Coming November 5 will be the first issue of a three issue miniseries, Weapon X: First Class, which will explore the Weapon X program and how it turned Logan into Wolverine.  Writing this fresh take on the story will be Marc Sumerak, former assistant editor and currently one of Marvel’s fresh new voices.

CMix: Hey, Marc, nice to catch up with you.  Just how did you manage to transition from staff to fulltime freelance?

Marc Sumerak: I spent four exciting years on Marvel’s editorial team as Tom Brevoort’s Assistant Editor, working on some of my all-time favorite titles (including Avengers, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor and more). But, as they say, all good things must come to an end… and for a number of reasons, I found myself leaving NYC and heading back to my hometown of Cleveland, OH.

At that point, I figured my career in the comic biz was pretty much over… but not long after the move, I was contacted by Marvel and asked to pitch a few ideas that I had been starting to develop right before I left staff. One of those ideas became my first series at Marvel: Guardians. That came out in July, 2004…and somehow I’ve managed to continue working in comics steadily ever since! Only now, I’m not the one enforcing the deadlines…I’m scrambling to meet them instead!

CMix: You seem to have concentrated on the lighter, brighter sections of the Marvel Universe such as the Power Pack miniseries.  What’s the appeal?

MS: I think it’s important to have a wide variety of titles available that appeal to different segments of our readership. My editors have seemed to think that I have a good grasp on "all-ages" material, so that’s been the overall focus of my body of work to date… and I definitely can’t complain about that. Working on Power Pack, Franklin Richards and the Marvel Adventures line has been a blast!

Like many of our readers, I discovered the joy of comics at a young age… and if something I’m writing brings that same feeling of wonder and excitement to one of today’s young readers, then it’s one of the greatest rewards I can imagine.

Without new readers coming in the door, the industry will eventually cease to be. So being able to provide material that a new generation can enjoy — and that parents can feel comfortable about giving their children — is an essential step towards strengthening our industry’s future. I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of that effort. 
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By now, many of you have picked up the new Incredible Hulk DVD or Blu-Ray and witnessed the newest take on the character in cinematic form.  Of course, there has also been the occasional video game tie-in, and this hero is no exception.  Let’s once again take a look back at the Jade Giant’s anthology of gaming…as green as it may be.

Questprobe 1: The Incredible Hulk – 1984, Commodore 64

The Hulk’s first foray into the video game world was…a text adventure.   Needless to say, it’s not very exciting or note worthy.  What IS noteworthy is the fact that this was supposed to be the second Hulk game; the first for the Atari 2600 was cancelled before release.  The next proper game wouldn’t be for another 10 years.

The Incredible Hulk – 1994 (Super NES, Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear)

Dr. Banner’s next appearance in video games did little to strengthen the character’s status with fans, as we were treated with a bare bones brawler that made little to no sense for the comic’s history or tone.  Here, there was no “Hulk Smash” to be found…just Hulk Punch…everything.  Bad guy? Punch.  Wall?  Punch.  Controller?  PUNCH.  The game made big green move like he was walking through molasses dipped in tar, and for some bizarre reason, after a few hits, he’d turn into Banner and DIE.  Apparently, there is something stronger than the Hulk, and its name is shoddy game development. (more…)

I’m a chronic re-reader/re-player/re-watcher. Combine having a lousy memory with a love of the familiar, and you’ll find someone who loves re-reading old comics, re-playing his old collection of Super NES games, and re-watching TV shows of years past. This carries just as much with webcomics: I’ll discover a comic, read all the archives, keep up with it regularly, and periodically go back and read the archives again. It’s like a chunk of my comic collection that I can use to procrastinate at work.

Webcomic archives mean that there’s never a continuity lockout: You’re always able to go back and learn what came before. If DC doesn’t reprint a Martian Manhunter story from 1992 and I wasn’t reading comics at the time, then I’m totally lost when it gets referenced in Infinite Crisis. If Fred Gallagher wants to reference a previous storyline in Megatokyo, he can just put a link to it in that day’s news post and rest easy.

As an aside, a few comics make the most recent strip freely accessible, but make the archives pay-to-view. This model is okay for low-continuity gag-a-day or newspaper-type strips, but effectively locks out much of the new audience if you’re very storyline-focused. But then, if there’s no storyline, you don’t have the same desire to go back and read older strips. Garfield liking lasagna and hating Mondays gets old fast(err) if you read 200 of them in a day.

And oftentimes, even when the comic is finished, the archives will stay. Often, the author has another project in the works, so it contributes to his online presence and, as the occasional new reader discovers it or an old reader like me re-reads it, it might even bring in a little ad revenue or a few new book sales. The old comic, typically completed intentionally, rather than having faded out, is archived like a classic novel, available in its entirety. (Expect a few of these to show up in my Webcomics You Should Be Reading columns.) (more…)

It seemed like it had to happen. The life and career of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin comes to comics, but with a twist ending. We’ve got the story, plus:

• Tomorrow is a bug day in Bedrock
• More Terminator coming from Dynamic
• Darwin Cooke explains just why Parker is so damn cool

Do your civic duty and Press the Button!
 

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

Fans of Harlan Ellison know that when he’s not happy, we hear about it.  It might involve his invoking the name Cordwainer Bird on a screenplay or writing about the horrendous experience or, in some cases, both.

Ellison was involved in the creation of The Starlost, a science fiction series for CTV in Canada and the experience was so bad, it has become legendary.  Now, VCI Entertainment is releasing the 16 episodes on four DVDs in a $49.95 box set due out November 4. Extras include The Starlost Sales Pitch: “This is a long-lost piece that was sent to the networks to sell Starlost for syndication. It stars Keir Dullea and Executive Producer Douglas Trumball. It’s only been seen by a few, this is a rare gem.”

Created in 1973 and starring 2001’s Dullea, the producers kept misunderstanding what science fiction was all about or let their budget limitations hamper their imaginations.  VCI describes the premise this way:

“After an Earth-destroying threat endangers the planet, Mankind builds a gigantic Earthship Ark spacecraft to save the last of humanity. After an accident takes place and kills the crew, the airlocks connecting the ship’s domes are sealed. Cut off from the outside world, many communities simply forgot that they were on a spacecraft. As the centuries pass, each culture evolves in an enclosed society, each a world unto itself that is fifty miles in diameter. Unbeknownst to the ARK’s inhabitants, they are drifting through deep space on a collision course with a sun. In 2790 A.D., a young man named Devon, a resident of a biosphere called Cypress Corners, discovers that his world is much larger than he was taught to believe and uncovers the Ark’s fate. Devon and friends Rachel (Gay Rowan) and Garth (Robin Ward) must learn all they can about the Ark if they are to save it and the colonists aboard.”

It aired in America on NBC stations, usually Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. before prime time programming began. The series featured guest appearances from John Colicos (Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek), Barry Morse (Space: 1999), and Walter Koenig.

Ellison’s experiences were so bad that he quit the series during production and insisted his pseudonym be used on the adulterated pilot episode, robbing the producers of his name value. The writer had the last laugh, though, when he won the Writers Guild of America’s Award for Best Original Screenplay in March 1974. By then, the series had been canceled. Edward Bryant used the original screenplay as the basis of Phoenix Without Ashes, a novelization that came out in 1975 long after the series was forgotten. The book contained a lengthy piece from Ellison about his experience which has become a textbook example of how not to make a television series.

Bova also got his revenge when he wrote the satirical novel The Starcrossed, which was also released in 1975.