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Time’s Maghound goes Live

  • News
  • September 17, 2008

Time Inc. is hoping to do for magazines what Netflix has done for movies and if successful, could open a new avenue for comic book readers. Maghound has opened up, allowing people to subscribe to tiers of magazines for reading.  It has opened up a beta site with 240 titles from not only Time Inc. but also Men’s Health, ELLE, Martha Stewart Living, Maxim, Ladies Home Journal, Parents, Better Homes & Gardens, Woman’s Day, Best Life, Popular Science, Prevention, Runner’s World, Women’s Health, VIBE, Car and Driver, PC Magazine, Gardening and Bicycling.

At present, no comic books, including any from sister division DC Comics, are available for purchase. Mad Kids, though, is available.

A reader can choose one of four tiers starting with three titles for $4.95 per month up to eight or more titles for $1 each per month. A reader can alter which titles read month to month so a first-timer could try Time, Runner’s World and PC Magazine then the following month swap out PC for ELLE.  Should a title not be published monthly, the site will offer substitute selections.

The site was in development for four years and was announced about a year back. When the launch date was announced, they had expected 280 titles so this comes in under estimates.

“It’s vital for circulators even more so than ever in this economy to test innovative new ideas," Peter Winn, director of planning and development, consumer marketing for Bonnier Corporation, told Folio Magazine. "Maghound has potential to be an important program for the industry and that is why Bonnier is in."
 

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LEGO Batman Happy Meals

  • Uncategorized
  • September 17, 2008

003-6026828September 23rd, hurry up and get here already. All we ever seem to do is build up anticipation for the LEGO Batman videogame (coming to every now-gen game system). To forget about my lack Batman brick bashing I went to McDonald’s for a healthy salad. Really. I swear.

But what do I see spotlighted like the Batsignal, but Happy Meal toys based on LEGO Batman. I can’t escape their cute, grim visages. Offered toys include Batman with Batarang, Robin with Grappling Hook, the Batboat, the Joker Helicopter, Mister Freeze with Ice Blast, the Batmobile, the Penguin Submarine, and the Joker Surprise.

“Is this for your boy or girl?”

“Uhhh… My boy. Yes, my son. Whom I have at home. Waiting for his Happy Meal. By the way, which toy am I getting?”

See the McDonald’s promo page for the LEGO Batman Happy Meals here.

 

Creative Arts Emmys Given to Genre Faves

  • Uncategorized
  • September 17, 2008

emmyaward-9041854With the Emmy Awards four days away, much so being made of the main event although many awards have already been given out.

The 2008 Creative Arts Emmys were presented and among the winners of note include:

Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More went to the “Imaginationland”  special episode of South Park while the less-than-one-hour category went to The Simpsons’ “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind”.

The guest acting awards were presented to Cynthia Nixon as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series went to Kathryn Joosten for ABC’s Desperate Housewives. Joosten, one of our favorite character actors, notched her second win as Karen McCluskey. Accepting her statuette, Joosten declared, “This solves a problem. I have two sons, and now they don’t need to fight over which one gets this when I die.”

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series went to Glynn Turman for HBO’s In Treatment; and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series went to Tim Conway for NBC’s 30 Rock.

The awards for Interactive Media were presented by Evan and Gregg Spiridelis of the online media company JibJab Inc. The award for fiction went to nbc.com’s Heroes Digital Experience. The nonfiction award went to Disney Channel Games Digital Media Event from the ABC Television Group, Creative Asylum and Walt Disney Internet Group.

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Review: ‘Fringe’ Episode #102

  • Uncategorized
  • September 17, 2008

fringe102-1-5630280Previously on Fringe…

During an investigation into mysterious deaths aboard Flight 627, Agent Olivia Dunham’s boyfriend and partner Agent Scott is nearly killed, his body becoming translucent. Olivia recruits Walter and Peter Bishop, an eccentric father-son scientific duo, to devise a cure for Scott’s condition. Although successful, it turns out that Scott has secret knowledge of Flight 627, but he’s killed before he can reveal anything. Olivia is determined to uncover what Scott’s involvement means in relation to an enigma known as ‘The Pattern,’ and is recruited alongside the Bishops to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, the secretive Massive Dynamic corporation looms in the distance, somehow involved in the plot.

“Same Old Story,” different day…

The series kicks off it’s first post-pilot installment with “[[[The Same Old Story]]],” and it’s anything but. A woman suddenly becomes pregnant and gives birth to a baby in a matter of minutes. Upon birth, the baby grows and ages 80 years. Who you gonna call? Fringe… busters… people. Alright, they need a cooler name.

“The Same Old Story” matches the creep factor so heavily ratcheted in the first episode. Kicking the show off with a fast-forwarded version of [[[The Curious Case of Benjamin Button]]] is eerily reminiscent of [[[The X-Files]]] — and that’s certainly the effect that the ladies and gents at Fox have in mind. The computer graphics could use some work, but it’s solid as far as network television goes.

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Fashionably Late, by Elayne Riggs

  • News
  • September 17, 2008

earamid2-1-6850803Whoever thought that lipstick would make major Silly Season news in the 21st century? Although I have to admit I’d rather hear about it being applied to pit bulls and pigs than human beings, but I’ve never had the best relationship with makeup, accessories and other fribbles, as this past week has reminded me.

