Oh good grief. According to ShockTilYouDrop.com:
An inside source, who wishes to remain anonymous, tells ShockTillYouDrop.com author Richard Matheson has signed off on sequel rights for the smash hit I Am Legend. Matheson wrote the original 1954 novel upon which Francis Lawrence’s film is based.
Just what we need– I Am Legend Of Curly’s Gold.
Hat tip: Lisa Sullivan.
Simone and Ajax‘s daddy Andrew Pepoy did an interview at the Schulz Museum (yep, that Schulz!) and the good folks at www.comicscoasttocoast.com have it up in their latest podcast. This is your opportunity to hear Andrew the way we here at ComicMix do: actually speaking words from his mouth to your ears. It’s quite remarkable.
And since I have your attention, I should point out Andrew’s hard at work at his all-new full color Simone and Ajax graphic novel… soon to debut right here at ComicMix!
I’m often most interested in the decadent phase of an artistic movement, the point when it starts turning on itself. Snarky parody, convoluted derivative plots, art that’s clearly a rip-off of someone else’s style – this and more amuses me. So I’m happy that I finally gave in to temptation and picked up Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga.
I found it on the “how to draw” shelf, which sort-of makes sense: it’s a parody of books about how to draw manga. But I tend to doubt it’ll find many readers over there; I expect the people looking for drawing guides are serious, devoted, dour young folks who won’t be in the mood for zany humor. (The fact that this book was published in 2002, and one lonely copy was still poking around on the shelf, tends to support that idea.)
But, if you do manage to find it, Monkey is quite funny. In it, fictionalized versions of the creators (Koji Aihara, 19 years old and Kentaro Takekuma, 22 years old, as they’re billed in the book) talk about how they’re going to conquer the world of manga, in a very funny overwrought style, full of full-face close-ups. (Which are also essentially the same in every single episode; there’s some very obvious humor and some sly hidden humor in this as well.) Takekuma, the older, seasoned manga pro, then proceeds to teach Aihara the lessons of manga – this book contains the first nineteen of them. (There’s a second volume promised at the end; I don’t know how much more material appeared in Japan.)
The lessons start with the very obvious and basic – drawing borders, facial expressions, and then figures. (Takekuma recommends copying from other artists to do that last one, gleefully insisting that everyone does it.) Then Takekuma moves on to explaining where ideas and stories come from – everyone else’s stories and ideas, of course. After that, there are a series of lessons about particular manga genres, which are in turn shows to be completely cliché-ridden and obvious. (more…)
Happy New Year!!
Just when you thought Law and Order was wearing out its welcome, it turns out there are plans for a fourth – no, make it fifth (one flopped) series. But, according to The Hollywood Reporter, it ain’t gonna be set or filmed in New York City.
On the day of the Iowa caucuses, we bring you this post from Neil Sinhababu: The GOP Primary Field as Buffy Villains.
Note Rudy Guiliani as Angelus:
A genuine threat to destroy the world, with a string of broken hearts behind him.
We’d add: Seems to only shine when the end of the world is nigh. Spends most of his time trying to disavow past actions. Intimately connected with evil law firm which may eventually bring him down.
Well, foo.
Torchwood, the more adult brother to Doctor Who, will be returning to the airwaves on Wednesday, January 16th for another 13 episode run.
To the BBC in the United Kingdom, of course. Its North American debuts will happen… later.
Buffy’s James Marsters (well, also Smallville’s James Marsters and Without A Trace’s James Marsters) is set to become the series’ main villain, a rogue Time Agent named Captain (!) John Hart. As promised, Freema Agyeman will drop by for several episodes mid-season in her role as The Doctor’s companion Martha Jones. After her Torchwood stint, Martha will be returning to Doctor Who to team up with several other companions, present and past. And Torchwood star John Barrowman is expected to be around for the finale to next season’s Doctor Who as well.
But first, Captain Jack must survive Captain John, as well as a slew of other menaces as they "visit" such times as World War I and the 51th Century.
According to BBC News, a new mineral matching the configuration of Kryptonite has been discovered in Serbia.
The crystals aren’t green – it’s white and, according to London mineralogist Chris Stanley, it is harmless. Kal-El could not be reached for comment. Hmmmm.
Mining researchers discovered the unusual mineral and could not match it with anything known previously to science. When Dr. Stanley unravelled the mineral’s chemical make-up, he discovered the unique formula was already referenced in literary fiction. I guess there are fanboys everywhere.
"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral’s chemical formula – sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide – and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luthor from a museum in the film Superman Returns," Stanley told the BBC.
It’s the first business day of 2008 and, as I noted a few weeks ago, time for many pop-culture mavens to present their Best of 2007 lists. Alas, I will not be one of those. I can’t remember most of what I read in 2007, a blur of a year for me at the best of times due to the losses I suffered. But this isn’t new for me; I can barely remember the fiction I read or watch more than a half hour or so afterwards. It’s just the way my mind works. The only time I was able to do yearly wrap-ups and "Best Of"s was when I was regularly reviewing about a dozen comics every week, because I could refer to my previous work, but even then it was tough because I didn’t grade the stuff, I just talked about it.
My low retention rate is one reason why re-reading cherished books I’ve had for years is so fulfilling to me. It contains both the comfort of revisiting something vaguely familiar to me and the excitement of seeing it all anew. I was very happy to have received so many comments on my last column (thanks so much, all!). Obviously children’s books are beloved by a lot of adult pop culture geeks besides me. That’s really wonderful, and I think it proves the point that all-ages stuff really does mean stuff written for the young and the young-at-heart, rather than exclusively for the young. (It probably doesn’t hurt that we’re all comics people too, and have all experienced the knee-jerk reactions of many non-comics readers that we’re too old for our hobby, with its accompanying implicit assumption that all-ages literature ought not be enjoyed by, well, all ages.)
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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