Author: Mike Gold

MIKE GOLD: A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

  • News
  • July 30, 2007

mikegold100-5650203I’m writing ahead so I can properly annoy people at this past weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, so here’s some massively random thoughts from a probably senile old fart.

Remember the old Batman villain Doctor Double-X? Detective Comics #261, November 1958? The idea was, this guy Doctor X could split into two villains, the second known as Doctor Double-X. Okay, he wasn’t one of your better villains. But now that I think of it – and Crom knows why I was thinking of it – when he split into Doctor Double-X, shouldn’t Doctor Double-X have been a woman?

detective-261-6934936Back when the Chicago Tribune was still running Lee Falk’s The Phantom, their feature editor told me the strip ranked first among black males. I like The Phantom, but let’s face it: the story is about 21 generations of white men who rule (they each sat on a throne) Africa and the black natives who think he is really one 400 year old man. Was there a severe self-image problem amongst those polled, or what?

You probably remember Marvel Comics’ adaptation of the Planet of the Apes. What you might not know is that what you may have read from Marvel was not their original adaptation. They did the story, printed it and received a few untrimmed copies from the printer. Only then did it come to Marvel’s attention that star Charlton Heston had approval rights to all depictions. Marvel trashed the print run, made the appropriate changes, and went back to press. But at least one of those untrimmed, uncollated copies still exists. It’s not noted in the Overstreet Guide (at least not volume 35, the one closest to me). I wonder what it’s worth on the collector’s market?

phantom-5699410Back in the height of the alternate / silver foil / prism / wacky numbering fad (as opposed to today’s alternate / pencil cover / second-printing cover fad), Mike Grell and I wanted to publish a special issue of Shaman’s Tears between issues 3 and 4. It would have been called Shaman’s Tears #π, and it would have been printed on bubble gum stock. We were overruled. Within a year or so, Marvel licensed their comics out to be printed on bubble gum. (more…)

Johnny Depp IS Barnabas Collins!

  • News
  • July 27, 2007

tb275-7049191Yep, you read that headline right. Johnny Depp will be playing the Barnabas Collins role in the upcoming Dark Shadows movie. Turns out, he’s fulfilling a life long dream. (Editor’s note: originally Mike typed "live long dream", which may or may not be a typo.)

According to Variety, Warners (who produced the failed revival pilot two years ago) will be handling the drudge work.

No word on the availability of a part for the original Barnabas, Jonathan Frid, who is currently doing a one-man turn as Richard III.

The Simpsons and the Sex Pistols

  • News
  • July 27, 2007

simpsons_scream_lo-7050090With The Simpsons Movie opening today, you just might be wondering which superstars are going to appear on the show next season. Well, if you weren’t, you shouldn’t take them for granted.

Guest stars for 2007 – 2008 season include Glenn Close, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten (as in The Sex Pistols; trust me), Jon Stewart and Dan Rather covering the Springfield elections, and opera star Placido Domingo. I don’t think Placido will be jamming with the Sex Pistols.

They’ll all look good in yellow.

On The Road Again…

  • News
  • July 25, 2007

A quick note to tell you the ComicMix editorial team is on its way to the San Diego ComicCon International, so we’ll probably be a little light on contributions today. But we’ll more than make up for it the rest of the week!

We’ve got about a dozen of us attending the show, and most of us will be wearing our new multicolored ComicMix t-shirts for easy identification. So, please, feel free to stop any of us and tell us what you think of the site… what you’d like to see on ComicMix… and what you think is going to be involved in our just-about-to-be-announced ComicMix Phase II.

We look forward to meeting you. And for those who won’t be making the show, stay tuned to ComicMix. We’ll keep you right in the thick of things!

Mike Gold, Editor-In-Chief

Is Sylar Spock?

  • News
  • July 24, 2007

10-zack-quinto-5274776The Chicago Tribune‘s Maureen Ryan reports Paramount is "close" to signing Zachary Quinto to play young Spock in the next Star Trek movie. Right now, Quinto is playing bad-guy Sylar on Heroes.

If this comes to pass, a few changes might be in store for one of the few successful teevee shows launched last season, as Sylar was expected to play a major role. Quinto’s Trek shooting schedule might disrupt those plans.

An announcement is "expected" to be made at the San Diego Comic Con.

EZ Street To Sneak-Peek At San Diego…

  • News
  • July 23, 2007

xyx-5320566Our pals Mark Wheatley and Robert Tinnell will be at the good so’ San DIego Comic thing this week – booth 2308 – where they’ll be showing off their latest project, EZ Street.

In addition to his comics work, Robert, of course, is the writer and/or director of such movies as Frankenstein and Me, Kids of the Round Table, and Believe; he also produced the classic Surf Nazis Must Die! Bob also wrote the column on autism for ComicMix last month that generated so much comment. Mark is the man (or at least a man, when he’s standing next to Marc Hempel) behind Mars, Breathtaker, Tarzan, Frankenstein Mobster, and all sorts of other cool stuff. He’s got a new sketchbook called Handmaid debuting at SDCC.

Together, Bob and Mark are doing an on-line comic strip The Mighty Motor-Sapiens at the NASCAR fan site – it’s in collaboration with Daniel Krall and Craig Taillefer. It starts August 6th.

And we’ll tell you all about EZ Street right here at ComicMix.com… when the time is right.

Artwork copyright 2007 Mark Wheatley and Robert Tinnell. All Rights Reserved.

A Wonder Woman-less New Frontier?

  • Uncategorized
  • July 23, 2007

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On Sunday, The New York Times gave Warner Home Video’s forthcoming direct-to-DVD adaptation of Daryn Cooke’s The New Fontier the preview treatment, ahead of its "official" preview in San Diego later this week.

Noting the D2DVD will be one of three "adult-oriented DC projects," the Times noted neither Wonder Woman nor Lois Lane made the first cut in the movie. As you can see from the above art, WW was restored after Cooke’s objected – as was Lois.

The 70 minute feature directed by Dave Bullock will be released in February.

MIKE GOLD: Getting Nostalgic For Nostalgia

  • News
  • July 23, 2007

mikegold100-3100131As these very words see the dawn of a new week, I shall be at home packing my ComicMix shirts for the San Diego Comic Con International. It’s the most important event in the comics year. Really; don’t read that with any sarcasm because I mean that. I agree with every word Michael Davis wrote in his column last Friday the 13th: it’s a hell of an effort, it’s a hell of a show, it’s a huge event.

But I can’t help but get a little nostalgic for the old comic book shows, where the primary focus was on comic books as a hobby and an art form. These days, most of Hollywood and all of New York moves out for the SDCC; it’s a massive business. Meetings, negotiations, mega-promotions, dealers dealing comic books made unreadable by being embalmed in plastic to other dealers for very high-stakes, lawyers, agents, managers, suppliers… it gets to be overwhelming.

My first national conventions were back in New York in the late 1960s, where the sainted Phil Seuling created the model for the comic book comic book convention. When I was involved with the Chicago Comicon (now Wizard World Chicago) back in 1976 – 1985, I shamelessly ripped off Phil’s format and approach; thankfully, he saw that as a tribute. It was a different world then.

As I recall, I was at the first Seuling show to crack the 300 barrier. That’s 300 fans. Today, San Diego has more than 300 pros in attendance. Hell, it’s got more than 300 lawyers in attendance. Back then, most of us were amazed there were so many of us all over the nation. For the first time, we realized we were not alone. We weren’t that unusual. Comics were not hip; hell, from a real-world point of view, they weren’t even very profitable. This was before the direct sales market – we have Phil to thank for that, too – and comic book stores only sold back-issues. There were no action figures or posters or alternate covers; in fact, there wasn’t much of an original art market as neither DC nor Marvel returned the art in those days.

As a young fan, I was exposed to older fans’ nostalgia. I read The Spirit and Justice Society, and I met people who gave me access to Milton Caniff and to The Shadow and to old time radio and movie serials and other relics of The Greatest Generation’s lost youth. Guys like Jim Steranko and Al Williamson would personally turn me on to great artists and concepts and projects. I was exposed to America’s popular culture history, and it was great fun.

(more…)

Who’s Tony Blair?

  • Uncategorized
  • July 21, 2007

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Now that he’s no longer Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair just might be up for a part in Doctor Who. At least, that’s what producer / writer Russell T. Davies hopes.

The London Daily Express reports the Doctor Who producers are trying to obtain Mr. Blair’s services for a fourth-season guest shot or cameo. The former Prime Minister, who previously had appeared on The Simpsons, does have a new job and might not be available: he’s the Middle East peace envoy for "The Quartet," a Led Zepplin-like supergroup consisting of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia. But that job probably has a lot of down-time.

This could be a good career move for the former PM. After all, thus far the new Who has begat no less than three spin-off shows; four, if you count the animated series. If Blair agrees to appear in Doctor Who (perhaps as a Cyberman), might George W. Bush be called upon to drop by Torchwood?

Getting All Ralled Up Again

  • News
  • July 20, 2007

trall070714-7591881

Outside of Michael Moore and maybe anybody named "Clinton," nobody can piss off America’s right-wingers better than cartoonist / columnist Ted Rall. Every once in a while, this turns into war.

Last week, Ted did a commentary (shown above) that really rattled "conservative" columnist Michelle Malkin. According to Michelle’s blog, Rall threw "another troop-bashing tantrum," saying "he has accused our troops of being murderers for Halliburton, mocked soldiers as sexual deviants, and derided the late Pat Tillman as an ‘idiot’ and ‘sap.’ Now, all in one cartoon, he shows his naked contempt for the very traits of the American soldier that helped give birth to this country and secured it for 231 years: willingness to sacrifice, faith, courage, respect for the commander-in-chief, and determination to complete their mission."


Ted responded. He categorically regards only those soldiers guilty of rape and torture as sexual deviants. As for Pat Tillman, whose death by American gunfire was covered up by the Bush Administration, Ted does not regard the football hero as an idiot. "I was reading a list of character traits ascribed to Muslim suicide bombers and was taken by the obvious similarities to traits required to serve in the military: blind obedience to authority, religiosity, etc. Both the suicide bombers and the soldiers are victims of a vicious con: die for someone else’s benefit, without questioning whether the sacrifice is worth it."

Stay tuned. With the war being rejected by an ever-increasing majority of Americans, tempers are going to heat up considerably. The graphic art medium will continue to play a role in the debate.

Artwork copyright 2007 Ted Rall. All Rights Reserved.

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