COMIC-CON VERSUS THE SHARK:
It feels like every year the San Diego Comic-Con is followed with some kind of discussion of if the event has outgrown San Diego, gotten too big for its own good or just generally jumped the shark. (This year's Nerd Prom certainly has drawn some complaints.) Graeme McMillan compiles the gripes, including complaints from the mainstream press sent to cover it, celebrities unable to get to their parties due to the huge crowds, comics publisher IDW talking about puling back and more press complains about too little comics at the Comic-Con.

What, Paris Hilton's appearance only gets mentioned in a quote? I thought she and Kim Kardashian were supposed to represent the end of Comic-Con's geek cool?

It's been a couple years since I've been able to get myself to Comic-Con (I am going through such withdrawal, I could mug someone for a Cafe 222 waffle ... if people were in the habit of carrying a hot breakfast on them) but I've long said that there's so much going on that Comic-Con that Comic-Con is what you make of it. You can focus on the indie comics, the manga publishers, the capes and cowls or just be there for the TV/film coverage without getting to bogged down in other aspects. Has that changed in the past two years of growth?

However, I've said for a few years now that the TV and film studios are overlooking the potential of Comic-Con by focusing on male-skewing titles. After all, thanks to the rise of publishers like Viz and Oni, Comic-Con attendees includes the fans of Nana, The Wallflower and Hopeless Savages and I can see those fans getting excited over an Ugly Betty panel. I'm disappointed that, so far, that audience keeps getting overlooked.

OFF*PRINT:
This was the news I was expecting/dreading when the news of Tokyopop's financial troubles first came out. Jen Lee Quick recently revealed that her incredibly likable (and adorably quirky) boy-meets-boy title Off*Beat won't see an ending anytime soon:

"as some of you probably heard Tokyopop is doing a lot of restructuring in the company. many of the OEL projects got affected. Off*beat got put on "hiatus". what does that mean exactly? i'm not entirely certain myself. i apologize for not sharing the news earlier but i was hoping to learn more information about the future of the project. all i can say still at this moment is that i have expressed deep concern to my former editor that i wanted a means to finish the story and give my readers closure. i'm trying not to say too much because i want to keep my options and relations as good as possible. i was given a kind of vague response quite some time ago that things were still being re-organized on their end and they were looking in to options for allowing their creators to finish their stories.

in short, tokyopop put the freeze on off*beat and there's nothing i can do about it until i hear otherwise...which maybe never."

The quirky and endearing Off*Beat

I'm not surprised, as I noted earlier, since the series has been behind schedule for a while. Still, it's disappointing to hear that the story won't be completed anytime soon; Off*Beat was a charming story that I would have loved even if it were a traditional opposite-sex romance. Fingers crossed that something happens to let us see the how Christopher and Colin's courtship wraps up.

IT'S NEVER JUST ONE THING:
Well, sadly, it's never one thing. A week before I heard about Tokyopop's problems, YAOI publisher DramaQueen had also hit troubled waters and now the Boys Next Door Blog is reporting that DramaQueen's anthology Rush looks like it won't be putting out any more issues, another hint that the publisher might not make it survive these troubles. Rush was DramaQueen's attempt to put out new material with western creators and, it seems, those creators have found their efforts frustrated by business troubles.

"Night and Day"'s Adder (by Akira Atsushi, left) and "Roulette"'s Riley (by Tina Anderson, right):

Rush was one of many titles that I never got around to sampling, so I can't say much about it. Are there any Rush readers out there who will be missing the series?

YAOI may be one of the few genres of manga still seen as having plenty of growth potential but with Iris, DramaQueen and Tokyopop hitting hard times, that seems to leave YAOI Press as the last healthy publisher creating new male romance comics.

Treasure by Studio Kawaii

I'm wondering: do we have any followers of YAOI Press out there? At last year's YAOI-Con, I ended up picking up period pirate romance Treasure! and mostly found it to be a fun bit of escapism (plus I liked how the story set up the naval setting as a way for the protagonists to try to escape the homophobia of the era).

Kermit Love and one of his most beloved creations, Big Bird

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• I appreciate that Nerve is running a list of gay movies for Pride month, but I can't say I agree with the list itself. No Parting Glances? Really?

• We totally missed this, but costume designer Kermit Love, who also helped create Big Bird and oodles of other beloved Muppets, passed away at age 91 over the weekend. His longtime partner, Christopher Lyall, was interviewed for the mainstream coverage of his life and passing. (t/y Jason for the tip)

• BBC News Magazine has an update on The Mayo Ad That Ate Britain, including the fact that MP's are even getting involved in the scuffle ... is mayo the new controversial condiment? (Don't tell salsa, you know how he hates losing the spotlight!)

• Above, Mind of Mencia discusses gay marriage in that slapdash, faux-satirical and rather vulgar manner that is its hallmark. Were the crowd not to clearly overjoyed to see the two grooms kiss, it would be pretty awful. (t/y Ed for the tip!)

• Not only is Bravo airing the GLAAD Media Awards this Friday, but it's following it up with the network television premiere of Brokeback Mountain, and is advertising both together. And here I thought the A-List Awards was the gayest night on Bravo this year...

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