Author: Rick Marshall

Immigrant Superheroes, Gigolo Robin

Immigrant Superheroes, Gigolo Robin

  • News
  • July 11, 2008

Award-winning photographer Dulce Pinzon was first noted for her "Real Story of Superheroes" series back in 2006, so I might be way behind in linking to it here — but it’s so darn interesting that I’m willing to risk broadcasting my late arrival.

The synopsis of the series, according to Pinzon:

The principal objective of this series is to pay homage to these brave and determined men and women that somehow manage, without the help of any supernatural power, to withstand extreme conditions of labor in order to help their families and communities survive and prosper.

This project consists of 20 color photographs of Mexican immigrants dressed in the costumes of popular American and Mexican superheroes. Each photo pictures the worker/superhero in their work environment, and is accompanied by a short text including the worker’s name, their hometown in Mexico, the number of years they have been working in New York, and the amount of money they send to Mexico each week.

Pictured here is Ernesto Mendez, dressed as Robin, who manages to send $200 dollars home to Mexico City each week by working as a gigolo in New York City’s Times Square.

The rest of the photos are available on Pinzon’s website.

 

 

Interview: Jon Rosenberg on the ‘Goats’ Book Deal

Interview: Jon Rosenberg on the ‘Goats’ Book Deal

  • News
  • July 11, 2008

When I spoke with Goats creator Jon Rosenberg a month ago, he hinted at big things in store for his long-running webcomic that may or may not involve lasers, contracts and lawn care professionals.

Well, the news broke today, and despite a conspicuous absence of lasers and lawn care, there is indeed a contract at the heart of Rosenberg’s big announcement. Rosenberg tells ComicMix that Random House imprint Villard will be publishing collections of the color strips of the series (everything from late-2003 until the current storyline) in a set of 150-page volumes. He expects to have the first volume ready for San Diego’s Comic-Con International next year, with two more volumes following in six-month intervals.

From the official press release:

Villard Books will publish the recently completed Goats story arc, The Infinite Pendergast Cycle, as a trilogy —in the style of the great sci-fi sagas Goats so affectionately parodies. Each trade paperback volume will be full color and published at six-month intervals. The first volume, Goats: Infinite Typewriters, set for July 2009, will include newly revised and created material intended to introduce new readers to the colossal and complex Goats universe—and set up the audience for the rest of the epic. Book 1 will cover material published on the Goats website from December 2003 to January 2006. The second book, Goats: The Corndog Imperative, scheduled for a November 2009 release, covers January 06 to March 2007. And the third book, Goats: Showcase Showdown, due out in April 2010, covers March 07 to April 08.

I spoke with Rosenberg about the publishing deal and what it means for one of the ‘Net’s longest-running webcomics.

COMICMIX: So how did this deal come about, Jon? Who approached who?

JON ROSENBERG: My agent, Judy Hansen, made everything happen. I called her up one day and she said, "Hold on, I’m going to call up Random House and get you a book deal." And I waited on hold for a bit and when she got back on, it was all taken care of.

I’m beginning to suspect that Judy has some supernatural abilities, it has been an amazing education watching her bend reality to her will as she works.

CMix: What can you tell us about the specifics of the deal? Do you receive anything on a per-book basis, or was this a flat-rate arrangement?

JR: This is a standard book-type deal as far as I understand, with a royalty rate and an advance paid on those royalties and that sort of thing. It’s a nice deal, I’m not going to retire early on it or anything but I’m quite happy with the terms.

(more…)

Who’s the Best Superhero?

Who’s the Best Superhero?

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

Of all the heroes in all of the comics ever made, who is the greatest?

While the answer to that one is easy (it’s Rom: Spaceknight, of course), Chicago’s RedEye Magazine seems to think the question merits a bit more discussion. They’ve put together a bracket-style "Best Superhero Tourney" to choose the greatest superhero, and even went so far as to recruit Stan "The Man" Lee to provide an audio greeting for participants.

Sure, some of the choices are easy (does anyone really think Popeye stands a chance against the Silver Surfer’s power cosmic?), but there are some conspicuously absent characters — including [gasp] Rom! The RedEye crew also loses points for naming two of the groupings of characters the "Nicolas Cage Region" and the "Rosario Dawson Region" — but that one’s forgivable. The absence of Rom, however, should be considered an affront to comics history as we know it.

With that in mind, I think it’s time to do a little ballot-stuffing, folks. Who’s with me? Let’s head over there and make sure Popeye ends up trouncing Superman in the final round.

The first 32-character round ends this Friday, July 11, so register your votes soon — then come back the following week to vote on the "Sweet Sixteen" of characters.

Nudist Camp: The Comic

Nudist Camp: The Comic

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

The National Post’s writer and cartoonist team of Ben Kaplan and Steve Murray recently chronicled their foray into a nudist colony in Ontario, Canada, and the resulting story and comic strip, well… they pretty much speak for themselves. From naked lawn care to threesomes in a hot tub, both features provide a funny, fish-out-of-water look at the inner workings of a popular no-clothes destination.

"Who’s going to believe I go to a nudist camp to get away from my sexual urges, but it’s true," English, 62, says in his trailer, where a pair of jockeys rests on a tub of gum drops. English now wears tan shorts and white Crocs and quotes Second Timothy, Chapter III, Verse six in a sermon that invokes rape fantasies, C.S. Lewis and a diatribe against Four Seasons showing porn.

(via journalista)

‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ Photos

‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ Photos

With all of this talk about blockbuster adaptations of comic books, it’s easy to forget about some of the other big films hitting theaters this year. Luckily, the Cinematical team has provided a reminder about one of those big releases that’s likely to appeal to ComicMix readers: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Warner Bros. recently released some images from the film, and Cinematical has collected them in a nice little Half-Blood Prince gallery. Posted here is one of the images, but head over to Cinematical for the full host of photos from the film, which is scheduled for a November 21 release.

Comic Shop Therapy and ‘The Dark Knight’

Comic Shop Therapy and ‘The Dark Knight’

I’ve been telling friends of mine for years that the answers to all of life’s dilemmas can be found in the pages of comic books — you just need to know which books to look inside.

Well, it looks like I’m not alone. In fact, anyone looking for answers might want to cruise over to the online home of Kyle Piccolo, Comic Shop Therapist, for a helpful diagnosis.

Problems with women?

Frustrated at work?

Suspect you have a mutant power?

Just head down to your local comic book shop and have a chat with the man behind the counter — Kyle Piccolo, the always sardonic, sometimes empathetic, and not quite all-knowing Comic Shop Therapist. Kyle possesses the uncanny ability to find the answer to your problem in the pages of a comic book and you can bet he’ll do it in a smart, entertaining and, more often than not, hilarious way.

While much of the website looks to be a massive billboard for The Dark Knight, the videos of Piccolo dispensing comic shop wisdom to the masses are actually pretty well put-together and likely to bring a laugh or two. If the whole thing is just more Dark Knight viral marketing, consider me successfully marketed to… or whatever the applicable term might be. The Heath Ledger-centric Dark Knight trailer on the site is pretty impressive.

Oh, and kudos to the crew at Manhattan’s Midtown Comics for providing a set for the videos.

Audio: Webcomics Panel at Heroes Con ’08

Audio: Webcomics Panel at Heroes Con ’08

The good folks over at The Dollar Bin recently posted a recording of the Webcomics Roundtable from this year’s Heroes Con. The panel features webcomic creators Nicholas Gurewitch of Perry Bible Fellowship (the subject of this April interview), David Malki of Wondermark, Julia Wertz of The Fart Party, Chris Harding of We the Robots and Danielle Corsetto of Girls With Slingshots discussing a variety of webcomics-related topics. The chat was moderated by The Comics Reporter himself, Tom Spurgeon.

It’s a great listen for anyone interested in various facets of the webcomic scene, including the pros and cons of instant reader reaction and the economics of making webcomics a full-time gig. Many thanks to the Dollar Bin crew for making it available.

 

(via Fleen)

Interview: Brian Bendis on ‘Secret Invasion,’ TV and Marvel’s MMO

Interview: Brian Bendis on ‘Secret Invasion,’ TV and Marvel’s MMO

Among comic book fans, Brian Bendis has become a household name as the architect of Marvel Comics’ "Ultimate" universe, the writer of countless stories involving just about every character in the publisher’s stable and the author of a long list of well-regarded, creator-owned projects such as Powers, Torso and Jinx.

Credited with making a host of third-tier characters relevant and merging the many worlds of the Marvel Universe into a more manageable landscape, Bendis is currently scripting Secret Invasion, Marvel’s latest, massively marketed crossover event that has readers guessing which of their favorite characters are actually shape-changing Skrulls in disguise.

