the parlor door.
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The American Gods hardcover is now at the very affordable price of $6.99 from Amazon
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This may have been posted previously; it’s from This Week magazine for March 7, 2003.
Best Books … chosen by Neil Gaiman
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On the June 23rd Talk of the Nation from National Public Radio, American Gods was a listener suggestion for summer reading; host Neal Conan mentioned Neil would be on the program in August.
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From a July 2003 article for Better Homes and Gardens on summer activities:
HAVE A BOOK PARTY…
…Here are a few ways to create a springboard for lots of activities.
Pick one book … Children’s books are usually short enough to read during your meeting. Because reading ability varies widely among kids, let the adults have a little fun. Neil Gaiman, award-winning fantasy writer and author of the forthcoming The Wolves in the Walls, still reads to daughter Maddy (even though the 8-year-old can certainly read on her own, thank you very much). Take turns reading pages using your best funny voices and accents, or you can each pick a character and read just those quotes. “Act. Be a ham,” says Gaiman. “You’ll have an appreciative audience.”
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Michael Sangiacomo has coverage of the History Channel special in his Cleveland Plain Dealer column, and Mark Hughes Cobb reported on Rock City in the June 21st Tuscaloosa News.
Jun
24
From Pulse:
MARVEL COMICS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER
MARVEL 1602 #2 (of 8 LS)
Written by NEIL GAIMAN
Illustrated by ANDY KUBERT & RICHARD ISANOVE
CARDSTOCK COVER by Scott McKowen
All’s not well in the Marvel Universe in the year 1602 as strange storms are brewing and strange new powers are emerging! Comics writing legend & bestselling novelist Neil Gaiman (SANDMAN, AMERICAN GODS) and Andy Kubert & Richard Isanove (ORIGIN) bring to life a rich new vision of the Marvel Universe that Gaiman promises is NOT a ‘What If” story. But how do Spider-Man, the X-Men, Nick Fury, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, Dr. Doom, Black Widow, Captain America & more Marvel stars appear in the year 1602?
40 PGS./MARVEL PG…$3.50
UPC: 5960605253-00211
Jun
23
Just a reminder for those of us in the States: Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked premieres tonight at 9pm EST (8pm Central) on the History Channel. I think this is the first time that Neil has been on national television here; if I’m wrong, I’m sure someone will correct me.
Also, the RSS feed for the journal proper is back to working on livejournal.
FWIW, you might try InfoMinder or ChangeDetect if you want to monitor for webpage changes when that sort of problem happens; if you are going to do so for Dreaming itself, you may have to set Infominder to look for two webpage changes, rather than one (it responds back when the pagecount goes up).
Jun
14
The Irish Times for 14 June notes in an audiobook wrapup that:
…much of the best material coming out in audio format is in the children’s books department, but kids and adults alike will chuckle over Dawn French’s wicked delivery of Neil Gaiman’s contemporary ghost story Coraline (Bloomsbury, two tapes, three hours, 8.99)…
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Martin Levin’s article on BookExpo appeared in the June 14th Globe and Mail.
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Patrick T. Reardon’s article on Printers Row Book Fair appeared in the June 9th Chicago Tribune:
Neil Gaiman’s latest book is “Coraline” (HarperCollins, $15.99), a novel for young adults about a girl who finds an alternative world behind a locked door in her home, but the 300 crowded into the library auditorium is an older group, nearly all fans of his fantasy books and comic books for adults.
One asks if the characters in his books who are gay are based on particular people, and Gaiman says: “You rarely steal characters whole and put them into fiction. You’ll watch a couple talking and notice that one of them never talks out loud [and later use that quirk for a fictional couple]. If you’re an author, you’re a magpie. You pick up the glittery things and take them back to your nest.”
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Not that it’s new, but the art that became the Gods and Tulips cover is on Mike Kaluta’s website.
And yes, you do want to go through the sketch on the front page and click on all the colored bits.
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And Steve, who has been helping me be Lucy Anne for years, managed to find within ten minutes the Hall of Fame link I’d spent most of May 27th last year (and off and on since) looking for.
He never ceases to amaze me.
Jun
8
Addenum: (14 June 2003)
Neil emailed to say that DC told him that the website should be Vertigocomics.com and that the Endless Nights mini-site is not due to go live until July.
Signed
-no longer confused.
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Slightly confused by the press release for Endless Nights, in terms of finding the mini-site. Even assuming that www.vertigo.com is actually www.dccomics.com/vertigo/, there is only a link to a single image from the book (Sienkiewicz’s take on Daniel). Hopefully there is more on the way. In the meanwhile, there are still the interviews with Neil (pt1,pt2) and Dave McKean (pt1,pt2) from the VertigoX preview to peruse.
Jun
1
From the May 15th Warsaw Voice:
Neil Before the Master
May 10, dozens of eccentric, black-clad comic book/dark fantasy fans were gathered on the third floor of the newly opened Traffic Club bookstore, eagerly awaiting one of the masters of the genre-Neil Gaiman.
Strolling onstage accompanied to the strains of Tori Amos (with whom the author and the singer hold sway over a “mutual appreciation society”) and looking a bit like comedian Martin Short’s younger brother, Gaiman was treated to a warm wave of applause from his fans.
Gaiman is ranked in Poland as the third most popular fantasy writer in print, only surpassed by J.R.R. Tolkien and Terry Prachett (with whom Gaiman co-wrote the satirical novel Good Omens). Granted that Gaiman’s Sandman series of graphic novels are considered seminal works in this form, it was rather surprising that all of the discussion revolved around his comic books. Since he was on tour in support of the translation of his newest work, Coraline, it was assumed that the meeting would be a review of his prose-this was unfortunately not the case. Yet this did not seem to bother all of the mylar fondling comic-kids in the audience.
The organizers of the event bestowed the guest of honor with some illustrations by Polish artists that were inspired by Gaiman’s work. While perusing through the pictures he was heard to comment: “The Polish people are very disturbed… I mean that in a good way.” After a short Q&A session with the audience, Gaiman read a selection from Coraline that left the audience’s appetite whetted for more of his wry and twisted prose. He also revealed, in great detail, the plans for the upcoming second installation of the Sandman series and told the salivating fans which artists he will be working with for the stories.
Gaiman, after a short break, had a meet and greet with fans and signed the 150+ strong crowd’s “Neilobilia.” Hopefully, this will not be the last we hear from this very talented writer and maybe he will pave the way for more writers of his caliber to make Warsaw a stop on their promotional tours.
Jun
1
From the May/June 2003 issue of Instructor, the magazine for teachers:
Coraline has just moved with her parents to an apartment in a big old house. There’s a carved wooden door at the far corner of the drawing room that opens onto a brick wall. On a rainy day, Coraline opens that door with its old-fashioned key-and the bricks are gone. Down the dark hallway is an apartment, just like her own-even the same pictures on the wall. She hears her mother’s voice coming from the kitchen. The woman looks like Coraline’s mother, only her skin is as white as paper. Her dark red fingernails are curved and sharp. Her eyes are big, black, shiny buttons. “I didn’t know I had another mother,” says Coraline. “Of course you do,” says the other mother, her eyes gleaming. “Everybody does.”
ACTIVITY: This is a suspenseful, compelling book for book talks and reading aloud, as listeners root for Coraline. Students can write an essay about their own “real, wonderful, infuriating, glorious” parents.
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Bob Minzesheimer’s May 29th USAToday article on BEA mentions Neil’s appearance to promote The Sandman: Endless Nights and The Wolves in the Walls, described as a “a graphic novel for all ages”.
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Matej Novak writes about comics in the Czech Republic, including translations of the Sandman titles and The Last Temptation, in the May 8th Prague Post
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The journal is name checked in the the May 6th Chicago Sun Times
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And finally, I CTHULHU: or What’s A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City Like This (Latitude 47 9′ S, Longitude 126 43′ W)? is now included in the exclusive material at neilgaiman.com
