Tagged: Superman

Movie Auction sets record

Movie Auction sets record

  • News
  • April 6, 2007

The auction we told you last Friday (http://www.comicmix.com//news/2007/03/30/to-do-april-5-buy-superman-oz-props/) is over,and sold more than $2 million in props.  Among the highlights of interest to ComicMix:

— SOLD $ 31,625.00  Lot 376.  Original car from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland.

— SOLD $ 34,500.00  Lot 384.  Illuminating model of the Nautilus submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

— SOLD $ 23,000.00  Lot 413.  Hero costume w/rocket pack from The Rocketeer.

— SOLD $ 31,625.00  Lot 525.  Yvonne Blake costume sketch of Superman from Superman: The Movie.

— SOLD $115,000.00  Lot 537.  Christopher Reeve hero ‘Superman’ costume from Superman:  The Movie.

— SOLD $ 26,560.00  Lot 545.  Screen-used Kryptonite crystal from   Superman III.

— SOLD $ 63,250.00  Lot 560.  Val Kilmer ‘Batman’ costume from Batman Forever.

— SOLD $ 48,875.00  Lot 561.  Alicia Silverstone ‘Batgirl’ costume from  the Ice Cave battle in Batman Forever.

— SOLD $ 40,250.00  Lot 566.  Wolverine hero claws worn by Hugh Jackman in X2: X-Men United.

— SOLD $ 34,500.00  Lot 591.  Early Leonard Nimoy "Spock" tunic from the first season of Star Trek.

— SOLD $126,500.00  Lot 631.  H.R. Giger Alien creature suit on display from Alien.

— SOLD $ 40,250.00  Lot 640.  Jedi Master stunt fighting lightsaber from SW: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

— SOLD $ 69,000.00  Lot 641.  Golden headpiece of "Staff of Ra" from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

MARTHA THOMASES: Why I love the Legion

MARTHA THOMASES: Why I love the Legion

  • News
  • April 6, 2007

It was in early 1980 when I realized what I geek I had turned into. The night before, I had a dream. My dream was not the inspirational kind like Martin Luther King, Jr., nor the poetic kind that Neil Gaiman would later spin into a career that brings happiness to millions.

I had a geek dream.

In my dream, the Ramones tried out for the Legion of Super-Heroes, and were turned down because Legion rules didn’t allow for more than one person to have the same super-power, which, in this case, was being a Ramone. I no longer remember precisely who turned them down, but I do remember Bouncing Boy suggesting they join the Legion of Substitute Heroes. Joey wanted to, but Dee Dee refused.

Then I woke up.

I read my first Legion story in Jamestown, New York, visiting my grandparents in the late 1950s or early 1960s. I had what must have been an Adventure comic, with a story about the adult Legion of Super-Villains fighting Superman, and the adult Legion of Super-Heroes joining in. My grandparents, while lovely people, were very boring, and I dove into that comic as a way of avoiding Lawrence Welk on television. Luckily, this eight-page story had plenty to mesmerize a young girl. Cosmic King versus Cosmic Man! Lightning Lord versus Lightning Man! Saturn Queen versus Saturn Woman! The villains had regal names while the heroes had descriptive names. Clearly, ego and a class system must be what turned people bad.

Over the next several decades, I read as many Legion stories as I could. I loved the variety of powers these kids had (Matter-Eater Lad!), and that they had a meetings where they could gather and sit behind desks, with title cards that explained their abilities, in case they forgot. (“I’m Invisible Kid, but I don’t know what I do. Oh, here it says on my name-plate. I can turn invisible!”)

But mostly, I loved that they had a clubhouse.

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ROBERT GREENBERGER: Death be not proud

ROBERT GREENBERGER: Death be not proud

  • News
  • April 4, 2007

The rule of thumb used to be that the only characters that stayed dead are Uncle Ben, Bucky and Barry Allen.

Some version of Uncle Ben is running around in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man; Bucky turns out to have survived and is now the Winter Solider; and if you believe Dan DiDio’s “slip” of the tongue, Barry Allen may be here soon.

It used to be a big deal when a character died. Amazing Spider-Man #121’s cover, as Spidey faced those nearest and dearest to him with a cover blurb promising one was going to die compelled us to buy that month’s issue. It worked, sales spiked, the status quo was different and people were buzzing.

In 1985, I participated in the planning and, ahem, execution of Crisis on Infinite Earths. One of the key housecleaning elements had to be the elimination of both major and minor figures, heroes and villains, civilians and loved ones. The hit list, as seen in the Absolute edition, evolved as editors and management weighed in. Killing the Flash and Supergirl were the shockers while few cared if the Bug-Eyed Bandit survived or not. Still, these deaths were supposed to be permanent changes to the DC Universe, although few of them have remained dead 20 years later.

By the time Superman died in 1992, the freshness had long since worn off as deaths had been faked (Professor X, Foggy Nelson), undone (Jean Grey, Iris Allen), or were too minor to care (I Ching).

Since then, characters have continued to die and come back with stunning regularity. As a result, the death of a major figure has been more of a blip than a major event, making one wonder what it will take to get people really stirred up.

Much has been made of Captain America’s death and I was among those scoffing at the permanence of his condition. Less has been said about the return of their first Captain Marvel, plucked out of the time stream before his death from cancer (as wonderfully told in a Jim Starlin graphic novel), an altogether new kind of cheat.

Marvel isn’t the only company wheeling and dealing with the Grim Reaper.

(more…)

Marvel to Launch 365

Marvel to Launch 365

  • News
  • April 1, 2007

Saying, "Anything DC can do, we can do better," Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada today announced plans for next summer’s big event.  "365 will be a daily comic," he said.  "Every single day, including weekends and holidays."

Like 52, the new series will have a team of writers and artists.  Twenty-eight writers, including Marvel All-Stars Ed Brubaker, Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, Chris Claremont, Tom DeFalco, Peter David, Brian Bendis, Mike Carey, Robert Kirkman, Paul Jenkins and Roy Thomas, among others.  All will follow the direction of "show runner," Andrew Helfer, who is coming on board to see that all the deadlines are met.

"We have everything in place," Quesada said.  "Andy lined up Bill Sienkiewicz and George Perez to alternate covers." 

The first issue of 365 will go on sale on a year from today.  Cover price will be $10.00 each issue.  "That’s what it took for Diamond to handle the shipping," Quesada said.

In retaliation, Dan DiDio announced that DC would launch The Hundred Years War.  "Superman, Batman,  Wonder Woman and other super-heroes get stuck in a line at the Motor Vehicles Bureau,"  he explained.  "It’s up to the rest of the DC Universe to fight  the universe-threatening evil.  Can Comet the Super-Horse and Ambush Bug save the day?  Will someone die?  Will anyone live?  You might think you don’t care, but you will."

To-Do April 5: Buy Superman, Oz Props

To-Do April 5: Buy Superman, Oz Props

  • News
  • March 30, 2007

If you have the time next Thursday and you’re in Los Angeles with a little spare change burning a hole in your pocket, you might want to stop by the Profiles in History auction house. They have a Christopher Reeve Superman costume from the first movie, a Winkie uniform from The Wizard of Oz (the Winkie’s were the guards of the Wicked Witch of the West, the ones who sing the song with words that always sounded to me like "Oreos – Oreos – Oreos – Oooh – Oh").

Other iots feature a Batman costume from the 1995 Batman Forever, an alien costume from Alien (1979) and various other Superman ephemera, including transcripts from brainstorming sessions.

In all, there are more than 700 lots.  If you’re not in LA and want to bid, you can go online at ebayliveauctions.com or profilesinhistory.com.

MICHAEL DAVIS: The Davis List

MICHAEL DAVIS: The Davis List

  • News
  • March 30, 2007

There seems to be a whole lot of people who get to tell us what they think we should see, what they think we should buy what is the best, worst, the must haves and the stay away froms. Most of these experts put out a list so that we can revel in their genius. How many lists are we subjected to? Let’s see, off the top of my head…

David Letterman’s Top Ten List, the only list I pay any attention to

The Top Ten Movie List

The Hollywood Power List

The richest people in the world list

Blackwell’s worst dress list

The Sexiest Man List (I can’t believe that I have not made that one)

Joan Rivers best / worst dress list

The New York Times Best Seller list

AFI greatest movies of all time list

Rolling Stones greatest albums ever list

These are just the ones I can think of while waiting at LAX for a flight to Chicago. There are a multitude of lists out there. Everybody has a list, every magazine, every TV news show, every critic, every commentator, every Tom, Dick and Harry has a list. Well why can’t we have a list? You, me everybody? What makes Rex Reed’s list better than yours or mine?  With all due respect to Mr. Reed, I seem to remember he hated Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Need I remind everybody that that film is one of the greatest Sci-Fi films of all time. Well I think that it’s time we all have a list. Let’s start with mine.  My list will not be a Top Ten list. Nope. I’m twice as cool, so mine will be a top 20!

Comics:

1. The greatest comic book ever: Avengers #66 (My first comic!)

2. The greatest superhero ever: Batman

3. The second greatest superhero ever: Captain Marvel (Shazam!)

4. The greatest super team: 60’s Teen Titans

5. The greatest superhero fight ever: Hulk vs. Thing

6. The second greatest superhero fight ever: Hulk vs. Sub-Mariner

7. The greatest team up ever: Spider-Man and Superman (the first one)

8. The greatest graphic novel ever: Watchmen

9. The second greatest graphic novel ever: The Killing Joke

10. The third greatest graphic novel ever: The Death Of Captain Marvel

11. The fourth greatest graphic novel ever: Marvels

12. The saddest event in comic books: The death of Gwen Stacy

13. The saddest event in the comics industry: The death of Jack Kirby

14. The greatest writer in comics: Denny O’ Neal

15. The greatest artist in comics: Jack Kirby (DUH!)

16. The greatest publisher in comics: Milestone

17. The second greatest publisher in comics: DC (love them or hate them, they do great books)

18. The smartest man in comics: Mike Richardson

19. The guy with the best job in comics: Paul Levitz

20. The sexiest man in comics: Michael Davis (finally!)

Movies:

1. The greatest movie ever (Tie): My Best Friend’s Wedding / Team America (long story)

2. The greatest movie superhero ever: Batman

3. The second greatest movie superhero ever: Superman

4. The greatest movie team: The Magnificent 7

(more…)

Professor Kumar

Professor Kumar

  • News
  • March 29, 2007

The San Jose Mercury News is reporting that Kal Penn, star of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and the recent The Namesake, as well as appearing in Superman Returns and 24, will be a guest instructor at the University of Pennsylvania’s department of Asian Studies.  His courses will include "Contemporary American Teen Films" and "Images of Asian Americans in the Media". 

The actor (whose full name is Kalpen Modi) will be on campus during the spring of 2008.  Harold and Kumar 2 is set to be released next year.

DENNIS O’NEIL: On Arnold Drake

DENNIS O’NEIL: On Arnold Drake

  • News
  • March 27, 2007

For a lot of years I didn’t know much about Arnold Drake beyond some minimal biography: he was a first-generation comic book writer, he had written a movie or two. Then, last summer, we were thrown together for a public conversation at a small convention and for an hour I found Arnold to be charming, witty, a good raconteur, a treasury of information about the history of our medium, and way younger than his years. When we parted, Arnold gave me his card and we made vague noises about getting together in Manhattan, some time or other. We never did, and last week an email from Danny Fingeroth informed me that Arnold had died.

When I think about guys like Arnold, I’m reminded of the final scene of Herman Wouk’s play The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. You may remember it: Defense lawyer Barney Greenwald, having just cleared his Navy officer client of a charge of mutiny and, in the process, humiliated a career Navy man named Captain Queeg, arrives at the victory party and, bitterly, eloquently, regrets what he has done. Queeg and his ilk, Greenwald says, kept the Navy going during the years between wars, when there was no opportunity for glory, maintained the infrastructure so there was something to build on when the country was threatened.

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MATT RAUB loves being a Turtle

MATT RAUB loves being a Turtle

  • News
  • March 26, 2007

Cowabunga, Dudes! Matt Raub here, back once again for my review of my pick for “Best Flick of 2007” – TMNT!

Now, before I do my business, a little history. I’m a 100% freak when it comes to anything and everything 80’s. From the music to the wacky neon fashion to the movies, and most important, the TV shows. From The Real Ghostbusters to M.A.S.K., I knew just about everything that needed to be known about cartoons in the 80’s. With that said, I was going into TMNT with roughly 50% excitement and 50% skepticism that we would get a repeat of the first three Turtles movies, which included (in no particular order): Vanilla Ice, time travel, and freckles.

With that said, I was nothing short of blown away by this flick. I caught myself jumping with excitement during the actions scenes and cackling obnoxiously at Michelangelo’s quips. Now, there aren’t a whole lot of CGI films that take my breath away, the exception being The Incredibles of course, mostly due to the need to dumb down the script to appeal to the legion of drooling nine-year-olds. But that wasn’t the case with TMNT. Instead of being a comedy with some action, this flick was all action with some comedy, and I loved it. While it did have some slapstick comedy to keep the toddlers at bay, there were so many more serious elements that I know had to have gone over the heads of the younger audience.

For those of you who aren’t sure where this film stands in comparison to the previous three, I’ll spell it out. This movie pulls a Superman Returns formula, but does it right. The story takes place about a year after the second film, erasing the Turtles in Time escapade completely from continuity (thanks!). With this continuity, we still get Casey Jones, April O’Neil, and a dead Shredder, but the characters all get a revamp, some for better and some not so much: April O’Neil is no longer a reporter, but a glorified Indiana Jones-archeologist type. What?? But like I said, this took the Superman formula and made it work. And no, April doesn’t end up having a half-turtle baby with Leonardo.

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Superman sequel shelved to make way for JLA?

  • News
  • March 20, 2007

Step-sister site Cinematical (say that three times fast) reports on the rumor that the next Superman film may be put on the shelf for a while to make way for Brandon Routh appearing in the Justice League film. "According to Moviehole (who have some pretty good inside studio sources), the highly-anticipated Superman Returns sequel (currently titled The Man of Steel) might be placed into turnaround so that Brandon Routh (and the Superman character) can be used in the upcoming Justice League flick instead."

Well, now. That’s one way to make the merchandising people happy. And with Wonder Woman already delayed, this could solve a few problems at WB.

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