Author: Matthew Weinberger

#SDCC: The Scribe Awards for Media Tie-in Writers

#SDCC: The Scribe Awards for Media Tie-in Writers

The third annual presentation of the International Association of Media-Tie-in Writers (IAMTW) “Scribe” awards just went down at San Diego Comic-Con, honoring the best and the brightest in the world of property tie-ins. Awards are voted on by members of the organization.

“These writers, highly prized by fans, receive few reviews and
little acclaim, and the Scribe Awards are designed as a step toward
properly honoring them,” said Max Allan Collins, president of IAMTW, in a press release.

 I know this is what you’re waiting for, so here’s the list of winners:

Best General Fiction
Original
CSI: Headhunter
by Greg Cox 

Best General Fiction
Adapted
Indiana Jones and
the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
by James Rollins 

Best Speculative Fiction
Original
Star Trek Terok Nor:
Day of the Vipers
by James Swallow 

Best Speculative Fiction
Adapted
Hellboy II: The Golden
Army
by Robert Greenberger 

Best Young Adult Original Primeval: Shadow of
the Jaguar
by Steven Savile 

Best Young Adult Adapted Journey to the Center
of the Earth 3D
by Tracey West 

The Grandmaster Award – Keith R.A. DeCandido

DeCandido, the recipient of the Grandmaster Award, is the writer of several Star Trek, CSI, and Supernatural books, just to name a few.

“Things like this make all the difference, there are plenty of days when I don’t feel up to my job and my belief in my own words is shaky at best, but now, when I’m down there, I will just have to look at the shelf and see this incredible gift from the guys in the trenches, and I’ll be able to shut up the doubting devils and get back to work,” said Steven Savile in an e-mail to the IAMTW mailing list after finding out about his win.

“This means a lot to me, coming as does from my fellow laborers in the tie-in trenches,” wrote Greg Cox to that same list. “But, boy, now I really wish I could have swung a trip to San Diego somehow…”

Congratulations to all the winners– and to ComicMix contributor Robert Greenberger, happy birthday!

#SDCC: Marvel’s Cup o’ Joe — Red She-Hulk, Deathlok, and Miracleman

#SDCC: Marvel’s Cup o’ Joe — Red She-Hulk, Deathlok, and Miracleman

Judging by the exhausted tweets and blog posts coming out of SDCC, it sounds like everyone there could use a Cup O’ Joe–which is good, because that’s what they’re getting as Joe Quesada, Jim McCann, Dan Buckley, Jeph Loeb, CB Cebulski and Steve Wacker revealed some of the biggest news of the convention. Special guests and announcements galore, all from the Marvel liveblog:

  • Bob Gale is writing some Marvel.com Amazing Spider-Man stories in continuity — once every 2 weeks. You need to be a Marvel Digital Comics subscriber to read them
  • Red She-Hulk will be appearing in Hulk, and is on the cover of #16.
  • After Incredible Hulk #600, there are two Hulks, neither of them Banner, leading into World War Hulks.
  • To kick off that event, John Romita, Jr. is doing a one-shot called World War Hulks Gamma, which kicks off with the death of “a major character.” It comes out in December.
  • We want to have digital plans, but not INSTEAD of, ” says Joe Quesada about a push towards digital comics.
  • Within the next 6 weeks there will be news about the future of Marvel’s cosmic line of books.
  • Thor is the next character to get a major push into the spotlight with the movie on the way.
  • Dan Buckley said that there would be four or five Ultimate books a month, on average, beginning in January.
  • Ultimatum #5 “should answer 90% of the questions that you may have regarding what we have been doing.” – Loeb
  • Deadpool/Red Hulk with McGuiness on pencils, coming in August. Deadpool will be showing up in Hulk this fall.
  • Joe Quesada revealed that the Dark Reign will last until December, but was otherwise mum.
  • Charlie Huston and David Medina are doing 7 issues of a Marvel Knights Deathlok series.
  • Quesada’s big announcement: Marvel has officially won the rights to Marvelman/Miracleman, and will be starting to publish stories featuring the character next year. It will be the CONTINUING adventures of the character, not a reboot. Mark Buckingham came on stage for the announcement. This is huge news, folks. Watch ComicMix for more.

For the blow-by-blow, and even more news, check out the Marvel liveblog. For more about the Marvelman announcement, don’t touch that dial, we’ll be following the story right here on ComicMix.com.

