Monthly Archive: November 2009

Ken Ober: 1957-2009

  • News
  • November 17, 2009

Ken Ober, best known as the host of the MTV game show Remote Control, has died at the age of 52.  No cause of death has been identified as yet.

Ober was the host of the series for five seasons on MTV, airing first in 1987.  The series helped launched the careers of several notables, including Colin Quinn, Kari Wuhrer, Denis Leary and Adam Sandler.  He followed the series as producer of Mind of Mencia for Comedy Central and also as a consulting producer for several episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine on CBS.  Ober got his start as a stand up comedian on Star Search in 1984 where he was named the Comedian Champion.

If you want to get a bit nostalgic with us, come on along with us back to the late 80’s… and yes, there may even be an odd comic book tie-in for this episode:

ComicMix Six: Classic ‘Star Trek’ comics you should read

  • Uncategorized
  • November 17, 2009

star-trek-15-gold-key-3527093After growing up from the little science-fiction show Gene
Roddenberry created in the 1960s, the venerable Star Trek franchise in recent years had just about worn out its
welcome in the eyes of all but its most devoted followers. Enter J.J. Abrams and
his high-octane, supercharged re-imagining of the classic series, resulting in
one of 2009’s most commercially and critically successful films, released today on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Star Trek’s
unprecedented popularity at the box office has also revitalized interest in
past adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Many such tales have been chronicled in comics form
since the 1960s—while the classic series was still on the air! After
boldly going into our vast archives, we have emerged with six stories that we
consider worthy representatives of the more than four decades of Star Trek comics history.

In order of publication:

1: “The Museum at the End
of Time” – Star Trek #15,
Gold Key Comics, August 1972

Love them or hate them, the Gold Key Star Trek comics occupy a special place in the hearts of old-school
Trekkies. The 61 issues—complete with crazy character likenesses as well
as the Enterprise belching fire from
its warp engines—helped to fuel fans’ needs for new Star Trek stories in the early 1970s. This story features the
Enterprise pulled through a cosmic vortex into a mysterious region where time
has no meaning. There, the crew finds all manner of trapped spacecraft and captive
beings—along with a ship full of angry Klingons! A tale typical of the
Gold Key run, this issue is noteworthy as being an apparent inspiration for
“The Time Trap,” an episode of the animated Star
Trek series produced a year later by Filmation Associates. 

(Reprinted in Star Trek: The Key Collection, Vol. 2
, Checker Book Publishing Group,
December 2004)

(more…)

Review: ‘Gone with the Wind’ 70th Anniversary DVD

Since Gone With The Wind’s release in 1939, David O. Selznick’s adaptation has become one of the most hailed and loved feature films of all time. Adjusted for inflation, it remains today the number one box office champion with a total gross of $1,450,680,400. It deservedly won 10 Academy Awards and continues to be included in Top 10 lists with many catch phrases entering the public lexicon followed plus a score that is instantly recognizable.

On Tuesday, in time for your holiday shopping needs, Warner Home Video is releasing the 70th Anniversary edition of the film in a variety of formats. What was provided to ComicMix was the standard two-disc “plain vanilla” edition. We can tell you that it looks and sounds great and we suspect looks even more spectacular in its Blu-ray format.

Is there anything left to say about this beloved film? I had heard of it growing up but until HBO first broadcast it for the first time, I had no clue what the fuss was about. I still recall a bunch of us gathering at Beth Zemsky’s house to watch this spectacular without interruption and we were all caught up in different ways. For me, I enjoyed the sweep and spectacle, some of the performances and the nostalgic look back at a bygone era. The girls loved the romance.

In rewatching the film now, I find zero chemistry between Trevor Howard and Vivien Leigh, still befuddled over why she loved him. I also find it confusing to see how both Ashley and Melanie were so blind, in their own way, towards Scarlett’s spoiled rich girl ways. Only Rhett saw her for what she was and loved her for it. Rhett Butler is also the only one to see the South as an unsustainable culture and apparently the only man in the whole of the Confederacy to understand they couldn’t compete with northern factories. As a result, his decision to enlist towards the middle therefore makes no sense.

Honestly, the best character arc is Scarlett’s and there’s little more stirring than her return to Tara, seeing what had become of the lifestyle she understood and then declaring, set against a beautiful backdrop, she would never go hungry again. As the music swells and the intermission sign appears, you could have sent everyone home and they would have been thrilled. Instead, we get the second half which is far too melodramatic leading up to the immortal final scene.

Selznick spared no expense and the film is sumptuous, well cast and filled with enough extras to give it the sense of scale required for the needed emotional impact. From a technical standpoint, there’s not a single false note and the movie holds up during repeated viewings. SO, the bottom line comes down to the Margaret Mitchell novel and the characters adapted to the screen. If this is your sort of story then you can’t miss seeing the film. As for owning the new edition, that’s a subjective call. The new digital master seems superior to the last version but it’s the extras that will decide it for you.

(more…)

The Point Radio: Scott Wolf Checks In From ‘V’

  • News
  • November 16, 2009

We are halfway through ABC’s first run of the V mini-series and series star, Scott Wolf, tells us how they plan to keep the momentum going so you’ll come back to the show in March. Meanwhile, disaster is big business at the box office and what’s with all these new DOLLHOUSE websites?
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‘Least I Could Do’ creators offers webcomic scholarship

  • Uncategorized
  • November 16, 2009

ryan-sohmer-and-lar-desouza-5820993It seems the least Ryan Sohmer and Lar DeSouza could do was offer a full scholarship.

Ryan announced on the Least I Could Do website on Friday that they have created “The Rayne Summers Webcomic Scholarship”, at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont:

Beginning in the fall of ’10, we will be covering the full tuition for
the selected applicant. The applicant who, I might add, is working
towards a career in webcomics. Over the course of the next 5 years, we
plan on adding 1 student per year, thus by 2015, the Scholarship will
be putting 5 students through the program per year.

This scholarship will be managed by Blind Ferret, though there will be
heavy involvement from others in our field, in the form of a board of
Directors and a selection committee.

More information will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks,
including fund raising events, application rules and deadlines and
more. Keep an eye on this space.

Applause, applause, gentlemen. And this actually hints at a bigger question– why hasn’t any other comics company stepped up to fund such a scholarship? There’s the Dave & Paty Cockrum scholarship at the Kubert School that’s funded from the sale of Dave’s personal collection and through the tireless efforts of Paty and Clifford Meth, and Diamond and First Second also had a scholarship at CCS, although it’s not clear if that was just a one time thing.

Why doesn’t DC or Marvel have any? Do they actually have some that are so poorly promoted that I’ve never heard of them? Or would they rather just draft straight from high school into the major leagues?

(Note: of course, DC and Marvel both have internship programs, I went through one from DC. But they do require you to be where the office is, and you have to be there during 9-5 hours, which is hell on a college class schedule.)

Review: I’m disappointed by Mark Waid’s ‘Strange’ #1…

  • Uncategorized
  • November 16, 2009

strange-1-cover-9085293Oh, not by the comic itself. The book reads well, is entertaining, puts our boy Stephen in a different place than he was, and the art by Emma Rios is fun and quirky, calling to Ditko without ever calling to Ditko.

It’s just that Mark didn’t do what clearly needed to be done… the tale should have been titled “[[[Strange Sports Stories]]]”.

Really, guy, you’re slipping.

hatter-m-3-cover-5486823

‘The Looking Glass Wars’ movie adaptation in the works

  • Uncategorized
  • November 16, 2009

hatter-m-3-cover-5486823A movie adaptation of author/producer Frank Beddor’s young adult book trilogy The Looking Glass Wars is in the works.  During an appearance to promote the third book in the series, ArchEnemy, on Good Morning America on Friday, Beddor said he was working with producer Charles Roven (The Dark Knight, Rex Libris) to bring The Looking Glass Wars to the big screen.

The series has already spun off a graphic novel version and the spinoff series Hatter M, written by Beddor and Liz Cavalier with art by Ben Templesmith in volume 1 and Sami Makkonen in volume 2. A lengthy preview of the series can be found at HatterM.com.

Mark Wheatley at Towson University on graphic novels

  • News
  • November 14, 2009

Today’s 18th Annual Baltimore Writers’ Conference will feature Mark Wheatley writer-artist of Lone Justice, Frankenstein Mobster and EZ Street, as well as Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down and The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958 and others.

Now in its 18th year, the one-day
conference at Towson University in Towson, Maryland will bring together aspiring writers from around the mid-Atlantic
to learn about writing from published authors, agents and editors.
Panel sessions will cover a variety of topics including screenplays,
poetry, creative nonfiction, blogging, children’s books, thrillers and
travel writing.

The conference is sponsored by
Towson University’s Graduate Program in Professional Writing, TU’s
College of Liberal Arts, Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Writing, and
the City Lit Project.

Registration includes all panels, lunch and the closing wine-and-cheese reception. Admission for the general public is $95, and for students (with identification) the price is $50.

For more information, visit the Baltimore Writer’s Conference online, email prwr@towson.edu or contact Geoffrey Becker at (410) 704-5196.

Captain Action and The Phantom to finally meet

  • News
  • November 14, 2009

We missed posting something about this the other day but it’s still cool enough for us to talk about. The revival of Captain Action now means he can begin meeting the super-heroes his action figure incarnation transformed into. This begin in March with Moonstone’s release of Phantom Action, a crossover between King Feature’s classic comic strip hero, and Captain Action.

According to the official release, the Ghost Who Walks is captured and his wife Diana pleads with Captain Action to help. “It turns out the young Captain Action has had a crush on Diana since his teenage years, so that makes for an interesting dynamic”, said series writer Mike Bullock. The two-issue mini-series is pencilled by Reno and will offer a variety of covers by artists Art Thibert, Mark Sparacio and Michael T. Gilbert.

The Phantom was one of the original set of heroes the figure could become when introduced in the 1960s. When Playing Mantis had the license in the 1990s, they included Lee Falk’s jungle hero as one of the revival figures. Currently, Cast-A-Way has announced plans to release an 8” Mego-sized Captain Action as the Phantom figure complete with long slide Colt .45s, as well as the Phantom’s signature rings. 

 “My dad has always been a big Phantom fan. As a boy, he just loved the Witman 1944 Phantom book and the weekly Sunday strip. I know I was reading too much into it, but as a child I felt there was some sort of father-son legacy when I dressed my original Captain Action as the Phantom”, said Captain Action Enterprises’ Retropreneur, Ed Catto.

“The Phantom set was one I always wished I had for my Captain Action, so it’s fitting we’re able to bring the characters back together again,” said Joe Ahearn of Captain Action Enterprises, LLC. “Recently, Cast-A-Way toys created new Mego-sized Captain Action and Phantom figures. We might soon have some additional announcements about these toys as well.”

Captain Action was revived in comics last year and has been met with mixed reaction, prompting Catto and Ahearn to consider some form of revamp in the coming year. They’ve already introduced a Lady Action to interact with the hero, who is currently portrayed as the son of the original.

‘The Dark Tower’: J.J. Abrams out, new novel coming

  • News
  • November 14, 2009

J.J, Abrams has left The Dark Tower according to comments made on MTV. During an interview, the producer said,” You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that’s probably the reason that I shouldn’t be the one to adapt it. After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I’m terrified of screwing it up. I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.”

King, now on the road in support of the well-received Under the Dome, has said he wishes to write one more book set between Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla. Over at his message board, the moderator posted, “Stephen has given me permission to pass along that he has an idea for a new Dark Tower book, the working title of which will be The Wind Through the Keyhole. He has not yet started this book and anticipates that it will be a minimum of eight months before he is able to begin writing it.”

The author continues to oversee the adaptations of The Dark Tower cycle at Marvel Comics and will be writing an original vampire tale for Vertigo in 2010.

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