Yearly Archive: 2008

Review: Jughead’s Double Digest #138

So there I was, at Midtown Comics, one of New York City’s better-racked shops, trying to find something my wife was looking for. That’s the only way you could get me into a comics shop on a Tuesday, the day before the new stuff is put on the shelves. Since I was there, I looked at everything else as well… and came across [[[Jughead’s Double Digest #138]]], a beneath-the-radar book that some will find of note.

This is the issue before the beginning of their latest “new-look” story, this time drawn by my pals Joe Staton and Al Milgrom, so I gave it a second glance. Above the logo, in type too small to be visible in the reproduction I cribbed from Archie’s website, is the phrase “Collectors (sic) Issue Featuring Jughead #1, 1949.” The cover art promised a story where the 2008 Jughead meets up with his 1949 counterpart. The one who only owned one shirt.

Unless you’ve been scouring the ComicMix comments sections lately, it is possible you are unaware that the Archie line is one of the best-selling newsstand comics ventures of our time. In fact, since their digests are available at most supermarket checkouts, they provide an unparalleled portal into the world of comics. Because their content appeals to readers of all sexes and age groups, they appeal to a group Marvel and DC barely acknowledge: the younger reader.

I should point out that Archie is also the last of the publishing houses still controlled by the family of its original owners. That comes across quite clearly in their editorial content, which is quite respectful of its roots.

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Sam Raimi and Paramount Lock Up ‘Monster Zoo’

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  • March 12, 2008

Variety is reporting today that Paramount Pictures has acquired the live-action feature film rights to the as-yet unpublished Douglas TenNapel graphic novel Monster Zoo for producer Sam Raimi and his Buckaroo Entertainment company.

At this point, Raimi is not expected to direct the project, which is also being produced by Josh Donen and Ellen Goldsmith Vein. Monster Zoo, which is set to be published by Image Comics in the spring,  tells the story of an ancient artifact that is found and transported to a zoo in the United States. There, the idol’s spirit awakens and starts to mutate the zoo’s animals and turn them evil.

Once this begins, a group of teenagers must band together to try to stop the evil monsters from destroying the world.

No word yet on who will be adapting the graphic novel for the screen or directing. But when there is, we’ll bring it to you.

DC Colorist Jerry Serpe, R.I.P.

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  • March 12, 2008

One of DC Comics’ preeminent colorists, Jerry Serpe, passed away Monday. A colorist and color separator since the end of World War II, Jerry had primary responsibility for overseeing the interior color for DC’s entire line during the 1950s and 1960s. He later went freelance, continuing to color virtually every character and every feature DC published for more than 30 years.  

During my first tenure at DC in the mid-to-late ’70s, Jerry was a fixture in DC’s production department, a room of astonishing talent: Anthony Tollin, John Workman, Steve Mitchell, Todd Klein, Bill Morse, Jack Adler, Bob LeRose, Carl Gafford, and others. I wrote and designed most of the house ads during that period and a lot of the promotional material, and Jerry almost always provided the color. His work was flawless; his demeanor was impeccable. That’s saying a lot, as the deadline pressure in the production department was – and will always be – massive.
 
Tony Isabella informs us Jerry’s daughter Donna his funeral will be in Florida tomorrow (Thursday); anyone is welcome to attend. Respects can be sent to:
 
Baldauff Funeral Home
1233 Saxon Blvd.
Orange City, FL 32763
386-775-2101
 
Thanks, as always, to Tony Isabella and to Mark Evanier.
 

Update: Jess Fink/Hot Topic and Rachel Nabors

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  • March 12, 2008

Updating a pair of previous stories, developments in the rip-off scandal involving cartoonist Jess Fink and the Hot Topic clothing store seem to have moved in a satisfying direction for the artist, and the fundraising efforts for Rachel Nabors’ dental surgery are also on a positive trend.

From Fink’s website:

The person who wrote me back was the lady who originally bought the shirts from the rip off artist/designer "NewBreedGirl" she had some very nice, apologetic words to say and she told me Hot Topic would like to make amends by removing the shirt from their website, and no longer selling it in their stores.

