Monthly Archive: February 2009

Review: ‘Crogan’s Vengeance’ by Chris Schweizer

  • News
  • February 17, 2009

Crogan’s Vengeance
By Chris Schweizer
Oni Press, October 2008, $14.95

The Crogan family – I’m reliably informed by this book’s end-papers – has a long and storied history of adventure, with private eyes, minutemen, ninjas, biplane pilots, old West gunfighters and French Foreign Legionnaires lurking around every bend of the family tree. (Though, apparently, no women have ever been spawned by the fecund Crogans, nor, possibly, deemed necessary to birth all of these generations. Perhaps that’s what drove all of these desperately lonely men to adventure.) This particular book, first in what could easily be a long series, focuses on “Catfoot” Crogan, patriarch of the clan (or at least the earliest figure on the endpapers – I wouldn’t lay odds against Schweizer turning up a Sir Lionheart Crogan, crusader, at some future point), a pirate at the turn of the seventeenth century.

But we don’t begin directly with Catfoot; instead we get a frame story of a modern doctor telling the story to his young son – which is slightly infantilizing for a book rated “Teen: Age 13+.” Even more damning to those over thirteen, it’s a story with a lesson. So there’s immediately a disconnect: Catfoot’s story is both (according to the publisher) restricted to readers over thirteen, and suitable for a boy of about eight (as depicted in the story). The frame story is short, and charming, so it doesn’t do any damage…except among teenage boys, a major audience for a story about pirates, since they will never admit to liking charm. I can see why Schweizer has the frame story – it’s his set-up for the whole series, all of which can be family histories told to this preternaturally history-savvy grade-schooler – but it flattens and domesticizes his story in a way I don’t think he wants. (more…)

On playing at being DC’s editor-in-chief

  • News
  • February 17, 2009

The Occasional Superheroine herself, Valerie D’Orazio, has an interesting thought experiment going on at her blog:

Play "Fantasy DC EIC" and Redo The DCU!
This is like Fantasy Baseball, but instead of pretending to play a professional sport, you pretend to be the new Editor-In-Chief of the DC Universe.

You come in to the job, and are given carte blanche to totally rearrange the DCU as you see fit. Among your powers:

1. Killing characters and/or bringing them back from the dead.

2. Canceling titles.

3. Starting new titles.

4. Creating events.

5. Hiring talent and editorial.

6. Offering exclusives.

7. Steering the "direction" of characters and books.

8. Creating special projects (movie tie-ins, new initiatives, etc).

My immediate response:

The biggest problems that face DC right now aren’t in Editorial. The structural problems are elsewhere.

Do I get to make changes to other parts of the company as well?

Valerie replied:

If this was real? Probably not. So you have to factor that in.

In a real scenario, any big changes you make to major characters or books or directions have to be signed off on by The Powers That Be.

But isn’t working together fun?

It makes me think that somehow Valerie hasn’t heard the joke:

Q: How many DC Vice-Presidents does it take to change a lightbulb?

Although having worked at DC, she can probably guess the punchline: (more…)

ComicMix Six: Television for the next generation of fandom

  • Uncategorized
  • February 17, 2009

We were all kids once and, let’s face it, for many of us there was a particular television show or short that caught our attention and grabbed our inner-geek by the shoulders to shout “Look at me!” Whether you had a particular fondness for Interplanet Janet (“She’s a galaxy girl!”), Underdog, or Super Grover, chances are that something you saw in early childhood helped shape you into the fan you are today.

My sister and I always loved Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (new action figures are coming out this year!), and my niece is a huge Power Puff Girls fan. This got me wondering what shows will inspire today’s budding geeks. The great thing about these days is that DVD and the Internet make it possible to view not only the latest children’s shows, but everything you feel that old nostalgia for as well. However, today’s children aren’t always as excited about the Wonder Twins or Cowboy Curtis as Mom and Dad may have been. Here, then, are some more recent selections for the latest generation of fans:

1. Backyardigans
From Pirates to Samurai to Space-Travelers and everything in-between, this colorful and musical CGI-animated show (formerly aired on Nickelodeon, and now available on DVD) is all about five anthropomorphic neighbors whose imaginations take them on adventures to faraway times and places. While teaching children about the value of friendship and imagination and introducing several styles of music and dance, this show also stirs the core of future gamers. You see, the characters, Austin (a kangaroo), Pablo (a penguin), Tasha (a hippo), Tyrone (a moose), and Uniqua (a creature vaguely reminiscent of a child-sized pink ant), are like a game group. They meet, they create characters, they play out their roles and scenarios as their game characters, and then they have a snack. If you’ve ever gamed at a con, you know this drill.

