Not to pile on poor little pornographers, but I think, if this image is any indication, that Sinful Comics is going to be hearing from Marvel’s lawyers too. And Sony’s. And probably the lawyers for Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd.
And the hell of it is, the artist is pretty talented and could probably find work in the regular comics industry.
Mark Evanier posted the sad news that Arnold Drake passed away this morning.
Drake was a prolific writer for comics, prose and film, refusing to be typecast. In the early 1950s he wrote It Rhymes with Lust which can be argued as America’s first graphic novel (readers can judge for themselves when Dark Horse reissues this later in 2007).
While best known today for creating Deadman, Drake also wrote a wide variety of titles, mostly for DC Comics featuring the Doom Patrol, Space Ranger and Tommy Tomorrow. Given his versatility, he also handled Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis and the delightful Stanley and his Monster.
For film, he may be best remembered for The Flesh Eaters.
Drake was outspoken about the changes he saw happening to comics in the 1960s, as Stan Lee and his Marvel cohorts rewrote the rules. As a result, he was in the forefront at demanding improved working conditions and tried to wake DC’s editors up that there was finally some serious competition for readers.
The efforts led to his removal from DC assignments although he would return to write now and then into the 1980s.
His last effort, a proposed Doom Patrol graphic novel, was in the works at the time of his death.
To help combat a growing trend, the Virginia health department has commissioned a "fotonovela" – a comic book that uses photographs instead of art, also known as fumetti – to educate Spanish-speaking girls younger than 18 about how they can avoid being coerced into unwanted sex.
Citing cultural tradition, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN Latinas lead the nation in teen births with a birth rate more than double the national norm. Young mothers are extremely reticent to name the fathers of their children.
According Paz Ochs, the Richmond VA Hispanic liason who helped create the fotonovela, "We wanted something that would be appealing. There’s some people that might not realize that this is even against the law." Health care workers in Illinois, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana and Florda have contacted the Virginia Department of Health for more information.
I was listening with keen interest to Mike Raub’s interview with my old friend, DC publisher and president Paul Levitz, available on the current (#12) ComicMix Podcast. Back in the days of papyrus scrolls, Mike, Paul and I were in an a.p.a. (amateur press association; a forerunner of the Internet) called Interlac. It was great fun, and if I’m not mistaken it’s still around in the more capable hands of those who still own staplers.
Anyway, Mike asked Paul for his opinion as to the single greatest change in the comics medium in the 35 years since he ran a massively influential fanzine called The Comic Reader. Without dropping a beat, Paul talked about the acceptance of the comic art medium.
A couple hours later I found myself debating which would be the least expensive way to see the movie 300: my AARP card or the first-showing matinee. Linda and I piled into the car and drove up I-95 to watch the carnage. I’m referring to the movie, and not I-95.
Later on TiVo showed us the latest episode of Ebert and Roeper, where 300 lead the discussion. Mind you, I regretted the passing of the show’s original co-host, Gene Siskel. Unbeknownst to much of humanity, Gene was a serious fan of Roy Thomas’s Conan work and at one time had at least three complete collections. But then again, he might have reviewed the movie through the eyes of a comics’ fan. I doubt that, but roll with me for a while longer.
Roeper reviewed the movie and loved it. He commented at length about the evolution of the graphic novel-based movie without once referring to costumes and capes (oddly, 300 had both – but you get my drift) and Frank Miller’s influence on comics, film, and our culture in general. He spoke of Miller’s work the way arts critics speak of Martin Scorsese, John Lennon and Philip Roth. Not a single word was condescending. Not one.
And it’s about time. Paul’s perception is right on the money. In earlier days we would look to the movies as justification for our four-color passions, as if to say “see, somebody else is taking us seriously.” That played a big, big part in our enthusiasm for Richard Donner’s Superman – The Movie. Today, we no longer need to prove anything to anybody.
Previously, I stated in this column that respectability might be the death of us. I still feel that’s a possibility: I’d hate to see the comic art medium be taken as seriously by its fans as those many rock’n’roll enthusiasts who lost their sense of humor and perspective a long time ago.
But if respectability is the death of comics, at least we’ll get a well-written obituary.
While we’re on the subject of Moonstone Books, Johanna Draper-Carlson reports that they’re looking for pitches for Captain Action, the toy figure from the 60’s best known for being other heroes, as well as a short lived comic book in the 60s from DC.
Quoth Johanna: "Moonstone wants to give CAP his due in comics! We’re looking for proposals of no more than two pages. The premise is entirely up to you! Create a NEW “back story” as well as set CAP on a course for new adventures! We’re looking for that one GREAT IDEA, and we know it’s out there! (Please remember that CAP is a licensed property, and as such, if approved, would be considered “work for hire”.) All proposals will be subject to review. You can e-mail proposals to contact_us@moonstonebooks.com."
There has been quite a revival of interest in the old pulp heroes over the last year or two. Moonstone Books launched with the pulp-like exploits of Kolchak the Night-Stalker before adding characters such as The Phantom and The Spider, while Anthony Tollin has relaunched The Shadow and Doc Savage in two lines of facsimile reprint editions. In Hollywood, Sam Raimi has signed on to produce a movie about Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze. With so much renewed interest, we here at ComicMix thought we should dig a little deeper.
The energetic Joe Gentile has been running Moonstone Books for a decade now and has grown the line from a one or two comic books a month outfit to a burgeoning publisher of not only comic books but prose works. I chatted with him by e-mail to learn what’s been going on.
In the interests of full disclosure, I have written one story for Moonstone’s anthologies, with work beginning on a second, and ComicMix columnist John Ostrander has contributed a story to the recently released Kolchak prose anthology.
Robert: Joe, for those not in the know, what is Moonstone’s mission?
Joe: Well, we thought there were some niches that weren’t being filled in comics. We thought that if we could fill some of those, perhaps (with promotion and advertising, which we did a lot of at the beginning) we could bring either new people or readers who left the hobby, to come back to the comic shops. Great stories was always our #1 priority, all things else aside.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, John August has been chosen to write the screenplay for New Line Cinema’s adaptation of the DC comic Shazam!, currently enjoying a resurgence thanks to the writing and art of Bone creator Jeff Smith. August has served as screenwriter for a number of Tim Burton’s recent movies, including Big Fish, Corpse Bride and Charlie the Chocolate Factory.
But it wasn’t Smith to whom August turned for continuity advice. Instead he had a session with Geoff Johns for "idiot checking" to keep it true to the characters that readers expect. "I think we’re going to be able to be really faithful to the mythology and yet make it completely transparent for people who have no idea who the character is," August said, adding, "It’s a unique opportunity to do a comic book movie where the character in it actually read comic books."
The will be produced by Michael Ewing and Peter Segal; Segal is also set to direct. Let the casting call speculations begin!
Friends of Lulu has been a visible player in the comics world for about fifteen years now. Like many organizations, it’s had its share of controversy. It’s also helped give visibility and voice to a lot of talented writers and artists in an industry where, until very recently, one of the most frequently asked questions seemed to be "where are all the women comics creators?"
In the interest of full disclosure, I was very active in FoL for a number of years, and helped nurture some of its successful ventures dealing with women’s visibility like the Women Doing Comics list on the national website and the Women in Comics discussion series hosted by the New York chapter (see logo at right, created for the FoL/NY t-shirts by my best friend, the late Leah Adezio). So I feel a bit like a mother hen when noting that the latter is still going strong, currently in association with the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in Manhattan’s SoHo district, which hosts what it calls their "MoCCA Mondays."
This coming Monday, March 12, MoCCA and FoL/NY present a panel called The Big Picture, as artist Marion Vitus moderates a discussion with a group of four diverse professionals — Del Rey Manga’s Trisha Narwani, NYPL Teen Central’s Melissa Jenvey, artist Christine Norrie, and Friends of Lulu cofounder Heidi McDonald — as they look ahead in the comic book world. The program begins at 6:30 PM and is absolutely free. Tell them the mother hen sent ya.
"But who will avenge him? If only there were a group of ‘avengers,’ if you will, organized for that purpose."
(Copyright 2007 The Onion)
Bibi’s Box has gathered together a number of remembrances of comics writer Yvan Delporte, who died on March 5. Bibi notes that Delport " was the editor-in-chief of Le Journal de Spirou (Spirou), a Belgian magazine, between 1955 and 1968 during a period considered by many the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics." Francophones can see lots of nice visual homages to Delporte here – the sentiment certainly comes through even if you can’t read the language.
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