December 29, 2004
Eisner recovers
Comicbook pioneer Will Eisner, creator of "The Spirit" and some of the best graphic novels ever to see print, is reportedly recovering well from quadruple heart bypass surgery on Dec. 22.
Disney Publishing will publish its Disney Adventures' Comic Zone editions four times in 2005, up from two editions in 2004. The Winter 2005 edition hit stands last week and is a 96-page, color digest selling for $3.95 and featuring 20 all-new comics stories starring everything from "The Incredibles" to "W.I.T.C.H.," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Freaky Friday" and "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" Disney Publishing says the magazine is targeted at ages 6-14 and has a circulation of 1.2 million and readership of 4 million, making its comic issue the biggest-selling comicbook in the U.S. in years.
DC has made official its new All-Star line of comics, which will feature top creators on top characters. The line, announced in Wizard Magazine #160, will see Jim Lee return to Batman and frequent collaborators Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely tackling Superman. The books are intended to appeal to new readers and will feature classic versions of the characters that will include things not seen in the current continuity. For example, Dick Grayson will be Robin in All-Star Batman and some of the pre-Crisis Superman elements such as the bottle city of Kandor will return.
Hot on the heels of the All-Star announcement came news Quitely has signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC, one of many creator shufflings and signings. Marvel announced it has signed artists Jae Lee and Mike McKone to deals, with McKone leaving his DC gig on Teen Titans to draw Fantastic Four for writer J. Michael Straczynski. Lee will start his three-year stint at Marvel with a Hulk story written by Peter David. A few notable creative shuffles: Mark Millar and Greg Land will take over Marvel's Ultimate Fantastic Four from Warren Ellis and Adam Kubert, starting with #19; John Byrne returns to the Man of Steel and will pencil Action Comics, which will be written by Birds of Prey scribe Gail Simone.
DC is going back to press yet again for a fourth printing on Green Lantern: Rebirth #1.
Dec 29, 2004 at 03:54 PM by Tom McLean in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 22, 2004
Christmas at My Comic Shoppe
A bunch of Christmas themed books hit the shelves just in time for the holiday, so we thought we'd take a look at them. But first, head over to Newsarama to download the new Christmas song "Alternate Cover" from Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada and his rock band, Idlechatter. Their song from last year provides the title for this post.
X-Men #165
Creators: Chris Claremont, writer; Salvador Larocca and Danny Miki, artists
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.25
So? Marvel's mutants have a not-undeserved reputation for being more morose than merry. That wasn't always the case and, in a tradition of mutant Christmas stories that began in 1976's X-Men #98, Chris Claremont gives us some nice character moments, pranks and shows these characters having fun for once. While the sheer number of characters in this book make it daunting for the uninitiated, those who remember the fun of the X-Men baseball games of X-Men annuals past will love it. That Larocca's art looks great and there's a few character plots advancing (however minimally) are icing on the cake of a nostalgic Christmas treat. Grade: A-
The Punisher: Red X-Mas
Creators: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, writers; Mark Texeira and Jimmy Palmiotti, artists
Marvel, 48 pages, color, $3.99
So? Even more morose than Xavier's mutants is Frank Castle, and the attempt to tell a Christmas story with the character here has resulted in a cliche-fest that struggles hard to not be a lump of coal. While seeing a Salvation Army Santa shed his red coat to blow away some mobsters is kind of fun, things degenerate as the mobsters' wives hire a female assassin from Italy to extract their revenge. Oddly enough for a Christmas special, the largest chunk of the story takes place around Times Square on New Year's Eve and becomes a surprisingly ordinary Punisher-shoots-everybody dead tale. Texeira and Palmiotti's art is nice, though a bit cramped and the dank colors muddy it up even more. Perhaps the more humorous approach of Garth Ennis could have made this a little less glum, but that possibility will have to wait until next year. Grade: C-
Jingle Belle #2
Creators: Paul Dini, writer, Jose Garibaldi and J. Bone, artists
Dark Horse, 32 pages, color $2.99
So? The second issue continues the strong start of the first. Dini has moved away from doing stories about Jing, who's Santa's teenage daughter, throwing tantrums and causing trouble, to more varied, character stories. This time, an author haunted by his brief meeting with Jing as a child seeks out stories from others who've met her through the years for a potential book project. The story is more dramatic than normal, but strikes the right emotional tone for the holidays. The backup Mutant, Texas story is worth a look, too. Grade: B+
The Goon #10
Creators: Eric Powell, writer and artist, with Thomas Lennon, writer.
