#Z2 Comics

[colleendoran]

One of my favorite pages from TORI AMOS: LITTLE EARTHQUAKES graphic novel, nominated for two Eisner Awards for Best Anthology and Best Adaptation. It was wonderful to be working with one of the most underrated writers in comics again - Derek McCulloch on this handsome tale based on Tori's "Song for Eric".

I suppose it doesn't need saying, but I particularly love doing stories set in the 18th-19th century.

#tori amos #little earthquakes #derek mcculloch #eisner awards #z2 comics

[mikeywayarchive]

ayeroven: Met Mikey Way from MCR. Ran into Gina again. That’s it. Best con.

[Jul 20, 2023]

#mikey way #fans #z2 comics #ec #mcr #signing #return #ig #2023 #jul 2023 #7/20/23 #san diego #sdcc #sdcc 2023 #self titled #comics/graphic novels #photo #originals

[overlyspecificmcrmemes]

i should start a support group for electric century fans fucked over by z2 comics

#still never got my vinyl or shirt it’s bullshit #overly specific mcr memes #z2 comics #electric century

[current-mcr-news]

mikeyway: Tomorrow at @aftershockfestival, I’ll be hanging out at the @revolvermag tent with @z2comics! Come say hi 👋

[Oct 7, 2022]

#mikey way #z2 comics #after shock festival

[dickinson-devotee]

Z2 Comics

Thank you, Anaheim!🤘Check out our favorite moments from our incredible signing & panel with legends @/brucedickinsonhq and @/therealthatpolishguy about #TheMandrakeProject 🔥

#BruceDickinson

📸: @/chris_clutch24

——

April 2, 2024

#bruce dickinson #the mandrake project #the mandrake project comic #wondercon 2024 #wondercon #z2 comics

[neverwear]

Hello all,

Many of you know that I was a roadie for many years, touring with bands to include Mötley Crüe, Tool, Britney, Gaga, Soundgarden, Black Keys and more. 

My second tour in 2002 was the brilliant Tori Amos. On that tour (over 20 years ago) I met Neil Gaiman, who was hanging out backstage w/ T. He had a galley of Endless Nights. I told him that when I worked at a comic book shop (Geppi’s Harborplace in Baltimore) in my college days, I sold countless copies of Sandman—

We became friends and when Neil would visit LA, I would drive him to business meetings etc. I got a first class education in how to pitch films /stories and in 2016, he hired me full time with The Blank Corporation. Grateful for my lucky life!

Z2 reached out to both me and Neil to contribute to the newest Tori Amos graphic novel. We now have a few of these hard cover books for sale! They retail for $39.99 and we have created a code to give you $5 off that. Please enter the code : Tori5 at check out at neverwear.net, that will take the fiver right off the total. (& if you don’t want the book, the code is good for $5 off anything at the shop)

  BONUS: I asked Neil to sign only one copy that we will sneak into the pile- the rest will be signed by me. (Cat) My story about ghosts & music was beautifully illustrated by Paul Roman Martinez, who did the Calendar of Tales cards for us. Never did I dream I would share a book with Colleen Doran or Margaret Atwood, but here we are… 

Summary from Z2 Comics (they have sold out of all the premium versions!)

The official graphic novel celebrating 30 years of Tori Amos's breakout album: Little Earthquakes. The landmark release that established her iconic thematic voice, as well as her live intensity behind the keys with unflinching lyrics and songs that would inspire generations of artists and musicians. 

This graphic novel demonstrates the lasting influence of this defining work with 24 stories inspired by the 12 songs on the album, as well as the 12 ‘B-sides’ that accompanied the album and its associated singles. With star writers such as Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood  assembled by Z2 editor Rantz Hoseley, who previously edited the multi-award-winning Tori book: Comic Book Tattoo

Standard Hardcover Edition — $39.99

8” x 8” Hardcover Graphic Novel

WRITERS & ARTISTS: Neil Gaiman, Bilquis Evely, Margaret Atwood, David Mack, Leah Moore, Cat Mihos, Colleen Doran, Derek McCulloch, Lar deSouza, Annie Zaleski, Marc Andreyko, Neil Kleid, Alison Sampson and Paul Roman Martinez

COVER ARTIST: David Mack

DESIGNER: Lauryn Ipsum

 ps. here's what my sweet husband and shipping elf wants me to add: "My wife wrote in this!!"

www.neverwear.net

#neil gaiman #david mack #tori amos #z2 comics

[graphicpolicy]

Z2 at WonderCon: Legendary Bruce Dickinson Panel Discussion!

