Tagged: Catwoman

Martin H. Greenberg: 1941-2011

Martin Harry Greenberg, the leading anthologist and packager of short science fiction, fantasy, and superhero prose stories, and senior editor of Tekno Comix, died at his home in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday. He was 70.

Marty’s output was staggering– here’s one partial list of the books that he actually received credit on, and here’s another. Notice how little overlap there is between the two lists, and there are hundreds more where he did back end editorial, production, or most often financial work. Marty’s packaging company, Tekno Books, produced over 2,000 books since its creation, with more than 55 New York Times bestselling authors. His collaborators have included the likes of Tom Clancy, Dean Koontz, Nora Roberts, Deepak Chopra, Robert Silverberg, Jane Yolen, Esther Friesner, Ed Gorman, and the late Isaac Asimov. In the 90s, he lent his corporate name and expertise to Tekno Comix. He packaged the Further Adventures Of series of short story collections featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Joker, The Penguin, and Catwoman for Bantam Spectra in the 90s.

He is the only person to have won the Milford Award for science fiction editing, the Ellery Queen Award for mystery editing and the Bram Stoker Award for supernatural horror editing. He also received the Prometheus Award in 2005 and was one of the first recipients of the Solstice Award in 2009. He was also a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay from 1970 until his retirement in 1996, where science fiction was often used as a teaching tool.

Like almost everyone else in science fiction, I’ve received a check from Marty at least once in my life on a book I didn’t even know he was involved in. He will be missed.

DC Comics Collected Editions September 2011 Solicitations

[[[BATMAN: NOEL]]] DELUXE EDITION HC
Written by LEE BERMEJO
Art and cover by LEE BERMEJO
On sale NOVEMBER 2 • 112 pg, FC, 7.0625” x 10.875”,
$22.99 US
Inspired by Charles Dickens’ immortal classic A Christmas Carol, BATMAN: NOEL features different interpretations of The Dark Knight, along with his enemies and allies, in different eras, from writer/artist Lee Bermejo (JOKER).
In this spectacular, oversized graphic novel, Batman must come to terms with his past, present and future as he battles villains from the campy 1960s to dark and brooding menaces of today, while exploring what it means to be the hero that he is.

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Anne Hathaway Is Catwoman’s Sixth Life

Anne Hathaway Is Catwoman’s Sixth Life

Finally, the cat’s out of the bag. Anne Hathaway beat out Jessica Biel and Keira Knightley for the role of the nefarious Catwoman in the third final Christopher Nolan / Christian Bale Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. She’ll be the sixth actress to field the part.

Hathaway’s recent movies include Alice in Wonderland, Get Smart, The Devil Wears Prada, and Brokeback Mountain. Yes, I’m the only person on Earth who liked Get Smart.

Tom Hardy will also join Bale, Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman as the murderous Bane, a real stretch from his performance as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.

Word has yet to escape as to how the Catwoman character will be handled, or even if she will be Selina Kyle, of comic book fame. However, director Christopher Nolan usually gives his characters a dark, sinister edge. Indeed, one might ask “Why so serious, Chris?” but that might be in bad taste and I don’t do that.

The Dark Knight Rises is due for release July 20, 2012.

Women Is NOT Losers

Women Is NOT Losers

 

 

Marvel Comics is a couple months into their “Women of Marvel” promotion, and that raises an issue or two. The whole idea is fine – honor… well… promote the several hundred female characters that toil in the Marvel Universe. Remind the readers
that many are among Marvel’s best. After all, women-starring superhero comics generally don’t sell very well and women-starring superhero movies are, without fail, failures.

I realize there’s a reason why the movies flop. Most of them really suck. Supergirl, Elektra, and Catwoman deserved better. But they stunk up the box office so badly I doubt they’d make a Black Widow solo movie
right now even if Scarlett Johansson had a half-dozen nude scenes.

Well… I could be wrong about that last point.

But the fact is, these are just made-up characters. It is
not intrinsically harder to write, draw, direct and/or act as a woman superhero as it is a man. I understand avoiding crappy movies, but a lot of the women superhero comics are as good as anything on the racks. Given the growing percentage of women readers, you’d think there would be a chance here.

So kudos to Marvel for their promotion. And go to your friendly neighborhood comic book shop and take a super-heroine out to lunch.

ComicMix
editor-in-Chief
Mike
Gold performs a weekly two-hour Weird
Sounds Inside The Gold Mind
ass-kicking music and blather radio show on The Point
every Sunday at 7:00 PM Eastern,
replayed three times during the week (check the website for times). Likewise,
his Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mind political
and cultural rants pop up each and
every day at the
same
venue. Thanks to Janis Joplin for the headline.

 

Tim Gunn talks comics fashion

Tim Gunn talks comics fashion

Tim Gunn, fresh off his stint in the Iron Man armor and his guest appearances with Aquaman, reunites with Alan Kistler to discuss super-hero fashion
and judge the looks of Mr. Miracle, Star Sapphire, Power Girl,
Catwoman, Spider-Man and Batwoman on this episode of Crazy Sexy Geeks!

Crazy Sexy Geeks: Tim Gunn and Horror Films!

Crazy Sexy Geeks: Tim Gunn and Horror Films!

It’s Halloween time and that means I and co-host Graham Skipper are ready to debate the merits and drawing power of movie monsters such as Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, the Aliens and the Predators.

Last week, the CSG gang spoke with Tim Gunn about super-hero fashion and then attended the DC Comics/Bloomingdale’s fashion show in NYC where they asked Batman and Catwoman how fashion techniques have influenced their costumes.

And if that isn’t enough for you, all previous episodes of Crazy Sexy Geeks: The Series have been remastered with better audio quality! Enjoy!