#SDCC: Marvel: X-Men

#SDCC: Marvel: X-Men

San Diego Comic-Con 2009The streets have erupted in violence and the safe haven that mutants thought they’d found is in turmoil. The Dark Avengers have put Daken in Wolverine’s place, and there’s an all-out war tearing through space and time with a certain red-haired green-eyed girl at the center of it. In other words, it’s another Wednesday in the life of the X-Men.

 X-Men group editor Axel Alonso was joined by panelists include Matt Fraction (Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia), Craig Kyle and Chris Yost (X-Force), Marjorie Liu (Dark Wolverine), Daniel Way (Deadpool), Jason Aaron (Wolverine: Weapon X), and several special guests to share the news about what the future holds for Marvel’s band of merry mutants. Marvel’s got their own liveblog going, and here are the highlights:

  • Daniel Acuna joins X-Men: Legacy as the ongoing artist.
  • Magneto is back in the upcoming Nation X storyline, presumably in Uncanny X-Men.
  • Necrosha is an upcoming crossover between X-Force, New Mutants, and X-Men: Legacy featuring the evil priestess Selene, led into by a one-shot. Starts in October. 16 million mutants promised to return, but it’s not an M-Day fix or reversal. “Suck it, Blackest Night,” quoth UXM scribe Matt Fraction. CBR has more about the crossover here.
  • On a note very near and dear to my heart — the cover to New Mutants #6 features Magik hugging someone who looks very much like the long-dead Doug Ramsey. Of course, he looks like a zombie, but we take what is given.
  • Daken’s sexuality is brought up, only to be met with a resounding “shrug” from the panelists. “When you see him involved with women and men, it isn’t about sexuality, it is about power and manipulation,” said Marjorie Liu.
  • X-Statix mascot Doop will be returning, though no word on how, when, or in what title.

Point your X-browser over here, X-fans, for more X-bloggage.

#SDCC: ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’ with… Dr. Horrible?

#SDCC: ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’ with… Dr. Horrible?

This is the worst part about covering SDCC while not actually being there: you can get a pretty good sense of what a panel was like from a liveblog, but there’s just no replacement for seeing a singing, dancing Dark Knight, especially when Neil Patrick Harris is involved.

Diedrich Bader, the voice of Batman, returned to Comic-Con alongside John DiMaggio (Futurama), the voice of Aquaman, and executive producer Sam Register (Teen Titans), producer James Tucker (Justice League Unlimited), producer and story editor Michael Jelenic (The Batman) and voice director Andrea Romano (everything DC has animated in the last twenty years), to screen the upcoming “Mayhem of the Music Meister” episode‚ featuring the voice of Neil Patrick Harris (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) as the Music Meister, and take questions afterwards. ComicVine gets props for managing to stop watching the spectacle long enough to liveblog. Some highlights from the panel:

  • Bat-Mite Masks were distributed to attendees before the panel started.
  • G.I. Robot, Detective Chimp, Vixen, Captain Marvel (plus the Marvel Family), Firestorm, the Metal Men, the Doom Patrol, and Starro are all making appearances in upcoming episodes.
  • “Outrageous!” came about as Aquaman’s catchphrase accidentally–John DiMaggio just channels his inner outrageousness.
  • “Black Manta, Clock King and Gorilla Grodd appear.  There’s Aquaman! 
    Along with Green Arrow and Black Canary.  Why is Black Manta suddenly
    singing?  Now Aquaman is.  They can’t help themselves!  Gorilla Grodd
    singing and dancing?  You HAVE to see this!” – from the liveblog
  • Twitter user @the_real_winson says that when NPH’s character first appears, the crowd couldn’t stop cheering.
  • The episode got a standing ovation!
  • During the Q&A afterwards, the child who asked about the Batmobile at last year’s SDCC asked today what Batman’s favorite gadget was–and got an answer in Batman’s voice. It’s the Batarang, by the way. 
  • Crisis on Infinite Earths, BatB-style? “Only if we get to do it as a musical,” DiMaggio said.

More reactions (and possible spoilers) at ComicVine.

