Tagged: X-Men
Fox Prepares Plethora of Holiday Gift Items Plus a Major Sale
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has made their list and are checking it twice to prepare DVD gift sets for every conceivable taste and special interest. We’ll be exploring some of those options when ComicMix launches its Holiday Gift Guide in the coming days.
With Black Friday imminent, we want to tip you off that FoxConnect is having a Black Friday Sale that runs from November 22nd to December 5th. Savvy shoppers can save up to 70% off on favorite Movies and TV shows on Blu-ray and DVD – Some favorites for as little as $4 for select titles!
The new release we’re most looking forward to is the studio’s 75ht Anniversary Gift Set, coming December 7. Check out the formal release:
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment paints the town diamond white with the release of the TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX 75TH ANNIVERSARY GIFT SET, a 75-film, three-volume set, highlighting a remarkable, rich and unparalleled heritage of classic films, Academy Award® winners and box office smashes. Debuting on DVD December 7, each volume covers 25 years of the studio’s legacy along with an exclusive hard cover companion book highlighting the historic significance of Fox’s 75th anniversary featuring legendary stars, compelling stories, timeless music and unforgettable images.
The massive DVD set features a variety of genres and some of the finest films of all time from South Pacific to Star Wars, Alien to Avatar and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to The Devil Wears Prada. Among its 46 Academy Award®-winning features, the collection highlights seven Best Picture winners including the DVD debut of Cavalcade, How Green Was My Valley, All About Eve, The Sound of Music, Patton, The French Connection, and Slumdog Millionaire.
Just in time for the holiday season, the TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX 75TH ANNIVERSARY GIFT SET will be available for the suggested retail price of $499.98 U.S.
‘X-Men: Destiny’ Video Game Reveal Trailer
At New York Comic Con, Activision announced the next game to feature Marvel Mighty Mutants. In X-Men: Destiny, your decisions will control
the fate of brand new mutants in the X-Men universe. Every choice you
make matters, from your character to your power set to your story and
ultimately your destiny. Veteran X-scribe Mike Carey (X-Men,
X-Men: Legacy, Secret Invasion, The Unwritten) will be crafting X-Men:
Destiny‘s narrative, and famed developer Silicon Knights (Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, Too Human) is on board
for the game’s design. The game is set to be released in 2011.
MAJOR PRESS RELEASE FROM MONSTERVERSE!!
MONSTERVERSE, BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE HORROR COMIC and FILMS EVENING at the AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE in Hollywood, CA.
AN EVENING WITH BELA LUGOSI at the AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE.
Celebrating the career of horror icon Bela Lugosi and the launch of MONSTERVERSE’s new horror anthology comic book, BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE.
Thursday, 7:30 PM
October 28th, 2010
The Egyptian Theaterhttp://www.americancinematheque.com/egyptian/egypt.htm
Two Feature Films starring Bela Lugosi in THE BLACK CAT and THE RAVEN. With Boris Karloff.
Mainstream news coverage will be in effect for the Halloween weekend in Los Angeles, the media capital of the world. This is a major launch for the first issue of BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE horror anthology comic book.
Special Guests from Hollywood and the Comic Book Industry will be announced. Other featured guests are Bela Lugosi, Jr., and Kerry Gammill including contributors to BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE horror anthology comic book series.
There will be a Special Panel on Lugosi examing his career and the new comic book between films and a MONSTERVERSE Comic Book Display with contributors featured in the lobby.
An Exclusive Preview Trailer will be screened with art of the upcoming MONSTERVERSE graphic novel, FLESH AND BLOOD, written by Robert Tinnell and illustrated by Neil Vokes. To be unleashed Halloween 2011.
TRAILERS FROM HELL. Commentaries from directors Mick Garris and Joe Dante on Bela Lugosi and his films.
Poster design by artist Charlie Largent.
This exclusive event image may be Tweeted with:http://twitpic.com/2mxwhx
MONSTERVERSE is a new independent comic book company with a horror anthology book coming out in October 2010 and entitled, BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE.
Here is a direct link preview of the book and its pages posted on YouTube.
LUGOSI HORROR COMIC YOUTUBE PREVIEW
The comic will be available at comic shops everywhere and online and is distributed by Diamond. For a new independent transmedia company MONSTERVERSE enjoys having the top talents in the world such as John Cassaday, Bruce Timm and the legendary Basil Gogos creating covers for its books. Writer/director (of the upcoming THE WALKING DEAD), Frank Darabont, gave this quote about cover artist Basil Gogos.
“Basil Gogo doesn’t paint pictures of monsters, and never has. What he does is conjure their essences on canvas like a magician. More than that, he conjures our love of these subjects in a manner that defies description or analysis. How does an artist infuse an entire fan community’s love of a whole genre into his brushstrokes? I’ll never be able to explain it, but I know I’ll always be grateful for it. Seeing Gogos’ portraits is revisiting the best friends of my childhood.” – Frank Darabont
Monsterverse was chosen the FEATURED COVER STORY on COMIC SHOP NEWS 1207 a few weeks back (distributed to over 500 of the top comic book shops nationwide and given out to customers with purchases). This article beat out the top comic companies in America, an impressive feat for a new independent publisher.
Take a look at our official website. We are quite proud of the amazing talents involved.
http://monsterverse.com/
MONSTERVERSE and BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE will receive special coverage in the upcoming double-sized Halloween issue of RUE MORGUE.There is a feature story on MONSTERVERSE and BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE also being prepped for their special Halloween issue of FAMOUS MONSTERS MAGAZINE.
MONSTERVERSE publisher Kerry Gammill is creating a terrific new feature cover for the January FAMOUS MONSTERS.
BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE is published by Kerry Gammill who is internationally known for his artist work at Marvel and DC Comics on titles like MARVEL TEAM-UP, INDIANA JONES, POWERMAN/IRON FIST and SUPERMAN. Kerry has also worked as a make-up effects designer on studio genre films such as VIRUS and TV programs such as STARGATE and THE OUTER LIMITS. Here is a link to Kerry’s professional art website:http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/monsterart/
This FANBOY PLANET article can give you a quick update on what is going on with the history of the company and its future plans:http://www.fanboyplanet.com/interviews/mc-monsterverse.php
This link takes you to our first issue cover by the legendary FAMOUS MONSTERS cover artist, Basil Gogos.http://twitpic.com/1doadj
Our variant cover is by one of the hottest artists working in American comic books today, John Cassaday, and who recently directed an episode of Joss Whedon’s DOLLHOUSE television series. Whedon has been tapped to direct Marvel Studios’ epic feature film, THE AVENGERS.http://twitpic.com/25v1o3
The back cover is by Warner Brothers animation executive producer and Emmy-winning designer/artist Bruce Timm.
To reserve a copy of the Lugosi comic book at a comic shop you need to supply them with the Diamond Item # Code, AUG101080, with the title, BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE. The first issues of the Lugosi comic book will be shipped in October to celebrate both Halloween and Lugosi’s 128th birthday. A special celebration of Lugosi films, the new comic book and its contributors is set for the American Cinematheque in Hollywood at its Egyptian Theater on Thursday, October 28th.
BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE will be a double-sized 48-page color quarterly and retailing for $4.99 and with no ads (except for a house ad announcing a serial adaptation of the novel DRACULA and starring BELA LUGOSI by Kerry Gammill and beginning in issue two). It is pure comic book fun and frights from front to back with a brief article on Lugosi.
BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE will feature some of the most talented storytellers working today in comic books and horror films. No other comic book series has this kind of industry talent nor do other comic book companies have these kinds of horror film heavyweights working on any comic book. This is a first in comic book publishing and dedicated to the fun and classic horror of Bela Lugosi but made for today’s audiences.
Movie directors like John Landis (An American Werewolf In London, Burke And Hare) and Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling) along with make-up genius Rick Baker (American Werewolf In London, Michael Jackson’s THRILLER, Men In Black), will be providing stories and art for future issues. More Hollywood horror film creators are also working up stories.
The most acclaimed creators in comics will be writing and drawing stories such as Steve Niles (30 Days Of Night), artist John Cassaday (Planetary, Astonishing X-Men) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy).
The first issue contains stories and art by such notables as Kerry Gammill (SUPERMAN and SPIDER-MAN ), James Farr (whose XOMBIE online animated and comic book series is being brought to theater screens by Dreamworks in a live-action production by top writer/producers Orchi and Kurtzman), Chris Moreno (WORLD WAR HULK), John Cassaday, Rob Brown (voted online as horror artist of the year for BANE OF THE WEREWOLF), Derek McCaw, Rafael Navarro (creator of the Xeric Award winning series SONAMBULO), Martin Powell and Eisner Award- winning artist Terry Beatty (THE BATMAN STRIKES), Brian Denham (IRON MAN, ANGEL), Bruce Timm and more. The book also features an article by leading Lugosi researcher and author Gary D. Rhodes.
MONSTERVERSE ENTERTAINMENT is a transmedia company headed by its publisher and editor, the comic book and film design artist, Kerry Gammill.
Keith Wilson, formerly of DC Comics, is an editor and writer/artist.
Producer/screenwriter Sam F. Park is the west coast editor and a writer/artist.
We’re very proud of BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE and what has been accomplished within our growing independent publishing venture, MONSTERVERSE. This is our first comic book project with several more in development. We plan to make MONSTERVERSE the go-to company for horror projects in all media.
I’ve included links below to help with graphics, photos or information. Please contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Sam F. Park
West Coast Editor
MONSTERVERSE ENTERTAINMENT
“Bela Lugosi’s Tales From The Grave”http://monsterverse.com/
park@monsterverse.com
818-605-2181
Links:
Basil Gogos cover for Monsterverse’s “Bela Lugosi’s Tales From The Grave” http://twitpic.com/1doadj
John Cassaday variant cover for Monsterverse’s “Bela Lugosi’s Tales From The Grave” http://twitpic.com/25v1o3
Pre-order FORM to order BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE horror comic! Print/Send to your fav comic shop NOW! http://twitpic.com/2bxj2u
MONSTERVERSE ENTERTAINMENT’S “BELA LUGOSI’S TALES FROM THE GRAVE” is both a FEATURED ITEM and rated CERTIFIED COOL by Diamond Distribution’s PREVIEWS August magazine!http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dallas-TX/Comics-from-the-MONSTERVERSE/118838267124?ref=mf
MONSTERVERSE Official Sitehttp://www.monsterverse.com/
MONSTERVERSE on TWITTERhttp://www.twitter.com/monsterverse
MONSTERVERSE PROJECTS BLOGhttp://monsterverseblog.blogspot.com/
MONSTER KID ONLINE HORROR MAGAZINE:http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/
Review: ‘Wolverine and the X-Men The Complete Series’
Wolverine and the X-Men was created to capitalize on the anticipated success of the Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie. The series aired on Nicktoons and freely adapted stories taken from the decades of [[[X-Men]]] stories. Despite being the title character, Wolverine was often taking a step back to let the army of mutants take on the stories.
Lionsgate has been releasing the episodes in low priced sets, but now, in time for the holidays, the entire series has been put in one set, now on sale. ComicMix has previous reviewed the final three releases in the series and overall, I have not been overly impressed. Visually, the animation designs are satisfactory but Marvel has never gotten a good handle on their voice casting and the show suffers for it.
Structurally, I previously noted “this has fewer sub-plots that require episode to episode viewing. On the other hand, there are plenty of sub-plots running through the 26 episodes comprising the first season. There are also dozens of characters to meet and recall and often they arrive unnamed or their powers unspecified. As a result, you’re required to watch knowing which version of the x-verse you’re paying attention to.”
Despite reasonably good ratings, the second season was canceled after work had begun so this set is all you will get. If you’re a fan of the characters or really liked the series, then this is for you. Frankly, you’re better off with the original source material, all of which has been collected in one form or another.
Steve Gordon, Greg Johnson, Craig Kyle, Joshua Fine, Nick Filippi, and Boyd Kirkland mastermind the series and bring their previous Marvel animation experience with them. The writing is sharper than before In reviewing the final volume, I noted, “All the threads and main players throughout the season turn up and have their moment as the conflicting timelines and threads are woven together into a massive climax.” There’s even a final scene hinting at the direction of the second season that will never be.
Other than trailers, there are no special features on this set so it’s for collectors and fans only.
Happy 20th Birthday, IMDB!
Did you know that Dougray Scott was cast to play Wolverine, in the summer blockbuster X-Men? He had to leave the project because of his work on Mission: Impossible II. Did you know that in Batman: Forever, strings can be seen on the helicopter after it explodes against the “Lady Liberty” statue? Did you know that Simon Weisse, prop-maker of Hellboy, was an uncredited model maker for Inglorious Basterds!?
Of course you did! And it’s all thanks to the Internet Movie Database, IMDb.com… which turned 20 today, October 17th, 2010.
Nerds, cinemaphiles, and popular comicbook/pop culture bloggers have been turning to this amazing source of sometimes useless, sometimes shocking, always acutely specific database of movies and television information now for two whole decades. Just ask yourself, where would you be without it? How many bar fights did you prevent by using your iPhone to assure your comrades that Wil Wheaton did win the 2002 Melbourne Underground Film Festival’s award for Best Actor for his performance in Jane White Is Sick & Twisted? How much money did you win in that local trivia contest because you knew that the imcomparable John Hoyt played Sire Domra in the episode Baltar’s Escape in the 1979 Battlestar Galactica? And how would you ever have wooed your eventual wife, if you didn’t amaze her by knowing that there was a video camera inside Ludo’s right horn that fed to an external video monitor inside it’s own stomach, assisting the puppeteer perform in Labyrinth? Suffice to say, the unbridled girth of information available to the populace thanks to the IMBd has allowed all of us to become living wikipedias of information!
Speaking of wikipedia…how about a little history, shall we? The IMDb was born from a pair of lists generated in early 1989 by participants in the Usenet newsgroup
rec.arts.movies. In each case, a single maintainer recorded items
emailed by newsgroup readers, and posted updated versions of his/her list
from time to time. The founding ideas of the database began with a
posting titled “Those Eyes”, on the subject of actresses with beautiful
eyes. Hank Driskill began to collect a list of attractive actresses and
what movies they had appeared in, and as the size of the repeated
posting grew far beyond a normal newsgroup article, it soon became known
simply as “THE LIST”.
The other project, started by Chuck Musciano, was briefly called the less capitalized
“Movie Ratings List” and soon became the “Movie Ratings Report”.
Musciano simply asked readers to rate movies on a scale of one to ten,
and reported on the votes. He soon began posting “ballots” with lists of
movies for people to rate, so his list also grew quickly.
In 1990, Col Needham collated the two lists and produced a “Combined LIST & Movie Ratings Report”. Needham soon started a (male) “Actors List”, while Dave Knight began a “Directors List”, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST, which would later be renamed the “Actress List”.
Both this and the Actors List had been restricted to people who were
still alive and working, but retired people began to be added, and
Needham also started what was then (but did not remain) a separate “Dead
Actors/Actresses List”. The goal now was to make the lists as inclusive
as the maintainers could manage. In late 1990, the lists included
almost 10,000 movies and television series. On October 17, 1990, Needham
posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, and the database that would become the IMDb was born.
In celebration of it’s 20 year history, IMBd is hosting plenty of party games. By party games, we mean video clips (today’s features funnyman Will Ferrell alongside his director/writer in crime, Adam McKay), retrospectives, and tons of stuff to keep your thumbs a’scrollin’. Head over to their Anniversary Page to do what we all do on IMDb… waste a ton of time learning factoids we’ll never need… but can’t stop quoting.
PULP ARTIST’S WEEKEND-TIM SALBER INTERVIEW
AP: Salber? Is that French? How did you meet Tim Storm? Are you old school chums?
I’ve been working with my partner, Barry, to mix some of the studio tracks that we recorded through the years and we hope to release a CD of the Imposters’ music sometime in the next year.
As for movies, I am thrilled by the proliferation of superhero-based films and I’m really looking forward to all the new Marvel hero movies that are planned for release in the coming years. Modern computer animation has made so many things possible on film that just couldn’t be done before, and I really enjoy any film that incorporates some of that amazing imagery. Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson’s King Kong, The Transformers, X-Men . . . I just love all that stuff!
I’ve created an online version intended to be an eternally expanding collection of new and original quotations; simple adages with profound insight into the mysteries of the universe, whether sublime or mundane. All visitors to the site are encouraged to submit their own contributions, as well as to browse through the existing entries. A couple sample entries:
TS: The biggest challenge in completing the book was finding the time to write while
working full-time and keeping up with other daily obligations. It’s also difficult, as an author, to find that fount of inspiration and maintain enthusiasm for writing while dealing with the pressures that we face in this modern world. They’re the same challenges we all face, day to day, in motivating ourselves, setting priorities, taking care of our responsibilities, and making time to do what’s most important to us.
AP: What did you learn about writing you didn’t know before?
AP: What’s next for you as a writer?
AP: Thanks again, Tim, for graciously allowing us the opportunity to interview you on behalf of ALL PULP! Good Luck and God Bless You on your current and future endeavors!!
TS: My pleasure, Sarge! I really appreciate the opportunity to share my love of the pulp genre and shamelessly plug my book!
The Snark Files: Marvel’s Newest Team
Our dear friends at Marvel decided to share a little cryptic image… and you know how much we love cryptic images. So, let’s take a look at it, and see if we can guess what’s going on here.
- Well right off the bat, the headline reads “All new. All different.” And the ‘T’ in different is a sword. It’s obvious to us that this means that this new team, for the first time in marvel history, will consist of members permanently on fire.
- Front and center we see Warpath is his old costume, as opposed to his black and silver X-Force: Pointy Things Kill People costume. Last time we checked wikipedia, it seems Warpath left the team because he “was finally at peace”… Our guess, Warpath wasn’t at peace, he just was holding out for a team without Wolverine.
- Behind Warpath is Banshee, who as you’ll recall, has never been cool. Wikipedia said Cyclops eye-beamed him off Utopia at the end of the last X-men mini series we didn’t care about. Looks like Banshee’s back… And with it, there’s goes the sales.
- Behind Banshee are a collection of Multiple Men. Using both the newer costume and the “body sock” 90’s costume… we can only assume Marvel ran out of characters to put on teams… so why not fill out the ranks with Multiple Men! It worked in the 90s, and it’ll work now, damn it.
- To the right of Banshee, Multiple Man and Warpath are … uhh… some women. On fire. They’re in v-neck tunics, top coats, and skirts. Our guess? It’s Firestar and Frankie Raye. Why? They’re the only fire-type girls we know, except for Jean Gray. And we’re pretty sure she’s dead this week.
- We also note that all these folks are sporting glowing red eyes. This could mean they’re being mind-controlled, have all developed Cyclops-like eye beams, or that they’ve forgotten their Visene.
- The term “All New. All Different.” is generally associated with the X-Men. Look, we admit we bailed on the X-Men when we heard they were fighting vampires… but when your new team is 4/5ths Multiple Man, and Banshee? Why not close the deal, and add some of our favorite members… Doctor Nemesis, Dust, and No-Girl (a literal brain in a jar.)
- At the bottom of the image, it declare a street date of December 2010. Oh! We got it. It’s the Marvel Character end-of-the-year Fire Sale! Get any of these characters for your own project before they’re shipped off to Marvel Island. That’s right kids, Marvel Island™, where a licensee can go to quietly die until Bendis wants them on the Avengers.
Do you have any ideas? If so, post em’ below… because lord knows we ain’t gotta clue.
Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day!
Founded by Cap’n Slappy and Ol’ Chumbucket in 1996, International Talk Like A Pirate Day is celebrated today, the 19th of September here and abroad. The two mates began talking like buccaneers one day, and thanks to some promotion from Dave Barry, we can now all share in this truly amazing holiday.
So, today, unlike any other day in the year, you’re allowed to yell “Avast, ye matey!” when you see your friend at Buffalo Wild Wings. You may refer to the waitress as “a soddy lass” or “a buxom wench”. When you order your wings, you can dust off some phrases like “Ahoy! I’ll ‘ave the cap’n’s order of yer finest wings, and a enough grog to make me loaded to the Gunwales!” And when the waitress gives you the stank eye for speaking pirate, bang your fist on the table and say “By the powers! You land-lubber lass…I said get me a plunder of wings and ale, lest I and me mates turn this table over and make you walk the plank!”
If you still need a little hint or two on how to talk like a pirate, you should double up on your adjectives. Instead of calling your last issue of Brightest Day a “waste of my time”, you can say its “a stinking, rotten waste of me time, arrrrgh!”. Another hint would be to use ‘I be’ instead ‘I am’, and drop your G’s and V’s. That way when you declare “I be throwin’ you this issue of X-Men, and I be wantin’ a refund!” the store clerk will give you a knowing glance.
Tip of our pirate hat to the the fine folks at yarr.org, for gettin’ us up to speed on this momentous day. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to go put on our peg legs, and hoist our sails on for Ford Explorarrrrrgh!
The Great Comics Flood of 2010
It has been reported that for the first time in 15 months no single comic book gathered more than
100,000 copies in orders in the direct sales market. Make that 93,459, to put a
point on it.
Conventional wisdom has it that sales have dropped because the average cover price has gone up, and who am I to question conventional wisdom? But there’s another reason. A big one.
Historically, whenever one of the major publishers (which means Marvel and DC; I’m talking superhero comics here) felt they were being challenged by one or more upstart publishers, that company would flood the market with crap, usually reprints or revivals of frequently cancelled titles. The other publisher would rapidly follow. Before the direct sales tail started wagging the dog, it was believed there was only so much space in the newsstands
and DC and Marvel could crowd the others out. That, of course, was nonsense: if the newsstands cared about comic books (how much profit is there in a 40 cent item?) nobody would have to crowd anybody out.
This philosophy extended to the direct sales market. When companies such as First, Eclipse and Malibu were making waves and racking up competitive sales, DC and Marvel started dumping product into the pipeline. How many times could you revive Kull The Conqueror? But retailers had to order at least a few copies because it was a Marvel Comic, and cumulatively all that sucked a lot of bucks out of retailers’ tills. Remember, they buy this stuff non-returnable.
But now comic book stores have dwindled down to a precious few and the big bookstore chains such as Barnes and Noble and Borders are coughing up blood, sales truly suck.
Which makes it real curious to see that Marvel is once again flooding the comics rack. Having finally lost the Kull license, the House of Idea has gone the Oreo Cookies route: they’re jerking their “going to the movies” properties as though they were crack fiends at a milk farm.
For example: the September Marvel Previews (books on sale November) lists no less than six Iron Man titles, eight Thor titles, and 13 Avengers books. There’s also two event series: Shadowland, which winds up with a mere four titles, and Chaos War, which boasts five.
I didn’t even mention the massive – and expanding – X-Men group. That’s old news.
27 issues featuring Thor, Iron Man, and/or The Avengers.
Boy, you’d think there was a Thor movie coming out that, oh I don’t know, tied in to the Iron Man movies, to be followed by the big The Avengers
movie.
So, why the flood? Is Marvel worried about competition from Boom, Dynamite, and IDW? I don’t think so. They started producing material
for this latest dump just about the time the Disney takeover was ratified. They are trying to impress the Mouse.
Disney doesn’t care about their comic book profits, and nor does Warner Bros. Marvel and DC, respectively, are there as R&D, fodder for movies, television and animation – and their concomitant merchandising revenues. All Marvel and DC have to do on the publishing front is show a decent
return on investment and their new masters will be content.
It’s hard for me to think of a way Marvel could better promote comic book bootlegging.