The Mix : What are people talking about today?

Blades of Box Office Gold

Blades of Box Office Gold

Blades of Glory was the number one film for the April Fool’s weekend, with an estimated take of $33 million.  Disney’s Meet The Robinsons came in second, with $25.1 million.

300 came in next, with $11.2 million, followed by TMNT with $9.2 million.  If  Hollywood realizes that both films owe their existance to Frank Miller (whose graphic novel, Ronin, was the inspiration to Eastman and Laird back in the 1980s), no one admits it.

Wild Hogs, Shooter, Premonition, The Last Mimzy, The Hills Have Eyes 2 and Reign Over Me rounded out the list.

Ellison, Groth sign historic peace accord

Ellison, Groth sign historic peace accord

In what is being widely heralded as the only diplomatic success during the Bush Administration, today a treaty was signed between Gary Groth, publisher of Fantagraphics, and Harlan Ellison, professional Harlan Ellison impersonater, at the Portland, OR headquarters of Dark Horse Comics.

"We were glad we could finally bring this conflict to an end," said Mike Richardson, Dark Horse’s publisher. "We found ourselves in the crossfire between the Fantagraphics army to the north and the Ellison guerillas to the south. And even though we were widely perceived as Ellison sympathizers due to our publishing Dream Corridor, we were able to convince Gary that since we had published Harlan’s work in the past, we wanted to throttle him as badly as anybody else. Gary understood that, and that led to our first breakthrough in talks."

Details of the treaty have not been made fully public, but we understand that as Ellison’s forces will be returning prisoners to Fantagraphics on the condition that they also take two of Ellison’s ex-wives and "some big creepy guy who’s been following me around ever since I stopped doing the Hour 25 radio show. Joe Stranucci, or Syzygy, or Sienkiewicz, or something… I never know how to pronounce it."

Dirk Deppey, Fantagraphics spokesperson, has announced now that conflicts have ended there will be a multi-volume set of The Complete Ellison Lawsuits coming out, with the first volume due next April and new volumes coming out every six weeks after. The entire series should be out by 2017.

MATT RAUB Reviews Doctor Who season 3 premiere

MATT RAUB Reviews Doctor Who season 3 premiere

The Doctor is back, and not only does he get a new companion but a new Sonic Screwdriver to boot! I just set my peepers on a back-to-back marathon of last year’s “The Runaway Bride” and the brand-spanking-new season 3 premiere, “Smith and Jones”, and I figured I’d drop in to throw down my two cents on the episode. Be forewarned, there are some spoilerific parts to this review, so if you decide you want to wait until Sci-Fi finally airs the show in 2023, then I’d turn away now.

From the first episode in season 1, I was a huge fan of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, I thought she was gorgeous, and had incredible range. Though there were a good 12 episodes or so where she cried through the majority of the program, I still couldn’t dislike her. With that said, I was pretty hesitant to like this new companion, the intelligent and attractive medical student Martha Jones, played by Freema Agyeman. We first get a taste of Agyeman in last season’s “Army of Ghosts” as she was one of first victim of the Cybermen. We now find out she was the cousin of Martha Jones, and that’s a clever touch.

Looking back, this episode can very easily be put in stark comparison to season 1’s opener, “Rose.” Much like in that episode, the majority of this episode is exposition on our new companion’s life, an unexpected conflict, and the random entrance of the Doctor to save the day. Also, there is a scene very reminiscent of “Rose” where the Doctor grabs Martha’s hand and tells her to run…sound familiar? Of course, the doctor is still pining over the loss of Rose, but as established in “Runaway Bride,” it was time to find someone new.

The concept: the hospital where Martha Jones works gets transported to the moon. The Doctor, posing as the meandering patient John Smith, discovers that the transportation as by an intergalactic rhino-police (that’s intergalactic police that look like rhinos, not intergalactic police that only police the rhino population). The transportation was to single out a fugitive that they believe is hiding out in the hospital. The Doctor and Martha jump on the case to find the criminal and get the inhabitants back to Earth before they all lose oxygen.

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Spielberg, Lucas announce comics publishing company

Spielberg, Lucas announce comics publishing company

Through a spokesman, filmmakers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have announced their intention to join with Hugh Hefner, Jack Nicolson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicholas Cage, Matt Groening, Jon Voight, and Bill Clinton to form a comics publishing firm known as Studio Comics. Intended to be a Research and Development part of the successful SKG, the new company will gather comics artists and writers from around the world in an effort to create comics material that can be transformed into successful motion pictures.

Comics created for the new company will have small print runs of as few as twenty copies for the purpose of being shown to and commented on by studio executives. DiCaprio, whose father was a successful comics distributor, laughingly told reporters that Studio Comics would be responsible for what he termed "instant collector’s items" that will become a series of Holy Grails" to comics collectors.

Spielberg reportedly came up with the idea for creating comic books within a studio system after a dinner conversation with famed film historian Forrest Ackerman. The one-time editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland complained to the director of Close Encounters that the sales of once-ubiquitous comics were so low that it has become impossible to gauge the success or failure of a new feature by reader reaction. He suggested that filmmakers should go directly to comics creators and cut out of the loop existing publishers and the relative handful of readers from the process of acquiring material that could be transferred to film.

