Category: News

And what’s really cool about it? You can’t see it, but he’s also wearing web-shooters and a Legion Flight Ring.

Hat tip: Retcon Punch.

Savvy interweb surfer types may have noticed the viral campaign that hit the web last week; The stark white text on black background declaring that ‘Stan’s Back!”. Clicking it brought them no more information, rather, just a quick detour to a larger version of the ad. But, we here at ComicMix are glad to inform you just what’s going on.

Stan “The Man” Lee is returning to the industry he helped shape! That’s right. The creator of a few lesser known characters you may have heard of (The Incredible Hulk
ring a bell? No? The Fantastic Four? Still nothing? How about Spider-Man? The X-Men…?) is coming back to comics with a bang! Or more appropriatley… a BOOM! Stan Lee’s POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment, Inc. has teamed up with Boom! Studios to announce the release of three superhero titles slated to hit stands later this year.

Word around the campfire is that the Incorruptable and Irredeemable Mark Waid will helm one book, with a promise of 2 more “A-Listers” to be brought on under Stan’s forthcoming imprint. Shortly after hearing that news, we had to catch our breath. When we got back to the campsite, the fire was already extinguished, and the supplies were gone. While this assured us that yes, Mark Waid is Evil… they were nice enough to leave a note on the ground that declared “More Information To Come Soon…”

Consider yourselves now in-the-know. Stay tuned for more edification.

In the never-ending battle with the Jerry Siegel estate over the rights and ownership of Superman, DC has fired its old law firm and replaced him with a big, scary guy.

Well, Warner Bros. did the hiring. DC no longer has any distance from their parent company and therefore no longer steers the ship.

The new guy is Daniel Petrocelli. With respect to the current Superman situation, this is the guy who hammered the estate of literary
agent Stephen Slesinger on behalf of the Disney empire. Slesinger was the man who initially propelled Winnie the Pooh into the hearts and souls of Americans. Petrocelli got the suit tossed not on its merits but because the Slesingers’ lawyers illegally obtained documents by
trespassing on Disney property. Hey, a win’s a win.

Petrocelli is defending Jeffrey Skilling, the Enron CEO who was convicted of the massive swindle that cost so many Americans their life savings, their jobs, and/or their retirement. And by “convicted,” I mean the case is presently before the Supreme Court in an attempt to free the convict instead of letting him roast in a well-deserved living hell. But that’s just my opinion, and I like the guy’s brother.

This is not to say the Siegel estate doesn’t have its own heavy-hitter. Marc Toberoff, who already won some major innings in this particular dispute, is well-known in media circles and is also representing the Jack Kirby estate in a similar action against Marvel and their parent company, Marvel Comics. Toberoff’s involvement mitigates against the philosophy that Petrocelli was hired simply to intimidate the Siegel estate.

The people out of a job are the firm of Weissmann Wolff Bergman, who successfully defended DC Comics and our pals Timothy Truman and Joe R. Lansdale when the faded rock stars Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter gracelessly sued the bunch over a tribute in a Jonah Hex miniseries.

On the right, the well-known Watchmen icon. Trademarked and in use since 1986.

On the left, Marvel Comics’ ad for their new X-Men summer event, “We Are The X-Men.”

Coincidence? Really?

Worse still, if there are any walruses in the storyline, Marvel could have Yoko Ono up their ass.

About seven minutes after Canada beat the United States for the Winter Olympics gold medal, I got a call from ComicMix‘s own utility infielder, Glenn Hauman.

“So are you going to write it up?” Glenn asks.

“Write WHAT up?” Mike responds.

“The Grell thing, Glenn responds.

“Damn. WHAT did Mike do NOW,” Mike queries, oblivious to the obvious while deep in the throws of mourning the
American’s having to settle for a mere silver medal.

“You know, that hockey thing.” Like most Americans, Glenn’s not much of a hockey fan. He didn’t even know that his local team, the New Jersey Devils, was beating the poo out of nearly every other NHL team this year except for my Chicago Blackhawks.

“WHAT hockey… oh, I get it.” The cold light of reality started seeping into my blackened brainpan; the first sign of recovery for a hockey fan. Or maybe it’s the first sign of soberness; I wouldn’t know.

It turns out a couple years ago I assisted Iron Mike in a special licensing project for the NHL turning a bunch of rookies and newbies into super-heroes. It was a lot of fun for me, but mostly because this time Mike was the one playing point with the licensee and I was simply “advising,” which is a euphemism for “consulting,” which is another word for “money for nothing and your chicks for free.” Mike did some great work on this series, and among the players so empowered was an astonishingly young phenom called Sidney Crosby.

Sidney, of course, went on to become one of the hottest players in the NHL and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also received the ultimate honor: I wear a Penguins t-shirt with his name and number on the back.

Sidney Crosby also scored the sudden death overtime goal last night that gave his homeland another gold medal for hockey. Quite aside from my genuinely patriotic fervor in my support of Team USA, it was an amazing goal and a well-earned victory.

And it teaches a lesson. See what happens when Mike Grell turns you into a super-hero?

March is National Women’s History Month, and it’s coming in like a lioness this year as we bring you a Munden’s Bar story called “Good For The Goose”, written by Martha Thomases and
Valerie D’Orazio,
drawn by Norm Breyfogle, lettered by
Bob Pinaha,
colored by Matt Webb, and pulled together by ladies’ man
Mike Gold.

Read “Good for the Goose” now! Tell your friends! And don’t forget to leave comments!

Okay, what would you call them?

We had to get this one in now, because we couldn’t live with ourselves if we ran this anytime during Women’s History Month.

Andrew Koenig, star of Growing Pains and son of Star Trek actor Walter Koenig, committed suicide. His boy was found in Vancouver, Canada on Thursday afternoon after being missing for almost two weeks.

Vancouver authorities held a press conference on Thursday just
hours after the discovery, during which a police spokesperson revealed
they had no reason to believe foul play was involved in Koenig’s death.

Walter fears his son’s battle with depression led him to take his own life. He and his wife Judy want to use the tragic news to warn
other parents to seek help if they believe their child is struggling
with their personal demons.

From 1985 to 1989, Koenig played a recurring role as Richard “Boner” Stabone, best friend to Kirk Cameron‘s character Mike Seaver in the first four seasons of the sitcom Growing Pains. During the same period, he guest starred on episodes of the sitcoms My Sister Sam and My Two Dads as well as the drama 21 Jump Street. In the early 1990s he provided a voice for the animated series G.I. Joe as Ambush and Night Creeper Leader, and had a minor role as Tumak in the 1993 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Sanctuary“.

For comic book fans, he may be best known for playing The Joker in the incredibly popular fan film Batman: Dead End.

Our condolences go out to the Koenig family and Andrew’s friends.