Chris Claremont is heading back to one of his most iconic Wolverine stories. The 2023 Ringo Awards winners have been announced. And thanks to a unique strategy, Vault Comics’ Unnatural Order boasts huge order numbers. All on Comic Book Club News for September 11, 2023.
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Episode Transcript:
Ringo Awards announces winners.
Chris Claremont returning to Wolverine.
Unnatural Order gets a large order.
This is Comic Book Club News for September 11, 2023.
Ringo Awards Announces 2023 Winners:
The Ringo Awards have rung in their winners for 2023. Named in honor of iconic artist Mike Wieringo, the awards are held yearly at Baltimore Comic Con and are a bit more of a low-key event than San Diego Comic-Con’s Eisner Awards.
This year’s winners include: Evan “Doc” Shaner for Best Artist or Penciller; Zoe Thorogood’s It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth for Best Original Graphic Novel; Kate Beaton for Best Cartoonist Writer/Artist; Ed Brubaker for Best Writer; and Something is Killing the Children for Best Series.
But the big winner of the night was Chris and Laura Samnee’s Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters from Oni Press, which took home two awards: Best Single Issue or Story; and Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel.
I guess it’s unpossible for that book to lose!
Chris Claremont Returning To Wolverine:
He’s the best there is at what he does, and what he does is… Write Wolverine. In honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the character, writer Chris Claremont will be returning to one of his most lauded stories with a new Marvel miniseries, Wolverine: Madripoor Nights.
Reteaming Captain America, Black Widow, and Wolverine directly after the events of the classic Uncanny X-Men #268, the five-issue miniseries will also feature art by Edgar Salazar.
Said Claremont via press release provided by Marvel: “Hard to believe, Bub, I’ve known Logan for 50 years! And Natasha was in the first Marvel story I ever wrote. This trip back to Madripoor reveals hidden truths about two of my favorite characters on the adventure that shaped their lives.”
In case you’re worried you missed the chance to buy Wolverine a birthday present, calm down. The fiftieth-anniversary celebration doesn’t start until next year. And the first issue of Madripoor Nights won’t hit stores until February 7. Plenty of time to buy him a can of cheap beer, or whatever.
Vault’s Unnatural Order Boasts Huge First Issue Numbers:
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but there are free comics — at least for retailers. Thanks to Vault offering free copies of their new book Unnatural Order to comic book stores, with a sale price on the cover of $4.99, the first issue boasts over 137,000 copies sent to stores.
Written by Chris Yost with art by Val Rodrigues, the goal — according to Vault CEO and Publisher Damian Wassel, via The Beat, is to get issue one in as many hands as possible. “Anyone who works in comics knows that new series live or die by their orders on #2, #3, and so on. The best way to get readers to show up in droves for a second issue is to make sure you got the first issue into as many hands as humanly possible.”
As for the book itself, it’s about an unstoppable evil called the Druid who has plunged the world into chaos in ancient Britain — and a time-traveling soldier who knows that the world isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.
So is this about to be the biggest comic of the year? Well, yes and no. Though comic book shops have ordered 137,000 copies of Unnatural Order, that does not mean customers will actually buy 137,000 copies, or anywhere close to that. However, as an experiment with the direct market? Kudos to Vault for trying something new.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And the fiftieth-anniversary gift is gold, so I’m going to get Wolverine a copy of X-Men Gold #1, nobody steal my idea.
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