Category: News

Galacti-can!

Galacti-can!

To nobody’s surprise, the SciFi Channel has renewed Battlestar Galactica for a fourth season.  The series has garnered plenty of critical acclaim since its debut, winning a Peabody award for its high-quality scripting (including that of Superman/Batman writer and comic book veteran Mark Verheiden, who is also an executive producer of BSG) and making the American Film Institute’s top 10 outstanding TV programs two years in a row, and the ratings shot up even more with the show’s recent move to Sunday nights.

Another major factor in the no-brainer decision had to do with new viewing habits.  On the one hand, more than a million BSG DVDs have been sold, offsetting production costs considerably (SciFi admits BSG is its most expensive original series).  On the other hand, SciFi’s Mark Stern told the LA Times that 510,000 additional viewers in the 18-to-49 demographic are watching the show on DVRs, for which advertisers don’t yet pay (on the general assumption is that viewers fast-forward through ads during playback).  The Times’ Denise Martin says this "could be a crucial point for the channel, and Stern is hopeful that the business model is shifting."  The renewal could also give a greater boost to plans involving a direct-to-DVD BSG movie.

Forward into the past

Forward into the past

News travels fast these days, columns and podcasts (and lunchtime) even more so.  Here’s your one-stop shopping guide to the debut columns on ComicMix in the past week, so you don’t have to flip through screens to get it all.

And here are our first three podcasts, hosted by Mellifluous Mike Raub:

What’s Mike Baron doing?

What’s Mike Baron doing?

Nexus, Badger and Punisher writer Mike Baron has organized The Fort Collins (Colorado) Comics Collective with writers Pete Brandvold and artists Nick Runge, Gabe Eltaeb, and Kevin Caron — plus Scott Bieser, who lives in nearby Cheyenne and doesn’t know he’s a member.

"Nick Runge had two paintings of undersea creatures in a downtown gallery," Mike Baron noted. "They popped. The color, the line reminded me of Frazetta. I sought Nick out. He was working in the kitchen of an institutional facility washing dishes. He’d never thought about drawing comics. He went home from our initial meeting and threw together a comic page based on The Last Samurai.

"Nick and I are about to dive into Black Ice, a heroic fantasy I created with Nick in mind. The publisher will be announcing its release shortly," Baron stated.

(more…)

The native American artform

The native American artform

As one of the most popular artforms ever to originate in the US, you’d think comics would pay more attention to our indigenous population. Sadly, this industry has lagged along with just about every other one in exploring the rich history and contributions of the peoples who were here before we were.

Coinciding with the release of the new book Native Americans in Comic Books by writer/artist (and member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma) Michael Sheyahshe, Emmett Fury of Comic Book Resources takes a look at the past and present comic book portrayals of Native Americans, interviewing Sheyahsye as well as Mike Grell, Jason Aaron, David Mack, Jeff Mariotte, Jay Odjick, Robert Schmidt, Timothy Truman and Mark Waid. One hopes for a follow-up with at least one woman (perhaps Cindy Goff, writer of Dreams of Looking Up).

Kickstarting comics properties into television

Kickstarting comics properties into television

Markosia Enterprises’ press release announcing that Of Bitter Souls has been set up for television development with Hollywood’s Kickstart Productions makes the Chuck Satterlee/Norm Breyfogle-created series the latest in a growing line to be picked up by the fledgling production company, which only began creating, developing and producing their own projects in 2003. 

Kickstart’s already overseen the metamorphoses of the Joe Quesada/Jimmy Palmiotti project Painkiller Jane (starting its 22-episode run on SciFi this spring); Mike Mignola’s direct-to-DVD The Amazing Screw-on Head; Wanted, based on the Mark Millar/JG Jones series, and Red Star by Christian Gossett, both currently at Universal; and Preacher, from the series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, now in development at HBO. 

If these projects all survive turnaround hell, looks like Kickstart will be a company to continue watching!

Mighty manga mania!

Mighty manga mania!

VIZ and Del Ray Manga are both pulling out all the stops for next weekend’s New York Comic Con.  Del Ray (Booths 458-459) will have numerous author autographing sessions, giveaways and special guests, who will also participate in panels such as Breaking into SF/Fantasy Publishing (Friday at 7), Future Shocks (Saturday at 11), Star Wars: Beyond 30 (Saturday at 4) and of course The Making of a Del Rey Manga (Sunday at noon). 

VIZ, which is joining Del Rey and others in the Manga: What’s Hot panel during Friday’s trade-only hours, will be making available cell phone downloads of  promotional trailers for their popular Death Note anime series on a one-time-only basis for cell phone downloads exclusively during the show at their booth (619).   The first trailer will be available Saturday and the second on Sunday. This marks the first time this well-known Japanese anime property is being made legally available to U.S. audiences for download. 

And of course the first annual American Anime Awards will be held at the con on Saturday night.  Hope there’s cosplay involved!

The clock is Tek-ing

The clock is Tek-ing

Oni Press is offering nifty prizes to New York Comic Con attendees who come to their booth dressed like the Stephen Colbert-created character Tek Jansen, including an opportunity to have their photo posted on Oni’s website.  Because, you know, there just aren’t enough ways to get one’s photo on a website.  Oh well, it’s better than a Boba Fettish.

And Tek Jansen co-writer Tom Peyer has been interviewed about the comic at the Colbert fan site No-Fact Zone, and offers the following advice to first-time comic buyers in the Colbert Nation: "Now, many of you have never set foot in a comic book store; it can be scary the first time. Just pretend you’re Tek, on a mission to establish first contact with some repellent extraterrestrial species. We’re betting everything that your fear of not being ‘hip’ to the latest Colbert ‘merchandise’ will override your completely understandable xenophobia."

ComicMix Podcast #3 is now online!

ComicMix Podcast #3 is now online!

Our third Podcast is now available for your downloading pleasure.

This time around, Mike Raub reveals how Action Comics ends its 69 year streak, talks about more cool action figures, denotes the cinematic meeting of Ghost Rider and Captain America (!!!)  and has a revealing interview with… ummm… me, where I get to rat out ComicMix’s own Glenn Hauman and Brian Alvey.

Plus — can the sound of Tiffany’s voice cure cataracts? You can find out on our third podcast simply by simply hitting the play button:

Just in case you missed our first two podcasts, they can be found here and here.

John M. Ford Memorial Auction tonight in Boston

As part of Boskone 44 this weekend, The New England Science Fiction Association is holding the Mike Ford Memorial Auction & Extravaganza at 8 PM tonight. All proceeds of the auction will be donated to the John M. Ford Memorial Book Endowment, a special fund of the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library.

According to Linda K. Merritt of the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library, "For every $500 dollars deposited in the endowment funds, the Friends purchase a book for the library system annually with the interest earned on the endowment. This really is the gift that keeps on giving. You can specify what genre or library location/branch the books are intended for. Some people just specify ‘where most needed.’ We prepare bookplates and have them inserted in each book before they are shelved. Patrons will see Mike’s name each time the book is opened! I think it is important for people to know that these funds are ‘permanently restricted’ to the annual purchase of books. The money will never be diverted to other use."

Although his only comics credit was for Captain Confederacy, John M. Ford was the man Neil Gaiman credited as "the best writer he knew" at his eulogy.

UPDATE 12:36 AM: Due to the large number of items received, there will be a silent auction for the remainder of donated items this weekend throughout the convention.

Astronaut farmers go to Salvador

Astronaut farmers go to Salvador

Boom! Studios has announced that the writer/director/producer team behind the Warner Brothers film The Astronaut Farmer, set to open on February 23 will be following up by launching a project called Salvador "in the world of comic books."  The teaser gave no further information, but they could be talking about this offering found on the Forbidden Planet international site, and an interview with artist Sebastian Jones seems to confirm it.