Z2 at WonderCon: Legendary Bruce Dickinson Panel Discussion! #wondercon #wondercon2024

Legendary Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is set for his first appearance at a US Comic Convention next week at WonderCon for a panel discussion on his debut comic book series, Bruce Dickinson’s The Mandrake Project! Be sure to visit the Z2 Comics booth (#1500) and get your hands on a few graphic novels! In Conversation with Bruce Dickinson: The Mandrake Project Saturday, March 30,…

View On WordPress

#bruce dickinson #iron maiden #wondercon #z2 comics

[cultofpoppy-tm]

Poppy is making her graphic novel return – and this time around it's bloody, very bloody.

Neville Hardman

Published: October 31, 2022 AltPress

One cover variant:

"For her new graphic novel, Poppy reunited with co-writer Ryan Cady (Batman: Urban Legends, Winter Guard), who worked on both Poppy: Genesis 1 and Poppy’s Inferno. She also teamed up with Norzine Lama, who provided art on Inferno as well as cover and interior art for the new installment. This time, though, Poppy created her own original story and characters.

#poppy #cult of poppy #queen #poppy's world #i'm poppy #alt press #altpress.com #article #neville hardman #tit tat #graphic novel #poppy graphic novel #poppy 3 #cover variant #comic art #z2 comics #story by poppy #written by ryan cady #ryan cady #original story #original characters #norzine lama #artist #genesis 1 #poppy's inferno

[aladdin]

WHO STOLE MY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY? Aladdin Investigates

In 2021, I made a social media post to publicly call out one of my clients, Z2 Comics, for underpaying their creatives. I received between $45 - $75 a page for my coloring work, always below the industry minimum standard for mainstream work, while being pushed to work at rapid and unsustainable speeds. In that post, I expressed other grievances, as well, such as being told by Z2 leadership that I was simply replaceable - they told me they could hire new colorists for as low as $30 a page. 

The CEO of the company, Josh Frankel, appeared on my public call-out thread to tell me I was being "inappropriate,", and proceeded to terminate all active projects with my coloring studio, I Love Lamp, LLC. He was fully in his right to execute that decision - we had no work-for-hire contracts between us to complicate the business / legal side of things. 

Although Josh referred to himself as my “employer” on that thread, he must have either been confused. Luckily for him, because he was my client, and not an employer, it was not a federal crime for him to terminate our relationship over my open discussion of compensation with other working artists. 

Z2 found new colorists to finish up Elvis The Graphic Novel, Sublime: $5 at the Door, and Machine Gun Kelly's Hotel Diablo Graphic Novel. 

Although I met lots of great illustrators and editors during my time working with Z2, the experience was, broadly speaking, a nightmare. I was more than ready to sever ties. I retained, however, a massive financial stake in the work that I'd done - I never surrendered any of my intellectual property. 

The More You Know: In the American Legal system, a colorist is a co-author of the comic books on which they work, with the full rights that entails. 

I had no energy for a fight, so I straight up offered all of my IP to Z2, for free, under the condition that they write out an official contract. My intention was to have a complete list of work I'd done for Z2, and ensure that I'd be properly credited for my work, by the company, moving forward - a mutually beneficial arrangement, I believed. 

Josh rejected the offer, saying that a contract wouldn't be necessarily, and that the email itself "should work fine." In that same email, Josh also accepted an apology from me that I didn't make. I laughed at the clown, and wrote his name down in my burn-book ("Josh Frankel Is a Fugly Slut").

I made no further attempts to offer my IP to the Z2 circus show. Instead, when Z2 continued use my work in promotional material, I sent a cease and desist to Z2's marketing department, and offered an explanation to the various new hires that Z2 never secured the rights to my work. I was ignored, and the solicitations continued. 

The Hotel Diablo graphic novel, which was completed in my absence, was nonetheless heavily marketed using pages that my studio had colored - because, presumably, other colorists had been paid $30 a page, and their efforts reflected that. BloodyDisgusting and ComicsBeat both published uncredited previews of my work on that book, which have since been corrected to include my name. Explaining how my name had been omitted, the journalist at Bloody-Disgusting told me that he “was only able to run what I was provided with.” 

Z2 comics thought that it was in their best interests, apparently, to simply remove my credits from future publications - or, the company is just so sloppy that no one even knows who worked on what.

When the The Elvis Graphic Novel was released, the final print contained my my covers, my pin-ups, and more than a dozen pages of interior coloring, with the rest of the color art clearly modeled after my own - but my credits had been entirely stripped from the work.

