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ComicMix Radio: Nancy Drew Meets Indiana Jones

 That’s how creator James Watson describes his damsel in distress heroine, Paula Peril, who is already making her way from the indy comic series to live action films, as you can see here

We cover the origins of Ms Peril, plus:

  • Spider-Man sells out in less than 24 hours
  • Virgin heads west
  • ABC welcomes Nathan Fillion and more, but when?

Enjoy the Paula Peril trailer, then Press the Button for more!
 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-1371062 or RSS!

 

Spielberg Gets Tintin First

  • News
  • August 28, 2008

Despite rumors coming from Hergé Studios, The Hollywood Reporter says Steven Spielberg remains set to direct the first of a project trilogy of films featuring Brussels’ Tintin. Hergé had said on Tuesday that Peter Jackson was moving ahead of Spielberg prompting both Jackson and Spielberg camps to deny the fact.

The first film, written by Doctor Who’s Stephen Moffat, remains Spielberg’s next directorial gig according to DreamWorks which is producing the movie along with Jackson. Jackson, set to helm the second installment, remains committed to completing post-production on The Lovely Bones for Paramount before turning his attention to co-writing the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit for director Guillermo del Toro.

The European comic book hero will be brought to life through motion capture CGI, with Thomas Sangster set to play the teen hero opposite Andy Serkis who plays the grizzled Captain Haddock.

Moffat’s script is said to combine elements from The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure, the first two books from Herge, produced in the early 1940s.
 

Sarah Paulson, Bobby Cannavale, Nathan Fillion Back To TV

  • News
  • August 28, 2008

Before the new television season kicks off next week, ABC is already reloading their larder with five new series.  Among them is Cupid, a revival of the one-hit wonder series from a decade ago.  Created by Veronica Mars’ Rob Thomas, it debuted on September 26, 1998 and starred Jeremy Piven as a man who might or might not be the reincarnation of the mythological Cupid.  Consigned to Earth by Zeus as punishment, he must help 100 couples romantically connect without once using his god-like powers. After a mere 15 episodes, the network axed the show. As Thomas was developing new ideas for the network, everyone kept circling back to the Cupid concept and a fresh approach was approved.

Snakes on a Plane’s Bobby Cannavale and The Spirit’s Sarah Paulson with the actress playing the psychiatrist who is treating his “delusion”.

Nathan Fillion will transition from Wisteria Lane to the Big Apple when he stars in Castle. He’s a crime novelist who winds up assisting the NYPD solve murder cases.

Alyssa Milano returns to the network, starring in Single with Parents, a sitcom about a woman struggling to handle her job, her life and parents, played by Annie Potts and Beau Bridges.

Harold Perrineau Jr. remains free from Lost’s island by starring as part of the ensemble cop series The Unusuals along with Amber Tamblyn, Jeremy Renner, Adam Goldberg, Kai Lennoz and Terry Kinney.
 

Given You A Number, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • August 28, 2008

It’s a good thing for this column that I listen to NPR. I don’t know if I’d have the number of column topics that I’ve had without it. This time I was listening to a debate between a former college/university president and the head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The topic was whether the drinking age should be lowered to 18. I like to think I would have been more Pro on the topic back when I was 18 myself, but the fact was in those days I was so square I was cubed.

Both sides had pretty fair arguments, but the one that struck home most for me was this: a young man or woman can sign up for the Armed Forces, be taught to kill, be put in situations where they can be killed, and are expected to exercise quick and accurate decisions between friend and foe, even when the foe dresses like everyone else. Yet, those same young people cannot be expected to responsibly decide how much to drink. They can die for their country but they can’t have a beer because they’re too young.

Is it just me or does anyone else think this is pretty screwed up thinking?

Both eighteen and twenty-one are “magic numbers.” Are we really “adult” by either one of those birthdays? Some folks are, some aren’t. Some never are. If you’re one of those whose criterion for voting for a particular candidate is whether or not you would want to have a beer with them, then you’re not old enough to vote. I don’t care how many birthdays you’ve had; you’re not old enough. (more…)

The Barn Comes to Newspapers

  • News
  • August 28, 2008

Canadian cartoonist Ralph Hagen will craft a new comic strip, The Barn, debuting from Creators Syndicate on October 27. The strip will concentrate on the interaction between farm animals and local humans.

Hagen, a self-taught artist, has been professionally illustrating for 31 years and has been published in a variety of outlets from The Saturday Evening Post to Reader’s Digest. He’s also done commercial illustration for numerous clients including Kraft Foods.
 

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Mark Verheiden Becomes a Hero

  • News
  • August 28, 2008

mark-verheiden-1-7000721Last Friday, Mark Verheiden posted on his blog that he has moved from Battlestar Galactica, now completed, to Universal’s other big hit, Heroes.

“I have made a lateral shift in the NBC/Universal universe and joined the show Heroes as a consulting writer/producer,” he revealed. “So far I’ve been catching up with the show’s wonderful mythology (boy, I thought Battlestar was twisted!) while watching an amazing staff craft incredible stories. Emotional, suspenseful, and jam-packed with action. And after watching some of the upcoming episodes, I’m in awe at how much they manage to accomplish each day. Lots of people, from the fantastic cast and directors to the hard-working and super-talented crew, are working really hard to make this all happen.”

His work will be seen in the second story arc for season three due in the spring.  Heroes returns to NBC Monday nights beginning September 22.
 

The Boys Gain Screenwriters

  • News
  • August 27, 2008

Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay will adapt The Boys for the big screen according to The Hollywood Reporter.  The Columbia Pictures’ project is based on the Garth Ennis/Darick Robertson series which first launched at WildStorm and quickly moved to Dynamite Entertainment.

According to THR, “The book follows the adventures of a CIA squad, known informally as ‘the boys,’ whose job is to keep watch on the proliferation of superheroes and, if necessary, intimidate or eliminate them.”

The movie is one of many comic book properties currently being developed by producer Neal H. Moritz who also has The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, and Luke Cage on his To Do list. Also attached as producers are Kickstart’s Jason Netter and attorney Ken F. Levin.

The screenwriting team has had success in Hollywood with a mix of projects ranging from the ambitious Crazy/Beautiful to the action adventure misfires Aeon Flux and The Tuxedo.

Fox Offers College Students Terminator, Fringe Deal

  • News
  • August 27, 2008

The Fox network wants to make certain college kids can get a chance to see the season premieres of both Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (September 8) and Fringe (September 9). Students using a log in with an .edu e-mail account will have a chance to see the episode on line at fox.com along with behind-the-scenes footage and music videos as well as cast and producer interviews.

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Review: ‘Zot! 1987-1991’ by Scott McCloud

  • Uncategorized
  • August 27, 2008

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Zot! The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991
By Scott McCloud
HarperCollins, July 2008, $24.95

There are those of us – only a few now, I bet – who keep hoping that Scott McCloud will finally get the comics-about-comics thing out of his system and go back to fictional comics. (1998’s [[[The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln]]] is generally skipped over in these laments, as it is in all other discussions of McCloud’s career, including the one in this book.) Oh, sure, [[[Understanding Comics]]] was one of the great graphic novels of the early ‘90s, and a major roadmark towards the modern comics field, and [[[Reinventing Comics]]] and [[[Making Comics]]] have their strong points as well, but, we keep wondering, what about [[[Zot!]]]?

We were heartened when Kitchen Sink Press reprinted three-quarters of McCloud’s Zot! run in three nice trade paperbacks in 1997-98, and then disheartened again when KSP went under before finishing up with the fourth volume to collect “Earth Stories,” generally considered McCloud’s best stories. And since then, we’ve mostly just been waiting and hoping, living on crumbs like “Hearts and Minds” and McCloud’s other webcomics.

But now Zot! is back, in something like a definitive form, from one of those real big-time bookstore publishers that the comics field is so in awe of. HarperCollins has been McCloud’s trade publisher as far back as Understanding Comics, so their imprint on this book implies a lot about their commitment to comics, and to McCloud.

But maybe I need to back up a bit, for those of you who weren’t around for the days of Eclipse in the late ‘80s. Zot! was McCloud’s comics debut, starting with a ten-issue storyline in full color in 1984-85 and continuing with twenty-six more issues in black and white starting in 1987. Those color comics are now only available in the first, long-out-of-print, Kitchen Sink trade paperback collection of Zot! from ten years ago, though this book hints that they may be reprinted if Zot! 1987-1991 is successful enough. (And maybe then we’ll get Chuck Austen’s art from two “fill-in” issues from the time of McCloud’s wedding, plus all of Matt Feazell’s “Dimension 10½ “ back-up strips.)

(more…)

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Torchwood Season Three Starts Shooting

  • News
  • August 27, 2008

torchwood-a-1-1859017The BBC issued a press release today announcing that production has begun on the shortened third season of their series Torchwood.  The "Children of Earth" storyline will last a mere five episodes which the UK will broadcast as a week-long event in early 2009.  BBC America is expected to air the series soon after.

The release was scant on plot details, merely stating, the team will “battle for the future of the human race against the fiercest force they have encountered.” The story is scripted by  series producer and co-creator Russell T. Davies, John Fay (Coronation) and James Moran (Doctor Who) and is being directed by Euros Lyn (Doctor Who).
 

(more…)

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