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The Point Radio: The Man Who SHOULD Be Captain America!

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  • May 4, 2010

We think that JOEL GRETSCH should have been given a chance to Wield The Shield, but it seems he’s busy fighting those nasty alien visitors and trying to get V to a second season. Joel fills us in on what the rest of the series has to offer, plus how the summer of 2012 is going to get you into the movies (alot) and how Freddy made box office dreams come true!

And be sure to stay on The Point via iTunes - ComicMix, RSS, MyPodcast.Comor Podbean!

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Don’t forget that you can now enjoy THE POINT 24 hours a Day – 7 Days a week!. Updates on all parts of pop culture, special programming by some of your favorite personalities and the biggest variety of contemporary music on the net – plus there is a great round of new programs on the air including classic radio each night at 12mid (Eastern) on RETRO RADIO COMICMIX’s Mark Wheatley hitting the FREQUENCY every Saturday at 9pm and even the Editor-In-Chief of COMICMIX, Mike Gold, with his daily WEIRD SCENES and two full hours of insanity every Sunday (7pm ET) with WEIRD SOUNDS!

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Peter O’Donnell, 1920 – 2010

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  • May 4, 2010

modestyblaise-2167737Peter O’Donnell, one of the greatest of comics writers, died last night at the age of 90. He is best known for his creation Modesty Blaise, which ran in newspapers from 1963 to 2001, initially drawn by Jim Holdaway. He also created Romeo Brown (again, with Holdaway) and for many years authored the classic time-travelling adventure strip Garth. O’Donnell also adapted Ian Fleming’s Dr. No to comic strips.

Peter also wrote 11 Modesty Blaise novels and two short story collections, as well as nine gothic romance/adventure novels under the name Madeleine Brent.

A serious, considered and and gentle man, O’Donnell was quite the fan of tennis and was a regular at the annual Wimbledon championships.

On a personal note, I had the privilege of editing Peter on his graphic novel adaptation of the first Modesty Blaise story, drawn by the late Dick Giordano. It was something of an intimidating experience for me, having to discuss how to translate his own characters into the comic book medium. But Peter was eager to learn and immediately understood the differences between the comic strip and comic book media and how to best exploit the advantages of the latter; he quickly put me at ease. We stayed in touch ever since; I’ll miss his annual Christmas card.

Chairing a writer’s panel at the Chicago Comicon in the late 1970s, the group was asked the inevitable “who is your favorite comics writer” question. Each person noted his favorite comic book writer, and then it came to the last person on the dais, Chris Claremont. Chris said “Peter O’Donnell,” and, in reverse domino action, each and every writer went back and affirmed Chris’s choice.

To date, Titan Books has reprinted sixteen volumes of Modesty Blaise, with new volumes scheduled at every three months. When Peter retired from the strip in 2001, he expressed the desire that no one ever succeed him. It is hoped his wish will be respected posthumously.

robert-downey-iron-man-sunglasses-8552090

ComicMix Six: Weird Iron Man Armor Upgrades

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  • May 4, 2010

robert-downey-iron-man-sunglasses-8552090Tony Stark isn’t just a cool exec with a heart of steel. He’s also the technological hero called Iron Man. And with Iron Man 2 coming out this Friday, we’re sure to see new suits of armor with cool improvements. Over the years, Tony has constantly redesigned and updated his armor. There’s been stealth armor, undersea armor, space armor, briefcase armor, armor that has horned face plates, armor with extended shoulder pads, etc., etc.

But some changes are not all they’re cracked up to be and perhaps should’ve been left on the drawing board. So let’s take a look at some of the silliest upgrades Iron Man has made to his famous armor.

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Alan Coil: 1955-2010

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  • May 3, 2010

We’ve just gotten word that Lewis “Alan” Coil, a regular commenter here at ComicMix and at many other websites, died last Friday, April 30, 2010 from an apparent
heart attack at the age of 55.

Paul Shiple posted the notification on Harlan Ellison’s web board. “I wish I could speak more of what a great friend he was to
me and my family, to me and all of my friends but I don’t have it in me
at this time. He is greatly missed by many.”

He was well known to many in the Ohio fan community, and was a regular at Mid-Ohio Con.

“Alan was also a frequent commenter over at at www.michaeldavisworld.com,” noted Mike Gold, ComicMix editor-in-chief and michaeldavisworld.com weekly columnist. “His observations and comments were witty and informative which just the right amount of fringy attitude that we find in the best bloggers. This news hits me like a ton of bricks, and I’m truly saddened by his passing.”

ComicMix extends its love and sympathy to Alan’s friends and family. He will be missed.

