Yearly Archive: 2008

Happy Birthday: Frank Bolle

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

Born in 1924 in New York City, Frank Bolle grew up doodling. He went to the High School of Music and Art and then served in the Air Force from 1943 to 1946.

After the war Bolle attended Pratt Institute and began looking for work—his first job in comics was in 1948 and he has been working in the industry ever since. He illustrated westerns like Black Phantom, Tim Holt, and Redmask for Magazine Enterprises; worked on Sherlock Holmes, The Lone Ranger, and other adventure stories for Western Publishing; drew several strips and covers for Boys’ Life; and did Doctor Solar, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and others for Gold Key Comics.

In 1982 Bolle joined Stan Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones comic strip, which he drew for seventeen years—Bolle also drew the Winnie Winkle comic for twenty. He is still drawing Apartment 3-G, which he took over in 1999.

Bolle has won three Graumbacher Gold Medallion Awards for his oils and watercolors. In 2003 he was awarded the Inkpot Award for lifetime achievement.

 

‘Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy’ Report – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art set aside Sunday, June 22, for a day of panel discussions about superheroes, the people who create them, and what they wear.

In promoting the event on their website, the Museum took the unusual step of admonishing visitors as follows: "Please note that visitors in costume will not be admitted to the Museum."

They don’t tell that to people who attend lectures on the Egyptian collection.

ComicMix was able to attend two of the afternoon programs. The first, "Designing Superhero Costumes," was a conversation with Alex Ross and John Cassaday. It was moderated by Stanford W. Carpenter, assistant professor at the University of Chicago. He divided the talk into three sections: 1) Designing for characters with an established history; 2) Designing for referential characters; and 3) Captain America, a character for whom both artists have designed.

Ross described his process as photorealistic, working from live models. "I draw better when I’m looking at something," he said. To provide a sense of realism to how clothing would look on a body, he had a Superman costume built for his model. He now has a collection of several costumes.

Cassaday described how his aunt had given him a book on Batman from the 1930s to the 1970s when he was four years old. As a result, he became a fan of several different eras of Bat costumes. He used this affection in a Planetary story, one that paid special homage to Adam West. (more…)

Review: ‘MuZz, Vol. 1’ by FSc

MuZz, Vol. 1
By FSc (Foo Swee Chin)
SLG Publishing, May 2008, $14.95

There’s a train that runs to MuZz – or, at least, it’s supposed to – carrying ideas and thoughts whose creators have lost interest in them. They’re all pretty odd and motley, as you might expect: a black whale, a phantom cat, and things I couldn’t even begin to describe.

But, on this particular train, there’s also a figure that looks like a teenage girl missing an eye. She’s Modorelin Farllee, she’s an actual human, and she’s not even dead. (Well, I don’t think she’s dead, but I don’t want to be too definite about any plot points concerning [[[MuZz]]].)

Farllee remembers nothing of her past, and wakes up on the train in such a frantic, grouchy mood that she shakes her elf guide to death and has to rely on the standard pamphlet and the advice of her fellow passengers to figure out what’s going on.

And so she quickly learns what I’ve just told you – she doesn’t believe that she’s actually a figment of someone else’s imagination, but she can’t prove that, and drops the subject. None of them are precisely sure what will happen to them in MuZz, but, for nearly all of them, it has to be better than their previous lives.

(more…)

‘Spider-Man: Web of Shadows’ Combat Trailer

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  • June 23, 2008

Back in April, ComicMix gave you the first details on the next Spider-Man videogame, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Many of the details were hush-hush at the time, but since then we’ve learned that the story revolves around Venom invading New York City with an army of symbiotes.

Now for the first time, publisher Activision and developer Shaba Games have pulled back the curtain on what the actual game looks like. The team explains they wanted to improve combat in Spider-Man games and integrate it more with the web-slinging for more aerial combat maneuvers. See the footage for yourself below.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is scheduled to be released in late 2008 for the Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360.

 

K9 To Receive New Look and ‘Doctor Who’ Spin-Off Series

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

k9-4214962Confirming rumors regarding the new spin-off series for K9, the much-loved robotic dog from Doctor Who, recent reports indicate that filming for the series will begin next month in Australia.

Bob Baker, who originally co-created K9, will write for the 26-part series, which will combine live action with computer-generated imaging for the half-hour episodes. There is no scheduled date for the series to begin airing.

Images of K9’s new look were also released, showcasing the redesign Baker gave the popular character.

For more details, visit GallifreyOne.

 

Countdown Breakdown: An Illustrated Guide to DC’s ‘Final Crisis’ – Part 1

  • Uncategorized
  • June 23, 2008

kistler-countdown-breakdown-01-200-3553344Hello there, folks. So the first issue of DC’s latest mega-event, Final Crisis, hit shelves last month and the second issue is out this week. The series features a story by one of the greatest writers in the industry, Grant Morrison, as well as one of the best artists in comics these days, J.G. Jones.

So far it’s a great read, in my opinion, and fairly accessible to anyone who doesn’t mind waiting for all of the answers to the questions it raises.

Still, some of you might be wondering, "Should I have read Countdown and the various other miniseries that were intended to lead up to this mega-event?"

Well, maybe you already know about Anthro, the first human of the DC Earth. And maybe you’re aware of Kamandi, the blonde-haired teen who lives in a possible future where he is the last human boy on an Earth ruled by animals. But what about this "war in heaven" that folks are talking about?

And what’s this about a parallel Earth being destroyed?

Well, look no further! I’m here to give you a recap of some of the major Crisis-related happenings over this past year to get you caught up to speed.

(more…)

George Carlin: Death and Coincidence

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

This editorial cartoon was published in the Cincinnati Enquirer, before word of George Carlin’s death.

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I know this is a somewhat different definition of the word "comic" than we usually address here on ComicMix, but Carlin did much – perhaps more than anybody else – to mold and shape our attitudes over the past 40 years. He will be greatly missed.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to the Chicago Tribune’s Charlie Meyerson. His paper also published this cartoon before news of Carlin’s death.

And no, I won’t say "passing." Carlin hated such euphemisms. 

Heroes Con Roundup: Capes Dominate, Wieringo Remembered, DC Dishes

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

As I’m writing this, Heroes Con 2008 hasn’t quite wrapped up. I had to shuttle back to Atlanta to get ready for the day job Monday morning, so I missed out on a handful of interesting-sounding Sunday panels.

Friday and Saturday held plenty of excitement, intrigue and interest, though, so let’s go through what went down:

In case you didn’t read the update in my coverage of Friday’s State of the Industry panel, Mark Waid and Erik Larsen were just joking about bringing John Byrne on for Boom! Studios’ Farscape book. I didn’t make that clear enough, as it started a short-lived rumor around the ‘Net.

That panel had a few other moments of interest, including Waid saying the comics delivery system "sucks" and is "catastrophic." Dan DiDio also admitted to "cannibalizing" current comics readers through variant covers and the like.

But the line of the day came when Erik Larsen said webcomics "look like crap." Waid responded: "You’re 45. I don’t care what you think. I care what a 12-year-old thinks." Still, no one offered any good ideas on making the jump to electronically delivered comics.

Saturday had a lot of good panels. Too many, in fact, as I missed out on Disney’s panel on The Kingdom, its new comics publishing venture. Anyone attend that?

(more…)

13341-1693236

Sure You Can Go Home Again, by Mike Gold

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

13341-1147056I always thought Thomas Wolfe was full of shit. Of course you can go home again. Heck, with the Internets you can bring home with you wherever you go.

As I commence to pack for Wizard World Chicago this coming Thursday through Sunday, I am planning out my schedule to the tunes from WXRT Radio, one of the last of the commercial progressive radio stations, still a comparatively cool experience even though it’s now owned by CBS, or whatever they’re calling themselves this week. I just had a light lunch consisting of imported Vienna Hot Dogs – the awesome ones in the natural casing that even my most chauvinistic New York buddies gobble up – while eating a bag of Jay’s potato chips , the original potato chip created by Leonard Japp at the very specific “request” of Al Capone. No kidding.

I’m playing with my schedule so that we might be able to attend a performance of Bloody Bess, the play written by John Ostrander and William J. Norris (as told on ComicMix). I only saw it about a million times during Stuart Gordon’s original run. I’m also playing around with post-convention amusements for my fellow ComicMixers as we go about our business in the Midwest. The far-famed Taste of Chicago will be occupying the downtown lakefront, and there’re the usual architectural thrills and gangland haunts. There’s also at least a dozen brilliant comic book shops out there the likes of which I rarely see anyplace else. And, of course, there are a lot of people we work with who either live in the vicinity or will be there for the show – Hilary Barta, Andrew Pepoy, George Hagenauer, Len Strazewski, Chris Burnham, Doug Rice, Peter B. Gillis, Jim Engel, Peter David… to name but a very few. I wonder if Dan DiDio will be there? (more…)

Weekend Window-Closing Wrapup: June 22, 2008

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

Back from a long break, crazy deadlines, and other fun stuff… and, man, it didn’t take long for my windows to stay open again, particularly with the new version of Firefox. So, what’s keeping my browser from running well?

Harry Bliss got picked on for lifting a Kirby image for a New Yorker cartoon contest, but it wasn’t the first time he lifted an iconic image for the contest.

Scarlett Johannson tells you to get on your knees. Jamie King tells you to come to her. Sarah Paulson tells you to keep the mask on. Man, the Spirit movie is going to be kinky. Hubba-hubba.

Wonder Woman finds a dead body in the Potomac. Cue the Jack C. Harris cred– what? It really happened?

If you’re using Verizon to read alt.binaries.comics, you’ve got until Thursday before Verizon shuts off your access. I’m cancelling my service over it, how about you?

Robotech of the Lost Ark? (more…)

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