Author: Rick Marshall

MAD Magazine to Publish Pulitzer Prize Cartoonists

MAD Magazine to Publish Pulitzer Prize Cartoonists

  • News
  • February 5, 2008

Readers of MAD Magazine who pick up the March issue (hitting shelves Feb. 19), might want to take special note of a certain two-page spread they’ll find inside. The special feature will showcase the work of 10 Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonists.

Ths spread, titled "Why George W. Bush is in Favor of Global Warming," will feature contributions from Clay Bennett (Chattanooga Times Free Press), Steve Breen (San Diego Union-Tribune), Matt Davies (Journal News), Jack Higgins (Chicago Sun-Times), Dick Locher (Chicago Tribune), Jim Morin (Miami Herald), Mike Peters (Dayton Daily News), Joel Pett (Lexington Herald-Leader), Michael Ramirez (Investor’s Business Daily) and Ben Sargent (Austin American-Statesman).

The New York Times has samples of the MAD Magazine Pulitzer winners’ art.

According to MAD editor John Ficarra, “the whole thing is a thinly veiled ploy on our part to win a Pulitzer. Next month, we’re going to get a number of Nobel Prize winners in.”

 

First Look: Mark Bagley at DC

First Look: Mark Bagley at DC

  • News
  • February 5, 2008

When longtime Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley announced he was moving to DC Comics, it caused quite the uproar in the comics scene. Now, Newsarama has a peek at the first piece of art from Bagley’s new, mystery project.

The ‘Rama crew also reposted the following excerpt from a Bagley interview last month that, they believe, sheds some light on the secret project:

"…my old buddy Kurt Busiek and I are together again for what looks like a really great project. I’m also really happy that Art Thibert will be inking me . He did a bang-up job when he and I worked together on Ultimate Spider-Man. I just got back from a three-day creative meet with Dan DiDio, Mike Carlin, Liz Gehrlien, Kurt, and Ian Sattler. It went great—they’re a bunch of great people with a real passion for what they do."

 

Worst Movie Dialogue Ever?

Worst Movie Dialogue Ever?

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

EW.com recently ranked the "15 Nominees For Worst Movie Dialogue Ever," and a trio of films near and dear to science-fiction and comics fans made the list.

Among the 15 lines of dialogue, the much-maligned piece of dialogue offered up by Storm (Halle Berry) in "X-Men" to Toad (Ray Park):

‘You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.”

Also on the list are two lines of dialogue that were meant to be romantic, but ended up just sounding silly: One of the many ill-scripted romantic moments between Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Amidala (Natalie Portman) during "Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith", and a moment shared between two violence-prone lovers in the big-screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City.

Personally, I’m shocked by the absence of MY choice for worst line of dialogue in film history.

Does anyone remember the brilliant observation made by vampire-killer Blade (Wesley Snipes) upon vanquishing the villain of the first film? In case you subconsciously willed yourself to forget it, here it is:

"Some motherf*ckers is always trying to iceskate uphill."

Beat THAT, EW.com.

 

Russell T. Davies on ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Torchwood’ and ‘Sarah Jane Adventures’

Russell T. Davies on ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Torchwood’ and ‘Sarah Jane Adventures’

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

The Los Angeles Times has posted a fairly extensive interview with "Doctor Who"  Executive Producer Russell T. Davies, touching on everything from the upcoming broadcast schedule for various "Who"-related projects to the sexuality of "Torchwood" and his decision to distance himself from the "Who" fanbase.

According to the interview, the highly anticipated "Sarah Jane Adventures" – another "Who" spin-off project with a decidely younger target audience – will hit U.S. networks in April, along with the next season of "Doctor Who." The world of "Doctor Who" is quickly becoming a universe, according to Davies, and with the expansion comes some necessary sharing of resources.

"’Sarah Jane’ inherited some of our ‘Doctor Who’ monsters," Davies said. "We can’t afford new prosthetics."

Davies goes on to discuss the controversial sexuality of the more adult-themed "Who" spin-off, "Torchwood", as well as his unusual stance against becoming too entangled in fan message boards and fan-community response to the various series.

"I think we’re an unusual science-fiction franchise in taking a very big step back from fandom and having nothing to do with them. . . . Every program on the BBC has a message board on the website. I forbid it to happen on ‘Doctor Who.’ I’m sorry to say this, all the science fiction producers making stuff in America, they are way too engaged with their fandom. They all need to step back."

(Hat Tip: Outpost Gallifrey)

Marvel Comics Greatest Moments in Sports

Marvel Comics Greatest Moments in Sports

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Never one to miss a promotional tie-in, Marvel.com has posted a rundown of the publisher’s greatest moments in sports.

The "Marvelous Moments in Sports" roundup was clearly written before the big game, because it lacks the sorrowful tone one might expect from a post-game writeup by New England Patriots fan Ben Morse. In fact, it’s a pretty funny trip down memory lane, with bits like this one about a bicoastal game of softball played in the pages of Avengers:

EARTH’S MIGHTIEST SOFTBALL GAME (WEST COAST AVENGERS ANNUAL #2, AVENGERS ANNUAL #16—1987)

Picture the softball game at your annual company picnic between marketing and accounting, but then sub in Thor at cleanup, Captain America at pitcher and Hawkeye on the base paths—that’s what the Avengers and their West Coast branch were going for in the late ’80s during their one and only showdown on the diamond. It’s pretty easy to understand why they never gave it another shot when you consider that the cosmically empowered Grandmaster interrupted the game, killed half of each team and then forced the remainder to compete in battle for his amusement. The GM eventually resurrected the fallen Avengers, and Cap learned a valuable lesson as they resumed the game: Hawkeye cheats.

 

Venom Solo Film Planned?

Venom Solo Film Planned?

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Spider-Man fans everywhere rejoiced when it was announced that the hero’s popular arch-enemy, Venom, was planned for the third big-screen installment of the "Spider-Man" film franchise. Unfortunately, the film failed to live up to expectations for most diehard Spidey (and Venom) fans. Recent reports regarding a potential Venom solo project could provide cause for celebration again.

IESB.net has confirmed that "a studio" is in talks with various movie writers to produce a film based upon the Venom character introduced in "Spider-Man 3".

The report cannot confirm which studio – or which writers – are involved in the discussion, but offers the following evaluation of the news:

Eight years ago, New Line Cinema held the theatrical rights to Venom. Since then, the rights have reverted back Marvel. But does Sony have complete control over the character since he was a part of Spidey 3 or does Marvel control the rights to the character with Sony only having distribution rights?

We have to assume that since there is movement and there has been recent meetings with writers this property must belong to Marvel since they have made an interim agreement with the WGA and proceed to develop projects during the current strike. Either way, one thing is for certain, Venom will get a second shot at the big screen.

 

Germany Publishes Educational Comic on Holocaust

Germany Publishes Educational Comic on Holocaust

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

German schoolchildren will soon be incorporating a comic book into their lessons about the Holocaust and the Nazi regime, according to Reuters.

The Search, described as a "Tintin-style" story, was created by Dutch cartoonist Eric Heuvel, and explores the Holocaust through the perspective of a fictional survivor. German officials hope to use the book to assist in the education of underprivileged children who might not otherwise be interested in learning.

The 61-page book, already available in various European languages, will be used alongside worksheets in history classes at secondary schools in Berlin for six months, after which the project hopes to go nationwide.

 

Marketing Comics to the In-Crowd

Marketing Comics to the In-Crowd

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Journalista calls out this two-part series on Bunny, The Queen of the In-Crowd, and other late-1960s attempts by Harvey Comics to market stories to hip teenagers.

With all of the hype surrounding publishers attempts (or lack thereof) to market comics to a female audience, the Bunny retrospective provides an interesting look at an early attempt to court a different group of potential readers.

During the Swingin’ Sixties, Harvey comics jumped on a bandwagon and produced their own version of an ‘Archie’ knock-off marketed towards teen-age readers.

Bunny was a happening young super-model, "The Queen of the In-Crowd", who ran with her own pack of groovy and fashionable friends.

(Click here for Part One, Part Two)

Roger Corman’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie Climax

Roger Corman’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Movie Climax

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Science-fiction fan site io9 has posted a video clip in their "Found Footage" section featuring the climax of 1994’s live-action "Fantastic Four" film, which Roger Corman produced and Marvel Comics spent heaps of money to hide from the public.

Okay, I’ve never seen the full film, but I’m quite certain its depiction of Ben Grimm, The Thing, will live on in my nightmares. Oh, and check out the animation used in the "Johnny Storm flying off to stop the Destructo Ray" sequence – it’s wonderfully cheesy.

io9 has more on the background of the film’s production, as well as some of its more questionable plot choices (an angry space leprechaun, anyone?):

How did this disaster happen? A German production company owned the rights to make a Fantastic Four movie, but was unable to raise the $40 million it needed before the rights were due to expire. So the company turned to Roger Corman, who said he could make the movie cheap and quick. … At $1.4 million, this movie had a huge budget compared to a usual Corman spectacle. After the film was completed, Marvel paid a few million to suppress it. The team worked in secret to complete post-production on it, but then Marvel ordered all prints destroyed. So it’s a minor miracle that you’re able to suffer through this clip.

 

New Star Wars Character Debuts

New Star Wars Character Debuts

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Just in case you haven’t been getting enough Star Wars in your diet lately, Lucasfilm has debuted a new character for the upcoming "Stars Wars: The Clone Wars" animated series.

The new character’s name is "Ahsoka Tano," and the Lucasfilm site has this to say about her:

This young Togruta is eager to prove herself as a worthy Padawan to her bold Master, Anakin Skywalker. Able to wield a lightsaber and pilot a spacecraft with great talent, Ahsoka promises to become a worthy Jedi.

(Hat tip to Cinematical!)

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