Monthly Archive: March 2008

New at ComicMix: Comic Reader Updates and More!

  • News
  • March 20, 2008

If you’re a faithful reader of ComicMix (and we hope you are), you may have noticed that we didn’t post the new episode of Simone & Ajax: The Case of the Maltese Duck. It’s not because anything bad happened to our favorite dinosaur and his cute friend Simone. We’re giving Andrew and Jason a bit of a breather.

However, we have just installed some new bells and whistles to the site that will make it more fun for you to use.

You know how they made a hit television show out of the premise that you want to go to a place where everybody knows your name? Well, ComicMix now remembers how you like to read your comics. When you set a preference for single pages or double-page spreads or for a certain degree of magnification, that’s how the settings will stay, until you choose to change them again. And you can bookmark individual pages – if you want to check out page 3 of Simone & Ajax: The Case of the Maltese Duck, you can now do so directly.

You say you want more? Well, coming up in the near future we’ve got a couple of massive additions to our site – a world of entirely new features – and we’ll be bringing back Munden’s Bar and Black Ice, as well as starting up Giordano/McLaughlin/Holroyd’s White Viper and Trevor Von Eeden’s The Original Johnson. Plus new outings from John Ostrander and Ian Gibson and Joanna Estep… and more. A whole LOT more.

Stay tuned.

IDW Announces ‘Transformers: All Hail Megatron’ Maxi-Series

  • News
  • March 20, 2008

Following up on last month’s release of untitled, yet very cool promotional art featuring Transformers villain Megatron, IDW Publishing today announced it will be bringing a new chapter in the Transformers saga to the shelves of your local comics shops in the form of a 12-part maxi-series called Transformers: All Hail Megatron.

IDW, whose titles also include other Transformers books, Angel: After the Fall, 30 Days of Night and Fallen Angel, is planning for a June release for issue #1 of the comic.

According to the release, the maxi-series will take the Transformers:

"… in a new direction courtesy of writer Shane McCarthy and artist Guido Guidi. Together, they tell the tale of an Earth decimated by the DECEPTICONS. Where are the AUTOBOTS, and how did they come to be exiled from Earth? Who has changed sides, who will live, and who will die? These questions, as well as the introduction of an all-new TRANSFORMERS character, will be answered in the pages of the series."

Series writer McCarthy is very excited about the new story:

“This thing is going to knock the fans’ socks off,” McCarthy says. “This is exactly the kind of story I’ve always wanted to see done, and I think the fans will be right there with me.”

IDW head honcho Chris Ryall is equally enthusiastic about Transformers: All Hail Megatron: 

“ALL HAIL MEGATRON is what the AUTOBOTS fought so hard to prevent, the ultimate culmination of MEGATRON’s plans. It’s destruction on a grand scale; it’s a story of sacrifice, lost heroism, betrayal, and hopefully at the end, renewal.

 

BBC Schedules ‘Doctor Who’ Season Four

  • News
  • March 20, 2008

The BBC has confirmed that the fourth season of Doctor Who will premiere sometime during the week beginning April 5 on BBC One.

Season Four pairs David Tennant as the Doctor with a new companion in Catherine Tate, who reprises her role as "Runaway Bride" Donna Noble.

From the BBC synopsis of the season premiere, titled "Partners in Crime":

Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again – even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose, as Russell T Davies’s Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama returns for a fourth series. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins?

Although the actual date/time of the premiere has not been announced, it’s widely speculated that the premiere will air on BBC One around 7 PM on Saturday, April 5.
 

 

(via OutpostGallifrey)

ComicMix Radio: Four-Color Broadcasts!

We kick off spring with the perfect soundtrack for your drive in the country: a comic book radio show; plus:

— Harry Potter films – and now there are eight…

— IDW expands the fate of Angel with Spike:AfterThe Fall

— X-Men, Wolverine and Teen Iron Man… on TV

—  And yet another new trivia question that is worth an  exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant – and you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

The Black Hood sez: Just Press The Button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-2842028 or RSS!

 

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for March 20, 2008

  • News
  • March 20, 2008

After skipping town last week, I’m back with an all-new spate of reviews for this week’s comics issues. Lots of super hero fare this week, with a few studs and a whole lot of "meh."

