The Rundown: Fantagraphics Kickstarts Their Spring Line, DC’s Hourman to a TV Near You, and more

Welcome back to The Rundown, our daily breakdown on comic news stories we missed from the previous day. Have a link to share? Email me at david@multiversitycomics.com.

– Early contender for the Kickstarter of the year? Fantagraphics is having one hell of an initiative, as they put their entire 2014 Spring publishing season of books – 39 graphic novels and books – up with a goal of $150,000. There is an amazing assortment of rewards, most notably the ability to go target shooting with publisher Gary Groth. HOW HAS NO ONE BOUGHT INTO THAT ONE YET?! This might be the coolest Kickstarter comic project yet, if only for the breadth of options for rewards and the nature of it. You’re effectively funding their entire spring catalogue. Soooooo awesome.

– DC’s been busy putting together new TV projects, and on the heels of The Flash being developed comes…HOURMAN!!! Wait, what? Hourman? Really? It is really damn strange that this would be the next character they introduce to TV audiences given the fact that this character hasn’t even been introduced in the New 52 yet…but I actually think it’s a really good idea. Seriously. Hourman’s powers work for an hour at a time, and past that he’s a normal, even flawed dude. There’s a lot to play with here, and given the hour of power, there’s even restrictions to budgetary needs for special effects AND a good fit for the freak of the week storytelling. I’m interested to see what comes next, but there’s potential here.

– Speaking of DC, looks like that “Five Years Later” leap or event or whatever is happening for sure. Whether this was shown in the CBR video shot at DC offices intentionally is uncertain. Personally, I really hope they revealed it accidentally. That would amuse me greatly.

– Ed Brubaker joins the “How Did This Get Made?” podcast – featuring Paul Scheer, Jane Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael – to make fun of and analyze the Ben Affleck starring Daredevil movie. That’s right.

– Are comics and comic artists not taking any risks anymore? Are they getting lazy compared to the work of artists from yesteryear? Comics Should Be Good at CBR asks that and gives examples of why that is very much true. Worth checking out, although I’m not sure its true. I just think there is a certain level of focus on storytelling leanness vs. more grandiose paneling and layouts today than it had been before.

– On the heels of Skottie Young drawing Matt Fraction comes…SKOTTIE YOUNG DRAWING JASON AARON!