Author: Glenn Hauman

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO THE DEBUT OF PI NICHOLAS COLT!

  • News
  • February 14, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp By Tommy Hancock

POCKET 47

By Jude Hardin

OceanView Publishing

One of the best liked, most lampooned, often replicated, sometimes screwed up, extremely action packed, twisty and turny sub-genres of Pulp is the Private Eye tale.   Everything from Hard Boiled to Cozy to Armchair to Science Fiction to Western to on and on ad nauseum, the PI story has endured many a different take and new coat of paint and withstood rather well.  But sometimes the best way to treat a PI is straight ahead and direct, even if it’s a tale clothed in modern trappings.  There’s never anything better than a two fisted, guns blazing gonna do what he’s gotta do gumshoe.   And it’s even better when characterization rides alongside the plot like Tonto following The Lone Ranger.

That is ‘Pocket 47’.

Jude Hardin introduces PI Nicholas Colt in this novel and Colt comes in with a ton of tragic baggage and a moral code akin to Chandler’s Marlowe and Parker’s Spenser.  A former top selling blues guitarist in a band, Colt’s life took a horrible turn when a plane crash claimed his band and his wife and daughter, leaving him as the only survivor a different man.   Years later, Colt lives in an Airstream trailer in Florida, fishes when he wants to, doesn’t play the guitar, and works as a private eye with a reputation for working runaway cases.

A client enters into Colt’s life as the novel opens, a young nurse desperate to find her fifteen year old sister who she had rescued from foster care and who has now ran away.   What starts as a typical case of tracking the girl to her favorite haunts and hiding spots takes a turn when Colt finds her and she claims someone is trying to kill her.  What ensues is murder, kidnapping, fist fights, good and bad cops, a religious white supremacist leading an army of zealots, and most of all secrets.  Secrets surrounding the runaway.  Secrets that engulf almost everyone Colt meets along the way.  And most of all, secrets that may very well tie into the most horrible event in Nicholas’ Colt’s life. 

In ‘Pocket 47’, Hardin makes everything count and matter.  Including the cryptic title.  Colt is a solid entry into the hard boiled PI school, even though he may wear shorts and spend long days fishing.  He has a serious set of rules, so serious he often quotes them and lives by them, a tried and true proof that he’s cast in a classic light.  But he’s also not Superman.  The plane crash in his past, Colt encounters enough problems in his present life to send most men spiraling into a bottle never to float to the top again.  But he barrels on, putting clues together in a solid whydunit, and taking on the police, pimps, wealthy doctors, and a Nazi like religious group to boot. 

The only problem I had with ‘Pocket 47’ and it’s one that is minor overall, is that it really could have been two books.   There’s a point in the tale where for the most part all seems resolved and it could easily be the end of the tale and yet it’s not.  By the end of the book, it’s obvious how it all ties together, but it did get slightly disjointed before it roared on to its more than satisfying ending.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT- ‘Pocket 47’ is a welcome addition to my PI shelf and Nicholas Colt is definitely a character that needs to play his way into another novel….or five.


John Severin: 1921-2012

  • Uncategorized
  • February 14, 2012

john_severin-8632971John Severin, Eisner Hall of Fame winner and one of the last of the legendary EC artists, died Sunday in Denver, Colorado. He was 90.

Severin was among the greatest draftsmen of the EC crew. He was especially well known for his western comics and war comics, but worked across many genres, including a 45 year stint drawing for Cracked magazine, doing numerous parodies and creating the definitive version of the company mascot, janitor Sylvester P. Smythe.

In recent years he had continued to work, with his last new material coming from Dark Horse last year on Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder.

His family has released a statement:

Internationally acclaimed illustrator-­cartoonist, John Powers Severin (1921-­2012), passed away Sunday, February 12, 2012 at his home in Denver, Colorado with his family by his side.

He was 90 years old.

Throughout his sixty plus year career in comic illustration and cartooning, Severin gained world-­wide notoriety and is regarded by many fans, friends, historians, and colleagues as a truly distinctive and brilliant artist.

Long-time friend and former president and chairman of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee states, “He had an art style that was uniquely and distinctly his own.The minute you looked at his artwork you knew you were looking at a John Severin illustration; it could be no one else. Besides his inimitable style, there was a feeling of total authenticity to whatever he drew, whether it was a Western, a crime story, a superhero saga or a science fiction yarn. Not only was his penciling the very finest, but his inking, too, had a distinctive Severin touch that made every strip he rendered stand out like a winner”.

(more…)

Mark of the Spider-Man Starts Sending Out Operatives…

  • Uncategorized
  • February 14, 2012

mark-of-the-spider-man-300x296-1541545The countdown clock has ticked down, and there’s a new message:

So, you’ve found us.

If you support us, if you support Spider-Man, now is your time.

Follow the Twitter accounts of our operatives in each of these cities. They’ll tell you where to go to uncover the next step. For this pursuit we ask that you please be over the age of 18.

Be safe, and good luck. We’re counting on you.

via Mark of the Spider-Man.

So far, @Nycwebslinger and @Caughtinatlweb have been revealed. Denver, Phoenix, Seattle and Los Angeles are still to come…

DC Comics May 2012 Solicitations

  • News
  • February 13, 2012

bm_earthone-288x450-8575253It’s that time again… here are the preview materials for DC Comics releases for May 2012.

As you can see, DC is clearly getting excited about the imminent arrival of The Dark Knight Rises with new movie statues showing Anne Hathaway, Christian Bale, and Tom Hardy, the return of Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham’s Batman Incorporated and the long awaited arrival of Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, and the Talon appearing in every single Batman book this month… and even All-Star Western?

Plus, with the return of Earth One, we also get the return of Earth Two– and the return of the World’s Finest.

Shall we get into it? Let’s!

As always, spoilers may lurk beyond this point. (more…)

‘The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman Sued By Co-Creator Tony Moore

  • Uncategorized
  • February 12, 2012
The Walking Dead

With The Walking Dead returning to AMC tonight, there could be an even bigger threat to the series as we know it: Original artist Tony Moore, co-creator with Robert Kirkman on the first six issues of the series, has filed suit against his onetime partner accusing him of promissory fraud, breach of written contract and other charges.

Moore claims that Kirkman persuaded him to assign his rights on Walking Dead and other properties to a limited liability corporation controlled by Kirkman, who allegedly hasn’t shared any royalty or other payments for Walking Dead or any of the other works.

Moore asserts that in September 2005 he and Kirkman entered into the agreement which assigned Moore 60% of comic publishing net proceeds for The Walking Dead and another title Brit, 20% of all motion picture net proceeds for Walking Dead and Brit and 50% of all motion picture net proceeds in connection with another title Battle Pope. Moore says in the suit he was reluctant to enter into the agreement. But he claims Kirkman informed him that if he didn’t assign his rights as specified it would kill the “large television deal on the table” and no one would receive any money. Kirkman allegedly promised to pay Moore royalties and provide regular, accurate accountings. Moore claims that Kirkman has never paid any royalties or provided an accounting of profit or loss.

Moore seeks damages in association with his purported share of any money Kirkman has already received plus his any share of any money outstanding. He’s asking for a court order for Kirkman to provide complete and timely accounting as well as payment of accrued interest and court costs. You can read the lawsuit here.

via ‘The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman Sued By Former Partner Over AMC Series – Deadline.com.

Let’s unpack this a bit:

1. If, as a comic creator, you ever felt screwed over by an Image Comics deal before, you now have yet another reason to feel so. If you ever considered bringing your comic to Image, you now have to wonder if you can trust the partners to give you a fair accounting.

2. If Moore is correct that no monies have been paid under the contract, then the entire contract can be declared null and void, which means that Moore would then have a claim on both the comic series and, more crucially, the television series– and since the TV series would then have been made without his permission, he can extract a tremendous amount of money from the production company.

And remember– just like zombies, it takes a lot to kill a lawsuit.

Related articles

Me and The Art of Ramona Fradon

  • Uncategorized
  • February 12, 2012

fradon-cover-not-final-224x300-2898571Growing up, I always recognized that Ramona Fradon’s artwork was different, curvier and softer in many ways than Gil Kane or Carmine Infantino. But you couldn’t help but like her open, appealing storytelling and characters. Her artistic touch on Metamorpho and later Super Friends were perfect while she was badly miscast on things like Freedom Fighters and even selected issues of The Brave and the Bold.

From the legion of writers and artists working in the first two generations of comics, Ramona was one I had never had the chance to meet or speak with. It was therefore serendipitous when Dynamite Entertainment invited me to edit The Art of Ramona Fradon which is a visual showcase for her work and was an extended conversation between the artist and fellow creator Howard Chaykin. Chaykin spoke with her on numerous occasions and the raw transcript needed to be shaped which is what I did. But in researching her career, I realized there were pockets of work Howard never explored and other gaps that needed filling in. (And speaking of Chaykin, my overdue The Art of Howard Chaykin retrospective is finally on press and should be out in the spring.)

I was tasked with calling her myself and conducting a supplemental interview so I found myself spending about ninety wonderful minutes with Ramona last year. She was gracious and displayed a pretty good memory so those gaps filled in nicely.

ramona_fradon_bk_12_30_11_high-51-300x193-7515799It was easy, then, to take the various transcripts and edit it into a pretty coherent chronology of her life and career. The book took time to assemble given the hunt for illustrations from across her career but the work is done and I see it now being solicited in the current issue of Diamond reviews.

If you grew up on her work and want to get to know the artist, I strongly suggest you get this for yourself. I’m certainly proud of having worked on this, honoring Ramona and her work.

After the cut is the complete press release with additional details.

Long time fans of Metamorpho, Aquaman, Aqualad, Plastic Man, The Fantastic Four and Super Friends are quite familiar with the work of legendary artist, Ramona Fradon, but not until now will they know the whole story of Ramona’s incredible career in comics, as Dynamite Entertainment is pleased to announce the upcoming The Art of Ramona Fradon in stores on April 2012!

For the first time ever! The DEFINITIVE retrospective of Ramona Fradon’s career will be presented in The Art of Ramona Fradon. The Art of Ramona Fradon will be a hardcover book that highlights the magnificent career of the artistic legend, plus never-before-seen sketches.

Interviewed by legendary creator Howard Chaykin and featuring a forward by Walt Simonson, Fradon talks about her artistic career, accomplishments and creations from her early days at DC in the 1950’s to her later work on Marvel’s The Cat and Fantastic Four and DC’s Plastic Man, Freedom Fighters, Super Friends and more!

“I’ve never liked to see my work in print, but the way it’s presented in this book makes me feel proud,” says legendary artist Ramona Fradon. “The drawings are arranged so attractively on the pages that the not-so-good ones look good and the good ones look really good. It covers so much of my career that there are things I barely remember doing, starting with an unpublished story strip I practiced on before I got into comics. It’s nice to see I’ve improved since then.”

“In an era when 99.99 % of American comic books were produced by a male talent pool, and very few women worked in the field–mostly as writers, and mostly producing work of no particular interest or engagement,” says Howard Chaykin.  “The truest exception to this reality is Ramona Fradon, an original, not to say eccentric talent, whose approach to comics was so idiosyncratic as to make her stand out from her peers, men and women alike–and it should be noted that her work, as influential as it’s been over these many years, remains personal, individual and inimitable.”

“I have known Ramona and loved her work forever. I started with Aquaman in the 1950s when I was a kid,” says Walt Simonson. “Ramona’s art wasn’t like anybody else’s work back then.  Her design of the human figure, her slightly abstract and expressive faces, her crisp line, and her clear storytelling stamped her work with an individuality that was instantly recognizable.”

“It is an honor that we are able to present the life and art of Ramona Fradon in The Art of Ramona Fradon,” adds Dynamite Entertainment President and Publisher Nick Barrucci.  “Ramona Fradon’s work has touched many creators, and I personally am a huge fan of her art.  Ramona’s conversation with Howard Chaykin about her life’s-work makes this book a must-read for any Ramona Fradon fan and any fan of comics history!”

Ramona Fradon is an American comic book and comic strip artist.  Her career began in 1950, when it was even more unusual for women to illustrate superhero comics.  Fradon entered cartooning just after graduating from the Art Students’ League. Comic-book letterer George Ward, a friend of her husband (New Yorker cartoonist Dana Fradon), asked her for samples of her artwork to pitch for job openings. She landed her first assignment on the DC Comics feature Shining Knight. Her first regular assignment was illustrating an Adventure Comics backup feature starring Aquaman, for which she co-created the sidekick Aqualad.

Following her time with Aquaman, and taking a break to raise her daughter, Fradon returned to co-create Metamorpho, drawing four issues of the series. Her other work includes Super Friends, Freedom Fighters, Plastic Man,  a variety of mystery stories, and an issue of the Fantastic Four!

In 1980, Dale Messick retired from drawing the newspaper strip Brenda Starr, and Fradon became the artist for it, until her own retirement in 1995. Fradon was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006.

Join the conversation on Twitter with  #RamonaFradon and on Dynamite Entertainment’s twitter page at https://x.com/DynamiteComics

bloglines1-7643790 delicious1-8528588 digg1-5779839 facebook1-3896250 fark1-4401450 faves1-8212862 linkedin1-6486218 myspace1-1400012 propeller1-1466244 reddit1-3753219 slashdot1-5312908 stumbleupon1-2669339 technorati1-6128567 twitter1-8473931 windowslive1-4240045 yahoo1-1405353 email1-4492197

Twitter of the Mark of the Spider-Man: UPDATED

  • Uncategorized
  • February 10, 2012

 

tweets-of-the-mark-of-the-spider-man-4454690

Earlier in the week, we mentioned that there was what looked like the start of a viral marketing campaign embedded in the new trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man. (We’d call it a web strategy, but– ugh.) People were to start looking for Mark Of The Spider-Man.

Now, a new Twitter feed @markofspiderman has popped up, along with what appear to be latitude and longitude for comic book stores in New York, Atlanta, and Denver, noting that property of Peter Parker has been lost.

What was lost, we don’t know yet. But as soon as we hear, we’ll let you know– right after we sell our tips to the Daily Bugle, of course.

Of course, if anybody finds anything interesting, our “Contact Us” form is right at the top of the page… or you can comment below.

The Amazing Spider-Man comes out July 3rd, and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, and Martin Sheen.

UPDATE 5:35 PM: And now he’s losing things in Phoenix… are we sure it’s not Nightcrawler teleporting all over the country?

UPDATE 6:15 PM: Hello, Seattle… we’re listening.

UPDATE 6:37 PM: According to @dag_kurt, he’s gotten to one of the Atlanta locations, where he found a backpack. Photos to come.

Related articles
Arcana

Arcana Joins With Benderspink To Launch Comics Line / R&D Lab

  • Uncategorized
  • February 10, 2012

arcana-banner-620x250-300x120-9786207Continuing the tradition of movie studios teaming up with comics companies to create properties that can be turned into movies (see: Disney/Marvel, WB/DC, Universal/Dark Horse, Legendary/Legendary, etc./etc.) we have the latest entry…

Benderspink and Sean Patrick O’Reilly’s Arcana Comics are launching ArcanaBenderspink Comics, a label that will publish under the Arcana brand. The idea: hatch comics that can be turned into movie and TV properties. The partnership comes out of JC Spink and Sean O’Reilly’s strong relationship after setting up the Arcana comic book Continuum at New Line. “What I thought made this a great partnership was that Sean not only knows how to make a great comic but he’s actually produced movies,” Spink said. “I don’t know any comic publishers that have his producing experience.” Benderspink partner Jake Weiner said that the comics label is a byproduct of the company’s increased focus on generating intellectual properties. “This is one of five IP creation deals we are entering into along with deals in mobile content/apps, Y/A publishing, videogames, and toys.”

Benderspink has already been tapping comics for films, as the company has percolating Y The Last Man at New Line, Area 52 at Summit, The Mighty at Paramount, Ghouly Boys at Mandate, and Undying Love at Warners. “Jake, JC, Sean, and I are looking to partner with other producers and then start shopping these projects to studios in the next few weeks,” Chris Bender said. “What we wanted to do differently was have studios option the projects inexpensively and then hire writers as the studio helps us develop the comic. I think this makes it a no lose proposition for everyone.”

Arcana founder Sean O’Reilly said the venture was a good fit because Benderspink is so steeped in comics. “And they produced one of what I think is the top 3 comic book movies ever with A History of Violence,” O’Reilly said.

via Benderspink, Arcana Launch Film-Friendly Comics Line – Deadline.com. Go there to read the concepts they already have movie posters for. (Comics? Finished comics? Hey, we can sell the concept just based on the movie poster of the comic… remember how well that worked for Cowboys and Aliens?)

A Petition to Nicolas Cage: Support Ghost Rider’s Creator Even If Marvel Won’t

  • Uncategorized
  • February 10, 2012

51erakyu-hl-_sl300_2-5508952Karalyn Johnson has started the following petition:

Dear Nicolas Cage,

I have read that you are very dedicated to making Ghost Rider II a success, so much so that you have taken a hefty pay cut in order to get this film made. Unfortunately Marvel Enterprises has won a settlement of $17,000 from artist Gary Friedrich (I am sure you know Mr. Friedrich is one of the creators of the Ghost Rider character).

Marvel winning a lawsuit against a financially destitute and unemployed senior citizen who helped create the iconic character that is the subject of the movie you care so deeply about has created a distinct antipathy toward your project. The negative effect Marvel’s lawsuit has caused is perhaps far greater than you know. Facebook and Twitter are aflame with negative comments, petitions and people urging others not to see your film solely because of Marvel’s treatment of Mr. Friedrich. You stand to lose millions because of the public relations disaster Marvel has caused.

Mr. Cage, I know how you can personally overcome this PR nightmare, save your movie and make yourself a true hero in the eyes of the comics and movie-going public. Do you want that and more positive publicity than you have ever had? All it would take for you to be a true hero to millions of people is $17,000. That’s less than the price of a car. Give $17,000 to Mr. Friedrich so that he can pay Marvel. Save your movie by saving Mr. Friedrich.

My best regards to you, Mr. Cage. I hope to see you at the movies.

Sincerely, Karalyn Johnson

ComicMix supports this wholeheartedly. As Marvel would put it themselves, ‘Nuff Said. (And now Marvel can sue us too.)

 

Related articles

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks