Author: Mike Gold

Ms. Tree leaps to prose fiction

Ms. Tree leaps to prose fiction

Once upon a time, mystery writer Max Allan Collins (Road To Perdition, CSI, Dick Tracy) teamed up with his pal Terry Beatty to create one of the longest-running independently-owned hardboiled crime comics, Ms. Tree. It enjoyed a long and healthy life, outlasting several of its publishers.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I edited the last lengthy run of the character over at DC Comics, where we produced ten novelette-length stories.

Now the indomitable private eye is making her return – not as a comic book, but as a prose novel written by Max Allan Collins and published this December by Hard Case Crime, who handles writers such as Pete Hamill, Stephen King and Ed McBain. I’m happy to report co-creator Terry Beatty is not being left out of the action: as you can see from the above illustration, Terry has contributed the cover painting to Deadly Beloved, "the first ever Ms. Tree Novel." This puts Terry alongside such masters as Robert McGinnis, Arthur Suydam and Bill Nelson.

All I can say is, well, hell, it’s about time.

Artwork copyright Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. All Rights Reserved.

Jack Kirby gets his due

Jack Kirby gets his due

Few people had the privilege of knowing comics legend Jack Kirby the way Mark Evanier did. Therefore, it is only fitting that Mark was the man selected to pen Jack’s definitive biography.

Kirby: King of Comics will be released this October in a 224 page hardcover edition, complete with a pull-out poster designed by Alex Ross, at a price a lot lower than that of any of Kirby’s Masterworks or Archives editions, a mere $40.00 retail. Normally, I’d be writing up the bit about who Jack Kirby was in case you don’t know the way I was taught in journalism school, but I can’t imagine anybody reading something called ComicMix who isn’t familiar with The King of Comics. But in case you want to brush up, Mark did an excellent job on his own website.

Tons of art and inside information and produced with the full cooperation of the Kirby estate, Mark Evanier’s Kirby: King of Comics is going to be an early Christmas for comic fans old and young.

Artwork copyright by their respective holders.

Anaheim, Kookamonga, and… Allentown!

Anaheim, Kookamonga, and… Allentown!

If you’re going to be in or near Allentown Pennsylvania between June 24 and September 16 of this year, you might want to drop by the Allentown Art Museum to enjoy their massive Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons exhibition.

A greatly expanded version of the exhibit that played New York’s prestigious – and extremely expensive – Museum of Modern Art back in the mid-80s, the program consists of over 160 drawings, paintings, cels and sundry objects used by directors Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett and others in the creation of the famous Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig cartoons from the classic period of the 1930s through 1960. Dozens of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies will be shown in their entirety as part of the exhibition.

Artwork from Bob Clampett’s Porky in Wackyland copyright Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.

Verheiden + Teen Titans = Big Time Movie

Verheiden + Teen Titans = Big Time Movie

Writer/producer Mark Verheiden (Smallville, Battlestar Galactica,Timecop, The Mask, My Name Is Bruce) who’s also been known to write more than a few major comic books (Superman/Batman, Aliens, The Phantom, The American), will be handling the script for the new Teen Titans motion picture.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is being produced by Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster, who are also handling the upcoming movie adaptations of The Doom Patrol and The Losers. All these films will be released by Warner Bros, parent company to DC Comics, which publishes all this stuff. Warners also has The Dark Knight and Watchmen coming up, along with a Justice League film and a sequel to Superman Returns.

It has yet to be determined exactly which members of the Teen Titans will be in the movie, other than everybody’s favorite ex-Robin, Nightwing.

Gee, you’d think these superhero movies are making money or something.

Characters trademark and copyright DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Yoe goes Pogo

Yoe goes Pogo

Our pal Craig "Modern Arf" Yoe has posted a scan of the very first Pogo comic strip over on his website. He does this ahead of Fantagraphics’ forthcoming Pogo reprint series, which will be a companion to their Peanuts, Popeye and Dennis programs (sounds like a law firm).

The last time – actually, the only time – I’d seen this original before was when it was framed and on the wall of Craig’s kitchen. To my everlasting credit, that is exactly where I had left it. Quite reluctantly.

Artwork copyright Walt Kelly Estate. All RIghts Reserved.

Bring on the funny!

Bring on the funny!

By now you’ve heard about all the new teevee shows announced by the networks. Here’s some new Comedy Central shows you might be able to look forward to, as a while bunch of new shows are going to pilot:

Root of All Evil, a courtroom show in which comedians argue that their client is the root of all evil. The show would pit Paris Hilton against Dick Cheney, or chick flicks against video games. Lewis Back is the judge.

Held Up, in which a bank teller is held hostage by two teams of robbers and a comic version of the Stockholm syndrome ensues.

An animated Larry the Cable Guy show, as if Larry wasn’t animated enough. Here he’s the co-owner of a cable TV channel whose other owner would prefer to program classier fare.

Michael Ian Black Doesn’t Understand, starring you-know-who in a sketch show/

Night Writer from one-time Saturday Night Live head writer T. Sean Shannon.

The Watch List, which features material from up-and-coming Middle Eastern-American comedians.

According to TV Week, Comedy Central also has production deals in the works for David Alan Grier and JoKoy.

MIKE GOLD: Nostalgia’s just another word for nuthin’ left to read

MIKE GOLD: Nostalgia’s just another word for nuthin’ left to read

We’re in another cycle of teevee tie-in comic books. Right now we’ve got Transformers, Battlestar Galactica, several Star Treks (or is that Treks Star?), Xena, Stargate whatever, lots of Simpsons titles, Tek Jansen, and a whole lot more.

This happens every once in a while, starting from the time publishers didn’t know what to do when the superheroes stopped selling back in the late 1940s. It’s a bit of a role of the dice for them, as the licensing fees they pay are on top of their regular costs for talent, production, promotion, printing, and distribution. Generally speaking, you’ve got to sell a lot more copies to clear a profit and, on its best day, comic book publishing is not for the faint of heart.

I’m not at all critical of this. Whereas reaching for the licensed material might have been an act of desperation back in the 1950s – I mean, Marvel’s Pinky Lee comic did not fare well, running a mere five issues – today such ventures seem to work when nostalgia based: publishers are reaching for teevee properties that their readers enjoyed before, or at the same time as, they discovered comics.

Now as we all know, the Baby Boomers have a deathlock on our culture. “It was the greatest, it was the best, you people don’t have squat, your music sucks and there hasn’t been a good movie since The Godfather Part 2.” If you’re a GenXer, you’ve heard this way too much. If you’re a Baby Boomer, you’re probably a parent so please give your kids a break. Besides, they’re beginning to think The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is about the Bush Administration.

So where are the Baby Boomer’s nostalgic teevee comics? The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is about to get the DVD box set treatment. I know at least two-dozen writers (and I’m not kidding) who would give their eyeteeth to do that comic book.

What about Rocky and Bullwinkle? Oh, wait. That’s funny stuff. And we can’t do funny comic books, despite the irony of that statement.

How about Perry Mason? He’s been around forever. Books, stories, a soap opera and movies – and that was even before the teevee show that starred that guy from Godzilla.

(more…)

Reuben Awards announced

Reuben Awards announced

The National Cartoonists Society handed out their 61st annual Reuben Awards at their dinner in Orlando, Florida this weekend. The winners of this

year’s awards are:

NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIP: Stephan Pastis, Pearls Before Swine

COMIC BOOK: Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese

GAG CARTOONING: Drew Dernavich

MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION: Steve Brodner

BOOK ILLUSTRATION: Mike Lester

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION: Laurie Triefeldt

TV ANIMATION: Craig McCracken

FEATURE ANIMATION: Carter Goodrich

GREETING CARD: Carla Ventresca

ADVERTISING & ILLUSTRATION: Tom Richmond

EDITORIAL CARTOON: Mike Ramirez

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOON: Hilary Price, Rhymes With Orange

Bill Amend (Foxtrot) won this year’s overall Reuben Award. The Reuben was named after comic strip legend Rube Goldberg, creator of the wacky sequential invention strips, among many other features. Previous recipients have included Milton Caniff, Al Capp and Alex Raymond.

Artwork from yesterday’s Over The Hedge by Michael Fry and T Lewis. All rights reserved.

David Tennant IS Luther Arkwright

David Tennant IS Luther Arkwright

Bryan Talbot’s legendary British graphic novel of the 70s and 80s, The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, has been adapted to a full-cast audio drama by the folks at Big Finish Productions, the same people who bring us original full-cast audio of Dark Shadows, Sapphire and Steel, and Doctor Who. The production spans three CDs and stars everybody’s favorite 10th Doctor, David Tennant, as the title character.

No stranger to audio drama, Tennant has been featured in several Big Finish Doctor Who-related adventures prior to being cast in the current television version.

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright was published in the United States by Dark Horse Comics.

Ostrander scores with Suicide

Ostrander scores with Suicide

Our old pal John Ostrander, along with our old pals Luke McDonnell and Karl Kesel, are getting DC’s phonebook treatment as Showcase Presents The Suicide Squad is about to pop up on their schedule – just in time for John’s brand-new Suicide Squad mini-series.

If this event looks to you like a ComicMix staff meeting, you wouldn’t be far off the mark. Suicide Squad was written by our columnist/contributor Mr. Ostrander and it was edited by our columnist/contributor Mr. Greenberger. And the series was a spin-off from the classic Legends mini-series edited by columnist/EIC Mr. Yours Truly.

Pretty cool, John. It’s rather rare for DC to run material from the past 20 years in their Showcase Presents series!

The helfy tome will be out the first week in November.

Artwork copyright DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. Artwork by Howard Chaykin. John Ostrander did not contribute to this item, and no animals were harmed in its production, although one committed– aw, you guessed.

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