Confused and angry, I checked the copyright text within the book - the Elvis Estate was claiming 100% of the IP rights in the book. Where did my intellectual property go? 

Did the Elvis Estate steal my color art? Does the Elvis Estate even know that my color art was stolen? Does the Elvis Estate they know they are trafficking in grifted IP? 

I'm sure that Elvis would be rolling in his grave to know that his brand was associated with stealing the work of other artists. 

Anyway, I checked online, and there exists no record (that I can find) that credits me for my coloring work on that Elvis, other than my own various social media posts. When I nominated myself for awards in 2021, I had included that Title -  how embarrassing to discover that there was no public record of my involvement.  

Newly incensed, I contacted an Arts / Entertainment lawyer for the first time. I never intended to file lawsuits - I just wanted to be treated fairly, and recover my intellectual property. The lawyer explained the dynamics of IP and copyright in 2022, and sent me on a quest to the US Copyright Offices to look up all the copyrights to the books I've worked on. 

Wouldn't you know it, almost every Graphic Novel I ever worked on with Z2 had been registered, with the entirety of the Intellectual Property being copyrighted by Z2's various clients. These copyrights were not filed independently by the artists - all the copyrights were registered by the same Lawyer in Alexandria, VA. I sent the lawyer an email asking, in effect, "Hey WTF?"

I have received no reply, and have since reported their office to the Virginia State Bar. 

Early in my tenure contracting for Z2, in 2020, Z2 co-founder Josh Frankel explained to me, at his birthday party, that he was withholding my creator credits in the press so that I wouldn't get poached out from under him. It was his clever solution for retaining my services. At the time, I didn’t have other offers for work, and I was encouraged by other creators to push through my frustrations, and earn my place at the table. I kept working for Z2, despite feeling devalued (because I was literally being devalued). 

Upon further reflection, there is reason to suspect that Josh's idea to withhold my credits may have had even broader implications than what he revealed to me. The concerted effort to minimize my association with Z2 comics happened to dovetail quite nicely with a possible corporate embezzlement scheme - Z2 had legal access to, but not legal ownership over, my Intellectual Property. Somehow, all of Z2′s clientele seems to be under the impression that they own 100% of the IP contained within their various projects.  I haven’t fenced a lot of stolen goods, but I imagine, as an arm-chair gangster, that it’s lot easier to sell stolen material if the buyers don't know that it was stolen. Did the clients even bother to check if the colorist had signed away his rights? 

From my studio in Baltimore, I can't do much other than speculate. Some questions remain, for me:

What happened, behind the scenes, that caused Z2's clients to believe that they owned all of my IP? 

Is there a relationship between this years-long IP 'displacement,’ and the fact that Josh Frankel left the company this Fall? 

If Z2 did, in fact, intentionally embezzle hundreds of pages of my coloring art over the course of 3 years, would that constitute a valid RICO case to be mounted against the company? 

Did God himself orchestrate these events to amuse himself over the irony of a bunch of 'anti-establishment' Artists and musicians using the power of the State to facilitate the theft of art from smaller creators? 

When I colored 2 pages of the Magic comic for Boom!, I was credited in their press release, and was tagged in tweets for months as the book was reviewed, and later collected into trade paperback editions. 

Z2, meanwhile, has sent dozens of my pages out for previews, while withholding my name from the credits. Some popular outlets that currently feature my uncredited work online include Paste Magazine, ScreenRant, the Hollywood Reporter, the Comics Journal, and BleedingCool. 

Was there a legitimate corporate conspiracy against me, with agents in place across all spectrums of Pop Culture? Is the US State going to stand in my way as I march through Hell to take revenge on God for his failure to protect me and my family? Must I surrender my own humanity in order to summon the cyberpunk that lurks within? What will I become? 

Sorry, my degree is in “Dramatic Writing,” not “Intellectual Property Law.”

Anyway, here's a non-exhaustive list of of Copyright Claimants that have filed, with the US Copyright Office, for full legal ownership over my Intellectual Property on their various publishing projects. For the lulz, I have added three asterisks to each book that utilizes “Anti-Authoritarianism” as a major literary theme. 

Grateful Dead Productions  Grateful Dead - Origins ***

Dominic Harrison ("Yungblud") Yungblud Presents: The Twisted Tales of the Ritalin Club *** Yungblud Presents: Weird Times at Quarry Bank ***

Moriah Rose Pereira ("Poppy") Poppy 1: Genesis *** Poppy's Inferno ***

Universal Music Group The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology.

Skillet Eden II: The Aftermath ***

Dance Gavin Dance  Tale of the Robot ***

Rico Nasty, Inc.  Nightmare Vaycay *** Note: all images in this post were colored by Aladdin Collar for I Love Lamp, LLC, whose services were solicited by Z2 Comics. The Elvis Estate actually made minor adjustments to the Elvis cover, to their credit, they were very helpful in making their final touches, instead sending a thousand emails about inane bullshit. The paper texture on A Robot’s Tale was taken from an old book on archive.org, I don’t remember which one. The b/g textures of the Yungblud Presents cover below were originally from scans of a silk tie-dye scarf I originally made with my Mom for the Grateful Dead book and reused in at least 4 different projects. 

#Aladdin Collar #Z2 Comics #Publishing #Comics #Color Art #Grateful Dead #Poppy #yungblud #skillet #dance gavin dance #rico nasty #elvis presley #Intellectual Property #Copyright

[isthespiceoflife]

Miles x Comics: this incredible collab of jazz legend Miles Davis with Z2 Comics titled 'Miles Davis and the Search for the Sound' is a graphic novel biography, and has a few goodies in store, just in time for dad, in the holiday season upon us...

#miles davis #jazz #comic art #comics #artists #art #nyc #music #los angeles #uk #digital art #illustration #art style #z2 comics #graphics #novels #dave chisholm

[colleendoran]

NEIL GAIMAN'S CHIVALRY and TORI AMOS: LITTLE EARTHQUAKES EISNER NOMINATIONS

EISNER AWARD  NOMINATIONS ARE IN! 

Excited and pleased to announce that two projects –  Neil Gaiman’s CHIVALRY, adapted and illustrated by Colleen with letters  by Colleen and Todd Klein – and TORI AMOS: LITTLE EARTHQUAKES, THE GRAPHIC ALBUM an  anthology of short story adaptations of the music of Tori Amos featuring  works by Colleen, David Mack and others (including GONE TO AMERIKAY  scribe Derek McCulloch), as well as an alternate cover by Colleen – have  both been nominated for the Best Adaptation from Another Medium Eisner  Award. 

Neil Gaiman’s CHIVALRY also scored a lettering nomination for Todd Klein. 

TORI AMOS: LITTLE EARTHQUAKES, THE GRAPHIC ALBUM was also nominated for Best  Anthology, and Best Design with a Short Story nomination for Margaret  Atwood and David Mack.

(Colleen here: I'm splitting my vote for CHIVALRY Best Adaptation and TORI Best Anthology. But that's just me. Also, I'm voting for projects I worked on both times when I do. Because why not.)

#neil gaiman #tori amos #chivalry #dark horse comics #z2 comics #eisner awards

[mikeywayarchive]

@ catboygerard on Twitter:

LIVE MIKEY REACTION

[Jul 20, 2023]

#mikey way #fans #z2 comics #ec #signing #twitter #2023 #jul 2023 #7/20/23 #san diego #sdcc #sdcc 2023 #self titled #comics/graphic novels #dd spider tattoo #photo #originals

[cherrymaraschino]

POPPY PRESENTS: TIT TAT

#poppy #that poppy #tit tat #graphic novel #poppy presents tit tat #90s anime #sailor moon #2023 #z2 comics #flux #stagger #anime #manga #gothic noir #gothic

[lotuslandcomics]

Illustrated Al Interior Artist Aaron Augenblick and Director Josh Pilch bring “Your Horoscope for Today” to Life

Weird Al Reads Your Horoscope in New Animated Video for Z2’s 'The Illustrated Al: The Songs of “Weird Al” Yankovic'

https://www.lotuslandcomics.com/2023/01/weird-al-reads-your-horoscope-in-new.html

#weird al #z2 comics #comic books

[overlyspecificmcrmemes]

this goes out to all the electric century fans who have been victimized by z2 and never received what they paid for z2 i hate you with a fierce passion

#all my homies hate z2 #fuck them #i still never got my vinyl or shirt #and i only got my book because i sent a vaguely pissed off threatening email #overly specific mcr memes #z2 comics #electric century

[smashpages]

Out this week: Vince Staples Presents Limbo Beach (Z2, $19.99):

Bryan Edward Hill, Chris Robinson and Buster Moody adapt a story by rapper Vince Staples into this graphic novel. It’s about an island theme park ruled by adolescents with unique abilities — kind of like Lord of the Flies with super powers. 

See what else is arriving in comic shops this week.

#z2 comics #vince staples #graphic novels #can't wait for comics #new comics #ncbd #z2 #new comic book day #new comics day #buster moody #chris robinson #bryan edward hill #limbo beach #vince staples presents limbo beach