Yearly Archive: 2008

SDCC: Stephen King and Marvel Make Video Comics

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Hot on the heels of announcements of the pseudo-animated versions of DC’s Watchmen and Image’s Invincible, the Wall Street Journal breaks early word that Marvel will join that game with an adaptation of an unpublished Stephen King short story.

Marvel’s announcement probably will come today. The story, N, will be available in 25 installments starting next week, available for download on iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere.

It’s sort of a tie-in promotion for King’s new book of stories, including N, from publisher Scribner. And no one’s sure what to expect:

For Scribner, the venture is a shot in the dark. There’s no way of forecasting how well the videos will translate into book sales. While Scribner’s corporate sibling, CBS Mobile, cites Nielsen data showing that roughly 14 million cellphone users in the U.S. pay for video services, it doesn’t know how many of those people are regular book buyers. However, the links from the videos to the NisHere.com pre-ordering Web site will allow Scribner to get a sense of how many sales result from video viewings.

Mr. King is optimistic about the video’s prospects. "I think they’re readers," he says of likely video viewers. But he admits that the venture is "something of a test" whose outcome isn’t certain.

 

SDCC: Radical Making Movie News

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Comics and movies meet at Comic-Con, and this year Radical appears to be the most forward gal at the dance, so to speak.

The relatively new publishing company announced recently that a film version of its Old West action series Caliber is headed to screens with John Woo attached to direct. In balmy San Diego, they’ve announced another three series getting development deals.

The company has also made deals for Hercules: The Thracian Wars and the mecha book Freedom Formula. Blog@ notes:

Radical Publishing is introducing the five-issue series this week at Comic-Con, and will release the first issue in August. …

The comic, created by Edmund Shern, is set in a future in which racing exo-suits have replaced fighter jets. The story centers on Zee, a genetically engineered racer who transforms himself into the hero of a dying city.

SDCC Interview: Producer Gale Anne Hurd Talks ‘Punisher: War Zone’

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Producer Gale Anne Hurd has been involved with some of the most successful and exciting sci-fi and action films of all time. From the original Terminator through Aliens, Terminator 2, Armageddon and the recent Hulk, Hurd continues to deliver successful, entertaining and action-packed films over and over again. And her career is showing no signs of slowing down.

Recently, Hurd is readying yet another comic book adaptation for the big screen — a new new film called Punisher: War Zone which is, of course, based on the very popular Punisher comic. I caught up with Hurd at the San Diego Comic-Con to talk a bit about the new film, its dark, violent nature and why she thought a woman was the perfect choice to direct it.

COMICMIX: Hi Gale, thanks for talking to me. Let’s get right to it. Is Punisher: War Zone a sequel, a reboot or. . . ?

GALE ANNE HURD: its a reboot. We wanted to really go back to the origin but this isn’t an origin story in the way that we did it with hulk and take the origin of the punisher from the comic and we have that set up in flashbacks. So in the film we have Frank Castle set up on his mission of vengeance to punish the guilty.

iIs very much a MAX series. It’s a pedal to the metal, violent, tough hard-core film and it takes place in New York. We knew the heavy-duty fans were disappointed that the earlier film took place in Tampa.

For this movie we wanted to go back to the essence of the character, the locations, the other characters and the world and make it much closer to the comics.

CMix: Was it difficult decision to go back and reboot the franchise? Why did you do it? Did the first film not do well? (more…)

Watchmen Comic Gets Animated on iTunes

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Creators have been struggling with how to bring comics into the digital age: CD-ROMs, subscription based services like Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, or for free on the web like ComicMix.

A full-page ad in the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine gave readers a link to download the premiere episode of Watchmen Motion Comics for free on iTunes. Motion Comics is Warner Premiere’s new videos of comic books animated with full audio.

In many ways, it’s like those old Marvel cartoons where they took comic art and moved mouths and use limited animation to move cut-out pieces of art. But this time, they’re using modern digital manipulation technologies. The effect is weird, but it works. It’s Dave Gibbons’ art, but it’s moving.
 

