Articles by van-jensen
Wed Jul 23, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Disney and Pixar Go Boom
'Incredibles' and 'Muppets' to be adapted for comics
Boom! Studios has announced they'll be publishing comic book adaptations of Pixar cartoon properties, with the first announced being an Incredibles project.
The news comes as an early announcement from Comic-Con International, which is just getting underway. Boom EiC Mark Waid will be writing the Incredibles
"Today, American comic books are aimed primarily at an older readership. Comics produced for an upcoming generation of readers are scarce - and BOOM! Studios aims to do something about that," said Waid. "There will be comics for kids again!"
To commemorate this historic partnership, BOOM! will be releasing a special preview book featuring sneak previews of upcoming projects using the characters from TOY STORY
According to the release, these won't be straight adaptations, but rather all-new stories set in the world of various Pixar films.
Boom also is going to be doing a Muppets book, Waid told CBR.
It was also announced Wednesday night that Waid will be writing "The Muppet Show." Given the Muppets' long and varied history in television and film, CBR asked Waid about the particular form this series would take. He was able to reveal that the first thing to appear would be a four-issue miniseries, but future series are "something that's more in flux." "We're talking about doing a couple one-shots that could be collected into a trade paperback, we're talking about doing series that are based on 'The Muppet Show
Wed Jul 23, 2008 — by Van Jensen
New Crime Comics from Vertigo
DC imprint adds imprint
There's a very small note in the New York Times (which has had a veritable shload of comics news lately) about DC imprint Vertigo, which is apparently adding a new imprint, or focus, or something.
Vertigo will be doing some crime comics, though no projects are announced. Earlier this year Vertigo announced a new impetus on graphic novels, so it seems change is very much afoot.
From the brief:
DC Comics has announced that it will start a new thriller imprint next summer. Vertigo Crime, a subimprint of Vertigo Books, will be devoted to mysteries and crime stories.
DC and Vertigo have no news about this. I would guess it'll come up at the Vertigo panel at SDCC, though:
4:30-5:30: Vertigo: View of the Future
Vertigo is a more than a name. It's the imprint that delivers smart, provocative and edgy books. Be here to find out what's in store for your favorite Vertigo titles as well as some major new projects that will be announced here for the first time! Hosted by Senior VP – Executive Editor, Vertigo, Karen Berger, Group Editor Shelly Bond, and Senior Editor Will Dennis, this panel is not to be missed, especially considering the talent in tow: Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS, JOKER), Mark Buckingham (FABLES), Grant Morrison (SEAGUY), Matt Sturges (HOUSE OF MYSTERY), Matt Wagner (MADAME XANADU), Bill Willingham (FABLES, HOUSE OF MYSTERY), G. Willow Wilson (AIR), Brian Wood (DMZ, NORTHLANDERS), and others!
Wed Jul 23, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Bryan Singer Options Unseen Rob Liefeld Project?
'Capeshooters' might become film
We may soon see the first film without feet, as director Bryan Singer is reported to be eyeing an as-yet-unseen graphic novel by Rob Liefeld.
Slash Film has the story.
Bryan Singer is in negotiations to produce Capeshooters, an adaptation of Rob Liefeld’s upcoming graphic novel which tells the story of two slackers who become superhero paparazzi. The duo uncover evidence that a legendary superhero is actually an undercover villain. I’m very excited that movie studios are still trying to find original superhero properties, instead of digging through the bevy of bottom of the barrel established franchise heroes. The bad news is that the screenplay is being written by J.P. Lavin and Chad Damiani, both of which work on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show and American Idol.
Liefeld's art (from Onslaught Reborn) can be seen at right.
Wed Jul 23, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Platinum Buys Wowio
Former Platinum writer D.J. Coffman breaks down new agreements
It's official. Platinum has purchased Wowio. I won't have a chance to get into details on the numbers yet, but expect something soon.
Under the terms of the Agreement the Company acquired from the Members 100% of the membership interests of WOWIO for a total purchase price of $3,150,000 payable in shares of common stock of the Company.
Over at his blog, D.J. Coffman, creator of Hero by Night and formerly of Platinum Studios, goes through what he says is the new contract for creators from Wowio, the Web comics outlet that is reportedly going to be purchased by Platinum.
Perhaps not surprising after his acrimonious falling out with Platinum over late payments, Coffman takes issue with several aspects of the contract.
"For revenues derived from Ecommerce Option, Publisher shall receive 50% percent of the quarterly gross revenue generated by sales of Ebooks of the Publisher’s Content.
For revenues derived from Sponsorship Option, Publisher shall receive (i) 50 cents ($0.50 USD) per download for eTexts of less than 100 pages; and (ii) One dollar ($1.00 USD) per download for eTexts of 100 pages and above.
All Royalties shall be paid to Publisher on a quarterly basis, within 45 days following the end of each calendar quarter."* Couple things here... again, the thought of splitting 50/50 profits on an ebook sale with anyone is ridiculous to me. And the part about when you’re SUPPOSED to be paid, turns my stomach a little in the light of the situation I was in with Platinum. I’m guessing everything will go smoothly during the “transition” period when the old Wowio people are still managing things.. but when the keys are handed over to Platinum, I’ve got a BADDDddddddd feeling about people being paid on time. That’s not an assumption, that’s a proven fact, regardless of the articles written about creators owed, printer representives telling me they were owed and COMIC BOOK NEWS sites telling me they were owed money… and the Drunk Duck kids over there, there was a bunch of “mobile wallpaper” people never paid. I have a really good friend who had his wallpapers up through their service before, and when he asked, he was told that “none sold” but he knew better because his own family had boughten them from the site!!!! — Anyways, THAT’S who will be running this shindig now. That’s who owns them. You have been warned.
Tue Jul 22, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Big Changes at Image Comics
Robert Kirkman named partner at publisher
The summer of change continues for Image Comics. Earlier, Erik Larsen stepped down as publisher, turning the reins over to Eric Stephenson. And now Robert Kirkman has signed on as a partner at the company.
The New York Times has a story on this latest development in today's Books section.
And this week at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Image Comics will announce that Mr. Kirkman is becoming its newest partner. Under the company’s structure, partners profit mainly from their own work but also have a say in what will be published.
“This is kind of a big deal for me,” Mr. Kirkman, 29, said by phone from his base in Richmond, Ky. “Image Comics as a company was founded by comic book creators for comic book creators.”
This was rumored yesterday in Rich Johnston's Lying in the Gutters, and Johnston also mentioned other big changes that could be afoot at Image, including offering page rates on certain projects by star creators.
Expect to hear more out of Comic-Con.
Tue Jul 22, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Neal Adams and Modern Comics Movies
Artist's shadow cast on 'Dark Knight'
You know superheroes are dominating Hollywood when the movie trade Variety features an extended ode to Neal Adams.
The piece, which includes some quotes from Adams, stresses his role in bringing about more serious superhero comics, particularly on Batman, and how that has influenced superhero movies.
Major studios have mounted a corporate takeover of Comic-Con as a vehicle to promote movies and TV shows, but comicbook artists still receive rock star treatment at the San Diego event. And among those artists, none cast a larger shadow over the current cinematic renaissance than Neal Adams.
Teaming with writer Denny O'Neil in 1970, Adams transformed Batman from the "Biff! Bam! Pow!" camp associated with the 1960s TV show starring Adam West back into the sleek, brooding Dark Knight depicted onscreen for the past two decades. By doing so, they helped establish the serious-minded template that has informed the best superhero adaptations that followed.
And the best quote from Adams:
As rendered by Adams, Batman again became a night-shrouded creature and less a superhero than a grim vigilante -- Sherlock Holmes with Olympic-quality athleticism. "Batman is the grittiest character in all of comics," Adams said. "This is an awfully real concept, so none of this wishy-washy shit would do."
Tue Jul 22, 2008 — by Van Jensen
'Iron Man' as Reading Instructor?
Superheroes used to encourage young readers
Slate posted a slideshow/essay this morning about "early reader books," the works aimed at young kids with the idea of encouraging them to start reading (think Dr. Seuss).
That literary tradition has been taken up by adaptations of superhero movies, like Iron Man and Incredible Hulk, the essay notes, before questioning whether such works are good brain food.
There's no denying that kids, especially little boys, love their superheroes, and the whole point of early readers is to get kids excited about reading. But do you really want the Hulk teaching your kid to read?
To which Hulk responded:
HULK READ GOOD!!!
(Oh, c'mon. I had to make that joke.)
Tue Jul 22, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Matt Fraction Doubles Up Movie Deals
'Casanova' and 'Last of the Independents' headed to Hollywood
A big week for writer Matt Fraction, who's just nabbed a couple deals to see his comics turned into movies.
He's just inked a deal with producer Rick Alexander (MGM's Adventures in the Land of Zametherea) and manager-producer Jeff Krelitz to turn two of his co-creations, Casanova and Last of the Independents, into movies. A major A-list actor is already mulling over the lead in Casanova, an adventure-caper about a thief-turned-spy, which Alexander promises will evolve into a "mega-budget, effects-intensive action spectacular." (He says he's aiming to unleash the "spectacular" during the Fourth of July weekend 2010.) This is merely the first of what the producers hope will be a Bond-type franchise. Casanova "[will] live on but be played by a different actor each time out," says Krelitz, who notes that the duo will hire a scriptwriter only after securing a star and director. As for the swaggering bank-heist thriller Independent? It already has a screenwriter -- that'd be newcomer Alex Litvak -- so producers are currently shopping for a director with hopes of an early 2009 shoot.
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
'Heroes' Hopes for Rebound Season
After strike-marred season, show eyes comeback
After a pretty unambiguously down second season, the NBC show Heroes is looking to get the magic back from its debut season that marked it as the network's most important show.
In an interview with the New York Times, Heroes creator Tim Kring gave some insights into what's to come, as well as reflecting back on what went wrong last year.
The scale tipped toward disappointment at the start of last season, as Mr. Kring acknowledged in an interview way back in November, just after production was abruptly cut off by the writers’ strike that shut down Hollywood. At that time he cited a list of early missteps, including introducing too many new characters, dabbling too much in romance and depositing one of the fans’ favorite characters, Hiro, in feudal Japan for too long. ...
The new volume, which will run in 13 episodes, is called “Villains” and will focus on a single big story line, Mr. Kring said, relying almost totally on its core of main characters, and will return the show to exploring what he called “the primal questions” from Season 1: “Who am I? What is my purpose?”
The third season (volume, whatever) begins on Sept. 22.
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Frank Miller Defends 'Spirit' Film
Art Spiegelman criticizes adaptation
If you watched the first full trailer for Frank Miller's upcoming adaptation of The Spirit, you could be forgiven for thinking it had little more than the title in common with Will Eisner's comic series.
Miller insists that's not the case, though, in a story in the New York Times.
“The only ways they resemble each other are the ways that I learned from Will Eisner: the use of black and white, certainly the rapturous approach to women.” Mr. Miller spoke after an editing session in Culver City in June, wearing a straw hat, a gray shirt and a loose black jacket; his voice, faintly adenoidal, stems from a long relationship with Winston Lights.
Where “Sin City” was bleak, “The Spirit” seems playful, quirky. For someone who exalts Ayn Rand and has vigorously defended America’s military response to 9/11, Mr. Miller seems to have tempered his cynical machismo. As for the strip’s most nettlesome character — Ebony White, the black sidekick with the Stepin Fetchit patois— he has been jettisoned.
But, as is always the case, not everyone agrees:
But the current film-comic infatuation isn’t for everyone. “I think they once made a movie out of ‘Ulysses,’ the Joyce novel, and it can’t be done,” said Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novelist behind “Maus.” “I’m not saying that Eisner is Joyce, but the things that are great” about “The Spirit” “are likely to be lost in translation.”
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Heidi MacDonald and Foreign Comics on NPR
International works popular in U.S.
NPR ran a feature on All Things Considered, the daily news program, about the solid sales of foreign graphic novels in the United States.
One interesting note was that foreign novels don't sell, but comics do. That seems to indicate comics readers are a bit more cultured than the general public, doesn't it?
A few big comics people are quoted in the piece, including Heidi MacDonald of The Beat.
Heidi MacDonald, who blogs about graphic novels for Publishers Weekly, says the Japanese invasion has helped pry open American markets to authors and illustrators from other parts of the world, including Marjane Satrapi.
"Marjane Satrapi ... she's definitely one who has had a huge breakthrough commercially and critically," says MacDonald.
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
'Greatest American Hero' Returns at SDCC
Campy show reborn as... something
There are more than a few mysterious elements coming up at Comic-Con this week, and one of the big question marks hovers over the return of Greatest American Hero, the goofy superhero TV show from the '80s.
Sounds like a comic book series is in the works, if not more. According to a press release (check it after the jump), a whole slate of original stars will be on hand in San Diego. There's also a mysterious teaser video posted after the jump -- which seems to be scaled far too large for embedding on most websites.
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
DC Comics Relaunches Website
Slick new upgrade for Batman and pals
DC Comics' boring old Web site saw a big relaunch over the weekend, perhaps coinciding with the record-breaking debut of The Dark Knight film.
Not a ton of new features on the site, which you can view right here, but it's a whole lot prettier than the previous incarnation.
There is a nice feature called "30 Essential," which lists 30 of what DC views as it's can't miss graphic novels. That's sure to be useful for new readers, though it's old ground for long-time readers.
You can find that feature right here.
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
L.A. and Vegas Vying for Comic-Con
Cities trying to take San Diego out of SDCC
As all interested parties get ready for this week's Comic-Con International, a couple other municipalities are preparing to try to wrest the massive convention away from its historic home in San Diego.
Both Los Angeles and Las Vegas have their eye on Comic-Con, according to Variety. The event's extreme growth has been a boon, but San Diego can't handle the demand anymore, Comic-Con marketing director David Glanzer said.
That means Comic-Con may have to embrace the marketing mayhem that became a fixture of E3 before it downsized a year ago. So, even with the convention locked into San Diego for the next four years, cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles are actively trying to lure Comic-Con away.
"We don't like to go in and infringe on other people's leases when they are in the middle of doing business," says Chris Meyer, VP of convention sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau. Nevertheless, he admits, "We will be down in Comic-Con 2008 to have some discussions."
The way he sees it, Las Vegas has some dramatic advantages, including twice the floor space and a surplus of competitively priced hotel rooms. Meyers notes, "I've got more rooms on my corners than they do in most of their downtown area."
Mon Jul 21, 2008 — by Van Jensen
'Dark Knight' Breaks Weekend Record
$155.34 million take knocks 'Spider-Man 3' from top spot
After setting box office records for top midnight opening and top Friday sales, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that The Dark Knight broke the weekend record set by Spider-Man 3.
Sunday's tallies showed The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins, hauled in $155.34 million for the weekend, according to the Associated Press. That tops Spider-Man 3 and its $151.1 million take.
The new Batman also bested Spidey's IMAX debut, $6.2 million to $4.7 million.
The opening day grosses for "The Dark Knight" far exceeded the full weekend haul of its predecessor, "Batman Begins
"We've really never seen anything like this," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "The death of a fine actor taken in his prime, a legendary performance and a movie that lives up to all the hype. That all combined to create these record-breaking numbers."
I finally caught a showing Saturday morning, which still nearly sold out. That might be the most applause I've heard at a theater yet, with the most coming somewhat surprisingly for Jim Gordon.
---
From Glenn H.
Media By Numbers' OFFICIAL DARK KNIGHT RECORDS SO FAR (in order of occurrence):
1 - Largest Number Of Opening Theatres with 4,366 (More Than The 4,362 Debut Theatres Of Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End
2 - Biggest Midnight Preview Gross with $18.489 million in 3,040 Theatres (Beats Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
3 - Biggest Imax Midnight Previews set a new record with $640,000 (Included in The $18.489 million Preview Number).
4 - Biggest Single-Day Gross in Box-Office History with $67.850 million (Bests The $59,841,919 set by Spider-Man 3
5 - Biggest Opening Weekend Gross in Box Office History with $155.340 million (Bests The $151,116 million set by Spider-Man 3 in 2007).
6 - Biggest Opening Weekend Gross For An Imax Release in Box Office History with $6,214,061 million in 94 Theatres With $66,107 Per Theatre. (Bests The $4.7 million set by Spider-Man 3 in 2007.) Imax Showing At Full Capacity $1.9 million On Saturday Alone.
7 - Biggest Opening Weekend Of 2008 with $151.340 (Beats Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
8 - Biggest July Opening Ever (Beats Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
