Author: Van Jensen

The Weekly Haul: Comics Reviews for July 17, 2008

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

A couple disappointments and a near no-show from DC aside, this was a pretty good week in comics, especially outside of the mainstream superheroes.

Still, this week more than anything is just a little whisper, as all eyes are on San Diego for next week’s Comic-Con. All the same, books came out, so on to the reviews…

Book of the Week: Mice Templar #5 — This series started out as a fairly typical fantasy story, albeit told with mice and featuring a violent edge.

Last issue, it started becoming clear that writer Bryan J.L. Glass was veering away from the expected route of the young protagonist realizing his great destiny and triumphing over evil.

This issue, any and all signs of the archetypal fantasy narrative have been thrown clear out the door. Paradigms change in a big way for Karic, and to write anything about it would be to spoil the fun.

Mike Oeming is once again top-notch on art, and really the only question left is how many times the creative team can keep raising the bar.

Runners Up:

Captain America #40 and Ghost Rider #25 — Marvel had two superhero winners this week, with very different very good issues. Ghost Rider starts out slow, continuing the retrospective storyline of Johnny Blaze in jail. Zadkiel’s manipulations continue, and things build to a hellacious conclusion, highlighted by Blaze literally using the Bible as a weapon. Only Jason Aaron could make that work.

Cap sees the big fight between Bucky and the new impostor (the old Nomad), but the real bout to watch is that between Sharon and the Red Skull’s daughter. Ed Brubaker uses his skil with pacing to tell both stories at once, using each to heighten the drama of the other. And the ending? An out-and-out punch in the stomach moment.

Omega the Unknown #10 — The weirdest Marvel series in a good, long while finally ends, with Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple taking a bow with a nearless wordless denouement that comes straight out of David Lynch’s oddball mind. It’s a fitting conclusion to the series, which was enigmatic for the whole trip.

(more…)

‘Iron Man 2’ Has a Writer

  • News
  • July 16, 2008

ironman-3105980Fans of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive might be surprised to learn the actor who played Adam Kesher will be writing the next Iron Man movie.

Writer/actor Justin Theroux has been signed on by Marvel to script the sequel, according to Variety. He’s had quite a varied Hollywood career already.

Theroux, a thesp-scribe best known for roles in “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and HBO’s “Six Feet Under” and miniseries “John Adams,” most recently wrote the DreamWorks comedy “Tropic Thunder,” which Paramount will unspool next month.

In addition to writing and appearing in “Tropic Thunder,” Theroux also exec produced the laffer, which stars Ben Stiller, Downey and Jack Black. He recently made his directing debut on “Dedication,” which the Weinstein Co. distribbed.

“Iron Man,” released in May, has earned more than $314 million at the domestic box office and collected another $252 million overseas.

The article also indicates deals are close to being finalized for Robert Downey Jr. and director Jon Favreau to return for Iron Man 2, which is supposed to make a 2010 release date.

Comics Creators on New Yorker’s Obama Cover

  • News
  • July 16, 2008

Over at the Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon has done quite a service by compiling the thoughts of a huge (HUGE) number of comics creators on the controversial cartoon gracing the latest issue of the New Yorker.

You can see the image at right. It shows a Muslim, militant Obama and his wife in the Oval Office, giving a fist bump as the flag burns in the fire and a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.

Paul Pope is one of the respondents:

I wonder if you are somehow sensing a connection to the Dutch cartoonist case. If anything, this again reconfirms the power of the pen, and how this ancient tool of protest and satire can be used to such controversial and potent ends. I applaud The New Yorker for this.

There’s tons more, and it’s all worth a read. Personally, I’m an Obama supporter, and I really like the cover. I’ve read so much about the stupid mistaken "facts" being perpetrated about Obama (like this story in the Washington Post by my pal Eli Saslow) that it’s a relief to see them so effectively caricatured.

Comic-Con: ‘As Important as Sundance’

  • News
  • July 16, 2008

comic_con_logo-8743023MSN is the latest mainstream media organization to jump all over Comic-Con, announcing plans to post copious amounts of coverage from the event.

In an article under a headline that proclaims Comic-Con to be “as important as Sundance,” MSN offers a preview of what’s on tap in San Diego this year and a look back at how the con has grown.

125,000 people. That’s the estimate Comic-Con International provides as the attendance for last year’s massive four-day convention in San Diego. That’s more people than the largest college football or NASCAR stadium can hold. Long portrayed as “geek chic” by the mainstream media, Comic-Con has more than evolved. It’s exploded and it’s gone mainstream. Big-time.

This kind of breathless reporting reminds of the infamous Bob Costas scene in Baseketball: “You’re excited? Feel these nipples!”

Former Tokyopop Editor Joins Boom Studios

  • Uncategorized
  • July 16, 2008

paul_morrissey_boom-5877179Good news for at least one of the staff members fired by Tokyopop in that publisher’s recent purge: Paul Morrissey has taken an unspecified editing role with Boom! Studios, according to a press release from Boom.

Morrissey was a senior editor at Tokyopop, working on books such as Fruit Baskets, Undertown and Pantheon High.

Boom sent out a redaction-laden note with the release, which was either a weird joke or just weird.

It’s been a busy little run for Boom, which also signed on Matt Gagnon as managing editor recently.

Comic-Con and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

  • News
  • July 16, 2008

While everyone’s getting excited about the big stars and events coming up at next week’s San Diego Comic-Con, the best story of this year’s con is just starting to unfold.

Ryan Richards is a relatively unknown comics creator, and he’s on his way to San Diego. He’s going for the con, but he’s also headed west to meet his father for the first time. For the full story, you can check out Ryan’s blog.

At the moment, he and his motorcycle, labeled "Stark Industries," is somewhere in Idaho or possibly Oregon. Here’s a post titled "Dr. Strange Hands":

When you ride for eight hours, your hands don’t quite work right. they move like they’re frozen. I’ve been trying to eat more bananas for the potassium to prevent cramping, it works but I catch my hands twitching the little fleshy tendon webbing between the thumb and first finger will pulse and spasm irregularly. It doesn’t hurt or anything just feels like I’m trying to type with electrified jellied hams.

I’m now in Dillon Montana, which I am going to say was named after Steve Dillon. Stopped in Manhattan on the way.

He’s taking donations to help pay for the trip, if anyone’s interested.

(via CBR)

Marvel Debuts ‘Ultimate Alliance 2’ Video Game Trailer

  • Uncategorized
  • July 16, 2008

At New York’s E3 video game expo, trailer’s have debuted for a couple big upcoming comic book video games, with the more notable being DC’s huge DC Universe Online game. Marvel also has Ultimate Alliance 2 in the works, though its preview was much shorter.

See the trailer below.

 

Platinum Studios’ Financial Struggles

  • News
  • July 16, 2008

herobynightcover1-series-3205402

A lot of questions have been thrown around of late regarding the financial status of comics publisher Platinum Studios, especially after Hero by Night creator D.J. Coffman went public with news that he hadn’t been paid for work and was facing foreclosure.

I spent the past several weeks investigating Platinum’s finances and interviewing Coffman, Platinum President Brian Altounian and other sources.

What came up is that Platinum is in a precarious financial situation, in the red by more than $10 million. An independent auditor warned that the company is a serious threat to go under. You can read the article at Publishers Weekly right here.

Platinum indicated to me that they wouldn’t be giving any more interviews regarding the company’s finances or the situation with Coffman.

Platinum has created a blog, where they give the unedited transcript of my interview with Altounian. You can read that right here. I haven’t had a chance yet to check it against my record of the interview.

 

Catch ‘The Spirit’ Trailer While You Can

  • News
  • July 15, 2008

spiritposter-9585227The trailer to the upcoming The Spirit movie is set to debut at Comic-Con, but earlier today it leaked out early.

While it’s been taken down just about everywhere (including one of its last homes right here at Film School Rejects), reviews of the trailer are, well…

I am not sold on this movie just yet. I dig the concept, I loved the comic and I am also a fan of Frank Miller’s work, at least the kind he does on paper. This however, isn’t doing it for me. The dialog sounds awkward, the effects seem forced and over-the-top and I don’t know if it is going to be anything but another excuse to go heavy on the use of green screen to make a “innovative” comic book flick. I am wondering whether this will end up on the Sin City side of the spectrum or the Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow side. At this point, it is still too early to tell for sure.

What he said.

Boom! Studios Puts More Comics Online

  • News
  • July 15, 2008

north_wind_02-5376775After the success of Boom! Studios’ MySpace promotion for the comic series North Wind, no surprise that the publisher is adding more free comics online.

Boom just sent out a release noting the addition of Web comics, which you can read free online at Boom’s site.

These aren’t new comics, but online versions of previously published issues. The issues include:

2 Guns. Cthulhu Tales. Hero Squared. Ninja Tales. Schmobots. Zombie Tales.

It’s interesting to note that at Heroes Con, Boom editor in chief Mark Waid scoffed at Erik Larsen’s reluctance to engage with Web comics. Given the choice between going all pring or all online, Waid said he’d choose online “in a cocaine heartbeat.”

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