Author: Robert Greenberger

Tim Burton’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory arrives exclusively for Download on iTunes for the first time with Bonus Content. The extra content Includes interviews with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. For the curious you can check out a preview here.

The film, adapting Roald Dhal’s marvelous novel, starred Johnny Depp and was a visual delight which we here at ComicMix highly recommend.

Thanks to Warner Digital, we have a free digital download to give away. Since this is Thanksgiving week, please tell us what you are most thankful for. The entry that moves us to laugh, sagely nod in agreement or wipe away a tear will be declared the winner. You have until 11:59 on Wednesday November 24 to tell us. One entry per e-mail address and the judgment of ComicMix is final.

Marvel Comics has always had a special relationship with New York City so today’s press release merely continues this. Check it out:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Commissioner Katherine Oliver, Small Business Services Commissioner Robert W. Walsh, Marvel Entertainment Editor-in-Chief and Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, New York Daily News CEO Bill Holiber and Editor-in-Chief Kevin Convey, and Spider-Man today announced the creation of Spider-Man, You’re Hired, an all-new comic book highlighting City resources available to New Yorkers who are navigating the job market. The comic, which features an unemployed Peter Parker starting his job search, is the Administration’s latest effort to connect out-of-work to New Yorkers to job training and placement services. It was inspired by the NYC Media original television production, “Job Hunt,” a ten-part series on how the City is helping New Yorkers to get back to work – focusing on Workforce1 Career Centers, libraries and other City services. Mayor Bloomberg made the announcement at Midtown Comics’ new store in Lower Manhattan.“New York City provides free, first-rate job training and placement assistance, and we want every New Yorker that needs help to know about it, so we asked Spider-Man to help us spread the word,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “One of the reasons we created the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment was to find new ways to connect with New Yorkers. Our partnership with Marvel and the Daily News is a fun and innovative way to let everyone know about the web of resources the City has to offer New Yorkers that need job assistance.”

“Marvel’s proud to team-up with the City of New York to help inform all New Yorkers about the free services designed to assist them in finding employment. We couldn’t ask for two better leading men than Spider-Man and Mayor Bloomberg,” said Marvel Entertainment Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada “Because even New York’s most famous Super Hero needs a day job!”

“We are always looking for new ways to reach people in all forms of media about the job resources offered by the City,” said Katherine Oliver, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. “Working with Marvel, the Daily News and Small Business Services on this special ‘Spider-Man: You’re Hired’ edition is a tremendous example of how the government can work with the private sector to really help people.”

“Thank you to Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Oliver, the New York Daily News and the City’s great new partner, Marvel,” said Small Business Services Commissioner Walsh. “This is an exciting collaboration and a real super hero effort that will ensure that many more New Yorkers know about the City’s excellent free employment services. I’m glad that Peter Parker is helping us to spread the word to jobseekers that visiting a Workforce1 Career Center can help them get a job in this tough market.”

“As New York’s Hometown Newspaper, the Daily News is proud to use our printed pages and the power of NYDailyNews.com to help New Yorkers, like unemployed Spider-Man alter-ego Peter Parker, find work,” said New York Daily News CEO Bill Holiber. “The City of New York and the Daily News have been tremendous partners on this and other projects – such as the “Hire Me” series that partnered with the “Job Hunt” show and caller helpline – by combining our resources to help New Yorkers get to work. In today’s Daily News, not only will New Yorkers find a special edition of the Spider-Man comic created by Marvel Entertainment, but we’ve also provided readers with a guide to the city’s services for job searches, training and research. We hope our efforts not only help one of New York’s most famous super heroes find work, but other ‘real’ New Yorkers, as well.”

The recently created Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment is identifying and implementing new ways to let New Yorkers know about City resources available to them. To promote the City’s free workforce training and job placement services, the Office worked with Marvel Custom Solutions, a special division within Marvel Entertainment that develops innovative programs addressing the specific needs of partners and philanthropic interests, to create a special edition Spider-Man comic book featuring Mayor Bloomberg.
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Prepare for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 by reliving the First Five Harry Potter films now on iTunes.

Before fans see the all-new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 on Friday, they can now see the beloved from franchise from the beginning via their phones, iPads, and more…

And courtesy of Warner Digital, we have one Harry Potter t-shirt to give to one lucky Hogwarts aficionado. You have until 11:59 p.m. November 20 to tell us which Harry Potter film you think best adapts the J.K. Rowling novel. One entry per e-mail address please and the judgment of ComicMix will be final.

Here’s the release and the details. A shame, really, since Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello have been doing a pretty terrific job with the masked rider.

November 15, 2010, Runnemede, NJ –  Dynamite Entertainment and Classic Media, a global media company with a portfolio of the world’s leading family entertainment brands, today announced that Brett Matthew’s critically acclaimed run on The Lone Ranger® series will comes its historic end when issue #25 lands this January.  Expertly drawn by Sergio Cariello and with a cover by the amazing John Cassaday, this issue will be a must-read for long-time fans of this “Eisner Nominated” series and America’s favorite hero of the Wild West!

Is it the end of the line for The Lone Ranger when he and Butch Cavendish meet and do battle for the first and final time?  Will The Lone Ranger destroy Cavendish and himself, or will he find a way to save both?

“Bringing this unique and personal version of The Lone Ranger to life has been an incredibly satisfying experience for me on a lot of levels,” says writer Brett Matthews. “To collaborate with talents like John Cassaday, Sergio Cariello, Simon Bowland and Marcello Pinto over the last couple years has been a pleasure, and is a testament to both the character and their craft. I’m glad to call them my friends. My thanks to Dynamite Entertainment and especially the fans — old and new — for their support along the way. I’m proud of the story we told and the men John Reid and Tonto became while we rode along with them. Hi-Yo!”

“This is a bitter sweet moment for all of us at Dynamite Entertainment,” says Dynamite President Nick Barrucci.  “The Lone Ranger helped define Dynamite as a publisher who could produce commercially successful titles to one who could publish a comic with critical acclaim.  We knew that this day would come, and it’s almost upon us.  I cannot express enough the appreciation and respect that I have for Brett, John, Sergio, Dean (White), Marcello and Simon.  They helped make this great story the best it could be.  From the moment I first read Brett’s script, to when the pages started coming in and seeing John’s first covers, success or fail, this series would be a series to be proud of.  It surpassed all expectations.  All good things come to an end, and the journey to this great ending has been one of the proudest parts of our publishing history.  Issue #25 will be the end of this great series.  There will be more stories, but the creators who come next will have big boots to fill.  Hi-O Silver!”

“Dynamite Entertainment has been a fantastic partner and together we are excited to present the conclusion to this very successful story arc in The Lone Ranger series,” said Karyn Schneider, VP, Licensing, Classic Media. “As America’s favorite hero of the Wild West, The Lone Ranger has captured fans’ hearts and imaginations for generations, and this dramatic conclusion will be sure to inspire readers and new stories for many more years to come.”

The Lone Ranger premiered as a last-ditch effort to save a depression-wracked Detroit radio station.  Since the show’s premiere broadcast in 1933, no other fictional Western hero has proved so enduring.  More than 2,900 Lone Ranger radio programs were produced, as well as many movie serials, short stories, novels, feature films, phonograph records, newspaper strips and an astounding three million comic books.  The Lone Ranger television series, begun in the late 1940’s, consists of over 500 episodes. A new live-action feature film is currently in development with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Walt Disney Pictures.

The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides teaser one-sheet debuted on Yahoo! Movies this morning. 
According to Disney, the movie, opening May 20, 2011 stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane, Kevin R. McNally,  Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Sam Claflin and Geoffrey Rush.

Directed by Chicago’s Rob Marshall, the movie was written by veterans Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise—this time in Disney Digital 3D™. Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed tale of truth, betrayal, youth and demise.  When Jack crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love—or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more:  Blackbeard or the woman from his past. 

The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa, and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid. 

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) finds himself on an unexpected journey to the fabled Fountain of Youth when a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz) forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane).