Author: Van Jensen

More Will Eisner Films on the Way

Will Eisner’s seminal comic book series The Spirit is on the way to theaters, adapted by Frank Miller. And it looks like more of the legend’s creations could be following.

Wired has the news that Creative Artists Agency picked up the rights to Eisner’s estate and will push for more movies based on those books, including A Contract With God.

CAA, a heavyweight talent handler that represents Steven Spielberg, Tobey Maguire, Cameron Diaz and scores of other A-listers, will be pushing for movie adaptations of Eisner titles as a result of the deal, which was announced last week. Eisner comics that could make it to the silver screen include A Contract With God and Other Tenement Stories, John Law, Lady Luck, Mr. Mystic, Uncle Sam, Blackhawk and Sheena.

Eisner died in 2005. Widely credited with helping establish the graphic novel as a respectable art form, he was honored in 1988 when Comic-Con created the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards to recognize cutting-edge comic book talent.

Video: The ‘Iron Man’ Nick Fury Ending

Video: The ‘Iron Man’ Nick Fury Ending

Did you happen to, like me, not stay through the credits of Iron Man to see that top-secret meeting between Tony Stark and Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Well, now you can catch it on YouTube, or by clicking the video player below.

It’s some bootleg, Blair Witch-style footage, so we’ll see how long it stays up.

 

 

The Comics-to-Film Review: How ‘Iron Man’ Matches Up

The Comics-to-Film Review: How ‘Iron Man’ Matches Up

If you read fellow ComicMixologist Matt Raub’s review of Iron Man, you already know the new Marvel Studios movie is a relentless blast of entertainment. Even for those who’ve never picked up an [[[Iron Man]]] comic, it’s a top-rate summer film.

But there are also those of us who have picked up an issue (or a few hundred) of Iron Man over the years, and for us the movie is a different experience, as we can’t help but compare and contrast it to the comics that have come before. So, in that respect, how does the film hold up?

Tony Stark is the place to start, as he’s always been the real draw of any Iron Man tale (though the costume is plenty cool). In the comics, Stark is a calculating man both as a hero and in the business world. He enjoys his wealth at times, but is more taskmaster than playboy.

Robert Downey Jr.’s take on the character is much more like the raconteur persona that Bruce Wayne takes on, only for the movie version of Stark, it’s no act. Much like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, Downey Jr. offers a weird riff on his role that’s entirely new and impossible not to enjoy. Count that as a win for the film.

The film’s plot, meanwhile, is essentially an updating of the classic Iron Man origin story, and the modernization is handled quite well. There’s nothing directly lifted from the comics, and instead the comic references come in an array of winks and nods (S.H.I.E.L.D., War Machine, Nick Fury, Tony’s drinking, etc).

My main problem with the movie is a fault it shares with the comics, in how the plot tries to incorporate real-world issues without really delving into them. Comic books regularly feature stories set in vague, war-torn countries in the Middle East, and the Iron Man film follows suit with its shallow usage of terrorism and Afghanistan.

But those are forgivable defects, and Iron Man easily makes a successful transition from page to screen, thanks to a director and cast that know what elements to take from the books, and which to leave behind.

New ‘Incredible Hulk’ Trailer

New ‘Incredible Hulk’ Trailer

The second trailer for this summer’s The Incredible Hulk is up at Apple’s trailer site. We get to see a lot more of the story, which looks to be lots of Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) running around the world, fleeing the military, then a string of battles.

Most notably, this trailer also shows a lot of Tim Roth as the Abomination, and how he gets to that point. Still a ton of question marks on this one that the trailer doesn’t dispel, most notably whether the CGI is up to par on the big monsters, which is what everyone wants to see out of a Hulk movie anyway.

The trailer’s also up at YouTube, which you can see right here.

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for May 1, 2008

War is the topic du jour in comics this week, with battles breaking out or warming up in darn near every issue. But instead of mindless battling, most of this week’s comics gave a deeper look into the costs and reality of violence. A reflection of our times, perhaps?

Book of the Week: DC Universe #0 — A very good issue, though not on par with Countdown to Infinite Crisis, which was a more lucid preamble to a big event. But that’s to be expected with Grant Morrison, who sets up Final Crisis with a series of vignettes that introduce the personal hell in store for many heroes.

The narration — leading to a very well done reveal that I won’t spoil — is appropriately vague and ominous, letting us know that storm clouds are brewing (though without falling into such cliché). The issue appropriately establishes the seriousness of the war on the horizon, though the elements of that war remain opaque.

While DC still has a lot to make up for after the painful Countdown, this issue goes a long way toward that end, not so much picking up from Countdown #1 as hitting "reset" on it.

The best scene is that with Batman and Joker, a meeting that starts out almost exactly like all of their interactions at Arkham, then twists in a new, foreboding direction. The layouts, which are extremely creative if not consistent, offer another highlight.

In the long run, though, this issue is only as good as the event that follows it.

Runners Up:

Elephantmen: War Toys #3 — In what could be just an excuse to draw some cool human-animal hybrids fighting with big guns, this series has offered a very solemn look at war. The Elephantmen are next-gen Hessians in a war between humans, and their animal instincts lead to atrocities.

It’s a gruesome reflection on how people wage war, that in battle humans become as ferocious and bloodthirsty as animals. A female guerilla soldier opposing the Elephantmen, Yvette, serves as the point of reason in this tragedy, her life in exchange for the animals gaining some humanity.

New Avengers #40 — The latest Skrullapalooza prequel that actually came out after Secret Invasion #1is a very worthwhile read, and manages to overcome its tardiness. In Mighty Avengers #12 and now this, Brian Michael Bendis has illuminated some of the anciliary issues to the big war between Skrulls and Earth, with this issue focusing on the Skrulls.

Giving motivation to villains is key to making a great comics event, and the plight of the Skrulls becomes very relatable, as does their turn toward religious extremism and their hatred of earth’s heroes. He loves you indeed.

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Review: ‘Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front’

In many ways, Bill Mauldin lived out the American Dream, starting out as a physically unimposing ‘desert rat’ in the southwest, then joining the army and becoming a star soldier-cartoonist, and retiring as one of the best known editorial cartoonists in the country. He died in 2003.

In his new biography, Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front, author Todd DePastino takes that famous life and digs out all the strange truths, the contradictions, the unknown motivations. Mauldin was a deeply conflicted man, DePastino finds, alternatively successful and unhappy because of his deep drive for acceptance.

Born in 1921 to a rough and tumble family, Mauldin had little going for him as a child besides an aptitude for art. In his teens, he went to Chicago to study, but despite a prodigious output he had little success landing his cartoons.

With no other options (like many other enlistees), Mauldin signed up for the army and started cartooning for a service newsletter. From the start, his work focused on the lives of the grunts, who trudged through mud and faced the disrespect of superiors.

Using Mauldin’s writings, interviews and those cartoons, DePastino follows the young, driven man as he developed as a person and illustrator. And, soon enough, followed him over the Atlantic into the hell of World War II.

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Interview: Paul Azaceta on Daredevil, Monkey Art and ‘B.P.R.D: 1946’

One of this year’s big additions to the Hellboy universe has been the series BPRD: 1946, which features Hellboy’s father-figure, Trevor Bruttenholm, as he investigates the occult legacy of the Third Reich.

I recently spoke with series artist Paul Azaceta, who discussed the ins and outs of playing in Mike Mignola’s sandbox. Azaceta also provided insight on his many other projects for Marvel and BOOM! Studios, and on the joys of drawing monkeys.

Though still a relative newcomer to the comics scene, Azaceta has churned out an impressive amount of books in the past few years. His future looks to remain busy, with the possibility of more B.P.R.D. and a mystery project for Marvel. 

COMICMIX: How did you get your start in comics? I noticed that you worked on manga books a few years back.

PAUL AZACETA: Oh CPM, how I miss you. Those old manga books are when I first got into the business but not as an artist. Those were the good old days when C.B. Cebulski was the editor of a manga line and I was his assistant. I used to make copies for him and scan in manga art and other things I’m not too proud of. C.B. was a very loving boss.

CMix: How did you end up making the connection with BOOM! Studios?

PA: After doing a couple of small books here and there, I met [BOOM! Publisher] Ross Richie through a friend and it just so happened he was looking for someone to draw these two gritty-type books. When I heard that Mr. Mark Waid was behind one of those books, I jumped at the chance.

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Review: ‘A People’s History of American Empire’ by Howard Zinn

Review: ‘A People’s History of American Empire’ by Howard Zinn

With the recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s no surprise that Howard Zinn has something to say. The author of A People’s History of the United States, Zinn retold America’s story through the eyes of all those who were beaten down in the country’s expansion.

Now he’s back with an updated account, albeit in a strange form. A People’s History of American Empire (Henry Holt, $30) is an illustrated version of the previous People’s History with notes on the current imperialistic efforts of the United States, as seen by Zinn. No graphic novel, it’s more of a slideshow of Zinn’s lectures. Here’s a sample put together by the publisher and narrated by Viggo Mortensen:

 

For those long familiar with Zinn’s writing, there’s nothing especially new here, though he does effectively tie in his past lessons to the current mess in the Middle East. And while Mike Konopacki’s art is impressive if sheerly for the quantity (a dense 250-plus pages), it’s not worth seeking out the book just for that.

The purpose of this book, more than anything, is to take Zinn’s message to new readers in a new way. In comics form, that message becomes easily digestible, though without losing any of its intellectual punch.

The story of the dark side of American history remains an important ones for the country’s youth. Now that story comes in a book they’re more likely to enjoy.

Remembering Bill Mauldin of ‘Willie & Joe’

Remembering Bill Mauldin of ‘Willie & Joe’

This year marks a resurgence of interest in the late Bill Mauldin, who started out as a soldier-cartoonist in the U.S. Army during World War II. This revival is thanks largely to Todd DePastino, author of the new Mauldin biography A Life Up Front and editor of Fantagraphics’ new collection of Mauldin’s cartoons, Willie & Joe: The War Years.

Look for reviews of both of those right here on ComicMix in the coming days. Seen at right is one of Mauldin’s favorite war-time cartoons, of a soldier "putting down" a cherished Jeep.

In the meanwhile, Slate.com has a great primer on Mauldin in slideshow form. The piece also compares Mauldin’s point blank vantage of warfare to the removed way our current cartoonists are covering conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

America’s newspapers are famous all over town for yearning to become relevant again, so here’s a free suggestion: Send some of your extremely talented cartoonists to Iraq, embed their butts, and direct them to draw what they see. I’ll wager that what they produce will enlighten readers and move us, too, in ways that words and video cannot. That’s what Bill Mauldin did in another war more than six decades ago; there’s no reason why it can’t happen again.

Interview With Larry Fong, Cinematographer for ‘Watchmen’

Interview With Larry Fong, Cinematographer for ‘Watchmen’

While much of the hubbub over the movie adaptation of Watchmen has related to director Zack Snyder’s thematic and narrative choices, questions also remain over how the movie will visually reflect Dave Gibbons’ work on the seminal comic.

In answering some of those questions, Larry Fong, who is the cinematographer on the film, spoke with ComicUS (scroll down for the English version). Fong, who also worked on 300, said Watchmen will use less green screen than that film and will try to hew closely to Gibbons’ art.

There isn’t an underlying template on the movie per se. In fact one of the most exciting things about it is that it’s kind of all over the place, visually. We had so many opportunities to explore different looks and there’s even a few scenes that pay homage to other films…I won’t give anything away just yet, of course. …

In Zack’s storyboards, there are frames that are very similar to those in the graphic novel. But photographically, it was more important for me to capture the spirit of Watchmen. That’s more of an intuitive process.

Fong also hinted at Snyder’s next project:

Zack is planning to make another film next year based on an original story he’s had in his head for a long time. It’s crazier and wilder than all his films put together… hopefully I’ll be working on it too!