Tagged: fan

JOHN OSTRANDER: Pros and Cons

JOHN OSTRANDER: Pros and Cons

  • News
  • August 2, 2007

Well, seeing as last weekend was Spam Diego, I suppose it’s time to do my Convention wrap-up.

Not that I was at SD. Not this year. But I’ve been to quite a few over the years. In fact, I’ve been at any number of comic conventions, both as a fan and as a professional. Actually, always as a fan and, for the past 25 years, as a professional as well. But something can happen and I can turn back into a drooly mouthed fan boy at a moment’s notice. Some cases in point:

During my early years in the biz, my sometimes partner in crime and often evil twin Timothy Truman and I were at a Con together. Will Eisner was in attendance and neither Tim nor I could summon up the nerve to go say hello to him. We finally got on the courtesy bus taking us from the hotel out to the airport as said convention ended and the only other passenger was – Will Eisner. So he strikes up a conversation with us and we had a really great trip out to the airport. Will got off the shuttle first and Tim and I looked at each other and decided we were such idiots because we could have spent the entire weekend with him.

I think I’ve told the story elsewhere how at a Chicago Con I had to get Julie Schwartz (who I already knew and was a legend himself) to get me to introduce me to Jack Kirby because I was completely and utterly incapable of doing it myself because this was the goddam KING of comics, goddamit!

Likewise, at a San Diego Con, I had to get Murphy Anderson (another legend who I already knew) to introduce me to John Broome, the legendary writer. Mr. Broome, on being introduced, gives me the eye, looks me up and down and said, with mock severity, “Ah, the competition, eh?” No, Mr. Broome, I’d have to be in your league first.

Yes, there are others who can make me like that and, no, I’m NOT telling you who they are.

I’ve also met any number of friends at conventions. I think Michael Davis has talked about our first meeting; I know he wound up in the suite with Mike Grell and myself (and a few others) as Iron Mike watched the first episode of the Jon Sable, Freelance TV series that wound up being on for about two minutes one season. The TV show hasn’t lasted but I’m glad to say that my relationship with Michael has.

Another friend met at a Con was Aussie writer, Dave DeVries, who we designated “that mad Australian” as a result of that weekend. We keep in touch still and he’s a good mate. Dave’s also been a pal and a bane to Brother Grell and has one of the best bar stories about him I’ve ever heard. Dave, if you see this, get on the comment line and tell it. Or maybe we can get Grell to do it.

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SDCC Day 3 on The Big ComicMix Broadcast

SDCC Day 3 on The Big ComicMix Broadcast

Day Three at San Diego Comic-Con 2007 was a record breaker even before the sun went up … and The Big ComicMix Broadcast is on the case, talking to new friends, seeking our a famous face or two and taking our place in the fan packed premiere of Superman: Doomsday. We talk to producer Bruce Timm about DC’s DVD future, and then we go girl watching with a guy from Kill Bill. Just a typical day in San Diego…

Blonde or Brunette? Decide and Press The Button

The Unseen Shadow!

The Unseen Shadow!

  • News
  • June 29, 2007

The Shadow, everybody’s favorite seminal pulp crime-fighter, has been getting a lot of play here at ComicMix – largely in anticipation of volume nine of Anthony Tollin’s series of Shadow reprints to be released in about three weeks. In case you missed the story and are short on time, this volume reveals in detail how the first Batman story was a point-by-point rip-off of a previously published Shadow saga.

So, on the lighter side, today we offer two alternate views of crime’s nocturnal nightmare. The black-and-white piece is by long-time fan and historian Russ Maheras and poses the question "What if The Shadow had been a 1960s Mort Weisinger comic?" This isn’t quite as odd as it might seem: Weisinger, of course, was the classic Superman comics editor of the 1950s and 1960s (and story editor of the original teevee series), and Superman creator Jerry Siegel wrote The Shadow comics for Archie during this period. Russ captured the style of Mort’s books to a tee.

The color piece, by Dial B For Burbank’s Robby Reed, suggests the cover design of a 1960s Shadow Annual as if Street and Smith published it in the style of DC Comics’ 80-Page Giants. Dial B For Burbank is one of the most innovative pulp-and-serial sites I’ve seen, and we appreciate his allowing us to share an  advance look at the art.

The Shadow is copyright Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc., Condé Nast Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. They know what evil lurks in the hearts of fans!

Thanks to Russ and KK for the swell stuff!

Manga Nobels established

Manga Nobels established

Anime News Network reports, "In a press conference following a meeting of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s cabinet on Tuesday morning, Japanese Foreign Minister Tarō Asō announced the creation of an ‘International Manga Award’ for manga artists and creators from outside Japan."

Asō, known for being an outspoken manga fan, said "I want to make the award like the Nobel Prize of manga, to enhance the voice of Japanese pop culture and subculture." Asō will lead the task force which will establish the award, funding for which will come from the Japan Foundation, Japan’s endowment to support international relations.

Candidates for the prize will come from general applications and recommendations by publishers in Japan and overseas. Slice of SciFi reports, "June 22 will be the day the Award Committee, comprised of manga artists and publishers, releases their list of final nominees for the award. Japan’s governmental body of ministers will pick the winner and three runner-ups on July 2, 2007."

The Rock comes to Shazam?

The Rock comes to Shazam?

Director Peter Segal is in discussions with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson about playing the lead – the original Captain Marvel (a.k.a. The Big Red Cheese) in the forthcoming Shazam! movie.

The Rock, the WWE wrestling star who has impressed many critics and movie-goers in such films as The Scorpion King, The Mummy Returns and Gridiron Gang (even if some of those movies themselves did not), is awaiting John August’s screenplay before he makes a final decision.

Johnson told ComingSoon.net Marvel’s famous red-and-yellow costume might be updated, although "Pete also understands the importance of getting that right; he’s a big comic-book fan."

Until then, Rock fans (well, "The Rock" fans) can await his performance as Agent 23 in the upcoming Get Smart movie.

August’s screenwriting credits include Corpse Bride, Charlies and the Chocolate Factory, and Titan A.E.

For the Birds

For the Birds

  • News
  • April 7, 2007

Sean McKeever notes, regarding his takeover of writing chores on DC ‘s popular Birds of Prey series with the departure of long-time writer and fan favorite Gail Simone: "My first issue will be #112, and the commitment is open-ended."  He also links to his latest interview with Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers.  For her part, Simone says she’s leaving the book because "I was simply offered a project I couldn’t turn down. A dream book with a dream art team, and a real chance to reshape comics’ history."  Let the speculation commence!

(Full disclosure: My husband inked Birds of Prey for about a year.)

DENNIS O’NEIL: Who knows what evil lurks…? Part 1

DENNIS O’NEIL: Who knows what evil lurks…? Part 1

  • News
  • April 3, 2007

Meet Anthony Tollin.

I did, more than 30 years ago, at DC Comics. Anthony was tall, friendly, didn’t look like a New Yorker, and wasn’t. He came to Manhattan from Minneapolis in 1973, worked a couple of jobs, and then landed at DC, where he stayed for 20 years, proofreading, color-coordinating, helping Jack Adler manage the production department – necessary chores, done well away from the spotlight, that transform the raw materials of artwork and script into a printed artifact. Along the way, Anthony got married, and divorced, moved to another state, and when he retired from DC, settled in Texas, where he lives and single-parents his lovely and gifted daughter, Katrina.

If you talked to Anthony much, you soon discovered that he had a number of pop cultch enthusiasms, not the least of which was comic books. But his real passions – I don’t think the word is too strong – were always The Shadow novels, mostly written by Walter Gibson under the pseudonym Maxwell Grant and published in the 30s and 40s in the pulp magazine format, and old radio shows, particularly the crime and adventure programs that were the first cousins of the pulps and comics. If ever I had a question about either of these subjects, Mr. Tollin was always my first go-to guy. I never needed a second.

Those passions are still part of the Tollin gestalt, and now he’s found a new way to both share and make a living from at least one of them. Since July, a company Anthony started has, in partnership with something called Nostalgia Ventures, been issuing reprints of The Shadow books. The price is $12.95, quite modest considering that in one volume you get two novels and reprints of the original illustrations, a feature that’s both unusual and, I think, a real value-adder. The book that’s on the desk next to my computer would certainly be mistaken for one of the old pulps – same size, same kind of cover and font – until you picked it up and found that, in fact, both the cover stock and the interior stock are considerably better than anything that bore the original work. Inside, there are the novels, plus a couple of pieces by Will Murray, another expert and go-to guy, and an adaption of a Shadow radio show.

And as a comics fan you should care… why?

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Creators are fans too

Creators are fans too

  • News
  • March 20, 2007

By and large comics aren’t the best-paying gig around for writers and artists, so people who make a living telling comic book stories are primarily doing it for the love of the medium.  There’s far less of a dividing line between fan and pro than there is in other entertainment media — in comics it’s always been more of a continuum.

And thus we have some nifty posts by professionals talking about the comics they love.

Colleen Doran discusses the new Legion of Super-Heroes cartoon and, erm, a missing element.  Becky Cloonan talks about her love/hate relationship with an old X-Men story as a way of reminding us that "Comics is a teeny TEEENY tiny industry. Anything you say (especially on the Internet) will get back to you."  And Chris Weston presents his sugestions of five artists whom he thinks would be perfect for Judge Dredd, and illustrates why.

Advice from the pros

Advice from the pros

  • News
  • March 18, 2007

Not only are "the internets" a great place to find news (for instance, both CBR and Blog@Newsarama have the WizWorld LA scoops more than covered from the fan view, and Marv Wolfman from the pro view), but they’re invaluable as information tools if you know where to look.  One of the best places to read about life as a comic book professional is from the folks living it, who often have valuable words of wisdom to pass along to aspiring writers and artists.

Becky Cloonan talks about the world of Original English Language (OEL) graphic novels from manga companies, and compares how they’re put together here as opposed to the Japanese method.  A must-read for any artist planning on drawing that kind of a workload.

Stephanie McMillan examines how her own work is shifting from strictly editorial cartooning to a more strip-based focus, and how she tries to inject a more activist stance through the ideas she conveys with her writing and art.

And Colleen Doran conveys a couple of great cautionary tales about money — how little most professional writers really make, and the tendency so many creative people have toward throwing their money into get-rich-quick schemes.

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