Review: ‘X-Men Volume Five’

With [[[Iron Man 2]]] opening on Friday, everyone has decided to jump on the comics bandwagon and is flooding the shelves this week with Marvel-related fare. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment joins in the fun with the two-disc[[[ X-Men]]] Volume 5, completing the classic 1990s animated collection.

The 14 episodes presented here are in airdate order and span 1996-1997 and seasons four and five of the Fox series, which has remained the longest running Marvel animated title. The show was incredibly faithful to the source material, with former X-editor and then-Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras working as a story consultant. The show also had the unqiue aspect of having lengthy sub-plots allowing breadth and depth of subject matter most animated fare previously could not enjoy.

Comparing this to the adaptations of the same stories by the more current [[[Wolverine and the X-Men]]] shows the greater freedoms taken by the new creative staff—and not always for the better.

Given a variety of technical production delays, episodes were prepared out of order and writer Steven Melching always directs fans to the script numbers to show the proper story evolution. Instead, the five volumes have presented the shows in airdate order, which could prove confusing.

The series had horrible vocal casting but at least had strong animation direction. However, when Fox belatedly ordered a handful of additional episodes, Saban farmed out the animation to the Philippine Animation Studio, and the inferior quality is marked as you will see upon rewatching.

Disc one opens with the two-part “Phalanx Covenant” featuring the goofy but loveable Warlock. We switch focus to Omega Red, a then popular foe, in the long-delayed “A Deal with the Devil” which nicely spotlights Wolverine, Storm, and Rogue. Also delayed and finally aired at this point are “No Mutant Is an Island” and “Longshot”. The former treats Jean Grey as still dead although the animated continuity at this point had resurrected her but nothing was done to accommodate this. And while Longshot himself was nicely handled, I never cottoned to Mojo, who is played far too broadly here.

Any real sense of episode to episode continuity is gone by the second disc and the inferior animation is truly sad to see. As highlighted on the box cover, “Old Soldiers” is a flashback to World War II and a Wolverine tale. He partners with Captain America to take down a traitorous American scientist and the Red Skull (of course). The dialogue is nicely handled by Len Wein although the story felt tired.

The additional order did allow for a finale, “Graduation Day”, which saw the anti-mutant prejudice take a decidedly deadly turn as Xavier is fatally shot. Mutants around the world seek a leader and flock to Genosha, looking to Magneto for guidance. The X-Men arrive to solicit his help and Xavier gets a happy ending. He also gets a chance to say farewell to the core X-Men and the viewers, with the series ending on a cautiously optimistic note.

There are no extras on the collection, but if you have the first four volumes, you can’t possibly miss out on this one. 

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Monday Mix-Up: Iron Man Vs. British Charm

As you fine folks try to contain your excitement for the release of a little film by the name of Iron Man 2, we here at ComicMix would like to help you out. It turns out Mr. Stark has been busy promoting his new film in interesting ways, and as such, we want to share with it you. So, grab your Iron Man 2 Slurpee, put the keys down on your new Iron Man 2 Audi R8 Coup , and checkout Ole’ Shellhead doling out some justice on the always punchable Hugh Grant.

This clip is replusariffic. Put on a loop, and enjoy the limey’s face plant on repeat.

‘Iron Man 2’ already has a 100 million dollar weekend

Nikki Finke has the numbers: “Early
overseas estimates from Paramount have Iron Man 2
grossing just over $100 million from 53 markets. And some large
territories haven’t even opened yet, like Germany, Japan,  and China. In
local currencies, the film opened 25% ahead of the original Iron
Man (despite the fact that in those two years both the British pound
and Euro have dropped significantly). IM1 opened at $99
million (that opening also included Germany). The largest opening was
the UK ending the weekend with $12M including previews. Second was Korea
at $11M. Third was Australia at $9M. Fourth was France at $8.5M.”

Nikki goes on to guess at a $155 million opening weekend in America this weekend, with an outside chance of topping
The Dark Knight‘s 3-day record of $158.4 million.

That’s a lot of gold-plating on that armor.

Review: ‘Wolverine and the X-Men – Revelation’

We’re nearing the end of the line with [[[Wolverine and the X-Men]]] as Lionsgate releases the penultimate volume of the six volume DVD set comprising the first, and now only, season of the animated series.

Volume five, [[[Revelation]]], is on sale Tuesday and contains five more episodes adapting themes and storylines from across the comic franchise’s storied history. As with the previous volumes, the latest of which we reviewed back in January, the animation is lean and adequate with stronger vocal casting than the 1990s incarnation.

One of the series’ strengths was in the consistent vision and voice of the writing team anchored by Nick Filippi, Greg Johnson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost. As a result, sub-plots run from episode to episode smoothly and characters are consistent throughout.

We open with “Guardian Angel”, focusing on Warren Worthington’s simmering battle with his father over his destiny, leading to the loss of his wings and seduction by Mr. Sinister. You genuinely feel for Warren’s loss and see his fall from the skies as a tragedy, understanding why he agreed to become Archangel. (I admit to always having had a fondness for the red-and-white uniform he sported until this moment.)

Next up is “Breakdown” which gives us one of the more significant departures from the comics as Jean has been missing and Emma Frost has been helping locate her. Her efforts lead to a largely flashback episode showing us Scott Summers’ origins and his introduction first to Professor Xavier, then the initial [[[X-Men]]], and finally Jean. We also see the manifestation of the Phoenix Force which set up Jean’s current dilemma.

We then skip to one of the mutants’ many possible futures in the amusing “Rover” which involves Bishop and other mutants trying to deal with the rogue Sentinels that have overrun the world. Bishop wants to us their pet robot, Rover, to perform a suicide mission against the Master Mold but Marrow has grown fond of Rover and refuses to give it up. Kind of fun, but also annoying since it remains largely disconnected from the present day tale. The notion that Prof. X is in a 20 year coma and can still communicate with Wolverine and Cyclops is odd. This aspect of the series rings false and contrived, once again showing people just don’t know what to do with the powerful telepath.

Gambit is sent to Genosha to steal Magneto’s helmet in “Aces and Eights”, where the Cajun woos the innocent Lorna in order to obtain his goal. The personalities of Lorna Dane and Scarlet Witch are quite different than their comic book counterparts but they play off one another nicely and offer some of the best dialogue in the show. While largely predictable, it has some fun moments. Counterpointing the lighter main story, we end with Magneto and Senator Kelly being shown the disastrous future their actions are steering humanity towards.

This brings us to “Shades of Grey” the final episode, when Jean is finally located and Emma turns on the team. The action-packed episode also offers up the debuts of : Apocalypse, Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Donald Pierce, and Harry Leland, setting up the final episodes of the season.

Unlike the previous volume, this one shows the writers working a little more subtly with the enormous cast. [[[Wolverine]]] himself is actually merely a participant in these five stories. Overall, these are a mixed bag, more entertaining than not and certainly for diehard mutant fans.

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Review: ‘Saturday Morning Cartoons 1980s’

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  • May 1, 2010

As the 1980s dawned, it was a nadir point for Saturday morning cartoon fare. Concerns over imitative actions by the young viewers led to a decrease in what could be shown on animated series. Additionally, rising costs led to shortcuts and more limited animation, plus the usual cyclic concern over televised violence. Throughout the decade several new trends emerged starting with a greater reliance on licensed properties and personalities to anchor new shows. While the handful of original series showed their allegiance to the latest trends, it also led to a great divide between what was aired first thing in the morning compared with shows for the slightly older audience.

Hanna-Barbera was still the number one provider of fare but Ruby-Spears and the new Marvel Animation proved competitive and they helped changed the look and feel of the cartoons.

Much, but not all of the above, is evidenced in the new two-disc Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s, Vol. 1
, being released Tuesday by Warner Home Video. There is an odd sampling of material for all age ranges here, using obscure series and ignoring some better known shows that might have made for a stronger disc.

We open with [[[Goldie & Action Jack]]], which ran from 1981 – 1984. The premise featured 18 year-old Goldie Gold, who used her wealth to run [[[The Gold Street Journal]]] and often accompanied her best investigative reporter, Action Jack. Accompanied by her dog Nugget (every series had o have a pet it seems), they went on adventures around the world. However, as seen in “Night of the Crystal Skull” they often stumbled into adventures and stories and Action Jack is more moron than journalist.

The first of several celebrity series follows with [[[Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos]]]. The television action star filmed opening and closing bits then a goofy animated adventure followed. He’s accompanied by an odd assortment of followers and at least the animation is pretty sharp and the story moves at a nice clip.

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Saturday Morning Cartoons: Ultraforce

It’s personal history time folks. This is 100% guilty pleasure from me to you. Ultraforce was the cartoon that led me to my love of comics. You see I saw this cartoon, and days later, my best friend (Unshaven Comics’ own Matt Wright) bought me issue 1 from the back issues at our local comic shop. Thinking that I’d been given a rare gem, I reveled in owning it; And soon thereafter purchased a good chunk of the Malibu comic backlog. All because of this little lost toon.

It only made it 10 or so episodes on syndicated stations. And yes, I know now that these “Original Heroes” (or “Ultras” as they were referred to) were simply allegories for far more popular characters. But hey, based on this opening sequence how could you not love it? From the “swiped directly from the X-Men Cartoon” montage of each character leaping mightily from his or her own nameplate, to the “burst from random building to show your evilness” villain rolecall… You could tell this was a masterpiece in the making. And bonus! This clip gives you a little taste of Prime, Hardcase, and Marvel’s Deathlok some evil mechanical guy!

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