Author: Glenn Hauman

You have to wonder if the April’s Fools stories are coming out early… but apparently not. According to Variety, Disney will release producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s family-targeted live-action movie The Sorcerer’s Apprentice on July 16, 2010. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice joins two other Disney kid/family-centric pictures set for that summer: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, set for May 28, and Pixar’s Toy Story 3, which opens July 18.

The movie, starring Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel, is based on "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice" section of Disney’s animated feature Fantasia.  The movie begins production this month under the direction of Jon Turteltaub, who has worked with both Cage and Bruckheimer before on the National Treasure films.

No word yet if Cage will wear the mouse ears.

Now, before you all cry "Blasphemy!" bear in mind that you never thought Pirates of the Caribbean would work… and it probably can’t be any worse than this version:

So I’m watching WALL•E, and I’m thinking to myself that the voice of the ship, AUTO, is real familiar, and so I call up IMDB. And lo and behold, it is familair– it’s MacInTalk. The happy folks at Pixar tipped their hats to Apple (gee, can’t imagine why).

Then I look deeper. Dang, IMDB gave MacInTalk its own character page. Very neat.

And then I scrolled down to the message boards, and I saw the various comments…

Met him last night…
Macintalk for Best Supporting Actor!

This guy is in every fcking movie!
So overrated.

People say I look like him!!

Is it true he’s dating Keira Knightly?

I think I read that somewhere. Maybe People magazine? I don’t know but it would be cool if it was true!

He’s quite the player. He’s also been seen with Agnes, Kathy, Princess, Vicki and Victoria, as well as Trinoids, Zarvox, Pipe Organ and Bahh. There are even rumors about him and his pet dogcow, Clarus.

You people are all insane! MacInTalk and Keira have repeatedly DENIED any relationship. All this kind of talk does is further confuse people who’ll readily believe anything they read. CAN’T YOU LEAVE THEM IN PEACE? Anyway, MacInTalk was seen in Ibiza two weeks ago snuggling up to Salma Hayek on the beach, so you can make up your own mind about that …

Nude pictures – real?

Oh, that is SO photoshopped. FAKE!! Can’t you see it’s Mac’s (read/write) head on a Hitachi platter and chassis?

You don’t even want to know about discussion of the sex tape on Robby The Robot’s page.

From The Eaten Path:

Ingredients:

2 oz. clove-infused gin
1 oz. dry vermouth
1/2 oz. St Germain
Splash of blue curacao
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Place several ice cubes in a mixing glass or cocktail shaker. Don’t skimp on the ice (I use about five cubes per drink), as Dr. Manhattan is to be served straight. Chill a glass on the side by filling it with ice or placing it in the freezer.

Add 2 oz. of clove-infused gin, then 1 oz. of dry vermouth. Follow with 1/2 oz. of St. Germain (the good Doctor still knows how to love, after all). Throw in a couple dashes of Peychaud’s bitters- I use Peychaud’s instead of Angostura because of their red hue and less punchy flavor. Finally, add just a bit of blue curaçao, enough to give the drink a crystal blue tinge without making the end result too sweet. Stir all of the ingredients thoroughly (I usually stir for half a minute or so) to ensure that they are well mixed and well chilled. This drink does not get better as it gets warmer.

Strain the mixture into the chilled glass and serve immediately.

Serve with a giant blue swizzle stick. The blueberries are optional.

Drink enough of these, and the morality of your actions will escape you too.

To the list of Wolverine artists that we’re appreciating because Marvel isn’t, it seems we sadly must now add Frank Miller and Josef Rubenstein.

Why? Because of this cover. The Washington Post lists the artist as Morry Hollowell, completely skipping over the work of the original artists.

Unless they’re really trying for the Pop Art thing by not acknowledging the original artists…? Hey, it worked for Roy.

One of the details in the story of Action Comics #1 sells for $317,200 was that the person selling the book found it in a second-hand store in the early 1950s when he was nine years old, and bought it for 35 cents. Obviously, he’s the current all-time champ in the single issue category, with Chuck Rozanski holding the award for bulk purchases with the Mile High Collections.

But it occurs to me that most collectors have at least one great find in their collections. The issue to the right is mine, Man Of War #1, from 1940, which my father and I found in a coin collectors store in Lake Ronkonkoma in the late 70’s-early 80’s. I bought it for $3, and it’s worth about $1000 today. At the same store, I also bought a copy of the first edition of the Overstreet Price Guide, which is worth a few hundred bucks now as well.

How about you? What was your greatest find?

Marvel’s press release:

Marvel is proud to announce that in honor of Wolverine‘s 35th anniversary, numerous Marvel titles will feature Wolverine Art Appreciation Variant Covers in April, as part of Wolverine Art Appreciation Month. In the tradition of Marvel’s previous variant cover programs, featuring everything from villains to zombies to monkeys, select Marvel titles will feature variant covers spotlighting the most popular X-Man through a unique lens! Inspired by some of the world’s greatest artists, these variant covers depict Wolverine like you’ve never seen him before, in styles reminiscent of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol and more!

"This is a huge year for Wolverine as he proves why he’s arguably one of the most popular characters in the world," explained Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief. "He’s not just popular with fans but also with artists, as evidenced by how many of today’s top comic artists jockey for a chance to draw him. This got us thinking: what if Wolverine had been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years? What great, classic artists would want a crack at drawing a Wolverine cover?"

We here at ComicMix are hereby starting Wolverine Artist Appreciation Month. This will pay tribute to the great, classic artists that have gone into creating Wolverine over the years, yet somehow are not getting their fair share from Marvel over the character to which they contributed so much, and who have been underappreciated in so many other ways.

So please, take a moment to thank:

• Len Wein
• Herb Trimpe
• John Romita Sr.
• Chris Claremont
• Dave Cockrum
• John Byrne
• Terry Austin

In particular, if you’d like to honor the late great Dave Cockrum, please consider purchasing some of his file copy comic books from his estate to help his widow Paty. The list of available books is here.