Monthly Archive: October 2008

Superheroes Come Home, by Dennis O’Neil

I guess we’ll have to get our superhero fixes from comic books for a while, though I’m not complaining, because isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? My glances through the various newspapers and magazines that come to this house tell me that there are no superhero movies coming to a theater near me, and the closest thing to a new superhero on television is those can-do wheels on Knight Rider, whose ancestor is the Batman utility belt of the middle-period comics and the early Green Arrow quiver; whatever the situation calls for…well, here it is – just the thing. Some of last season’s superdoers are back, and some of them will be on our living room screen, though the plot(s) of one seem to be unfocused and the future of another, The Sarah Conner Chronicles, seems to be iffy, which saddens me because one of the stars makes my dirty old man merit badge pulsate.

Superheroes and summertime seem to be yoked. As usual, commerce rather than aesthetics seem to be the reason. Until recently, and maybe even now, publishers felt that their comic book audience – kids – had more disposable income and more leisure during the hot months and so they saved their annuals and double-sized issues and important stories – Reed and Sue get married! – for the time when the young’uns lucky or unlucky enough not to have jobs didn’t recite the pledge of allegiance every morning.

(Ah, I can remember – or almost remember – the feel of the cool concrete of a front porch under my prone body as I looked at the funny book and wondered why his shirt was red if his name was Green Lantern and couldn’t his cape at least be green? Was there an editor in the making here?)

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Four New Characters Join ‘Torchwood’

Torchwood Magazine has the first scoop on the newest members joining season three of the popular spinoff from Doctor Who. The five-episode serial, Children of the Earth, has been shooting since late August with a 2009 airdate to be announced,

Producer Peter Bennett walked readers through the four starting with Lucy Cohu (Cape Wrath) who will play Alice, "a woman keeping many secrets from the past".

Susan Brown (The Riff Raff Element) will be Bridget Spears – "a character vitally connected to the government, which plays an important part in this story".

First-time performers complete the cast: Cush Jumbo as Lois Habiba, "a secretary who hacks into some vital information", and Rik Makarem, playing Doctor Rupesh Patanjali, a "junior doctor at St Helen’s hospital who gets drawn into Torchwood’s investigations".
 

‘Mutts’ Pushes for Prop 2

This week’s Mutts storyline takes a political tone as creator Patrick McDonnell campaigns in favor of California’s Proposition 2, which is aimed at curbing factory farm abuses. Mutts,  found in 700+ newspapers in 20 countries, is read by four million Californians no doubt distracted more by presidential politics than the proposition.

Michael Markarian spoke with McDonnell at the Huffington Post about this unusual activism for the one page of the newspaper that usually eschews offending anyone.

“In Mutts I try to see the world through the eyes of animals,” he told the site. “This has made me more conscious of how tough many of them have it on this planet. In 2000 I was asked to join the Board of Directors of The Humane Society of the United States, and became even more aware and involved. I felt that my strip could address (hopefully, for the most part, in an entertaining way) some of these issues and help give the animals a voice.

“Prop 2 is just too important to not tackle. Even though the reform will be modest, it puts a stake into the ground that the way we treat farm animals matters…20 million animals will be directly impacted, suffering less, if this measure passes. It will also send a clear message to the factory farm conglomerates that, once people are made aware, they will not tolerate the way most animals raised for food are treated in this country.”

New ‘Watchmen’ Motion Comic Released

2745694370_4af3f97d36-6341603With the release of the first chapter of Watchmen in July, things have quieted down for Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. With an initial promise of bi-weekly episodes of Watchmen and Batman: Mad Love back in the summer, that was inevitably altered due to the ongoing legal battle revolving around the film, and the insurmountable success of Dark Knight. Finally, after four months of waiting, a second chapter for Watchmen has been released on such platforms as iTunes, Amazon Video On Demand, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3 for a small price. Warner Premiere also recently announced additions to their Motion Comic projects. Premiere has now stated that Mad Love will be attached as a DVD extra for the Dark Knight DVD later this year and that the Watchmen motion comic will be released every two weeks, continuing with chapter 3 on October 20.

Sadly, the hiatus didn’t effect the production of the comics, and all characters will still be voiced by narrator Tom Stechschulte, and this includes even the female roles. Those who haven’t caught the first chapter, the illustrations are taken directly from the book, with the characters’ joints and movements animated slightly to act as a hybrid of Audio Book and Flash Animation. It’s worth a watch for anybody who was a fan of the book and needs something to hold them over until the film gets released next May (or not).

You can purchase Chapter 2 from the iTunes Store here.

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Review: ‘Jamilti & Other Stories’ by Rutu Modan

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Jamilti & Other Stories
By Rutu Modan
Drawn & Quarterly, August 2008, $19.95

Rutu Modan came to the attention of most American comics readers last year, when her graphic novel [[[Exit Wounds]]] was published to great acclaim. Exit Wounds went on to hit a number of top ten lists, and won the Eisner for Best New Graphic Novel. But no cartoonist comes out of nowhere – Modan had been writing and drawing shorter comics stories for a decade. Those would be these stories, which have now been corralled between two covers.

[[[Jamilti]]] collects seven stories, all of them but the title piece originally published in anthologies from the comics collective Actus (of which Modan was one of the two founders). (“Jamilti” itself was originally published in [[[Drawn & Quarterly]]], Vol. 5, for those seeking closure.) Modan’s style has changed slightly over the years, but her artistic progression isn’t obvious. Her most recent work – Exit Wounds, “Your Number One Fan” from [[[How To Love]]], the currently running serial [[[The Murder of the Terminal Patient]]] – have a tighter, cleaner line and solid blocks of brighter, purer colors than her earlier stories, but that’s more of a tightening of what she was already doing than anything else. The stories before that bounce back and forth from color to black and white, with the drawing similarly getting looser and tighter as Modan worked out what she wanted to do.

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Set Photos from ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ ‘Prince of Persia’

Photos from the set of the Guy Ritchie directed Sherlock Holmes has hit the internet. Just Jared scored the big scoop, posting photos that reveal actors Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson, respectively.

"Clearly, I’m going to do it better than it’s ever been done," Downey Jr. jokes of his role as the famous detective. "The more I read about it the more overwhelmed I was by the weight of it and the amount of people who will be watching to see if it’s gotten right."

Ritchie himself has expressed concerns about the film, reportedly worrying about whether or not Downey could handle an English accent. Those fears have been asuaged for the director, who reports that "Robert Downey has the best English accent I’ve ever heard." This should be no surprise to anyone whose seen Tropic Thunder, who can attest to the thespian’s ridiculous chameleon like abilities.

Additionally, a candid photo of Ben Kingsley as the nefarious Nazim in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has also appeared online over at Defamer. The film’s robe and ring-cladded villain points his fingers at the camera, appearing to rub in the fact that he is Sir while the rest of us are just misters and ma’ams.

 

NBC Erects ‘Crusoe’ Treehouse

In a David Blaine inspired effort to promote their newest series Crusoe, NBC will build a giant treehouse in Midtown Manhattan in anticipation of the show’s October 17 debut. The treehouse will be located on Broadway and 51st Street.

Variety reports that NBC is funding a 24-hour webcam stream capturing the goings-on in the treehouse. The feed will be available at www.savecrusoe.com. During the event, polls and contest giveaways will take place, and series stars Philip Winchester (Crusoe) and Tongayi Chirisa (Friday) will make appearances.

Crusoe is the latest adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s classic novel about a British man shipwrecked on a deserted island. Crusoe is accompanied by native friend Friday, and the two team together against cannibals, wild beasts, militias and the forces of nature. On the island, Crusoe builds a breathtaking treehouse in the forest to evade his enemies.

In addition to the island events, the weekly series will feature flashbacks to Crusoe’s life with wife Susannah (Anna Walton, Hellboy II: The Golden Army) and his mentor Jeremiah Blackthorn (Sam Neill, Jurassic Park).

Crusoe is executive produced by Justin Bodle, Jeff Hayes, Michael Prupas, Genevieve Hofmeyr, Phillip Key, Stephen Greenberg and Jean Bureau. The two-hour series premiere airs on NBC this Friday at 8:00 p.m. EST.

‘Fringe’ Comic Series Gets Delayed

Newsarama reports that further issues of the Fringe comic book series will be delayed until January. The first issue hit stands on September 3, timed to the Fox series’ debut, but due to a desire to adhere closely to the television series, DC Comics has decided to push back subsequent issues.

"The writers of the show want to make sure the comic book is integrated into the mythology of the Fringe world, so we have decided to refocus the direction of the comic book," announced Hank Kanalz, VP-General Manager of DC’s WildStorm imprint.

"Unfortunately, this means that we will have some delays," he continued, "but [the series] will be back in January."

According to Fringe‘s co-story consultant Athena Wickham, the TV series’ comic book companion "will consist of two parts. Part A will tell the back-story of two of our key characters: Walter Bishop and William Bell. Part B will consist of stand-alone stories. Readers will be introduced to a range of characters — from those at the epicenter of the pilot to others who might not live to make a series appearance."

