Category: News

Vess recalls art

vess-4295870Charles Vess is preparing to mount an exhibition of his Stardust art this summer in the premium exhibition space at the William King Regional Arts Center, and to that end has put out a call for sold art: "I’m looking for various pieces of Stardust original art that I’ve sold over the years and would like to borrow that art back for this show. The names of the donors will be included in various publications concerning the exhibit as well as being on the identifying labels themselves."  More details at Vess’ blog.

NYCC wrapups

Folks are still recovering from this past weekend’s New York Comic Con, which garnered over 40,000 unique attendees according to ICv2

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"The trade day on Friday set new records for retailer, librarian, press, and other trade attendees," which meant pretty much anyone with a pro badge, and since pros are an integral part of any comic convention (and the con itself never asked for proof of professional credentials so one assumes there were a number of non-pros there too) this trade-day "record" isn’t all that surprising.  ICv2 also notes, "Artist alley space was off the main floor, but was jammed throughout the show, due not only to the appeal of the wide range of talent, but also to the fact that access to the autographing and gaming areas required passage through the ‘alley.’"  One hopes this layout will change next year when con space doubles again.

Some nice overview reports from attendees:

ICv2 also reports on the winners in Saturday’s American Anime Awards.

Authenticating real history

authist-copy-7614437Jessa from Bookslut pointed to one of the archives at the Authentic History Center, specifically Treasure Chest’s This Godless Communism produced by the Catholic Guild (and with an introduction by J. Edgar Hoover herself!).  This link led to much trepidation about time suckage, as the AHC has some really fascinating stuff.  You can peruse WWII military cartoons, comics about atomic energy, a really wrong Howdy Doody cover… a great way to kill a few spare hours!  Highly recommended, and adding stuff all the time.

NYCC – More panels, more pics

Sunday was a fairly quiet convention day, at least compared with Saturday.  Oh, there was still the huge entry queue, but it seemed to be all caught up by around 10:30 or so. However, the energy level was definitely lowered from Saturday’s intensity, so the veteran con-goers among us opted for what we considered really important — reconnecting with good friends, using panel attendance as an excuse to do so.

Yes, there are more photos, and a little bit of a panel review: (more…)

ComicMix catchup

We at ComicMix are dedicated to bringing you as much stuff as we can, but we also know that means sometimes you miss things.  We know you want tagging and site feed and comments and that’s all coming down the pike real soon, but in the meantime here’s your handy-dandy guide to the second round of entries by our regular columnists. 

Look for Mike every Monday (in fact, his latest should be right below), Denny on Tuesday, me on Wednesday, John on Thursday, and Michael on Friday, and guest features on the weekend.  For those of you who, like me, grew up with the Marvel superhero cartoons in the ’60s, that means Mike = Captain America, Denny = the Hulk, me = Iron Man, John = Thor, and Michael = Namor.  (Hey, don’t knock it, that’s how I first discovered that Thursday was named after Thor!)

We also gave you a special "mother and child reunion" pair of featured columns this past weekend:

And our latest podcasts, hosted by Mellifluous Mike Raub, continue:

Happy reading and listening!

 

Mike Gold: True Convention Thrills!

mikegold100-2736036Great Caesar’s Ghost, my first comic convention actually was 38 and one-half years ago. I thought about that a lot this past weekend. I recall hearing about 300 people attended that show; we were completely astonished by the huge turnout.

It was one of the late Phil Seuling’s first Fourth of July shows in New York, and he established the standard by which I measure all comic book conventions. I helped run the Chicago Comicon for ten years, and I tried to hold us to that same standard. Phil’s shows were absolutely great, and of course they grew in size and importance with the times. (more…)

Abrams to direct Trek XI — official?

After more rumor that what the smoke monster is on Lost, J.J. Abrams will direct the Star Trek XI movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Abrams had already said that he was writing the script and producing the movie for Paramount, which is re-launching the Gene Rodenberry franchise with this the 11th Star Trek feature film. 

According to an oft-repeated yet not quite officially confirmed story,the movie is a prequel, taking place prior to the time represented in the original Star Trek TV series when both James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock are at the Starfleet Academy. William Shatner had stated he was approached for a cameo.

The film is set for release November 26, 2008, just in time for the 40th anniversary of the cancellation of the original series.

Cartoon characters invade classic paintings

dancinghippodegas-4236127Worth1000 is running one of their periodic Photoshop contests. This time, the contestants are asked to update an old painting, placing a cartoon character in the original work.

Pictured at right, we present The Dancing Hippo by Degas. Soundtrack, of course, by Allan Sherman.

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Writers take on JLA movie

jla1turner-8308610Via Sci-Fi Wire, Variety reports that Warner Brothers has hired husband and wife team Kieran and Michele Mulroney to write the script for its hoped-for Justice League of America movie. It’s the first major action the studio has taken on the project, the trade paper reported. The studio isn’t saying which heroes may be included in the film.

Development of the film is complicated by the fact that Warner has already revived its Batman and Superman film franchises, with Christian Bale’s Batman Begins and the upcoming The Dark Knight and Brandon Routh’s Superman Returns and its upcoming sequel. The studio is also developing a Wonder Woman film.

shaw_crewman-7865638Kieran and Michele Mulroney wrote the screenplay for the horror film Mirrors, which is in pre-production with Kiefer Sutherland attached. Kieran is also an actor, with credits in Enterprise, Seinfeld, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, among others.