#SDCC: Mondo Marvel

#SDCC: Mondo Marvel

If it’s a major convention, it must be Mondo Marvel. Panelists included Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, Jason Aaron (Wolverine: Weapon X), Dennis Calero (X-Men Noir), Matt Fraction (Invincible Iron Man), Paul Tobin (Models, Inc.), Frank Tieri (Dark Reign: Lethal Legion), Steve Wacker (Spider-Man editor), Jim McCann (New Avengers: The Reunion), and C.B. Cebulski (Marvel talent liaison) gathered to discuss Dark Reign, Marvel Adventures, and pretty much everything else the House of Ideas has on its plate. Newsarama’s got the liveblog, but here are some highlights:

  • Black Widow: Deadly Origin by Paul Cornell and Rom Raney is four issues, starting in October. “Some deep, dark secrets from her past,” said Quesada.
  • X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain is out in November, featuring the same team of Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero.
  • Captain America/Black Panther is a 4-issue series by Reggie Hudlin and Denys Cowan, involving Black Panther’s father.
  • Paul Tobin talked about the “bold new direction” for the Marvel Adventures line, with Quesada saying that they’re bringing “cohesion” to those books.
  • Andy Diggle and Roberto de la Torre on Daredevil, starting in September.
  • Matt Fraction got a compliment for “giving Colossus his balls back.” Yep.
  • Quesada said that Allan Heinberg is in the midst of writing a “massive” story involving the Young Avengers.

More One More Day discussion, the return of Fantomex, and true tales of cosplay gone wrong at the full Newsarama liveblog as well as Marvel’s own recap.

#SDCC: TheOneRing.net: The Hobbit

#SDCC: TheOneRing.net: The Hobbit

TheOneRing.net hosted a Hobbit movie panel at SDCC, and some interesting new details were revealed: first and foremost, they’re splitting it into two movies. The word is that they found a transition-point that seemed natural and would allow for them to add some extra details from the appendices from the book. They are looking at a holiday 2011 release (at least for the first film), and they’re 95% sure that Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, and Andy Serkis are returning to reprise their roles. In fact, Richard Taylor (from WETA) quoted McKellan as saying “Just tell them, I’m waiting for a phone call from Middle-earth.”

The first draft of the script is apparently still in the works, but with writers Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro hard at work, many fans are already very excited for the release. Just who will be playing Bilbo Baggins has not been released, and many details about the films are still being kept secret. WETA has already been working on details for nearly a year, so one can speculate that the scenes and visual details will be as meticulously attended to as in the LOTR films. For those who want to get back onboard the Middle-Earth bandwagon right away, it is rumored that del Torro, the film’s director, frequents the chat boards at http://www.theonering.net/ (where you can also find some behind-the-scenes sneak-peaks of what WETA is up to in preparation for the films). There is apparently also going to be a cruise to Middle Earth in 2010, and a scavenger hunt (with nifty prizes from WETA) at Comic-Con.

For the more details on what happened at the panel, check out G4’s liveblog here.

(Jenifer Rosenberg contributed to this report.)

#SDCC: DC: Superman: Two Worlds panel

#SDCC: DC: Superman: Two Worlds panel

It’s going to be an exciting year for the Man of Steel: Superman group editor Matt Idelson, writers Geoff Johns (Adventure Comics, Superman: Secret Origins), Greg Rucka (Action Comics), James Robinson (Superman), Sterling Gates (Supergirl), and Renato Guedes (Superman) discussed what the future holds for the current New Krypton status quo and answered fan questions. CBR has the liveblog, but here are some highlights:

  • “Hunt for Reactron” will be a Supergirl/Action
    crossover in October, with both series co-written by Gates and Rucka
    for the arc. “It’s a big story with a lot of big, crazy action. And a
    lot of fighting,” Gates said.
  • Geoff Johns briefly ran down what would appear
    in Adventure Comics, drawing laughter when he mentioned “the good
    Teen Titans.” He also said, “If you don’t like Krypto, don’t read our
    book.”
  • The final three issues of the 12-issue World of
    New Krypton
    will be an arc tying together developments on Earth with
    those on New Krypton.
  • “Coming out of ‘Codename Patriot,’ we’re going to finish the finish
    the book up to #700, with ‘Mon-el, Man of Valor,’ which will see him
    return darker, with a new purpose, and a new costume.”
  • The Superman Annual will be about the history of Daxam with art by Javi Pina.
  • Sterling Gates mentioned September’s Supergirl Annual, which is
    the origin of Superwoman. “Secret Files” comes out in conjunction with
    “Codename Patriot,” with art by Jamal Igle, Francis Manapul, and more.

  • “You’ll see every Legion in Adventure Comics eventually,” Johns said.

There’s a lot more at the liveblog, so go forth.

Jeff Smith brings more “Bone” in 2010

Jeff Smith brings more “Bone” in 2010

Good news for big fans like myself of Jeff Smith’s Bone. Comic Book Resources just posted a press release from Scholastic promising four new graphic novels, the first new story in that universe since 2002’s Rose. Don’t take my word for it:

First to be published will be “BONE: Tall Tales,” coming in Summer 2010, written by Jeff Smith and Tom Sniegoski, and illustrated by Jeff Smith, featuring new art and stories with favorite BONE characters. In addition, Scholastic will publish a highly-anticipated expansion of the BONE world—the Quest for the Spark Trilogy. Overseen by Smith, the trilogy will be written by Tom Sniegoski and illustrated by Jeff Smith. “BONE Quest for the Spark: Book One” (Fall 2010), “BONE Quest for the Spark: Book Two” (Spring 2011), and “BONE Quest for the Spark: Book Three” (Summer 2011) represent the first time Smith has continued the adventures set in the valley since the publication of Rose, the prequel to the BONE series.

It seems a little odd that Smith won’t be writing the characters that propelled him to indie stardom, but if you’re anything like me, next summer now can’t come soon enough. Go check out the press release for the full story, including some interesting sales figures and a little more background on Bone newcomer Sniegoski: Press Release via CBR

Viper Comics wants you!

Viper Comics wants you!

Not much to say about this one, folks, except that Viper Comics, of Middleman fame, is holding a talent search. What’s different about this one, you ask? Well, in addition to looking for artists, as most of these talent searches  do, they’re going to take writers off the street. What are they looking for in writing samples? Man, you’re just full of good questions today. From the horse’s mouth:

In order to have your writing accepted it must:

  • be a self-contain story that runs no more than 5 (FIVE) comic-pages.
  • be about an existing character in the comic book world.
  • be presented in something resembling a professional comic book script.
  • make sure you include ALL your contact information on your submission.

If you’re at San Diego Comic Con, they’ll accept samples and portfolios there. If you can’t make it out, they’ll accept a digital copy up until the convention ends, Sunday, July 27th at 5pm Pacific.

So what’re you writers and artists looking for? Get going!

Interview: Fred Van Lente

Fred Van Lente may have one of the strangest resumes in modern comics.

After all, not many writers can give their first claim to fame as writing an award-winning non-fiction comic book series both satirizing and paying tribute to the greatest thinkers in human history; yet that’s his name alongside artist Ryan Dunlavey’s on the cover of Action Philosophers, which won the Xeric Grant in 2004.

Since then, he’s gone on to write what seems like an endless stream of series and miniseries for Marvel: Marvel Adventures Iron Man, Marvel Adventures Spider-man, Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, Amazing Fantasy, Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK’s 11, Wolverine: First Class, and more besides.

These days, his most steady gig is co-writing (with Greg Pak) Marvel’s Incredible Hercules, a fan favorite series and critical darling that’s been praised for mixing mythology with good old Marvel superheroics. He’s also writing the X-Men Noir miniseries, a mystery story set in the heyday of prohibition.

And, just to make sure his resume keeps getting stranger, the third issue of Comic Book Comics, his second collaboration with Ryan Dunlavey, just hit the stands recently. As the title suggests, it’s a comic book that chronicles the history of comic books.

Fred took a few minutes out his schedule to talk to us about how he wound up writing for Marvel, how not to kill Jocasta, and how not to get sued when infringing on copyright.

ComicMix: How does the writer of a black-and-white independent series about the great thinkers wind up writing all-ages superhero stories for the Marvel Adventures line?

Fred Van Lente: Well, believe it or not, my working for Marvel and me doing Action Philosophers happened simultaneously. What happened was, for two completely different career paths converged. I was doing Action Philosophers on and off with Ryan [Dunlavey] more or less for fun until we got the Xeric Grant, and I did a color independent comic with a great artist by the name of Steve Ellis, who’s now better known for having co-created the series High Moon over at Zuda. We did a super-crime mob series called The Silencers for Moonstone, and that brought me to the attention of Mark Paniccia over at Marvel. Mark invited me over to pitch for an anthology series called Amazing Fantasy. They ran a poll on Marvel.com for which characters to revamp, and they chose Scorpion. By a bizarre coincidence, Action Philosophers #1 and Amazing Fantasy #7, which premiered the new Scorpion, came out on the same day.

CMix: Really?

FVL: Yeah! And in most stores, because they were both “A” titles, they were racked next to each other. So after ten years of trying to break into the business and not really getting much traction, I not only had two comics come out on the same day, I had them sit next to each. And to add irony to irony, I had broken my ankle. So I was laid up and on painkillers, so I was unable to go to the store and see this magnificence for myself.

CMix: That’s kind of sad.

FVL: Well, my friend sent me cell phone pictures.

CMix: Gotcha. So, my next question is, how does the writer of all-ages Marvel superhero stories wind up co-writing Incredible Hercules, one of the most critically beloved mainstream titles right now?

(more…)