Tagged: Disney

ComicMix Quick Picks: 8/8/08

ComicMix Quick Picks: 8/8/08

The collection of posts that may not warrant a full entry of their own. Excelsio — er, onward and upward:

Billionaire financier Ronald O. Perelman has agreed pay $80 million to settle a lawsuit accusing him of helping to divert $553.5 million in notes when he controlled Marvel. I’ll do a better run-down of the financials after I have a chance to slog through them. Ironically, Perelman had always wanted to turn Marvel into an intellectual property powerhouse in the mold of Disney, but it only happened after he drove Marvel into bankruptcy and bolted.

And speaking of legal matters, Gordon vs. Gordon. It’s a shame when things go bad. I wonder what will happen at the custody hearings.

And speaking of Gotham City going-ons (what a segue!) somebody else has built a working Tumbler. No word on what else he keeps in his basement or his belfry.

Don Heck’s Lovecraft work to finally see the light of day. Ai! Ai! P’tagh i’dw ryall!

Tom Brevoort is attempting to take over DC Comics. Watch out, Paul…

And just because some of you might want to know how to give yourself pointed ears… well, here you are. We’re not responsible for any pon farr, though.

Stan Lee and Hioryuki Takei’s “ULTIMO” Manga

Stan Lee and Hioryuki Takei’s “ULTIMO” Manga

  • News
  • August 6, 2008

Attention, true believers! Next month’s issue of manga magazine Shonen Jump will feature the premiere of Stan Lee and Hioryuki Takei’s Ultimo, which was announced back in April during New York Comic Con.

While the series is old news for readers in Japan (the issue has already been out for a few months over there), North American readers will get their chance to pick up a copy of the debut story in September.

Here’s what to expect from the series, according to the press release (which is posted after the jump):

High above Farmless City, citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures. Are they human boys, monolithic robots, or something much more strange? As the battle ensues between them, destruction and devastation falls on the hapless city. One figure is Vice, and seems to be as evil as his name implies. The other is Ultimo, intent on trying to stop Vice from wreaking more havoc. But who are Vice and Ultimo really? Where did they come from? A new mystery begins with the fate of the world possibly hanging in the balance!

My favorite part of the PR? The quote from Stan Lee about the project that is so very, well… Stan Lee. Check it out:

“Wow! This is just what I’ve been waiting for!” says an excited Stan Lee. “For the very first time I’m able to create superheroes in the fantastic Japanese manga style thanks to my lucky partnership with the great Hiroyuki Takei. What a kick it’ll be to join Hiroyuki-san in offering brand new, action packed stories to an army of readers in both the Eastern and Western worlds!”

Can’t you just hear him saying it in your head? Keep an eye out for the September 2008 issue of Shonen Jump for the first chapter of Ultimo.

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Disney Adapts ‘Monster Attack Network’

  • News
  • August 5, 2008

When a graphic novel is billed as a cross between Men in Black and Jurassic Park, it’s no surprise to see a studio come running, dollar signs in their eyes.

Such is Disney with Monster Attack Network, according to a story in the Hollywood Reporter.

The book is published by AIT/Planet Lar and originally came out in 2007.

The adventure tale, written by Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman with art by Nima Sorat, is set on the picture-perfect Pacific island of Lapuatu, which is populated by giant monsters. There, a team of adventurers deal with rampages and related crises and clean up messes afterwards. The team faces its biggest challenge when a shady industrialist shows up.

SDCC: Leaked Comic-Con Movie Trailer Round-Up

  • News
  • July 29, 2008

As many know, Comic Con International has become more about showing off secret footage of upcoming TV and Film projects than about actual comic books, and for those unable to attend this year, or the attendees who weren’t fortunate enough (or patient enough) to make it into the major halls for the presentations, we’ve put together a small round-up of the leaked footage from this year’s show.

      NOTE: This footage was not taken by anyone on the ComicMix staff, and we are only linking to previously published video files, so don’t sue us.
wolverine poster
Starting it off is the biggest of the projects: the trailer (in two parts) for X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

  1. Part 1
  2. Part 2
  3. The trailer for Disney’s Tron sequel
  4. Saw V Teaser Trailer
  5. Friday the 13th Trailer
  6. Smallville Season 8 Trailer
  7. A sneak peek at season 5 of Lost
  8. Finally, an extended scene from the film Twilight

I’d apologize about the unsteady handicam work, but it beats flying across the country and waiting in line for four hours to get a seat, trust me. This seems to be all the footage that has made its way onto the web so far, keep checking back for updates, plus our exclusive Comic Con ’08 video coverage! 

Comics at Harry N. Abrams

  • News
  • July 28, 2008

It went a bit overshadowed amid the madness of Comic-Con, but there was some big news out of New York last week as publisher Harry N. Abrams announced the creation of a new comics imprint, headed by Charles Kochman.

Kochman was recently promoted to be executive editor of the publishing company, and he told Publishers Weekly it was a natural fit to take on more comics.

Kochman will direct the new imprint, which will launch with four new titles: The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle; The Art of Jaime Hernandez: The Secrets of Life and Death by Todd Hignite, designed by Jordan Crane with an introduction by acclaimed cartoonist Alison Bechdel; Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-creator Joe Shuster by Craig Yoe; and Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? by Brian Fies, the creator of the award-winning Web comic/book Mom’s Cancer.

Abrams publisher Steve Tager said launching a new imprint “made sense. We’ve published comics and pop culture titles in the past—we’ve sold half a million copies of the Art of Walt Disney—so Charles is building on a history that Abrams already has. But he brings a passion and experience in the category. He’s brought in more graphic novels and launching an imprint just makes sense in this marketplace.” Tager said the imprint will be able to cross-promote with Abrams’s children’s book line, special markets department and internationally—he noted that Kirby: King of Comics, Mark Evanier’s biography of comics artist Jack Kirby, is a bestseller for Abrams U.K. “We’ve been coming to Comic-con for several years now and our education in the category continues,” said Tager. “And our designers and sales reps all love Charlie’s books; he focuses on the little things and that’s what makes his books special.”

Disney and Pixar Go Boom

Boom! Studios has announced they’ll be publishing comic book adaptations of Pixar cartoon properties, with the first announced being an Incredibles project.

The news comes as an early announcement from Comic-Con International, which is just getting underway. Boom EiC Mark Waid will be writing the Incredibles series, featuring covert art from Darwyn Cooke.

"Today, American comic books are aimed primarily at an older readership. Comics produced for an upcoming generation of readers are scarce – and BOOM! Studios aims to do something about that," said Waid. "There will be comics for kids again!"

To commemorate this historic partnership, BOOM! will be releasing a special preview book featuring sneak previews of upcoming projects using the characters from TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO, and MONSTERS, INC. Featuring commentary by Waid, this preview will give comic fans and interested parents a look at the quality comics BOOM! will be producing for a younger audience by the end of the year.

According to the release, these won’t be straight adaptations, but rather all-new stories set in the world of various Pixar films.

Boom also is going to be doing a Muppets book, Waid told CBR.

It was also announced Wednesday night that Waid will be writing "The Muppet Show." Given the Muppets’ long and varied history in television and film, CBR asked Waid about the particular form this series would take. He was able to reveal that the first thing to appear would be a four-issue miniseries, but future series are "something that’s more in flux." "We’re talking about doing a couple one-shots that could be collected into a trade paperback, we’re talking about doing series that are based on ‘The Muppet Show‘ itself," Waid explained, "and then we’re also talking–with Disney’s heavy encouragement–to do things like Muppet Robin Hood, or the Three Muppeteers or whatever. They’re talking to us about following sort of the paradigm they set up in the movies about classic stories retold with the Muppets."

Interview: Jane Espenson on “Buffy” and “Battlestar Galactica”

Interview: Jane Espenson on “Buffy” and “Battlestar Galactica”

  • News
  • July 23, 2008

Writer and producer Jane Espenson has written, or co-written, episodes of some of the most popular and successful TV shows in recent memory. From her first writing work on Star Trek: The Next Generation through stints on the hugely popular Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel, to one of the most celebrated series currently on TV, Battlestar Galactica, Espenson’s career is certainly one which fans of quality writing, humor and storytelling can appreciate.

In addition to her continued professional writing accomplishments, Espenson also finds time to offer inspiration to fledgling writers by providing advice on the craft of writing, breaking into the businesss and what makes a good spec script via her personal website. Recently, I caught up with Espenson to talk about, among other things, how writers can break into "the business," her love of sci-fi and fantasy, and what episodes of Buffy are her favorites.

COMICMIX: Jane, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. For those who may not know, can you talk a bit about your background? Did you always know you wanted to write?

JANE ESPENSON: I grew up in a small town in the Midwest where I watched a heck of a lot of television — good and bad.  For every M*A*S*H, there’s an Enos. You don’t remember Enos?  The Dukes of Hazzard spin-off?  Well, I was watching. I always knew I wanted to write for television. 

I read an article once about spec M*A*S*H scripts that were submitted to the show, and I wrote one myself. I wrote "PUT COMMERCIAL HERE" after every scene. I never sent it to anyone. It’s just as well.
 
CMix: Were there any particular writers you admired when you were growing up? Anyone influence your work today?

JE: I didn’t notice the names of individual television writers back then, although all those shows certainly influenced me.  My mother introduced me to the books of Jane Austen, which I love.  Austen had that wonderful observational sense of humor rooted in character.  I’d love to think that influenced me. 

But I’m most strongly affected by the writers I’ve worked with and for.  So much of this job is about seamlessly emulating the "voice" of the show’s creator, that I’ve spent years mastering how to write like Joss Whedon and Ron Moore.

There are worse influences to have!
 
CMix: How did you first break into the business? Was there someone who gave you your first break?

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Interview: Greg Weisman Talks ‘Gargoyles’

Interview: Greg Weisman Talks ‘Gargoyles’

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

When I was younger, there was a Disney cartoon that my friends and I loved and which impressed our parents with its maturity and layered story-telling. The series was called Gargoyles, and it told the story of a clan of warrior creatures from 10th Century Scotland who are brought to modern-day New York City via magical manipulation. Led by the noble gargoyle Goliath, the creatures find themselves to be strangers in a strange land, forced to hide while trying to find their new place in the 20th century. Soon enough, they wind up becoming superheroes, protecting the same humans who either fear them or don’t believe they exist.

Although the series lasted only two seasons (followed by the short-lived Goliath Chronicles series, which is considered apocryphal), its fan base remains extremely loyal — so much so, in fact, that a convention for Gargoyles fans, called the Gathering of the Gargoyles, has been held each year for more than a decade now. In recent years, we’ve seen much of the television series finally released on DVD, and Slave Labor Graphics has begun publishing an ongoing Gargoyles comic book series and spin-off miniseries, Bad Guys, headed up by series creator Greg Weisman and picking up where season 2 left off.

I spoke with Weisman (who also serves as story editor for the new Spectacular Spider-Man animated series) during the most recent Gathering of the Gargoyles event, and we chatted about the clan of winged Scottish warriors that he created so long ago and what the future holds for them. 

COMICMIX: So, we’re at the 12th annual Gathering of the Gargoyles convention. You have the new comic book series from SLG and the Bad Guys spin-off coming out now. You’re even talking about future spin-offs. All of this says there’s a decent fan base. So what’s happening that we still only have the first 26 episodes of season 2 on DVD?

GREG WEISMAN: Well, there’s a lot of turnover at Buena Vista Home Entertainment. You’ll have people there who are interested in the project and then you’ll have new people come in who aren’t so much. The ugly truth of it is that Season One sold very well, and the Season Two, Vol. 1 DVD did not sell so well. Even if, ultimately, it sold as well as the first season, we sort of lost Disney’s attention. So we need to get their attention all over again, and the best way to do that is by making sure that we continue to sell the DVDs that exist, show them that the comics are selling well. Gargoyles is SLG’s best-selling comic.

(more…)

New York Times Profiles Comics Art Collectors

  • News
  • June 30, 2008

Comics have long been a haven for collectors, that niche of consumers who’ll drop six figures on an old Disney issue or a near-mint of a Golden Age superhero.

As comics are becoming less of a disposable form of entertainment, the issues are increasingly common. So individual issues are no longer a hot commodity.

I don’t see it as a new trend, but The New York Times saw fit to devote a lengthy story to the new target of comics collectors — original artwork. The article mentions how originals were once used to sop up ink stains, but they’ve gradually become more and more valuable, to the point that they’re now selling for inordinately high prices.

Collectors of original comic-book art sound like a subculture within a subculture, and that’s fine with many aficionados. “There was a thrill in finding something nerdier than collecting comics,” said David Mandel, 37, an executive producer of the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” who first bought original art during a visit to the San Diego Comic-Con in 1995.

Mr. Mandel has pieces that would make many fans drool, like the cover, by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum, of Giant-Size X-Men from 1975, which trumpeted Wolverine, Storm and others as the new incarnation of the mutant team, and the 1982 cover of Daredevil No. 181, by Frank Miller, depicting the death of Elektra, the title hero’s girlfriend.

His collection also includes the last four pages from “The Killing Joke,” a seminal 1988 story that helped usher in a new level of maturity for comic books. That Batman tale chronicles a possible origin for the hero’s nemesis, and was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. In November the last page of the story became available at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. Mr. Mandel landed it for just over $31,000.

It would’ve been nice if the reporter had talked to Scott Dunbier, currently an IDW editor and formerly one of the better known art dealers. If you want to hear some great stories about buying and selling comics art, I highly recommend Scott’s blog.

‘Wanted’ to Hit $50 Million Opening Weekend

‘Wanted’ to Hit $50 Million Opening Weekend

  • News
  • June 29, 2008

According to Variety, Wanted, the feature film released Friday that is based on the Mark Millar and J.G Jones graphic novel of the same name, is going to have a pretty good opening weekend. In spite of some less-than-stellar reviews, including one from our very own Matt Raub, the film seems poised to be a hit and according to the trade, should take in just over $50 Million at the weekend box office — earning it the number two spot behind Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E.

As this is Wizard World Chicago weekend and Top Cow, the publisher of the original Wanted graphic novel, is at the show, I decided to check in on them and bring their VP of Marketing, Mel Caylo, the good news about the film’s perfomance and get his reaction.

COMIC MIX: Hey Mel, I just heard that Wanted may do over $50 million this weekend at the box office. How do you feel about that?

MEL CAYLO: Really? Where did you hear that? If its true, we’re obviously thrilled.

CMix: Variety is projecting it. Wanted will be number two behind Wall-E.

MC: Well, that’s great. And I think we’re on fewer screens, too, so that’s great.

CMix: Those are pretty good numbers. What do you think is responsible for them?

MC: Well, Universal did some really great marketing for the film so that’s a big part of it. They really pushed it hard and got the word out beyond those people that just knew the comic.

And, of course, Angelena Jolie is a big draw. Also, some of it comes from the comic as well, of course. And, the director Timur Bekmambetov did a great job.

CMix: Where you a fan of the director’s other films?

MC: Yeah, I really liked Nightwatch. I thought it was great.

CMix: So, if the film continues to do this well, should we expect a sequel?

MC: It’s too early to say, but I would think if it becomes a huge success than a sequel could happen.

CMix: Can you tell us if any of the creative team has signed up for multiple films?

MC: Not really. I did read that the writers of the film had signed up for a sequel but I can’t comment on that. Or, on who else might have signed up.

CMix: So, some people have signed up but not others?

MC: Again, I can’t really say for sure but obviously, some people wouldn’t be back because they didn’t make it through the film.

CMix: I’m just going to guess and say that probably James McAvoy would be coming back?

MC: I can’t confirm that at all but if there was a sequel, that would make sense.

CMix: Okay, Mel, I won’t put you on the spot any more. Thanks and congratulations.

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