Author: Rick Marshall

Over at The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon has posted a great interview with Richard Thompson, the creator behind Cul de Sac and Richard’s Poor Almanac, among other projects.

The interview provides a look at the daily routine for a creator balancing multiple ongoing projects and the struggle to keep things fresh. It also provides a few funny examples of the relationship between a creator and his/her editor, as described below.

Nowadays my editor, Ann Gerhart, doesn’t ask for a rough, or even any idea of what I’m doing, so I guess we’ve reached a level of trust, or maybe nobody’s reading it still. The only complaint I ever remember getting from Gene [Weingarten, a former editor of Thompson’s], whose motto is that he edits for humor but not for taste, was when I used the phrase "fart-catcher" to describe a presidential aide twice in as many weeks and he found that excessive.

Over at the official Watchmen film site, director Zack Snyder has posted an interesting explanation of how storyboards play into his production of a film, and even included a few boards from the much-anticipated adaptation of the Watchmen graphic novel.

The boards feature several scenes involving the character of Rorschach, played by Jackie Earle Haley.

As you can see from these frames, my storyboards aren’t necessarily super-finished art pieces on their own. I often find that the frames that get the most detail are the ones where I’m stalling – thinking of the next shots. In contrast, if I already have a sequence sorted out in my head, the boards tend to be much sketchier.

USA Today has posted an interview and gallery of photos from the set of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, set to hit theaters May 16. The photos feature the returning cast from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well as many of the second installment’s new characters. The interview focuses on how filmmakers conquered one of the series’ most frustrating obstacles: how to "bring the sexy back" to Narnia.

… But with a quartet of mostly unseasoned child actors as the Pevensie kids, the 2005 release was severely lacking in an elixir that fuels many fantasy epics: sex appeal.

But that was then. This is wow. Ben Barnes, 26, the British newcomer who plays the title role in Prince Caspian, has visitors to the film’s Internet Movie Database message board virtually drooling.

What, putting Warwick Davis in a lead role wasn’t sexy enough? Come on, people!

Boingboing.net points us to a great feature on Again With the Comics, the blog of Brian Hughes. In "Ask Golden Age Wonder Woman," Hughes answers questions from readers using actual panels from Golden Age issues of Wonder Woman.

The panels provide insight on everything from Wonder Woman’s musings on the subjugation of one’s spouse to the heroine’s lessons on corporal punishment. An example is pasted below:

Dear Golden Age Wonder Woman-

I have met the girl of my dreams, but there is one problem: she doesn’t want to get married. She’s worried that if she marries me, she won’t get alimony any more, and I say she doesn’t need it if she’s married to me. I don’t make much money, but I’m going to school at night, and I think we can do just fine. Who’s right?

-Frustrated in Mesa, AZ

The Times of London posted a story last week examining the "celebrity writer" trend in comics, in which established novelists take a turn telling the stories of some of comics best- and, occasionally, least-known characters. The article references the recent forays of novelists Jodi Picoult and Ian Rankin into the worlds of Wonder Woman and Hellblazer, respectively.

According to The Times, writing for the funnybooks can be a rough transition for novelists accustomed to creating a universe around their subjects.

“It was so much harder than I thought,” [Picoult] says. “When I write a novel, I’m used to making up my characters and their backstory. I couldn’t change Wonder Woman’s history, and she’s been around a long time. I did attempt to get her out of that bustier – any woman can tell you that you don’t fight crime without straps – but no cigar."