Category: News

More Heroes all summer long

More Heroes all summer long

If you were planning on pining away the summer lusting for new episodes of Heroes, well, we’ve got good news for you. NBC will be continuing its online graphic novel with new material right up until (and after) the second season starts this fall. The graphic novel extends the storylines of the series’ characters, giving added depth and information. Click through to http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/, just as seven million other folks have been doing since the series went up last September.

What’s up this weekend

What’s up this weekend

While some of us in the New York area are starting off I-CON weekend by listening to live streaming of The Comic Book Novice tonight at 9 PM Eastern (penciller and Dreamchilde Press head honcho James Rodriguez is the guest), we understand that things are actually happening in the rest of the world.  I don’t quite believe it, but I’ll take these people’s word for it:

At 5:30 PM today, you can catch cartoonist Keith Knight at the University of Florida in Gainesville.  Hey, Michael Davis is black, why wasn’t he invited to this?

Seeing Things: The Art of Jim Woodring opens tomorrow at Seattle’s Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery.

In addition to TMNT, the kids movie The Last Mimzy bows today nationwide (Matt Raub reviews it on ComicMix Podcast; scroll down), and Jenna Fischer assures folks "It is a very cute kid’s movie…better than most in the sense that it isn’t cut and paced like a rock video.  It is actually sweet and magical and interesting.  Oh…and you get to see Rainn’s ass.  Well, you see him in his undies bending over at the fridge.  Angela and I were giggling like schoolgirls.  Were were like, ‘Woah!  There is Rainn’s ass on a giant movie screen!’  (I’m sure the boys from The Office will be saying something similar about my ‘ladies’ when we see Blades of Glory next week.)"  Glenn can have his Sopranos; I’m just loving that The Office actors all seem so much like their characters.  Cool Office cast photos accompany that blog entry, by the way.

Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing (who’s just discovered American Born Chinese, so congrats Gene Yang, you’ve been BoingBoinged!) mentions that artists Rob Sato (Burying Sandwiches) and Ako Castuera have a new show going up at the LA comic shop The Secret Headquarters starting next Friday.  By the way, Cory also mentions he’s signed a deal with IDW to sell comics based on his stories, and had his agent write a clause spelling out that "those stories are already under Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike/Noncommercial licenses that allow fans to make non-commercial comics," so it’s whatever the opposite of an "exclusive" is.  ("Loss leader," perhaps?)

And although it’s slightly past rather than upcoming, I wanted to mention Trina Robbins’ astounding news that "comics are alive and well in Scandinavia, and women are drawing them," as she reviews her lecture tour through Malmo, Copenhagen and Stockholm.  Brr, Scandinavia in March, glad someone looks happy in those photos!

The last Spidey 3 trailer

The last Spidey 3 trailer

One more trailer to go… and it’s debuting today. You’d think there was another comic book movie premiering in theaters today.

The fourth and final movie trailer for Spider-Man 3 debuts today on Comcast’s VOD service, online at Comcast.net, a broadband site, and on a custom movie website, http://www.spiderman3oncomcast.com.

Comcast viewers will also have access to additional exclusive material about Spider-Man 3 and the upcoming Activision Publishing video game based on the movie on Comcast’s platforms, with new content debuting each week, blah blah blah. Comcast’s GameInvasion.net will feature a range of videos and interviews providing details on the Spider-Man 3 video game, including exclusive Spider-Man 3 Game trailers, game play footage and character vignettes.

And yes, this time we finally see ol’ snaggletooth in the trailer. Booga-booga!

MICHAEL DAVIS: What’s your problem?

MICHAEL DAVIS: What’s your problem?

For the past few years I have hosted a panel at various conventions called The Black Panel. Before that, every so often I used to be a part of a Blacks in Comics panel.

I started the Black Panel to try and avoid all the “Marvel and DC are racist” dialogue that seemed to be the theme of some of the “Blacks in Comics” panels.

As you can see from the stunning photo that accompanies this column, I am a black man. I am a black man but I do not speak for all black people. Nor do I expect any other black person to speak for me. My views are my views and I am solely responsible for what I say. To that end I have a question to ask some of my fellow black creators:

What’s your problem?

I am very proud to be a black man and I hope by my work I have done my race proud. But here’s what I try not to do. I try not to diminish by words or actions anything that other black creators are trying to do. In other words I don’t talk bad about other black projects regardless of if I think their projects are any good or not. I am proud and glad that other black creators are doing some great work in this field. But they are responsible for what they do, not me.

That said, I have been hearing quite a bit of rumblings about my Black Panel. The complaint I hear the most is that my panel is exclusive. Some black creators have been complaining about not being represented. Well, yes it is exclusive. I put the panel together; I bring it to the con. I am responsible.

Here’s a reality check. If I don’t know you (or your work) how am I to include you? And frankly why should I? Should I include you just because you are black? Just because I drive a sports car, should I be able to race in the Indy 500?

(more…)

BREAKING: Final Sopranos shooting

BREAKING: Final Sopranos shooting

The phone rang. It was a dame. A brunette who’d make a swear off X-books and swear he only read Sandman. She spoke in a voice like syrup. "Do you want to be spoiled? Fair warning."

"You always spoil me, doll."

"It’s going down tonight."

"What are you talking about?"

"A late night shooting. After this, the Sopranos would be done with. Finished. Hasta la bye-bye."

"Where is this going down?"

"You know Holsten’s?"

Yeah, I knew Holsten’s. A mom and pop ice cream parlor, the kind they don’t make any more, the kind where they still sell jellied candies behind glass counters and you can still get an decent egg cream with your patty melt.

She told me to get there if I had any hope of seeing the thing go down. I hung up the phone and left.

When I got there, I knew it was bad. A crowd had already formed — they’d heard shooting and came out to watch the gory mess. People are the same all over.

(more…)

Bouncing about

Bouncing about

The idea of sports comics has always appealed to me.  I wish we had more of them.  Okay, any of them.  Sports is such a great method of portraying action without having the characters fight each other (by only having them metaphorically fight).

But Japan, with its vast array of comics subject matter, has the flare to not only pull off a sports manga but make it innovative and cutting-edge.  And now that the live-action version of Ping Pong is coming out, many are doubtless eager to see how it lives up to the original.

Folks in New York, Chicago and Seattle will get that chance, as Viz Pictures will be screening the comedic sports film for limited runs in those cities over the next couple of months. In New York, you can catch it at the ImaginAsian starting on April 6; in Chicago it debuts at Facets Cinematheque on April 27; and in Seattle it’ll be at the Grand Illusion Cinema beginning May 25 (which is a bit far in the future so no info is available yet on their site).

GLENN HAUMAN: On scurrilous rumors and other omens

GLENN HAUMAN: On scurrilous rumors and other omens

Man – make one offhand comment, and everybody gets all suspicious. Heidi MacDonald comments:

"Over at ComicMix, it’s been teased and speculated that co-owner Mike Gold and partners will be rolling out a “Phase 2 for the site. Given that Gold is the founder of First Comics, properties and creators associated with that line has been part of that speculation. Today Glenn Hauman pulls a tease…. Eclipse was of course the OTHER early 80s indie comics company that published many fondly remembered books like the original ZOT! and Miracleman and all that kind of stuff. Dean Mullaney was the publisher, the same Dean Mullaney who has now reappeared in comics editing comic strip reprints for IDW. Is is all a coincidence? Or a tease? Or just something to fill column space?"

Heidi, while I’m always happy to tease you and give you plenty of inches to fill holes in your column, you missed a few other possibilities why I used the word eclipse:

  • I couldn’t come up with a good pun for Comico;
  • I wanted to tweak Todd McFarlane, always a worthwhile activity;
  • Dean Mullaney and Mike Gold were the same person, and couldn’t admit it before because of anti-trust worries in the 80s. And if that’s true, Dean, you got Martin Short’s costumer beat by a mile.

Quoting Tim Curry as Cardinal Richelieu: "But really, Your Majesty, why stop there. I have heard much more festive variations. I make oaths with pagan gods, seduce the queen in her own chamber, teach pigs to dance and horses to fly, and keep the moon carefully hidden within the folds of my robe. Have I forgotten anything?"

There are already plenty of hints out there in various places, all waiting for a good prowler to scout about on the internet and find the nuggets of truth in all the verbal crossfire on the internet and solve the whodunit – in fact, I’ll give you a hint and suggest you research our tech ace. And while we are on the crest of a new wave in comics and being coy is in our DNA, gents like us would never do something like that just to get a surge in traffic, and only a cynical man would say such a thing. After all, we have a particular, shall we say, image we want to present.

So just keep reading ComicMix, and all the ms. tree and twisted tales will be brought to light. And Heidi – my, you’re a psychic girl, but what you’re hoping for would take a miracle, man.

Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters in 3-D.

Sorry, I had to get that in somewhere.

Why else Iran may be peeved at 300

Why else Iran may be peeved at 300

Will Shetterly has a theory about why Iran might be offended by the portrayal of the Persians in Frank Miller’s 300, and it’s not just the setting up of Persia/Iran as "the enemy" during a time of modern sable-rattling in that same area.

Shetterly notes, regarding how King Xerxes is costumed, that "A US film portraying Xerxes like this would be like a British film about the American Revolution portraying George Washington in a pink uniform with lots of ruffles."  Well, I can picture the ruffles.  And a lot of guys did wear pink in those days.  But point taken.

To be fair, Shetterly does note that "300 turns the Battle of Thermopylae into a fight between butch gays and queens. When Leonidas refers to ‘boy-loving Athenians,’ he’s clearly jealous."  Oh, snap!

Mimzy gets the early word…

Mimzy gets the early word…

The Turtles‘ director Kevin Monroe gets himself interviewed, The Last Mimzy gets itself reviewed, Team America goes to the tube, more on Jimmy Olsen, this Friday’s Anime Awards telecast, the Top 10 best-selling comics, and the latest in television and movie stuff.

All this to be found on the very latest ComicMix Podcast, which you can listen to in all its glory by clicking right here:

Battlestar 4 to go the distance

Battlestar 4 to go the distance

At long last , the SciFi Channel’s embattled Battlestar Galactica has received a renewal for a full 22 episode fourth season.

A partial renewal order of 12 episodes was given several weeks ago after what was perceived as a near-cancellation. The show performs well enough in the ratings, but is extremely expensive to produce.

According to TVWeek, the fourth season will include a special two-hour "event". The third season concludes this Sunday.