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Win a contest by explaining this picture of Wil Wheaton and John Scalzi

  • Uncategorized
  • June 3, 2010

wil-wheaton-and-john-scalzi-9680348John Scalzi, President-elect of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, has announced that he and
writer/actor Wil Wheaton are hosting a fan fiction contest.

The rules are simple– just write a story
explaining this painting by Jeff Zugale, which may be one of the most epic works ever posted on the internet. Yes, that’s Scalzi as an armor-clad orc, facing off with Wheaton, who is wielding a spear, riding a unicorn-pegasus-kitten,
and sporting a clown sweater, while surrounded by lava-oozing volcanoes.

The person who submits the best story will be paid ten cents for every written word, a special pack of books from Subterranean Press, and the story will appear in an electronic chapbook about the picture. The chapbook will include stories written by Scalzi, Wheaton, Norton Award winner Catherynne Valente, and author Patrick Rothfuss. The chapbook will be sold online, and will donate proceeds to the Lupus Alliance of America.

If you think you’ve got what it takes to create a fantastic story to go along with Zugale’s picture, then give the contest a go. Check out Scalzi’s blog here for more details and guidelines. 

Review: ‘Alice in Wonderland’

  • Uncategorized
  • June 2, 2010

On the face of it, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp teaming up to interpret Alice in Wonderland sounded ideal. Too perfect and maybe that was the problem. Burton is no stranger to flights of fancy and provided us with a modern day fairy tale in [[[Edward Scissorhands]]] (just named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the top 10 characters of the last 20 years). His visual imagination is apparently limitless as he provides a fresh eye to each film he makes. His collaborations with Depp lead to engaging performances as the actor vanishes into each role.

And yet…

And yet, the spring film did not excite me. Not an adaptation of the Lewis Carroll books, but instead a sequel of sorts, as Alice returns to Wonderland. We open with a nearly 15 minute set-up as we learn that young Alice, just back from her first journey, has lost her father and the she and her mother must shoulder on. We then cut to thirteen years later and now Alice, 22, is being pressured by society to marry a bore of a Lord. Just as he prepares to publically pop the question, a rabbit catches Alice’s eye and back to Wonderland she goes.

Things are much bleaker since she last visited now that the wicked Red Queen has used a Jabberwocky (depicted as a dragon-like beast) to terrorize Underland.  Few believe she is the same Alice but must be since there is a recent legend saying that only Alice, on Frabjous Day, will free the people by slaying the creature.

To reach this inevitable point, Alice is shuttled between the Red Queen and the White Queen with all the Carroll characters showing up for a cameo or to advance the plot.

While Burton said he didn’t adapt the [[[Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland]]] and [[[Through the Looking-Glass]]] because he didn’t feel an emotional connection to the stories, he fails to make audiences feel any connection to Alice and her cronies. We’ve seen them in endless interpretations and our expectations were that Burton would show us something new, make us drop our jaws and whisper, “Wow”.

Didn’t happen. At least now while I watched it at home on the crisp Blu-ray disc, released as part of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s combo pack released this week. Maybe something magical happened on the big screen and in 3-D. But I felt like we were being put through the paces, setting up a way we’ve seen a million times before, and certainly not helped when Alice arrived in armor borrowed from the [[[Narnia]]] films. It’s fitting that the final battle takes place on a chessboard field.

The performances – from Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover — are larger than life as befits the source material. But everything is too on the nose, from the uptight British high society to the Mad Hatter. We’re not surprised or enchanted and are ultimately left feeling disappointed. It could be that Burton could never live up to the expectations, the price one pays for having a reputation for being a visionary.

The movie looks and sounds great on the Blu-ray disc. While those watching just the DVD get three bonus features, there are  plenty of goodies packed on the other disc. You can watch the cast and crew pontificate on six of the characters in the shorts labeled Wonderland Characters. There are six other shorts found under the Making Wonderland umbrella. You get a sense of how much was shot live and just how much was shot using green screen and digitally added (allowing Burton’s visuals to be faithfully reproduced).

For a film that quickly took in over a billion dollars since its release I came to this expecting far better but sometimes, peering through the looking glass, all you see is a pale reflection or something all too familiar.

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Marvel Ups Joe Quesada to Chief Creative Officer

ComicMix congratulates Joe Quesada on his justly deserved promotion, recognizing the strides he has made in salvaging Marvel as a creative entity in the years since the company emerged from bankruptcy.

Here’s the official release:

New York, NY – June 2, 2010 – Marvel Entertainment, LLC announced today that it has promoted Joe Quesada to Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment.  In this new role, Mr. Quesada will work alongside Alan Fine, Executive Vice President, Office of the President and Chairman of Marvel Studios’ Creative Committee, to ensure that all portrayals of Marvel’s characters and storytelling remain true to the essence of Marvel’s rich history. Additionally, Mr. Quesada will provide creative oversight of all areas of Marvel’s business including theatrical, television, publishing, animation and games, while also actively participating in all story and script development for Marvel’s films and animation. Prior to this promotion, Mr. Quesada held the role of Chief Creative Officer & Editor-In-Chief, Marvel Animation & Publishing and oversaw the creative aspects of Marvel Comics and Marvel Animation. The announcement was made today by Mr. Fine, to whom Mr. Quesada will report.

Mr. Fine stated, “I am excited to have Joe join me as Marvel Entertainment enters the next chapter in our history. Joe has already played an instrumental role as Editor-in-Chief in changing the face of the comic book industry with bold new ventures and an unprecedented penetration of the mainstream consciousness. His love and passion for Marvel, along with his experience guiding publishing for the last decade, will be invaluable as we bring our characters to life in new media.”

“I am honored to take this new position at Marvel Entertainment and work with Alan to bring the rich history of Marvel to a brand new audience” said Mr. Quesada.  “Together with the incredible talent here at Marvel, in all our divisions, I look forward to making Marvel an even bigger part of the entertainment industry and showing why we’ve been an industry leader for over 70 years.”

Mr. Quesada will also continue to serve as Editor-In-Chief, Marvel Publishing, where over the past decade he has helped usher in bold new imprints such as Marvel Knights, the Ultimate Universe and Marvel MAX. During his tenure, Marvel received acclaim for its Heroes special to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001; the groundbreaking Death of Captain America storyline; and President Obama’s historic team up with Spider-Man. Mr. Quesada is also one of the industry’s most popular artists, providing cover and interior art to blockbusters such as Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil, Invincible Iron Man and more.

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Jeanne Robinson: 1948-2010

Jeanne Robinson, dancer, choreographer, teacher and Hugo and Nebula winning co-author of three science fiction novels known as The Stardance Trilogy
 with her husband Spider Robinson, died Sunday of bilary tract cancer at the age of 62.

Robinson studied dance at the Boston Conservatory, and at the Martha
Graham, Alvin Ailey, and Erick
Hawkins schools. She performed with the Beverly Brown Dance
Ensemble in New York and served as the artistic director of Halifax’s
Nova Dance Theatre, where she choreographed more than thirty original
works. In the seventies she created the concept of zero-gravity dance in the
Hugo Award-winning novel Stardance. In 1980 NASA asked her to dance in space aboard the Space
Shuttle– an invitation withdrawn when the Challenger explosion ended the
Civilian In Space Program.

She is survived by her husband of 35 years, her daughter Terri, and her granddaughter Marisa. She was a wonderful woman and will be missed. Our hearts go out to her family.

Spider writes about her and her passing here.

Why Isn’t ‘The Hobbit’ Shooting Yet?

In case you were sleeping off the three-day weekend and missed it, director Guillermo Del Toro withdrew from The Hobbit, announcing in a press release leaded to The One Ring that MGM’s inability to green light the production forced his move. Del Toro has an extensive deal with Universal Studios carrying him through 2017 and his window to direct the two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel was rapidly closing.

You sit there wondering why on Earth such a no-brainer of a decision isn’t just handed down. And there hangs a sad tale.

The Hobbit’s rights are controlled in part by MGM which currently is considering bids for a sale given its bleak financial outlook. The once mighty studio that proclaimed it had more stars than were in the heavens has floundered and day to day operations have been virtually halted with the exception of its television unit, which recently sold a 12-episode series to MTV.

By not having the funding to mount big budget films to replenish its coffers, not only has The Hobbit been stalled but work on the studio’s one perennial cash cow, James Bond, has been suspended. EON Productions’ Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced several weeks back that all work on the 23rd installment of the series had been halted, which means Daniel Craig’s tenure as the spy may prove short-lived. The hedge funder holders who now control the studio’s fate began soliciting bids back in the fall of 2009 and today the sole bid outstanding is $1.5 billion from TimeWarner. The debt holders, who bought the outstanding obligations of about $3.7 billion for sixty cents on the dollar, had anticipated reaping $2 billion for the studio and its assets.

Those assets not only include 007 but an extensive film library that hungry media outlets need to fuel the future demand for entertainment on mobile devices and beamed straight to televisions.

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‘Green Lantern’ Synopsis Unveiled

greenlantern-7791495We couldn’t begin to guess how ComicBookMovie.com got their hands on the official synopsis to June 17, 2011’s Green Lantern movie, but we’re delighted to share the contents with you.

“In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

“Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax…he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

“Martin Campbell directs Green Lantern from a screenplay by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg, story by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim, based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. (more…)

4659333035-37262f50ed-4747060

Apple kills Flash

4659333035-37262f50ed-4747060In case you missed it, and danged if it didn’t happen fast… Shirt.Woot! debuted a dilly of a pickle today on it’s newest shirt, featuring our favorite scarlet speedster taking a little nap on the concrete. The culprit? Well, a poisoned Apple. It seems Apple killed Flash. Get it? Or do we need to spell this one out?

Savvy tech-nerds get it. You see, those fancy iPhones, and iPads don’t support the web-based technology Flash, created by Adobe. The two companies used to be like Wally and Hal. Or Hal and Ollie. Or Ollie and Black Canary. But now? They’re like Superman and Lex Luthor, or Batman and the Joker. It ain’t pretty. Sure, both companies have attempted to explain their malaise for one another in wonderfully worded “open letters”, but we comic fans know hatred when we see it. And this situation is like Professor X and Magneto: best buddies turned enemies based on their personal mantras.

While we would have love to slap one of these cotton beauties across our geeky torsos… alas, Shirt.Woot! has already sold out. Faster than Barry slapped Wally back to the co-feature eh’?

Review: ‘Peanuts 1970’s Collection Volume 2’

As [[[the Peanuts]]] gang further cemented themselves into the fabric of American society, one could always count on the animated specials arriving each year. Unfortunately, as the 1970s progressed, the strip and specials continued to lose their charm and appeal, coasting on their heyday a decade previously.

That regression is fairly evident in [[[Peanuts 1970’s Collection Volume 2]]], out today from Warner Home Video. The two-disc set contains six episodes, one of which makes its home video debut. Absent are two self-congratulatory specials which also aired during this period.

The vocal cast changed as actors aged but remained in the same range and was likely not as noticeable year to year but is more obvious in rewatching these in a short order. There are also some odd proportional changes, notable in the final two specials contained here. There’s a different change as Vince Guaraldi’s death robbed the specials of their jazz-inspired music, which was often the best thing about any one of these.

[[[Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown]]] (1/28/75) opens the set as the gang at Birchwood Elementary School grows obsessive about the romance in the air. Linus suddenly has the hots for his teacher at one end and then there’s Schroeder, who’s fairly oblivious to the day. And then there’s poor Charlie Brown, hoping for valentines and receiving none.

There are several lapses in logic beginning with Sally and Linus suddenly in the same class as their older siblings while Peppermint Patti and Marcie are now attending the same school as their cross-town pals. Worse, the teacher has abandoned the class in the middle of the class party (with Shermy making a final cameo appearance). In during the more lax era, no adult would walk out of school leaving a room full of children unattended. Perhaps the best bit is Linus tosses away the chocolates he failed to give his teacher, unaware each piece is being gobbled up by Snoopy and Woodstock.

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Linda Gold: 1949-2010

  • Uncategorized
  • May 29, 2010

linda-gold-6942482Linda Gold, beloved wife of ComicMix editor in chief Mike Gold, mother of assistant editor Adriane Nash, and frequent commenter on this site, died this morning of a heart attack. She was 60 years old.

She was the biggest Green Lantern fan I’ve ever known, with a particular fondness for Guy Gardner.

She knew more about jazz artists of the 20’s and 30’s than anyone who didn’t have a radio show.

She was smart as a whip, and could debate anything with passion and verve.

She was a treasure, and was appreciated by everybody who knew her.

We all miss her very much.

More details to come.

UPDATE 1:30 PM EDT 5/30: Thank you for all of your good words and memories. Various tributes and reminiscences are also up at Linda’s and Mike’s Facebook pages.

Challengers Comics in Chicago has gone one step beyond and created the Linda Gold Memorial Selection:

a designation we will give any book we feel brings as much wonder and
joy to its reader as Linda gave to our lives.

Their first selection is Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
.

linda-gold-memorial-selection-8154630

UPDATE 6/2: Should you be so inclined and your circumstances allow, charitable
donations could be made in Linda’s name to The Hero Initiative, http://www.heroinitiative.org/, or to the Comic Book Legal Defense
Fund (CBLDF), http://cbldf.org/.

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