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#SDCC: Frazetta Conan Painting Sells for $1.5 Million

  • News
  • July 22, 2010

conandestroy-6733277It’s one of the images that defined the fantasy illustration industry we geeks love so much. And to a lucky buyer, Frank Frazetta’s 1971 Conan the Destroyer sold in a 1.5 million gold piece private sale agreed to at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con with Robert Pistella and Stephen Ferzoco of Frazetta Management Corporation. No word yet on who purchased the piece of where it will be hung, but we assume it’ll adorn a wall next to fine mahogany bookshelves full of leather bound collections of Tolkien, maquettes of scantilly clad heroines, and signed Rush LPs.

Tip of the hat to BleedingCool.com.

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#SDCC: Stan Lee and BOOM! Studios press conference

  • News
  • July 22, 2010

stan-lee-and-boom-concept-art-5134802

During a press conference at Comic-Con International yesterday, Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and BOOM! Studios revealed the characters, series and creative teams for three superhero titles to be published by Stan Lee and BOOM! Studios this fall, as hinted at back in March. (And how are we supposed to stop those “POW! BOOM! Comics aren’t just for kids!” headlines now?)

The three titles are:

SOLDIER ZERO, written by Paul Cornell with art by Javier Pina, tells the story of a wheelchair-bound astronomy teacher who finds himself in a freak accident that bonds him with an alien weapon of war.

THE TRAVELER, written by Eisner Award-nominee and BOOM! Studios Chief Creative Officer Mark Waid with art by Chad Hardin, features a mysterious new superhero with time-traveling powers battling the Split-Second Men, super-powered assassins from the future.

STARBORN, written by Chris Roberson with art by Khary Randolph, tells the story of a regular guy who discovers he’s the heir to an intergalactic empire, putting him the center of a war between five alien races.

We have partial video of the press conference, recorded by Zennie62:

First Look: ‘Lost – New Man in Charge’

  • News
  • July 22, 2010

Courtesy of ABC, here’s a first look from the  original, brand new 12-minute Lost
chapter called “New Man In Charge” which offers a look at what Hurley (Jorge
Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson) do as the new Island overseers.

This
bonus feature will be available on both LOST: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON
and LOST: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION which debuts on Blu-ray & DVD on August 24,
2010.

First Look: ‘Thor’

  • News
  • July 21, 2010

thor-chris-hemsworth-5070329As promised, Paramount Pictures released more images from Thor, opening May 6, 2011. Director Kenneth Branagh has clearly cleaned up Jack Kirby’s vision of Asgard, making things nice and shiny.

In case you missed it, here’s a rundown of the cast for the film which recently completed principal photography. The screenplay is written by Ashley Miller (Fringe) and Don Payne (The Simpsons). Miller has since gone on to write X-Men: First Class for 20th Century-Fox while Payne previously wrote My Super Ex-Girlfriend and was one of the writers on Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Dr. Donald Blake/Thor is portrayed by Chris Hemsworth (Star Trek) with Natalie Portman as Dr. Jane Foster (promoted from her original nurse role). Anthony Hopkins is the one-eyed Odin, Rene Russo as Frigga, his wife; and Tom Hiddleston (Wallander) as the sibling Loki. Portraying the delightful Warriors Three are Ray Stevenson (The Book of Eli) as Volstagg, Tadanobu Asano (Snow Prince) as Hogun the Grim, and Joshua Dallas (Doctor Who) as Fandral the Dashing. Sorry, Balder the Brave apparently didn’t make it into the movie — maybe next time.

Rounding out the cast will be Jaimie Alexander as Thor’s Norse love interest Sif, Idris Elba as Heimdall, and Kat Dennings as a new character, Darcy. Clark Gregg continues his tour through the Marvel Movie Universe, reprising his SHIELD Agent Phil Coulson role.

According to a release from Marvel Studios, “At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant
warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast
down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here,
Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous
villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.”

(more…)

Captain America & Thor Poster Art

  • News
  • July 21, 2010

Paramount Pictures has released these images featuring concept art for 2011’s Thor, opening May 6, 2011 and Captain America: First Avenger, which follows on July 22. No doubt more movie imagery will be release during the course of Comic-Con International which opens tonight.cap-sdcc-poster-final-v2-3365567

Is 3-D For Me – Or Are You Thor?

  • News
  • July 21, 2010

Watch out. That’s The Mighty Thor’s hammer coming straight for your mightily bespectacled head.

The march of the 3-D movies continues trampling the
Multiplexes. Movies are being retrofitted left and right so they can have 3-D scenes. Movies that were shot in 2-D, that were meant to be seen in 2-D, will be released in 3-D and up-priced to 12 or 15 bucks; more, if you’re going to
IMAX. And they’re building a lot of IMAX theaters. A whole lot.

So we’ve got the Thor movie, already filmed, being retrofitted. And the Captain America movie will be in 3-D. Yeah, that’s just what they’re going to need to make The Red Skull look dangerous.

I understand we’re just a couple years away from an
amazing new teevee set that will make today’s 3-D tubes look like wallpaper.
We’ll see, but until then I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear that
director Christopher Nolan is shooting the next Batman movie in 2-D… unless, the producer tells me, the studio demands it. Humph. We’ll see.

If time is the fourth dimension, then I want a 4-D movie
to take me back in time when movies were entertainment and art and not simply “me-too” gimmicks. As Roger Ebert brilliantly states, “3-D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension… It is suicidal. It adds nothing essential to the
movie-going experience.”

Okay. My position on the future of 3-D, like Roger’s, is spelled out.

What do you think?

Oprah Winfrey To Be Replaced By Howard Beale

  • Uncategorized
  • July 20, 2010

 howard-beale-4878348Next year, life as we know it will end. Oprah Winfrey will be ending her successful show.

Oprah’s program grew out of her stint as host of A.M. Chicago. The local program was so successful that after two and one-half years it went national to the other ABC-owned stations, and to general syndication. Now that Oprah’s sailing off
into the fog, her host station WLS-DT has decided what to do with the valuable time slot between Good Morning America and The View. They’re going to do a live, local morning news show.

No big deal, right? Lots of teevee stations have news shows following the endless network morning “news” show. But this one has a difference. This one has a live audience.

Just like Howard Beale, central character of the movie Network.

Like all of the better news shows, this new thing will be “local and fun,” according to WLS president and general manager Emily Barr.
“This will be another opportunity for us to do something terrific.”

Well, good luck with that. Personally, I loved Network and, with guys like Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly dominating the airwaves, the expansion of “unreality teevee” appears to be unstoppable.

DC Releases Yet Another ‘Poster d’Indications’

  • News
  • July 20, 2010

So Dan “Big Daddy” DiDio and company have once again dropped a cryptic poster on our geeky arses… to pick apart, faun over, and otherwise wax poetic about. So, Comicmixers, I present to you:

Here’s this author’s take on what we’re seeing here:

  • In the foreground Deadman is carving “Rise” into a tombstone. This is indicative of his desire for Tombstone Pizza to finally deliver a self rising crust pizza in the DCU.
  • Behind him the new Blacqualad is using his water powers to make a sword, which in turn has destroyed Blue Devil’s Black Manta’s Bi-Dent. Speculation here dictates that Blacqualad is actually the son of Black Manta, and he’s punishing daddy for missing all those birthdays.
  • Behind him, we see the Martian Manhunter finally getting over his fear of fire. No one told him that “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” though… so, he’s practicing by igniting that weird tree in Star City’s forest. Oh well, no one likes Ollie these days anyways.
  • In the clouds above we see The Anti-Monitor doing his best impression of Mufasa… gently telling the DCU to avenge his death. His suggestion? Bring back H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E.
  • Front and center, Hal “We knew he was gonna be the White Lantern all along” takes a nap in his new designer day-bed.
  • Behind Unky Hal flies DC’s newest comedy duo, Guy Gardner and Atrocitus with their pal Ganthet, constructing some crazy structure. Look out, as Guy, Ganthet, and Atrocitus launch their ongoing series, “2 Lanterns, a Monster, and a Pizza Place“, this Fall!
  • Rounding our way down we see a mystical purple stargate with some Hawkpeople flying out. This of course denotes Tim Truman’s return to the world he started, as DC launches the first great winter crossover: Final Hawkworld Crisis on Infinite Brightest Night!
  • Hawk and Dove carry a lifeless Jade. Why? Well, it turns out no one cared about her being resurrected. Or killed for that matter. Where’s Kyle Rayner when you need him?
  • Continuing in our counter-clockwise circle around this happy little poster, we join Ebony and Ivory, err, Jason and Ronnie as they try to bury Black Lantern Firestorm… who they accidentally killed at a frat party the night before. Here’s a tip boys… don’t dare the Black Lantern to do Irish Car Bombs after he’s turned the Baily’s into arsenic.
  • And finally we end on that lovable married couple, Mera and Dead Aquaman. Get ready for all the love, laughter, and a few hair-brained schemes, as the DC’s first couple of the sea prepare for their upcoming mini-series: “So I Sleep With the Fishes!“. Written by Neil Gaiman, with art by Art Baltazar and Franco.

So kids, got any theories yourselves? Lay em’ on us in the comments below!

Waid, Cebulski Promoted

  • News
  • July 20, 2010

Yesterday, BOOM! Studios joined the growing number of companies to add the rank of Chief Creative Officer to their mastheads. Mark Waid, the publisher’s Editor-in-Chief was named CCO with Matt Gagnon promoted to Editor-in-Chief. Marvel also formalized C.B. Cebulski’s talent scout role by naming him Senior Vice President, Creator & Content Development of Marvel
Entertainment.

In both cases, the emphasis has been placed on creative and talent issues, which acknowledges the shifting playing field for the top publishers. To fuel the growing number of titles released in America, talent from all corners of the world and the creative community has to be scouted, groomed, and put to work.

Recently, DC Entertainment named Geoff Johns its first CCO followed by Marvel upping Joe Quesada to the same title. IDW most recently named Chris Ryall their own CCO.

At San Diego’s Comic-Con International, opening tomorrow, the expectation is that more talent exclusives will be signed, another acknowledgment of the increased competition.

ComicMix congratulates all three men on their new assignments. (more…)

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