Author: Rick Marshall

Action-film star Jason Statham recently commented that he was involved in at least one meeting related to a Sub-Mariner feature film, and that he’d be more than happy to portray the big-screen counterpart of several comic-book characters.

According to this interview with IESB, the Transporter star "took a meeting" for Sub-Mariner, but expressed some uncertainty about his ability to fill the Marvel hero’s, umm… tights?

"I don’t know if I’d look right running around in a tight speedo with wings on my ankles," said Statham.

Along with expressing a desire to play The Hulk (but deferring to upcoming Incredible Hulk star, Edward Norton), Statham threw his name into the mix for a proposed remake of The Crow, the 1994 film whose star, Brandon Lee, met a tragic end while filming.

That was a good movie with Brandon Lee, although that was years ago. So if that one comes my way, bang! You know, there’s so many comic book movies out there and most of the time there’s only a handful of people who can do them any justice. Hopefully, they’ll come my way for one of them.

SciFi Wire is reporting that The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus director Terry Gilliam could be looking to actor Johnny Depp as a potential replacement for deceased actor Heath Ledger, who died during the filming of Imaginarium.

Quoting the British tabloid The Sun, SciFi Wire reported:

"There is a point in the film when Heath falls through a magic mirror," a studio source told the paper. "He could change into another character after that, and that is where Johnny would come in. It’s a weird, fantasy, time-travel movie, so Heath’s character could easily change appearance. It would be a poignant moment. Johnny’s not working at the moment, so everyone is praying he will do it."

As one astute ComicMix reader pointed out, this is only the latest in filmmaking troubles for Terry Gilliam. Depp was also involved in one of the director’s most notable film fallouts, a project initially titled The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Gilliam’s tumultuous experience with Quixote was later documented in the film Lost in La Mancha – a great film for anyone who wants a behind-the-scenes peek at how a series of unfortunate events can completely derail a big-budget film.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the under-the-radar series The Perhapanauts, written by Todd DeZago and with art from Craig Rousseau, you owe it yourself to do so. Lucky for you, they’re returning to comics shelves in February with a new annual and a new publisher in Image Comics.

ComicBookResources recently featured a chat with the creators of the series, which focuses on a government-sponsored team that operates in secrecy and investigates supernatural events. The team is made up of living, breathing representatives of various cultural myths, including a sasquatch and a chupacabra.

Of course, this could also explain why The Perhapanauts might have found itself falling under a pretty large shadow at its previous publisher, Dark Horse Comics, whose well-established Hellboy and B.P.R.D. titles offer up stories that might seem similar from a back-of-the-book perspective.

According to DeZago:

… in the beginning people compared us to ‘BPRD’ and, when they debuted ‘Proof,’ Alex [Grecian] and Riley [Rossmo] were compared to us. But I think all three of them are very different books and, while they may tread some of the same ground — ‘Proof’ and ‘The Perhapanauts’ in particular — they are worlds apart. I would hope that anyone who wishes to make that comparison will pick up the books and see for themselves.

DeZago goes on to discuss why they eventually made the change in publishers and what they have in store for the Perhapanauts team down the road.

James Kochalka has done it all, and we are green with envy.

Playback has a nice interview with Kochalka, the creator of the award-winning daily comic American Elf, the adults-only Super F*ckers and a host of other comics – not to mention the frontman for the multi-album band James Kochalka Superstar. In the interview, the multi-talented Kochalka reflects on the ways Elf has both documented and shaped his growth as a creator, father and, well… superstar.

When I started the diary, I was still working my job as a waiter at the Chinese restaurant, then a couple months into the strip I quit. The strip covers my entire career as a full-time superstar. When I quit I said I was quitting to be a full-time superstar, instead of just part-time as I had been.

Kochalka also discusses the recent design overhaul of the American Elf website, as well as his upcoming projects in both comics and music. One such project, as he explains it, overlaps between the two:

Yeah, I have a song called "Dragon Puncher" and I wrote this book called Dragon Puncher and I just can’t find anyone to publish it. I really drew it to appeal to little kids, but the whole thing is fighting. The whole book basically is this battle. I think the children’s book publishers are freaked out ‘cause it’s all fighting, and the publishers of more adult stuff are freaked out ‘cause it seems like it’s for little kids. Everyone needs to lighten up cause it’s an awesome book.

Seriously, what’s not to like about punching dragons?