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

  • News
  • June 23, 2009

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

  • Uncategorized
  • June 23, 2009

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.)

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Transformer Title Fights: the War of the Witwicky!

  • News
  • June 23, 2009


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

  • Uncategorized
  • June 22, 2009

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!

PRESS THE BUTTON to Get The Point!

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

Don’t forget that you can now enjoy THE POINT 24/7. Updates on all parts of pop culture, special progarmming by some of your favorite personalities and the biggest variety of contemporary music on the net.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN LIVE FOR FREE or go to GetThePointRadio for more including a connection for mobile phones including iPhone & Blackberrys



Review: ‘Inkheart’ on DVD

After its success with [[[The Lord of the Rings]]], New Line wisely began scouring the bookshelves for other properties that could feed the appetite of a growing public to whom fantasy was no longer reserved for the geeks.  They snatched up several including Cornelia Funke’s German novel, which first saw print in fall 2003.  Inkheart is a well-received novel, first in a trilogy naturally, about a family whose father was a “silvertongue”, who by reading aloud could bring the written word to life.

New Line grabbed the rights and shot the film in fairly quick order but the hoped for December 2007 release got delayed and then the Writers’ Strike forced them to juggle their schedule and then Warner Bros. gobbled up New Line and before you knew it, [[[Inkheart]]] was quietly released in January. And here we are in June with an equally quiet video release, coming Tuesday.

Inkheart was the name of a fantasy book that Mortimer (Brendan Fraser) read one night to his young daughter Meggie. When its characters came to life, his life was changed as his loving wife Resa (Sienna Guillory) vanished at the same time, trapped in the book. Mo never read aloud again and began a quest for a new copy of the book to free his wife. However, Capricorn (Andy Serkis), leader of the foul beings that came through, fled and established a castle in Italy and built up a powerbase, not at all desiring to go home. In fact, the only one who desired a return to print was Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), a fire performer who missed his wife.  For years, Mo sought the rare book, only to have copies vanish from under him as Capricorn also sought the out-of-print tome to destroy.

Now, Meggie (Eliza Bennett) was 12 and Mo finally found a new copy at the same time as Capricorn’s goons. Meggie finally begins to learn the secret her father had been harboring and gets caught up in Capricorn’s machinations to seal his place on Earth.

The movie has tremendous potential for wonderment in addition to a rich relationship between father and daughter. There’s time for moody tension and opportunity for nice character bits and humor. Instead, we get a mashed up film where none of that potential is achieved. There’s little subtlety to the performances, save Bettany, and the story begs for better treatment. Instead, David Lindsay-Abaire’s screenplay misses every opportunity to rise up and be wonderful (and what’s scary for ComicMix readers is that he’s attached to [[[Spider-Man 4]]]). Director Iain Softley robs the film of its magic, delivering everything with the same tone and feel rather than using a full palette.

The Aunt, played by Helen Mirren who must have grandchildren, really has nothing to do and is more of an annoyance than participant. Jim Broadbent is wasted as the novel’s author although he has a sympathetic and briefly sketched character arc.

Watching it, I kept wondering why Mo didn’t just read a [[[Superman]]] comic or a strategically chosen book and bring with him an army to stop Capricorn’s evil plot? Never addressed. And then we get the climax which had the look and feel of the final scenes from [[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]], spoiling a chance to redeem the film.

To see what the film could have been the one and only extra on the DVD is a lovely bit with Bennett reading from a chapter of the novel, a scene not included in the film.

Mark Ryan, Mike Grell, and the legend of the .45

  • News
  • June 22, 2009

Mark Ryan (Bumblebee in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen) talks with his collaborator on The Pilgrim, Mike Grell, about the times Mike has tried to kill Mark and whether or not it’s true that Mike took out a .45 automatic during the contract negotiations with First Comics for Jon Sable Freelance.

Hey, creator ownership wasn’t as popular back then as it is now…

tom-and-jerry-chuck-jones-collection1-7827852

Review: ‘Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection’ on DVD

tom-and-jerry-chuck-jones-collection1-7827852I have to laugh when I watch old [[[Tom and Jerry]]] cartoons. First, of course, because they’re funny. The original series of 114 theatrical cartoons by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Hollywood cartoon studio were produced between 1940 and 1957, seven of them winning the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)…a tie for most awards, one should note for the animation snobs out there, with Walt Disney’s [[[Silly Symphonies]]] animated series. A series of perfectly dreadful and too-often released cartoons followed, produced in Eastern Europe (cheap labor, I would imagine, and worth what they paid for it), produced by Gene Deitch at Rembrandt Films in 1960 before, thank the animation heavens, there came Chuck Jones in 1963.

Which brings us to Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, hitting stores on Tuesday. Jones was one of the handful of master animators to influence the entire look and feel of the Warner Bros. animated line with his Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Tweety and Sylvester and countless other cartoons. But after 30 years, the studio closed its animation section and Jones set up his own shop, Sib Tower 12 Productions, with partner Les Goldman. MGM came knocking, and the 34 madcap adventures included in this collection was the result.

The second reason I find to laugh at these, or any classic animated shorts is because of how the reality of these characters clashes with the perception that has grown up around them since the 1950s when they began appearing as Saturday morning children’s programming. These cartoons were not created, originally, as children’s fare. They were, instead, part of a program of entertainment shown to adult movie audiences in a day and age when theaters routinely ran double features and the bill changed twice a week. Before, between and after the movies, however, came a variety of subjects: a newsreel, a short feature (usually humorous), a cartoon, and coming attractions, at the minimum. Look at a World War II era Bugs Bunny cartoon; that was not kid’s stuff!

Because as I watch these cartoons—and they are a lot of fun, have no doubt of that—I’m struck at how mercilessly violent they are. Heavy objects routinely fall and crush their victims (Tom), explosives blow in hand or in the victim’s (Tom’s) mouth, an axe used to chop open a mouse hole chops a victim’s (Tom’s) tail like a chef chops a carrot. The network censors chopped a lot of that material out of the cartoons when they went to TV in the 1960s, and, by the 1980s, the original essence of these little seven minute masterpieces was corrupted beyond redemption, to the point that as the writer of the Tom and Jerry syndicated newspaper strip for Editor’s Syndicate around 1990, I was told Tom could chase Jerry, but if he caught him, he could do him no harm. No hitting, no smashing, no slamming, certainly no chopping of tails. These guys were pals they just chased one another for fun.

Bugs Bunny has suffered a similar fate in the modern world: A friend working on a Bugs Bunny promotional comic book project was told by WB to change a gag because “Bugs would never produce a mallet out of nowhere and whack someone like that!”

But thanks to home video and DVD and the demand of the marketplace for original and uncut material, the truth is coming out. Tom and Jerry is funny and it’s funny because it’s violent. Take away the psychedelic randomness and well-constructed but mean-spirited violence of a situation like Tom and Jerry or the Road Runner and Wiley E. Coyote and all you’re left with is the existential angst of the eternal loser pursuing that well-known definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again in expectation of a different result.

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Action Comics #1 sells for $121,000

  • Uncategorized
  • June 21, 2009

act1-6061a-9369902A copy of Action Comics #1, featuring the first appearance of
Superman, was bought at auction for $121,000 on Friday, after 33
bids. The CGC 2.5 book was sold through ComicConnect.com and its parent site, Metropolis Collectibles.

Back in March, ComicConnect sold a 6.0 graded copy for $317,200, pictured to the right.

At $121,000, it doesn’t even crack the top ten for most valuable comics. For a good estimate of what the most valuable books in the world are, read this article. Even better, read the comments– it’s got character names straight out of Damon Runyon.

And sadly, my dad is not getting this for Fathers Day. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

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