Tagged: Dark Tower

Kevin McCarthy: 1914-2010

Kevin McCarthy: 1914-2010

  • News
  • September 13, 2010

Actor Kevin McCarthy, made famous by his role of Dr. Miles Bennell in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, passed away this past Saturday in Cape Cod; he was 96 years old.

McCarthy, who has been acting since 1938, has had an amazingly long career, acting even to this year, with many roles under his belt in the 90’s as well. A look at his IMDB page includes roles in movies, television, and even some voice-over work. His notable roles included Uncle Walt in the Twilight Zone movie, roles in Innerspace, Dark Tower, The Howling, and even a role as Marilyn Monroe’s husband in the 1961 film “The Misfits”. 

And while some in the later generations may recognize him as the evil R. J. Fletcher of Weird Al’s cinematic opus, UHF, it would be his role in Body Snatchers that would prove to be his most memorable. McCarthy would end up lending his memorable “You’re next!” performance in numerous spoofs and sci-fi projects… he even made a cameo as Dr. Bennell in the ’78 Body Snatchers remake, starring Donald Sutherland. Topping the list of off cameos though, McCarthy ended up appearing as Dr. Bennell in the 2003 Looney Toons: Back in Action movie– still in glorious black and white.

Kevin was married twice, once to Augusta Dabney, and then to Kate Crane. He had five children. Our condolences to his family.

‘The Dark Tower’: J.J. Abrams out, new novel coming

‘The Dark Tower’: J.J. Abrams out, new novel coming

  • News
  • November 14, 2009

J.J, Abrams has left The Dark Tower according to comments made on MTV. During an interview, the producer said,” You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that’s probably the reason that I shouldn’t be the one to adapt it. After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I’m terrified of screwing it up. I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.”

King, now on the road in support of the well-received Under the Dome, has said he wishes to write one more book set between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla. Over at his message board, the moderator posted, “Stephen has given me permission to pass along that he has an idea for a new Dark Tower book, the working title of which will be The Wind Through the Keyhole. He has not yet started this book and anticipates that it will be a minimum of eight months before he is able to begin writing it.”

The author continues to oversee the adaptations of The Dark Tower cycle at Marvel Comics and will be writing an original vampire tale for Vertigo in 2010.

2008 book sales figures and moments of zen

2008 book sales figures and moments of zen

  • News
  • January 14, 2009

First, the moment of zen:

 

 
 

 

So, since her next-to-last book only moved 126,000 units (we don’t have numbers on her new book yet) who should Ann Coulter be taking advice from?

Well, Stephenie Meyer, for one, who sold about 15 million books last year. (No exaggeration — her "Twilight" books held four of the top ten spots for 2008 in the US, according to Nielsen Bookscan.) Jeff Kinney, for another, who sold 721,000 copies of Diary Of A Wimpy Kid and 696,000 of Roderick Rules. (She should also be listening to Barack Obama, who sold 1.44 million books, though somehow I doubt she will; Jodi Picoult, J.K. Rowling, James Patterson, Christopher Paolini, and yes, Bill O’Reilly, who moved 387,000 of his new book last year.)

How about comics? Well, Secret Invasion moved 1.3 million issues total as the best selling comic of last year, I guess Ann has to listen to Brian Michael Bendis. And Peter David too, he sold about 460,000 issues of Dark Tower: Long Road Home. That will just make Peter’s day. Alan Moore, too, with the best-selling graphic novels of 2008– even 20 years old.

‘Watchmen’ Tops 3Q Sales Charts

‘Watchmen’ Tops 3Q Sales Charts

  • News
  • November 11, 2008

ICv2

reports that graphic novels tied to feature film release saw a massive increase in third quarter sales.

“Sales of the Watchmen graphic novel exploded after the trailer hit theaters and it will clearly be the number one graphic novel of 2008, but a number of Batman-related graphic novels including The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns also showed huge increases in sales, while Mark Millar’s Wanted graphic novel published by Top Cow clearly benefited from having a hit movie adaptation,” the site noted.

As the summer features arrive on DVD for the holidays, additional trade sales are anticipated.  Marvel cannily released additional Iron Man product when the related DVD came out September 29.

Manga did not suffer according to the site’s analysis, saying “Viz Media’s shojo series Vampire Knight, the top Manga series to debut in 2007 gained strength in 2008 and Viz Media also has one of the best new series of 2008, Rosario & Vampire, but with the maturing of the Manga market, the number of new releases slated for 2009 is declining, though the quality of those new series appears to be going up.”

Top Superhero Properties–Q3 08

1 Watchmen, DC
2 Batman, DC
3 Spider-Man, Marvel
4 Wanted, Top Cow
5 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, DC/Wildstorm
6 Iron Man, Marvel
7 Marvel Zombies, Marvel
8 Hulk, Marvel9 Superman, DC
10 Green Lantern DC

Top Genre Properties–Q3 08

1 Star Wars, Dark Horse

2 Y: The Last Man, DC/Vertigo
3 Indiana Jones, Dark Horse
4 Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Horse
5 Dark Tower, Marvel
6 Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Marvel
7 The Walking Dead, Image
8 Fables, DC/Vertigo
9 Sandman, DC/Vertigo
10 Angel, IDW

Interviews: Peter David and Mike Perkins

Interviews: Peter David and Mike Perkins

  • News
  • September 10, 2008

Last night, Peter David and Mike Perkins did a midnight signing at the prestigious Midtown Comics in Time Square. Despite the late hour, there were several fans in attendance and each had the opportunity to be among the very first to purchase the debut  issue of the new miniseries Dark Tower: Treachery and the premiere of the first miniseries based on Stephen King’s other major work, The Stand: Captain Tripps.

The Dark Tower book series is Stephen King’s very popular opus. The Dark Tower comics, plotted by King’s aide Robin Furth (who also wrote The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance) and scripted by Peter David (X-Factor, She-Hulk, Fallen Angel), have been serving as prequels to the series, showing the Gunslinger hero Roland when he was a young man and revealing other secrets of his home. Treachery is the third mini-series.

The Stand is perhaps Steven King’s most famous book, depicting how the last survivors of humanity cope with the forces of good and evil after a plague wipes out most of the planet. It is also a part of the Dark Tower series in that the demonic villain Randall Flagg makes an appearance in both. In fact, Flagg (also known as "The Dark Man", "The Walking Dude", and "The Man with no Face") appears or makes his presence felt in several other books and stories, earning him the title of King’s "super-villain." Mike Perkins (Union Jack, Captain America) is handling the art for The Stand.

Also on this occasion was the birthday of Kathleen David, Peter’s wife. Midtown Comics, being the classy people they are, were only too happy to hook up the party with a massive cake, sodas and many cupcakes.

When the signing and fan greeting was done, I sat down with Peter and Mike to ask them a few questions.

(more…)

“The Stand” Trailer Premieres on Marvel.com

“The Stand” Trailer Premieres on Marvel.com

Marvel.com recently posted a new video "trailer" for their upcoming five-issue series based on Stephen King’s The Stand. While I’m not sure how I feel about the whole movie-style "trailer" as a promotional tool for comics, the video does show some previously unseen art from the series. I was really impressed with the way the two previous King stories were handled by the Marvel crew (Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born and Dark Tower: The Long Road Home), so I have high hopes for this project.

The Stand: Captain Trips #1, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with art by Mike Perkins, goes on sale September 10.

You can also read an interview with Aguirre-Sacasa about the project on Marvel, as well as a video interview with Perkins. Both are fairly standard promotional material, but worth the time for anyone interested in the publisher’s latest collaboration with Stephen King.

ComicMix Radio: Marvel Trumps With Another King

ComicMix Radio: Marvel Trumps With Another King

While the second run of Dark Tower is coming to a close, Marvel has another Stephen King project in the wings — one that will please his fans new and old, plus:

— The Scarecrow moves to Heroes

— Magic: The Gathering gets a big makeover

— Another great week of new comics and DVDs, including Secret Invasion and the debut of DC’s Trinity

M-O-O-N spells "Press the Button!"

 

 

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

 

ComicMix Radio at NYCC: Familiar Faces and Plans for ’09

ComicMix Radio at NYCC: Familiar Faces and Plans for ’09

It was the homestretch here in New York City yesterday when we rounded up some of the biggest news items from New York Comic Con, including a new Farscape series, more Dark Tower from Marvel and Mark Waid on Spider-Man. We also spent a family-friendly minute with comics legend Joe Kubert.

Head back to the floor – just press the button!

 

 

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

ComicMix TV: ‘Dark Tower’ Midnight Release

ComicMix TV: ‘Dark Tower’ Midnight Release

 

ComicMix TV is back once again with another episode!

This time we’re in the heart of Manhattan at Midtown Comics for the midnight release of Marvel Comics’ Dark Tower 2: The Long Road Home. Not only do we have video from the event, but we also have exclusive interviews with Dark Tower: The Long Road Home creators Peter David and Jae Lee.

SPOILER ALERT: For those of you who haven’t read the first Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger Born, there are spoilery pieces of plot contained in the interview. So, consider yourself warned!

Enjoy!

 

 

ComicMix Broadcast Blog: Dark Tower, Hulk and Hawaii Five-O!

ComicMix Broadcast Blog: Dark Tower, Hulk and Hawaii Five-O!

  • News
  • March 2, 2008

Another sure sign of spring – the second big convention of the year, plus another Marvel Midnight Release. Let’s lay out the links:

In case this blew past you, the second story arc of the comic book series adapted from Stephen King’s magnum opus, The Dark Tower, begins now from Marvel Comics. Just like last year, they  will offer a midnight release of Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #1 on the early morning of Wednesday, March 5, 2008. Participating retailers across the country will open at midnight on Tuesday (effectively 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, March 5, 2008) so Stephen King fans can get their hands on the next issue of this historic comic. Watch for a special ComicMix TV report on Wednesday, and to find out if there is a store near you, go here.

Work has begun on the 100 original Hulk covers created for The Hero Initiative and the very first covers received will be on display publicly for the first time at the Orlando MegaCon, taking place March 7-9 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. For more information on that even, visit www.MegaConvention.com or watch for coverage all weekend on ComicMix.

CBS Interactive is dusting off a selection of its own classics from the CBS Library for distribution across the CBS Audience Network. Full-length episodes of Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Hawaii Five-O, MacGyver and Melrose Place will be available for free on an ad-supported basis through more than 300 member sites. Got some time to kill? Catch an episode here: www.cbs.com

 

Johnny Knoxville and MTV are bringing Jackass to the digital age with JackAssworld.com. The site, which you can see at www.jackassworld.com, has 24-straight hours of continuously updated video of the latest stupid stunts. Users can view and comment on the video via message board, email or text message.

And how about if we toss in a little hint for the answer to our latest Trivia Question, which could win you a limited edition, Graham Crackers Comics variant?  For full details, catch yesterday’s ComicMix Radio, get your answer to us at podcast [at] comicmix.com, and be back here on Tuesday for the winner, a new question and much more.

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