Monthly Archive: August 2009

Michael Uslan goes from ‘Dark Knight’ to Archie and Pureheart the Powerful

lwa42-2276046We all knew that Michael Uslan, executive producer of the Batman movies (All of them. Yes, that one. That one too. Okay, not the Adam West one) was scripting the upcoming Archie #600, wherein the Eternal Teenager finally ties the knot with Veronica, settling more than seventy years(!) of wondering.

What we just found yesterday, thanks to the Archie blog, is that he’s also slated to revive Archie’s superhero alter ego, Pureheart the Powerful, along with his team, Pureheart’s Emergency Patrol, in the span of five one shots starting early next year. From the blog:

“Michael Uslan
explains ‘We’re not just talking ONE super-hero here! Archie will be
joined by Betty as
Superteen,
Jughead
as
Captain
Hero
, Reggie as
Evilheart,
Jr
, and wait’ll you see the super-versions of Veronica,
Dilton
and Moose! Surprises
galore are just ahead!”

The one-shots will be taking the titles of the Golden Age books that originally contained the Archie Comics, then MLJ Comics, line-up of superheroes: Pep Comics, Jackpot Comics, Blue Ribbon Comics, Zip Comics, and Top-Notch Laugh Comics.

More details here.

Who’s excited?

An Unshaven Rant: Should I worry about the 2009 Chicago Comic-Con?

Hello ComicMix dwellers (and loyal FOMAFers…). I come to you today a bit… deflated. Why you ask? Because I just took a sneaky-peak over at the Chicago Comicon’s exhibitor list and program schedule. Long story (…forthcoming…) short? It’s not looking great on paper. This angers and frustrates me to no end, but I digress. The more I get angry at this, the brighter the silver lining comes creeping in. Confused? Now, I ask unto you my loyal readers, all seven of you, to take this brief journey with me on the anger-train. After we reach the end of the journey, you’ll see why our last stop is in Happyville.

The Backstory

The Chicago Comicon (as long as I’ve known it, mind you) was built on the ‘Wizard World’ platform. (Yes, I know it predates Wizard, but that’s not how I experienced it.) Growing up on comics in the 90’s meant Wizard was my one-stop shop for all the hip and trendy news about comic books… whilst the “internets” was still in it’s primordial-ooze phase. My first con, sadly, was right prior to my senior year in high school. Even back then (and if you ask Glenn, or Mike, or Russ, or really, a lot of people patrolling this site) it wasn’t that long ago, this con was pretty darned cool. I’m a mid-westerner mind you, so trekking to SDCC is NOT in any Chicago-kid’s budget. But it never mattered. SDCC was always at the beginning of the summer, and Chicago’s was at the end. There was enough time for people to calm down, and as Dan DiDio says (said) every year… “Chicago’s con is always about the books. Always about the fans.”

Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image all put up HUGE booths where fans could grab free schwag like buttons, posters, and bookmarks. Samples and previews of forthcoming issues adorned tables behind which our favorite creators were signing piles of their own penned materials. Beside these mammoth booths sat smaller publishers, just as happy to show off their wares. And of course beyond that lay the monstrous sea of dealers, and beyond that still, the indie and mainstream friendly confines of Artist Alley. When time came that one could be sick of this massive room of geekocity, there sat a bevvy of panels where the pros came to sit and talk to their fans nearly face to face on a multitude of topics. Some came for the sneak peaks of the years books to come, some (like me) came for the free hints and tricks to learn in the schooling panels, and some came for screenings of geek-laden cinema. All in all, it was wrapping up Christmas Channukkah, my birthday, and your birthday all in one long weekend.

And every year since, for the next 7 years, I went as a fan. Last year I went for the first time as a “semi-professional (having published a graphic novelette in 2008. Over the course of these last 8 years now, looking onto my 9th, I’ve begun to see my “Rome” begin to crumble. (more…)

Neal Adams Captain America art for Ostrander benefit auction at Chicago Comic-Con

neal-adams-captain-america-2938048At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

Artwork is still coming in for the auction, and we’ll be showing you stuff prior to the auction. We already showed you this Batman/Hawkman piece by Andy and Joe Kubert, and Gonzo Davros by Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show comics from BOOM! Studios. Now, we show you Captain America by the amazing Neal Adams.

