Yearly Archive: 2008

Dark Horse to Publish ‘Herbie’ Archive

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  • March 11, 2008

My previously documented fascination with Herbie, "The Fat Fury," received a shot in the arm yesterday, courtesy of this observation by Tom Spurgeon: Apparently, Dark Horse Comics has quietly announced plans to collect the Ogden Whitney series in a new print edition.

The Dark Horse Comics product profile for the edition had this to say about what it will contain:

Herbie Archives Volume 1 collects the earliest appearances of Herbie, as he battles monsters, bends time and space, and gets the better of Fidel Castro! Herbie is a delightfully weird, all-ages barrel of laughs!

The collection will feature 224 pages of full-color, lollipop-sucking action in hardcover form, and carries a $49.95 pricetag.

While I’m excited about the collection, I can’t help but wish for a cheaper, softcover version that I won’t feel so bad about lending out. Nevertheless, it goes on sale August 20, 2008 — just a few weeks after my birthday. How convenient, eh?

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‘Rocketeer’ Creator Dave Stevens: 1955-2008

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  • March 11, 2008

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A variety of sources are reporting that Dave Stevens, creator of The Rocketeer, passed away yesterday after a long battle with leukemia.

Stevens’ resume also included work on the Russ Manning Tarzan comics and newspaper strip, as well as Marvel Comics’ Star Wars series in the mid-’80s. Stevens provided storyboards and layouts for the Super Friends and Godzilla cartoon series while working at Hanna-Barbera, but is best-known for his work on The Rocketeer, which he created. The series was published at various points by Eclipse Comics, Comico Comics and later by Dark Horse Comics, and eventually made into a feature film by Disney.

His widely praised style of pin-up art, featuring 1950s-era models such as Bettie Page, is credited as igniting a renewed interest in the fashion and beauty of the period.

Mark Evanier, who reported on Stevens’ passing, had this to say about the illustrator:

Dave was truly one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life…and was certainly among the most gifted. Our first encounter was at Jack Kirby’s house around 1971 when he came to visit and show Jack some of his work. As I said, Kirby was very encouraging and he urged Dave not to try and draw like anyone else but to follow his own passions. This was advice Dave took to heart, which probably explains why he took so long with every drawing. They were rarely just jobs to Dave. Most of the time, what emerged from his drawing board or easel was a deeply personal effort. He was truly in love with every beautiful woman he drew, at least insofar as the paper versions were concerned.

 

Jon Sable, Freelance: Free!

  • News
  • March 11, 2008

 After several weeks of being naked and tied to a chair, Jon sees a change in his fortunes. Find out if this is a change for the better in today’s brand-new episode of Jon Sable, Freelance: Ashes of Eden, by Mike Grell.

 

Credits: Glenn Hauman (Colorist), Glenn Hauman (Assistant Editor), John Workman (Letterer), Mike Gold (Editor), Mike Grell (Artist), Mike Grell (Writer), Shannon Weaver (Colorist)

More: Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden

 

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Paramount Snaps Up ‘Harbinger’ Comic Book Series

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  • March 11, 2008

According to Variety, Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to the Valiant comic book series Harbinger, which will be made into a live-action feature. The feature, which is being developed as a possible vehicle for director Brett Ratner, will be produced by Alexandra Milchan, Jay Stern and Ratner and may go under the MTV Films banner.

Harbinger, created in the ’90s by Jim Shooter, was a hit when it was first released and concerns humans with extraordinary powers and abilities that can be unlocked by so-called "Omega" harbingers. One of these humans, teenager Pete Stancheck (aka "Sting"), is able to realize this potential under the instructiion of his mentor, Toyo Harada.

But once Harada starts down an evil path and Pete learns it was his mentor who was responsible for a friend’s death, Pete is determined to bring his former teacher to justice. So, with the help of friends Kris, Zephyr, Flamingo and Torque, Pete begins his quest to take down Harada and the evil Harbinger Foundation.

According to the article, after directing X-Men: The Last Stand, Ratner was looking for a superhero franchise to start from scratch and found it with Harbinger. Producer Milchan was also very pleased to find Harbinger and be able to bring it to Ratner:

"The movie is in the vein of a young ‘Blade Runner,’ as this 17-year- old gifted kid helps other kids tap into these parts of their brains," Milchan said.

No word yet on potential casting for the film or a start date. But when there is, we’ll bring it to you.

Michael Chabon Talks Supersuits

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  • March 11, 2008

Michael Chabon, the Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a novel about a Golden Age comic creator, is unabashadly a comic book and superhero fan himself. He even brought to life his fictional comic book from the novel, The Escapist, courtesy of publisher Dark Horse Comics.

In the latest issue of The New Yorker, Chabon authored an essay on superhero costumes that focuses on their genesis, evolution and what they mean about the character and the creator’s intent. If the idea of the litererary intelligentsia discussing the same topics as the local comic-shop crew makes you smile, make sure to listen to Chabon’s audio interview about why he wrote it.

ComicMix Radio: Hollywood Comes Calling

This past weekend Hollywood made a raid for new properties to take to the big screen. We’ve got the story — and here’s a hint on one of them, plus:

— The Incredible Hulk trailer arrives at last, so get your TiVo set!

— Heroes‘ Adrian Pasdar tells us how he COULD survive for Season Three

—  Our usual shopping list of this week’s comic and DVD releases

—  Did our last trivia question stump you? Here’s a new one and another chance to grab an exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

Let’s get on it! Just Press The Button… 

 

 

 And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-9094733 or RSS!

‘Hulk’ Teaser Trailer Released

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  • March 11, 2008

Even though tomorrow is technically the day when the first trailer for The Incredible Hulk will be released, it appears as if someone at Universal is getting a little antsy. Why? Well, a few bits and pieces of the trailer are already posted over at MTV’s website.

This sneak-peek doesn’t reveal too much and mostly shows Ed Norton’s Bruce Banner in therapy, discussing some of his anger issues. It also has a few shots of soldiers running, a humvee smashing through a barricade and Banner’s eyes turning green which, of course, signals an appearance by everyone’s favorite green goliath.

Check it out:

 

On This Day: The Crimson Avenger

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  • March 11, 2008

Lee Walter Travis was raised to wealth and privilege but nonetheless developed a social conscience, becoming a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War and then turning to publishing and producing a progressive paper called The Globe Leader. It was while attending a Halloween costume ball in 1938, however, that he discovered his true career.

A band of crooks robbed the party and shot several people, including Travis’ fellow reporter Claudia Barker. She died in his arms and Travis, enraged, pursued and subdued the crooks, leaving them for the police to find afterward. His costume—a red trenchcoat, fedora, and mask—and Claudia’s last words and favorite motto, “Qui Vindicet ibit” (“The avenger will come”) combined to create tales of a strange “Crimson Avenger.” Travis had found his calling.

The Crimson Avenger was later one of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and part of the All-Star Squadron. Years later, Travis sacrificed his own life to save an entire city, steering a deadly tanker well away and staying at the helm until it exploded. The Crimson Avenger first appeared in Detective Comics No. 20, predating Batman by a full seven issues.

Review: Andi Watson’s ‘Glister’

Glister, Vols. 1-3

Andi Watson
Image, 2007, $5.99 each

Andi Watson has had a career more typical of a prose writer than a comics creator: he’s worked on a number of projects, pretty much all of them his own original ideas, nearly all of them with defined endings, for different publishers, and kept the copyright. Some of those projects span more than one volume, but, still, his stuff ends up on a shelf as if they were novels, and he’s hasn’t shown any sign of really wanting to be the next great Avengers writer or to re-vamp the Haunted Tank or do anything else horribly fanboyish and all-too-typical for his generation. And yet his work isn’t particularly literary or self-indulgent, either: Watson may have a bit of autobiography hidden around the fringes of his stories, but he’s mostly not talking about himself.

Watson’s recent books have generally been aimed at adults without being restricted to them; a book like Little Star is about parenthood in a way that teenagers probably won’t be interested in, but there’s nothing about it that would keep them out. His earliest works, though – Samurai Jam and Skeleton Key – were much more obviously all-ages books, and he’s returned to a younger audience with Glister.

Actually, if anything, Glister excludes adults: it’s a series about the continuing adventures of a preteen girl (Glister Butterworth), and its central audience is presumably girls of Glister’s age. Each of the three volumes so far are independent stories of about 64 pages each — the first is a bit shorter, but it also has a Skeleton Key back-up to fill out the pages. (more…)

Video: Darwyn Cooke Draws Wonder Woman

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  • March 11, 2008

On a really good day, I’m occasionally able to draw something that actually resembles a human shape, but that doesn’t make me an artist. I’m reminded of this when I see footage like this recent video of artist Darwyn Cooke from MegaCon.

The video, shot by Adam and posted over at the Drawn! website, shows Cooke working on a drawing of Wonder Woman, one of the characters featured in his critically praised New Frontier miniseries and its recent animated adaptation.

 

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