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With Further Ado #413: Three Wonderous Treasures to Share

With Further Ado #413: Three Wonderous Treasures to Share

Posted on by Ed Catto

Titan’s Andrew Sumner is a fascinating guy with so much to say. You might be enjoying his impressive publishing and collectible output from Titan, you might have seen him on so many SDCC or NYCC panels, and maybe you’ve even see his podcasts & YouTube interviews.

I must admit: I have the great privilege of hosting Andrew as a Guest Lecturer at Ithaca College. He’s always one the very favorites of the students.

Well, now the tables are turned. He’s the one being interviewed. Eoin McAuley provides an outstanding interview in the latest episode of Creator in Conversation..and it’s available here!

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At San Diego Comic-Con in July, I always enjoy the small press area. Someone once gave me good advice: walk up and down the small press aisles with a little cash in your pocket and spend it with these talented creators.  And I always do.

Let me tell you about just two of the folks I chatted up there this year. Continue reading “With Further Ado #413: Three Wonderous Treasures to Share” →

With Further Ado #408: The Return of the (UK) Avengers

With Further Ado #408: The Return of the (UK) Avengers

Posted on by Ed Catto

Maya Angelou probably was not the first individual to say this particular quote, or a variation of it, but over the years it has been most frequently attributed to her.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

That’s just the way I feel about one of my favorite TV shows, from the UK; The Avengers. This stylish spy/thriller drama wasn’t so much about the stories themselves.  The adventures were all outlandish, and the supporting characters were over the top, but it was all about how it made us (the viewers) feel.

And as we watched every stylish episode, we couldn’t help but feel the elegance, with panache, of the lead characters. We all wished we could all be more unflappable, more poised, more dashing, more flirtatious under pressure. It was less about if they would get the villains each week, but instead about how they got them.

At San Diego Comic-Con this summer, I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with a very busy man, Andrew Sumner, the Chief Operating Officer of Titan Entertainment Group. He moderated about a zillion panels while also leading his team all week at their Titan booth. It was one of the highlights of the convention’s exhibition floor.

I don’t quite know how this happened. Between with my visits to the Titan booth, and my time with Andrew, I somehow missed the fact that Titan was publishing a new Avengers (the UK Avengers, as noted) adventure in a paperback.

It’s written by David Crichton and is called Death in Downing Street.

The Avengers have a rich history of print adventures, and fandom has embraced this property/these characters again and again.

As I missed the brief SDCC “on sale window” for this book, I immediately ordered a copy as soon as I learned about it. I just finished reading it. It’s a breakneck thriller, filled with all the bits and gags that fans have loved over the years.

There are even a few parts that border on risqué, or ribald, humor. I laughed out loud a few times as a I was reading, in fact (much to my wife’s surprise).

Author David Chrichton is able to bring something new to the party too. As this is a sixties historical thriller, he allows Steed and Mrs. Peel to interact with real people, including the UK prime minister Harold Wilson.

Cheers to Chrichton, to Titan and to Andrew Sumner. And just when I thought that San Diego Comic-Con didn’t have any more surprises. Well done all.

When’s the next one going to be published?

The Avengers: Death in Downing Street
By David Crichton
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Titan Books
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 14, 2026
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1835416204

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Need more of the Avengers? I did write about their many publications, and a Herbie J Pilato’s new Diana Rigg book recently here.

With Further Ado #363: Ms. Tree: All Good Things…

With Further Ado #363: Ms. Tree: All Good Things…

Posted on by Ed Catto

There’s always a thrill visiting with old girlfriends. Years ago, I visited one, and we ended up getting married!

Ms. Tree wasn’t exactly a girlfriend, but I certainly loved her comics series over the years. Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty created this tough female detective with a nod and wink to their favorite detectives (Mike Hammer, Dragnet’s Joe Friday, etc. ), and detective genres, but she became her own thing.

Fans like me followed her exploits amongst various publishers for years. Recently, Titan Comics, through their brilliant Hard Case Imprint has been reprinting the entire collection of Ms. Tree comics. It’s all in a fun format: sturdy paperbacks that are little-smaller-than-a-comic.

Beatty’s straight-ahead artwork really pops in this reduced format. Italian artist Claudia Caranfa outdid herself with this stunning cover. But don’t worry, Terry Beatty’s glorious original covers are included within each of these volumes. Surprisingly, these archival editions have not been printed sequentially, but that’s made it even more fun. Continue reading “With Further Ado #363: Ms. Tree: All Good Things…” →

With Further Ado #259: A Beach Book and a Movie (promotion)

With Further Ado #259: A Beach Book and a Movie (promotion)

Posted on by Ed Catto

I’ve been swimming, I’ve partied at the water’s edge, I’ve watched some gorgeous sunsets, but I haven’t read a book on the beach yet. I shouldn’t moan and whine, it’s been an outrageously fantastic summer so far. But still… there’s something about reading a book with your toes in the sand, copious amounts of sunscreen on your nose with summer stretched out in front of you.

After really enjoying a short story collection, Jess Thompson’s The Angel of Rome and Other Stories, I’m resolved to reach more short stories.

Before I get to solving this book-on-the-beach conundrum, I want to discuss a trend and genre. Continue reading “With Further Ado #259: A Beach Book and a Movie (promotion)” →

With Further Ado #232: Ms. Tree – Success Is No Mystery

With Further Ado #232: Ms. Tree – Success Is No Mystery

Posted on by Ed Catto

I never grew out of Superheroes, but I did grow into detective fiction. I’m not sure when it was (maybe middle school?), but mysteries and detective stories were my favorite literary genre. And while I’ve always been all in on comics, there was never an overwhelming amount of traditional detective/mystery/private eye comics.

Oh, there were a few that pulled me in, and I enjoyed them all. I particularly remember Mike W. Barr’s Maze Agency, Jonni Thunder and those Jason Bard back-up stories in (appropriately) Detective Comics. And the long running Ms. Tree was also always a favorite.

This character, and series, were created by two folks who would become favorites of mine. Max Allan Collins is a Mystery Writers of America 2017 Grand Master ‘Edgar’ winner, although I knew him better as the Dick Tracy writer and the guy behind the Nate Heller novels. Terry Beatty is a fantastic artist and today many folks know him as the inker of the Eisner Award-Winning Batman and Robin Adventures series and the World’s Finest graphic novel. Continue reading “With Further Ado #232: Ms. Tree – Success Is No Mystery” →

With Further Ado #147: Five and a Half Questions with Hard Agree’s Andrew Sumner

With Further Ado #147: Five and a Half Questions with Hard Agree’s Andrew Sumner

Posted on by Ed Catto

Andrew Sumner is a dynamo wrapped in a fireball with the limitless energy of a blazing supernova. I’m always fascinated by everything he’s doing and the launch of his new podcast, Hard Agree, (I’ve become a regular listener) provided a great excuse to catch up with him!

Question 1:

Ed Catto: You’ve got so much going on now and such a cool origin story, Andrew.  Can you tell us a little about who you are and how you ended up at your current position at Titan?

Andrew Sumner: My grandfather and best friend, Pops Smythe, served with an American unit in Normandy in WWII, and when he came back to Liverpool, England in 1947 (after spending two years as an MP on clean-up duty in post-Nazi-occupied Paris), he came back with a great love of America, Americans and American popular culture – as personified by movies, big band music and the comic books he’d received as part of his US Army rations. He transferred all of those passions to me – when I was three, he bought me my first US comic (Batman #184) and I was hooked for life. Continue reading “With Further Ado #147: Five and a Half Questions with Hard Agree’s Andrew Sumner” →

Press Release: “A SPOILERVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL” LAUNCHES IN SUPPORT OF GIVE COMICS HOPE

Press Release: “A SPOILERVERSE CHRISTMAS CAROL” LAUNCHES IN SUPPORT OF GIVE COMICS HOPE

Posted on by PCS Staff

Press Release:

Wednesday December 23. 2020, Seattle –

Spoilerverse.com, the universe of pop culture podcasts based in Seattle (home of the Spoiler Country, Misery Point Radio, Narrative Gunslingers & Hard Agree podcasts – and many more) announce the launch of their annual “A Spoilerverse Christmas Carol” podcast, this year in support of Give Comics Hope.

“A Spoilerverse Christmas Carol” is the first of Spoilerverse.com’s annual yuletide charity podcasts and features regular Spoilerverse commentator/podcaster (and EVP of London’s Titan Entertainment) Andrew Sumner performing Charles Dickens’ one-man public performance version of Dickens’ Yuletide classic A Christmas Carol.

http://scpod.net/a-spoilerverse-christmas-carol/

Sumner commented: “we’re coming to the end of a wildly-turbulent & damaging pandemic year, which has left the comics industry’s all-important network of individually-owned comic book stores – the temples of pop culture in which we all worship – hard hit & struggling to survive. William Schanes’ team at GiveComicsHope.org have dedicated themselves to supporting our comic book shops until we can get to the other side of the pandemic. Their mission of community support reminded myself and Spoilerverse show-runners John Horsley & Kenric Regan of Dickens’ own seasonal message of empathy & civic responsibility, so we thought “what better way to underline & amplify Bill’s mission than to return to the words of Charles Dickens himself, the great believer in human society pulling together?”

“A Spoilerverse Christmas Carol” is live now:
http://scpod.net/a-spoilerverse-christmas-carol/

With Further Ado #105: Sharing SDCC’s Secret Traditions

With Further Ado #105: Sharing SDCC’s Secret Traditions

Posted on by Ed Catto

The San Diego Comic-Con is many things to many people.  For the business community, it’s an incredible commerce success story.  For fans and collectors, it’s both a celebration and a validation.   For entrepreneurs, it can be an enjoyable way to drive revenue quickly. For the entertainment community, it’s a fantastic marketing venue. For the entertainment community in Los Angeles and Hollywood, it’s also a great excuse to get outta town.

And for so many folks, professionals and fans alike, it’s an opportunity to spend time with 200,000+ of your closest friends.  It’s an annual journey to a real-life Disney World, mixed with a hefty dose of your best days on a college campus and the most incredible state fair ever, where the main dish on the menu is “all the stuff you love.”

This year, as the nation and the world struggles with Covid-19, the folks behind the convention shifted gears quickly to morph the show into a virtual convention. We’ll all be analyzing that for a while, but one refrain I heard time and time again was not so much how folks missed the big events, but how they missed the little things.

I reached out to a group of fascinating folks and asked them to share some of their more personal stories and traditions from their annual pilgrimage to San Diego Comic-Con and the little things they miss this year.

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Rob Salkowitz is the author of Comic-Con and the Business of Geek Culture  (I use this as a textbook for one of my college classes)  a consultant  and a sayer of things. He wistfully remembers one tradition he and his wife Eunice especially hold dear:

Our oldest and longest running SDCC tradition is the Tuesday night dinner we instituted with Batton Lash and Jackie Estrada back in 2000, maybe earlier. We were fans with no industry connections whatsoever. They befriended us, introduced us to pros, made us formally part of the Eisner Award staff and brought us into the circle of Comic-Con. After we lost Batton a couple of years ago we continued with Jackie. We really miss seeing her in person this year.

Continue reading “With Further Ado #105: Sharing SDCC’s Secret Traditions” →