Go to Comic-Con On Your Xbox

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

The best way to experience the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con is to be there. The second best is to constantly refresh ComicMix.com. But the third might be to fire up your game console.

The Xbox 360’s online video service offered excellent coverage of last year’s Comic-Con. Not only did they show footage premiered at the con, they also offered daily wrap-ups, interviews with comic creators, and videos of entire panels. I didn’t fly out to California, but I saw J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 panel as if I had a front row seat.

To borrow a phrase from one of their upcoming games, this year the coverage will be “bigger, badder, and more bad ass.” Xbox LIVE has partnered with Warner Bros. and DC Comics to show a weekend’s worth of footage. For free! Hosting the events will Larry Hyrb, better known by his Gamertag as Major Nelson, the public face of Xbox LIVE. To start things off right, the service reposted their daily wrap-ups from last year.

Now if they could just figure out how to download a convention T-shirt, I’d be set.
 

SDCC: Kevin Spacey Partners With Devil’s Due

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Shortly before Comic-Con started, word spread that Devil’s Due was bringing a major celebrity mystery guest, who was then shortly revealed to be Kevin Spacey.

Kevin Spacey? The actor? Yep, that guy.

At Comic-Con on Thursday the sort of odd pairing was explained, which ComicMix‘s Chris Ullrich reports:

Devil’s Due partners with triggerstreet.com to find new comics talent and hopefully get them to the big screen

Kevin Spacey (co-founder of triggerstreet.com) said when asked why they were doing this, "Because comics are taking over Hollywood"

Triggerstreet started as a site to allow aspiring filmmakers to upload content for peer review. Now you can upload comics for the same purpose (and to be discovered, I suppose). Here are their uploading guidelines, which were just posted:

* The page size should be 6.875" wide x 10.438" high.
* The page count should be a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10.
* You may also (optionally) upload an icon / avatar
associated with your Comic. The image should be 85 pixels wide by 100 pixels tall and in GIF or JPG format.
* Your Comic should be uploaded as a .pdf file.

ludacris1-2998066

I am the man! OR I am Sorry! by Michael Davis

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

ludacris1-2998066It’s the Friday of the San Diego Comic Con and I’m either having a great time or I’m miserable. Why one or the other? Well, I threw huge a party last night and it was a smash or was cancelled or it sucked.

I’m writing this a week before, on Friday July 18, 2008. I have a TON of work to finish before the con and a TON of work to do for the con, so I know there would be no way in France I would have enough time to finish this column. So I want to revel in my greatness or apologize.

If you came to the party and had a great time, I know, I know. I’m the man! If you could not get in because it was too packed, I’m sorry.

If you showed up with three people who were not on the guest list and saw me at the door of the club or called me on my cell and I came and got you in, I was glad to be of help! I know I’m the man!

If you showed up with three people who were not on the guest list and saw me at the door of the club or called me on my cell and I told you there was nothing I could do because the invite CLEARLY said your name was on the list and if you wanted to add somebody we would try but there was no guarantee and you left mad and went back to the top of the Hyatt where you sat alone because everyone was at MY party… sorry, but I did tell you.

If you stood on the general admission line and not the VIPs line and I saw you and walked you in past the crowd, please stop thanking me. You’re my friend. It’s the least I could do.

If you stood on the general admission line and not the VIPs line and waited a long time to get to the door and when you did they informed you that you could have walked right in because you were on my list, I’m sorry about that there must have been a grip of people there and it was confusing.

(more…)

SDCC: The Marvel Panel

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2008

warmachine004-9764518No huge news yet from Marvel in San Diego, but they did reveal a few upcoming projects at Thursday’s creator-dominated panel, according to various reports.

CBR’s Andy Khouri was there, and listed off the major news:

[Kevin] Grevioux and [Mat] Broome will be coming out with a new title called "Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel." It’s about a black superhero in the late ’50s and early ’60s, who is the most popular hero in the country — but he wears a mask to hide his skin color. When he is revealed to the public as a black man, President Kennedy calls the Blue Marvel to the Oval Office and implores the hero to stand down so as to not disrupt the ongoing Civil Rights movement. Blue Marvel agrees and forty years later his greatest villain returns, and Blue Marvel is the only one who can stop him. The miniseries begins in November and runs six issues.

