Category: ComicMix Quick Picks

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 10, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 10, 2009

Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* New Pooh to view: Here’s a reason to celebrate: "In August, Dutton will publish Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, the first authorized sequel to the Winnie-the-Pooh books in years. The author is David Benedictus, who finally prevailed upon A.A. Milne’s estate to let him write a book. ‘We thought David had a wonderful feel for the material,” a Pooh trustee tells The Wall Street Journal. “No doubt some will say it’s not as good as the original, but it’s very good, and we’re pleased with it.’ " Call it a hunch, but I’ll bet that book isn’t cut in the publishing downturn. (Via The Daily Beast.)

* Space And Time magazine has updated their website.

* If Norse legends are good enough for Neil Gaiman, they’re good enough for J.R.R. Tolkien. HarperCollins has bought the rights to an unpublished work written before The Hobbit, The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún, edited and introduced by Tolkien’s son Christopher. The work, written when Tolkien was professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University during the ’20s and ’30s, makes available for the first time the author’s extensive retelling in English narrative verse of the epic Norse tales of Sigurd the Völsung and the Fall of the Niflungs. The book is expected for May 2010.

* Barnes & Noble’s holiday sales dropped, though not as badly as expected.

* J. Steven York on the coming publishing apocalypse and electronic saviors.

* Disneyland Shanghai? "Walt Disney Co said today it’s going to submit a joint application report with the Shanghai government to China’s central government to build a new theme park. The company was responding to a Wall Street Journal report saying the joint venture is for a $3.59 billion Shanghai Disneyland to open in 2014 with Disney taking a 43% stake while a holding company owned by the local government keeping 57%."

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 8, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 8, 2009

Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* Heidi MacDonald checks in with comics pros for her annual year end survey: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. The big themes: recession, online comics, comic book movies– and how gangbuster movie sales don’t translate into gangbuster comic sales. (Disclaimer: I’m one of those people included.)

* Asylum Press, having offered free comics for anyone signing up for their online newsletter within the first twelve days of December, has extended their offer. Anyone who signs up at asylumpress@aol.com before Jan. 31 will receive three free comics.

* Brian Cronin says "Comic book writers appear to have more of a presence on the internet than comic book artists." As the webmaster for Peter David’s weblog and all the work I’ve done over here… no kidding.

* Uclick has revealed an all-new mobile Web application for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch at the Macworld Conference & Expo event in San Francisco. By navigating to www.uclick.com on the iPhone and iPod touch, the Safari browser now displays the Uclick archive of 400,000 comic strips, single-panel comics and editorial cartoons. Currently the iPhone-optimized site features comic strips and single-panel cartoons, including Doonesbury, Garfield, Calvin & Hobbes, Close to Home, and many more. Hat tip: Macworld UK.

* Top Shelf’s Leigh Walton and Comic Foundry’s Laura Hudson launched Cereblog, a dual critical analysis of every issue of Cerebus. In the same vein, Tom the Dog has been running weekly retrospectives of every appearance of GrimJack.

* And sadly, Cheryl Holdridge, one of the original "Mickey Mouse Club" Mouseketeers, died January 6th after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 64.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 7, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 7, 2009

Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* Amazingly, I don’t think we’ve ever gotten around to linking to Mark Ryan’s blog. Mark’s writing The Pilgrim for us when he’s not doing work on Transformers 2, but you should read the other stories he tells. And he gets women like Jenn Korbee (right) to perform with him.

* Recession? How can we be in a recession when we can buy a replica Infinity Gauntlet for less than $310?

* Economic Meltdown Funnies. Because it’s all so, y’know, funny. (Actually, it’s a very good explanation of the problems, and is pretty painless to read. Go look.)

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 6, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 6, 2009

Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* Producers Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Pixar’s John Lasseter are working to guarantee a huge success for this summer’s release of Hayao Miyazaki’s new animated movie, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, according to Variety.  Their aim is to increase the number of movie screens where Ponyo will open here, and thus the box office receipts, from Studio Ghibli’s previous US record for Spirited Away, which earned $10.1 million on 714 screens according to Box Office Mojo.  The English voiceover cast for Ponyo will feature Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Betty White, Lily Tomlin and Cloris Leachman.  Ponyo was Japan’s biggest movie of 2008, grossing $165 million.

* Kyle Baker reviews The Spirit.

* Dan Goldman is telling the story of the 2008 election, and has a twenty page preview available as a PDF. I won’t spoil the ending for you.

* Happy Public Domain Day for the rest of the world. We won’t have any new entries here for a few years.

* I nominate this as the top anime fansub of 2008. Do I have a second to the motion?

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 5, 2009

ComicMix QuickPicks – January 5, 2009

Today’s installment of comic-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest…

* Missed this one in the holiday wackiness: A federal appeals panel said that child pornography is illegal even if the pictures are drawn, affirming the nation’s first conviction under a 2003 federal law against such cartoons. Even though there are no actual children involved. So Dwight Whorley of Richmond is serving 20 years in prison on an anime charge, even though he could just be in jail on the photographs. Time to donate to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund…

* Washington, D.C., library officials have proposed a ban on sleeping at public libraries. Our solution? More graphic novels! No one will sleep through those thrill-packed extravagnz– oops. Too much Stan Lee there.

* Recession? How can there be a recession when you can pre-order Captain Kirk’s chair for $2200 retail?

* That’s Sir Terry Pratchett to you, buddy.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix Quick Picks: 8/11/08

The weekend window-closing wrap-up:

11 Superheroes That Look Like Supervillains: No. When one of them is called "Evil Ernie" and is, from your own article, "tasked with killing all of humanity" I don’t think he qualifies as a superhero.

From FailBlog: well, think of it as a strange kind of crossover.

Colleen Doran provides the most useful post of the day: how freelancers can get health insurance, complete with links and her own insurance stories. Just because you haven’t got an exclusive deal with one of the big publishers, you don’t have an excuse. Now if someone would take the time and do a similar post on freelancers and life insurance…

Wanted: pre-1965 money for time travel. So if the market is suddenly glutted with mint condition early Marvels, you’ll know why.

Via John Cole: One of the largest and most photographed arches in Arches National Park has collapsed. Wall Arch collapsed sometime late Monday or early Tuesday. The arch is along Devils Garden Trail, one of the most popular in the park. For years, the arch has been a favorite stopping point for photographers.

Before:

After:

 
Not pictured: the coyote at the bottom of the ravine with the defective Acme product.
ComicMix Quick Picks: 8/8/08

ComicMix Quick Picks: 8/8/08

The collection of posts that may not warrant a full entry of their own. Excelsio — er, onward and upward:

Billionaire financier Ronald O. Perelman has agreed pay $80 million to settle a lawsuit accusing him of helping to divert $553.5 million in notes when he controlled Marvel. I’ll do a better run-down of the financials after I have a chance to slog through them. Ironically, Perelman had always wanted to turn Marvel into an intellectual property powerhouse in the mold of Disney, but it only happened after he drove Marvel into bankruptcy and bolted.

And speaking of legal matters, Gordon vs. Gordon. It’s a shame when things go bad. I wonder what will happen at the custody hearings.

And speaking of Gotham City going-ons (what a segue!) somebody else has built a working Tumbler. No word on what else he keeps in his basement or his belfry.

Don Heck’s Lovecraft work to finally see the light of day. Ai! Ai! P’tagh i’dw ryall!

Tom Brevoort is attempting to take over DC Comics. Watch out, Paul…

And just because some of you might want to know how to give yourself pointed ears… well, here you are. We’re not responsible for any pon farr, though.

ComicMix Quick Picks: 8/7/08

ComicMix Quick Picks: 8/7/08

The collection of posts that may not warrant a full entry of their own. Excelsio — er, onward and upward:

When I saw this bit about Franklin turning 40, I have to admit that wasn’t the Franklin I was thinking of… yes, Franklin Richards is 40 years old too. And people complain about Bart Simpson never aging?

The Skiffy Channel’s top 10 brilliant but cancelled sci-fi shows. Also known as their regular line-up.

Lost in all the San Diego shuffle, MTV of all people have started a comics/movies blog called Splash Page, and have gone so far as to hire former Wizard and DC Comics staffer Casey Seijas. We welcome them to the blogosphere, but would like to remind them that hiring ex-DC and Wizard employees to run a weblog is our shtick.

Paul Levitz interviewed in the Wall Street Journal. Surprise note: yes, he’s another alumni of Frank McCourt’s english classes. I always wondered where Paul picked up the Irish brogue.

Robert Downey Jr. trying to keep his ego in check for Iron Man II:

"Suddenly, for a minute, I felt like everyone needed to take a knee and listen to what I had to say, because I f–kin’ made it, and my way works and all this stuff. Then I go home and I go, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening to me? I gotta get grounded here.’ "

Downey got Tropic cowriter and actor Justin Theroux the gig writing Iron Man 2. Theroux is just crawling out from under the pile of Iron Man comics as we speak.

"I’ve just stopped marinating in all the Iron Man lore that I didn’t know, and I’m sort of firing up the chainsaw and ready to attack it," said Theroux. "You’re writing for Robert Downey Jr., so, at the end of the day, that’s an enormous amount of fun."

ComicMix Six: Six Groups of People to Kick Out of San Diego Comic-Con

[EDITOR’S NOTE: As San Diego Comic-Con gets crazier and crazier, so does the mood of some of our ComicMix contributors. Case in point, the following ComicMix Six list that appeared in the queue earlier today from contributor Arthur Tebbel, who I’ve only managed to glimpse as he sprints from one panel to the next throughout the weekend. Here, Arthur offers up his thoughts on the six groups that he could do without at this year’s Comic-Con. -RM]

THE SECURITY STAFF: The assembled masses at any comic book convention are probably too meek to takeover a Starbucks, so why do we need what appears to be thousands of volunteer security guards to give us conflicting information and, most importantly, prevent me from being where I need to be to do my job. If these guys got drunk on as little liquor as they do power they would be in the emergency room after two beers.

STORMTROOPERS: Thank God we aren’t trying to run a Death Star, because we would be dramatically overstaffed. How did we get to the point where people go through all this trouble to express themselves in exactly the same way as everyone else? We respect the effort but… no, actually we don’t respect the effort. Try harder.

PEOPLE WHO BRING BABIES TO A PANEL DISCUSSION: Your baby won’t appreciate the discussion and, thanks to them, now I won’t either. Hire a babysitter; the convention will even look after your kid for you. If your child is too precious to part with for even an hour, go to the park instead.

PEOPLE WHO START THEIR PANEL QUESTIONS WITH “I DON’T READ/WATCH [PANEL TOPIC], BUT…”: These questions are always embarrassingly bad. What happened? Do you have some compulsion that makes you go up to any open microphone? Next year, we will most certainly go to a Battlestar Galactica panel and ask, “I don’t watch Battlestar Galactica but why aren’t there more tits in it?”

JESUS FREAKS: Okay, these guys weren’t in the convention exactly — but I could really do without people telling me how much I’m going to hell for my choice in media. Furthermore, this inspires legions of fanboys to trot out the same tired comebacks about how much they worship Satan or some such. No you don’t, Hell doesn’t have a basement you could live in.

ABOUT 20% OF THE ATTENDEES: Sometime before the show begins they need to assemble all of the con-goers for that day and someone (we’ll volunteer, in fact) will walk through the crowd and eliminate 20 percent of the people. These people will have their money cheerfully refunded and they can try again next year. Next, we’ll do this for the exhibitors.

Want more ComicMix Six? Check out the ComicMix Six Archive for previous editions of CM6.

ComicMix Six: The Worst Superhero Names in Comics

ComicMix Six: The Worst Superhero Names in Comics

You know you’ve talked about it with your friends. "Mr. Fantastic? He’s got, like, 17 doctorates… Shouldn’t he be ‘Doctor Fantastic’ by now?" And let’s not forget "Captain Marvel, Junior." Captain Marvel’s not his father. What gives? And what’s the deal with that Golden Age aquatic hero who called himself "The Fin?"

No matter how much we love comics, there are some superhero aliases we just can’t get behind. So we did our best to compile some of the worst superhero names in existence.

By the way, members of the Legion of Super-Heroes have been omitted from the list, because… well, it’s just too easy to pick on Matter-Eater Lad and Bouncing Boy.

 

6. KID MIRACLEMAN: In the U.K., he was originally called "Kid Marvelman." That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a lame name. Why?

KID MiracleMAN.

You can use the word "kid" in your name or you can use the word "man," but you can’t use both! With the power of contradiction comes great responsibility!

(more…)

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