Monthly Archive: June 2007

Elric Of Hollywood

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  • June 9, 2007

elric7-2567137Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné, star of at least a half-dozen novels (with Moorcock it’s kind of hard to count) plus numberous crossover appearances in other Moorcock books, plus numerous comics, plus at least two CD novels, is heading for the big screen at long last.

According to the British publication Empire Online,  Chris and Paul  Weitz will  adapt the initial origin-like sequence.  It’s hard to call Elric a "hero," at least not in any traditional sense.  "Of the great classic fantasy series, it’s the one that hasn’t been done yet," Chris Weitz told Empire Online. "My brother, Paul, and I liked those books growing up, and we’ve met Michael Moorcock, and he trusts us to take those books forward."  The Weitz brothers’ Depth of Field production company will develop the adaptation, although no director is yet attached. "I’d really like it if my brother directed them," Chris said.

Happy birthday, George Perez!

There are artists who skimp on backgrounds, and there are artists who put in extra stuff in the backgrounds. And then there are guys who put so much extra stuff in that you go blind looking at every little piece and you need a key to find it all.

And then there’s George Pérez.

jla_avengers_3_full_cover-6431057

A happy birthday to one of the most generous guys in the business, the guy who made more kids go "whoa, I wanna draw like that!" than anybody I can think of. If you feel like giving a present, why don’t you make a contribution to The Hero Initiative, where George is the co-chair of the Fund Disbursement Board?

MARTHA THOMASES: Gangster of Love

martha100-8677944This may come as something of a shock, but tomorrow night is the last episode of The Sopranos.

Now, I’m not the world’s most dedicated fan. I came late to the party, not tuning in regularly until the second season. I tend to be suspicious of critical darlings, afraid they might be uplifting and good for me, or depressing and bleak. However, in this case, my husband and my son were both enthusiastic, I recognized the name of creator David Chase from The Rockford Files, and so, one night, I didn’t get out of my chair when the distinctive theme song came on.

It would be nice if I could say that I was hooked on the brilliant acting, the profound scripts, even the incredibly realistic portrait of middle-class values in New Jersey. That would be a lie. I tuned in to watch Michael Imperioli, because I thought he was really cute.

Over the years, though, I got sucked in. Watching these characters week in and week out (not counting the breaks that lasted over a year) helped me to identify with them. No, I’m not part of organized crime, but I, too, tend to offer my loved ones food when they come to tell me about their problems. I’m not a hired killer, but I’ve been angry enough to want to take someone out to the woods and leave them there.

Serial fiction, like soap opera, comics and Harry Potter books, are especially good at enmeshing the audience with the cast of characters. What The Sopranos has done so well with the form is to take people who are evil, who kill and steal, and make them so mundanely human.

When I read a Superman comic every week, I feel like I’m spending time with a friend I’ve known since I was five years old. He’s in the media in a major media market, probably knows a bunch of the same people I know. Bruce Wayne has a penthouse in midtown, and is a big part of the city’s party circuit, a beat I’ve covered. The Legion of Super-Heroes is like a big dorm, and I lived in dormitories through high school and college.

So, even extremely unrealistic comic book characters present no challenge to me. I can bond with them no matter how inane nor how two-dimensional the writing. Even though they have super-powers (or at least super-human self-discipline), I can find things in common that make it possible for me to relate to them.

But Tony Soprano? He lives in (gasp!) New Jersey! He works in a strip club. Both of those things put me off, even before we get to the guns and the beatings. Carmella wears a lot of make-up, has lunch with her lady friends a lot, and seems to care about jewelry. These are not qualities common to my friends or me. How do I relate?

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Daredevil’s worst day? Wait until dark…

waituntildark-1636337dd98pg02-7857451Johanna Draper-Carlson picks up on what was bugging me about this PR piece from Marvel about Daredevil #98:

Received in email under the subject line “Will Daredevil’s Wife Survive?”

Karen Page. Elektra. All the women Matt Murdock has loved have been violently taken from him, victims of unspeakable tragedies and in Daredevil #98, his wife Milla Donovan may be next! The Gladiator has returned, more enraged and brutal than ever, with one purpose in mind: making Matt Murdock suffer! With the defender of Hell’s Kitchen in police custody and the Gladiator alone with a terrified Milla, things aren’t looking good for the wife of Daredevil…and history isn’t on her side either. The penultimate chapter of “To The Devil, His Due” will have huge ramifications for Daredevil as he races towards the milestone Daredevil #100.

The Eisner-nominated team of Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and Stefano Gaudiano continue to earn acclaim for their run on Daredevil. “Brubaker, Lark, and Gaudiano tell a gripping tale that moves at a frenetic pace,” said Richard Renteria of Newsarama.Com, who also praised the series as one “that never slows down the story and makes the reader feel as if they are in for the ride of their lives.” …

With his wife’s life in peril and seemingly no way to reach her, Daredevil may be headed for the worst day in life. One thing’s for sure—by the end of this issue, no one’s going to be the same!

Daredevil’s worst day? What about Milla’s? Oh, don’t mind her, she’s not the title character, she’s just something to be fought over.

I really admire Marvel’s cahones… not only are they selling a book based on “the woman might die!”, they start off by pointing out how many times they’ve used the same plot point before with this character…. I can’t decide which is stupider, the tasteless emphasis on killing the wife or the repetitiveness of how stale this feels.

It is stale… in this case, it’s lifted straight out of Wait Until Dark, right down to Milla’s Audrey Hepburn-esque hairdo. But yes, as bad as it is for Jack Bauer, it’s not nearly as bad as it is for Teri Bauer. Remember her?

Rewriting Spider-Man 3

Tom The Bomb has some interesting ideas on what should have been in Spider-Man 3, along with many of the problems in the film:

  • They did it AGAIN. Sandman is a criminal just to raise cash for his sick daughter? Geez, why don’t they just pit Spidey against Robin Hood? Maybe the Dalai Lama could become Electro to free Tibet. At least they didn’t make Flint Marko crazy — he’s too good at pulling himself together! (Rim shot) But he’s still too sympathetic.
  • Evil Harry winds up not evil once he sees the error of his ways — that is, once Accomplice Butler Guy reveals something he could have told Harry two movies ago.

What are some of your ideas? Feel free to discuss in comments. And it’s been a month, so it’s a spoiler-friendly zone. You’ve been warned.

Bookstore owner burning his own books

AP via CNN: Tom Wayne has amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 years he has run his used book store, Prospero’s Books.

His collection ranges from best sellers, such as Tom Clancy’s "The Hunt for Red October" and Tom Wolfe’s "Bonfire of the Vanities," to obscure titles, like a bound report from the Fourth Pan-American Conference held in Buenos Aires in 1910. But when he wanted to thin out the collection, he found he couldn’t even give away books to libraries or thrift shops; they said they were full.

So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books in protest of what he sees as society’s diminishing support for the printed word.

"This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today," Wayne told spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books…. He said he envisions monthly bonfires until his supply — estimated at 20,000 books — is exhausted.

And it hasn’t been all that healthy for things adapted from books either, as we see that ABC has shelved six completed episodes of a series called Masters Of Science Fiction, adapting stories from Robert Heinlein, John Kessel, Harlan Ellison, with Stephen Hawking as host and narrator. All this so we can get things like America’s Bingo Night and Dancing With The Stars.

MICHAEL DAVIS: Bad Boys For Life

michael-davis100-8878627I was talking to Kevin McCarthy a day or so ago about writing another book for me at The Guardian Line. He’s doing a fantastic job on The Seekers and has done great work for most of the major publishers in comics for a while now. If you don’t know Kevin’s work, you should. He is without a doubt one of the most talented and original people working in comics today. He is a GREAT writer and just as talented as an artist. In fact I would say that Kevin is on the leading crest of creators today.

While talking to him I realized that one of the things I don’t do enough of is talk to creators about the process. I miss the days when I could just sit down and make up a universe or develop a story line. I spend more time dealing with the “deals” in comics and television than I do actually working on the “idea.”

That sucks.

The single greatest thing about working in any creative field is the creative process itself. To sit in a room and just make things up is so unbelievable cool that words fail to describe the feeling when things are just right. Talking to Kevin made me wish for the days when I could just sit down and write a story. This got me thinking about just how long I have known Kevin and how we met. We met because someone introduced me to him and he became part of my life and I his as a mentor.

Late last week I sat down with Marv Wolfman and Len Wein to talk about a business deal. Sitting with us was a young lady who was taking notes. I am a mentor to this person. She asked some really great questions and had some real cool insights. Marv, Len and I were happy to have her there but she was ecstatic about sitting with legends…and with me. Truth be told, at that time during that meeting we were all her mentors and she appreciated our knowledge and was humbled in our presence. OK, she was humbled in Marv and Len’s presence and I just happened to be there…it was my house.

This young lady will soon turn the world of comics and illustration on its ear with her original take on the medium. Like Kevin McCarthy she is a fresh face with fresh ideas that our industry needs. It’s amazing to think that Marv and Len have created some of the biggest icons on the planet between them and they still take the time to share that knowledge with younger people.

Over the years I have seen these guys take the time to talk to many young people about the industry. I have watched time and time again how their information lit up the faces of those they were talking to. I’ve been around a bit but there are some people I still consider mentors: Paul Levitz, Mike Richardson, Mike Gold and Jim Shooter to name a few.

Each of those guys has taken me aside on more than one occasion and shared their valuable insight with me. I remember one Comic Con years ago I was standing with Paul Levitz in a hotel bar when a young colorist confronted me. He told me that I was an idiot for letting a writer go on a project and that I was using his (the colorist) name to promote myself. He said some other things that were just as bad. I was about to respond like he was a Crip and I was a Blood when Paul placed his hand on my shoulder and quietly shook his head “no.” When the colorist walked away (like the little bitch he was, yes I’m still pissed) Paul said to me, “It comes with the job, Michael. The bigger you are the bigger the target on your back becomes.” He was so right.

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Sending candy bars to CW to save Veronica Mars

kristenbellleia-1762550Since it worked so well for Jericho, there’s another grassroots campaign in the works – this time, people are sending Mars bars to CW president Dawn Ostroff in an attempt to save Veronica Mars.

The Indian Food Store is collecting many many many Mars bars from around the world and sending them to Ms. Ostroff with a note that reads: "Veronica Mars: More Addictive Than Chocolate! Satisfy our craving for Season 4!" They got over 600 orders in the first three hours, and will probably get many more as the word gets out.

Mmmmm… Kristen Bell and chocolate…. <insert Homer Simpson gurgle here>

Yes, and we’re not above running the picture of Kristen Bell in the Leia outfit to get your attention. If need be, we also have the cheerleader and leather outfits. But only if you save the show.

Hat tip: Lisa Sullivan. For the story only. The photos are mine. Mine, do you hear?!?

Muppet Star Wars Figures Coming

muppetstarwars-5747998Greetings! We here at Muppet Labs have discovered a new way to separate money from your wallet. Using an advanced stimulus-response mechanism called "the Force" and combining it with marketing techniques and a dash of paprika to create the ultimate in licensing tie-ins! My assistant, Beaker, will demonstra– no, no, Beaker, be careful with that lightsaber!

Speaking of stimulus-response, we’ll also be using mice to create versions of these action figures, along with ducks and dogs.

We anticipate great success. This continues with our earlier experiments in turning Muppets into human beings, as witnessed by the transformation of myself, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, into a correspondent and resident expert for The Daily Show…

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