Grek Pak will write "War Machine," a new ongoing series illustrated by Leonardo Manco. The title will replace the outgoing "Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD." "You will soon see the humanity of Jim Rhodes and War Machine. The book will be HARD. CORE. Around the world, tyrants and madmen are committing the worst atrocities imaginable. Jim Rhodes is going to take on the responsibility of taking them on upon his giant rocket-equipped shoulders." The book begins in December.

Garth Ennis return to the Punisher with the weekly "Punisher- War Zone" miniseries. It’s six issues and begins in December. It takes place in Ennis & Dillon’s Marvel Knights run on "Punisher."

David Mack will adapt Philip K. Dick’s "Electric Ant" for Marvel, with Paul Pope providing cover artwork.

Newsarama offered pretty similar coverage of the panel (and coverage of the X-Men panel), and had this note about a possible big cosmic event:

A fan complimented the cosmic books – Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy – and asked if they’re going to intermingle with the rest of the Marvel Universe. McCann said there were "really big plans" for Marvel’s outer space characters (and not just the ones in the aforementioned two titles), and said more will be revealed at the Secret Invasion panel Saturday.

SDCC: Superman: Man of Tomorrow panel

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

supermanshield-2894030DC Comics ran their first panel of the show on Thursday morning with DC: Superman: Man of Tomorrow.  The panel was moderated by editor Matt Idelson and featured writers Geoff Johns, James Robinson, and Sterling Gates along with artists Jamal Igle and Renato Guedes (who was provided with a translator, yet never spoke).

Johns kicked off the panel by asking how many in the crowd were reading Action Comics to a strong, but noticeably short of unanimous, ovation.  He then continued to explain that what they’re trying to do right now in the books is to create a cohesive universe for Superman so they can “start telling big excellent stories”.

As an example of a big excellent story Johns went on to explain the upcoming “New Krypton” story arc.  Coming out of the current Brainiac story Kandor will be restored to full size on Earth.  “100,000 Kryptonians come to Earth and say, cool this is New Krypton, and Superman’s like, ‘no it ain’t.’” said Johns.

The panel then turned towards the role of Supergirl in the upcoming stories. Gates expressed a desire to turn the book from a “B”-list title to a more marquee title.  Igle said of Gates’ first issue, “I was surprised at how good his script was.  I had to go back and read it twice.”

Johns went on to discuss the return of Cat Grant to the Superman titles and the relationship between her and Supergirl.  He said that one of the first thing she would do is publish an article called “Why the World Doesn’t Need a Supergirl.”  It was later revealed that this article would make up the first page of Gates’ run on Supergirl.

(more…)

SDCC: What if Grant Morrison Met Stan Lee?

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

stanlee-1939755Here’s a bizarre bit of "Only in San Diego." Grant Morrison and Stan Lee agreed to partner on a new superhero… Let that soak in.

We’ll see if anything comes of the planned partnership, which came about during a panel featuring the two creators at which they discussed their work with Virgin comics. They also talked up some existing work, including Morrison’s MBX animated shorts. CBR reports:

After a short delay, the panel kicked off with a quick video — an electronic press kit prepared by Virgin — giving a glimpse of Grant Morrison’s "MBX." "MBX," a series of animated shorts, will launch online later this year, and the video showed some behind-the-scenes footage of the motion capture technology and even a glimpse of the characters in action. The characters, based on Hindu mythology but re-imagined by Morrison for the 21st century, fought robots on what looked like a post-apocalyptic landscape. With their energy bows and laser whips, the fierce combatants held off the mechanized swarm. …

Stan Lee, when asked what drew him back to writing comics, said it was "the idea of coming to Virgin and working with new artists on new projects. It’s like the early days at Marvel to dream up something brand new. It’s exciting and I can’t wait to get started."

Then Lee added, "of course — to compete with someone like this," referring to Morrison, "I wouldn’t have been so eager if I had known."

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