The Mix : What are people talking about today?

The return of Warren The Ape!

If you’re a true fan of Greg The Bunny, you’ve been clamoring for the return of the show ever since Fox took it off the air. As it turns out, so has at least one of the stars… and you’ll now get to see his attempts to return to the big screen.

MTV has announced that Warren The Ape is now in development. The show focuses on Warren “The Ape” Demontague, a D-list celebrity puppet who attempts to change his ways to be back in the Hollywood spotlight. Think of him as a less furry Kathy Griffin.

Warren The Ape is produced by George Plamondon & Betsy
Schechter for Picture Shack Entertainment, Kevin Chinoy & Francesca
Silvestri for Freestyle, and Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy & Dan
Milano, who between this, working on Robot Chicken, and writing the screenplay for the remake of Short Circuit, is trying to take the position of luckiest man in the world from Ed McMahon’s corpse.

Here’s Warren’s MySpace page (of course) and here’s an interview with him from ComicCon ’06.

It’s better then when I saw him at ’06, he had been strung out on cough medicine and cheese whiz and really wasn’t all that coherent. I knew then that a reality show was in his future.

Transformer Title Fights: Tag Team Main Event!

Transformers… more than meets the eye. This, we know. But what happens when the mighty all-spark malfunctions and sends the Michael Bay Monstrosities to wage war against the Autobots and Decepticons of our shared youth? Only you, the cosmically-conscious Comic Mix commenters can conclude! Now cast your votes!

The Main Event: Team Optimus versus Team Megatron!

So, for the past week or so, you fine folks out there have debated and argued in admiration for your favorite G1 Transformers or for the Michael Bay Monsters. But when it came down to this author simply could not make the leader of the Autobots fight himself. And Megatron? Puh-leaze… if given the chance, he’d team up with himself for the opportunity to decimate his red rival. So, without further adieu… let’s let the energon fly!

In the Blue and Red Corner, we have our fearless leaders! They are the semi’s of superiority! They are the bots with the brains and the brawn! They are the holders of the Matrix! It’s Team Optimus Prime! The Generation 1 Blocky Bot comes packed to the gills with firepower. From his trusty sidearm, to his tractor-trailer packed with a powerful turret, Optimus Prime of the G1 Autobots is ready to rumble! Tag teaming with his movie counterpoint, comes his partner, the beefy Semi-cab with a fancy flaming paint job! The movie Optimus is very similar to his G1 counterpart. While he lacks G1’s fancy Energon axe, he does come with an articulated mouth. So, he’s got that going for him, right?

On the other side of the ring comes a team of pure malevolence. G1 Megatron was always a dastardly foe, who turned into a potent hand gun. Sure, his handgun form was miniscule in comparison to his normal robot size, but then again, G1 Transformers had no problem changing size at will. Packed with his own arm cannon as well an energon mace… the Silver Centurion of Sinister Spite is certain to cause his fair share of slaughter. And who better to wield him in gun mode then… himself! The movie Megatron this time around is a bombastic tank, after he frees himself from the briney deep he was left in, thanks to plucky Sam Witwicky.

It’s the battle you’ve been waiting for. So folks… who takes the crown? Optimus Squared may have the soul, but Mega-Megatron is gonna be pretty pissed. It’s a big battlefield out there. I expect the ensuring war to destroy plenty of buildings… but not come near Megan Fox and her pouty lips. Please vote below for your favorite team, and remember…

The future is built on dreams. Hang on to them. And then make sure you voted for your favorite Witwicky, Devastator, Bumblebee, and Soundwave!

The twenty types of art students

If you ever went to an art school, chances are you knew examples of these twenty kinds of art students, categorized by Chuck Dillon during his time teaching at the Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia. And if you’re reading this blog, there’s a pretty good chance you might have been the one we’re showing here at right.C’mon. We’re all friends here. ‘Fess up. If you weren’t the comic book student, which one were you?

the-pilgrim-thats-impossible-6175728

The return of ‘The Pilgrim’ by Mark Ryan & Mike Grell coming soon

the-pilgrim-thats-impossible-6175728No, it’s not impossible.

We have more of The Pilgrim, the groundbreaking series written by Mark Ryan (Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen) and drawn by Mike Grell (Jon Sable Freelance), with colors by Jason Millet and letters by John Workman, coming out soon. The artwork to the left is from an upcoming page… we just wanted to make sure we have a few more pages in hand before we resume a regular publishing schedule.

It also may not be a surprise that recent events in the Middle East have also caused us
to rewrite some of the material– it’s the drawback of writing this
close to the real world.

But if Warren Ellis can get away with showing a page from Planetary #27 two months ago as proof, we can show a panel here.

We also have footage of Mark Ryan and Mike Grell explaining some of the backstory of The Pilgrim:

But we’re telling you when we could be showing you. So start reading The Pilgrim from the beginning.

‘Lone Justice: Crash!’ Ashcan at San Diego Comic-Con

Fans who want to sample the action, grit and intrigue of Lone Justice on the printed page for the
first time will be able to find it in the form of a limited edition,
full-color ashcan available exclusively at the Insight Studios Group booth at
Comic-Con International: San Diego, Wednesday, July 22 through Sunday, July 26,
2009.

With a print of just 200 copies, the full-color, limited
edition contains the first 24 pages of Lone
Justice: Crash!
, setting the stage for the epic adventure through the
action and turmoil that follow. With a cover price of $10, it is signed and
numbered by writer-artist Mark Wheatley, who will be at the Insight Studios Group booth at the
convention. Copies will be sold on a first come, first served basis at booth
#2308 in the Independent Press Pavilion.

“We’ve received tremendous fan feedback from the online
incarnation of Lone Justice: Crash,
and I really enjoy the immediacy of it,” Wheatley said. “This ashcan is the
first time any of this material will see print, and that brings an excitement
all its own.”

Lone Justice: Crash!
is the second time Wheatley and Tinnell have teamed up for a ComicMix
serialization. Their first effort, EZ
Street
, the tale of two creative brothers, was nominated for a Harvey
Award. It also contained a comic-within-a-comic aspect, as it featured Lone
Justice as one creation of its central characters. Despite the obvious
connection between the tales, however, both graphic novels can be enjoyed
entirely independently from the other.

Being a superhero isn’t just dangerous work, it’s also very expensive. Imagine a recession-era
Batman without Bruce Wayne’s fortune or Iron Man without Tony’s Stark’s
billions. Their respective crime-fighting enterprises would be very different –
or perhaps all together grind to a halt – if their money was to simply
disappear. Just like many Americans in the past year, that’s exactly
what has happened to Lone Justice, the pulp-style action-adventure hero created
by Wheatley (Breathtaker,
Mars) and writer Robert Tinnell (Feast of the Seven Fishes, Sight Unseen). Our hero experienced the devastating financial loss of
the Great Depression, but he didn’t lose his drive to keep fighting
crime…regardless of the consequences.

“Given
our title, Lone Justice: Crash!, it was difficult to resist calling this the Lone Justice: Crashcan, but life is
confusing enough as it is,” Wheatley laughed. “So, c’mon by the booth at
Comic-Con and pick up of the Lone
Justice: Crash! Ashcan
!”

Review: Johnny Hiro by Fred Chao

Johnny Hiro

By Fred Chao
AdHouse Books, June 2009, $14.95

There’s a modern style of comics that I don’t think has a name yet – the school of [[[Scott Pilgrim]]], descended equally from Nintendo and the ‘90s autobiographical cartoonists. In those books, psychologically realistic protagonists live in crappy apartments in some city – typically, whichever one the cartoonist himself calls home – toil in jobs far from the corporate hurly-burly, though sometimes with chances for advancement, and find love with cute girls whose hair is held back by little clips. But they also fight evil ex-boyfriends, or the ninjas from a competing sushi restaurant, or something else equally unlikely. These are the autobio comics of a generation that doesn’t feel like separating reality from fantasy, that would rather tell stories about the way they wish their lives would be rather than the way they really are – the magic realism of the kids who grew up on Image comics and [[[Super Mario]]].

[[[Johnny Chao]]] is right in the middle of that genre; the title hero, a twentysomething half-Asian guy living in Brooklyn, works as a busboy for a sushi restaurant on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. But he’s a favorite of the owner/chef, Mr. Masago, entrusted with unexpected duties (one might even say missions) for the restaurant. And he’s living with the beautiful Mayumi, who does something in book publishing, probably in editorial. (And she’s doing pretty well there, since she seems to be about Johnny’s age and she already has her own office with a door. But she’s in this story primarily to be the “sexy girlfriend,” as she puts it in her not-quite-fluent English; she’s there to love and support Johnny, not to be an equal part of the story.)

(more…)

Transformer Title Fights: the War of the Witwicky!


Transformers… more than meets the eye. This, we know. But what happens when the mighty all-spark malfunctions and sends the Michael Bay Monstrosities to wage war against the Autobots and Decepticons of our shared youth? We’ve got a few battles in our back pocket ComicMixers… let’s let ’em duke it out, shall we?

Round Four: The BFF Brawl for it all!

Without the backdrop of Earth, would the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons be awesome? Yes. But because it is on our little blue orb in the cosmos, it’s that much cooler. Even cooler than that though, the heroic Autobots befriended one of our very own. Spike Witwicky was a plucky 14 year old hard hat wearing son of oil rig worker Sparkplug. When Sparky’s rig became a set piece for the war between those who were “more than meets the eye” Spike and his dad offered their friendship to the Autobots… to help them acclimate to our hip and trendy world. Optimus and his crew accepted, and soon, Spike was in our living room, capturing our heart. Sure Spike made some mistakes… he unwittingly brought Soundwave into Autobot headquarters. He later got captured and brainwashed… but hey, he was just a kid. To counter point it, he introduced the good guys to the concept of Dinosaurs, as well as provide companionship on the many adventures to Cybertron, Dinobot Island, etc. It was this companionship that most could argue that made Optimus the human-loving leader he is today. And without him, who would Bumblebee quip to? No one, that’s who.

In the movies, Sam Witwicky is this generation’s “Marty McFly” (according to TF 1 writer Roberto Orci). Sporting a crude ‘tude in the first movie, Sam was our POV man, quick with the wits, and quicker with the “run for your life” skill. This skill of course allows Sam, who is a marginally unathletic kid, the superhuman ability to outrun battle-trained transformers in an unending loop of flying debris and explosions. While he doesn’t sport a curly red mop and hardhat, he does sport todays hip equivalent: two tee-shirts on at once, cargo pants, and a bit of the life-giving all spark. Hell of a keychain kid.

So folks, let’s say a rift in celluloid occurs, and these Wikwickys are made to do battle. Sam has the age advantage, but Spike is wearing a hardhat. Sam has the all-spark… but, to make things fair, Spike has his brain placed into that cool Autobot X. That out to make it nice and even right? Only one way to find out… COMMENT!

… And don’t forget to vote in the previous rounds, for the Amalgamated-Assemblage of alloy…Devastator! Or for the Buzz-worthy Bumblebee! Or your favorite Vocoder-voiced-villain, Soundwave!

The Point – Ryan Reynolds & Cheap Ducks

It’s the “lull before the ‘bots” at the box office, and Ryan cashes in plus a great new source for Classic Comic History, American Originals takes it’s place as a publisher and Disney Comics find a new (and more affordable) home!

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