Tagged: Indiana Jones

WWC Interview: John Jackson Miller on ‘Star Wars’ and Webcomics

WWC Interview: John Jackson Miller on ‘Star Wars’ and Webcomics

Writer and comics authority John Jackson Miller probably has one of the most enviable jobs in comics today. Starting off in the early ’90s as editor of Comics Retailer magazine, Miller went on to edit various other publications including Scrye and the Comics Buyer’s Guide. Later, stints on Marvel’s Crimson Dynamo and Iron Man led to his working for Dark Horse comics.

Once at Dark Horse, Miller helped re-launch the company’s Star Wars comics with his work on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Recently, he also wrote the comic book adaptation of the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull film and launched his own webcomic called Sword & Sarcasm. I caught up with Miller at Wizard World Chicago to discuss Star Wars comics, webcomics and the first time he ever saw Star Wars.

COMICMIX: John, thanks for your time. Having a good show?

JOHN JACKSON MILLER: Yes, a wonderful Chicago con as always.

CMix: So, tell me about why you’re here?

JJM: Well, I’m here to sign and talk about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, our ongoing series now at issue 30 and still going strong. It’s a big year for us because we had the "Vector" crossover. We’ve also had some major events with Zayne Carrick, our figitive Jedi who’s finally getting his taste of justice with a big showdown about to come up.

Those big events will take us through issue 33 at least. It should be pretty interesting what happens.

It may not be the big showdown that people expect because we also want to make sure we keep people guessing a bit and not always do what people might be expecting. We don’t want readers to get too comfortable with what’s going on and we want to keep it interesting.

CMix: Excellent. You also involved with Wizards of the Coast on some projects as well, right?

JJM: Yes. They are coming out with a series of minatures for the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic board game. I helped design some of those characters because several of them are from the comic. I was also a co-author of the Campaign Guide for the game as well, which contains information from all the comics and the two videogames.

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Indiana Jones and the Godless Commies, by Dennis O’Neil

Indiana Jones and the Godless Commies, by Dennis O’Neil

Now we know. That Indiana Jones still swings a mean whip.

I liked the new Indy flick better than the critics I read, all of whom said something like, well, okay, it was all right but not up to the earlier entries in the series. Which makes me wonder: what would they have thought if this had been the first Indy flick, instead of the fourth. It’s like those clichés in Hamlet – they weren’t clichés to the greasy-chinned groundlings at the first (or fourteenth, or eighty-third) performance of Shakespeare’s story of a screwed-up kid with severe mama issues. Way back in 1981, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and a platoon of talented collaborators took elements from Saturday afternoon serials, silent comedies and maybe a few other sources and combined them in the right proportions to create entertainment that was not only right for the time, but provided a template for a lot of entertainment that followed.

Was the fourth as good as the first (or second, or third?)? That’s me, scratching my head and muttering, I dunno…And, frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.

Years and years ago, a brilliant science fiction writer told me that Goethe’s criterion for judging art was found in two questions. To wit: What was the artist trying to do and did he succeed in doing it? I’ve never found a good reason to argue with Herr Goethe and by his criteria; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a success. We entered the multiplex hoping to be amused, hoping to forget Bush’s ongoing follies and the Democrat’s internecine dogfights and – voila! We were amused and we, temporarily, forgot. Value received. Money well spent.

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Indiana Jones and the Secret to Adventure, by John Ostrander

Indiana Jones and the Secret to Adventure, by John Ostrander

Spoiler warning: Spoilers. Why did it have to be spoilers?! I hate spoilers. Hate ‘em! Unfortunately, I can’t talk about what I want to talk about regarding the latest Indiana Jones flick unless I spill some beams. So I’m warning you upfront. The spoilers won’t appear until after the break and I’ll give you a final warning before I go into them. If you want to just skip the column this week, I’ll understand… this week. Don’t make a habit of it. I know where I live.

Wait. That didn’t come off right.

Okay, I’ve gotten out the fedora and went off to see the new Indiana Jones flick, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. As much as I’m a Star Wars fan (and I’d better be – I’ve been writing Star Wars for about eight years now and you can see what I’m doing in Star Wars: Legacy and, yes, that’s a plug), I’m a bigger goon for Dr. Jones. Even before Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, I was a fan because George Lucas talked in interviews about how his new movie originated in his and Steven Spielberg’s love for the old Saturday Matinee Serials. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I loved ‘em, too. Still do.

Saturday Matinee Serials are also known as “chapter plays” and originally were shown in movie theaters on Saturdays as a way of getting the kids to come back, week after week. They would last 12 to 15 chapters and each one would end with a cliffhanger for the hero or heroine with no way out. Of course, when the next chapter appeared, they showed you the segment that they hadn’t previously shown you which allowed said hero/heroine to escape just in the nick of time. The serials date back from the dawn of cinema to the early 50s when they fell prey to the confangled new invention that was to blight/enrich all out lives, television.

And it was there that I discovered the Saturday Serial. The old serials were re-packaged for Saturday Morning TV kid’s fare and, like the old matinees, were part of a package. It was here that I discovered these often cheesy pleasures. I remember Tim Tyler’s Luck – a 1937 Universal jungle adventure adapted from the comic strip of the same name. The strip petered out only in 1996. I also remember Don Winslow of the navy, also based on a comic strip of the time. In fact, it’s amazing how many of the comic strips and books of the time were adapted into serials – Dick Tracy, Superman, Batman, the Shadow (yeah, he had a comics strip), Spy Smasher, and an excellent version of Captain Marvel, among others.

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ComicMix Radio: The Bat Chase Is On

ComicMix Radio: The Bat Chase Is On

Secret Invasion move over – last week DC premiered the first issue in the "Batman R.I.P." story arc and it blew out of stores in just 24 hours. So what’s next?

And better yet, what’s in the comic shops this week? We cover that, plus:

— Battlestar:Galactica movies? It might happen!

— Are you ready for 34 hours of Doctor Who?

— We take a moment to remember comic book retailer Rory Root, who passed away yesterday.

And we are Indiana Jones-spoiler free! Don’t believe us, just press the button!

 

 

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

 

ComicMix Radio: Shake-Ups On TV – We Need A Hero!

ComicMix Radio: Shake-Ups On TV – We Need A Hero!

The fall lineups for the major networks continue to be revealed and you may  not be happy at where a few of our favorites landed. To ease the pain, we poke Heroes‘ star Milo Ventimigila to find out what he picked up at his local comic shop, plus:

— Iron Man buzz hits the comic racks with two sellouts

— You can see Indiana Jones early – if you fly to Cannes

— BSG‘s Number Six meets Spidey!

Stop looking at the goofy TV stars and press the button!

 

 

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

‘The Incredible Hulk’ Smashes Other Movie Standees

‘The Incredible Hulk’ Smashes Other Movie Standees

Theater lobbies littered with cardboard standees promoting Indiana Jones, Dark Knight, Hellboy II and other movies may be a familiar sight these days, but to paraphrase the Hulk, they’re just "puny banners!"

Selected theaters across the country recently received life-size maquettes to promote the release of The Incredible Hulk on June 13. And when we say "life-size," we mean it! 

Measuring over 8-feet tall and as wide as a truck, simply standing next to one of the maquettes is enough to understand why that anonymous soldier in the classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby origin issue called him a "hulking monster."

You have to wonder which movie theater employee gets to take this home.

The Real Hero, by Dennis O’Neil

The Real Hero, by Dennis O’Neil

Deju vu all over again? Why, sure.

About 19 years ago, I was being pulled into the summer movie/blockbuster season anticipating two of the myriad entertainments soon to be playing at a theater near me. One was Tim Burton’s second Batman flick, with Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman and Danny Devito as a particularly nasty Penguin. Oh, and Michael Keaton in his final appearance as the Caped Crusader. (Back then, although he was not a barrel of laughs, he may have been just an eensy-bitsy too cheerful to qualify as a Dark Knight.) Batman was soaking up most of my professional life – I was editing the comic books – and I was writing a comics version of the screenplay, and so I had a distant, tenuous but real interest in the movie. And anyone who’s ever been involved with a Major Motion Picture knows that there is an excitement to such projects that ripples outward to touch even us at their distant edges. (Which may be why working in movies seems to be, for many, so addictive.) In sum: yeah, I was awaiting the Batman flick with more than idle curiosity.

But what I was really waiting for was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Batman was my job; Indy was my hero. I may have been associating him with an earlier hero, Mr. Paladin, who was the central character in a once-popular, 30-minute TV western called Have Gun, Will Travel. What No-First-Name Paladin and Indiana Jones had in common, besides impressive looks and charisma, and the ability to look good riding a horse, a powerful sense of right and wrong, and great prowess in combat with either fists or weapons, was this: They were smart. More – they were readers! And more – they were even intellectuals!

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‘Ctrl-Alt-Del’ Webcomic Goes ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’

‘Ctrl-Alt-Del’ Webcomic Goes ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’

  • News
  • March 31, 2008

Ctrl+Alt+Del webcomic creator Tim Buckley recently dropped two pieces of news of interest to readers on his website.

The first is that Season Two of the Ctrl+Alt+Del Animated Series begins today. Like the property it was based on, animated CAD will premiere online first. Fans can buy individual episodes, the first of which will cost an introductory $0.99, or they can subscribe for the entire season in advance. This gives you access to the entirety of Season One, Season Two episodes as they become available and a discount on the DVDs. Subscribers get the whole package for $24.95 if they sign up today.

The second piece of news concerns the webcomic. Buckley admits that he was a fan of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series growing up. Before the webcomic gets too tied up with a wedding/pregnancy storyline, he wants to experiment with "Ethan MacManus: Space Archaeologist," a storyline where the CAD characters are reimagined in a cross between Star Wars and Indiana Jones. But here’s the best part: readers will be able to vote on the choices the pop-culture obsessed Ethan must make.

So if it’s not funny, you only have yourself to blame.

Paramount Announces New ‘Indiana Jones’ DVDs

Paramount Announces New ‘Indiana Jones’ DVDs

  • News
  • March 10, 2008

Even though Paramount already released a superb DVD box set of the Indiana Jones Trilogy back in 2003, they’re doing it again. This time around, the new DVD releases of the classic trilogy will be available individually instead of as an exclusive box-set like before and will be released on May 13th — just in time to whet your appetite for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull‘s opening on May 25th.

These "Special Edition" DVDs, as they are being called, boast new features and exclusives not found in the earlier box-set releases. According to Paramount, some of these features and exclusives include interviews, discussions and new documentaries about the making of the three films that give audiences a new insight and appreciation for these classic films.

Examples include:

 
Indiana Jones: An Appreciation– The cast and crew of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull pay tribute to the original trilogy
 
The Melting Face–A recreation of the amazing physical effect of the villain’s melting face in Raiders of the Lost Ark, including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas commenting on the evolution of visual effects and CGI
 
Locations–Travel across the world to discover where the films take place and where they were shot
 
Friends and Enemies–Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Indiana Jones writers discuss how they created the most iconic characters in film history, including a look at new faces in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
 
The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute–The three Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) reunite for a discussion
 
Interesting note: There’s been no word yet on whether these new Indiana Jones DVDs will get the Blu-Ray treatment. They’ve already been shown in HD on the HDNet Movies network, so why not release them in Blu-Ray now that the "format war" is over?
 
For a complete list of all the special features and other details about each of the three new DVDs, check out the official Indiana Jones site.
ComicMix Radio: Stan Sez Make Mine Manga!

ComicMix Radio: Stan Sez Make Mine Manga!

It looks like Stan Lee’s next collaboration in comics will be one with a Far East flavor – we’ve got the story, plus

— Jonathan Hickman’s Pax Romana is now free and online

— Family Guy spins off Cleveland

— The folks at Cannes will see Indiana Jones first

— And yes,  a brand new trivia question and another chance to grab an exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

Excelsior – Press The Button!

 

 

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

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