(more…)

The Point – February 16th, 2009

  • News
  • February 16, 2009

We are on our way to Toy Fair 2009, but in the meantime join us for a behind the scenes look at NBC’s CHUCK, a trip to the comic store where this week we try and expand our horizons and a lesson in why CAPRICA is a big risk.

PRESS THE BUTTON to Get The Point!
 
 

And be sure to stay on The Point via badgeitunes61x15dark-6188878 or RSS!

 

 

SLG’s The Ghouly Boys being produced

  • News
  • February 16, 2009

Slave Labor Graphics’ comic The Ghouly Boys is coming to the big screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Ghouly Boys comic book series was created, written and illustrated by Christopher (he goes by just the one name) and was originally published by SLG Publishing (Slave Labor Graphics) in 2004. Lindsay Doran (Nanny McPhee) is producing the movie via her Three Strange Angels production company.

Here’s hoping this is the first of many pieces of good news for SLG, which could use some of late.

Stretch Armstrong: the movie?

  • Uncategorized
  • February 16, 2009

stretch-armstrong-2248413First Hasbro turned Transformers into a movie. (Obligatory Mark Ryan link and reference to The Pilgrim here.) Then Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June 26, 2009) and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (August 7, 2009). And then they put Monopoly, Candyland, and Ouija into production with Universal. And now, announced just in time for Toy Fair International, writer Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) has been tapped to write Universal’s movie adaptation of Stretch Armstrong, a comedy based on Hasbro’s stretchy strong guy toy, according to Variety.

Stretch Armstrong was first introduced by Kenner in the late 1970s, which eventually featured a line of stretchy characters, including Stretch Monster, Wretch Armstrong, and Fetch Armstrong. Stretch Armstrong was later re-introduced after Hasbro acquired Kenner (which was part of Tonka) in 1991. Disney had acquired the movie rights to Stretch Armstrong and worked at developing a movie first with Danny DeVito and then Jackie Chan.

If nothing else, this puts an interesting twist (sorry) on the possibility that the Wachowskis will get to do their long-gestating Plastic Man film.

Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow for Iron Man 2?

  • News
  • February 16, 2009

grab-cut-insert-cut-8415501-tracksretna1Man, this is getting vicious. First, Emily Blunt was announced as being cast as super-spy Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, in Iron Man 2. Then Eliza Dushku announced that she was interested in the part. Now we’re hearing rumors that Scarlett Johansson is in discussions for the role, according to Entertainment Weekly by way of Cynopsis, because Blunt has a commitment to Fox for its feature Gulliver’s Travels, which would conflict with shooting.

All this, after replacing Terence Howard from the first film with Don Cheadle. I mean, sheesh.

At least it’s nice to hear that husband Ryan Reynolds is letting her read his comic book collection. Reynolds will be playing Deadpool in this May’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 15, 2009

  • Uncategorized
  • February 15, 2009

051407-elizadushku-2-5611175Today’s list of quick items that don’t fill a full post on their own:

  • Don’t believe the lousy "ratings" on Dollhouse that some folks are touting. The only ratings that can conceivably be in are overnights from the largest markets. No Live+7 (in other words, people who have it in their DVR because they went to see Friday The 13th in theaters this weekend) and no smaller markets. Ask again next week.
  • On the other hand, Eliza Dushku is already looking for extra work as the Black Widow in Iron Man 2…
  • Vinnie Bartilucci points us to a possible shooting location for M. Night Shyamalan’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.
  • Chris Sims is doing Valentine’s Day again in that special, special way of his.
  • And finally, The Simpsons premieres tonight in HD, and they actually change the credits for the occasion. The first permanent change in 19 years. Yikes. Take a look– can you spot Fat Tony? (You can cheat by looking here.)

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Webcomics You Should Have Read: ‘The Parking Lot Is Full’

  • News
  • February 15, 2009

I beg of you, gentle ComicMix readers… take a journey with me back in time. Step one? Dust off a pair of “wide leg” jeans. Don your favorite pair of Airwalk low-tops. Grow your hair out a little, and put a Pearl Jam Compact Disk into your brand new Diskman. Step Two? Power up your personal computer. You know the one, with that brand new Intel Pentium chip the kids all talk about. Fire up that 14.4 Baud Modem, and hop on that newfangled ‘Information Super-Highway’. Welcome to 1993 folks! Now that you’re here, you should check out a little known webcomic called “The Parking Lot Is Full”.