Every September sees the re-emergence of Fashion Week here in New York City. In keeping with the acknowledgement that this Silly Season is in many ways sillier than most, this year Mercedes-Benz, the chief sponsor, has even decided to go with an election theme on the event’s home page. Maybe they want to emphasize how uselessly trivial it all is. Or, to be fair, how much “fun” people have ooh’ing and aah’ing at emaciated creatures who rarely resemble real people strutting the catwalks wearing creations that rarely resemble real clothing. And there are all sorts of tie-ins, one “big deal” this year being Target’s special “Bullseye Bodega” outlets in strategic areas of the city, only open this past Friday through Monday, which purported to sell high fashions at low (i.e., Target-level) prices.

Fool that I was, I ventured into one around noon on Friday, just out of curiosity, and found it to be the single most pretentious experience I’d ever witnessed. A cramped place with absolutely nothing of any practical value to me, but filled to the brim with a sea of people desperate for couture at closure level. I saw only one piece that would have fit me, a XXL man’s thermal top for around $35, but I’m afraid I just wasn’t in the market for one, and even if I were I could have gotten the same thing (sans designer label) for far less money by shopping at Amazon. That’s the kinda gal I am. But other gals seemed to like it just fine, so obviously one’s mileage may vary.

Even comic geeks have been able to get into the spirit of fashion this year.  My ComicMix colleague Martha Thomases has reported on the “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Rick Marshall covered the Marvel Fashion Show at the San Diego Comic-Con. There does appear to be a fun element to the idea of heroic costumes being more frivolous than practical, especially when worn by women. But even the guys are taken to task, and taken down a peg, by wry observations about their chosen uniforms. The word “capes” alone elicits either giggle-fits when watching Brad Bird skewer that fashion-don’t in The Incredibles, or sneers in comic pages wherein non-powered citizens dismiss the antics and lifestyles of the heroic and famous.

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‘Kick-Ass’ Adds Duke

  • News
  • September 17, 2008

Slash Film is reporting that Clark Duke has been added to Kick-Ass’ cast as Marty, the would-be hero’s civilian pal. Duke has been previously seen on the internet series Drunk History Part 2, television’s Greek, and will next appear in the October comedy Sex Drive.

Moviehole’s description of Marty says he’s: “About 17, a chubby Caucasian high school student who loves comic books. He is Dave’s funny best friend. Together with Dave and Todd, he loves to go to comic book stores, and checks out the latest issues, while talking about school, girls, the futility of teenaged life, and the exciting adventures of MySpace insta-celebrity Kickass. He never suspects that Kickass is in fact Dave Lizewski — and neither would you if you knew Dave.”
 

Siegel and Shuster Society tops $50K

  • Uncategorized
  • September 17, 2008

jerry-siegel-1976-4838910A total of $53,455 has been raised by the Siegel and Shuster Society’s fund raising efforts after just two weeks.  The $50,000 goal for exterior repairs to Jerry Siegel’s’ boyhood home was exceeded after week two’s auction haul of $18,996.  Two more weeks of auction will proceed while t-shirt sales will continue.  Once the auction ends, work will begin on both the exterior and interior of the home.

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On the Road to a Crisis

  • News
  • September 17, 2008

final-crisis-one-ff-1667347So right now, we’re halfway through Final Crisis, a crossover involving the weakening of space and time and all of reality being endangered. In the prelude one-shot DC Universe #0, readers were recapped about the fact that this is the third universal crisis to happen to the DCU (which isn’t entirely accurate and we’ll get into that soon).

But some of you folks may want a little more detail about what happened before this. Why is this the "Final" Crisis? And considering the fact that the previous two crises both involved history being altered, what do the heroes involved truly remember about them?

So here is not only a rundown of the previous crises, but the major events that have led into them and certain side stories that writer Grant Morrison may refer to again very soon. (more…)

Marvel Begins Original Digital Comics

  • News
  • September 16, 2008

Marvel’s Digital Comics will begin original material for the first time, with two strips based on this year’s movies, Iron Man and Incredible Hulk. In fact, the content will be based on the film versions not the comic book continuities so as to appeal to a wider audience. The stories will run weekly, with new installments showing up on Wednesday, the traditional “new comic day”.

Iron Man: Fast Friends, starting tomorrow, is said to focus on the relationship between Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes. It’s written by Paul Tobin, with art by Ronan Cliquet and covers by Dave Bullock.

Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files, launching October 8, will feature Nick Fury investigating Bruce Banner. It’s written by Frank Tieri, with art by Salva Espin and covers by Steve Lieber.

Both strips are timed to the impending DVD releases of the films with Iron Man due September 30 and Incredible Hulk due out October 21.
 

Comic Strip Tackles Spousal Abuse

  • News
  • September 16, 2008

Between Friends, an internationally syndicated comic strip, will tackle a spousal abuse storyline between now and November. The strip, conceived in 1994 by Canadian cartoonist Sandra Bell-Lundy, is carried in 140 papers via King Features Syndicate.

The strip, according to its website, is a contemporary comic strip that celebrates the essence and angst of three forty-something women friends. Maeve, Susan, and Kimberly have evolved with time, ala For Better or For Worse, with Susan and Kimberly now parents.

The mostly humorous strip is veering into serious territory for a change because "a friend of mine was involved in this type of situation when she was in her early 20s," the cartoonist told Editor & Publisher. Bell-Lundy. "She confided in me years later…." Bell-Lundy did field research, visiting women’s shelters to gain insight before embarking on the story.
 

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