It's Still a Marvel Movie World

The big surprise at the weekend box office wasn't that "Iron Man" came out on top again, but that "Speed Racer" debuted in a distant third place. Best known as an anime TV series, the film version of "Speed Racer" is heavily influenced by manga, with the argument and the proof summed up well by the folks at Frames Per Second. ... Marvel's plans to crossover its characters as a setup for its planned "Avengers" pic appear to be further along that previously thought, with eagle-eyed fans spotting what could be Captain America's shield in an "Iron Man" workshop scene. Rumors are that another Cap setup will be worked into "The Incredible Hulk," which already is rumored to have Robert Downey Jr. playing Stark in a cameo. ... The Toronto Star's Paul Corupe looks back at the time when Marvel's movies weren't so spectacular, with yours truly filling in some of the details.

NON-MARVEL MOVIE NEWS: In non-Marvel comics movie news, Platinum Studios and Top Cow are teaming up with Arclight Films to take another stab at a "Witchblade" movie. Property had previously been in development as a pair of pics a few years back, and prior to that was a live-action skein on TNT that is coming to DVD in July. Most recently, an anime version was produced in Japan. ... E! Online is only the most recent to wonder where all the DC movies are. ... Producer Joel Silver is trying to answer that question, telling Ain't It Cool News that he's close to making a "Sgt. Rock" movie, based on the classic DC war comic, with Guy Ritchie directing. ... He may not don the Man of Steel's cape again until next year, but Brandon Routh has signed on to star in "Dead of Night," based on the Italian P.I. comicbook "Dylan Dog" for Hyde Entertainment and Platinum Studios. ... The Guardian says moviegoers will soon be treated to the cinema's first French superhero, "Vendome."

FROM COMICS TO CANNES (WITH CLINT!): Writer J. Michael Straczynski was on hand at last weekend's Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, ostensibly to talk about his upcoming work for DC on "The Brave and the Bold." Instead, the creator of "Babylon 5" talked more about his movie work, including "The Changeling," the Clint Eastwood-directed pic showing shortly at Cannes that JMS wrote. "I'm the first comics guy to have a film at the Cannes Film Festival," he told fans with a smile. 

EISNER EVENT: Storyopolis in Studio City has set a special one-night exhibit honoring the works of Will Eisner on May 28. Event is held in conjunction with the Assn. of Booksellers for Children and The Denis Kitchen Art Agency, and is timed to coincide with the trade show Book Expo America. Details on the event can be found here.

Director Donner's 'Action' tale wraps at last - Reviews for 5-8-08

Action Comics Annual #11 (DC, $4.99) wraps up the long-delayed "Last Son of Krypton" story co-written by "Superman: The Movie" director Richard Donner. Despite the delay, this was a very satisfying ending with some truly epic art by Adam Kubert marred only by what seem like some coloring glitches. ... DC Universe #0 (DC, 50 cents) is a low-cost primer for fans old and new in advance of Final Crisis, and as such is more of a recap than an actual story. The big thing with this issue is the return of a long-missing fan-favorite character, though the execution of it is implied to the point where it's not clear how many people would have really understood that was the point without all the surrounding hype.

Invincible Iron Man #1 (Marvel, $2.99) kicks off the Golden Avenger's second ongoing series with a smart script from Matt Fraction and fantastic looking art from Salvador Larocca. This is the sort of book that might have a real chance at convincing moviegoers to pick up a comic and stick with it. ... Logan #3 (Marvel, $3.99) is a disappointing conclusion to the Brian K. Vaughan-Eduardo Risso collaboration. The Hiroshima idea that seemed so cool in the first issue has degenerated into a strange and sadly routine fight in which Logan's nemesis rips out his heart and eats it — an attack that merely slows down the mutant and points up how invincible and unable to be put in serious jeopardy the character has become.

Glamourpuss #1 (Aardvark-Vanaheim, $3), Dave Sim's follow-up to 300 issues of Cerebus, isn't really a story as much as a parody of fashion magazines and discussion of the photorealistic comics artwork of Alex Raymond, John Prentice, Al Williamson and Neal Adams. Sim's recreations of specific panels in this style and his own fashionplate illustrations are stunning, making this a book that really is all about the art. ... Local #11 (Oni Press, $2.99) is the best issue to date of the series, with a Toronto art student forcing wandering protagonist Megan to face the artifacts of her life. Ryan Kelly really outdoes himself on the art, which is expessive, detailed and distinct.

From the graphic novel pile, comes X-O Manowar: Birth (Valiant Entertainment, $24.95), which includes the first six issues of the classic series as well as issue #0 and a new short story. The story mixes Conan and Iron Man to produce a satisfyingly cool hero. The art ranges from serviceable to fantastic, with #0 featuring one of the early bravura efforts from Marvel editor in chief Joe Quesada and his frequent collaborator, Jimmy Palmiotti. The recoloring job is good, though it's always a shame when such a nice package shows at times the ragged line reproduction common to not having original art or film to work from.

Revealed: Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus

The cover of the new issue of Comic-Con Magazine includes a first look at Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus in Frank Miller's film adaptation of "Will Eisner's The Spirit." The free mag includes an interview with Miller should be easily found at your local comic shop or in the mail if you're a regular attendee of the show.

'Spirit' an early gift - News for 5/7/08

Lionsgate has moved up the release of "Will Eisner's The Spirit" to Dec. 25 from Jan. 16. This seems to be a vote of confidence for the film, which is Frank Miller's solo directorial debut, as it moves the film squarely into holiday season and even Oscar eligibility. ... CAA has signed on to represent the estate of "Spirit" creator Will Eisner and his extensive catalog of graphic novels. ... Lionsgate has optioned another comics property, this time it's Victor Carungi's "Pencilneck," published by Paper Street Comics.

SUPERHERO MOVIE MANIA: The success of "Iron Man" has resulted in some title changes at Marvel Studios, where Kevin Feige is now president and David Maisel continues as chairman. ... "Superman Returns" star Brandon Routh tells IGN he expects to begin shooting the sequel in early 2009. 

LIVE COMICS EVENTS: Longtime comics journo and commentator Blair Marnell is back with a new site and project called "Comics on Comics."  The main attraction is a video podcast in which three standup comics and one comicbook creator discuss the comics news of the week a la Bill Maher's "Real Time" or "Politically Incorrect." The first show will be recorded tonight at 7 at Meltdown in Hollywood, featuring comics scribe Brian Lynch (Angel: After the Fall) and comedians Chris Mancini, Ken Cosby and Pat Evans. The public is invited to attend the free event. ... The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe opens what sounds like a fascinating exhibit called "Comic Art Indigene" on the influence of comics on American Indian artists. A preview is set for Saturday, with opening day Sunday, May 11. ... A theatrical performance of Alan Moore's epic poem, "The Mirror of Love," is set for June 12 and 14 at the Armory Ballroom in Macon, Ga. Jose Villarrubia, who took the photographs for the Top Shelf book, will be signing at both perfs. ... The BEAT covers the debut of the "Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York over a trilogy of posts.

SCREENINGS: The Los Angeles Film Festival will be bookended by comic flicks, with "Wanted" opening the fest on June 19 and "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army" closing it on June 29. ... Anime fans will want to take note of some upcoming special screening: the live-action version of "Death Note" is set to screen at more than 300 theaters nationwide, including 20 in the L.A. area, on May 20 and 21. The anime film "Bleach: The Movie — Memories of Nobody" will screen in similar fashion on June 11-12. Details, including specific venues and tickets, available at Fathom Events.

SUPERMAN FANS PROTEST: With the huge success of "Iron Man" and the subsequent announcement of release dates for a bunch of Marvel movies through 2011 has a lot of fans wondering how DC Comics and its parent company Warner Bros. have fallen so far behind in the comics movie derby. If Marvel can do "Iron Man," why can't DC/WB do something similar with say, The Flash or Green Lantern? Even with "The Dark Knight," for which everyone seems to have sky-high expectations, fans are down on DC movies. One site, www.savesuperman.com has started a petition and campaign aimed at convincing WB to completely reboot the Superman film franchise rather than proceed with another outing from director Bryan Singer and star Brandon Routh. A separate petition also is pushing "Smallville" star Tom Welling to play the Man of Steel. Taking a cue from the WGA's pencil tactic, fans also are contributing money to a campaign called "Stop the Monkey Business," which will send 6-inch stuffed monkeys to WB execs Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov. Monkeys go out with a sign that includes the sender's choice of a Superman logo or "Welling for Superman."

COMICS PROJECTS: Here's our annual update on Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine, direct via email from writer and "Lost" exec producer Damon Lindelof: "Marvel has all the issues through five.  I'm completing six by Memorial Day." ... EW continues to be a big venue for promoting comics, with Marvel releasing the first look at new Spider-Man villain Anti-Venom and DC serving up a preview of Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones' Final Crisis, complete with Morrison's original script. ... Danny Simmons (older brother of Run DMC's Rev Run and Def Jam mogul Russell Simmons) has adapted his 2003 novel "Three Days as the Crow Files" into a graphic novel titled "'85," published by Simon & Schuster. Blogger Michael A. Gonzeles reports on the duo's recent signing at Forbidden Planet and some interesting background on the duo and their project here.  ... Image Comics says Jason Howard and Robert Kirkman's Astounding Wolf-Man series is going monthly, starting in June. ... The May contenders are up over at Zuda Comics. April's winner is "Melody," by Ilias Kyriazis of Athens, Greece. ... Across the pond, AAM Markosia will debut its new series Lazarus: Immortal Coils at this weekend's Bristol Comic Expo. ... DC Comics is teaming up with children's book publisher Stone Arch to create illustrated chapter books for kids starring Superman and Batman. ... Radical Comics is changing the name of its Steve Niles sci-fi series from Khrome to City of Dust, after Marc Patten of Destination Entertainment informed the company he had a series by that name.

CON FUND RAISER: The Hero Initiative's Hulk #1 Project is coming to Emerald City Comic Con this weekend. The project, similar to last year's Ultimate Spider-Man #100 Project, features 100 copies of the recent Hulk #1 comic with special covers featuring original art from some of the industry's top talents. The books will be auctioned off The first 50 of 100 covers will be on display at the con, where the org also is auctioning lunch with DC exec editor Dan Didio.

COMICS TECH: Dennis Budd and Joe Caramagna have signed a deal for Platinum Studios to create mobile phone content based on their indy comic "Model Operandi." ... Hands-On Mobile is creating the phone content, including games, for Marvel's "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk." ... Archaia Studios Press has begun releasing its series Artesia on free download service Wowio. The publisher plans to put more of its books on the site, which has a nice selection of free comics to read.

"Iron" a precious metal for Marvel

Who would have thought iron would be worth so much gold?

As you've likely already heard, "Iron Man" was a smash hit its debut frame taking in $104 million domestically and about $97 million abroad for an impressive total north of $200 million. Not a bad start for a movie that Reuters (via Yahoo!) says cost Marvel about $150 million to make and $75 million to market.

The movie itself is remarkable for a number of things, most notably it being perhaps the purest adaptation of a comicbook superhero to screen ever accomplished. The little things that drive fans nuts are all in the right place — everything from the armor A.I. being named "Jarvis" to seeing a "Roxxon" building in the background of the freeway fight and Terrence Howard's Rhodey looking at a suit of armor and saying, "Next time." As critics have been saying (mostly), the big stuff all works too, with Robert Downey Jr. making an ideal Tony Stark, the writers turning in an entertaining script and excellent visual effects that avoid looking too much like a videogame about 95 percent of the time. In all, it's excellent as an "Iron Man" film and very good as an overall movie.

If you didn't stick around through the credits, you missed a very cool tag scene featuring a certain SHIELD director, played by Samuel L. Jackson. If you did miss it, then Marvel's 1st quarter report this morning contains some relevant spoiler material, as the company announced "Iron Man 2" will come out April 30, 2010, with "Thor" to debut on June 4, 2010, followed in 2011 by "Captain America: The First Avenger" on May 6 and "The Avengers" in July. While that means Marvel itself won't produce any pics for 2009, Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" will ensure a steady stream of Marvel movies at the box office.

Meanwhile, that financial report shows Marvel beating expectations on its 1st quarter results. The report shows a drop in revenues attributed to a decline in Spider-Man licensing over last year, when "Spider-Man 3" was gearing up. Publishing results were down $1 million, or about 4 percent, based largely on strong sales last year of Civil War and the death of Captain America.