I warned you that we’d be back to high school before we knew it, but did you listen to me? (OK, maybe you did. I don’t really know, to be honest.) It’s that time again: to cavort with sword-swinging, vampire-snogging, dog-spirit-cavorting high school students! To see lots of stylized tears, food-gobbling binges, and unexpected nudity! To dive completely into fantasy worlds in between soul-crushing exams of our own! (The last may only apply to actual Japanese high school students.)

Inukami!, Vol. 1
Art by Mari Matsuzawa; Story by Mamizu Arisawa
Tor/Seven Seas, November 2008, $9.99

Take one boy, the surly, horny, self-important scion of a family that has been training Inukami dog-spirits, and using them to protect the world from evil spirits, for a long, long time. Add a spunky young Inukami, almost completely innocent about the outside world but utterly unwilling to follow that boy’s orders in anything. Mix together with gratuitous near-nudity and plenty of unresolved sexual tension (but surprisingly few panty shots). Warm to room temperature, and serve on a shelf with dozens of very similar works.

He’s Keita. She’s Yoko. Together they…well, they don’t really fight crime, and they don’t even do much battling of demons. What they mostly do is squabble with each other. Keita demands that she obey him, totally and completely, and Yoko refuses. Actually, she doesn’t so much refuse as utterly ignore his every order, and push him around herself, with judicious uses of her power to teleport other items around. (Such as Keita’s clothes away from him, as happens several times.) She also gets him to wait on her hand and foot, even though he’s sure it’s supposed to be the other way around. (more…)

The announcement that Fangoria was returning to comic books came as a bit of a surprise so we decided to go right to the source.  Associate Editor Troy Brownfield chatted with us this week on the whys and wherefores.

ComicMix: Hey Troy, welcome to ComicMix.
 
Troy Brownfield:  Thanks, Bob.  It’s great of you to have us.
 
CMix: Fangoria Graphix failed last year and Scott blamed the lack of support from the magazine and website.  Since it was all owned by Tom DeFeo, how’d that happen?
 
TB: Love the easy questions first, Bob.  Let me first clarify a few things for everyone.  Fangoria Comics never failed; Fangoria Comics was ended.  How is that different?  Well, Fangoria Comics was performing at a sustainable level in the Direct Market, at a terrific level in mass market bookstore chains, and very well at conventions.  However, as anyone in comics knows, there is a certain cost associated with paying talent, printing, producing books, etc.  While we would have been doing fine as our own entity, by the end of summer 2007, it was apparent to all that the larger Fangoria Entertaiment was in financial trouble.

Tom DeFeo, who was merely a co-owner at the time (via Creative Group), tried his best to keep us going.  In fact, it was Tom, with our Executive Editor Scott Licina, who put together the comics line in the first place.  It essentially came down to a vote, and Fangoria Comics, along with other facets of the group’s operations, was simply shut down.  By March 2008, the entire conglomerate of interests (Creative Group, etc.) entered bankruptcy proceedings.  What came from that is that Tom DeFeo’s new company, The Brooklyn Company, emerged as the sole owner of Fangoria Entertainment.  Creative Group is no longer involved.

One of Tom’s first orders of business was to call Scott and get things back on track.  Since we’ll be doing more than just straight comics, it was decided to rename the segment Fangoria Graphix.

As to Scott’s remarks citing lack of support, that goes back to things that existed in the previous configuration.  The important thing now is that there is direct, daily communication between Scott, Tom, and Fangoria Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Tony Timpone.  Managing Editor Mike Gingold, myself, and James Zahn from our New Media Development segment are involved with things as needed.  Scott, James and I talk frequently about what needs to be done with the comics, etc., and we’re all working on various ends of that. (more…)

After visiting Camelot, director John Boorman (Excalibur)  has decided to take a trip to see the Wizard.  He has signed to direct a CGI-animated adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

The film is budgeted at $25 million, according to Variety, and marks Boorman’s first animated project. The script will be a collaboration between Boorman, Rom Mita and Jim McClain. The project is already in development and they anticipate inviting audiences along for the ride during the summer of 2010.

Adaptations of the children’s book series have been around since the first motion pictures, best known for the 1939 musical starring Judy Garland. The adventures of Dorothy Gale and her companions have been continued in countless novels, comic books, movies, and television.  The most recent incarnation was Sci Fi’s celebrated Tinman miniseries last December.

A new comic book adaptation is coming in December from Marvel, written by Eric Shanower, who has previously adapted the material, and illustrated by Skottie Young.
 

Jack Black will tower over his co-stars in the remake of Gulliver’s Travels.  The 20th-Century Fox film, according to Variety, will be directed by Rob Letterman (Shark Tale) with a screenplay from Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Joe Stillman (Shrek).

Lemuel Gulliver, a free-spirited travel writer who, on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of industrious, yet tiny, people.

Jonathan Swift’s 1726 satirical tale is formally known as Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships and was modified by the author in 1735.

The classic has been adapted previously, most notably by the Fleischer Bros. Studios in 1939. The most recent version was a 1996 miniseries which starred Ted Danson. Ross Martin and Richard Harris have also played the character. He was played by Bernard Horsfall in the 1968 serial, “The Mind Robber” on Doctor Who.

Shooting will begin in March with the studio planning a 2010 release date.

E!’s Kristin dos Santos writes, “I’ve just been told by reliable insiders at NBC that Heroes most likely will replace Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander with at least one new writer-producer, and one of the names being tossed around is Bryan Fuller, the creative genius who served as a consulting producer for the first half of the first season.

“The upside? This would be nothing short of awesome, as Fuller’s Heroes episodes were some of the strongest ever. If anyone can save this show, he can.

“The downside? One would assume this could only happen if Fuller’s current obligation, Pushing Daisies (which he created), does not get picked up, which would be a heart-breaking TV tragedy. Though perhaps he could do both Heroes and Daisies and double the awesomeness in our living rooms? A girl can dream…”

Fuller is known for his inventive shows Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and now, Pushing Daisies. Having started writing for Star Trek: Deep Space 9, he has also publically discussed his desire to produce a new Trek the television series.

Meantime, Entertainent Weekly is reporting that Justin Baldoni (Everwood) will play Alex, a Southern California surfer dude who works at a comic book store for at least two episodes during the Fourth Act, "Fugitives".

War of the Gods has cast Henry Cavill (The Tudors) to headline the cast.  According to Variety, he will portray Theseus. Tarsem Singh (The Cell) is directing the film from a script by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides for Relativity Media.

Meantime, the competing Warner Bros. remake of Clash of the Titans, with a script from Lawrence Kasdan, is said to be negotiating with Terminator Salvation-star Sam Worthington for the part of Perseus.  The remake of the 1981 Ray Harryhausen film is to be directed by Louis Leterrier (Incredible Hulk).

Both movies are expected to begin production within the next four months and both announced intentions to follow the 300 model with principal photography relying heavily on the green screen process to allow sets to be digitally created.  As a result, both movies are said to be budgeted below $100 million.

All that Greek mythology you read in school will come in handy as you sit through not one, but two feature films using the Olympian Gods and Goddesses. On June 26, both films were annoucned in the trades with one porject suddenyl split asunder. Warner Bros. was initially interested in something god-like and at one point was tempted by Relativity’s War of the Gods. Instead, Warners proved fickle and instead partnered with Legendary Pictures for the Clash remake.  The script from Lawrence Kasdan has been done for a while. They finally gave the project a green light when Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier signed on.

  (more…)

The CW’s Reaper gained a lot of fan press when last season’s pilot was directed by Kevin Smith. Now, after a bout with the Writer’s Strike, the show is on its way back for Season Two and we get the inside story from Satan himself,  series regular Ray Wise, plus:

• The Simpsons anger a gay rights group
• TinTin struggles to the big screen
• JMS takes on Forbidden Planet

While the Comicmix Exclusive Interview with Ray Wise continues here on the site in a few days, but for a sneak peek just Press the Button!
 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via or RSS!

Harry Knowles at Ain’t it Cool News provided his site with additional information regarding the just-announced remake of Forbidden Planet.

The movie, to be written by J. Michael Straczynski and produced by Joel Silver will be more a sequel than remake.  The presumption is that Altair 4 did not blow up at the end of the Fred M. Wilcox/Cyril Hume classic.

The report goes on to say that the look will be that of an "enormous, giant, retro sci-fi movie"; likely retaining the original designs.  All concerned have confirmed that the beloved Robby the Robot will return with his design unaltered.

Meantime, Straczynski confirmed that he has just finished a rewrite to the Thor script for director Kenneth Branagh.