The surprising involvement of former President Clinton is the result of his long-standing desire to see both a comics and movie version of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s book The Enemy Within. After speaking with Groening about possible artists and writers for the project (and, according to DiCaprio, the shortcomings of Richard Nixon), an agreement was reached wherein Clinton would adapt the Kennedy book to comics form and Groening would do the illustrations.

Similarly, Jack Nicholson has expressed an interest in creating a comics and film biography of the late Mad publisher William M. Gaines. The multiple Academy-award-winning actor wants to direct the resulting movie and to portray psychologist Fredric Wertham, Gaines’s long-time adversary.

Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, who once produced a highly-praised filmed version of Macbeth directed by Roman Polansky, wants to introduce a series of general interest comics and movies aimed at a family audience.

Acknowledging that the majority of Studio’s "publishing" will involve photocopying pages that will be collated and shown to a small group of people, DiCaprio added that most of the comics will also be distributed to traditional newsstands, comic shops, and even movie theaters as promotional material for the films on which they are based.

Chocolate Cap Controversy

Chocolate Cap Controversy

Marvel fans clamoring for the return of Captain America should be careful what they wish for.

On the heels of the recent brouhaha over the just-cancelled My Sweet Lord art exhibit, which proved too much for the delicate sensibilities of a kook who likes to rile his kook-troops to harass my friends until they resign from their jobs, artist Cosimo Cavallaro has signed a deal with Marvel Entertainment to recast the mold for his Christ figure (see right) adding Steve Rogers’ familiar costume and shield (which will be temporarily on loan from its current owner, Stephen Colbert), and readying it for display in the lobby of Marvel’s offices at 417 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan through April.

"The fans have spoken," said Marvel EIC Joe Quesada, "and what they clearly want is the return of Cap.  And chocolate.  Mmm, chocolate," he added in a wistful Homer Simpson voice.

Cavallaro (no relation to DC editor Joey Cavalieri or The Three Caballeros) is known for past artistic expressions using food, including repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham.  The unveiling of Chocolate Cap will not be catered.

Marvel to Launch 365

Marvel to Launch 365

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."

Penguin signed for Batman III

Penguin signed for Batman III

After the Joker and Two-Face warm their way into our hearts in the sequel to Batman Begins, who could possibly rule the roost in the third mega-budget blockbuster other than The Penguin? But, as always, casting is key to the success of any such decision and this time, Batman producers have outdone themselves.

The otherwise unemployed Dick Cheney will be performing the role of Oswald Cobblepot, the tuxedoed gentlemen lord of crime who attacks his enemies with a lethal bumbershoot. The motion picture, due for release in 2010, will mark a new beginning for the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Halliburton Energy Services. Mr Cheney most recently was vice-president of the United States of America and, on June 22 2002, briefly served as acting president.

There is one possible fly in the ointment: Mr. Cheney will have to pass an insurance physical.

(Artwork by Mike Grell, copyright DC Comics)

Exterminate… crochet… bake… exterminate

Exterminate… crochet… bake… exterminate

For the lucky ones who will be watching the Doctor Who season opener soon – and for those who think Daleks make for lovely bric-a-brac – here’s some things to do around the home on a rainy day, courtesy (again) from our friends at Bibi’s Box!

From time to time this blog receives visits of people searching for Daleks. Those incredible extraterrestrial mutant creatures from Doctor Who series are much more popular that I imagined. The first time I made a post about the Daleks I had no idea that it wouldn’t be enough to cover it. Then, a while after, I saw a very nice tutorial of How to Make a Dalek and IR Control Daleks.

Of course that wasn’t enough. Every time there are new stuff about them: crochet and more crochet Daleks (via Quiddity), Dalek cakes and many other kind of related Dalek stuff that fans collect. For fans it’s never enough. And to keep you busy for a while, here is a list of tutorials to you make your own Dalek. Chose the material and start working:

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Online comics exhibit features McCay, others

Online comics exhibit features McCay, others

 

We’d like to bring your attention to this fascinating comics event, courtesy of the Bibi’s Box website:

The on-line exhibition from the Bibliotèque nationale de France Comics Before Comics (La BD avant la BD) presents precious panorama of the comics beginning. The visual travel begins with the ancient illustrated bibles made for Kings and the aristocracy’s books, inquires about its style origins, it shows the story of narrative, the page layout procedures and it ends with the use of sound in images – dialogues and onomatopoeia.

The exhibition gives a short vision of the comics pre-history, using great examples, like the Bible of Stephen Harding, Danse macabre, Cantigas de santa Maria, Histoire de la fondation de l’ordre cartusien and Little Sammy Sneeze by Winsor McCay, among the several other examples. For a fast visual panorama try iconography page.

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby speak on ComicMix Podcast #21

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby speak on ComicMix Podcast #21

April Fool’s weekend, and we offer nothing but the truth from Sushi Based Super Heroes to a Close Encounter From Jean Luc & Q to the Secret Origin Of How Stan Lee’s Secretary Got Me Through Puberty. We’ve got the low down on the new Spider-Man animated series AND the new Santo animated show (our editor-in-chief is a big Santo fan).

All this, Timeline, e-mailbag, and Vanessa Williams on ComicMix Podcast #21 – available by clicking right here: