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Chris Claremont speaking tonight at MoCCA about Wolverine

  • Uncategorized
  • April 29, 2009

wolverinejacket-sm-1The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art
is pleased to present:
Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon
Discussion and Book Signing event with Chris Claremont and Matthew K. Manning, moderated by Peter Sanderson
Wednesday, April 29th, 7pm
Admission: $ 5 |  Free for MoCCA Members

In anticipation of the May 1 theatrical release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, join us as Chris Claremont, best known for his work on Marvel Comic’s X-Men series, leads a discussion with Matthew K. Manning, author of DK Publishing’s newly-released Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon, a comprehensive guide to the savage world of the X-Men’s most popular super hero.

Chris Claremont has encountered more success than most writers ever dream of. Although best known for his work on the X-Men series, he has written other seminal characters as Batman and Superman; originated several creator-owned series such as The Black Dragon and Marada, the She-Wolf (artist: John Bolton), and the contemporary superhero series, Sovereign Seven; is published throughout the world in many different languages; authored nine novels including the science fiction series First Flight, Grounded!, and Sundowner, and the contemporary dark fantasy Dragon Moon; and even had his first video game premiere in Spring 2006.

Matthew K. Manning has written numerous comics for a variety ofpublishers, including Marvel and DC. His work has appeared in the pagesof The Batman Strikes!, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, Justice League Adventures, Spider-Man Unlimited, Looney Tunes, and Marvel Romance Redux. For DK, he has penned the updated versions of Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide and Hulk: The Incredible Guide, the children’s title Marvel Heroes: Greatest Battles, and contributed to the Marvel Chronicle.

Stories That Inspired ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’

  • News
  • April 29, 2009

So you’re excited for the new movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

You’re thinking, man, I can’t wait to see the full-out origin of the Canucklehead himself, the guy who is the best he is at what he does even if what he does isn’t very nice. Now, at least, you can see for yourself the truth behind the project that gave Wolvie his adamantium-laced skeleton, the famous Weapon X Program. And along the way, you get to meet fun guys such as Remy LeBeau (the card-wielding mutant called Gambit) and Wade Wilson, the “merc with a mouth” who calls himself Deadpool.

And yet, we all know films take liberties with the comics they are based on. Many of you are wondering what comic book stories this is lifting from and where you can find those same tales so that you can properly judge the adaptation.

Well, look no further, folks. Here is a small list of stories that are being used as the basis for the new movie. Enjoy!

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ComicMix Quick Picks – Mark Waid; DC softball team

  • Uncategorized
  • April 28, 2009

adventure-285-1524271A case of synchronicity in comics stories:

First, a quote from Mark Waid’s monster interview on AintItCoolNews:

BM: The Million Dollar Question: How did Mark Waid make his break into comics?

MW:The Million Word Answer: Writer Devin Grayson had a great quote. Shesaid, “Breaking into comics is like breaking into a high-tech militarycompound. The first thing they do after discovering you got in is goseal up your entrance so no one can ever break in that way again.”

Then over at Blog@Newsarama, they talk about the 2009 DC Bullets softball season.

Yep… that’s (part of) how I got in.

I’m just amazed– spring training? For the DC Comics team? Since when?

Secret messages in ‘Farscape: D’Argo’s Lament’ #1

  • Uncategorized
  • April 28, 2009

farscape-dargos-lament-1-6991942Come with me, ladies and gentlemen, as I reveal the secret hidden messages in Farscape: D’Argo’s Lament #1, written by Keith R.A. DeCandido, drawn by Neil Edwards, published by BOOM! and out in stores tomorrow.

Some spoilers of jokes ahead, along with the truth of where writers really get their ideas, so we’ll put them behind the cut.

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Review: ‘Star Trek’ Season One on Blu-ray

star-trek-the-original-series-season-1-blu-ray1-9346062All eyes are on what J.J. Abrams and his team have done to reinvigorate public interest in Star Trek. The reason the franchise, created by Gene Roddenberry, needs any attention at all is the result of inept studio focus during the 1990s and beyond. To Paramount’s management at the time, [[[Star Trek]]] was a cash cow to be milked dry as often and in as many ways as possible. Any care about creativity was a lucky happenstance, not by design. Therefore, they let [[[Star Trek: Voyager]]] limp along on their UPN network only to be followed by the even limper [[[Star Trek; Enterprise]]]. The film series, featuring [[[The Next Generation]]] characters, kept hitting the reset button until [[[Nemesis]]], which had a disinterested director foisted upon the series at a time it really needed to improve its game given the critical drubbing the television version of the franchise was receiving.

By the time [[[Enterprise]]] was canceled and Nemesis got ignored at the box office, everyone agreed it was time to let the entire behemoth rest. Some argued forever, others wisely knew Paramount would never let it go so bet on three to five years.

What everyone seems to have forgotten is what Roddenberry got away with back in the 1960s. Today, we’re reminded of that once more with the release of the first season of the Original Series on Blu-ray. The 29 episodes that NBC aired during the 1966-1967 television season have been carefully restored, remastered, and augmented for today’s technology and audiences.

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Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

  • Uncategorized
  • April 28, 2009

pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies2-7101441Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Quirk Books; April 2009; $12.95

What is there left to be said about the Undead Sensation That’s Sweeping the Nation? The buzz for this book was so loud that they rushed it into publication a few months early (which no doubt accounts for the inconsistently applied British spellings in the text). Everyone and their newly risen mother has reviewed it, or at least written about it, and it’s now spending a second week on the New York Times bestseller list.

As broad farce, the book succeeds. It does a fine job of interleaving the original text with brutal confrontations with the undead, katana swordplay and ninja ambushes. There’s even a note of pathos in the fresh explanation for why Charlotte chooses to marry the dreadful Mr. Collins: she’s been stricken with the zombie plague, and wants to eke out her final days as a married woman before someone must behead and burn her. I also particularly enjoyed the revised faceoff between Lady Catherine and Elizabeth. In the original, Lady Catherine sneers at Elizabeth for not being personally educated by a governess; here, Lady Catherine mocks Elizabeth’s inferior martial arts tutelage in China—apparently true gentlewomen go to Japan to learn how to kick butt.

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‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ premiere scuttled in Mexico City; massive theater closings in Mexico

  • Uncategorized
  • April 28, 2009

wolverine-logo-7092647Twentieth Century Fox has decided to postpone the premiere of X-Men Origins: Wolverine set for Wednesday in Mexico City, as the city remains paralyzed by the virus that has killed over 150 people. In addition, the major cinema chains in Mexico City have already announced they will be closed for the weekend, and may end up being closed for much longer.

Hugh Jackman, who was expected to attend the premiere, will now pull back. “We were not only concerned about Hugh’s welfare – and we would never send anyone into harm’s way – but we also have an enormous office filled with people we care about,” says a rep for Fox quoted in People. “There was no point in proceeding under the current conditions.”

Mexico’s film market share is about 13% of the US, so a misfire will make a dent in worldwide box-office. But the bigger concern may be the US– New York is a major market, and more swine flu cases have been reported here. In any pandemic situation, people will be told to avoid gathering in crowds– like movie audiences.

If this keeps up, the only way to watch this film at all will be online. Which, considering how an early version of the film hit the Internet a month early, would be terribly ironic.

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Review: ‘The Wrestler’ DVD

wrestler1-1290019In our world, there are costumed champions fighting the good fight against costumed evil doers, done in public and for our entertainment. We call them professional wrestlers but given their names, attire, and storylines, they truly are comic books brought to life.  Unlike comic heroes, though, these players age and fade away, to be replaced by a new generation with new names, not retreads.

Frank Miller’s [[[The Dark Knight]]] was the first real look at what happens to an over-the-hill hero. The body is slower to heal, the acrobatic daring-do that came so effortlessly leaves the body drenched in sweat.

Wrestlers, especially those doped up on steroids, watch their bodies break down and get reduced to the independent circuit for a few hundred bucks a night or signing autographs at lightly attended local events. It’s a sad life, ripe for exploration as a film and Darren Aronofsky wonderfully covers this in The Wrestler. While everyone made a big deal about Mickey Rourke’s comeback performance, the film itself was the real revelation. It felt like a documentary, entirely shot with handheld cameras, sparing in its soundtrack, and unflinching in the portrait of an aging star who seems good at only one thing. If anything, the movie is a bookend to [[[Rocky]]]. While the Sylvester Stallone film ended with the once-in-a-lifetime championship bout, [[[The Wrestler]]] ends with a rematch of two former warriors 20 years past their prime.

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The Point – April 27th, 2009

  • News
  • April 27, 2009

Ticket sales are already off the charts for this weekend’s kick off of the summer movie blockbuster season. We all take our chances hoping for another Dark Knight and not another Spirit, but what about the creative people who roll the dice risking millions? Meet Michael Uslan who, for over three decades, has been the bridge between properties like Batman and the movie industry. Plus Mike Gold gets nostalgic for a good police riot and Marvel wants to swap comics with you!


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