Author: Rick Marshall

WWC Interview: Josh Blaylock on ‘Vampire Hunter D’

News
June 28, 2008

During a late-afternoon panel at Wizard World Chicago, Devil’s Due Publishing announced today that it would be producing a Vampire Hunter D miniseries (titled "American Wasteland") based on the popular anime/manga character. While the full creative team, length of the series and release date haven’t been finalized, DDP president Josh Blaylock will be serving as co-writer for the series, with new DDP staffer Jim Demonakos serving as editor.

I spoke with Blaylock about the project earlier today.

COMICMIX: So why did you target the Vampire Hunter D property?

JOSH BLAYLOCK: I think there’s something cool about him that transcends. It has a very hardcore fan following who are very faithful to the manga and the anime. In the ’80s there were only a few anime you could get ahold of, especially edgy animation. As a comic book fan, you craved that type of content but there was only so much you could get. There was Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the North Star… and D was this crazy, short cut-and-dry story that I got into way back when. It just seemed like it would be a lot of fun to do a Westernized take on him. I’m not talking about changing the look of the character drastically or anything like that, though.

CMix: What do you mean by "westernizing" the character?

JB: It has to do more with the art style more than anything else.

CMix: So will it be following the traditional format of manga with regard to reading direction and such?

JB: No, it will be done in the standard, Americanized style. I think it’s the kind of thing casual comic book fans who still follow manga titles still have a lot of interest in, because there’s a wider love for Vampire Hunter D than people seem to have for a lot of other manga titles. But we want to stay true to the character enough so that the hardcore fans will still still have an interest in the story, too.

CMix: what can you say about the story?

JB: The ink is just dry on this deal, but it’s along the lines of a typical D story: Lone wanderer winds up having to help some people, and so on. It’s very "Conan the Barbarian"… that sort of thing.

CMix: How closely are you going to work with Vampire Hunter D creator Hideyuki Kikuchi?

JB: Well, with Digital Manga Productions, we had been talking to them about doing some things for a while, and that was one of the properties we thought would be cool to do something with. I just threw the idea at them, and expected the creator to be a lot more protective of it, but he was all about it and wanted to go forward with it. Apparently, he loves to see the character played with and to see new things happen to him.

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Day One Report

News
June 28, 2008

After a full day on the floor at this year’s Wizard World Chicago (which is actually held well away from Chicago in Rosemont, IL), I can’t help but think the "Chicago" aspect of the show’s title isn’t the only element that’s a bit misleading. This weekend, it’s far more accurate to say that it’s "Avatar World" and Wizard is just living in it.

Avatar Press Editor-in-Chief William Christensen and the rest of his team bet big at this year’s show, and their gamble seems to be paying off. In addition to bringing the show’s Guest of Honor, author Warren Ellis, across the pond for one of his rare stateside appearances, the sheer volume of the publisher’s real estate in the show’s program, floor space and overall marketing is impressive, to say the least. Heck, you can play along with this game at home, folks — just download a copy of the convention guidebook and take a look through it. The "exclusives" section alone seems like it would be more aptly named "Avatar Press Exclusives… and some other stuff."

While the Avatar push is great for the publisher (and after speaking with Christensen and Avatar’s head of marketing, David Marks, the return on investment has been positive thus far), one can’t help but wonder about the behind-the-scenes story here. After speaking with a few contacts in and around the planning of the show, the picture painted by these conversations is one of a Wizard World organization that recognized Ellis’ presence as the best weapon against yet another poorly attended convention in the Wizard World circuit. The fan-favorite writer’s attendance was in discussion as of late last year, in fact, and the terms of his presence at the show involved significant coverage of Ellis’ Avatar projects by Wizard Magazine and various other editorial elements of Wizard Entertainment in the months prior to finalizing the deal. This weekend’s show, it seems, is being considered a test of the company’s "new" approach toward conventions — and there’s a lot riding on how well it does.

Even so, the biggest threat to the show might not have been Wizard Entertainment’s widely reported personnel, financial and general creative woes, but rather the widespread problems currently plaguing the airline industry, with many publishers, creators and guests reporting cancelled and/or significantly delayed flights to and from Chicago airports. One of our own ComicMix crew found himself bounced back and forth between cancelled flights for much of the day Thursday, thanks to the ol’ "your flight is cancelled, better luck next time" routine from United Airlines — but United wasn’t the only culprit. A large number of Wizard’s own convention staff were scattered among several different airlines due to overbooked, cancelled and massively delayed flights.

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R.I.P. Michael Turner, 1971-2008

News
June 28, 2008

The word went out late last about the passing of creator Michael Turner, but I waited until this morning to post it here in the hope that there was some mistake. Unfortunately, the news was confirmed this morning on the Aspen Message Boards by the publisher’s editorial director, Vince Hernandez.

Hello all,

Unfortunately it’s with great sadness that I must inform everyone that Michael Turner tragically passed away last night, June 27th at approximately 10:42 pm in Santa Monica, Ca. Turner had been dealing with recent health complications arisen in the past few weeks. More details concerning Turner’s passing, and services, will be given shortly.

Anyone wishing to send their condolences to Michael Turner’s family is encouraged to send to:

Aspen MLT, Inc.
C/O Michael Turner
5855 Green Valley Circle, Suite 111
Culver City, CA, 90230

Aspen also encourages anyone wishing to make a charitable donation to please send to Michael Turner’s requested charities:

The American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp

Or

The Make-A-Wish Foundation
http://www.wish.org/help?s_kwcid=make%20a%20wish|917760391

Official Contact: Vince Hernandez

Turner was a constant for me at conventions, and his battle with cancer always seemed to me to be one he was clearly winning. I distinctly remember him hustling several well-known creators at the pool tables on more than one evening in a hotel bar. I was never sure if his competition was cringing due to the beating he was giving them in the game or the fact that he was doing it while enduring the pain of his restricted mobility. He was always smiling, though. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to picture him without a smile.

You can find more information on Turner at his wikipedia page. Blog@ has some thoughts on Turner’s passing, while CBR’s Jonah Weiland has a very nice piece about his experiences with Turner.

Webcomic News Roundup: Love, Life and Poop

News
June 27, 2008

Marriage proposals happen a lot of ways these days, but leave it to Ian McConville of gaming webcomic Three Panel Soul to present the big question in the form of an 8-bit videogame he created on the sly. McConville offered up a few screenshots from the game, but won’t be posting a playable version online, because "it was made for an audience of one."

Congratulations to McConville and his special Player 2. (via Fleen)

One of the biggest news items of the week was the announcement by Diesel Sweeties creator Rich Stevens that he would be returning to web-only publication of his popular comic, ending print syndication of the series in mid-August.

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Wizard World Chicago 2008: Mondo Marvel Panel Report

News
June 27, 2008

If Friday morning’s "Mondo Marvel" panel was any indication of what the rest of the weekend had in store for attendees at Wizard World Chicago, it’s going to be a loooong convention.

Marvel PR guru Jim McCann moderated a panel that featured Peter David, C.B. Cebulski, Tom Brevoort, Mike Perkins, Brian Reed, Bill Rosemann and Mike Perkins, and the "official" announcements were done and over in just under 15 minutes. The rest of the panel consisted of a Q&A session which yielded a few items of note. With San Diego Comic-Con International looming, it appeared that Marvel was among the many publishers saving any significant announcements regarding new projects for the big show next month.

Newsarama and Comic Book Resources have the standard, pre-arranged (and in somes cases, pre-written) coverage of the specific announcements (as well as images from the slideshows), so feel free to head in that direction for the round-up of who’s gone "exclusive," which characters are being market-tested in their own miniseries and general rundowns of which dead horses are being kicked.

As far as the Q&A portion of the event, writer Peter David (She-Hulk, X-Factor and Fallen Angel) announced that he’ll be moving the X-Factor team to Detroit, having originally considered Chicago as a destination but settling on Detroit due to the city being home to artist Larry Stroman, who he’ll be reuniting with on the title.

A fan who asked about the potential for any future Master of Kung-Fu projects was told by Marvel editor Tom Brevoort that legal issues surrounding the rights to the character of Fu Manchu, who was originally a pulp novel villain created by author Sax Rohmer, have complicated the return of any Kung-Fu titles.

"If it comes out and his name is changed to ‘Bob Manchu,’ you’ll know why," added David.

When a fan asked David about his thoughts regarding stories set far in the future, citing his work on the "One Million" crossover story arc for DC several years ago, David provided a lengthy explanation of his thought process when scripting the stories for Marvel’s rival publisher — much to the agitation of some of the Marvel editorial staff sitting on the panel.

The cross-company jabs didn’t stop there, however, as a DC fan later asked about the return of the bumbling superteam known as the Great Lakes Initiative. When David responded that there wasn’t much need for them, seeing as how X-Factor would be based in Detroit, the fan added, "But they’re not funny."

McCann quickly jumped into the conversation, telling the DC fan, "If you want funny, pick up [Final] Crisis #1"

One of the last items of note was C.B. Cebulski’s acknowledgement that he had declined to serve as writer for the next Marvel: Ultimate Alliance videogame, which will be based on the events of the Civil War storyline. The first game was wel-received by comics and gaming fans alike, with many citing Cebulski’s work on the game’s script.

The image pictured here is from the upcoming 30-part Marvel series based on Stephen King’s epic novel The Stand, for which Mike Perkins will provide art.

12 Overlooked Comics in 12 Years

News
June 27, 2008

Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter has always been great at introducing me to comics I might never have been aware of were it not for his recommendation, so I was particularly intrigued by his recent list of the "Twelve Mostly Overlooked Comics Published In The Last Twelve Or So Years."

While the list includes quite a few small-press titles that flew under my radar and seem well worth the time to hunt down, Spurgeon also has some kind words for a title with ties to a certain comics-to-film blockbuster:

Maybe the craziest Marvel book ever, US War Machine is emblematic of that brief time in mainstream American comics when it seemed like a terrific idea for the major property-owning players to mess around with its second-tier characters by marching them through the violence, language and sexual implication wringer common to a TV show on HBO or Showtime.

But the title that really caught my eye was the Motofumi Kobayashi manga Apocalypse Meow:

It’s like The Boys From Company C as played by the Muppets, only you keep waiting for a musical number that never arrives and Fozzy Bear gets capped before they get off the boat. Apocalypse Meow (its original title was the even better Cat Shit One) exudes loopy qualities from every pore in a way that makes it a time capsule of its historical moment, when translated manga seemed poised to take over the comics world no matter what the hell might be happening on the page.

Consider me sold.

Head over to The Comics Reporter for the rest of Spurgeon’s list.

‘Diesel Sweeties’ Opts Out of Print Syndication

News
June 26, 2008

When Rich Stevens announced that his popular webcomic Diesel Sweeties was entering into a significant print syndication deal more than a year go, it was big — no, huge — news for webcomic creators and the online publishing scene as a whole. Last night’s announcement by Stevens that he was ending print syndication of Diesel Sweeties in mid-August might be even bigger news.

The situation, according to Stevens:

As of mid-August, DS is ending its run in newspapers and going back to being web-only! Why? Because I’m an optimist, I opted out.

In the meantime, long story short: This is my decision, I wasn’t fired, I don’t regret it and I’m not gonna blame anyone. No dissing Garfield. I am “crazy amounts of” looking forward to being my own CEO again. There will be nary a bump in schedule for the main webcomic.

While the statement Stevens posted on the DS website offers up a general idea of why he made the decision, his interview with Gary Tyrrell over at Fleen gets down to the details of the situation, including some thoughts on the difficulty for any new comic — no matter how popular — to get its foot in the newspaper door.

Overall, I think about 50 papers ran DS at one point or another. Some loved it, some hated, some didn’t care. It was a pretty respectable launch, especially in a down newspaper market. If I had no other creative outlet, I’d have stuck around. That’s a hell of a lot of people, even if they’re generally less interested than a web reader.

. . .

It’s natural in these things for us geeks to spring on the “Evil Syndicate“, but I don’t blame ‘em for anything. They can’t force editors to dump 80-year-old comics and they can’t legally kill all the rabid Snuffy Smith fans who would set the world ablaze if he ever left print.

I’m not saying they aren’t working on ways to kill these people, but I don’t think radioactive nanodagger ink is ready for prime time yet.

Given the status of DS as one of the most popular webcomics on the ‘Net, the question is whether Stevens’ decision to "opt out" of what was a significant print syndication deal in favor of online distribution says more about the current publishing environment in the print world or in the online scene.

Be sure to check out the full interview with Rich Stevens over on Fleen.

San Diego Comic-Con Gets ‘Watchmen’ Clips, Nite Owl’s Ship?

News
June 26, 2008

There’s a lot of Watchmen news hitting the ‘Net these days, as we chase the shot of fake "Veidt Enterprises" commercials we posted earlier with some San Diego Comic-Con International rumors related to the big-screen adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel.

Cinematical has provided a nice synopsis of the interesting bits gleaned from several recent video interviews with Watchmen director Zack Snyder.

According to Cinematical (I haven’t had a chance to watch the videos myself, so I’m taking their word for it), the videos indicate that there’s a high probability of seeing the first clips from Watchmen prior to screenings of The Dark Knight next month. There should also be some extra footage shown during Comic-Con later that month, too. Additionally, Snyder hinted that Nite Owl’s flying ship might make an appearance during Comic-Con.

Be sure to check out the Cliff’s Notes version of the Snyder video over on Cinematical for a few more items of note, and when you have the time (there’s around 10 minutes of video to watch), view the full interview over at Collider.

Danny Elfman on Scoring Films Based on Comics

News
June 26, 2008

From Beetlejuice and Batman to Nightmare Before Christmas and the recent remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Danny Elfman has provided the music that has turned good films into great films, and has been no stranger to scoring the big-screen adaptations of comic books. In a short time, movie-goers will be treated to another pair of Elfman-scored films based on popular comics, as the Emmy-winning and (many times over) Oscar-nominated composer has provided the music for Wanted and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

SuperHeroHype recently snagged Elfman for a short interview about the process of finding the right sound for comic books, his inspiration and the difference between the two films from his perspective.

CS/SHH!: Was "Wanted," which has much edgier music, more fun?

Elfman: Well, they are each fun in a different way. "Hellboy" was a little more romantic and traditional, but I love paying homage to Bernard Herrmann, who for me is my master. Any time I get to do that it’s a great joy. "Wanted" is like a whole other ballgame. I did a whole different thing: more synthesizers, percussion, and guitars. I had my guitar out. I was so glad that the two of them were so different.

Check out the full interview on SuperHeroHype.

Jeffrey Brown and The Holy Consumption: From Chicago to Paris

News
June 26, 2008

With only a matter of hours until much of the ComicMix team heads out to Chicago for this year’s show, it’s only right to post a story or two with ties to the ol’ Windy City.

From June 21 to July 26, several members of the Chicago-area comic creators collective known as "The Holy Consumption" will have their art featured at Galerie Anne Barrault in Paris, France. Among the creators whose work is currently on display are Paul Hornschemeier (Mother, Come Home), Anders Nilsen (Dogs and Water) and Jeffrey Brown, the author of one of my favorite minicomic collections, I Am Going To Be Small.

The exhibit, titled "Midwest," promises to explore "the American Midwest, a huge, flat, agricultural area around Chicago, stretching over several states, swept by the winds, dotted with the Great Lakes."

IVY Paris News recently spoke with Brown about the exhibit and the notion of being an "artist" instead of a cartoonist:

Traditionally in comics, the final published book has been the ‘art’ – the drawings are just in service of the published version. In art school, I had the idea of the original drawings being the final work, imagining the book as it’s own final result. I think there’s an intimacy to the real, tangible marks on paper as opposed to the printed versions, where you still can get the story but you lose a little bit of that life that comes with the actual drawings. As for approach, I pretty much approach all of my art making the same way. It’s all just having an idea and finding the way to express it.

The image posted here is Anders Nilsen’s "Batman and Wolverine" (chosen for obvious reasons, with a larger version posted after the jump). More examples of the art on display (sans superheroes) are posted on the gallery website.

(via journalista)

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Author: Rick Marshall

WWC Interview: Josh Blaylock on ‘Vampire Hunter D’

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Day One Report

R.I.P. Michael Turner, 1971-2008

Webcomic News Roundup: Love, Life and Poop

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Mondo Marvel Panel Report

12 Overlooked Comics in 12 Years

‘Diesel Sweeties’ Opts Out of Print Syndication

San Diego Comic-Con Gets ‘Watchmen’ Clips, Nite Owl’s Ship?

Danny Elfman on Scoring Films Based on Comics

Jeffrey Brown and The Holy Consumption: From Chicago to Paris

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