So if you don’t bid on this piece to help John out, we can only conclude that you hate America.

Cease and desist letter to ComicMix for posting ‘Astro Boy’ image

UPDATE 8/5/09: The issue has been resolved between Imagi and us. See here for more details.

So we got this in our feedback form recently:

From: Rebecca Henning

Email: XXXXXXXXX@wwllp.com

To Comicmix.com:

This law firm represents Imagi Crystal Limited (“Imagi”), the exclusive owner of the copyright in the as-yet-to-be-released CGI Astro Boy Movie and various images and depictions of the anime character Astro Boy, including the depiction at this link: http://comicmix.com//news/2009/07/23/sdcc-astro-boy-panel/  (the “Image”).

It recently has come to our attention that without authorization you have posted the Image at the link set forth above and represent that it is related to and/or connected with the Astro Boy Movie and/or sponsored or endorsed by Imagi (the “Posting”).

Please be advised that the Posting constitutes, among other things, false advertising and unfair competition in violation of Imagi’s exclusive rights, and further constitutes infringement of Imagi’s protected rights under the Copyright Act, all of which subjects you to a claim for injunctive relief and damages. Accordingly, on behalf of Imagi, we hereby demand that you immediately remove the Posting from your website, and further, that you immediately provide written confirmation that you have done so.

Be further advised that if you do not comply with the demands set forth above, Imagi will have no choice but to institute an action against you — and any persons or entities acting in concert with you — which will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Please confirm to us right away that you have complied with the demands of this letter. Otherwise, Imagi will have no option other than to act promptly to protect its rights.

This letter is not intended as a complete statement of the facts or of Imagi’s rights, remedies and causes of action, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.

Very truly yours,

Rebecca Henning
Weissmann Wolff Bergman Coleman Grodin & Evall LLP
9665 Wilshire Boulevard, Ninth Floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Tel. 310.858.7888

And here is our reply:

Ms. Henning:

The image in question has been removed.

To play it on the safe side, we have also removed the article in question, and every article related to the Astro Boy movie from our web site.

Obviously, we will be unable to trust any Astro Boy images that we get from third parties, because they may simply be claiming to have permission to promote Astro Boy and we simply don’t have the time to check to see if, say, Summit Entertainment is in any way connected with Imagi… so it would just be easier to not cover the movie at all. Or the DVD release. Or the comic book adaptation, which will certainly be entertaining to explain to the publisher.

For that matter, we should probably be concerned about showing any images from other Imagi productions, such as Gatchaman, Highlander, TMNT, or Gigantor. We’ll just skip covering them as well. And we should also notify all of the other people and news organizations who are providing press coverage on the web for any Imagi properties to be careful running any images related to their properties, lest they run afoul of lawyers. I can think of a few large websites running your precious image right now, I’m sure their thinking will mirror ours.

It’s a shame. You could have handled this like the nice folks at Guinness World Records. When we used an image on their web site to promote an article about them, they wrote a very polite letter, did not threaten legal action at all, and provided us with alternate images to use. Even though our usage of the image clearly fell within fair use, we were happy to replace the image because we appreciated the tone and their efforts to find a useful solution.

But hey, you’re just doing your job. So are we. And right now, it’s going to be a lot easier to do our jobs by not having anything to do with Imagi products, certainly not by promoting them in any way. And I’m sure it’s going to be a lot easier for other folks to do the same.

Glenn Hauman
ComicMix

Lightsaver tee shirt: New meaning to Luke’s green lightsaber

light-saver-tee-shirt-1827912

From Slashfilm: Threadless has released a new Star Wars parody t-shirt design by Matthijs Smit, which takes the concept of being green to “a galaxy far far away.” Someone needs to save the force energy, or it might run out. Available in sizes small to XXXL on Asphalt American Apparel tee. for a discounted $15. The best part is that the light design is printed to glow in the dark.

The Point Radio: Vampire Love Secrets

AIDEN TURNER, star of the BBC’s BEING HUMAN shares some backstage secrets on making vampire love scenes, plus an invite to Marvel’s Big Birthday Bash, and your opportunity to help COMIX4SIGHT and hear our first LIVE broadcast direct from Wizard World CHICAGO.

pt080309-7207862

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PROGRAMMING NOTE: There will NOT be a regular Podcast this Friday (August 7th). Instead, we will be filing stories right here direct from Wizard World Chicago plus join us for 24/7 Pop Culture Updates on THE POINT RADIO. And don’t forget our LIVE BROADCAST OF THE COMIX4SIGHT AUCTION Saturday at 8:30pm (Eastern Time).
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Roger Langridge Gonzo Davros art for Comix4Sight auction at Chicago Comicon

gonzodalekdavros-1425287Yes, it’s Doctor Who meets The Muppet Show!

At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

Artwork is coming in for the auction, and we’ll be showing you stuff prior to the auction. We already showed you this Batman/Hawkman piece by Andy and Joe Kubert, now we have Gonzo becoming half Dalek, brought to you by Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show comics from BOOM! Studios. Roger did a bunch of other pieces for the auction as well, and we can’t thank him enough.

Terry Pratchett Weighs In on Assisted Suicide Debate

Don’t read any further if you don’t want to be depressed for the rest of your Sunday.

Still with us? Well, beloved Discworld author (and Good Omens co-author) Terry Pratchett told The Daily Mail that before he reaches the “endgame” of the Alzheimer’s Disease he was diagnosed with back in 2007, he wants to be allowed to die on his own terms. In his own words, per the article:

I
intend, before the endgame looms, to die sitting in a chair in my own
garden with a glass of brandy in my hand and Thomas Tallis on the iPod. Thomas’s music could lift even an atheist a little bit closer to
Heaven. Oh, and since this is England, I had better add, “If wet, in
the library.”

There’s some interesting stuff in the article about the assisted suicide debate in the UK, and I recommend you take a read.

Review: ‘Race to Witch Mountain’ on DVD

When the opportunity presented itself, I could not help but wait to screen the DVD of Race to Witch Mountain until my niece Corinne, 11, arrived for a visit. After all, family-friendly films should be seen by all aspects of its target audience. The film, going on sale Tuesday, is based on Alexander H. Key’s 1968 novel [[[Escape to Witch]]] Mountain and is an updated remake with little connecting it to the 1975 Disney film or the 1995 sequel.

Much as the recent [[[Taking of Pelham 123]]] had to update itself to reflect today’s technology and storytelling, this film works in many modern touches so some credit goes to screenwriters Andy Fickman, Mark Bomback, and Matt Lopez. The two orphan children from the book are seen here as aliens in human form, escaping from their crashed flying saucer, trying to obtain a device they need to not only save their ecologically challenged home planet but prevent a deadly invasion of Earth. How they got separated from their ship and why it didn’t have better security, allowing it to be taken by the military is glossed over.

Instead, they use their powers to obtain cash then hire cabbie Dwayne Johnson to take them to where their object is located. Black-suited government agents are chasing them along with an assassin from home that has followed them. Atop that, needlessly complicating the story and never fully explained are goons from Johnson’s criminal past who try to apprehend him for their boss.

(more…)

Vote for Madrox! (A shameless plea from Peter David)

So I got an email from Peter David:

Glenn? Voting ends Monday on the “Pick three figures to be in next year’s Hasbro Marvel Legends line” that includes trench coat Madrox as a choice. Can you put this up immediately on ComicMix and urge people to vote for Madrox?

Why, that would be shameless flackery. And if you think that we’re just going to put up a link suggesting that people vote multiple times for Madrox the Multiple Man, currently appearing in X-Factor, well… that’s going to cost you.