Fringe is a science fiction procedural drama that also features over-arching story elements. The television series focuses on Agent Olivia Dunham and scientific father-son duo Walter and Peter Bishop as they investigate mysterious happenings related to a phenomenon called "The Pattern." It was recently picked up for a full 22 episode season.

The first issue of the comic book series was written by Zack Whedon, Julia Cho, Alex Katsnelson and Denielle Dispaltro, with art from Tom Mandrake and Simon Coleby. The issue contained two short stories. "Like Minds" focused on the meeting of Walter Bishop and William Bell. "The Prisoner" depicts a Lost Highway inspired twist when a man wakes up in a prison cell in someone else’s body.

Review: ‘Iron Man’ DVD

I’ll admit it right up front; I grew up with [[[Iron Ma]]]n as my favorite Marvel super-hero. I can’t say why exactly, although I really liked the armor and the gadgets and when Gene Colan began drawing his adventures, I loved the artwork.

So, you might imagine, I was predisposed to enjoy the movie now out on DVD. The idea that Iron Man would ever become a feature film was one I never really imagined and all through the years o development, I kept hoping. Still, as cool as it might have been to see Tom Cruise as Tony Stark or see what Nick Cassavettes would have done as a director, I was perfectly content with Jon Favreau as the director. After all, from the moment he started writing on MySpace, you could tell he got it. He understood what set the character apart.

Whereas fantastic things happened to Peter Parker, Susan Richards and Bruce Banner, among others, what happened to Tony Stark was very real world. The notion of shrapnel threatening the munitions manufacturer was a just irony and showed that Stan Lee was very plugged into the Cold War fears of the day.

It took All-American ingenuity to fashion the crude armor that allowed Stark to escape his captors and return to his Military-Industrial complex. However, the experience changed him and he knew he had things to atone for.

Favreau updated the worldview to today and the switch from Vietnam to Afghanistan was smart. Seeing so much of Stark Industries’ wares in the hands of the bad guys was also a great wakeup call and yes, the near-death experience made him a changed man.

All the elements of those early Iron Man stories are excellently updated and made to feel fresh after the previous Marvel films. This one felt more grounded in our world and we could easily accept the higher level of technology. He made Stark Industries cutting edge and by integrating Obadiah Stane into Stark’s life is the one major change and it works for a film.

Robert Downey Jr. superbly inhabits Tony Stark and makes us care for him as he evolves from the callow genius to the responsible global citizen. He’s aided by Gwyneth Paltrow as the sharp-tongued Pepper Potts and Terence Howard, a tad underused as James Rhodes (although when he looks at the Mark II armor, he tells the audience, “Next time”). There’s another tip to the comics as Stark’s chauffeur, Happy Hogan is there, played quietly by Favreau himself (he’s now a sidekick in two Marvel franchise films, a neat trick matched by Sam Elliot).

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Captain America Hulks Out

A while back, The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier claimed that a scene was shot in which Bruce Banner travels in the arctic. In the scene, the filmmaker hid one heck of a red, white and blue easter egg: Captain America buried beneath the ice, shield and all. The film’s producer Gale Anne Hurd later denied the claim, saying that "Captain America was not visible in that scene."

Welp, time to call bull puckey on that line of defense. Film School Rejects got their mittens on a copy of the Incredible Hulk DVD (available on October 21 and one we’ll be reviewing here soon) and watched the scene in question. Sure enough, Steve Rogers himself is indeed in the film, though you might need a magnifying glass and a few stiff drinks to catch the cameo.

Towards the end of the 2:25 long scene, an avalanche occurs that crashes at the camera. It’s during this sequence that Captain America’s star-spangled body can be seen just beneath the ice. Looks like Letterier has won this round, Ms. Hurd.

For those keeping track, this marks three direct references to Captain America in the Marvel Studios film lore thus far. In Iron Man, there’s a brief shot featuring the fabled Avenger’s shield in Tony’s workshop. In Hulk, there are two mentions of Corporal Rogers: the use of "super soldier serum" by Emil Blonksy and, of course, the hero’s newly discovered icy tomb.

If these references are to be taken as canon, then Hulk‘s snowy prologue takes place before the events of Iron Man, since Steve’s shield is buried beneath the ice. That implies that Rogers’ body was discovered at some point between the two films, possibly before Tony Stark is fully immersed as Iron Man. Keeping the two films’ endings in mind, namely Tony’s encounter with Nick Fury and his conversation with General Ross, it’s possible that The Avengers are already in place by the time The Incredible Hulk concludes. Perhaps, then, the superhero team-up feature will take place soon after Hulk’s ending with the Avengers pursuing the Jade Giant.

So, has Marvel tipped its hand and revealed how the cards are falling together on screen, or do we just have too much time on our hands? Tell us what you think below!