Articles by glenn-hauman
Sat Sep 19, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Guess what today be, matey... aye, 'tis Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Yep, it's that time of year again, it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day, an important holiday in the Church Of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Extra points if you conduct your Rosh Hashanah services while talking like a pirate.
If you need pointers, watch this:
In honor of this sacred day, I'm curling up with a bottle of rum.
Fri Sep 18, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Happy new year! (5770, if you're counting...)
Hat tip: Lisa Sullivan.
Fri Sep 18, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Candace Bushnell's comments on men and comics
Candace Bushnell, the writer whose Sex And The City columns were the inspiration for the TV series and movie, has bounced back from last year's cancellation of Lipstick Jungle on NBC and chosen the web for her new venture-- a new series called The Broadroom, starring Jennie Garth and Jennifer Esposito. (Warning: if you click there, your cursor turns into lipstick. You wish I was kidding.)
Now, I watched the series when it was on HBO-- okay, my wife watched it and I was in the room a lot-- so I decided to give this one a try, see where the revenue stream is, and so on. And just shy of 2:40 into the first episode, entitled "Husband Hijinks" I'm treated to this monologue:
Ahh... men. I know nothing about them. I haven't had a date in, like, ten months. All my girlfriends are, like, where are the guys like us? Responsible, ambitious, normal... they're in their parents' basements trying to start up their comic book company, or they've suddenly decided to become a screenwriter at the age of thirty-nine. It's awesome.
My first thoughts on hearing this:
- Yes, I started a comic book company in my basement. Mine. My house. I own it.
- I don't have the time to do screenwriting, although everyone knows that comics are the way to break into movies nowadays anyway.
- Someone's feeling a bit prickly that her film wasn't in the top ten grossing films of 2008, and was beaten out by Iron Man and The Dark Knight.
Feel free to take a look for yourself:
And people wonder why there's some worry about Diane Nelson.
Wed Sep 16, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Happy anniversary, 'Monster Commute' and 'Alien Loves Predator'!
A quick tip of the hat to two Webcomics You Should Be Reading:
Monster Commute just celebrated a year and 267 strips online on September 15th, 2009. "While it's not 10,000 pages or anything that grand, it is cool to have gone a year and and not missed any updates. It's little, but it's OUR little milestone" claimed artist/writer Daniel M. Davis. "I also invented the savory porcupine," he said.
To mark this occasion, the LA band Puke and Spit has written and recorded the "Monster Commute theme song" which is being offered for free on www.monstercommute.com.
And speaking of monsters, Bernie Hou's Alien Loves Predator has just hit a somewhat obvious milestone of its own.
Congratulations, gentlemen.
Wed Sep 16, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
'Spider-Man 4' announces concurrent IMAX release
To the surprise of few, IMAX Corp. and Columbia Pictures announced that Spider-Man 4 will be released to IMAX theatres simultaneously with the film's worldwide release on May 5, 2011. Spidey 4 reunites director Sam Raimi with stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, and will be the first Spidey film under the new regime.
Hence the image.
Quite seriously, if you thought the Spidey-Cam was tough to move around before, just imagine what it's going to be like to move a Spidey-IMAX-Cam...
Tue Sep 15, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Worth 1000 contest for Disney Marvel merger
Now the Photoshop mockups are coming from the people who are taking serious time to do them. Go look. And there's still time to enter yourself.
Tue Sep 15, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
John Buscema museum show in Palma, Spain
Rob Harrigan posts that there will be a major John Buscema retrospective opening on Thursday in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and running until November 17. Private collections spanning his entire career will be on display publicly for what may be the first time.
One wonders if they're going to show the front of the pages of art or the back.
Tue Sep 15, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Newsarama has a virus?
Yep-- looks like they've picked up a virus somewhere. If you visit the film section at newsarama.com/film (no, we aren't linking) you'll potentially be exposing yourself to viruses and malware. Of the 6 pages Google tested on the site over the past 90 days, 2 pages
resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without
user consent.
So far, the comics sites are clean.
If their status changes-- in either direction-- we'll let you know.
Mon Sep 14, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Patrick Swayze, 1952-2009
Patrick Swayze has just lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi.
In a remarkable career, ranging from The Outsiders to Dirty Dancing, from Red Dawn to Steel Dawn, from Ghost to The Beast, and even To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar-- there are still people who will know him best for this:
See you in the next life, Bodhi.
Mon Sep 14, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Frederator Studios signs with Sony Pictures Animation
Frederator Studios has signed a multi-year deal with Sony Pictures Animation to develop animated feature films, according to Cynopsis.
Founder Fred Seibert, formerly President of Hanna-Barbera Productions, launched the Frederator animation studio in 1998 and has developed animated properties including The Fairly OddParents, Dexter's Laboratory, My Life as a Teenage Robot, The Powerpuff Girls and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Frederator is currently in production on Fanboy & Chum Chum, the CG animated series launches this fall on Nickelodeon, and Adventure Time at Cartoon Network set for May 2010. Additionally, Frederator is developing a feature film based on the animated series Samurai Jack at Paramount Pictures with Bad Robot Productions. Seibert was also the original creative director of MTV: Music Television and later toiled for Nickelodeon and helped create Nick-at-Nite.
Sony Pictures Animation's newest movie, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, opens nationwide this Friday.
Sun Sep 13, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Happy birthday, Uncle Sam!
On this day in 1766, Samuel Wilson was born. At the time of the War of 1812, he was a prosperous middle-aged meat-packer in Troy. He
obtained a contract to supply beef to the Army in its campaign further
north, which he shipped in barrels. The barrels, being government
property, were branded with the initials "U.S.", but the soldiers would joke that the initials referred to "Uncle Sam", who
supplied the product. Over time, it is believed, anything marked with
the same initials (as much Army property was) also became linked with
his name.
Later on, he'd become known for the most famous poster in the world, and became a comic book character, first for Quality Comics, then later for DC as the leader of the Freedom Fighters and as the star of a miniseries by Alex Ross.
Fri Sep 11, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Disney Teams Up With Guillermo Del Toro - is this how Dr. Strange will appear?
Put the pieces together: Guillermo Del Toro was talking with Neil Gaiman about doing a Dr. Strange film as far back as February 2008. Now Del Toro is cutting a deal with Disney... and Disney now owns Marvel, which of course is the home of the good Doctor. Sounds like the stars are aligning... but we already had a recent animated Doctor Strange...
Press release via Nikki Finke: Disney Toons Up With Guillermo Del Toro Under "Disney Double Dare You" Label
Anaheim, California -- September 11, 2009 -- The Walt Disney Studios, in collaboration with acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Hobbit”), is launching a new production label called Disney Double Dare You, to create new animated films full of chills and thrills for audiences of all ages, it was announced today at the D23 Expo by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. All films will be produced under the guidance of del Toro, who originated the concept and the design of DDY and who will also direct certain projects. The first project in development for the new label is called “Trollhunters,” an original del Toro story which he will produce.
Commenting on the announcement, Cook said, “Guillermo is a brilliant and visionary filmmaker, and we’re excited to be launching this new label with him. His knowledge and appreciation for Disney films, along with his penchant for creating worlds of fantasy, presented a great opportunity for us to explore a whole new genre of filmmaking for moviegoers of all ages. We have admired Guillermo’s imaginative approach to filmmaking for some time, and now we’re proud to be working with him to create films full of imaginative delights and lots of thrills at the same time.”
Del Toro added, “As a director, I love to take audiences into fantastic new worlds and provide them with some anxious moments in the process. It is part of the Disney canon to create thrilling, unforgettable moments and villains in all their classic films. It is my privilege for DDY to continue in this tradition. To partner up with The Walt Disney Studios, with the support of Dick Cook and John Lasseter, is to belong to a storytelling partnership that I admire deeply. It is a true honor. I look forward to coming up with fresh and original stories that will take Disney films in a whole new direction. The emphasis is on fun, and we have some great ideas already on the storyboards.”
Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth received six Academy Award® nominations in 2007, including one for his original screenplay, and went on to win three awards. That film also received a BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English language. His other directing credits include “Hellboy,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Cronos,” and “Mimic,” among others. Del Toro is currently directing back-to-back feature film adaptations of the Tolkien classic, “The Hobbit,” for release in 2011 and 2012.
(Hat tip to Arne Starr for the art, and Patrick Dempsey for the modeling.)
Fri Sep 11, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
Bob Greenberger on being in Paul Levitz's office on Wednesday
Want to know what was going on in Paul Levitz's office on Wednesday? Bob Greenberger was there:
I had no inkling that going to DC Comics for meetings today would prove a stroke of lucky timing. While meeting with Chris Cerasi on a project we’ll talk about in a day or two, I received a call from DC’s President and Publisher Paul Levitz. He heard I was around and could I stop up?
Bob also takes the time to talk about the changes Paul's departure means for DC Comics Entertainment:
DC has lost its last guardian. He was the last executive to have the power to prevent misguided interpretations of the characters that remain the building blocks for the company. The freelancers have lost someone who has been scrupulous in seeing to it they get every nickel they’re entitled to and helped craft the first royalty plan and creator participation plan. His depth of knowledge of the company’s history and much of the character histories will be gone from the halls, forcing the company to compensate him every time they need to pick his memory, which will no doubt continue to happen long after the transition is gone.
The time may have come for the change but not all change is for the better. Personally, I suspect Paul will be fine, happily reading at his leisure and writing some good, solid stories heavy on plot and character. DC will be a far different place in the months ahead and there’s no guarantee what will come next. Paul, like the rest of us, will have to sit and watch from the sidelines.
Thu Sep 10, 2009 — by Glenn Hauman
The Apple story that didn't happen (yet) to make it a full-blown comics apocalypse
Apple didn't announce this yesterday, as many people were expecting.
If it had been, the comics industry as we know it would be completely changed in less than two weeks.
On the other hand-- Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, is also the largest shareholder of Disney. Which now owns Marvel. Which makes comics that would be perfect to display on any hypothetical Apple Tablet.
Hang on tight, folks. The ride does not get slower.
