ComicMix

‘Burn’ Takes Box Office Prize

News
September 14, 2008

The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading captured the box office crown this weekend, netting the duo a record setting opening of $19,404,000 according to estimates from Box Office Mojo.

The top five slots were a mixed bag with Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys in second place with $18,020,000; the Al Pacino/Robert DeNiro drama Righteous Kill took $16,500,000 despite tepid reviews; and The Women nabbede $10,088,000 and mostly negative buzz with the comedy The House Bunny banking $4,300,000 (totaling $42,154,000).

After that, returning films were all up and down the charts as people turn their attention to more serious fare, the new television season and the local and national elections. As a result, holdovers such as Tropic Thunder, Death Race, Traitor, and the like were seeing 40-50% decreases in audience.

In the genre, The Dark Knight topped the list with an additional $4,015,000 boosting the total to $517,680,000 while the next top performers included Rogue’s Death Race lapped up another $2,017,000 and Vin Diesel’s Babylon A.D. banked just $1,770,000.

‘Jack Brooks’ Monster Slayer’ to be Released October 7

News
September 14, 2008

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer is a new kind of movie hero and he’ll be making his home video debut after playing to a limited number of screens in the coming weeks before its DVD release from Anchor Bay on October 7 retailing for a mild-mannered $26.97

Jack Brooks: was directed by Jon Knautz (Moment of Truth), and produced by Neil Bregman, Trevor Matthews and Patrick White. John Ainslie and Jon Knautz wrote the screenplay from a story by Ainslie, Knautz, Matthews and White.

Anchor Bay says, “Yesterday, he was a plumber. Today, he’s trying to save the world. Meet Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. The legendary Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger of A Nightmare on Elm Street) stars along with Trevor Matthews (who produced the film, in addition to playing the title role) and Rachel Skarsten (Birds of Prey).

“As a young boy, Jack saw his parents brutally murdered by monsters. Now he toils as a plumber, is saddled with an annoying girlfriend (Skarsten), attends therapy sessions that accomplish absolutely nothing, and is enrolled in night classes where he barely manages to stay awake.

“But when his professor (Englund) accidentally unleashes an ancient curse and begins to transform into a hideous monster, Jack must put down his plunger, prepare to do battle with the forces of evil, and confront his destiny. All Jack wants to do is put his past behind him, but some things just won’t stay buried …”

Robert Englund, at Comic-Con International, told ComicMix, “I’m here with the company Anchor Bay which really responds to the kind of horror-comedy kind of stuff that people like Sam Raimi with the Evil Dead films used to do. I don’t know if it’s a response to the number of big-budget horror failures of late or that there’s so much homemade stuff on YouTube now, but fans really seem able to watch something like a Hellboy 2 or a Dark Knight, which I love, but they also have room for movies like the ones I’ve been involved with lately such as Zombie Strippers, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer or Hatchet.

“It seems they can tune into a big $200 million blockbuster film one day and then also enjoy a little $2 million film we made mostly for fun. They’re what I like to call “cheap thrills.” I think there always has to be room for cheap thrills. I don’t know if it’s political or if there’s too much CGI or something but maybe that’s what movies like Saw or Hostel are tapping into — people’s need for something more simple and fun.”
(more…)

The Theory of Webcomics: What are Webcomics?

News
September 14, 2008

Help me Wikipedia, you’re my only hope! What are webcomics?

Oh, okay. They’re comics published on the web. That was easy. What else have we got? Over 18,000 exist, few are self-sustaining, blah blah blah, some are like newspaper comics and some are like graphic novels, yadda yadda yadda, sometimes use sprites, pixels, photos or 3D Poser art. Some are funny, some are not; and they cover a wide variety of genres.

But really, what are webcomics? “Webcomics” is the collective name we’ve given to sequential art that appears online. Scott Kurtz’s PvP is a webcomic, as is Scott McCloud’s Zot!, but so are the reprints available from Marvel Digital Comics and the online For Better or for Worse strips. Same name, wildly different products: Kinda like comparing a 1940s Superman story with Neil Gaiman’s Sandman or Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor. They’re all “comics”, but the similarity stops there.

We’re going to need a little more granularity: Typically, one will use the phrase “webcomics” to refer to creator-owned properties published originally and/or primarily online. Reprinted newspaper strips would still fall under “newspaper comics”, and reprinted superhero material would still be “print comics” or “comic books”. So our narrowed “webcomics” would include DC’s Zuda Comics, but not Marvel Digital or FBoFW. This is still hazy for cases like Diesel Sweeties, which started on the web, and published both on the web and in syndicated papers simultaneously (with different content) for a time; but it will do.

And that’s the definition I’m typically using and tend to focus on when I talk about webcomics. When I talk about how webcomics make money, I’m thinking about how Kurtz or McCloud would make money, not how Marvel would monetize their website. When I talk about “the most popular webcomics,” I don’t mean Dilbert. The collection of comics that are creator-owned, published online, usually maintained by one or two authors and typically full of geeky content are a community and a genre all their own, and deserve the same singular attention that we give to, say, sci-fi novels.

These are the comics that you find on Keenspot [link: http://www.keenspot.com/], Zuda, Blank Label, Dumbrella, Modern Tales, and similar collectives. These are the comics that get their start on Comic Genesis [link: http://www.comicgenesis.com/], Drunk Duck, or Webcomics Nation.

And yes, these are the comics that obey Sturgeon’s Law much more so than any others—after all, the barriers to entry are very low; anyone with a computer and a bunch of free time can create one. (I myself had a short-lived sprite comic, now gone from the web and never to be seen again.) This means they’re often drawn and written by hobbyists with limited time, no editors, and the occasional limited grasp of spelling and/or grammar. Which is, of course, the other reason I like to talk about them: There are some fantastic gems of comics to be found, if you know where to look.

I’m going to be picking apart how these comics exist as an art form and what makes them different; discuss how they make money, why some do so much better than others, and which ones you really should be reading. Though be warned: The only thing that sucks up more of your free time that creating a webcomic is reading them.

Updating the Casting News

News
September 14, 2008

Updating two of this week’s stories, Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly has reported that Katee Sackhoof’s schedule has forced her to give up her multi-episode commitment to Nip/Tuck. She had hoped to film this after finishing her Battlestar Galactica telefilm, now in production, and the beginning of shooting the pilot to Lost & Found for NBC. She has been replaced by Rose McGowan who will film her episodes while training to begin the October shooting of Red Sonja.

Across the pond, the BBC has told Digital Spy that Paul McGann will not reprise his role as the eighth doctor in one of the 2009 Doctor Who specials. "There is no truth to the story at all,” they tersely told the site. Stay tuned for developments.

Author David Foster Wallace Found Dead

Uncategorized
September 14, 2008

David Foster Wallace, the novelist, essayist and humorist best known for his dark and ironic wit was found dead Friday night at his home in Claremont California, according to the Claremont Police Department. He was 46. Wallace’s wife found her husband had hanged himself when she returned home about 9:30 p.m. Friday, said Jackie Morales, a records clerk with the Claremont Police Department.

Wallace is mostly known for his sprawling and ambitious novel and won praise from critics and devotees for his darkly funny, deeply serious work in The Broom of the System, Girl with Curious Hair, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (recently adapted for film by Wallace & Jon Krasinski) and Oblivion. The title essay of the collection A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again is–in this writer’s opinion–the funniest and most poignant published pieces in years and anyone wishing to celebrate Wallace’s wit and talent should read it at least once.

‘Shrek the Halls’ Comes to DVD in Time for Holidays

News
September 14, 2008

shrek-the-halls-1694483 Paramount Home Video has begun the Christmas shopping season with the announcement of Shrek the Halls coming to DVD on November 4. The CG-animated television special debuted last holiday season and featured a brand new story, cramming all the trilogy’s characters into a thirty minute event. It received good reviews and had an impressive audience averaging 22.7 million viewers.

The DVD will feature fun and interactive holiday-themed bonus material including a sing-along version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” starring the entire gang of characters from DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar, a unique take on “Deck The Halls” with the hilarious Madagascar penguins and sing-along lyrics, a Gingy Dunking Game that tests your matching skills, plus a Shrek Carnival Craze game demo and cheat codes.

The DVD will be available as a single disc in either full screen or widescreen, as well as in a special two-pack with Shrek the Third and in limited edition holiday packages featuring Holiday Shrek, Holiday Puss, Holiday Donkey or Gingy plush characters.

Disc details:

The Twelve Days of Christmas Sing Along—Join along and watch the entire Madagascar gang as they celebrate the holidays in style with their own take on the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” Sing along to the Madagascar-inspired lyrics, including “lemurs leaping, foosas fussing and a penguin who made a loud squeak!” In classic sing-along style, the words appear on screen as the characters perform.
Deck The Halls Sing Along—“Deck the halls, it’s time to party.” This is your chance to sing along with everyone’s favorite Penguins from Madagascar. Join Skipper, Private and Kowalski for their version of the classic holiday song as they get into the spirit of the season.
Gingy’s Dunking Game—Test your skills at being a master baker and make sure you have plenty of flour as you try to match the Gingerbread cookies that come out of the oven with the Gingy that appears on screen.
Shrek Carnival Craze video game demo and cheat code
DreamWorks Animation Video Jukebox

BBC Video Unveils Palin Box Set, ‘Sarah Jane’, ‘Doctor Who’

News
September 14, 2008

Coming to stores next month, BBC Video offers a 19-disc Michael Palin Collection – on October 7, 2008.

All of eight of Palin’s fascinating travelogues — Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Himalaya, Sahara, New Europe, Full Circle, Hemingway Adventure, and Great Railway Journeys – will be included, the last three new to DVD. The box set contains 36 hours of content and over seven hours of bonus features, include interviews with Palin, behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes, deleted and extended scenes, as well as Polish and Russian subtitles on New Europe. The box set will retail for $249.92.

Michael Palin: Full Circle ($49.98) and Michael Palin: Hemingway Adventure with Great Railway Journeys ($34.98) will also be released individually.

Also being released on October 7 will be The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete First Season. This Doctor Who spin-off provides science fiction adventure for the whole family by melding the same mystique and wonder featured in the contemporary Doctor Who series with fun-filled hilarity. Elisabeth Sladen reprises her role as the investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith — one of the classic Doctor Who‘s most beloved companions. Accompanied by a fresh, young team including 13-year- old next door neighbor Maria Jackson (Yasmin Page, The Mysti Show), Sarah Jane sets out on a whole new round of escapades ranging from discovering mischievous alien plots to helping lost extraterrestrials return home. Boasting six hours of content, this four-disc set features all 10 episodes as well as cast and crew interviews, a Sarah Jane Smith video timeline, behind the scenes footage, and character and alien profiles. The box set will retail for $49.98. (more…)

Review: ‘Gotham Central: Book One’ by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka

Uncategorized
September 13, 2008

gc-4087050 The Gotham police force has been around for pretty much as long as there’s been a [[[Batman]]]. But aside from James Gordon, the cops have always amounted to essentially cannon fodder, either dying at the hands of the rogues or vainly attempting to bring in the Bat during his various stints as a wanted man.

In other words, the cops have always only existed as extras in the blockbuster Batman stories. Writers Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka flip that equation in [[[Gotham Central]]], starting with the cops — specifically the unit working metahuman cases — and only bringing Batman in as a vague background player, almost a deus ex machina who both enrages and inspires the force.

It’s not especially different from Brian Michael Bendis’ [[[Powers]]], except in how that series exaggerates policing for maximum bombast while Gotham Central more effectively captures the often droll, depressing and cynical atmosphere of a police department (In case you question my bona fides, I worked as a crime reporter for years). Collected now in a nice hardcover, the first volume of the series features two stories, one about the death of a cop and another about the public outing of Detective Renee Montoya.

With well-suited art from Michael Lark that firmly grounds the story, the writers drop readers immediately into a full precinct (it does get a little fuzzy keeping track of who’s who) as one cop is killed by Mr. Freeze. The obvious angle they explore is how mere humans can try to take down a bad guy with so much power, and how they resent Batman for always having to bail them out.

Thankfully the book goes much deeper than that, and Brubaker lends just as much pathos to these detectives as he does to his dealers, robbers and thugs in his series [[[Criminal]]]. None more so than Montoya, who is here developed as one of the most realistic lesbian comic book characters yet seen. In fact, her story, “Half a Life” was justly recognized with several awards. Sadly DC editorial later let that characterization drop in favor of hot-chicks-in-lingerie scenes in 52.

There’s a funny blurb on this book’s cover, saying it’s the “best Batman comic published,” which is both sad and true. One can only wonder if the team of Brubaker and Lark had been handed the Batman duties, instead of going on to bring their brand of realism and slick plotting to [[[Captain America]]].

And we’ll probably never know. But it doesn’t diminish at all what they and Rucka accomplished in Gotham Central.

David Boreanez may Take the Oath

News
September 13, 2008

Marc Guggenheim, Greg Berlanti and Michael Green are just about done with a rewrite to their Green Lantern feature film script and told Moviehole they anticipate turning it in this coming week.

One of the things that excited Warner Bros. about the proposed project were the production drawings from former comic book artist Brian Murray. He based Hal Jordan on actor David Boreanez, known for Angel but also was Jordan’s voice on the New Frointier animated movie released earlier this year. Carol Ferris was modeled after Sin City’s Carla Gugino.

Boreanez, currently starring on Fox’s Bones, has tested for super-heroes before, first as The Thing in Fantastic Four and later as Superman for Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns.

Now word is bubbing that he may be considered for the live-action version as well.

For George Miller’s stalled Justice League film, GL was going to be John Stewart and played by the rapper Common.

Get Committed To Arkham Asylum Contest

News
September 13, 2008

Remember the comic miniseries Arkham Asylum: Living Hell where a regular guy gets sent to the madhouse for Batman’s criminally insane enemies?Well, now that could be you. Gamestop is sponsoring a contest where your likeness will be put in the Batman: Arkham Asylum game. You’ll get to co-star with Mark Hammil who was recently announced as reprising his voice acting role as the Joker for the game.

The winner will have to patient because Batman: Arkham Asylum doesn’t come out until August 2009, but you can hold yourself over with these amazing screenshots seen below and after the jump that were posted for a short time on developer Rocksteady Games’ website.