Author: Van Jensen

SDCC: ‘Agents of Atlas’ Returns

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

For those who gave Jeff Parker’s Agents of Atlas miniseries a shot a couple years ago, it comes as great news out of San Diego that a new ongoing A of A series is on the way.

Parker and editor Mark Pannicia shared some dirt with CBR on the new series which will show up early in 2009.

Paniccia added. "’Weird turn of events’ is something readers should get used to with this book. Jeff’s got quite a few ‘Oh &%$@#!’ moments planned."

The "Agents of Atlas" may control a global empire, but their main base of operations is currently under a California city that’s quickly becoming a Mecca for Marvel heroes. "At the moment the Agents still work from the underground city below San Francisco. But the surface there just became the home to a lot of nosy mutants!" Parker explained. "So they may find it necessary to relocate soon to function without interference."

SDCC: Geek Chic Jumps the Shark?

SDCC: Geek Chic Jumps the Shark?

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

There are no shortage of reminders of the lack of attention span in today’s culture, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that there’s already some murmurings that "geek chick" has "jumped the shark." At the very least, those are two phrases that are well beyond cliché.

The Hollywood Reporter gives some thought to the sentiment that this year’s massive Comic-Con marks the moment the tide shifts away from all things nerdy, with the ominous mention that — gasp! — Paris Hilton is doing San Diego. (No, not the whole city.)

There is talk that despite the high numbers of conventiongoers, or maybe in spite of them, Comic-Con as a measure of geek cool may have reached a tipping point.

Critics are pointing to the scheduled appearances by tabloid mainstays Paris Hilton, who will join Thursday night’s panel for Lionsgate’s "Repo! The Genetic Opera" as well as host a party, and fellow party girl Kim Kardashian, who is supposed to hit DC Comics’ party Friday night before appearing at a "Disaster Movie" panel Saturday. When Comic-Con becomes fodder for the Us Weekly crowd, has the event nuked the fridge? Folks wonder.

"This may be the 2012 of Comic-Cons," said one comic writer-turned-screenwriter, referring to the year on the Mayan calendar that signals the end of the world.

 

Seriously, one "writer-turned-screenwriter" (whatever the hell that means) made an off the cuff remark and now the comic book renaissance is ending?

SDCC: BBC America Adds ‘Torchwood’ Season Three

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

I just got an e-mail from ComicMix‘s Chris Ullrich, who was sitting in on a panel at Comic-Con regarding the TV show Torchwood.

Chris has an update on the show that’s sure to be happy news for fans of Torchwood.

He writes:

I’m at the torchwood panel and they just announced season three was picked up by BBC America. Deal was done today.

As always, stay tuned to ComicMix for news from San Diego.

Cartoon Network Adapts Image Books

  • News
  • July 24, 2008

One of the cool early pieces of news out of San Diego has been Cartoon Network’s development of a trio of Image properties for cartoons.

That would be Mice Templar (created and drawn by Hammer Of The Gods co-creator Mike Avon Oeming with Bryan J.L. Glass), Firebreather, and The Vanishers.

CBR has an interview with Firebreather creator Phil Hester who talked about the upcoming two-hour cartoon and the potential for an animated series.

Both Hester and Kuhn credit film producer Julia Pistor for seeing "Firebreather" through the hazards of Hollywood development to find it a home. "Originally, we were optioned by Paramount, and during that time they didn’t really do anything," said Kuhn. When the option was up, it was Pistor who contacted the creators with an offer to help. As a vice-president at Nickelodeon, Pistor has a long history of shepherding successful animation projects. She recognized "Firebreather" as something special.

The executive who had brought "Firebreather" into Paramount had unexpectedly passed away, leaving the project with no champion when the option period had passed. "She said ‘this is too good to just let die," Hester explained. "She offered to take it out herself and find a place to set it up."

I can only wonder (and hope) a Perhapanauts cartoon could soon follow, as writer Todd Dezago recently told me there had been some serious interest in that Image book as well.

SDCC: ‘Watchmen’ the Game

SDCC: ‘Watchmen’ the Game

  • News
  • July 24, 2008

Watchmen seems to be officially the big deal of Comic-Con so far, with long lines of people forming just to watch the upcoming film’s trailer at the Warner Bros. booth and to ogle the model of the Owl Ship.

Then there’s news that a tie-in videogame is in the works. The AP has a report.

Warner Bros. announced Wednesday it will release an episodic downloadable video game developed by Deadline Games that will prequel next year’s big-screen adaptation of the "Watchmen" graphic novel pegged to the film’s March debut. Another game that will take place following the first game will be released later in 2009 at the same time as the "Watchmen" DVD.

In the games, players will be able to combat foes as the pointy-eared Nite Owl (played by Patrick Wilson in the film) and inkblot mask-wearing Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). The mature action-brawler will be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC and will match the visual style of the film, which is being directed by "300" director Zach Snyder.

SDCC: Comics via Wii

  • News
  • July 24, 2008

The electronic future of comics moves apace with the announcement that some manga titles will be distributed on Nintendo’s Wii videogame system.

At first, it looks like this will only be available in Japan, but it may develop further.

The companies, Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shueisha and Shogakukan, have formed a joint venture with a local software house that aims to be the first to bring digital comics to the hit console. The venture, called Librica, was formed in July and will deliver comics through the Wii Ware software channel to users. An Internet connection will be required to use the service.

Initially it will target the Wii but Librica said it is considering expanding the service goal to encompass the handheld DS gaming device. It will also offer other publishers the chance to join its platform when launched.

Launch timing and pricing for the service was not announced.

Behind the Scenes of Tori Amos’ ‘Comic Book Tattoo’

Behind the Scenes of Tori Amos’ ‘Comic Book Tattoo’

Today sees the release of one of the most odd comics projects of late, a compilation of stories based on the music of Tori Amos, Comic Book Tattoo.

Spinner has a lengthy interview with Amos on the subject, as well as chats with many of the project’s creators. Read it all right here.

Amos offers her reaction to the book:

I’m not offended by this book, but I’m shocked. And it’s shocked in a way that makes me laugh, sometimes makes my skin crawl, sometimes makes me have to go back and dive back into that song again. I had given a brief to Rantz. I said, "This is not about people trying to, line by line, interpret and do a visual cover version of this song." Because I just didn’t find that intriguing at all. The comics that I was introduced to, which was ‘The Sandman,’ had integrity to me. And sometimes in the storyline, things didn’t always end up OK. Sometimes people die. Sometimes life does not triumph over all.

McCain, Obama Profiled in IDW Comics

  • News
  • July 24, 2008

The trend of using comics in politics has been picking up steam of late, starting with the graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report to Dan Goldman’s upcoming 2008 campaign book to that nutso Oklahoma county commissioner who thinks he’s being attacked by Satan and gays.

Now IDW is jumping into the political waters with a pair of comic book biographies of the two (realistic) contenders for the presidency. The Presidential Material books feature John McCain and Barack Obama in what sounds like it’ll be a guide for voters.

They’re $3.99 a piece at 28 pages, and will ship in October.

At right is the cover of the McCain book, which I posted instead of the Obama one. Liberal media my ass.

Comic-Con News: Wednesday

Comic-Con News: Wednesday

  • News
  • July 24, 2008

Comic-Con International officially kicked off last night, and already there’s plenty of news to report:

The early hit of the show? Heidi MacDonald of The Beat says it’s the model Owl Ship that Warner Bros. brought from the Watchmen film. "Cooler than dirt," Heidi says.

Ed Brubaker makes the jump to scripting live-action, as Sony has announced they’ll make an online series out of Brubaker’s Angel of Death. It’ll appear on Crackle, Sony’s online video outlet. More information right here.

Darwyn Cooke also announced his new project for IDW, a potential series of four graphic novels based on the Parker crime novels by Donald Westlake. The first will be Hunter, and IDW will have some cards promoting the project that they’ll distribute at San Diego.

On a related note: "And IDW did a nice job with the collateral material as well, handing out Cooke artwork with a disc, as well as Parker T-shirts to the press. Well done, guys." I guess the whole "journalists don’t accept gifts from sources" thing doesn’t apply to the comics world?

"Tossing a bus on an unsuspecting villain never gets old." And that’s the highlight quote from the DC Universe Online panel. Check right here for more.

Blog@ has a nice collection of photos from day one.

Bully makes a smart move with the California excursion and loads up on In-N-Out.

Twitters from Pop Candy, and be sure to note the uber-creepy Photoshopped image of Whitney turned to She-Hulk.

And, lastly, the legend of The Bag.

How the Superheroes Saved Movies

How the Superheroes Saved Movies

  • News
  • July 23, 2008

We’ve heard plenty about the dominance of the superhero in Hollywood, but a new story in the UK Telegraph puts some numbers together and shows just how much movies are benefitting from the comics influx.

After a huge run of successful comics films, The Dark Knight (which happened to open with a record $158 million weekend) was just the cherry on the ice cream:

It becomes the fifth film with a comic book or graphic novel theme to dominate the box office in recent weeks following Universal’s blockbuster Iron Man, as well as Hellboy II, The Incredible Hulk and Wanted. Together they have generated more than $500 million (£250 million) in US takings alone.

Sequels to this year’s hits are already planned and dozens more offerings based on comic books are in the pipeline.

"They have become Hollywood’s safety net," said Jeff Bock, of Exhibitor Relations, the box-office analyst.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much of that gigantic sum is actually coming back to comics publishers.

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