Category: News

Happy Birthday: Hawkman III

  • News
  • March 30, 2008

Katar Hol was born on the planet Thanagar, the child of a wealthy family. Katar joined the Wingman police force but rebelled against his world’s ruthless conquest. He became addicted to drugs and was then manipulated into publicly killing his own father.

As a result, Katar was exiled to the Isle of Chance, where he purged his body of the drugs, atoned for his crime, and made peace with himself. After his sentence was up, Katar uncovered and defeated Byth, the corrupt police captain who had manipulated him, and was reinstated as a Wingman. When Byth escaped to Earth, Katar and his new partner Shayera Thal were sent there as well. After defeating Byth, Shayera returned home but Katar remained on Earth and became the third Hawkman. Katar then encountered the previous Hawkman, Carter Hall, and discovered that he was half-human himself–his mother was a Native American medicine woman and still alive. Katar was reunited with his mother and learned more about her ways and her people.

Unfortunately, Katar later became the avatar of the Hawk-God, which drove him mad, and to save others he had Arion the mage transport him to the Realm of the Hawkgod and leave him there.

 

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A Time Warrior to India, by Ric Meyers

  • News
  • March 30, 2008

passage-to-india-1963980I like it when the DVDs I review here are similar, but I also really like it when they’re very different. And other than being made by British talents, the DVDs in this edition are about as different as they can get. First, there’s the cultural classic that is A Passage to India. Columbia Pictures decided that marking the 100th anniversary of director David Lean’s birth (March 25, 1908) was a great excuse to remaster three of his films as “2-Disc Collector’s Edition Columbia Classics.” First out of the box is Lean’s final film, a two-hour and forty-four minute “intimate epic” based on E.M. Forster’s lauded novel of the same name.

Lean came at the challenge with a lot to prove. Despite being one of the world’s most respected filmmakers, with an unprecedented run of sweeping successes behind him, the critical thrashing his turgid, half-badly miscast, penultimate film, Ryan’s Daughter, suffered, had sent him reeling into a fourteen year self-imposed exile. He returned to tackle a cerebral, controversial story that many felt was effectively unfilmable, including, according to the DVD’s extras, the author and several actors in the production.

The reaction at the time of its 1984 release ranged from grudging to delirious, though a majority seemed to feel it still wasn’t quite up to his undisputed classics, Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia (the other two films set to be part of this 100th birthday DVD celebration). The passage of time, however, has been great to this particular film, and this new release could do much to elevate its standing, since it’s fascinating, intriguing, beautiful, and in this artificial age of cgi additives, all natural.

The special features are involving, if not as exceptional as the film. They are, at their best, reserved and civilized like the subjects of their interviews. If the producers and actors had been American, there might have been lots of superlatives and hyperbole, but the likes of producer Richard Goodwin, Lean’s young assistant directors, and actors Nigel Havers and James Fox are polite to a fault.

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Supermoney: The Superman Trial and Jerry Siegel’s Estate

  • News
  • March 30, 2008

supermoney-1584927For those who came in late… As has been widely reported, the Federal District Court ruled somewhat in favor of the estate of Jerry Siegel in its lawsuit to have all publishing rights to the Superman story in Action Comics #1 be taken from Time Warner’s DC Comics subsidiary and given to Jerry’s heirs. The decision runs 72 pages, but at heart is the judge’s ruling that because the property existed before Action#1, “work for hire” stipulations do not apply.

The New York Times did a good job covering the story; Mark Evanier, as would be expected, did a better job. For one thing, Mark got co-creator Joe Shuster’s first name right. The New York Times did not.

Whereas there is much cause for celebration, before we start dancing in the streets we should look at what’s at stake here.

Only the original concepts – only Superman, Clark Kent, the costume as portrayed in that initial story, and the abilities unique to Superman in that story – are in play. Perry White, the Daily Planet, Lex Luthor, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Bizarro, kryptonite, Jimmy Olsen and the rest are not on the table. Only the domestic rights are in play, and even then the estate would be in something of a co-ownership position with DC Comics. So don’t look forward to that Eros Comics Superman series quite yet.

Sadly for the Siegel family, this does not bring to an end a fight started by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster 60 years ago. Actually, it’s just warming up.

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“Prowling” – Juggling the Blues with the Comics, by Michael H. Price

  • News
  • March 30, 2008

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“Ya gotta be a juggler to woik in dis racket,” a senior-staff powerhouse named Frosty Sloane informed me after I had landed my first job in a competitive marketplace, back around 1965.

“I thought we were selling shoes,” I answered him. Which of course we were. I had a fleeting mental picture of some Ed Sullivan Show juggling act involving wingtip clodhoppers and stiletto heels. Took a while for Frosty’s metaphor to sink in – but once I had experienced my first stampede of customers and watched Sloane accommodate ten or fifteen prospective buyers while I attempted to deal with one or two of ’em, I caught his drift, all right.

Frosty Sloane was so effective at the craft, with consistently high sales tallies to show for it, that he could afford to be overconfident. He would juggle products while juggling customers: If a shopper should ask to see one style of shoe, Sloane would bring out half-a-dozen selections and wind up selling two or three of those. And he was such a wisenheimer that I wondered how he could get away with some of his sales-floor stunts.

“Y’see, half o’ th’ customers who come in here durin’ a slower stretch – they don’t even know they’re customers, yet,” Frosty counseled me, as if dispensing the Wisdom of the Ages. “They’re jus’ sleepwalkin’, browsin’ away like as if they knew what they were doin’. An’ ya gotta figger out how t’ get their attention.” No sooner had he spoken, than a woman wandered into the department, browsin’ away – just like the man said.

“Watch dis,” Frosty said, “an’ I’ll show ya what I mean by ‘sleepwalkin.’” He strolled toward the browser, nodded in her direction, and then spoke: “Tickle your ass with a feather, ma’am?” He paced the question just rapidly enough to blur its words.

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Happy Birthday: Marc Silvestri

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Born in 1958 in Palm Beach, Florida, artist Marc Silvestri joined Marvel Comics in the late 1980s, and became the penciller on Uncanny X-Men from 1987 to 1990.

In 1992 he and six other artists broke away to form Image Comics. Each artist had his own imprint, and Silvestri’s was Top Cow, which is best known for its major hits Witchblade, The Darkness, and Fathom. Top Cow has continued to be a major portion of Image, although Silvestri has spent less time doing his own art and more time publishing.

He has returned to Marvel a few times to work on various X titles.

 

ComicMix Radio: Battlestar Galactica Takes Off For The Final Season

After this week’s marathon broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel, Battlestar Galactica begins its final voyage — but where is it headed? Executive Producer Mark Verheiden fills us in on all he can dish here on ComicMix Radio and in an exclusive interview you’ll find on ComicMix later this week, plus:

— An historic court decision may change Superman as we know him

— Calling All Robots begins production

— The Lone Ranger back in the movies – Hi Ho!

—  And an  exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant could be in the mail to you — if you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

So live a little… and just  Press The Button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-1158272 or RSS!

 

‘Doctor Who’ Rescheduled, Russell T. Davies Annoyed

  • News
  • March 29, 2008

Outpost Gallifrey reports that Doctor Who Executive Producer Russell T. Davies has become quite vocal in his disappointment regarding a decision to move the hit series to an earlier timeslot on the BBC, as well as other changes planned for Season Four.

According to various reports cited by the Doctor Who news site, the decision to move the program to 6:20 PM in the weekly schedule, and a push to film in high-definition video, have met with significant opposition from Davies and others involved with the show.

From a Broadcast report posted on the site:

Russell T Davies is predicting that Doctor Who could lose up to 1.5m viewers when it returns in a new 6.20pm slot next month.

The writer and executive producer of the series told the Broadcast television drama conference today that the BBC should maintain the later 7pm-7.15pm slot and the budget for the sci-fi series but it had mucked it up.

The BBC believes the programme would do as well in the new slot, he said. "Well, we’ll see, but I think I’m right."

Not all time travel is welcome.

See what they did with that "time travel" line? Clever.

What does this mean for the American audience? I’m not certain, but it seemed worth noting for all of the Doctor Who fans here at ComicMix. Feel free to discuss in the comment section.

Celldweller and Devil’s Due Remix ‘Halloween’

  • News
  • March 29, 2008

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For those in search of some appropriate mood music to accompany Devil’s Due Publishing’s Halloween: Nightdance, it sounds like the crew at DDP has you covered.

The publisher recently posted a free download link for a techno/rock/orchestral remix of the original Halloween movie theme, courtesy of  the musician known as "Celldweller" — or maybe it’s courtesy of the artist formerly known as Klayton. I can’t be sure.

Either way, here’s the musician bio from the news section of the DDP site:

Celldweller – the versatile outlet of the artist, performer, producer, songwriter, programmer, and remixer Klayton, fuses the electronics of drum & bass and techno, with rock and orchestral elements, meshing the synthetic and the organic, darkness with beauty, into a cohesive blend entirely its own. Celldweller’s sound has captured the interest of the Film/TV/Video Game industry having licensed every track from the Debut Celldweller album, including credits in James Farr’s Xombified Online Series, recently adapted to comic form by Devil’s Due Publishing.

Credits include: “CSI” (Superbowl Spot), "Spider-man 2,” "Spider-man 3,” “Superman Returns,” “Silent Hill,” “Doom,” "The Last Legion,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “Supercross,” “XXX: State of the Union,” “Constantine,” “Catwoman,” “Redline,” “The Punisher,” “Dirt,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Paycheck,” “Timeline,” “Mindhunters,” “National Security,” “Bad Boys 2,” “Crackdown” “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,”  “Need For Speed: Most Wanted,” “Project Gotham Racing 3,” “Enter the Matrix” and “XGRA.”

You can download the track via the DDP site.

It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry, by Martha Thomases

  • News
  • March 29, 2008

2191_4_03-4722877My Wednesday ritual is pretty well set. I get up early enough to do a few hours of work, then go uptown to volunteer. On my way, I stop at Forbidden Planet so I can pick up the new comics. Since I live in Manhattan, I have my choice of several excellent comic shops. Forbidden Planet is near the 6 train, so that’s where I go (also, excellent service, friendly staff, and loads of prose books along with the comics). I can usually read at least one comic while I ride the train, and sometimes, another one in the playground near the hospital. After my stint is done, I ride home, do some more work, and curl up with the rest of my pile.

This week, because it’s spring at last and the sun was out, I decided to take the 6 train all the way down to Bleecker Street instead of taking the F to West Fourth, so I could do the extra walking in my own neighborhood instead of walking through the black pit of hell that is the lower level of the West Fourth Street Station. Everything is blooming early this year – magnolia trees, daffodils, forsythia, the strawberries on my terrace that reliably bear fruit on Arthur’s birthday – so there is color everywhere. Even Frosty Myers’ wall is back where it belongs, in soothing blues. I realize all this mass transit talk is boring to those of you with cars, but it’s all part of the minutiae of New York that makes this kind of urban living its own micro-organism.

Anyway …

 

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Universities Taking Up Graphic Novels

  • News
  • March 28, 2008

persepolis_cover_big-8717525A couple of stories came out today in university newspapers revealing the continued growth of interest in comic books and graphic novels is beginning to manifest on campuses.

At Louisiana State University, officials selected Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis as the summer reading book for incoming freshmen. The Daily Reveille covers the story:

“It’s a very different choice from what we’ve done in the past,” said Sarah Liggett, English professor and Student Reading Program committee chairperson. “It’s a focus on the Middle East, which is certainly very much in the news today, and it’s the first summer reading selection to be created by a woman. You see not only what she felt in the words, but you see it in the pictures.”

From the responses in the article, it sounds like the choice is going over much better than at Ithaca College, where the student paper’s editorial board berated the choice of Persepolis on grounds that it wasn’t intellectual.

In other news, Emerson College is considering adding a comics/graphic novel program, according to the student paper there. For now, the college has added some new comics-related courses, which aren’t for credit but instead offer certificates for those who pass the courses. Andy Fish is the instructor.

[Fish] is currently working on a DC comic project illustrating the graphic novel “BATMAN 1939” and his own comic “The Boy Who Wished He Could Fly.”

“Who knows if walking among the student body, or hanging out in the Dunkin Donuts on the corner is the next Frank Miller or Will Eisner?,” Fish said. “Graphic novels have been gaining respect among the squares, and I think it is great that Emerson is offering this program, and I’m delighted to be a part of it.”

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