Dark Horse, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? Adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" have become as much a holiday tradition as trees and presents. And if the opening page's description of "The Goon" adaptation as "a complete bastardization of a piece of classic holiday literature" raises your interest, you won't be disappointed. While not as funny as it could have been, this is still twisted in all the right places, down to the hysterically repetitive Peaches Valentine starring as Tiny Tim. Powell's pencil art and the color by Robin Powell is just right. Rounding out the package is a prose tale (with spot illos by Powell) of Franky's encounter with "Jimmy Turtle and the Legendary Boxcar of Well Made Ladies Shoes" by Thomas Lennon of "Reno 911" fame. Grade: B+
Dec 22, 2004 at 04:10 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 21, 2004
Supporting Roles
You have to be pretty alert these days to catch all the comicbook references that pop up in movies, on TV and even on DVD. These are beyond the multiple references you can catch on Fox's "The O.C." and The WB's "Jack & Bobby," both of which have comics fans in key staff roles. For example:
- A recent episode of NBC's "ER" saw Dr. Kovac, played by Goran Visnjic, and the son of Linda Cardellini's Samantha Taggart discussing comicbooks. Kovac finds him reading Eric Powell's "The Goon," which the boy says he chose because the store was sold out of "Hellboy."
- An episode on the recent DVD release of the TV series "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" titled "The Plot to Kill a City, Part 2" features a scene in an airport about 15 minutes in where you can hear an airport arrival announcement for Adam Strange and departures for Thanagar. Looks like someone on staff was a fan of silver age DC titles, though why they're thinking about comics when Erin Gray is running around in shiny, skin-tight spandex is still a mystery.
- It wasn't easy to catch the title of the comicbook Morgan Freeman's character is seen reading early on in the new Clint Eastwood pic, "Million Dollar Baby." But if you keep your eyes open, you'll catch that the comic in question is "Mystic" — looks like CrossGen made it to the big screen after all ...
Dec 21, 2004 at 03:48 PM by Tom McLean in Film | Permalink | Comments (1)
December 20, 2004
Big and Burly
Doc Frankenstein #1 & Shaolin Cowboy #1
Creators: Geoff Darrow, Steve Skroce, Andy and Larry Wachowski
Burlyman Entertainment, 32 pages each, color, $3.50
So? In crafting "The Matrix" trilogy of films, Andy and Larry Wachowski tapped heavily into their love of comics. It was there from the start, with the rare promo "Matrix" comic, the online comics and the involvement of top comics artists Geoff Darrow and Steve Skroce in key positions. Now that the films have come and gone, the Wachowskis seem pleased to escape film for the comics page. In their introduction to "Doc Frankenstein #1" they write:
"Comics, more than film, gave us an appreciation for the different ways that words and pictures can be used to tell a story. You can say what you want about the industry, but as an art form, the comic book is superior to film in our opinion because of the excessive compromises that must be made every single day on a film set."
"Doc Frankenstein," the first book in the Burlyman line, has a surprising sense of fun that many fans feel was notably lacking from the latter installments of "The Matrix." The series — concocted by Darrow and Skroce, with the latter doing the art chores while the brothers script the first issue — posits the Frankenstein monster as a near-immortal who has dispensed justice for more than a century in America and has become a modern superhero. He defends the president from giant monsters and lives in a city in the desert that he has made into a home for those who need it. The series has great potential, flashing back to the character's adventures in the Old West, making every era of U.S. history a potential backdrop for future adventures. In the present, Frankenstein is threatened by a radical and extremely well armed (they have their own air force!) religious group looking to smite him from the earth. The tone is surprisingly playful and Frankenstein makes for a likeable, intelligent and even good-humored hero. Skroce drew plenty of comics in the 1990s, most notably Marvel's "Gambit" and "Wolverine," before becoming the main storyboard artist for "The Matrix" films. His art here is excellent, with plenty of scope and showing real growth as a storyteller. The top-notch production values make for a nice package and a great read that makes the wait for the next bimonthly issue a long one.
Darrow scripts and draws "Shaolin Cowboy," with decidedly more mixed results. Darrow is best known for his collaborations with Frank Miller on the classic "Hard Boiled" and "Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot." Darrow began as an animator before turning toward European style comic art. He is one of the few American artists working in the European comics biz and lives in France. "Shaolin Cowboy" definitely has the look and style of a European album and retains the hyperdetail and violence of "Hard Boiled." For a first issue of an American-style comic book, however, there is not much else to judge here. The lead character is a quiet Chinese cowboy who rides a talking horse and is an expert in combat. The art is gorgeous, with the look an odd mix of modern times and remote deserts. The highlight of the issue is a huge panoramic panel that stretches across 10 pages with fascinatingly detailed drawings of an army villains out to get revenge on the hero. The story, however, is distant and so far impossible to figure out. The first few pages make it hard to figure out what's going on and it takes a while before it's clear the horse is talking, not the cowboy. Also, the paper and ink used to print the book have a strong and unpleasant odor. This is one that will have to offer up more of a story and define its characters to make a go of it. Grades: Doc Frankenstein #1 — A-; Shaolin Cowboy #1 — C+.
Dec 20, 2004 at 02:40 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (2)
December 17, 2004
Cool Effect
Diamond's sales ranking for November-shipping comics has come out. Marvel led DC 36%-31% in dollar share and 43%-34% in unit share. Here's the top 10 selling comics for the month:
1) Superman/Batman #13
2) Astonishing X-Men #6
3) Identity Crisis #6
4) Superman/Batman #14
5) Superman #211
6) Avengers #503
7) Avengers Finale #1
8) Ultimate Fantastic Four #13
9) Ultimate X-Men #53
10) Uncanny X-Men #452
All the numbers are up at Newsarama.
"Spider-Man 2" was announced today as one of the seven films that advance to the famed bakeoff for the best visual effects Oscar nomination. The other six contenders are "The Aviator," "The Day After Tomorrow," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "I, Robot," "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." While it was no surprise "Hellboy" didn't make the cut, the absence of "Van Helsing" is interesting. The three official nominees will be announced Jan. 25 and the winner will be announced Feb. 27.
David S. Goyer has signed on to write, produce and direct a feature film based on DC's classic speedster, "The Flash." The WB project will be overseen by Lynn Harris, who produced Goyer's most recent project, Marvel's "Blade: Trinity." Harris praised Goyer for his credibility with comics fans. In addition to writing all three "Blade" films, Goyer worked on the script for next summer's "Batman Begins" with director Christopher Nolan. He also has extensive comics writing experience, including runs on "Starman" and "JSA."
Italian thriller comicbook "Dylan Dog" is being developed into a CGI feature film by Platinum Studios, Reality Management and The Shop Animation Studio. Shop co-founder Ian Pearson will direct from a script he wrote with Gavin Blair.
Fox has tapped Sheldon Turner to write a script for a "Magneto" film, based on the "X-Men" villain played by Ian McKellan. Turner was inspired by the character's origins as a Holocaust survivor and set the film in the character's formative years with Professor X playing a prominent role. "I pitched a film that is almost 'The Pianist' meets 'X-Men,' about a guy who, after watching his family slaughtered, has an awakening of his powers and seeks revenge," Turner told Daily Variety. Film follows the pattern set by Fox in its plans to develop a "Wolverine" spinoff for star Hugh Jackman and the upcoming "Elektra," which was spun out of the "Daredevil" feature.
Marvel has signed a worldwide, multiyear deal granting mobile publishing rights to Mforma Group, which will create games, ringtones and other content based on Marvel's characters. Deal will include content related to upcoming Marvel pics "Elektra" and "Fantastic Four."
A preview of 2005 comics at Time.com spilled the beans on Marvel's plans to launch Ultimate Iron Man with scifi writer Orson Scott Card at the helm. Over at DC, the publisher signed an exclusive contract with artist Frank Quitely, amid speculation that he and past collaborator Grant Morrison are working on an ultimate-style version of Superman. Michael Bair, inker of the just-concluded Identity Crisis, extended his exclusive deal with the publisher for another year. Chuck Austen, meanwhile, has departed as writer of Action Comics.
An upcoming anime movie based on Santa Inoue's "Tokyo Tribes" has been licensed by MTV for realease in the U.S. The film is expected to be released in theaters in Japan in 2006; no plans have been announced for its release in the U.S. "Tokyo Tribes" is published in the U.S. by TOKYOPOP, which just announced it has sold 500,000 copies of its Cine-Manga title "SpongeBob Squarepants: Bikini Bottom's Most Wanted" Scholastic, the in-school book club.
Dec 17, 2004 at 05:35 PM by Tom McLean in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 16, 2004
Solid 'Proof'
Proof of Concept
Creators: Larry Young, writer; Damian Couceiro, Steven Sanders, Paul Tucker, Jeff Johns, John Flynn, John Heebink, Kieron Dwyer
AiT-PlanetLar, 136 pages, black and white, $12.95
So? This is an experiment, initiated by Larry Young, publisher of AiT-PlanetLar and one of comics greatest champions. A former retailer, Young launched his indie comics company with the motto of “Making Comics Better.” The result has been an eclectic and successful line of graphic novels and comics ranging from Young’s own “Astronauts in Trouble” and “Planet of the Capes” and giving new life to the likes of Brian Wood’s “Channel Zero” and Steven Grant’s “Badlands,” to impressive original work such as Warren Ellis’ “Switchblade Honey,” “White Death,” “Giant Robot Warriors,” “Hench,” “Last of the Independents” and the just-concluded “Demo.” His desire to spread the love of comics led him to write columns on how to publish comics, which of course he later put out as a handy pocket book called “True Facts.”
All this does lead back to “Proof of Concept” (click on images for a closer look), which Young inaugurated in an online column at Comic World News wherein he posted original, 12 page sample scripts for new artists to draw and promised to publish the best work submitted to him. “Proof of Concept” is the end result. It’s a book of five such scripts (plus the previously serialized “The Bod”) connected by a framing sequence starring Young pitching the ideas to his agent, well-known comicbook biz attorney Ken F. Levin. These are tastes of the kind of high-concept ideas Young likes and, even though the end result is naturally episodic, each has elements that make you wish the story would go on. Highlights were Zombie Dinosaur,” drawn by Steven Sanders with Jeff Johns, which features a team of hunters lead by a Bruce Willis lookalike hunting down fossilized dinosaurs that are mysteriously coming back to life; and “Emancipating Lincoln,” in which a man in a world where everyone’s a clone of Abraham Lincoln finds a $5 bill with his likeness on it and goes looking for answers.
It’s good that the book ends with “The Bod,” a multipart story that ran in the “Double Image” anthology a few years ago about a wannabe actress who becomes invisible and finds her star rising and falling in all-too-typical fashion, because it has enough resolution to keep it from being excessively episodic. The result is a book that, while not terribly deep, is still a pleasant enough diversion and a reminder that the potential of comics is barely tapped. Grade: B+
Dec 16, 2004 at 10:31 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0)
Close to Home
Identity Crisis #7
Creators: Brad Meltzer, writer; Rags Morales, Mike Bair, artists
DC Comics, 40 pages, color, $3.95
So? The mystery that has gripped the DC Universe for the past six months comes to an emotional and satisfying conclusion in the final issue of this event miniseries. Anticipation has been running high, with many issues going back to press more than once and eager fans champing at the bit Wednesday morning for the issue to go on sale.
Meltzer (co-creator of The WB TV series "Jack & Bobby") has used this series to justify the reason most heroes have for keeping their identities secret: the need to protect their loved ones. After one of those loved ones was killed in the first issue, the trail to the resolution led into some pretty dark and unexpected places for the bright heroes of the DC universe. The conclusion, like the beginning, is satisfying not because of who was killed or is found responsible, but in how closely the crime hits to the humanity behind the masks of these characters, exposing it in a way we haven't seen in a long time, if ever.
In the end, the DC heroes are more human, more heroic and more real than they were at the start of it. Add the suspense of knowing that the consequences of this series are a ticking timebomb that could drastically transform the DC Universe in the coming year (the rumors about more big events next summer are already stirring up fans), and this turns out to be one of the very few event comics that really delivers on its promise. Grade: A
Dec 16, 2004 at 04:32 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0)
From "Bullets" to Bats
Detective Comics #801
Creators: David Lapham, writer; Ramon Bachs and Nathan Massengill, artists.
DC Comics, 40 pages, color, $2.95
Reviewed by David Lewis
So? After the epic "War Games" story arc, DC pushes the Caped Crusader into bold new territory with a promising 12-parter called “City of Crime,” written by David Lapham (“Stray Bullets,” "Murder Me Dead"). Moving from his self-published titles back to the mainstream, Lapham brings a dark, volatile edge to Batman at a time when the character most needs it. Part one of "Crime Story" is an intense, pitch-black noir with Batman tracking down the killer of a teenage girl, as well as the dealer who supplied her last high. Lapham presents Gotham City as a Hellmouth teeming with thrill-killers, rapists and pedophiles, with nary a costumed villain in sight. Lapham's talent for penning realistic narration and kinetic action scenes makes a smooth transition from indie to DC. Though the art is suitably dark, it would’ve been a kick to see Batman done in the stark black and white style of “Stray Bullets.” Though he may not be able to push the envelope quite as far with "City of Crime," Lapham may yet prove to be a perfect fit for Batman. Grade: A-
Dec 16, 2004 at 04:09 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 09, 2004
Terrible ideas in comics
The folks in the Allspark forums and Something Awful were having a field day with old comic covers, so I thought I'd share. Take a gander: 
Dec 9, 2004 at 10:55 PM by Erin Maxwell in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (1)
Lois and Clark, fired?
Any journalists reading this probably already know who Jim Romenesko is. For those who don't know, he writes a news business column/blog for the Poynter Institute that is a great source for the ins and outs of the industry. Memos from newsrooms often are posted in the letters section, including the following comicbook-related item: a downsizing memo from Perry White to the staff of The Daily Planet. Read it here.
Dec 9, 2004 at 03:42 PM by Tom McLean in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)
Double Duty
The New Avengers #1
Creators: Brian Michael Bendis, writer; David Finch and Danny Miki, artists
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.25
So? This is one of those books that's nearly impossible to review. It's part one of a six-part story that will introduce the New Avengers, making it hard to judge the story with only a small part of it to review. On the other hand, it's a popular book that's very much on the minds of comics fans (Marvel has already sold out of its print run on the book) which makes it too big to ignore. The bottom line is this is a better read than Avengers Disassembled, the arc that cleared the deck for this new series. Finch's art in particular seems much improved, perhaps due to colorist Frankie D'Armata having figured out better ways to color it. The central action sequence, involving Spider-Man, Captain America and a supervillain jail break lead by Electro, is easier to follow and offers some impressive and memorable issues. And Bendis has more interesting places to go, now that he's got a clean slate to play with. We'll have to wait five months to see how well it pays off, but it's looking good at this point. Grade: B+
The Ultimates 2 #1
Creators: Mark Millar, writer; Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary, artists
Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? The same week Marvel relaunches the "regular" Avengers title, the "ultimates" version of the team kicks off its second series. In its first, 13-issue outing, The Ultimates was the most exciting and spectacular superhero title around. Millar's two arcs felt like the best kind of summer movie spectacular and Hitch retained his title as king of the "widescreen" comics he first claimed on "The Authority" by giving it all depth, realism and impact. The second series kicks off having lost nothing. Millar weaves the elements of classic Avengers stories into a completely new and immensely entertaining read, while Hitch is as good as he ever was, if not better. Special attention has to go to colorist Laura Martin, who gives each page an extra bit of sparkle. This book, unlike some issues of the previous run, is bright when it needs to be bright and demonstrates how remarkable subtle changes in color can make comics look. The only downside is having to wait for the next issue, especially knowing that softcover and oversize hardcover collections will inevitably make this look even better than it does now. Like X-Men was in 1980, this book is defining state of the art for superhero comics in 2004. Grade: A
Dec 9, 2004 at 02:26 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0)
On the Streets of L.A.
Manhunter #1-4
Creators: Marc Andreyko, writer; Jesus Saiz, Jimmy Palmiotti, artists
DC Comics, 32 pages, color, $2.50 each
So? There’s been something like four previous characters named “Manhunter,” with one — the Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson version from 1970s issues of Detective Comics — a bona fide classic. This time, writer Marc Andreyko takes a different turn and creates a female version based not in Gotham or Metropolis, but in L.A.
This Manhunter is Kate Spencer, a criminal prosecutor who tires of juries acquitting supervillains because they are genetic anomalies not responsible for their actions. Spencer uses her access to confiscated supervillain gear to take the law into her own hands. Spencer’s strong-willed to the point of obsession, a trait that has driven away her family and left her pretty much completely on her own. That goes for her vigilantism, too; there’s no Yoda-like mentor, quippy sidekick or tragic personal loss to help her through the day. 
That keeps the book grounded in the sort of realism that, combined with the sexually suggestive nature of the title and some of the art, would make “Manhunter” feel right at home nestled between “CSI” and “The Shield” on TV. Saiz is a great match for the story, with a good sense for staging both the drama and the gritty police action in the book. But for all its quiet strengths, the story has yet to show where it will go once it gets past the archetypal “hero learning the ropes” plot that’s been a comicbook staple since the early issues of “Spider-Man.” Here’s hoping the book finds that footing quickly enough to attract enough readers to get past the 12-issue mark. Grade: B+
Dec 9, 2004 at 01:26 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 07, 2004
Contract Mania
Hollywood's demand for comics has been heating up again. Witness the following deals:
- Renny Harlin has signed on to develop and direct "Full Moon Fever," a forthcoming comicbook written by Joe Casey and published by AiT-PlanetLar. The film will be produced by Daniel Alter and Adrian Askarieh, to whom Casey pitched the story at last summer's Comic-Con Intl.
- Dimension Films will develop a film a version of the Top Cow comics series "The Darkness." The deal was made through Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's Platinum Studios, which represents the Top Cow material in Hollywood. No writer, director or stars are attached yet, but "Darkness" also is being turned into a videogame by Majesco.
- Chris Columbus has signed on as the director of Marvel's "Sub-Mariner" film. He'll work from a script penned by David Self.
Speaking of Marvel, the House of Ideas has continued its recent run on exclusive creator contracts by signing artists Mark Brooks and Michael Lark and colorist Morry Hollowell. Brooks made a splash with his work on "Marvel Age: Spider-Man" and "Amazing Fantasy" and has a four-issue arc on "Amazing Spider-Man" in the works. Lark most recently was at DC on "Gotham Central." His work on past projects such as "Terminal City," "Scene of the Crime" and "Superman: War of the Worlds" earned him Eisner and Harvey award nominations. He will contribute to "Captain America," working with his former "Gotham" collaborator, writer Ed Brubaker. Hollowell began his career at CrossGen working on "Meridian" and colors Marvel Knights' "4" series.
And across town, "Birds of Prey" writer Gail Simone has extended her exclusive contract with DC Comics for two more years. In addition to "Birds," she will be writing an upcoming arc of "JLA: Classified."
Bob Haney, a Silver Age writer for DC whose credits include "Brave and the Bold" and "The Teen Titans," died at age 78 on Nov. 25 in El Cajon, Calif.
Dec 7, 2004 at 05:04 PM by Tom McLean in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 02, 2004
Bites and bits
Caught a screening of "Blade: Trinity" last night — courtesy of Jeff Goldsmith at Creative Screenwriting magazine — and it was a welcome relief from the onslaught of often over-serious awards movies. Wesley Snipes appears on screen and even occasionally speaks, but it's Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel who really make it work — Reynolds by giving the film its sense of humor and Biel by looking great while kicking vampire ass. This is, like previous "Blade" installments, a good action movie that won't blow your socks off but it's still entertaining and cool. Daily Variety's official review will appear in Friday's edition.
After the screening, writer and director David Goyer (who's penned his share of comicbooks) said he always had a rough plan for the "Blade" series and was glad he was able to direct this installment, which had a budget of $60 million. He says working on the script to next summer's "Batman Begins" with director Christopher Nolan was a challenge because of the fine line that has to be walked in terms of translating so well-known a character to the screen. There also was pressure from Warner Bros., which he says has made reviving the Batman and Superman franchise its top priority for the next decade. With Goyer saying the studio expects a successful "Batman" film to bring in a profit of $3 billion to $4 billion once all the movie tickets, toys, T-shirts and DVD are accounted for, Warners is obviously pretty serious about this.
On another note, the list of which films are eligible for which genre categories (drama or comedy-musical) for the upcoming Golden Globes awards are, to the say the least, interesting. Falling on the comedy-musical side are the likes of "After the Sunset," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," "Spider-Man 2" and "Catwoman." (It kinda makes sense for that last one; if you saw it, you know why.) On the drama side are "Blade: Trinity," "Hellboy," "The Day After Tomorrow," "Van Helsing," Kevin Smith's "Jersey Girl" and "The Punisher," which I think I laughed at more than any other film this year. That fake fire hydrant scheme was brilliant! Not sure why "Van Helsing" is drama and "Spider-Man 2" isn't. Maybe one of them will get a nomination and we can find out, but don't hold your breath.
Dec 2, 2004 at 04:23 PM by Tom McLean in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)
December 01, 2004
Judge duty
Two news items to report:
* The judges for the Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards were announced today, among them is this blog's main author, Tom McLean. Here's the press release with all the details:
The judges for the 2005 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards have been announced by Awards administrator Jackie Estrada. These five individuals come from a wide range of backgrounds and include a librarian, a well-known comics retailer, a cartoonist, and two writers for mainstream entertainment publications. The judges will be meeting in early April to determine the nominations for what are considered the “Oscars” of the comics industry. Ballots will then go out to the entire comics industry in May, and the recipients will be announced in a gala ceremony at Comic-Con International: San Diego in July.
The judges are:
Gib Bickel, co-owner of the The Laughing Ogre in Columbus, Ohio. Gib started reading comics with Amazing Spider-Man #148 and enjoys the comics medium more every year. He's a regular participant in The CBIA (Comic Book Industry Association) website and is on the Free Comic Book Day committee. He and his partners opened The Laughing Ogre in 1994; the store has won Best Comic Store in Columbus more than once in its ten years of operation.
Steve Conley, cartoonist, self-publisher, and online pioneer. He has written and illustrated his online and printed comics series Astounding Space Thrills since 1998 and has run the award-winning design studio Conley Interactive since 1996. In addition to his co-creation comicon.com, Conley owns and manages such comics-related websites as iCOMICS, BLOOP.tv, and The Pulse, a popular daily comics news site. He also serves as executive director of SPX, the Small Press Expo.
Katharine Kan, librarian/consultant. Kat has been a comics reader all her life. As a librarian working with teens, she saw the new graphic novels being published in the mid-1980s as perfect for them. She started writing the first column devoted to graphic novels in library literature, "Graphically Speaking," in 1994 (published in Voice of Youth Advocates). She has also been writing graphic novel reviews for Diamond Previews (posted at their Bookshelf website). Kat was a librarian in public libraries in Hawaii and Indiana from 1984 through 2002 and is now working as a freelance consultant, doing book selection for Brodart's book distribution division, specializing in graphic novels and young adult literature. She is also chair of the Graphic Novel Task Force for Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.
Tom McLean, associate editor in special reports at Variety. He oversees his share of the more than 180 specials published each year on topics as diverse as the Oscars, videogames, and film festivals. Tom has edited both of Variety's Comic-Con specials. Since joining Variety in 1999 he has written dozens of articles and also writes "Bags and Boards," Variety's daily weblog on the business of comics. A comics and sci-fi fan since his childhood in Edmonton, Canada, Tom has followed the comics industry since the mid-1980s. After earning a degree in journalism from the University of Arizona, he wrote his first professional article about comics—on the death of Superman in 1992—while on staff at a small Arizona newspaper.
Tom Russo, freelance writer/reviewer. He regularly covers comic book movies and related genres as a contributing writer for Entertainment Weekly and Premiere magazine. In recent years, he’s written production features on both Spider-Man movies and on Van Helsing; upcoming projects he’s covering include Sin City and Batman Begins. Tom reviews comics for EW and has also written for Wizard and, back in the day, Marvel Age.
“The judges are chosen for their knowledge about comics, their wide-ranging tastes, and their impartiality,” says Estrada. Because publishers and creators have the opportunity to submit their work for consideration, the judges are able to look at the full spectrum of material published in the previous year. The 2005 Call for Entries will be sent out to publishers in early January and will be posted on the Comic-Con International website (www.comic-con.org).
Being asked to serve as an Eisner judge is a real honor and I look forward to what will surely be lively discussions about the best work being done in comics today.
* Irwin Donenfeld, an executive with DC Comics who guided the company from 1948 through the late 1960s, died of heart failure at age 78 Tuesday in Connecticutt. Donenfeld is the son of Harry Donenfeld, who founded the company as National Periodical Publications. He applied himself mostly to the business and editorial operations at the company.
Dec 1, 2004 at 03:35 PM by Tom McLean in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0)
Holiday cheer
Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle #1
Creators: Paul Dini, writer; Jose Garibaldi, Stephanie Gladden, artists
Dark Horse, 32 pages, color, $2.99
So? Santa Claus’ teenage daughter returns in a four-issue miniseries that is a welcome early present. Dini, best known for his work on the “Batman” animated series and now writing for ABC’s hit TV series “Lost,” has a great perennial concept here. This issue has Jing trying to get her own classic holiday special, only to find that after the ever-smiling network execs are done with it that it’s far from classic. There’s tons of nods to everything from the Rankin-Bass greats to the favorite special of geeks everywhere: the 1978 “Star Wars Holiday Special.” Garibaldi does a great job on the art and the whole book benefits greatly from the addition of color. The backup story, starring Jing’s pal, Halloween witch Polly Green, has fun mixing holidays and has appealing art from Gladden. Grade: A
Frank Ironwine #1
Creators: Warren Ellis, writer; Carla Speed McNeil, artist
Avatar Press, 32 pages, black and white, $3.50
So? The first of Ellis’ first issues for an imaginary line of comics called Apparat, "Frank Ironwine" turns today’s cop conventions on its ear, eschewing the procedurals of “CSI” for a more intuitive approach to detective work. Ironwine is, like most of Ellis’ heroes, fond of heavy drinking and not so good at such niceties as personal hygiene or being polite. Assigned a new tagalong partner, Karen De Groot, Ironwine unravels his case in a bizarre fashion most like that of “Colombo” (a show to which Ellis confesses his affection for on the text page). McNeil, best known for her own book “Finder” and a stint on "Queen & Country" does a fine job on the art, giving the book a sketchy, urban feel and fluid storytelling. It’s a shame Apparat is just an experiment; while he's a cliche Ellis character, Frank’s the sort of guy who could grow on you if he were to stick around a bit longer. Grade: B+
Dec 1, 2004 at 03:13 PM by Tom McLean in Reviews | Permalink | Comments (0)
