Category: News

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Interview: Greg Weisman Talks ‘Gargoyles’

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

gargoyles-t-shirt-2166293When I was younger, there was a Disney cartoon that my friends and I loved and which impressed our parents with its maturity and layered story-telling. The series was called Gargoyles, and it told the story of a clan of warrior creatures from 10th Century Scotland who are brought to modern-day New York City via magical manipulation. Led by the noble gargoyle Goliath, the creatures find themselves to be strangers in a strange land, forced to hide while trying to find their new place in the 20th century. Soon enough, they wind up becoming superheroes, protecting the same humans who either fear them or don’t believe they exist.

Although the series lasted only two seasons (followed by the short-lived Goliath Chronicles series, which is considered apocryphal), its fan base remains extremely loyal — so much so, in fact, that a convention for Gargoyles fans, called the Gathering of the Gargoyles, has been held each year for more than a decade now. In recent years, we’ve seen much of the television series finally released on DVD, and Slave Labor Graphics has begun publishing an ongoing Gargoyles comic book series and spin-off miniseries, Bad Guys, headed up by series creator Greg Weisman and picking up where season 2 left off.

I spoke with Weisman (who also serves as story editor for the new Spectacular Spider-Man animated series) during the most recent Gathering of the Gargoyles event, and we chatted about the clan of winged Scottish warriors that he created so long ago and what the future holds for them. 

COMICMIX: So, we’re at the 12th annual Gathering of the Gargoyles convention. You have the new comic book series from SLG and the Bad Guys spin-off coming out now. You’re even talking about future spin-offs. All of this says there’s a decent fan base. So what’s happening that we still only have the first 26 episodes of season 2 on DVD?

GREG WEISMAN: Well, there’s a lot of turnover at Buena Vista Home Entertainment. You’ll have people there who are interested in the project and then you’ll have new people come in who aren’t so much. The ugly truth of it is that Season One sold very well, and the Season Two, Vol. 1 DVD did not sell so well. Even if, ultimately, it sold as well as the first season, we sort of lost Disney’s attention. So we need to get their attention all over again, and the best way to do that is by making sure that we continue to sell the DVDs that exist, show them that the comics are selling well. Gargoyles is SLG’s best-selling comic. (more…)

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Watchmen Movie Trailer Image Gallery

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

When the Watchmen movie trailer hit the ‘Tubes today, word traveled pretty quickly. Of course, so did the orders to take it down on various sites, making it difficult for some fans to find out what all the fuss was about. To that end, here’s a collection of screenshots from various scenes that appeared during the trailer, so you can talk amongst yourselves about this first glimpse at the much-anticipated adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel.

Here are a few images to whet your appetite, presented in order of their appearance in the trailer, but be sure to view the full gallery after the jump:

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‘New Frontier’ Earns Emmy Nomination

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

newfrontier-1710396The Emmy nominations are here, and the Justice League: The New Frontier animated movie is among the contenders.

The direct-to-DVD adaptation of Darwyn Cooke’s retro comics series is nominated as an animated program at least an hour long.

Competition is all surprisingly nerd-friendly fare: South Park and Family Guy.

‘Watchmen’ Trailer Debuts

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

The headline pretty much says it all, as the trailer for the much-anticipated adaptation of Alan Moore and David Gibbons’ groundbreaking graphic novel Watchmen was released on Empire Online today. The Empire Online video is down, but the trailer has found its way to YouTube, of course. (As various verisons get posted and taken down, I’ll try to keep this thread updated with any that are still available. Be sure to check out our Watchmen trailer image gallery, too!)

 


 

(via a tip from UglyHill)

 

UPDATE: Well, you knew that was bound to happen. The YouTube video has been taken down, and the Empire Online page remains in a state of 404 Error. Here’s hoping you were able to catch the trailer while it was floating around — it was impressive, to say the least.

UPDATE: Thanks to another astute ComicMix fan, we’ve tracked down the trailer elsewhere on the ‘Tubes and embedded it after the jump. (Thanks, RJ, Jr.!) (more…)

ComicMix Radio: Dark Knight Breaks Box Office Records

And there hasn’t even been a showing yet. We’ve got some interesting facts and figures in how the next Batman film is poised to make movie history over the next 72 hours, plus:

  • Lost and The Justice League both get Emmy nominations
  • You might be Spider-Man on Broadway
  • Girls + Monsters =  IDW’s The Claws Come Out

Our warmup act for San Diego continues with a few new surprises – just Press the Button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-8241169 or RSS!

 

Interview: Jeph Jacques on ‘Questionable Content’

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

questionablecontent1-00x-3293550Now approaching its fifth year on the World Wide Internets, Questionable Content has gone through quite a few changes since its beginnings as an indie-rock webcomic that chronicled the life, loves and culture criticisms of "music nerds" Marten, Faye and a surrounding cast of characters (which also included Marten’s troublemaking, sentient "AnthroPC," Pintsize).

These days, the cast has expanded singificantly to include fan-favorite characters such as Marten’s obsessive-compulsive neighbor, Hannelore, and the relationships between major and minor characters have been explored, dismissed, or in the case of Marten and the "Coffee of Doom" owner Dora, bloomed into long-term (by webcomic standards, at least) plot points. While drama has managed to carve a niche for itself in the world of QC, Jacques has similarly carved out a name for himself among the top-tier creators in the webcomic scene.

After wandering through the QC archives a bit, I was struck by the differences in those first strips posted back in August 2003 and today’s QC. Both the art and the focus of the series have shifted dramatically in the last few years — much moreso than many of the strips on my radar. With that in mind, I recently took the opportunity to pick Jacques’ brain about the origins and development of the series and the nature of "indie cred."

COMICMIX: I’m familiar with the area QC is based on, so I think it would be interesting to hear your take on the setting for the series and how it compares to its real-world counterpart…

JEPH JACQUES: For those not In The Know™, QC is set in Northampton, Massachusetts, a smallish town in the western end of the state, home to Smith College. Northampton is a Very Fancy Town that likes to pretend it is actually a chunk of Manhattan that somehow got carried two hours due north (possibly via Hipster Albatross).

The QC version of Northampton corresponds roughly, at best, with its real-world counterpart. Many of the streets are the same (almost all the outdoor backgrounds are taken from real-life photographs) but there are differences. Coffee of Doom, for instance, exists on some bizarre meta-street that does not actually exist in the real world. The exact location of Marten’s apartment building is similarly a mystery. Basically, I use the actual town layout when it’s convenient, but break the rules whenever it suits me.

As for the cultural setting, from what I can tell Northampton is primarily young, liberal, Caucasian, and college-educated, and the cast of QC essentially reflects that. (more…)

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.

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E3 2008: New ‘Spider-Man: Web of Shadows’ Gameplay Footage

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

Even Sam Raimi would be hard-pressed to choreograph a great fight between Spider-Man and the Vulture. I mean, c’mon. Adriane Toomes is an old man who dresses like a carrion-eating bird. He’s not one of Spidey’s A-list bad guys.

After watching Activision’s latest footage for the Spider-Man: Web of Shadows videogame, I believe a man can fly… and fight! The battle highlighted developer Shaba Games promise to bring Spider-Man’s mid-air battles to life.

Also note Peter Parker giving in to his dark side and letting the black costume take control. The balance between the classic and black costumes is supposed to be a major point of the game.

Video of the gameplay is posted after the jump.

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Heath Ledger, The Joker and the ‘Dark Knight’ Audio

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

Back in January, after the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger, we posted audio from an interview we had conducted with Ledger as part of a special edition of ComicMix Radio. In the interview, Ledger discussed his reasons for taking the role of The Joker in the Batman Begins sequel, as well as his thoughts on how best to prepare for the role. With the release ofThe Dark Knight fast approaching and Ledger’s passing certainly looming large over the project, we thought the interview might be worth another listen for ComicMix fans.

With that in mind, we present (or re-present, in this case) the ComicMix Radio interview with Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight.

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For more on The Dark Knight, make sure you don’t miss our special Dark Knight-themed edition of ComicMix Six, featuring The Joker’s Greatest Victories,  as well as our recent list of Must-Read Batman Stories to get you caught up with the Dark Knight.

Experiencing Grief, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • July 17, 2008

Muriel Kubert, Joe Kubert’s wife, died last week. You may have seen the story here at ComicMix . I went to the services. When I saw Joe, I asked him how he was doing (the same lame question most of us ask of those who have lost someone vital to them). He shrugged and said, “You know.” Then he looked me in the eye and repeated, “You know.”

I do. Kimberly Ann Yale, my own wife, died over eleven years ago, something that I’ve talked about more than once in this column. It strikes me that we don’t really talk about the grieving process much. It’s been studied and Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross charted its stages, noting them as shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing and acceptance. That’s certainly useful in an intellectual way but I don’t know as it really prepares you for the emotional impact.

We don’t like to talk about grief. I didn’t, before Kim died. It’s death. It’s scary. If Death hears us talking about it, maybe it’ll come over to hear what we’re saying. That doesn’t make sense but that is sometimes how it feels. Emotion has its own logic. If we don’t talk about it, maybe Death will go away. Knock on some other door.

Grief is something that should be talked about. The only person with whom to really discuss it is someone who has been through it. Not someone who is going through it at the time; they’re trying to make sense of everything and it won’t make sense. It has to be someone who has come out the other side.

So let’s talk.

(more…)

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