Women Super Heroes with guest Amber Benson (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)!

Remakes, Reboots and Sequels with guests Rob Zombie (“Halloween”), Edward James Olmos (“Battlestar Galactica”) and novelist David Mack (“The Calling“)!

Comics Without Spandex with guests David W. Mack (“Kabuki”) and Emma Caulfield (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)!

ComicMix Radio: Is Your Comic Shop Safe?

ComicMix Radio: Is Your Comic Shop Safe?

Even before today’s economic crisis, comic store owners were fighting an uphill battle, with their numbers only a fraction of what they were a decade ago. A group of retailers have banded together in an organization to help stores  be better, wiser & stronger. we introduce you to Comics Pro, plus:

  • Christina Aguilera as Catwoman?
  • Your favorite album covers in Legos
  • A new Nightmare Before Christmas CD you can hear for free

All that and more – but only when you Press the Button!
 


 
And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via iTunes - ComicMix or RSS!

 

ComicMix Six: Greatest Joker Victories

ComicMix Six: Greatest Joker Victories

Sometimes the villain wins.

Sure, you might stick them in jail — or an asylum — for what they’ve done. You could even throw them off a rooftop, leaving them paralyzed for life. But that won’t change the fact that they already did it. They scored a victory, even if it was short-lived.

The Joker is definitely a villain with a better track record than most. Lex Luthor may have become President and nearly destroyed Superman a few times. But he never killed Lois Lane or tortured Ma and Pa Kent. The Clown Prince of Killers, however, has had quite a few shining moments.

What drives this evil mass murderer? Some have claimed the chemicals which altered his pigmentation also damaged his brain. Some have claimed he suffered such psychological trauma and simply snapped. Some believe his brain actually acts on a higher level of perception, forcing him to operate with a logic we simply aren’t equipped to understand. Half of his crimes seem to be a way of trying to bring Batman to his own way of thinking, that there is no hope in the world, only chaos.

The fact that we can argue about the Joker’s sanity (or lack thereof) is part of what makes him so interesting. And so, with the release of The Dark Knight — and the Joker — looming near, we’ve sifted through the long and bloody history of the Harlequin of Hate to find those victories which stand out above the rest. Steel your nerves and enjoy ComicMix Six: The Six Greatest Joker Victories.

And if you’re interested, you may want to check out our related article, 11 Batman Stories to read before The Dark Knight.

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‘Catwoman’ Cancelled With Issue #82

‘Catwoman’ Cancelled With Issue #82

After DC released its last round of solicitations, people naturally assumed Catwoman was being cancelled with issue #81. That’s just unfounded nonsense. It’s actually being cancelled with issue #82!

According to writer Will Pfeifer, Selina Kyle will get one more issue in August before her solo title officially gets the axe. Did she have to spend one of her nine lives to do it? If so, does she have any more to spare in order to get a series relaunch?

Perhaps in the future, but as of now, Pfeifer has no information on any future plans for Catwoman. Fans will just have to be happy with one extra helping of their favorite cat buglar for the time being.

DENNIS O’NEIL: Comics Education

DENNIS O’NEIL: Comics Education

If you’re a dedicated reader of movie end credits, the name Michael Uslan might be familiar to you.  If it isn’t…let’s remedy that.

If you know of Mike, it’s probably because he was executive producer of all the recent Batman flicks, including Catwoman and The Dark Knight, coming to a theater near you next June.  He’s also been involved in producing a lot of other stuff for screens both large and small.  And he’s done considerable writing, some of which was for comic books.  I first met him when he was a law student at Indiana State University in Bloomington, where he was teaching the first accredited college course in comics and a related correspondence course; he was nice enough to invite me to meet his class.

Mike’s latest project – and here we come to this week’s real subject – is a documentary movie on comics super heroes to have its world premiere on September 15 at the Montclair Art Museum which is located, no surprise, in a town called Montclair in a state called New Jersey, a short drive or train ride from New York City.  The movie screening is part of a much bigger deal, an exhibit of about 150 examples of comics art and related stuff at the museum that is currently there and is not leaving until January 13th of next year.  The screening is scheduled for 4:30 in the afternoon.

And if you’re still not satisfied, if that isn’t enough…On October 13th the museum will shelter a panel discussion on comics which will put Mr. Uslan, Danny Fingeroth, Tom DeFalco, and me in front of anyone who cares to show up, listen, ask questions.  Genuflecting and flinging rose blossoms at us are optional.

I haven’t visited the exhibit yet, but everything I know about it indicates that it’s worth going a bit out of your way to see. If you do – go out of your way to see it, that is, or even if you plan to see it without going out of your way – you might want some info. You can get it by visiting www.montclairartmuseum.org or phoning (973) 746-5555.  And while I’m in reporter mode, one final thing, the museum’s address is 3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07042

I believe that at one time it would have been customary to, at this point, urge you to “be there or be square.”  Aren’t we glad that time is past!

And aren’t we glad that comics have come to a place where respectable institutions promote and host educational efforts on their behalf?  Well, yes, with some qualification.  Producing comics isn’t the informal, loosey-goosey business it once was, and so maybe a little less fun.  And I, for one, am not entirely comfortable with all this respectability.  I’m not happy that pretty young women behind checkout counters call me sir, either.  But better respectability than oblivion and, come to think of it, better being called sir than oblivion, too.

RECOMMENDED READING:  Walden and Civil Disobedience, both by Henry David Thoreau.

Dennis O’Neil is an award-winning editor and writer of comic books like Batman, The Question, Iron Man, Green Lantern and/or Green Arrow, and The Shadow, as well as all kinds of novels, stories and articles.