Author: Chris Ullrich

First Look: ‘Y:The Last Man’ Wrap Party Footage

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  • February 22, 2008

It’s probably not much of a secret that I’m a huge fan of Brian K.Vaughan’s comic book series Y: The Last Man. If I wasn’t, why else would I be posting about it so much? So, in my continuing effort not to disappoint those of you who are also fans of the series, here now is yet another bit of news about it.

This time, the news comes to us in the form of exclusive video from the Y:The Last Man wrap party courtesy of Variety’s Bags and Boads site. The party, which took place a couple of weeks ago at Meltdown Comics here in LA, was held to celebrate the final issue of Y: The Last Man and as a benefit for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund — a worthy cause indeed.

The video showcases some of the many guests in attendance, including Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerrra, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid and my personal hero, Joss Whedon.

Check it out at the Bags and Boards site. Or, if, as the post says, you have trouble watching it there, it’s also available at Myspace Comics. Enjoy.

Eight Comic Books to Read Before You Die

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  • February 22, 2008

Just in time for the opening of WonderCon in San Francisco today, the online arm of the San Francisco Chronicle, SF Gate, has decided to put out its list, a comics "mix tape" as they call it,  of the "Eight Comic Books to Read Before You Die."

Posted by Peter Hartlaub, the list includes many notables in the comics world such as Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman and their works — which are probably considered classic must-reads by most comics fans already.

In addition, the list also features one or two other works traditional comics fans, those who usually confine themselves to one or more Marvel or DC titles featuring spandex-clad heroes, may be less familier with. Books such as Jeff Smith’s Bone and Y:The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan, although successful and well-known to many in the comics community, are perhaps not as well-known to the masses as the X-Men, Spider-Man or Batman.

Here, then, is the list of what the folks at SFGate think you should read, and in the order you should read them, before you die. Hopefully, you’ve already had the pleasure of discovering some of these works. Maybe after reading this list, you can discover a few more.

Y: The Last Man: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra

Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli

Swamp Thing by Alan Moore

Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross

Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman

The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

I’m pleased to say that, besides Bone, I’ve read all the books on this list and am a particular fan of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last man. Of course, now that I’ve read this list, I can never, ever read Bone. That is, unless I’m ready to die. 

What comics would be on your list?

Foo Fighters Sue Marvel For Copyright Infringement

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  • February 22, 2008

Today, Rolling Stone is reporting that the Foo Fighters are suing Marvel Entertainment, First Serve International, Toonz Animation in India and First Serve Toonz for copyright infringement. According to the article:

The band alleges that Marvel used “substantial excerpts” of their songs “Best of You” and “Free Me” as the music for the trailer of the new animated series Wolverine and the X-Men.

The trailer, which showed up online back at the beginning of February, has since been taken down from YouTube. However, as in most cases like this, that doesn’t really help much because you can still get a look at it over at Movieweb. Well, at least you could have up until a few minutes ago. But now, "at the request of the studio", it’s gone.

If you were able to watch the trailer, which I was able to do before it went bye-bye, its pretty obvious that the Foo Fighters songs were used — a lot. Seeing this kind of thing makes me wonder how the people responsible thought they could get away with something like this?

Don’t they realize that once something hits the Internet, this kind of thing can’t stay a secret? Someone is going to get a strongly-worded letter in his or her permanent file over this, just you wait and see.

 

Monaghan and Henney Join ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’

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  • February 22, 2008

Recently, Variety reported that Lord of the Rings and Lost star Dominic Monaghan and Danial Henney, recently seen in the Korean drama My Father, have joined the cast of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. According to the article, Monaghan will play Barnell, a "mysterious character from Wolverine’s past who has the ability to manipulate energy and electricity."

Henney will take on the role of Agent Zero, "a member of the Weapon X program and an expert tracker with lethal marksman skills." Monaghan and Henney join a growing cast which already includes Hugh Jackman as, of course, Wolverine, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Taylor Kitsch, will.i.am, Lynn Collins and Ryan Reynolds.

The film, directed by Gavin Hood from a David Benioff script, which is shooting now in New Zealand, Australia and New Orleans, tells the story of Wolverine’s younger days and how he came to be the savage yet compassionate clawed mutant he is today. 

X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits theaters May 1st, 2009.

 

Mr. T. Limited Advance Graphic Novel Announced

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  • February 22, 2008

As if things in the world of comics weren’t already interesting enough, word now comes, in the form of an official press release from publisher Mohawk Media, that the upcoming Mr. T graphic novel, set to release later this summer, will also have a "Limited Advance Edition" available right now for eager fans.

The Limited Advance Edition of the graphic novel will only have 4000 copies available and, as the press release states:

It marks the return to prominence of Mr. T, the Mohawk muscleman who was voted the fourth “Greatest American” in a recent global BBC poll, muscling in front of the likes of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

‘It’s great to be the star of a graphic novel’, says Mr. T. ‘And great entertainment is always driven by great writing!’ Mr. T, who contributes world-exclusive interviews to the graphic novel and acts as its Executive Editor, adds: ‘I’ve always strived to be a good role model to children and adults alike. I can’t think of a better way to do that than by encouraging people to read! What would I say to anyone who doesn’t read my graphic novel? “I pity the fool!” ’

Well said, Mr. T. Well said, indeed.

 

Paramount Drops HD-DVD

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  • February 22, 2008

Well, that didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I figured it might be at least a few days before Paramount made the decidion to drop HD-DVD. But I guess they hated being last to the party with a date nobody wanted.

So today, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount also dumped HD-DVD and will now be releasing content exclusively on Blu-Ray.

According to the Paramount press release quoted in the article:

 "We are pleased that the industry is moving to a single high-definition format, as we believe it is in the best interest of the consumer. As we look to (begin) releasing our titles on Blu-ray, we will monitor consumer adoption and determine our release plans accordingly."

Again, no mention about content currently in the pipeline that’s already HD-DVD. Maybe they’ll go back and redo all of them and then release on Blu-Ray? That would seem unlikely and pretty costly. But with the odd things Hollywood studios sometimes do, I guess anything is possible.

New ‘Iron Man’ Photos Pop Up

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  • February 21, 2008

I’m still amazed sometimes at the power of the Internet. If it wasn’t for this great invention that I use every day, how could I now bring you more, brand new, Iron Man photos that, thanks to tipster Rene over at SuperHeroHype, we know have just surfaced.  

These new pics look like either production stills or screen-captures from the film itself and depict verious scenes such as Tony Stark and Pepper Potts in a somewhat intimate moment, Stark being led by his captors in the desert carrying a mysterious box and Stark working his magic with two scantily-clad young ladies.

You can find the new pics here, here, here, here, and here. Enjoy!

Live-Action ‘Akira’ On the Way from Leo DiCaprio

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  • February 21, 2008

Yesterday, the Hollywood Reporter dropped the news that Warner Brothers has snapped up the rights to make a two-part, live-action version of the Japanese Anime classic Akira. Not only that, but producing the film will be superstar Leonaro DiCaprio. In addition, first-time feature helmer Ruairi Robinson will be taking on the directing duties and Gary Whitta is writing the screenplay.

But wait, there’s more.

Today, it was confirmed by Aint it Cool News that DiCaprio will, in addition to producing, star in the live-action film as the lead character Kaneda. Also confirmed is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, soon to be seen in the upcoming live-action G.I. Joe, will join him in the cast as Tetsuo. 

In case you’re not familiar with Akira, it originally came out in 1988 as a manga and then as an animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. The story, set in a futuristic post-nuclear war "New Tokyo" in the year 2019, concerns a teen biker gang member called Tetsuo who is subjected to government experiments which unleash his hidden and terrifying powers. Kaneda, the gang’s leader and Tetsuo’s best friend, must then find a way to stop the ensuing destruction caused by his friend, even if it means killing him.
 
I first saw the film in the early ’90s and was blown away. At the time it was like no other animation I had ever seen and I’ve always secretly harbored a desire to see it as a big-budget, live-action feature. I guess I’ll get my wish. Hopefully, that will be a good thing.
 
Warner Brothers is looking at a Summer 2009 release for the first film.

 

 

Columbia Pictures Snaps Up ‘The Boys’

  • News
  • February 21, 2008

In their continuing quest to find new, exciting and original content, Hollywood studios often turn to the world of comic books and graphic novel as source material for new projects. Today is no exception as Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures has picked up the rights to Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys. The feature film adaptation of the comic book, which is published by Dynamite Entertainment, will be produced by Neil Moritz through his Sony-based Original Film company.

In case you’re not familier with the comic (although you should be) the story follows a CIA squad informally known as "the boys" whose job it is to keep track of the superheroes in town and make sure they don’t do anything wrong or make mistakes that hurt other innocent people. If they do, "the boys" are there to straighten them out or even, in some cases, kill them.

In the Variety article, producer Moritz characterized the comic as an original take on the superhero genre.

"Rather than begin with a romantic idea of superheroes out to save the world, ‘The Boys’ imagines a world in which superheroes really exist, with all of the flaws that real people have," he said. "The boys are there to make sure that people with superhuman powers don’t get out of line."

No word yet on if Ennis himself will be writing the script for the film, any potential casting or a start date. But when there is, we’ll bring it to you.

 

David Fincher to Direct ‘Black Hole’

  • News
  • February 21, 2008

I’ve been a fan of director David Fincher since he used to direct music videos. His visual style has always been very interesting to me and many of his films, particularly Se7en and Fight Club, rank among my all-time favorites. So, when Fincher decides to sign-on to a new film, as he just did today, I start to get very happy.

Fincher’s latest film, according to the Hollywood Reporter, will be the sexual thriller Black Hole, based on the graphic novel by Charlie Burns. This story follows a group of High-School students whose lives are dramatically altered when they come into contact with a sexually-transmitted disease known as "the teen plague." Then, while they try to deal with the social stigma and physical effects of the disease, that’s when the murders start.

Not only will Fincher be handling the directing chores, which already makes this a must-see movie for me, but the graphic novel will be adapted for the screen by two of the most-talented writers working today: Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman.

Fincher is currently wrapping up his next release The Curious Case of Benjamin Button starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, but there’s no word yet if Black Hole will be his next film or if it will be one of the others he currently has in development including Torso (based on Brien Bendis’ graphic novel), The Devil in the White City and The Killer.

 

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