Tagged: Neil Gaiman

Weekend Window-Closing Wrap-up

Weekend Window-Closing Wrap-up

A bunch of things that have been open on my browser, but may not deserve a full post of their own…

  • I have no idea where this Power Girl image came from, but I’m thinking that there’s a fan film out there that I don’t know about. Can anybody help me out?
  • Digital drawing tutorials in a Lackadaisical style.
  • Bobby Crosby says it really wasn’t an April Fool’s joke: Last Blood, a story about vampires protecting the last humans on Earth from zombies, is being adapted for the screen.
  • Finally, you can scan your comics without cracking the spine! As somebody who occasionally has to do this when we don’t have the original film to reproduce from, this is a godsend. Now if only somebody had a cheap tabloid scanner for the Mac…
  • Neil Gaiman gets around– here’s an article by Yvette Tan about meeting him in a Phillipine magazine.
  • The ten sexiest cartoon women…? Uh, not quite. No animated Zatanna? (Might be NSFW, depending on your workplace.)
  • Ian Gibson! (For you young ones in the audience, he did Secret Invasion 20 years ago for DC.)
  • One of these panelists is not like the others… one’s wearing a hat.
  • Dan Grauman?
  • And finally, the comic movie premiere we were all waiting for this weekend– Super Ninja Bikini Babes! …what, there was another comic book movie premiering this weekend?
Poll: Choose the Free Online Neil Gaiman Novel

Poll: Choose the Free Online Neil Gaiman Novel

This weekend we told you about the 7th Anniversary of Neil Gaiman’s blog, and it looks like the Sandman author has more to announce than his website’s birthday.

Publisher Harper Collins has given Gaiman the go-ahead to post one of his novels online, at no charge, on his site. Now, the question is: Which novel?

In order to make the decision, Gaiman has posted a poll to choose which Neil Gaiman novel goes online.

What I want you to do is think — not about which of the books below is your favourite, but if you were giving one away to a friend who had never read anything of mine, what would it be? Where would you want them to start?

The poll is only up for a week, so treat it like you would the ’08 presidential election: Vote early and vote often.

 

(via boingboing)

 

Guillermo Del Toro to Direct ‘Dr. Strange’?

Guillermo Del Toro to Direct ‘Dr. Strange’?

With Hellboy behind him and the upcoming Hellboy 2 on the way, director Guillermo Del Toro is mulling over another comics-related project that could be one of his next films — that is if he doesn’t take on The Hobbit or At the Mountain of Madness first. According to Empire News, he is seriously considering bringing the Sorcerer Supreme, Dr. Strange, to the big screen.

Not only is Del Toro’s interest potentially great news for Dr. Strange fans, but there’s more: Del Toro has also been talking to one of the comics world’s most successful creators about taking on the film’s writing duties. Who, you may wonder? None other than Neil Gaiman. According to Del Toro:

"I talked with Neil Gaiman [about writing it]. I said, that’s an interesting character because you can definitely make him more in the pulpy occult detective/magician mould and formula than was done in the Weird Tales, for example…the idea of a character that really dabbles in the occult in a way that’s not X-Filey, where the supernatural is taken for granted. That’s interesting…But I wouldn’t use the suit!"

So, that’s a Dr. Strange movie directed by Gueilerrmo Del Toro and written by Neil Gaiman? Is it just me or does that sound like a pretty fantastic collaboration that could yield a teriffic film?

 

Norman Mailer, Neil Gaiman Fanboy

Norman Mailer, Neil Gaiman Fanboy

Norman Mailer died this morning, age 84, at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. You can scour the news to read about his importance to literature in the Twentieth Century, from his ground-breaking novels to founding the Village Voice. But did you know he also helped change comics?

One night, we had a dinner party for the express purpose of introducing Mailer to Neil Gaiman. Neil, as was his habit, was so charming that Norman wanted to read Sandman. He liked the series enough to provide a cover blurb for the next trade paperback collection. Neil later reported that bookstore buyers told him that the Mailer quote persuaded them to stock graphic novels. And the rest, as they say, is history. Ancient Evenings is an awesome book. Start there.

In Search of Jonathan Ross

In Search of Jonathan Ross

Bummed out because Jonathan Ross’ BBC4 documentary In Search of Steve Ditko isn’t being shown in the US?  God bless the internets, we say.  Here’s part one:

YouTube has it up in seven parts; here are sections two, three, four, five, six and seven.  The documentary also features Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Stan Lee, and a veddy English sensibility throughout; enjoy!

 

 

Smell like Neil Gaiman?

Smell like Neil Gaiman?

With the opening of Stardust just days away, there’s never been a better time to exploit Neil Gaiman for a good cause.  According to a press release, Black Phoenix Alchemy lab will release five fragrances "inspired by Stardust" including  ‘Fairy Market" and "The Witch Queen."   Good Omens, while not a movie at this time, is a very funny book Neil wrote with Terry Pratchett, and the inspiration for scents titled "Crowley" and "Aziraphale."

Proceeds will be split between the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a charity with which Neil has long been associated, and the Orangutan Foundation UK, which preserves habitats and research for orangutans.

Here’s the best paragraph of the release:

"The collaboration between artistic visionaries is always an exciting and thought-provoking endeavor. Rarely, if ever, though, have modern literary characters been so lovingly and accurately interpreted by a skilled perfumer. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab’s interpretations of Gaiman’s colorful and thoroughly unique characters are, like the characters themselves, creative masterpieces and not to be missed."

Obviously, this will work out best for orangutans arrested for obscenity.

(more…)

McFarlane Toys doing action figures for Gaiman movie?

McFarlane Toys doing action figures for Gaiman movie?

You gotta be kidding me:

"Seems that McFarlane Toys has the license to do toys based on the upcoming Beowulf movie. Y’know, the one co-written by Neil Gaiman. Who’s involved in litigation to get Todd McFarlane to pay the court ordered damages for ripping off his creations and the like (don’t even ask about Miracleman). Which McFarlane avoided by declaring bankruptcy, but still operating various other companies."

Mixing our mythological metaphors for a moment, I have to wonder if this is a Trojan horse so that Neil’s lawyer can get a very close look at McFarlane’s books…

Interviews and Interrogations

Interviews and Interrogations

The Washington Post profiles Hate! cartoonist Peter Bagge, focusing on his current work for the magazine Reason.

Comic Book Resources infiltrated a Comic-Con panel with Matt Wagner talking about 25 years of Grendel – and they report back what they learned.

Wizard interviews Mouse Guard creator David Petersen.

Heidi MacDonald video-interviews Scott McCloud, creator of Making Comics (and, of course, Zot!).

The Orange County Register talks to Kevin J. Anderson about Slan Hunter, the novel he completed from A.E. Van Vogt’s outline and incomplete draft.

Forbes quotes from a USA Today interview with J.K. Rowling, in which she mentions that she’s already working on two non-fantasy projects – one for children and one for adults.

(more…)

Overheard at San Diego, part 2

Overheard at San Diego, part 2

Waiting for a trolley: "I’m so glad, I just found out that Lucy Lawless is going to be here on Sunday. I hope I get to show her my tattoo!" And in case she doesn’t get a chance, everybody else can see it here.

Neil Gaiman, at the Paramount preview panel: "I’m growing vats of people like you all around the world. Eventually we’ll put a bunch of you in a room with knives, and whoever emerges alive will be the winner and can make the Sandman movie."

On Market Street: "IDT buying IDW? Aren’t they supposed to buy a company called IDU first?"

Marvel Studios has both Doctor Strange and Ant-Man in development as live action movies, along with gosh-darn near everything else in the catalog. The good Doctor, of course, will make his live action D2DVD debut in a few weeks. And, according to a source, a new slate of animated D2DVDs is in the works.

Contributors to today’s column: Adriane Nash, Matt Raub, Mike Gold

Gaiman’s Beowolf in IMAX 3D

Gaiman’s Beowolf in IMAX 3D

Beowolf, the new film directed by Robert Zemeckis with a scrpt by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, is set to hit screens November 16.  Filmed in a computer-animation style similar to The Polar Express, there will also be an IMAX 3D version that will debut at the same time. 

The voice-actors for the film include Crispin Glover (my density!), John Malcovich, Robin Wright Penn, Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone and Anthony Hopkins, among others. 

"IMAX 3D has enabled us to tell stories in a whole new way, and we are very excited to offer moviegoers a chance to experience Beowulf in this incredible format," said Robert Zemeckis in a company pres releasae. "IMAX lends itself to the incredible image detail in Beowulf and in 3D, it will transport the audience directly into the story."