Ostrander Auction: Batman style guide from Jose Luis Garcia Lopez
Jose Luis Garcia Lopez pencil art for a Batman style guide from 1995.
Category: News
Ostrander Auction: ‘Fables’ and ‘Sonic’ art from Andrew Pepoy
Andrew Pepoy, creator of The Adventures of Simone and Ajax here on ComicMix, is donating five pages of artwork:
- Jack of Fables #8, p20, by Tony Akins and Andrew Pepoy
- Jack of Fables #20, p3, splash by Russ Braun and Andrew Pepoy
- Sonic X #2, p21, by Tim Smith and Andrew Pepoy
And two pages from Fables #87 by Mark Buckingham and Andrew Pepoy that we can’t show you here because the issue doesn’t come out until next week. So if you’re a hardcore Fables fan and win the auctions, you’ll get them before anyone else.
Ostrander Auction: a shirt with dozens of signatures
This just got dropped off to comix4sight‘s booth by Jon at EB30.us: the shirt they got almost everybody to sign at last year’s convention. And signatures keep getting added: here’s John Jackson Miller (the other monthly Star Wars writer) adding his name, and George Perez added Wonder Woman– this to a shirt that already had Warren Ellis, Peter David, Adi Granov, Gail Simone, Whilce Portacio, Jim Valentino, Humberto Ramos, Dan DiDio, Erik Larsen, the list goes on and on. (And yes, you’ll be getting a list along with the shirt and a certificate of authenticity.)
Small(er) picture of the shirt here: (more…)
Crazy Sexy Geeks: A New Weekly Web-Series
So your parents loved Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man but don’t think comics themselves have anything to offer? Your friends loved V for Vendetta and The Dark Knight and are curious to read comics now but aren’t sure where to start? This is the show to help them all out.
Starring yours truly and New York actor Jose Ramos, “Crazy Sexy Geeks: The Series” is meant to help new people get into comics and other geeky entertainment while also being fun for those already initiated. Each week we will discuss topics such as openly gay super-heroes, why there don’t seem to be many women super-heroes outside of comics, whether remakes are better than sequels, the challenges of film adaptations, and other fun topics that anyone with a smidgeon of pop culture knowledge can enjoy.
This is not your typical comic book video blog where two or three guys sit in a basement or at a friend’s house and just review what came out this week. This is a show where we go out on the street, asking mainstream America what they think about super-heroes, sci-fi films, etc. Likewise, there are professional interviews with folks such as Rob Zombie, Edward James Olmos, novelist David Mack (Star Trek: Destiny
For our first episode, watch us chat with Amber Benson (Tara from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) about female super-heroes, her new novel Death’s Daughter
Ready? Great! <a href=”
title=”CRAZY SEXY GEEKS: THE SERIES – Episode 1″>WATCH OUR FIRST EPISODE!
ComicMix.com and Midtown Comics are not responsible nor necessarily share the views expressed on Crazy Sexy Geeks. If you love Twilight, get mad at Jose and Alan, not anyone else.
Alan Kistler is a freelance online journalist who has been recognized by media outlets as a comic book historian. His additional works can be found at http://KistlerUniverse.com.
Hasbro Studios Promises to be Truly, Truly Outrageous
Did you like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? Are you chomping at the bit to see G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra? Do you just wish that more cartoons and movies would come out of existing toylines? Well, today’s your lucky day, as Hasbro recently announced the opening of Hasbro Studios, which is dedicated to doing just that, and just placed Stephen J. Davis, most recently CEO of Family Entertainment Group, as President.
To remind you, Hasbro owns a majority stake in your childhood nostalgia: apart from the previously-mentioned Transformers and G.I. Joe, their brands include Mr. Potato Head, Battleship, Clue, Pictionary, Dungeons and Dragons, NERF, and many more. They even own Magic: The Gathering!
But I think, of all the brands they own, we’re all most excited for a live-action Jem and the Holograms. Right, guys?
What ‘Thundercats’ Could Have Looked Like
This one pretty much speaks for itself: Movieline’s got some concept art for that fan-made Thundercats trailer that further details the look he would have gone with in a full movie.
I especially love the Third Earth cityscape. Go check it out!
A reply from Imagi about ‘Astro Boy’
With regards to the recent C&D letter from Imagi’s lawyers, we’ve received the following:
August 4, 2009
Mr. Glenn Hauman
ComicMix.comDear Glenn:
Imagi Studios apologizes for any misunderstanding or inconvenience caused by the legal letter of July 29 regarding the image posted with your story about Astro Boy. This letter, which truly resulted from a miscommunication, was sent in error, and is hereby retracted. We thank you in advance for your understanding.
We would only like to point out that the image which appeared on your site is not from the movie as it is early concept art, and therefore we would greatly appreciate it if you could replace this image with one of the new stills from the Astro Boy movie, which are attached herewith.
Imagi Studios prides itself on being collaborative with the media by providing images as well as access to filmmakers and executives, and we hope to further our relationship with you in this way as well. We would also like to express our warm appreciation of your support and that of ComicMix.com to date, and we look forward to sharing updates on Astro Boy and future projects with you and the ComicMix community.
Best regards,
Erin Corbett
President, IMAGI STUDIOS U.S. & Chief Marketing Officer Worldwide
Erin, your apology is accepted. We’ve restored the articles to the site, and while we won’t replace the image, lest we be accused of histroical revisionism, we’re happy to make an annotation to the article indicating it’s early art and share the newer images with the rest of the world– starting with the one above, which I think is one we haven’t seen before.
Marvel’s Second Quarter Fizzles
Marvel’s second quarter earnings reports are in, and while they beat expectations, it wasn’t by much. They made (almost) exactly the same amount in the first quarter as they did in the second, which is not really a good thing for a business to do.
Publishers Weekly summarized the reports thusly:
Publishing revenue at Marvel Entertainment was flat in the second
quarter, slipping from $31.8 million to $31.7 million. Operating income
fell more noticeably, dropping 6.8%, to $10.9 million. A lower level of
high-margin advertising and custom publishing sales was cited as the
reason for the decline in earnings. For the first six months of 2009,
sales in the publishing segment fell 1.4%, to $57.5 million, and
operating income declined 17.1%, to $17.9 million. The company said it
expects the publishing segment to finish 2009 with revenue between $115
million and $120 million; in 2008 sales were $125.4 million.
DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com’s Nikki Finke has more detail:
The company said it benefited from growth at its film production segment, primarily in initial revenue for Iron Man DVD
sales and domestic pay TV window. But Marvel’s profit fell 38% after a
decline in licensing sales for toys and character-related products
following its Iron Man and Incredible Hulk bonanzas.
Marvel’s 2nd-quarter revenue fell 26%, and net income fell. But Marvel
also raised the low end of its full-year profit and sales forecasts
with Iron Man 2 coming out in 2010.
Heidi MacDonald over at The Beat says it’s a sign of a slower Q2 for comics all around. What do you think?
‘Twilight’ author Stephenie Meyer gets her own biography comic
If you can’t license the characters, biograph the creator.
Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight book series, will be the focus of Bluewater Productions‘ latest Female Force comic book. Two versions of the biographic comic about Meyer will debut just before Summit Entertainment’s November 20, 2009 release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.
Written by Ryan Burton, the Female Force: Stephenie Meyer comic will be narrated, according to Burton, by “a very recognizable and iconic vampire”, but probably not one you have to pay licensing fees for. The comic will be available as a standard 22-page edition and also as a 40-page collector’s edition that will feature a range of extras such as a history of Forks. Dave MacNeil is drawing the book, with cover art created by Vinnie Tartamella.
Previous Female Force subjects include Hilary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Palin and Princess Diana.
An Unshaven Rant: Should I worry about the 2009 Chicago Comic-Con?
Hello ComicMix dwellers (and loyal FOMAFers…). I come to you today a bit… deflated. Why you ask? Because I just took a sneaky-peak over at the Chicago Comicon’s exhibitor list and program schedule. Long story (…forthcoming…) short? It’s not looking great on paper. This angers and frustrates me to no end, but I digress. The more I get angry at this, the brighter the silver lining comes creeping in. Confused? Now, I ask unto you my loyal readers, all seven of you, to take this brief journey with me on the anger-train. After we reach the end of the journey, you’ll see why our last stop is in Happyville.
The Backstory
The Chicago Comicon (as long as I’ve known it, mind you) was built on the ‘Wizard World’ platform. (Yes, I know it predates Wizard, but that’s not how I experienced it.) Growing up on comics in the 90’s meant Wizard was my one-stop shop for all the hip and trendy news about comic books… whilst the “internets” was still in it’s primordial-ooze phase. My first con, sadly, was right prior to my senior year in high school. Even back then (and if you ask Glenn, or Mike, or Russ, or really, a lot of people patrolling this site) it wasn’t that long ago, this con was pretty darned cool. I’m a mid-westerner mind you, so trekking to SDCC is NOT in any Chicago-kid’s budget. But it never mattered. SDCC was always at the beginning of the summer, and Chicago’s was at the end. There was enough time for people to calm down, and as Dan DiDio says (said) every year… “Chicago’s con is always about the books. Always about the fans.”
Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image all put up HUGE booths where fans could grab free schwag like buttons, posters, and bookmarks. Samples and previews of forthcoming issues adorned tables behind which our favorite creators were signing piles of their own penned materials. Beside these mammoth booths sat smaller publishers, just as happy to show off their wares. And of course beyond that lay the monstrous sea of dealers, and beyond that still, the indie and mainstream friendly confines of Artist Alley. When time came that one could be sick of this massive room of geekocity, there sat a bevvy of panels where the pros came to sit and talk to their fans nearly face to face on a multitude of topics. Some came for the sneak peaks of the years books to come, some (like me) came for the free hints and tricks to learn in the schooling panels, and some came for screenings of geek-laden cinema. All in all, it was wrapping up Christmas Channukkah, my birthday, and your birthday all in one long weekend.
And every year since, for the next 7 years, I went as a fan. Last year I went for the first time as a “semi-professional (having published a graphic novelette in 2008. Over the course of these last 8 years now, looking onto my 9th, I’ve begun to see my “Rome” begin to crumble. (more…)