Book of the Week: Captain America #36 — I know, I know. Not a very out-there choice. But, c’mon, this is simply the best superhero book coming out right now. Ed Brubaker sets it up perfectly to test Bucky, the new Cap, by pitting him against some serious supervillains. And we get to see how Bucky is different from Steve Rogers, for good and bad.

And while Bucky brawls his way through that challenge, the defining moment of the issue comes when Bucky can’t summon the Captain America aura to calm a riotous crowd. And, if that’s not enough, Butch Guice’s fill-in art is so good that I didn’t realize he’d replaced Steve Epting until I looked back at the credits.

Oh, and then – SPOILER – there’s that little cliffhanger that a certain dead person might not be so certainly dead.

Runners Up:

The Brave and the Bold #11 — Here’s another "can’t go wrong" series (at least until Mark Waid jumps ship). The Challengers see just how tough Megistus is (and just how crazy), then Superman and Ultraman have a zany little team-up only after Ultraman impersonates Clark and runs roughshod through the Daily Planet newsroom. The too-big, too-fun antics culminate in one of those straight-from-the-silver-age moments, when Megistus throws a Green Lantern (the actual lantern, not a hero) into the sun and turns it green. Bad news for Ultraman and Superman.

The Immortal Iron Fist #13 — I’d be calling this book the best of the week if it weren’t for a weaker than usual outing from artist David Aja. His work isn’t as polished as usual, which means it’s still decent but not great. That aside, this Seven Cities of Heaven storyline is finally coming together in a big way. What’s really remarkable about this issue is how Brubaker and Matt Fraction keep up the excitement with only a couple punches thrown. It’s a perfect setup to the big brouhaha coming down the pike next issue, and offers the line of the week when Danny finally reveals his plan to the villainous Xao: "So we can get out, you dumb son of a bitch."

(more…)

‘King of the Hill’ Parodies ‘Invincible’ Comic

  • News
  • March 20, 2008

King of the Hill, the Emmy award-winning animated television series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, gave a sly wink to comic books on their Sunday, March 16 episode "Behind Closed Doors."

The soft-satirical parody of Texas middle America found housewife Peggy Hill questioning her family’s unity. When entering son Bobby’s room, she finds him reading "Unvincible," a comic that bears a striking similarity to Image’s Invincible by Robert Kirman and Cory Walker.

This is not big, breaking news but ComicMix thinks it’s pretty cool that instead of taking the easy mainstream route of spoofing Superman or Spider-Man, the show wore its comic book fan pride by choosing one of the great indie superheroes.

Faith Based Economics, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • March 20, 2008

333832254_1bdb784010-8275717I don’t know much about economics. It’s all voodoo to me. Unfortunately, the same appears to be true of the corporate bosses of Bear Stearns, the “hallowed” investment bank that was sold over the weekend for pennies on the dollar to JPMorgan Chase. That was made possible by a thirty billion (“B” billion, not “M” million) dollar hand-out from the United States Federal Reserve Bank to cover Bear Stearns assets that would be “difficult” to sell off, meaning the U.S taxpayer will be stuck holding that bag.

“How could this happen?!” Actually, how could it not? Bear Stearns, along with a lot of other investment banks, were using “mortgage based securities.” Essentially, as I understand it, they lent the money to the guys lending the money to the people who were buying homes. Mortgages. They issued and traded bonds that used these mortgages to secure the money for the people who bought the securities. So long as those mortgages were prudent, it was not necessarily a bad idea.

However, the guys making the mortgages invented a new category – sub-prime mortgages. Many of those mortgages were given to people who didn’t have the funds really to make the payments and weren’t going to have them. That’s okay. Just re-finance! And the “worth” of the houses being bought kept going up and up. Anyone with half a brain knew that the housing market was WAAAAAY over-priced. It was crazy.

The reason the houses and land were worth that much was because everyone agreed they were. They believed it as deeply as any Born Again Christian grabs hold of the Bible. The loaves and the fishes with which Jesus fed the multitude didn’t multiply as much or as fast as some of the housing prices. It had to be true. Shout down the un-believers and naysayers. Except, of course, it all wasn’t true.

(more…)

Full Cast Revealed for ‘Batman: Gotham Knight’

  • News
  • March 19, 2008

Warner Brothers just sent out a press release announcing that the rest of the cast has been finalized for this summer’s Batman: Gotham Knight direct-to-DVD animated film.

Earlier, fans collectively breathed a great sigh of relief upon hearing that Batman: The Animated Series alum Kevin Conroy had signed on to voice the Dark Knight. Instead of filling the ranks with big-name stars (see Justice League: The New Frontier and Superman/Doomsday), WB picked up some lesser knowns to round out the voice talent.

Read the release carefully and you can pick up a few hints about the plot:

Gary Dourdan (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) and Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty) are heard in multiple segments of the six-story film as police detectives Crispus Allen and Anna Ramirez, key members of a special unit who learn to trust the Dark Knight’s motives. Parminder Nagra (ER, Bend It Like Beckham) supplies the voice of Cassandra, a mystical Indian woman who teaches Bruce Wayne to endure and manage his pain. David McCallum (Navy NCIS, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Great Escape) takes on the role of loyal servant Alfred. George Newbern (Father of the Bride) and Alanna Ubach (Legally Blonde) also join the cast.

The cast also features popular voice over artists Corey Burton, Rob Paulsen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Will Friedle, Jason Marsden, Jim Meskimen, Pat Musick, Scott Menville, Hynden Walch, Corey Padnos and Crystal Scales.

The bonus features on the double-disc release include a documentary on Bob Kane, a documentary about Batman’s villains, some of Bruce Timm’s favorite episodes from Batman: TAS and a sneak peak at the upcoming Wonder Woman animated film.

Batman: Gotham Knight hits shelves on July 8.

Joss Whedon on his Superhero Musical

  • News
  • March 19, 2008

"Once more, with feeling!" No, it’s not the infamous musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Joss Whedon is developing another musical.

This time around, the project will feature his other passion: superheroes! Whedon revealed on his blog today that during the writer’s strike he and his family wrote three 10-minute episodes of a musical intended for the Internet. And to his great surprise, they actually finished it, began preproduction and are in the midst of filming it.

Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog will star Neil Patrick Harris, best known for his role as Doogie Howser, M.D., and Nathan Fillion, best known as Capt. Reynolds on the sci-fi show Firefly. We’re tickled that the actors once again assume those titles when they play Doctor Horrible and Captain Hammer respectively. Rounding out the cast is Buffy alumni Felicia Day as Penny.

The news directly from Whedon:

So…..

The bag is catless.

During the strike I started writing a musical intended as a limited internet series, 3 episodes of approximately 10 minutes each. Writing with me was my brother Jed, his fiancee Maurissa, and my other brother Zack. To my shock and surprise, we finished it. To my greater shock and surprise, we managed (with the help of many people I’ll be praising at length soon) to drag it into preproduction (yes, just as DOLLHOUSE was given a start date two months away and all my comics were due.) And today, after a grueling week of writing everything ever while trying to be a producer, I got to start shooting. A musical.

This much I will say: It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. And I’m having the time of my life.

"DOCTOR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG"

Neil Patrick Harris…..as Dr. Horrible

Nathan Fillion……….as Captain Hammer

Felicia Day………….as Penny

And a cast of Dozens!

Coming soon.

-j.

 

‘Too Much Coffee Man’ Opera Gets a Sequel

  • News
  • March 19, 2008

Too Much Coffee Man, the comic that became an opera, is returning for a "Refill."

Shannon Wheeler’s crazed series about the caffeine-fueled adventures of an eclectic group of coffee house regulars (and the barista who serves them) has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, so I was equally thrilled and perplexed by the creator’s decision to adapt the comic into an opera in 2006. The end result was a really enjoyable show and soundtrack (with hilarious supplemental video).

And now, Wheeler and the TMCM crew are returning to the stage for an operatic sequel titled "The Refill" — which, according to the PR, picks up where the first opera left off:

The Too Much Coffee Man Opera is the story of an idealistic hero, named Too Much Coffee Man, as he competes with rival Espresso Guy for the attention of a Barista. Unfornately, she has her own agenda, to be a super hero.

The second opera, titled the Refill, picks up two years later. The Barista has fulfilled her superhero dream… and she’s married a Martian. Unfortunately she’s bored. She hopes caffeine will cure her ennui and calls Too Much Coffee Man for help. Antics ensue as Espresso Guy tries to win her back by pretending to be Too Much Coffee Man.

Too Much Coffee Man: The Refill begins April 4 in Portland, OR. Details from the PR are provided after the jump.

 

(via TheBeat) (more…)

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