Articles by rick-marshall
Thu Aug 14, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Canadians in Comics: An A-Z Guide
Creators that hail from the Great White North, eh!
Over at Hypergeek, newly citizen-ized Edward Kaye has decided to celebrate his Canadian residency by profiling comic book creators who also hail from areas north of U.S. border. That in itself is an ambitious project fur sure, but he's doing it in A-Z form. He kicked it off yesterday with a look at the career of Adrian Alphona, co-creator of Marvel's teen superteam Runaways.
Adrian Alphona is known for his intricate linework, incredible grasp of the human figure, as well as a good understanding of teen fashion. Many fans of Runaways have commented that the characters actually look like people you could find in Los Angeles, the city which provides the primary setting for the title.
A-Z of Canadian Comic Book Creators looks to continue with 25 more profiles of north-of-the-border comics people, so now it's time to start taking bets on whether he'll be able to find that many Canadian creators with the appropriate letters in their names.
No pressure, Edward, no pressure...
Thu Aug 14, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
More Awards For Jeff Lemire's "Essex County" Trilogy
Top Shelf trilogy continues to garner big accolades
With final third of his "Essex County" trilogy of graphic novels set to hit shelves later this year, creator Jeff Lemire has already had a pretty good 2008. The first two projects in the trilogy, Tales From the Farm and Ghost Stories, have been celebrated by critics and nominated for multiple awards (and won quite a few of 'em, too). On Friday, Lemire added another award to his list of accolades, taking home the Doug Wright Award for "Best Emerging Talent," a prestigious Canadian cartooning award.
The last graphic novel in the trilogy, The Country Nurse, is scheduled for release in October from Top Shelf Productions. The trilogy is described as follows:
Lemire's ESSEX COUNTY trilogy is an intimate portrait of one small-town community through the years, charged with themes of family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation.
You can find out more about Lemire's "Essex County" trilogy on the Top Shelf website. You can also read a review of Ghost Stories here on ComicMix, as well as an early review of The Country Nurse.
Thu Aug 14, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
New "Conan" Film Fast-Tracked By Lionsgate
Double scripts means double-time production?
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Lionsgate is so keen on pushing a new Conan film into production that they've hired two sets of writers to draft parallel scripts for the film. No director has been attached to the film at this point, but sources close to the project have said that the intent is to reinvent the franchise based on Robert E. Howard's stories of the famed barbarian.
Currently, Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain are writing one script for the project, while Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Sahara) have been writing another script.
THR reports that Paradox Entertainment president and CEO Fredrik Malmberg, who is producing the Conan film along with Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta and Avi Lerner of Millennium FilmsMalmberg, recently explained that the project is a "fast-tracked movie" and that "Lionsgate felt the process was enhanced by having a second team come in and do a script."
As for the decision to return to the film franchise that began with 1982's Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayal of the character:
"Fans expect (these types of movies) to be more true to the source material," Malmberg said. "There's no reason there couldn't be a Conan movie every two years. He's almost like Batman: He's a dark hero. He's a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him."
(via ICv2)
Wed Aug 13, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Indiana Jones Opts For October DVD Release
The whip cracks again in October
ICv2 reports that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will be released on DVD the second week of October. Much like Iron Man, which hits shelves on September 30, the quick turnaround time on the Indiana Jones DVD is part of an effort to generate long-term sales in a crowded DVD market this fall. The fourth Indiana Jones film was the highest-grossing film in the franchise, earning $770 million worldwide.
According to ICv2, the DVD will find its way to shelves in three versions:
The Single-Disc version comes with two extras, "The Return of a Legend,” a feature about the evolution of the new film, and “Pre-Production,” a mini-documentary that follows director Steven Spielberg as he creates animatronic sequences and Shia LeBoeuf as he learns to swordfight. The 2-disc Special Edition contains a host of additional extras created with the collector and the serious fan in mind including “Production Diary: Making Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” a major behind-the-scenes look at all facets of the production, plus seven additional featurettes about various aspects of the filming process (special effects, action sequences, etc.), a special feature about Stan Winston Studio’s contribution to the film, plus galleries galore, production photographs, portraits, storyboards, set sketches and more.
ICv2 also points out that the trio of recent Indiana Jones-themed comics published by Dark Horse in recent months (the adaptation of Crystal Skull and two Indiana Jones omnibus projects) have been selling well, and the DVD release might mean good things for the publisher in October.
Wed Aug 13, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
How to Make Superman Movies Fly Again
Creators weigh in on how to get the big "S" back in theaters
Over at MTV's new comics blog Splash Page, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Brad Meltzer and other comic professionals have provided some thoughts on how they think the Superman film franchise should be handled. For some, it's simply a matter of treaing Superman Returns like Ang Lee's Hulk opus and moving on to the next reboot.
