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A reply from Imagi about ‘Astro Boy’

  • News
  • August 5, 2009

astro-boy-media1-11-7264049

imagi-reply1-6557076With regards to the recent C&D letter from Imagi’s lawyers, we’ve received the following:

August 4, 2009

Mr. Glenn Hauman
ComicMix.com

Dear Glenn:

Imagi Studios apologizes for any misunderstanding or inconvenience caused by the legal letter of July 29 regarding the image posted with your story about Astro Boy. This letter, which truly resulted from a miscommunication, was sent in error, and is hereby retracted. We thank you in advance for your understanding.

We would only like to point out that the image which appeared on your site is not from the movie as it is early concept art, and therefore we would greatly appreciate it if you could replace this image with one of the new stills from the Astro Boy movie, which are attached herewith.

Imagi Studios prides itself on being collaborative with the media by providing images as well as access to filmmakers and executives, and we hope to further our relationship with you in this way as well. We would also like to express our warm appreciation of your support and that of ComicMix.com to date, and we look forward to sharing updates on Astro Boy and future projects with you and the ComicMix community.

Best regards,

Erin Corbett
President, IMAGI STUDIOS U.S. & Chief Marketing Officer Worldwide

Erin, your apology is accepted. We’ve restored the articles to the site, and while we won’t replace the image, lest we be accused of histroical revisionism, we’re happy to make an annotation to the article indicating it’s early art and share the newer images with the rest of the world– starting with the one above, which I think is one we haven’t seen before.

Spoiler for ‘Blackest Night’: Cheeks, the Toy Wonder is a Black Lantern!

  • Uncategorized
  • August 5, 2009

thom-zahler-blackest-night-cheeks-8737724Yes, he’s back from the recycling bin! It’s Cheeks, the Toy Wonder as a newly forged Black Lantern! Now we know why Ambush Bug #6 has been delayed, it had to tie in with Blackest Night…

…okay, maybe not.

Still, the art from Thom Zahler, the big galoot behind Love And Capes, is still important, because it’s helping John Ostrander regain his sight.

At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

Artwork is still coming in for the auction, and we’ll be showing you stuff prior to the auction. Don’t forget this Batman/Hawkman piece by Andy and Joe Kubert, Gonzo Davros by Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show comics from BOOM! Studios, and Captain America by Neal Adams. Now we add Zahler’s piece to the auction.

Marvel’s Second Quarter Fizzles

  • News
  • August 5, 2009

Marvel’s second quarter earnings reports are in, and while they beat expectations, it wasn’t by much. They made (almost) exactly the same amount in the first quarter as they did in the second, which is not really a good thing for a business to do.

Publishers Weekly summarized the reports thusly:

Publishing revenue at Marvel Entertainment was flat in the second
quarter, slipping from $31.8 million to $31.7 million. Operating income
fell more noticeably, dropping 6.8%, to $10.9 million. A lower level of
high-margin advertising and custom publishing sales was cited as the
reason for the decline in earnings. For the first six months of 2009,
sales in the publishing segment fell 1.4%, to $57.5 million, and
operating income declined 17.1%, to $17.9 million. The company said it
expects the publishing segment to finish 2009 with revenue between $115
million and $120 million; in 2008 sales were $125.4 million.

DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com’s Nikki Finke has more detail:

The company said it benefited from growth at its film production segment, primarily in initial revenue for Iron Man DVD
sales and domestic pay TV window. But Marvel’s profit fell 38% after a
decline in licensing sales for toys and character-related products
following its Iron Man and Incredible Hulk bonanzas.
Marvel’s 2nd-quarter revenue fell 26%, and net income fell. But Marvel
also raised the low end of its full-year profit and sales forecasts
with Iron Man 2 coming out in 2010.

Heidi MacDonald over at The Beat says it’s a sign of a slower Q2 for comics all around. What do you think?

‘Twilight’ author Stephenie Meyer gets her own biography comic

  • News
  • August 5, 2009

If you can’t license the characters, biograph the creator.

Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight book series, will be the focus of Bluewater Productions‘ latest Female Force comic book. Two versions of the biographic comic about Meyer will debut just before Summit Entertainment’s November 20, 2009 release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon. 

Written by Ryan Burton, the Female Force: Stephenie Meyer comic will be narrated, according to Burton, by “a very recognizable and iconic vampire”, but probably not one you have to pay licensing fees for.  The comic will be available as a standard 22-page edition and also as a 40-page collector’s edition that will feature a range of extras such as a history of Forks. Dave MacNeil is drawing the book, with cover art created by Vinnie Tartamella.

Previous Female Force subjects include Hilary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Palin and Princess Diana.

Review: ‘Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon’

Al Williamsons Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic

Flesk Publications, July 2009, $29.95

While Al Williamson did not create the legendary science fiction character, in many ways he inherited Alex Raymond’s artistic legacy. The artist was born in 1931, three years before [[[Flash Gordon]]]memorably hit the Sunday newspapers.

Raymond is considered one of the finest illustrators to work in syndicated comics, along with Hal Foster, with a photorealistic style that brought his world of Mongo and its varied denizens to life. While Buck Rogers was the first SF strip, Flash Gordon was the best as the stories were epic in scope. The landscape of Mongo was unlike any realm seen in comics before and through the years that special feeling evaporated in the hands of others. Until Williamson.

In 256 pages, we are treated to the three stories produced for King Comics in the 1960s, the short-lived imprint from King Features Syndicate in addition to the his adaptation of the unfortunate 1980 film that looked better than it played. There’s also Williamson’s last major series work, the miniseries produced for Marvel in 1994. The King material is exceptional because it was the first time original material had been produced for comics with the characters actually resembling their strip origins . It’s lush and fast-paced with Williamson actually writing the first story. His long-time collaborator, Archie Goodwin, one of the most respected people in the field…ever, wrote several stories and Larry Ivie also contributed a tale.

Williamson’s style was very much like Raymond’s and his settings and characters felt just right. The deering-do is quick-paced and while the stories tread familiar ground, they are still head and shoulders above much other science fiction in comics. The three stories, brief as they were, earned him the National Cartoonist Society’s Best Comic Book Cartoonist award. His movie adaptation didn’t win awards but earned him a new generation of fans who may have only known his name in association with the legendary EC Comics.

(more…)

Michael Uslan goes from ‘Dark Knight’ to Archie and Pureheart the Powerful

  • Uncategorized
  • August 4, 2009

lwa42-2276046We all knew that Michael Uslan, executive producer of the Batman movies (All of them. Yes, that one. That one too. Okay, not the Adam West one) was scripting the upcoming Archie #600, wherein the Eternal Teenager finally ties the knot with Veronica, settling more than seventy years(!) of wondering.

What we just found yesterday, thanks to the Archie blog, is that he’s also slated to revive Archie’s superhero alter ego, Pureheart the Powerful, along with his team, Pureheart’s Emergency Patrol, in the span of five one shots starting early next year. From the blog:

“Michael Uslan
explains ‘We’re not just talking ONE super-hero here! Archie will be
joined by Betty as
Superteen,
Jughead as
Captain
Hero, Reggie as
Evilheart,
Jr, and wait’ll you see the super-versions of Veronica,
Dilton
and Moose! Surprises
galore are just ahead!”

The one-shots will be taking the titles of the Golden Age books that originally contained the Archie Comics, then MLJ Comics, line-up of superheroes: Pep Comics, Jackpot Comics, Blue Ribbon Comics, Zip Comics, and Top-Notch Laugh Comics.

More details here.

Who’s excited?

An Unshaven Rant: Should I worry about the 2009 Chicago Comic-Con?

  • News
  • August 4, 2009

Hello ComicMix dwellers (and loyal FOMAFers…). I come to you today a bit… deflated. Why you ask? Because I just took a sneaky-peak over at the Chicago Comicon’s exhibitor list and program schedule. Long story (…forthcoming…) short? It’s not looking great on paper. This angers and frustrates me to no end, but I digress. The more I get angry at this, the brighter the silver lining comes creeping in. Confused? Now, I ask unto you my loyal readers, all seven of you, to take this brief journey with me on the anger-train. After we reach the end of the journey, you’ll see why our last stop is in Happyville.

The Backstory

The Chicago Comicon (as long as I’ve known it, mind you) was built on the ‘Wizard World’ platform. (Yes, I know it predates Wizard, but that’s not how I experienced it.) Growing up on comics in the 90’s meant Wizard was my one-stop shop for all the hip and trendy news about comic books… whilst the “internets” was still in it’s primordial-ooze phase. My first con, sadly, was right prior to my senior year in high school. Even back then (and if you ask Glenn, or Mike, or Russ, or really, a lot of people patrolling this site) it wasn’t that long ago, this con was pretty darned cool. I’m a mid-westerner mind you, so trekking to SDCC is NOT in any Chicago-kid’s budget. But it never mattered. SDCC was always at the beginning of the summer, and Chicago’s was at the end. There was enough time for people to calm down, and as Dan DiDio says (said) every year… “Chicago’s con is always about the books. Always about the fans.”

Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and Image all put up HUGE booths where fans could grab free schwag like buttons, posters, and bookmarks. Samples and previews of forthcoming issues adorned tables behind which our favorite creators were signing piles of their own penned materials. Beside these mammoth booths sat smaller publishers, just as happy to show off their wares. And of course beyond that lay the monstrous sea of dealers, and beyond that still, the indie and mainstream friendly confines of Artist Alley. When time came that one could be sick of this massive room of geekocity, there sat a bevvy of panels where the pros came to sit and talk to their fans nearly face to face on a multitude of topics. Some came for the sneak peaks of the years books to come, some (like me) came for the free hints and tricks to learn in the schooling panels, and some came for screenings of geek-laden cinema. All in all, it was wrapping up Christmas Channukkah, my birthday, and your birthday all in one long weekend.

And every year since, for the next 7 years, I went as a fan. Last year I went for the first time as a “semi-professional (having published a graphic novelette in 2008. Over the course of these last 8 years now, looking onto my 9th, I’ve begun to see my “Rome” begin to crumble. (more…)

neal-adams-captain-america-2938048

Neal Adams Captain America art for Ostrander benefit auction at Chicago Comic-Con

  • News
  • August 4, 2009

neal-adams-captain-america-2938048At the 2009 Chicago Comicon, Comix4Sight has joined forced with Wizard Entertainment to hold a charity auction the evening of Saturday, August 8th.  The goal is to raise sufficient funds to help cover the costs of John Ostrander’s
treatments in his battle against glaucoma, and it is John’s expressed wish that should we raise funds
above his needs, that excess money is to be donated to The Hero Initiative to help them continue their great works aiding comic creators in their times of need.

Artwork is still coming in for the auction, and we’ll be showing you stuff prior to the auction. We already showed you this Batman/Hawkman piece by Andy and Joe Kubert, and Gonzo Davros by Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show comics from BOOM! Studios. Now, we show you Captain America by the amazing Neal Adams.

So if you don’t bid on this piece to help John out, we can only conclude that you hate America.

Cease and desist letter to ComicMix for posting ‘Astro Boy’ image

  • News
  • August 4, 2009

UPDATE 8/5/09: The issue has been resolved between Imagi and us. See here for more details.

So we got this in our feedback form recently:

From: Rebecca Henning

Email: XXXXXXXXX@wwllp.com

To Comicmix.com:

This law firm represents Imagi Crystal Limited (“Imagi”), the exclusive owner of the copyright in the as-yet-to-be-released CGI Astro Boy Movie and various images and depictions of the anime character Astro Boy, including the depiction at this link: http://comicmix.com//news/2009/07/23/sdcc-astro-boy-panel/  (the “Image”).

It recently has come to our attention that without authorization you have posted the Image at the link set forth above and represent that it is related to and/or connected with the Astro Boy Movie and/or sponsored or endorsed by Imagi (the “Posting”).

Please be advised that the Posting constitutes, among other things, false advertising and unfair competition in violation of Imagi’s exclusive rights, and further constitutes infringement of Imagi’s protected rights under the Copyright Act, all of which subjects you to a claim for injunctive relief and damages. Accordingly, on behalf of Imagi, we hereby demand that you immediately remove the Posting from your website, and further, that you immediately provide written confirmation that you have done so.

Be further advised that if you do not comply with the demands set forth above, Imagi will have no choice but to institute an action against you — and any persons or entities acting in concert with you — which will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Please confirm to us right away that you have complied with the demands of this letter. Otherwise, Imagi will have no option other than to act promptly to protect its rights.

This letter is not intended as a complete statement of the facts or of Imagi’s rights, remedies and causes of action, all of which are hereby expressly reserved.

Very truly yours,

Rebecca Henning
Weissmann Wolff Bergman Coleman Grodin & Evall LLP
9665 Wilshire Boulevard, Ninth Floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Tel. 310.858.7888

And here is our reply:

Ms. Henning:

The image in question has been removed.

To play it on the safe side, we have also removed the article in question, and every article related to the Astro Boy movie from our web site.

Obviously, we will be unable to trust any Astro Boy images that we get from third parties, because they may simply be claiming to have permission to promote Astro Boy and we simply don’t have the time to check to see if, say, Summit Entertainment is in any way connected with Imagi… so it would just be easier to not cover the movie at all. Or the DVD release. Or the comic book adaptation, which will certainly be entertaining to explain to the publisher.

For that matter, we should probably be concerned about showing any images from other Imagi productions, such as Gatchaman, Highlander, TMNT, or Gigantor. We’ll just skip covering them as well. And we should also notify all of the other people and news organizations who are providing press coverage on the web for any Imagi properties to be careful running any images related to their properties, lest they run afoul of lawyers. I can think of a few large websites running your precious image right now, I’m sure their thinking will mirror ours.

It’s a shame. You could have handled this like the nice folks at Guinness World Records. When we used an image on their web site to promote an article about them, they wrote a very polite letter, did not threaten legal action at all, and provided us with alternate images to use. Even though our usage of the image clearly fell within fair use, we were happy to replace the image because we appreciated the tone and their efforts to find a useful solution.

But hey, you’re just doing your job. So are we. And right now, it’s going to be a lot easier to do our jobs by not having anything to do with Imagi products, certainly not by promoting them in any way. And I’m sure it’s going to be a lot easier for other folks to do the same.

Glenn Hauman
ComicMix

Lightsaver tee shirt: New meaning to Luke’s green lightsaber

  • Uncategorized
  • August 3, 2009

light-saver-tee-shirt-1827912

From Slashfilm: Threadless has released a new Star Wars parody t-shirt design by Matthijs Smit, which takes the concept of being green to “a galaxy far far away.” Someone needs to save the force energy, or it might run out. Available in sizes small to XXXL on Asphalt American Apparel tee. for a discounted $15. The best part is that the light design is printed to glow in the dark.

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