Monthly Archive: October 2008

Marvel Launches Daily ‘Super Sqaud’ Digital Comic

Marvel Launches Daily ‘Super Sqaud’ Digital Comic

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Marvel Comics’ Super Hero Squad, aimed at its youngest readers, will begin running all-new daily comic strips beginnign today.

Marvel’s heroes and villains have been visually reimagined for all ages readers of their online material.

Marvel Super Hero Squad, according to a press release, "shines the spotlight on the characters of Super Hero City, some who battle for good, some who battle for evil and all begging the question on everyone’s minds—Are You Ready To Hero Up?"

The comic stirp will be made availabel free to those checking out Marvel’s website.

AOL Picks TV’s Best Witches

AOL Picks TV’s Best Witches

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Being Halloween, lots of places are running themed lists including beleaguered AOL which attempts to list the Top 20 witches on television.  While we don’t find any glaring omissions, we wonder about many of the placements.

 20. Alex Russo, The Wizards of Waverly Place
19. Miss Cackle, The Worst Witch
18. Marge Simpson, Treehouse of Horror VIII
17. Amanda Tucker, Tucker’s Witch
16. Ella, Hex
15. Witch Hazel, Looney Tunes
14. Endora, Passions
13. Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan), Charmed
12. Tabitha Stephens (Lisa Hartman), Tabitha
11. Mildred Hubble (Fairuza Balk), The Worst Witch
10. Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty), Charmed
9. Endora (Agnes Moorehead), Bewitched
8. Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes), H.R. Pufnstuf
7. Phoebe Halliwell (Alyssa Milano), Charmed
6. Tabitha (Juliet Mills), Passions
5. Sabrina Spellman (Melissa Joan Hart), Sabrina the Teenage Witch
4. Grandmama Addams (Blossom Rock), The Addams Family
3. Piper Halliwell (Holly Marie Combs), Charmed
2. Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1. Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montrgomery), Bewitched

We applaud Piper over her sisters given how grounded she was as a character. On the other hand, Willow saved the world more than once and while she didn’t headline her own TV series, certainly has been displayed as the most powerful witch in this line-up.  We adore Samantha and grew up watching her show, but maybe it’s a cultural thing and see Willow having more resonance in today’s television than Samantha ever had.

Sound off below with your own thoughts.

Will Marvel Drop Canadian Pricing?

Will Marvel Drop Canadian Pricing?

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Columnist Don MacPherson has posted a thoughtful piece on his Eye on Comics blog indicating the falling US dollar may bring about the elimination of separate Canadian pricing.

He cites Strange Adventures’ Calum Johnston, reporting, “Both Marvel and DC are thinking of removing the Canadian cover price to comic-book periodicals.”

Marvel Comics spokesman Arune Singh clarified conflicting statements in an e-mail today to MacPherson saying Canadian pricing won’t be dropped from its books, only from its periodical publications. “For the time being, Canadian prices will remain on Marvel collections,” he said in an e-mail.

Comics Pro president Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics tolds MacPherson, “I believe there are conflicting reports because the issue of whether to continue putting Canadian cover prices on periodical comics is still unsettled. What one publisher may do another may not follow,” he said Thursday. “The dialog happening now will lead to some resolution. And I believe the publishers will do what they feel best suits the majority of their retailers.”

Traditionally, the covers have carried the two prices and the adjustments to match exchange rates occurred with regularity. Many Canadian retailers are said to be ignoring the printed Canadian prices for years, hand calculating that day’s exchange rate.

“Many Canadian comic retailers have been going by the US cover price plus applicable exchange rate. The rate is determined by what Diamond Comics Distributors charges the retailer on their invoice,” Johnston said. “While the rate hovered between one and five per cent, we just went by the U.S. price as being the same as Canadian. A few weeks ago, the rate climbed to eight percent, and we had to go back to adding the exchange. Two weeks ago, it was 12 percent, last week 18 per cent and this week 26!”

Writer Ed Brubaker chimed in, noting his Criminal, published under Marvel’s Icon imprint, has just a domestic price, adding "More in Canada".

Lindsay-Abaire to Pen ‘Spider-Man 4’

Lindsay-Abaire to Pen ‘Spider-Man 4’

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Relative newcomer David Lindsay-Abaire is stealing James Vanderbilt’s webshooters and hitting the New York skyline with Spider-Man 4.

The Hollywood Reporter states that Lindsay-Abaire, traditionally a novelist and playwright, is writing the fourth installment of the Spider-Man franchise for Columbia Pictures. Spider-Man 4 will once again feature Sam Raimi as director and Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. Kirsten Dunst is expected to return, though no officiall announcements have been made, apart from her impromptu "I’m in!" during an MTV News interview.

THR notes that Lindsay-Abire has little screenwriting experience. He wrote the scripts for Robots and Inkheart, and is working on an adaptation of his novel Rabbit Hole. The writer’s work tends to focus on "outsiders in search of clarity," which makes him like-minded with Peter Parker. It’s a sign that the studio wants to take Spider-Man in a more character-centric outing, "something that critics said got lost in the third installment" according to THR‘s report.

Previously, all signs had pointed to scribe James Vanderbilt putting the pen to Spidey’s script. The writer had allegedly scripted a two-part Spider-Man epic that would’ve led to the fourth and fifth installments being shot back-to-back. In THR‘s report, it’s noted that Vanderbilt "previously wrote a draft of Spider-Man 4," so whether or not his draft is being used as a template for Lindsay-Abaire or is being scrapped entirely remains a mystery.

Even when Vanderbilt was on board, plot details remained quite sketchy. Most fans assumed that actor Dylan Baker would finally get his chance to play The Lizard in the newest installment, but director Raimi isn’t quite as sure.

"[Dylan Baker’s] a great actor, and I think one day The Lizard’s story will be told," Raimi told MTV News. "I don’t know if it will be this one or not. I just don’t know. I’m definitely hoping to work with Dylan in the picture. I just don’t know who the villain is yet."

Whether or not he was playing coy remains to be seen. What’s certain, however, is that whatever little we knew before about this movie, we probably know even less now. Isn’t Hollywood fun?

Manga Friday: Bat-Manga!

Manga Friday: Bat-Manga!

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Just one book this week, but what a book! How could I mention anything else in the same breath as…

Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan
Compiled, edited and Designed by Chip Kidd
Photography by Geoff Spear
From the Collection of Saul Ferris
Translated by Anne Ishii
Pantheon, October 2008, $29.95 paperback/$60 hardcover

Bat-Manga! is an amazing, bizarre object, the book equivalent of hearing the result of a very long, cross-cultural game of Telephone. You see, the Japanese magazine Shonen King licensed the rights to create new, original Japanese Batman comics in 1966, when the then-new TV show was broadcast in Japan. Those comics ran for about a year, but were never reprinted in Japan, and have never been published in the US in any form before now.

It’s a book with much to admire, wonder at, and complain about. Well, let me get the first of those out of the way first:

Chip Kidd is a fine designer, but I have to admit that it annoys me that he gets top billing on a book made up entirely of someone else’s comics. What’s worse is that the creator of those comics – Jiro Kuwata, who wrote and drew all of the works reprinted in this book, based very, very loosely on concepts and characters from the American Batman comics of the time – isn’t credited officially at all. His name comes up in the introduction, and there is an interview with him in the front matter, but the official credits for Bat-Manga! – reproduced above – don’t mention him at all. We’ve really hit the triumph of design over substance when a book designer, photographer, and collector are billed above – instead of, to be blunt – the person who actually created the stories.

So: Bat-Manga! doesn’t say that it’s a book by Jiro Kuwata, but it is. Those other folks just helped bring it to an American audience.

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What To Watch on Halloween

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Halloween is the day where, traditionally, people under 21 run around in costumes and collect candy while people above do…other things. If you don’t have any big plans that involve getting candy or alcohol in a costume tonight, here are a few reasons to leave a bowl of candy outside your door and curl up in front of the DVD player for the night.

dance box

 

Dance of the Dead

If Zombie Comedies are your vice, then you’ll want to grab this Dance of The Dead as part of the Ghost House Underground box set. It takes place on prom night when the dead decide to rise, and the only people who can stop them are the one’s not cool enough to get invited to the dance.There’s plenty of horror moments for diehard zombie fans, as well as some pretty great one’s as well, including a zombie make-out scene. Check out a full review here.

 

 

 

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Wes Craven Carves Google Logo

Wes Craven Carves Google Logo

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

One of the reasons we love Google is that they know how to have fun.  Throughout the year, usually around the holidays, they have interesting visual takes on their stark logo.  Today, horror director Wes Craven has provided the Halloween edition.

‘Addams Family’ Musical Arrives in Chicago Late 2009

‘Addams Family’ Musical Arrives in Chicago Late 2009

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

Charles Addams’ immortal family of kooks will be singing and dancing in the Windy City come late 2009. The performances for the yet-to-be-cast musical will begin November 13, 2009 at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre according to The Chicago Tribune. The formal opening date is expected to be a few weeks later in early December.

When The Addams Family production was first announced May 21, 2007 by Elephant Eye Theatrical they anticipated it being ready for the 2009-2010 Broadway season but that date may now slip a year.

The production is being written by songwriter Andrew Lippa and Jersey Boys writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Improbable Theater founders Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch will direct and design.

“Chicago has instructive and enthusiastic audiences,” lead producer Stuart Oken told the paper. “Given our roots in the Chicago theater community, this was the only place we ever imagined doing our first production.”

Workshop productions to help shape the show have included Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia with the producers hoping to land the famed performers for real.

Rights to the characters, first seen in the New Yorker before coming to fame as an ABC sitcom, were granted by the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.  While the characters have been seen in print in addition television and film, this marks the first time they will be seen on the stage.

"With a unique style that combined the ghoulish, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams’ drawings of Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, Grandmama, Lurch and Thing have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures," according to the Elephant Eye announcement.

Of course, the television theme song has become a recognizable part of popular culture with its familiar finger-snapping now used in sports stadiums around the country.

The Charles & Tee Addams Foundation was founded in 2000 by the late Tee Addams, widow of Charles Addams. The Foundation’s purpose is "to interpret and share the artistic achievement of Charles Addams’ life through programs developed from the artist’s work and archives."

Frankenstein Mobster Halloween masks

Frankenstein Mobster Halloween masks

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

If you find yourself short of a Halloween mask today, or if you’re a fan of our Frankenstein Mobster series (or his trip to Munden’s Bar), then we have just the thing for you– Halloween masks you can print out yourself.

Choose from Frankie, Janus the Werecat, Ozmed the Mummy taxi driver (add your own toilet paper) or detective Terri Todd. Just save these images to your computer and print.

Enjoy! And we want 10% of the candy. And no pieces of gum!

JMS Heads to ‘Forbidden Planet’

JMS Heads to ‘Forbidden Planet’

  • News
  • October 31, 2008

This year’s Halloween might be dominated by Heath Ledger Jokers, but a few years from now, expect Robby the Robot to be the costume to beat.

That’s right, sports fans, Fordbidden Planet is coming back to theaters with a fresh relaunch. The Hollywood Reporter says that fan-friendly scribe J. Michael Straczynski is writing the script for Warner Bros., with Joel Silver producing through Silver Pictures.

Released in 1956, Forbidden Planet features a space expedition to a far-off colony populated by scientists. When they arrive, they find only the troubled Dr. Morbius and his daughter. Morbius, now smarter due to alien technology, warns that there’s an invisible monster terrorizing the planet. Dubbed a "monster from the id," the scientist, his daughter and the expedition’s captain band together to fight the creature and survive the encounter. Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen starred in the picture. The longest lasting effect of the film on popular culture is Robby the Robot, a silly little android that has warmed hearts for many years. (Journalistic integrity, as you can see, has been checked at the door. I just love Robby the Robot!)

Plans for a Forbidden Planet remake have been in the works for a while. THR sums it up quite well:

"Warners picked up the project on the down-low earlier this year. As late as last year, it was set up at DreamWorks with David Twohy attached to direct. Prior to that, New Line had it. James Cameron, Nelson Gidding and Stirling Silliphant have been associated with the remake over the years."

J. Michael Straczynski is famous to fandom for his comics work on The Amazing Spider-Man and his current run on Thor. He’s also the mastermind behind beloved sci-fi television series Babylon 5. In the film world, JMS worked on Ninja Assassin for the Wachowski Brothers, and has long been attached to a Silver Surfer adaptation for Fox. Soon, he’ll take over The Brave and the Bold for DC Comics, integrating classic 1940s era "Red Circle heroes" into the DC Universe.

If anyone can pull off a Forbidden Planet remake, it’s JMS. Despite being outdated by modern technology, any sci-fi lover that watches Planet can see just how easily the film would translate in a contemporary audience. It’s premise, that we ourselves are our greatest weakness, is a timeless motif that can resonate with audiences of any generation. As far as inevitable Hollywood remakes go, this is one that might actually be quite good.

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