Latest News
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Martha Thomases
Wizard Entertainment HQ For Sale: Comics Not Included
Got $4 million?
To be filed under "Talk Amongst Yourselves," we were recently sent a link to a Century 21 ad for a property located in Congers, NY, that piqued our interest. Apparently, the office of Wizard Entertainment, publisher of Wizard Magazine, is being shopped around for potential buyers.
According to the ad, the owners of the property (Wizard Entertainment) are looking for $4 million in exchange for the 35,000 square-foot property. Although we're not sure what to infer about this aspect of the posting:
Owner would prefer to deliver building vacant but would be agreeable to a lease back 60-100% of office/warehous [sic] space.
When asked for comment on the posting, a representative of Wizard identified only as "Ed" said that the publisher was simply "checking our business options."
Additionally, when asked about the company's plans should the building find a new owner, the Wizard representative responded, "We may not go anywhere. We may sell the building and stay as a tenant. We may sell the building and move across the street."
Neither Century 21 nor representatives at Wizard would offer any further comment on the sale or its implications for the publisher.
What we really want to know, though, is whether the pricetag includes that warehouse full of comics seen in the ad. Maybe there are a few good issues of Captain America hidden in there.
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Chemical King
It's a gas!
Most members of the Legion of Super-Heroes have the same powers as the rest of their people, but some are unique. Condo Arlik was one of the latter. The people on Phlon had no innate powers, but Condo was born with the ability to alter the speed of chemical reactions, causing them to happen as quickly or as slowly as he wants.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t control his power, and so from birth Condo was isolated to protect others. He was also taught chemistry right away, in an attempt to help him gain control. Even so, it was not until Lyle Norg (Invisible Kid) stepped in that Condo, by then a teenager, was able to interact normally with others.
With Lyle’s help Condo learned to finally control his powers, and he immediately applied to and was accepted into the Legion Academy.
Condo, known now as Chemical King, was an excellent student and while still there, was asked to infiltrate the Legion of Super-Villains, since as a trainee he was unknown to them. He and his classmate Timber Wolf were successful in their mission and afterward graduated to full Legionnaire status. Sadly, Chemical King became depressed after Lyle died, and a short while later Condo sacrificed himself to prevent World War VII. A commemorative statue of him stands in the Legion’s Hall of Dead Legionnaires.
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #2 - Hot Prophecies
An alien menace cooks up some spicy hints and burning questions in 'The Fires of Pompeii'
The hit BBC series Doctor Who is now in its fourth season on the Sci-Fi Channel, and since we're all big fans here at ComicMix, we've decided to kick off an episode-by-episode analysis of the reinvigorated science-fiction classic.
Every week, we'll have our best Who-philes go through the most recent episode with a fine-tooth comb (or whatever the "sonic screwdriver" equivalent might be) and call out all of the continuity checks, names dropped and storyline hints we can find to keep in mind for future episodes. We'll post our analysis each Monday, so you have ample time to check out the episode once it airs each Friday at 9 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel before reading our review.
Missed a week? Readers can view past "Doctor Who in Review" features via the links at the end of this article.
Keep in mind, we're going to assume readers have already watched the episode when we put fingers to keyboard and come up with our roundup of important plot points. In other words, SPOILER ALERT!
Let's begin now, shall we?
Season Four, Episode #2: "The Fires of Pompeii"
Continue reading Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #2 - Hot Prophecies ›
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Update: 'Iron Man 2' Likely Thanks to Box Office Reports
It's official: Iron Man is a pretty popular film...
Following up on the previous story that Iron Man placed 14th in the "highest grossing opening day," reports are now coming in that Marvel Studios' first production brought in an estimated $104 million since Thursday here in the states and an estimated $96 million overseas.
This ranks Iron Man as the 10th highest grossing film on opening weekend, and easily the highest-grossing film for 2008 thus far. The film also produced the fourth highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a superhero movie.
This will no doubt provide the go-ahead for the proposed sequel, getting Robert Downey Jr. back into the suit in around five months for an expected May 2010 release.
We'll be tracking the box office numbers for all of the big comics-related films this summer, so check back here at ComicMix for more to come!
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Chris Ullrich
Battlestar Galactica Interview: Mark Verheiden on Deleted Scenes and Cylon Love
BSG Weekly - Season Four, Episode #5 'The Road Less Traveled'
Welcome to the latest installment of Battlestar Galactica Weekly, our recurring Q&A with Mark Verheiden, co-executive producer of the hit Sci-Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica. Each week, we'll interview Verheiden about the events of the week's episode, what those events might mean for both the season and the series, and hopefully unearth some clues about what to expect as the final season of Battlestar Galactica nears its conclusion.
Along with posing our own questions to Verheiden, we're also taking questions from fans -- so be sure to send your questions to me, your official BSG Weekly interviewer, after each episode airs at chris [at] comicmix [dot] com. New episodes of Battlestar Galactica can be seen every Friday at 10 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel. You can view previous interviews via the links at the end of this article.
This week, Verheiden answers questions about the fifth episode of Season Four, "The Road Less Traveled," which aired May 2, 2008. Note: These answers may contain spoilers, so read at your own risk.
COMICMIX (from reader Cal): Was this an episode written before or after the writer's strike? If after, what was changed in it, if anything, after you guys came back?
MARK VERHEIDEN: That’s a little later. The first 13 episodes of Season Four (counting Razor as two episodes) were all written and produced before the strike.
CMix (from reader Anthony): It seems Tyrol realizes Cally was murdered. Does he suspect Tory? It looks as if he might.
MV: Tyrol’s still trying to work through Cally’s death, which just doesn’t make sense to him. Suicide can be extremely problematic for the loved ones left behind, and the ex-Chief is no exception. That said, I’m not sure Tyrol intuits suspicion specifically toward Tory, but something sure doesn’t add up...
CMix (from reader Lisa): Tyrol seems to really reverse himself after Baltar comes to see him. He even offers his hand. What made him change his mind about Baltar?
Continue reading Battlestar Galactica Interview: Mark Verheiden on Deleted Scenes and Cylon Love ›
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Video: Iron Man and Batman in 'Hi, I'm a Marvel... and I'm a DC'
Latest parody puts the characters toe-to-toe in battle of the movie blockbusters
A little while ago, we told you about the "ItsJustSomeRandomGuy" panel at New York Comic Con featuring the popular YouTube filmmaker and his series of action-figure films based on Marvel and DC characters.
Late last week, his latest film hit the InterWebs -- just in time for the debut of Iron Man in theaters (you can read the ComicMix reviews of the film here and here). While RandomGuy's series has been sort of hit-or-miss for me up to this point, this one's a keeper.
This time around, Iron Man and Batman address some of the similarities between their origins and their upcoming films.
On a side note, here's hoping ItsJustSomeRandomGuy can finally replace that weird "Thorbuster" Iron Man figure now that Ol' Shellhead has line of movie-based figures hitting shelves.
Mon May 5, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Name Dropping, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo #65
I’ve been around the northeast quadrant a bit since the New York show a few weeks ago and I’ve seen a lot of people. Good people, old friends, new collaborators, strange and unusual folks. That’s what my life’s about, and I’m proud of that.
I enjoy going to the Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention. Compared with, say, the mass of hustling humanity at comics shows in New York, San Diego or on WizardWorld, the Windy City show is like a weekend at the spa. Anthony Tollin was there along with his latest Shadow and Doc Savage trade paperbacks; we talk about them here all the time. I was able to have a solid conversation with frequent ComicMix commentator Russ Maharas, I got to go over the next Simone and Ajax plot with Andrew Pepoy for a bit, FOC (that’s “friend of ComicMix”) George Hagenauer gave Adriane Nash a swell history lesson on 1950s pin-up art, Rob Davis and Ron Fortier told me about a new project that fascinated the hell out of me, and I had the chance to talk with master cartoonist Jim Engel once again.
The next day we had lunch and dinner with FOCs Charlie Meyerson and his wife Pam (Charlie of Chicago Tribune fame; Pam’s a lawyer and bon vivant) and Rick Oliver and his wife Jade (Honest Rick of First Comics, Jade was a swell comics colorist). George, Charlie and Rick have given us a lot of advice and opinion ever since ComicMix was just a gleam in our eye – Rick is a major commenter in these precincts – and the whole bundle of ‘em are brilliant conversationalists.
Since the best thing to do in Chicago is eat until you burst, we were particularly fond of our dinner with the aforementioned Mr. Pepoy, Simone and Ajax colorist Jason Millet, Hilary Barta (Munden’s Bar, The Simpsons, The Thing, Power Pack, New Mutants, Alan Moore’s Tomorrow Stories), and writer / professor Len Strazewski (Prime, Justice Society, The Fly, Starman, Phantom Lady). Sort of like the fabled Algonquin round table, but a lot more snarky.
Sun May 4, 2008 — by Glenn Hauman
Weekend Window-Closing Wrap-up
Power Girl, vampires and zombies, sexy cartoon women and more...
A bunch of things that have been open on my browser, but may not deserve a full post of their own...
- I have no idea where this Power Girl image came from, but I'm thinking that there's a fan film out there that I don't know about. Can anybody help me out?
- Digital drawing tutorials in a Lackadaisical style.
- Bobby Crosby says it really wasn't an April Fool's joke: Last Blood, a story about vampires protecting the last humans on Earth from zombies, is being adapted for the screen.
- Finally, you can scan your comics without cracking the spine! As somebody who occasionally has to do this when we don't have the original film to reproduce from, this is a godsend. Now if only somebody had a cheap tabloid scanner for the Mac...
- Neil Gaiman gets around-- here's an article by Yvette Tan about meeting him in a Phillipine magazine.
- The ten sexiest cartoon women...? Uh, not quite. No animated Zatanna? (Might be NSFW, depending on your workplace.)
- Ian Gibson! (For you young ones in the audience, he did Secret Invasion 20 years ago for DC.)
- One of these panelists is not like the others... one's wearing a hat.
- Dan Grauman?
- And finally, the comic movie premiere we were all waiting for this weekend-- Super Ninja Bikini Babes! ...what, there was another comic book movie premiering this weekend?
Sun May 4, 2008 — by Elayne Riggs
ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending May 4, 2008
Doing whatever an iron can!
Hope you all had a great Free Comic Book Day! Here at ComicMix, of course, every day is free comics day, with all our new original graphic material! But don't forget the original material from our columnists as well; here's what we've had for you this past week:
- Mike Gold - Whizzy's Wazoo #64: Del Close Close Up
- Dennis O'Neill - The Four-Color Answer #63: Marvel Millie and Me
- Me - It's All Good #63: Unsporting Behaviour
- John Ostrander - Tales From The O-zone #64: It's Obama... Hillary... no, it's Superdelegate!
- Michael Davis - Straight, No Chaser #64: Sound Bites for Dummies
- Andrew Wheeler - Manga Friday #27: Yoshihiro Ttasumi says 'Good-Bye'
- Martha Thomases - Brilliant Disguise #55: Flash Rising
- Michael H. Price - Forgotten Horrors #55: Ian Schaughnessy Emerging
And while every ComicMix reader with disposable income has probably already seen Iron Man, I have a date later on with my ironing board... that's sort of the same thing, right?
Sun May 4, 2008 — by Matt Raub
Box Office Report For 'Iron Man' Could Mean Sequel
Will we see 'Iron Man 2'? Survey says... quite possibly.
It was an auspicious start for the Metal Marvel Hero, as Iron Man grossed an estimated $5.5 million at around 2,500 theaters during its Thursday night previews and made an estimated $32.5 million at 4,105 theaters on Friday, making it the 14th highest-grossing opening day on record. (You can read the ComicMix reviews of the film here and here.)
The Friday gross was comparable to X2: X-Men United, which debuted May 2 five years ago, bringing in $31.2.
Paramount big-wig Brad Grey went on record last week by saying that as long as the flick does "as well as expected", the studio wants to get a sequel in theaters for the same May weekend in 2010 -- and with numbers like these, that could be more realistic than we imagined.
While this is actually a Marvel Studios-produced film, with Paramount distributing, it's no surprise after these numbers that they will be rushing to get Downey Jr. back in the red-and-gold ASAP. Director Jon Favreau has already stated that he planned a loose structure for three movies, with the Mandarin presumably making an appearance somewhere down the line.
Keep your eye on ComicMix for more updates on how the first big blockbuster of the summer does in the box office!
Sun May 4, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Dr. Mid-Nite
Put out those candles, quick!
Pieter Anton Cross started his association with superheroes while still in the womb—his pregnant mother was attacked one night in their native Norway by vagrants one night but was rescued by the original Dr. Mid-Nite.
The incident caused her to go into labor, and the superhero delivered Pieter before dashing off into the night. Pieter grew up to become a brilliant doctor, graduating Harvard at nineteen, and moved back to Norway for a time before returning to America to work with Charles McNider—who, unbeknownst to Pieter, was the same Dr. Mid-Nite who had saved him at birth!
Unfortunately, years later Pieter ran afoul of the evil Praeda Industries while investigating a mysterious drug A39 that they were marketing. The druglords captured him, drugged him with that same chemical, and put him behind the wheel of a car. When Pieter awoke he discovered that he had accidentally killed a woman, and that he was now blind but could see in the dark. To bring the druglords to justice he took the identity of his favorite superhero, becoming the second Dr. Mid-Nite.
Since then, Pieter has joined the JSA and become one of its guiding members, as well as its resident doctor.
Sun May 4, 2008 — by Michael H. Price
Ian Shaughnessy Emerging, by Michael H. Price
Forgotten Horrors #55
From V.T. Hamlin in the 1920s and Etta Hulme during the mid-century, through the Superman books of Kerry Gammill in times more recent, Tarrant County, Texas, has long yielded a wealth of storytelling artistry to the comics industry at large.
An ambitious new representative of that regional-breakout scene is graphic novelist Ian Shaughnessy, of Arlington, Texas. Shaughnessy’s books for Portland, Oregon-based Oni Press – including an edgy comedy-of-errors called Shenanigans, with the Canadian illustrator Mike Holmes – bespeak a childhood fascination with comics, filtered through a lifelong love of language and an interest in taking the words-and-pictures medium to provocative literary levels more commonly associated with the present day’s independent filmmaking sector.
“I find myself writing under the direct influence of Billy Wilder,” says Shaughnessy, 24, invoking the name of a great screenwriter-director whose career spanned from 1929 into the 1980s. “I discovered Wilder during the 1990s with The Apartment [1960], then with Double Indemnity [1944], and found myself very inspired – in a lasting way.
“With Shenanigans, I found myself attempting to honor the spirit of Billy Wilder – that mastery that he had of romantic tensions, with finding the humor in awkward situations – as a key influence.”
Any such talent needs a practical springboard. With V.T. Hamlin, the creator of a famous comic strip called Alley Oop that has survived him by many years, the springboard was a cartooning job at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Hamlin spent much of the 1920s at the daily paper, generating such local-interest attractions as a serialized feature about a formidable minor-league baseball club, the Fort Worth Cats. (A retrospective collection of Hamlin’s Oop-prototype Panther Kitten cartoons is in preparation, along with an earlier Hamlin gag strip called The Hired Hand, whose booklet edition has been out of print since the 1920s.)
For Etta Hulme, the Star-Telegram’s signature opinion-page cartoonist since 1972, an early breakthrough lay in a post-WWII comic-book series about a cowboy critter named “Red” Rabbit. Graphic designer and Web publisher Kerry Gammill spent the 1980s and earlier ’90s as an illustrator with Marvel and DC, then moved into motion-picture conceptual art on such productions as 1998’s Blues Brothers 2000 and 1999’s Storm of the Century.
Continue reading Ian Shaughnessy Emerging, by Michael H. Price ›
Sat May 3, 2008 — by Mike Raub
ComicMix Radio: Free Comic Book Day Draws Thousands
Episode #198: It's the happiest day of the year... and it's here!
Take two million free comics and a planet full of hungry fans, and you get the industry's biggest one-day event. We cover it all from coast-to-coast!
Press the button for your Free Comic Book Day report, here on ComicMix Radio...
And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via 
or RSS!
Sat May 3, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler
Review: 'Blue Pills' by Frederik Peeters
Love and HIV in Switzerland
Blue Pills
By Frederik Peeters; translated by Anjali Singh
Houghton Mifflin, January 2008, $18.95
This is another one of those semi-autobiographical graphic novels; I’m not going to assume that this is all “true” (whatever that means), but I will note that Peeters’s bio says that he lives with his girlfriend, her son, and their daughter -- and that Blue Pills is the story of a man named Fred, his girlfriend, and her son. (And the main character of this book mentions that he working on a graphic novel about their lives.) So keep that in the back of your head -- some proportion of this book is true, though we don't know how much.
Fred, the narrator of Blue Pills, is a Swiss cartoonist, still in his mid-20s, who’s lived in Geneva his whole life. He remembers Cati vividly from a pool-party late in his teens, but never really knew her well. When he moves into the apartment building where she lives, though, he comes to see more and more of her and her young son (called "the little one" or "L'il Wolf," but not named). Before long, Fred and Cati are drifting into a relationship, and Cati has to sit Fred down and tell him something difficult -- both she and her son are HIV-positive.
(The "Blue Pills" of the title refer to their drug regimen to stay symptom-free, though they're never called that in the body of the book. The fact that most Americans will immediately think of Viagra when blue pills are mentioned is unfortunate, but neither Peeters nor Houghton Mifflin seems to have taken a moment to worry about it.)
Sat May 3, 2008 — by Aaron Rosenberg
Happy Birthday: Parasite
No Birthday hugs for this one!
Maxwell Jensen was the classic, small-time crook before his own idiocy transformed him into something far greater.
Jensen was working at a plant attached to a research center and opened one of the storage containers, thinking it might contain the company’s payrolls. Instead the biohazardous extraterrestrial materials inside transformed him, staining his skin purple and giving him the power to absorb the powers of anyone he touched.
The Parasite, as Jensen dubbed himself, became one of Superman’s most dangerous foes, especially since Jensen could not only absorb Superman’s powers but also learned his secret identity.
