This one pretty much speaks for itself: Movieline’s got some concept art for that fan-made Thundercats trailer that further details the look he would have gone with in a full movie.
I especially love the Third Earth cityscape. Go check it out!
With the Chicago Comic-Con and WorldCon both around the bend, you may be tempted to waste your days away at the panels off the main floor. But I say, gentle geeks… NAY! Why waste your precious con time in stuffy rooms with stale ice water and tons of other mouth-breeders, when you can peruse the artist alley (where local, hip and trendy comic creators like to be… ahem…), grab schwag at the big booths (or not if YOUR local con has no big booths this year… epic fail…) or spend all of your inheritance on the dealer floor!
But Marc, you plead, I’m tired! I want to make my voice heard! I need to learn hot new tips and skills on how to make my portfolio Marvel worthy! Well, I said it once, and yes… I say it again: NAY. Why, you ask? Because ALL panels at comic conventions break down into one of these top 6 over-done panels:
1. “Mondo-Nation-Neighborhood-Universal-Pow-Wow”
Yup, this is the stalwart gotta-go-to panel they hype and hype and hype. Hey! Do you want HOT, never-seen-before, uber-rare, special sneak previews of all the things to come?! Well cart your XXL self on down to Hall H for a sensational panel that’s sure to knock your sock and sandals combo clear off! Drooling yet? Well, sop it up, fanboy. Thanks to the interwebs, all you’re gonna get is a rehash of the solicits you read about months ago on ComicMix, IGN, Newsarama, Comic Book Resources, CSN, or a hundred other places. And those special sneak peaks you’re just vibrating to see? Yup… posted on the artist’s message boards about the same time you were reading those months-old solicits! And you were counting on some tantalizing rumors about all your favorite characters? Well Bucko, are you in for a treat! Turns out the big boys can’t tell you anything you can’t (and most likely DID) read in Wizard itself, last month. Sounds fun? Sounds to me like 2 hours of time you could have spent waiting in line to get that Red Hulk Sketch Holofoil Variant Cover 17B signed, kiddo.
With regards to the recent C&D letter from Imagi’s lawyers, we’ve received the following:
August 4, 2009
Mr. Glenn Hauman
ComicMix.comDear 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.
Yes, 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 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?
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.
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.
We 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.
Who’s excited?
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…)
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. 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.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
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