I spoke with Bendis during a signing event at the recent Wizard World Chicago convention. The long line of fans that curled around the Marvel booth, through the aisles and around several other booths was a testament to both the massive list of projects Bendis has authored, as well as his genre-spanning appeal among fans. Those in line offered up everything from issues of Bendis’ long-running, creator-owned series Powers to issues of Daredevil and Secret Invasion, and many identified themselves as members of Bendis’ popular message board community, Jinxworld.

COMICMIX: It’s been a while since we’ve talked, Brian… I’m glad I could catch you for a few minutes.

BRIAN BENDIS: Yeah, this is our inaugural ComicMix interview. I’ve never been on the site before.

CMix: Well, let’s get right to it, then, as I don’t want to take up too much of your time with everyone in line here. First off, with the recent Secret Invasion reveal of Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew, as a Skrull, how does that reflect on all of the Spider-Woman stories you’ve been telling for the last few years? You’ve been building a fairly complicated history for the character, after all…

BB: It reflects perfectly, because I was writing her knowing this. It wasn’t like someone surprised me with it. I knew from the first issue of New Avengers that she was a Skrull. But the reveal and the reaction to the reveal, it was so genuine and it was a real relief. I did feel bad, though. There were a few Spider-Woman fans on my boards, one of whom had spent thousands of dollars on original art from the issues I had written. They showed me the art, and they were amazing, but the whole time I was like… Oh, no…

But the whole point is surprising people. You can’t start whispering to one person or another. Only about four people in Marvel knew that was the way things were going to play out.

(more…)

Warren Ellis on ‘G.I. Joe’ Cartoon

Warren Ellis on ‘G.I. Joe’ Cartoon

Warren Ellis seems to have been everywhere in this week’s news, with a barrage of headlines related to his appearance at last weekend’s Wizard World Chicago as the Guest of Honor and, of course, my recent interview with Ellis about his FreakAngels webcomic. Well, chalk up another one for "Internet Jesus," as news broke recently about a series of five, 10-minute "Webisodes" the British author scripted starring the cast of the "G.I. Joe" toy line and collectively titled G.I. Joe: Resolute.

According to ICv2:

Each episode is self-contained, but there is also an overall story arc. These short cartoons, which are targeted at adults, have a distinctly Vertigo flavor since they were written by veteran comic writer Warren Ellis and based on character designs by 100 Bullets cover artist Dave Johnson. In this series, which is rated "PG-13," the guns shoot bullets, not lasers and there are real consequences. Although there isn’t a lot of blood there is lots violence and a hint that major “characters may die.”

Hasbro plans to debut the Webisodes on its website early next year, wit the hope that Cartoon Network will broadcast the series at some point. Of course, there’s also a toy line based on the Webisodes in the works, too.

You can find more info at G.I. Joe fansite, HISSTank.com.

 

Seth Rogen and the ‘Green Hornet’ Interview

Seth Rogen and the ‘Green Hornet’ Interview

When rumors of a Green Hornet film co-written by and starring Seth Rogen (Superbad, Knocked Up) first surfaced, I’ll admit being a bit skeptical. However, Sony recently announced a June 25, 2010, release date for the film, so things seem to be moving forward.

For those not in the know, The Green Hornet tales follow millionaire Britt Reid, who runs a newspaper by day and fights crime alongside his Asian manservant Kato at night. The adventures of the character were chronicled in both a radio series and comics, as well as a short-lived television series most noted for introducing the American audience to Bruce Lee.

The SuperHeroHype crew recently spoke to Rogen about the film:

When asked about Stephen Chow being involved in the project, Rogen confirmed that his name has come up and said, "Until you get an official green light, the studio won’t spend any money and you can’t get an actor without any money. We would love to have him. The version of the script is ultimately written as a very intense action movie."

"It’s a very intense action movie and the relationship between Green Hornet and Kato, a lot of comedy comes from that. At first actually, we weren’t even sure going in we could be more of a Jet Li type guy who maybe isn’t the funniest guy in the world, but he’s physically very impressive, or whether it would be more of a Stephen Chow type guy who can do martial arts, but clearly has a sense of humor. In the version that we’ve made it seems like a Stephen Chow type guy would be more suitable for the role. Again, until they officially greenlight it, it’s hard to make any of those decisions," Rogen continued.

Rogen is writing the film with his frequent collaborator, Evan Goldberg, who co-wrote Superbad with him.

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks