Articles by glenn-hauman
Fri Nov 20, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Why continuity matters, dammit
Doris Egan, former producer on Smallville and current producer on House, sums up why fans care about continuity:
I’ve never forgotten when I was a kid, watching a show called It Takes a Thief. Throughout the series, the hero would say, “I’m a thief, like my father and my grandfather before me.” Then suddenly there was an episode where a woman asked him why he became a thief, and he told a story about having been a geologist and getting into thievery almost accidentally. And this wasn’t presented as a lie. You can tell the difference; even as a kid, I could tell the difference. They expected you to accept this – for this episode. A few episodes later we’d go back to the previous story.
I’ll never forget how betrayed I felt, because I loved that series with a love only a pre-teen can feel. And I thought, “Someone had to have noticed that. If nobody else, the star must have noticed. And yet nobody fixed it. Which means… I care more than they do.” It was disillusioning and depressing.
Which is why I’m a continuity believer.
Certain franchises should have that printed in giant signs over the doors to their offices. The fact that their audience cares more about the story and characters they are making than they do should shame them. They care more for free than you do getting paid for it.
And when the franchise holders take money from you for it, it's even more deplorable. How many times have you bought a comic book or novel tie-in that said "This is the real backstory! This is what really happened in the missing year between these two events!" only to have it waved away later by management fiat?
We hear people say, "oh, it's a tie in, it doesn't count" and I call shenanigins. You sold it with the franchise trademark on it. You have a reasonable expectation that it ties in with the story. It's particularly annoying in the case of tie-ins, because the folks who follow them often spend a LOT of money on them. And you know what? It actually benefits the franchise holder if it all ties in well. Look at Dark Horse's sales figures on Buffy The Vampire Slayer before Joss Whedon was closely involved and after, and see the sales spik-- er, skyrocket. By not having a strict continuity between properties, the franchises are leaving money on the table.
What say you?
Thu Nov 19, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
'Angel: After The Fall' fan film
Here's an odd one. Think IDW's Angel: After The Fall series as experienced by Gabe and Tycho.
Enjoy.
Wed Nov 18, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
ComicMix and IDW on the iPhone and iTouch
We are proud to announce that our publishing partner IDW has launched new iPhone apps that will allow it to sell digital comics in dedicated storefronts; one for all IDW and ComicMix titles, and others specifically for Transformers, Star Trek, and G.I. Joe comics. Each app is free, and comes with different free comics. Consumers can then buy other IDW titles from within the apps.
ComicMix titles currently available are:
- GrimJack: Old Friends (available for free)
- GrimJack: Killer Instinct #1-6 (issue #1 available for free)
- GrimJack: The Manx Cat #1-2
- Jon Sable Freelance: Bloodtrail #1-6 (issue #1 available for free)
We'll be adding more in the future, of course. The app also has everything from Astro Boy and Bloom County to The Rocketeer and Tank Girl.
IDW is the first comic publisher to offer in-app purchases (although several third party companies, including Comixology, Panelfly, and iVerse, all offer in-app purchases of the titles they offer).
So please, download the free app and try it out, and post any and all feedback here in comments. We want to know what you think, and how we can keep improving what we're doing.
Wed Nov 18, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
'Global Frequency' back to TV?
Global Frequency, the DC/Wildstorm comic, might be back in play as a TV series.
You may remember that in 2005, Mark Burnett (producer of Survivor) and John Rogers (who would go on to write the comic Blue Beetle and create the show Leverage) created a pilot for the WB. The pilot wasn't picked up; however, it got leaked to the Interwebs and became the most watched pilot that never got picked up.
Now the industry magazine Production Weekly has just posted the following on Twitter: The CW will again try to adapt Warren Ellis' comic book "Global Frequency," this time Scott Nimerfro will script the pilot. Scott Nimerfro has written for Star Trek: Voyager, Tales From The Crypt, Perversions Of Science, The Outer Limits, Stargate: Atlantis, and Pushing Daisies, and was an associate producer on the X-Men movie.
Warren Ellis, creator of Global Frequency, sent out an email with the headline "I couldn't possibly comment".
We understand. And we couldn't possibly embed a video with footage from the original Global Frequency pilot that should never have been released out on the Internet. That would be wrong.
Here's hoping Michelle Forbes is still available.
Tue Nov 17, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Ken Ober: 1957-2009
Ken Ober, best known as the host of the MTV game show Remote Control, has died at the age of 52. No cause of death has been identified as yet.
Ober was the host of the series for five seasons on MTV, airing first in 1987. The series helped launched the careers of several notables, including Colin Quinn, Kari Wuhrer, Denis Leary and Adam Sandler. He followed the series as producer of Mind of Mencia for Comedy Central and also as a consulting producer for several episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine on CBS. Ober got his start as a stand up comedian on Star Search in 1984 where he was named the Comedian Champion.
If you want to get a bit nostalgic with us, come on along with us back to the late 80's... and yes, there may even be an odd comic book tie-in for this episode:
Mon Nov 16, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
'Least I Could Do' creators offers webcomic scholarship
It seems the least Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza could do was offer a full scholarship.
Ryan announced on the Least I Could Do website on Friday that they have created "The Rayne Summers Webcomic Scholarship", at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont:
Beginning in the fall of '10, we will be covering the full tuition for the selected applicant. The applicant who, I might add, is working towards a career in webcomics. Over the course of the next 5 years, we plan on adding 1 student per year, thus by 2015, the Scholarship will be putting 5 students through the program per year.
This scholarship will be managed by Blind Ferret, though there will be heavy involvement from others in our field, in the form of a board of Directors and a selection committee.
More information will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks, including fund raising events, application rules and deadlines and more. Keep an eye on this space.
Applause, applause, gentlemen. And this actually hints at a bigger question-- why hasn't any other comics company stepped up to fund such a scholarship? There's the Dave & Paty Cockrum scholarship at the Kubert School that's funded from the sale of Dave's personal collection and through the tireless efforts of Paty and Clifford Meth, and Diamond and First Second also had a scholarship at CCS, although it's not clear if that was just a one time thing.
Why doesn't DC or Marvel have any? Do they actually have some that are so poorly promoted that I've never heard of them? Or would they rather just draft straight from high school into the major leagues?
(Note: of course, DC and Marvel both have internship programs, I went through one from DC. But they do require you to be where the office is, and you have to be there during 9-5 hours, which is hell on a college class schedule.)
Mon Nov 16, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Review: I'm disappointed by Mark Waid's 'Strange' #1...
Oh, not by the comic itself. The book reads well, is entertaining, puts our boy Stephen in a different place than he was, and the art by Emma Rios is fun and quirky, calling to Ditko without ever calling to Ditko.
It's just that Mark didn't do what clearly needed to be done... the tale should have been titled "Strange Sports Stories".
Really, guy, you're slipping.
Mon Nov 16, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
'The Looking Glass Wars' movie adaptation in the works
A movie adaptation of author/producer Frank Beddor's young adult book trilogy The Looking Glass Wars is in the works. During an appearance to promote the third book in the series, ArchEnemy, on Good Morning America on Friday, Beddor said he was working with producer Charles Roven (The Dark Knight, Rex Libris) to bring The Looking Glass Wars to the big screen.
The series has already spun off a graphic novel version and the spinoff series Hatter M, written by Beddor and Liz Cavalier with art by Ben Templesmith in volume 1 and Sami Makkonen in volume 2. A lengthy preview of the series can be found at HatterM.com.
Sat Nov 14, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Mark Wheatley at Towson University on graphic novels
Today's 18th Annual Baltimore Writers' Conference will feature Mark Wheatley writer-artist of Lone Justice, Frankenstein Mobster and EZ Street, as well as Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down and The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958 and others.
Now in its 18th year, the one-day conference at Towson University in Towson, Maryland will bring together aspiring writers from around the mid-Atlantic to learn about writing from published authors, agents and editors. Panel sessions will cover a variety of topics including screenplays, poetry, creative nonfiction, blogging, children's books, thrillers and travel writing.
The conference is sponsored by Towson University’s Graduate Program in Professional Writing, TU's College of Liberal Arts, Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Writing, and the City Lit Project.
Registration includes all panels, lunch and the closing wine-and-cheese reception. Admission for the general public is $95, and for students (with identification) the price is $50.
For more information, visit the Baltimore Writer's Conference online, email prwr@towson.edu or contact Geoffrey Becker at (410) 704-5196.
Fri Nov 13, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
'The Prisoner' online graphic novel
To promote the reimagining of The Prisoner premiering this Sunday on AMC, they've created an online graphic novel to go along with it, written by M. Scott Veach and drawn by Mitch Breitweiser.
The first chapter is up now, with some motion comics stuff, because everybody's doing motion comics nowadays...
Thu Nov 12, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Swipe File: Simone & Ajax and... Sesame Street?
First, we have Simone and Ajax as detectives trying to find... the Maltese Duck:
and then we have Bert and Ernie (or some bizarre clay figures that sorta look and sound like them) as detectives trying to find... the Maltese Duck!
Coincidence, you say? Hah! Then how do you explain that the person hiring Bert and Ernie is a sheep... just like a sheep hired Simone and Ajax in the story the case files call On The Lamb (or the Case of the Felonious Fleece)?!?
But don't take our word for it (as if you would), find out for yourself! Purchase The Adventures of Simone & Ajax, available for pre-order now at Amazon or available in this month's Diamond catalog from IDW.
And check out the newest Simone and Ajax adventure, A Christmas Caper, serialized weekly here on ComicMix!
Wed Nov 11, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Happy Armistice Day 2009
Today we solemnly observe the 91st anniversary of the end of the Great War, and the veterans of all wars, great and small.
Take a moment to pause and remember for those in Flanders Fields who cannot.
Making Light remembers better than most.
Tue Nov 10, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Can you pass this supervillian test?
Came across this brainteaser on BoingBoing from [wu:riddles] --
You're a super-villain and you want to prepare a transparency (the kind that goes on an overhead projector) with the key points of your plan for world domination so you can present them to the hero/superagent before you attempt to kill him in some ridiculously novel way. You don't want this information to fall into the wrong hands before you're ready. Smart villain that you are, you know you can share the information across several slides so that if the enemy agents capture any two of your slides, they won't learn even the tiniest bit of information about your plan. How?
Give us your answers in comments. Note that your plan should be strong enough to thwart the accursed Richards.
Tue Nov 10, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Happy 40th birthday, Sesame Street!
Brought to you by the letters C, M, and the number 40
On this day in 1969, the National Educational Television network premiered a show from the Children's Television Workshop, with songs, animation, Bob McGrath, Loretta Long, Caroll Spinney, Carol Burnett, and Muppets.
Forty years later, Sesame Street has become the longest running American children's program, having helped educate generations of children worldwide. And Bob McGrath, Loretta Long (Susan) and Caroll Spinney (Big Bird and Oscar) are still there. (Think of it-- 40 years as an 8 foot tall bird.)
The effect of the show is so powerful and widespread, this song made it up to #16 on the Billboard charts in 1970:
Make sure you catch the season premiere today, with special guest Michelle Obama. Check your local PBS station for times and listings-- or (sign of the times) get the Sesame Street podcast on 
.
Mon Nov 9, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Wedding Announcements: Fishman - Keller
We are pleased as punch to celebrate the nuptials of
Marc Alan Fishman
and
Katherine Adelle Keller
this past Saturday in Indianapolis, IN.
We congratulate them and wish the happy couple many years of happiness.
(However, we are a bit confused by that thing in Kathy's hand. Is that some sort of marital aid?)
