The Flash gets a new artist, the 2007 24-hour-comics-day is disclosed, this week’s new comics are previewed, Jae Lee is interviewed, IFC’s anime maven speaks… and… where is Buffy hiding?
Mike Raub has the lowdown on ComicMix Podcast #10 — available right now, right here:
The New York Times has a long article on John Lasseter, who has been tapped to become the chief creative officer of animation for the Walt Disney Company after founding Pixar. Good reading, particularly with Lasseter reviving the 2-D animation department – with a strong focus on story.
Yes, story. The New Disney. It ain’t just pretty pictures anymore.
File this under: If the tail wags the dog for long enough, does the tail become the dog? Part I.
But first, a little reminiscence.
I had been in the comic book business less than six months, maybe not much more than one month, when I attended my first comics convention at the invitation of Flo Steinberg, known as “Fabulous Flo” during Marvel’s formative days. The event was held in the gym of the McBurney YMCA on 23rd Street in Manhattan. The guest of honor was Buster Crabbe. I don’t think I’d seen any of his filmed work yet, but somewhere I’d learned that he had done some comics-derived movie serials and that made him a celebrity and I guess I was impressed, not having met many celebrities.
Josh Roberts reports: "Starting today, I’m launching a week-long ComicSpace Fundraiser to help cover hosting costs. It was either this or sell one of my kids, and I’m not convinced I can get a decent price for either of the little brats. All donations generated through this week-long fundraiser will be used to pay ahead on the combined monthly hosting bill for OnlineComics.net and ComicSpace – which, believe it or not, is nearly equal to my mortgage payment."
ICv2 reports that Elfquest creator Wendy Pini has signed with Go!Comi to write and draw an original graphic novel series based on the Edgar Allen Poe short story The Masque of the Red Death, said to feature "Gothic horror, erotica, and yaoi-style gay relationships." The series bows first as a webcomic, to be collected into hard-copy GNs down the line as enough pages are done.
This is the first non-Japanese work and first original series produced by Go!Comi, which made the announcement at NYCC and believes Pini’s style is a good fit for the company. More details at Mangablog.
There’s a large section of America’s comic reading public that just doesn’t get the appeal of manga, chibi, or any of the cutesy stuff from Asia… and this is not going to help.
From Eva Air, we present to you the first Hello Kitty Airline. Complete with stamped tickets, special stewardess uniforms, in flight sales, and special inflight meals.
I know ComicMixers Martha and Glenn might disagree, but in my opinion knitted Daleks have nothing on chocolate ones! Via BoingBoing, here’s how to make a chocolate Dalek. Decadent and tasty! I will be assimilated, gladly!
Meanwhile, Series 3 of the new Doctor Who programme is said to begin on the Beeb on March 31, start airing on Canada’s CBC in June, and debut in the US… Who knows when? No announcements yet from Sci Fi, although they’ve posted a nice interview with star David Tennant.
The more years we all spend involved in comics, the less able we are to escape our past, especially in the Web 2.0 age. And that’s actually A Good Thing. For instance, check out cartoonist Howard Cruse’s blog post where he effusively and rightly pays tribute to ComicMix’s own Martha Thomases, whose family he and his partner Ed Sedarbaum have known for a good long time. I’m a sucker for "then and now" photos. Of course, Howard’s not above posting possibly incriminating photos of himself, as you can see by the lovely Esther-and-Vashti ensembles which he and Ed chose to don for their local Purimspiel.
Speaking of past Friends, Leigh Dragoon reports that there will be a forthcoming press release from Friends of Lulu (an organization with which Martha and I both spent many years) regarding their ill-fated Empowerment Fund. From what she writes, it seems the organization is intent upon correcting past wrongs, which bodes well for its future. Considering the long journey women in comics still have to undergo before the industry’s playing field is truly level, the continued vitality of organizations dedicated toward that goal is more important than ever.
My wife and I were plowing through our TiVo this weekend, catching up on programs the device trapped for us during the previous week. We happened to catch the current spots for Ghost Rider as well as the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 300 movies. As is frequently the case when I’m on deadline, I had a revelation.
Thematically, the only thing these three movies have in common is the fact that they are based upon comics. It occurred to me that five years ago they would have been lumped together as "comic book movies." Today, we are more sophisticated. Today, they might be lumped together as "graphic novel movies," but more likely most people perceive them as simply "movies."
That’s fine. We don’t see such distinctions made in movies culled from other genres. "Based on the novel," sure. Big deal. But that’s buried in the movie’s credits and on the small print at the bottom of the poster. For almost 100 years now, most movies have been based upon something — books, short stories, comics, radio shows, television shows, and most often from other movies. Now our medium has joined the pack.
Following Marvel’s lead, DC Comics is entering the direct-to-DVD animated feature business with the first of a slate of programs featuring their popular heroes.
First at bat is Superman Doomsday, based on the historic Death of Superman storyline from a decade ago. Previewed at this weekend’s Wondercon in San Francisco, the DVD will be released in September and carries a PG-13 rating. Adam Baldwin voices Superman, Anne Heche Lois Lane, and James Marsters plays Lex Luthor. Marsters is no stranger to the Superman mythos, having played Brainiac on the Smallville teevee series.
DC is also adapting Darwyn Cooke’s brilliant DC: The New Frontier for D2DVD release.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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