According to the article, Morrison and another creator well-known for his Superman savvy, Geoff Johns, have already pitched DC/Warner Bros. on how to get the franchise up, up and away:
“I told them, it’s not that bad,” Morrison said. “Just treat ‘Superman Returns’ as the Ang Lee ‘Hulk.’”
“‘The Hulk’ has proven the audience will forgive you and let you redo the franchise,” Waid said. “You can reboot from scratch.”
Morrison’s idea was a more “tight and concise” take on his “All-Star Superman,” so you’d see Superman address his mortality.
My favorite part of the article, however, had to Morrison's take on why Superman Returns failed to make the franchise, well... return.
“The idea was to make an American Christ figure, but what they centered on was his weakness,” Morrison said. “They made him more a lamb of God, rather than give us a real powerful Superman. They had too many scenes where he’s being kicked to the floor, and that’s not Superman. Superman would get up and fight.”
Head over to Splash Page for more thoughts from Morrison, Waid, Meltzer and other creators on the best way to get ol' spitcurl back on the big screen.
Tue Aug 12, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
ReVamp Vampirella and Win!
Contest offers up Vampirella-themed prizes for character redesign
This is pretty much the contest that defines the term "revamp," folks. Harris Comics and the Project: Rooftop crew are looking for aspiring artists to redesign the buxom bombshell Vampirella and win a variety of prizes provided by the Vampirella publisher. Vampirella is celebrating her 40th anniversary next year (not bad for a 40-something, eh?) and interested artists can win the following:
Grand Prize (1) -
The winning entry will appear as a pinup in a future issue of Vampirella, and receive two comics signed respectively by Joe Jusko and Dan Brereton.Second Prize (1) -
A Vampirella wall poster illustrated by Jose Gonzalez, and receive two comics signed respectively by Joe Jusko and Dan Brereton.Third Prize (1) -
A Vampirella T-shirt illustrated by Stephen Segovia, and receive two comics signed respectively by Joe Jusko and Dan Brereton.In addition to these prizes, the finalists selected by the judges will also be up on a fan poll at Vampirella.com for the "Fan Selection" prize of a limited edition Vampirella print.
The judges for the contest are a trio of notable Vampirella names, including original Vampirella costume designer Trina Robbins, frequent series artist Joe Jusko and upcoming Vampirella Quarterly artist Dan Brereton. Send in your submissions to projectrooftop@gmail.com, with the subject line: "ReVamp" -- and keep your fingers crossed.
Sat Aug 9, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Webcomic News Roundup: Japanese Bikers and More
Dirk Schwieger Talks!
Ugly Hill's Paul Southworth kicked off his comic-within-a-comic SasqWatch 2813 this week, and as Gary Tyrrell points out over at Fleen, this sort of storyline/plot point has spawned a successful spin-off or two in the past. Now's your chance to read it before it got too big for its own good.
Owch! Just in case you missed it, Jeffrey Rowland (Overcompensating, Wigu) appears seems to have some fond memories of Connecticon -- specifically, the Ctrl+Alt+Del crew.
For this week's webcomic creator interview, I spoke with Moresukine's Dirk Schwieger about Japanese biker gangs, swordsmithing and invisible people in Iceland. Now that is a pitch!
If you're hanging around the Beverly Hills area this weekend (and really, who isn't doing that these days), Sheldon creator Dave Kellett will be holding court at a local lounge in honor of the release of his latest print collection, Pugs: God's Little Weirdos. The book will feature a collection of pug-themed strips from Kellett's popular webcomic, and the event kicks off at 7 PM on August 10. But wait, there's more!
I'll be putting free, personalized sketches in pug books all night long...and handin' out high-fives at near rock-bottom prices. This is the night for such things, my friends.
And because this book is so specifically themed around pugs, we're giving 10% of all the night's sales to the LA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. They'll be on-hand that night, so feel free to give them a high-five as well -- they deserve it.
Wed Aug 6, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
No Shortage of "Watchmen" Books Planned For January
With the much-anticipated release date of the Watchmen feature film still 7 months away, there's still plenty of time for everyone to cash in on the buzz. ICv2 reports that Titan Books will have not one, not two, but four books hitting shelves between now and the film's March 9 release next year.
Among the books scheduled for January release are Watchmen: The Art of the Film, a hardcover collection of images from conceptual and pre-production periods of the project, and Watchmen: The Official Film Companion, a collection of exclusive interviews with various members of the cast and crew discussing the project and story from which it's adapted.
However, with all of the amazing visual elements we've been shown thus far, it was the third January-scheduled release that caught my eye:
Watchmen: The Film Portraits, a hardcover, will feature the b/w photos of Clay Enos, the official photographer on the set of Watchmen. Enos spent some of his time on the set shooting black and white portrait photographs of the lead and supporting characters, and even extras from the crowd.
Titan will also be publishing original Watchmen artist and co-creator Dave Gibbons' reflections on the project, Watching the Watchmen, in October.
Wed Aug 6, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
"Justice League" Filming to Move Offshore and Resume?
Live-action film's director offers an update on the beleagured film's production
In an interview for Australian news outlet The Courier Mail, Justice League live-action film director George Miller recently reported that production of the troubled project will move offshore, and that filming will begin anew in 2009.
This information comes at the very end of the article, which mainly focuses on Aussie model Megan Gale's "blitz" of the competition when she read for the role of Wonder Woman in the film.
Miller said Gale had only a few hours of acting training with famed NIDA acting coach Nico Lathouras before her audition. "I told him to spend a couple of days with her but he spent three hours with her and came to me and said, 'look, she is a natural'.
"It's one of those things - some people can run fast without any training and acting is the same. And Megan is one of those people who can just act."
(via io9)
Wed Aug 6, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Stan Lee and Hioryuki Takei's "ULTIMO" Manga
New Stan Lee manga to premiere next month in Shonen Jump
Attention, true believers! Next month's issue of manga magazine Shonen Jump will feature the premiere of Stan Lee and Hioryuki Takei's Ultimo, which was announced back in April during New York Comic Con.
While the series is old news for readers in Japan (the issue has already been out for a few months over there), North American readers will get their chance to pick up a copy of the debut story in September.
Here's what to expect from the series, according to the press release (which is posted after the jump):
High above Farmless City, citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures. Are they human boys, monolithic robots, or something much more strange? As the battle ensues between them, destruction and devastation falls on the hapless city. One figure is Vice, and seems to be as evil as his name implies. The other is Ultimo, intent on trying to stop Vice from wreaking more havoc. But who are Vice and Ultimo really? Where did they come from? A new mystery begins with the fate of the world possibly hanging in the balance!
My favorite part of the PR? The quote from Stan Lee about the project that is so very, well... Stan Lee. Check it out:
“Wow! This is just what I’ve been waiting for!” says an excited Stan Lee. “For the very first time I’m able to create superheroes in the fantastic Japanese manga style thanks to my lucky partnership with the great Hiroyuki Takei. What a kick it’ll be to join Hiroyuki-san in offering brand new, action packed stories to an army of readers in both the Eastern and Western worlds!”
Can't you just hear him saying it in your head? Keep an eye out for the September 2008 issue of Shonen Jump for the first chapter of Ultimo.
Continue reading Stan Lee and Hioryuki Takei's "ULTIMO" Manga ›
Wed Aug 6, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
San Francisco Media Examines the New X-Men HQ
Mutants' move to the West Coast has local media buzzing
SFGate, the website for the San Francisco Chronicle, has put together a pretty interesting analysis of the recent relocation of the X-Men from Westchester County, NY, all the way out to the West Coast in X-Men #500.
According to X-Men Editor (and Bay Area native) Axel Alonso, San Francisco's often controversial status as a "sanctuary city" made the move long overdue for Marvel's most persecuted superteam.
"Anyone who looks at the X-Men, the analogy is right there: If you're different in any way due to race or sexual orientation or just being nerdy, there's an X-Men character for you. They're about being different and finding strength in that weakened position."
In order to get accustomed to basing the team's adventures in the new city, Marvel staffers will be brushing up on their West Coast savvy in the coming months.
Marvel Comics artists will be visiting San Francisco frequently to get a feel for the fashion, architecture and even the way residents walk and talk. There are no cable cars in the first issue, but the artists did include a KRON TV news truck and a panel where the iconic mutant Wolverine walks through Noe Valley. The heroes make their base in the concrete bunkers beneath the Marin Headlands and join the protest of a controversial art installation at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
While Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada hesitated to comment on the permanency of the X-Men's new home, the article goes on to provide a nice roundup of parallels between the mutant superteam and the real-life groups that have found sanctuary in San Francisco over the years.
Wed Aug 6, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Interview: Dirk Schwieger on "Moresukine"
Online comic puts the creator's fate in the hands of readers... in Japan!
Dirk Schwieger's Moresukine is different from other series I've focused on in these weekly webcomic creator interviews for a few significant reasons -- first and foremost of which being that it's no longer updated. The last comic was posted more than two years ago, back in in June 2006. However, when I saw that the German creator was a guest of NBM Publishing at this year's Comic-Con International, I jumped at the chance to include a Q&A with him in this series.
For anyone unfamiliar with Moresukine, the 24-part webcomic chronicled a year's worth of "assignments" Schwieger undertook at the request of readers while living abroad in Japan. Fans would send him tasks to accomplish -- anything from "meeting a traditional swordsmith" to "spending a night in a pod hotel" -- and he would write, illustrate and post a new comic each week based on his experience trying to complete that mission. The aim of the project, according to Schwieger, was to make the most of his time in Japan by offering himself up as someone through which his readers could live vicariously. The title of the series, Moresukine, came from the Japanese pronunciation of "Moleskine," the type of notebook he used to record his experiences.
A few months ago, NBM Publishing announced that it would be collecting Schwieger's online comic and publishing it in print form, complete with extra material contributed by webcomic veterans James Kochalka and Ryan North. Now that the paperback Moresukine collection has hit shelves, I spoke to Schwieger about the origin of the series, his favorite assignments and what we can expect to see from the talented creator in the future.
COMICMIX: Can you start from the beginning, Dirk? How did this project happen and what did you want it to be when you first conceived of it?
DIRK SCHWIEGER: Well, I was in Japan for one year. You could say that it was a travel-logue kind of thing, but the catch is that it's not just about what I deem is important or what i want to tell, but people were invited to send in emails with requests of places that i should go to in Tokyo, where I lived, or certain people I should get in contact with. And I couldn't refuse. I had to do all of the submissions in the order of their arrival.
It started very mundane. There is a webcomics portal in Germany, where I come from originally, and it's called Electrocomics.com. I had some stuff up there and they said, "Oh, you're going to Tokyo. Maybe you should do some sketches regularly." So they created this blog. I never had a blog before, and never intended to have one. I was kind of naive about the whole thing... but now I know. There are interesting blogs.
At that time, it was very important to me to get around the navel-gazing thing. This was one of the reasons to invite others and have this community effort of exploring the country -- to have me sort of remote-controlled from outside the city.
Continue reading Interview: Dirk Schwieger on "Moresukine" ›
Tue Aug 5, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Gorilla City Discovered?
Solovar is going to be pissed!
While we're certainly not the only site comparing the recent discovery of a massive population of gorillas living in a secluded region of the jungle to the hidden "Gorilla City" of DC Comics, here's hoping the word gets out to all the wanna-be Dian Fosseys out there: beware of any of 'em named "Grodd." That one is baaaaaad news.
Researchers said Tuesday they have found 125,000 Western lowland gorillas living in a swamp in northern Republic of Congo, a rare positive discovery that adds significantly to the existing population of the threatened species.
The last census of Western lowland gorillas, done in the 1980s, estimated 100,000 worldwide — and researchers thought the number had been cut in half since then.
Sure, it's great news and all... but seriously, watch out for Grodd.
Tue Aug 5, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Milo Ventimiglia and Top Cow Announce "Berserker" Comic
Screenwriter's TV project to premiere in comic form
Another day, another project originally intended for television or film being field-tested in the comics world. Case in point: today's announcement that Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia (who already has another project, Rest, in production at Devil's Due Publishing) and Russ Cundiff of DiVide Pictures will be partnering with Top Cow Productions on Berserker, a new comic book series created by screenwriter Rick Loverd.
“Berserker is about people discovering they have superhuman ancient Norse powers as they’re pulled into an underground war that’s been raging for a thousand years,” explained Loverd. But the writer pointed out there are bigger themes. “It’s about people dealing with all the curves the world throws, accepting yourself,” he said. “It’s about not feeling helpless in the face of new challenges and, when someone builds a wall in front of you, smashing right through it with your bare hands. And, of course, it’s about bone-popping bloodlust, spine-crushing action, and saving the world from total destruction!”
While the official press release (posted after the jump) is filled with compliments for everyone involved in the project, the announcement doesn't shy away from looking beyond comics to the long-term goals, too:
“Top Cow is a company that is known for good art and great stories and to be partnered with them on Berserker seemed like the right fit,” said Cundiff, who noted they plan to develop the property into something more, perhaps a film.
“We want to see people wearing Berserker T-shirts, maybe carrying lunchboxes,” smiled Cundiff. “Until then, we are looking to make a kick-ass book.”
The series is scheduled to debut in 2009. Dale Keown provided the accompanying art.
Continue reading Milo Ventimiglia and Top Cow Announce "Berserker" Comic ›
Tue Aug 5, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
2008 Eisner Awards: Full Audio
Let your ears do the work!
If you missed out on attending this year's Eisner Awards (or just want to relive the magic of "The Oscars of Comics"), Jamie Coville's thecomicbooks.com has posted a full audio recording of the event, which was held in San Diego during the recent Comic-Con International.
That is all. Enjoy!
(via The Beat)