She said:

"I would like to first and foremost, appologize for this situation. It is very important to us to support artists and their ventures and it just makes my stomach turn when something like this happens. We in NO way would have written this artwork if we had known it was someone else’s design. We work with many vendors that sell us "generic" artwork and we put our faith in those vendors to not sell us stolen or immulated artwork."

On top of this she offered that they would like to buy some of my designs.

Also from what she said I have a feeling no one is going to be buying anything from "NewBreedGirl" for a long time.

Rachel Nabors also seems to be doing well:

It’s official. We’ve raised at least $5,000 toward my jaw surgery! Let’s see, that either covers the braces or half of the surgery (provided it doesn’t involve widening the roof of my mouth). Last I checked tonight, we were at $5,588.04 USD.

 

(via TheBeat)

On This Day: ‘Daily Planet’ EiC Perry White

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  • March 12, 2008

Born in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum, Perry White’s first job was copy boy at the Daily Planet, a job that interested him in the newspaper journalism that would soon become his life.

Perry was already a well-respected reporter for the paper, having returned after stints in Chicago and Gotham City, when the Daily Planet’s owner, Lex Luthor, decided to get rid of the paper. Perry found an investor who was willing to save the Planet on the condition that Perry become editor. Though reluctant to give up writing, Perry agreed.

Since then, except for brief stints for personal or professional reasons, Perry has remained the Daily Planet’s Editor-in-Chief. Though he won a Pulitzer himself years ago, for his exclusive interview with Superboy, Perry’s greatest achievement may be his two finest hires: a pushy girl named Lois Lane and a mild-mannered Midwesterner named Clark Kent.

Happy Birthday, Chief!

‘Punisher: War Zone’ Website Launches

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  • March 12, 2008

Lionsgate has launched the official website for the forthcoming Punisher: War Zone film.

There’s not a lot to see at the moment, but there are a couple of pictures in the gallery that haven’t been released before. More content will undoubtedly be added to the site as the film’s release date of September 12 approaches.

Viewers of the site can register for updates from Marvel so they’ll get the latest news about the movie as soon as it’s released. I have a feeling Tom Jane won’t be one of the people who registers.

Punisher: War Zone finds the gun-toting vigilante running from the law as the Punisher Task Force monitors his every move. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also being hunted by Jigsaw, a horribly deformed mob boss out to get revenge on The Punisher. The film stars Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle, Dominic West as Jigsaw, Wayne Knight as Microchip and Dash Mihok as Detective Martin Soap.

Review: ‘The Highwaymen’

On the surface, you’d think a good action movie would be a simple thing to pull off. Take one interesting protagonist, throw a ton of complications at him, have a nefarious villain behind things, add a little mystery and simmer. It’s always surprising, then, when so many bad action movies come out.

There are many things the new The Highwaymen comic (Wildstorm, $17.99) is not: It’s not complex. It’s not very serious. It doesn’t have all that much character development. What it does have, though, are all the elements of a perfect action movie, simmered to near perfection.

Writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman follow the action rubric to a T, installing the plot (a young woman has a weapon of mass destruction inside her and everyone’s after her), the heroes (the aged Mr. McQueen and Mr. Monroe are killer and driver, respectively), and the villain (a shady leader of a U.S. government anti-terrorist organization).

I’m sure there will be those who dismiss this book as pop corn, but the thing about pop corn is, it’s hella good ever once in a while, especially when it’s popped just right.

The Highwaymen is pretty well nonstop action along a taut storyline, executed quite well by artist Lee Garbett (his work is similar to that of John Cassaday, except Garbett actually draws backgrounds). In short, the book just tries to be a really good action story, instead of overreaching for some grand purpose. It’s just violent and frivolous and fun, and there’s not a darn thing wrong with that.

elayne-riggs-100-5355317

Confessions of an Armchair Feminist, by Elayne Riggs

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  • March 12, 2008

elayne-riggs-100-8233602Last Saturday was International Women’s Day, the first IWD where women in the United States were facing the very strong possibility that an Estrogen-American would become their next President — and the equally strong reality that lots of people (mostly men, but a surprising number of women as well) are committed to seeing that she never breaks that ultimate glass ceiling. Not because they (like me) don’t necessarily consider her the best person for the job; it’s not like the Presidency has been a meritocracy for a long time. But because many harbor a deep and irrational resentment of the very idea of a woman in power, particularly wielding the type of nigh-imperial power that the current administration and its cronies in the other two branches of government have ceded to the executive branch.

This resentment, nay, this seething hatred, has manifested itself in some scary ways that us second-wave feminists could have sworn went out with disco. One prominent pundit speculated that Senator Clinton was “pimping out” her daughter for working on her campaign, like pretty much every adult child of a candidate from Mary Cheney to the Romney boys has done. That same daughter was once the butt of a particularly nasty joke from the current Republican Presidential candidate, who made the sexist jape a two-fer by including a reference to the “manliness” of Janet Reno. These days it’s former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright who receives remarks about how cadaverish she appears (funny, she looked fine to me when I saw her on The Daily Show last month).

Of course, the progressives who once espoused Stokeley Carmichael’s adage that “the only position for women in [the movement] is prone” aren’t immune from sexist remarks either. Folks who should know better choose to attack right-wing lunatics like Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin not on their lunacy but on their looks. Even for some on “our side,” biology would appear to be destiny.

And while a part of me seethes at all this with the same rage I felt in high school and college every time I heard “women can’t” do one thing or the other, with no further explanation needed but that we were women — I also confess that a part of me just doesn’t care any more. After fifty years of this stuff, I’m more than suffering from outrage burnout.

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DVD Review: ‘Legion of Superheroes’ Vol. 2

Maybe the most surprising thing about how much I’ve enjoyed the first episodes of the Legion of Superheroes cartoon series is how little I enjoy the team’s comic book adventures. I always liked the concept of the Legion, but the futuristic team has too large of a cast and too complex of a history for me to jump into.

The cartoon series (from Warner Brothers and DC) fixes those two criticisms by hemming in the team size to a handful of key characters and streamlining the background: A young [[[Superman]]] is pulled into the future to help a fledgling group of heroes save the world. Simple enough.

In this second volume (containing the episodes [[[Champions]]], [[[Fear Factory]]], [[[Brain Drain]]] and [[[Lightning Storm]]]), the team goes through a series of challenges that manage to be kid-appropriate without being overly simplistic. Like the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, the Legion consists of standalone episodes but also builds a deeper narrative of themes and plots, giving it appreciable depth.

Particularly, this volume highlights the character development of Lightning Lad as he becomes a greater hero, and that of his brother, Mekt, as he becomes a villain. Meanwhile, Superman finds his powers have limits, which serves as a lesson as he tries to become the universe’s greatest hero.

I definitely wouldn’t put this series on the same level as [[[Batman: TAS]]], but it’s a fun, clever and exciting foray into the 31st Century.

Bryan Singer Talks ‘Superman Returns’ Sequel

  • News
  • March 11, 2008

After the somewhat dissapointing box office take that Superman Returns received domestically, many people expressed serious doubts as to whether or not Warner Bros. would greenlight a sequel. Apparently Bryan Singer wasn’t one of them, as the writer/director is so confident of an imminent sequel that he’s already begun working on it.

In an interview with Empire Online, Singer revealed that he’s currently in the developmental phase of the sequel, tentatively titled Superman: Man of Steel, and intends to direct it.

Singer is being quiet about the specific’s of the sequel’s storyline, but dropped a few hints about the movie’s tone:

“The first one was a romantic film and a nostalgic film,” he says. “I’ll be the first person to own up to that without making any apologies for it. I knew it was going to be that from the outset. And now that the characters are established, there’s really an opportunity to up the threat levels…Clearly there’ll be a body count [laughs]. From frame one, it will be unrelenting terror! All those teenage girls who found the movie and mooned over James Marsden or Brandon? Well, I’m going to wake them up!”

Nothing has been officially announced about a Superman Returns sequel by Warner Bros., so it’s unknown as to whether or not the cast members Singer mentioned will be returning. However, given his output since Superman Returns, it’s probably a safe bet that Brandon Routh can work a sequel into his schedule.

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