The brief history on said comic comes from it’s own tombstone, procured from their site instead of that wiki-pedia thing you “next-gen users” all like so much…

 

“From 1993 – 2002, The Parking Lot is Full was the comic strip love child of artist Jack McLaren and writer Pat Spacek. Starting as crude little strips published in their university newspaper, the comic quickly took on a life of its own, eventually becoming one of the most popular and infamous comic strips on the internet. After nine years of ups and downs, the creators decided that they’d said everything they wanted to say, so the comic was wrapped up and all the toys put away.”

 

What made ‘PLIF’ (get used to this folks, cause “The Parking Lot Is Full” takes a while to type) so enjoyable was it’s fascinating combination of Gary Larsen-esque illustrations combined with sharp writing and a touch of the macabre. Unlike several previous recommendations here on ComicMix, ‘PLIF’ had no continuity really to follow. Yes, there are a few reoccurring sock puppets in the later half of the series, but there’s no backstory to follow (well, anymore…). And to be honest, the really juicy strips are true non-sequiturs.

I’ll be frank, folks, this strip features some of the most laugh-out-loud-but-frankly-I-shouldn’t-be-laughing strips I’ve had the pleasure to read for free on the ‘inter-webs’. There’s no need for lengthy exposition on the progression of the art; It’s crude, in gray tones, and unpolished as my car in February. There’s no need to wax poetic about the subject matter; Generally ‘PLIF’ stuck to a cycle of topics including childhood, sex, religion, and conspiracy theories (sometimes in the same strip!). Simply put, if the ‘Far-Side’ was rolled through a plate of broken glass, you’d have “PLIF”. Suffice to say the content can disturb as much as it can inspire fits of laughter… and that’s what I appreciate about it. Now to the cream of the crop (…ahem. WARNING. These Strips Are Not Suitable For Children, and most adults now that I think of it):

 

• Well, this settles an age old debate.
• Safe Sex, by PLIF
• A Failed Experiment, by Ray Croc.
• "I fell out of my chair the first time I saw this"… said my roomate.
• You know it’d be true.
• A lesson from the Street… Sesame Street.
• If this Pre-Dates Animal Man, Grant Morrison should be worried.

So there you have it folks. Kick off the Airwalks, swap that Diskman for an iPod, and plug back into a nice cable modem. This trip back in time is over. Sadly, there is no more strips to be had after you’ve been through their archive. Do yourself a favor though… buy a collection of them in printed form from the ‘PLIF’ store, and show your support for those who dared release this evil into the world.

The Breakdown:

Drama: Well, this is kinda’ dramatic…

Humor: If you don’t find this funny, maybe you’ll find this funny.

Continuity: There’s some Sock Puppets that show up from time to time.

Art: It’s grey, it’s crude, and it’s wonderfully morbid when it needs to be.

Archive: From 1993-2002, you’re looking at quite a few strips. It looks like they didn’t update but several times a month at best… never the less, if you troll through it all, it’s a solid hour or two of fun.

Updates: Unless you suffer from that condition where you still believe it’s 1993-2002… alas, there is no more ‘PLIF’ to be had.

Risk/Reward: As always… it’s free… so there’s little risk involved. Unless you consider reading a strip like this to be dangerous. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

MOCCA presents Watchmen movie a day early with premiere of “Art of Watchmen”

  • Uncategorized
  • February 15, 2009

Want to see Watchmen before mere mortals? Can’t get into the MTV "Spoilers" show? Now you have another way, plus you get to see an art show and help out MoCCA while you do it.

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art is presenting a Special Advance Screening of Watchmen on March 5th, yes 5th, plus a VIP reception and Watchmen Portraits book signing event. The evening begins with a reception at MoCCA for The Art of Watchmen exhibition, continues with an advance screening of Watchmen, and concludes with an author signing of Watchmen Portraits by Clay Enos. On view will be photographs by Clay Enos of the Watchmen movie cast, Watchmen-related photos from director Zack Snyder’s "war-room" and original artwork from the graphic novel by Dave Gibbons.

Tickets are available by visiting or calling MoCCA, Tuesday – Saturday. Tickets are $100, or $75 for MoCCA members. All proceeds from this special event go to support MoCCA programming.

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks