Category: News

PREVIEW: ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’ with the Outsiders, Wildcat, and… B’wana Beast?

We’ve obtained preview footage of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, "Enter the Outsiders" airing this Friday, January 9 on Cartoon Network at 8:00 PM, guest starring R. Lee Ermey as Wildcat. And yes, that really is Black Lightning appearing in a DC Comics animated series after thirty years. Congratulations to BL creators Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden.

In this week’s episode Batman and his mentor Wildcat face off against a group of teens– the Outsiders– whose violent pranks turn to criminal activity under the control of the evil Slug. Take a look… (more…)

New heights in the Rob Liefeld swipe file

Okay, let me see if I have this straight. From Rich Johnston:

Rob Liefeld will be putting out a "SMASH! Extreme!" #0 re-printing of Smash’s previous appearances by Jeph Loeb and Liefeld from Image in April.

Rob says, "This will contain a new story which frees Smash! from his bonds and lead into the multi-part SMASH! storyline told in a series of specials pitting SMASH! against the Extreme universe. Then in May, we get ‘Smash! Brigade’ from Marat Mychaels and ‘Smash! Youngblood,’ ‘Smash! Prophet’ and ‘Smash! Supreme’ to follow through the year."

Smash! apparently is this big, shall we say, hulking individual pictured to the right who has been in exile for a good long time after stealing Elliot S. Maggin’s exclamation point, but he returns to wreak havoc on the entire universe in a company-wide crossover– waging war on the world, as it were.

Psst. Rob. The pants are what’s supposed to be purple, not the skin.

Oh, and eventually, it’ll end in a book called SMASH ASSEMBLED! where presumably an SOS goes out to Doom’s 4, but some mischevous individual reroutes the call to a bunch of other heroes who band together and fight him.

And some other even more mischevous individual reroutes the call to Marvel’s legal department. Which won’t be a problem because as we all know, Rob Liefeld is a stickler for credit.

 

Are comics really recession proof?

The general consensus is that during hard times, people stay at home and turn to cheap entertainment to save money. And various and sundry players across the net have claimed that comics always do well in recessionary times.

Except, it turns out, those two widely held beliefs are in direct conflict.

Aaron Albert at About.com (you can tell he’s in comics with alliteration like that) runs the numbers on entertainment bang for the buck per minute, and comics are the worst deal of the bunch:

If we suppose that it takes 15 minutes to read a standard comic book what kind of deal are we getting?

 

  • $3.99 Comic – ECPM’s – 27 cents
  • $2.99 Comic – ECPM’s – 20 cents
  • Movie – $10 (Average running time lets say 1hr 30 min.) – ECPM’s – 11 cents
  • Rental Movie – $5 (Same time as above) – ECPM’s – 5.5 cents
  • DVD – $20 (Typical 2 disc with, say, 2 hrs bonus material) – ECPM’s – 7 cents
  • Video Game – $60 (Average length, around 15-20 hrs to complete) – ECPM’s – 5-7 cents
  • MMORPG – (A game like WOW costs $15 a month with the average player putting 22 hrs a week…its scientific, I Googled it) – ECPM’s – 2/10 cents (yes that’s two tenths of a cent per minute)

The conclusion is obvious, particularly when you see how many people will read free comics available online.

‘Jonah Hex’ movie gets a new director

The Jonah Hex movie is getting a new director, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Jimmy Hayward, who directed Horton Hears a Who, has been signed to direct Hex as his second feature, and his first in live action.  Prior to directing Horton, Hayward started as an animator for Reboot and then went on to Pixar.

Josh Brolin is still attached to star in the film– because after playing an ornery cuss from the south who goes in guns blazing in W., this was a natural.

Hat tip: ICV2.

Wolverine and the X-Men premiering January 23 on Nicktoons

The half-hour series Wolverine and the X-Men will finally make its US premiere on Nicktoons Network with back-to-back episodes on Friday, January 23, 8-9 pm.  Produced by Marvel Animation, Wolverine and the X-Men will air regularly Fridays at 8p.  The network also launches the new tie-in website, areyouamutant.com, on Tuesday, January 20, where fans can check their DNA for mutant genes, which will let them into the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters where they can visit various rooms, watch replays of the series, and play a game called Wolverine and the X-Men: Sentinel Slash.

Get those kids exposed to slash fiction while they’re young, I always say– then we can move them up to Hellfire Club costumes and really have some fun.

Additionally, content from the series will be available on TurboNick and via Nickelodeon’s wireless platforms.  The series will also have a dedicated category in Nick’s VOD offering from January 19.

SciFiWire splits off from SciFi.com

Sci Fi Channel’s SciFi.com has spun off its daily entertainment news section into a standalone site SciFiWire.com. The news blog will continue to focus on pop cultural news related to the Sci Fi and fantasy genres, covering movies, books, television shows, comics, in what appears to be a much more navigable site, although their RSS feed was down at the time I looked. A few familiar names have popped up here and there in the early posts, most notably Scott Edelman, Craig Engler, and Adam Troy-Castro.

If memory serves, SciFiWire was originally the email newsletter published by Engler back in the 90’s, when SciFi bought him out and put him in charge of the digital division. Now they’re spinning it back out again. You explain it.

The satellite site is the third new launch by SciFi.com during the past year, following the debuts of gadget blog Dvice.com and gaming site Fidgit.com. So it’s trying to be Obsessable, Joystiq,  and… well, us.

The Point – January 5th, 2009

We jump into the New Year with our first regular broadcast, covering that New Doctor (“Doctor Twilight”?), What went wrong with The Spirit (Frank Miller liked the voices), What we guarantee will be hot in ’09 and Five cool things in your comic store this week. And that’s just the start!

PRESS THE BUTTON and you’ll Get The Point! 

And be sure to stay on The Point via badgeitunes61x15dark-6409796 or RSS!

 

2008 Weblog Awards nominations, comics category

The 2008 Weblog Awards finalists have come out and voting starts today. The nominees for Best Comic Strip:

Add to any feed reader  Day By Day
Add to any feed reader  Calamities of Nature
Add to any feed reader  Town Called Dobson
Add to any feed reader  Garfield Minus Garfield
Add to any feed reader  What the Duck
Add to any feed reader  The Book of Biff
Add to any feed reader  Medium-Large
Add to any feed reader  Dilbert
Add to any feed reader  Jesus and Mo
Add to any feed reader  xkcd

In addition, The Comics Curmudgeon is up for Best Humor Blog. Go forth, vote early, and vote often.

Hero Initiative membership drive

Stan Lee's Hero Initiative membershipA press release from the Hero Initiative:

The Hero Initiative announced today that annual memberships for the organization are now available for purchase. There are four levels of membership: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Excelsior!

A Bronze membership costs $29 and includes: a personalized membership card (which will arrive approximately 4-5 weeks after you sign up), a quarterly newsletter and a Hero Initiative sketch card from a randomly selected artist. Artists include Mike Bencic, Dan Brereton, Dick Giordano, Bob Hall, Dan Jurgens, Mike Mayhew, George Pérez, Joe Quesada, John Romita Sr., Dave Simons, Jim Valentino, Carly Wagner, Bob Wiacek, Richard Zajac and more!

A Silver membership costs $99 and includes: all of the Bronze perks, plus a Hero Initiative T-shirt (your choice of Dawn or Hero Hand), a copy of the Marvel Then and Now DVD and a copy of The Unusual Suspects graphic novel.

A Gold membership costs $250 and includes: all of the Silver perks, plus invitations to Hero Initiative VIP Members-Only parties at 2009’s Wizard World Los Angeles and Wizard World Chicago.

An Excelsior! membership costs $500 and includes: all of the Gold perks, plus your flat item (maximum size 11” x 17”), signed and personalized by the one and only Stan Lee.

“I’m always amazed and happy to see the support that fans have shown Hero,” said Hero Initiative President Jim McLauchlin. “Hopefully, this will be a new way they can show affinity, and get some nice goodies in the process.”

This is the first time memberships to The Hero Initiative have been offered. It was put into place with the fans foremost in mind and on consultation with GeekInTheCity.com, a website that covers all things geek, from comics to movies to games. As such, GeekInTheCity’s Aaron Duran is member #1, Jen Duran is member #2 and Stan Lee is member #3. Creator Paul Dini (Detective Comics, Madame Mirage) is also a member already, as is Mid-Ohio Con promoter Roger Price.

The Hero Initiative does more than help people in need,” said Aaron Duran, explaining why he was eager to help start this membership drive. “They give back to those that inspired our hopes and dreams. They help artists and writers in need, artists and writers that inspired all our tomorrows. Please help the Hero Initiative protect theirs.”

To become a member of The Hero Initiative, fans can sign up at www.atomiccomicsstore.com/heroinitiative.html or on-site at The Hero Initiative booth at the following upcoming comic book conventions: Phoenix Cactus Comic-Con, Jan. 23-25; New York Comic Con, Feb. 6-8; WonderCon, Feb. 27 – March 1; Orlando MegaCon, Feb. 27 – March 1; and Wizard World Los Angeles, March 13-15.

More info at their blog: http://heroinitiative.blogspot.com/