Review: ‘The Number’ by Thomas Ott

Reviews
July 30, 2008

The sequence of numbers 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 sit at the top of each page of the superlative new horror graphic novel The Number by Swedish artist Thomas Ott..

Those repeated numbers create a cadence to the book, a dark rhythm drummed into readers’ heads that’s further instilled through Ott’s consistent use of four panels per page.

The wordless story follows a prison executioner who discovers a slip of paper marked only with the previously mentioned number. As the man notices bits of the number turning up in his life, he decides to place his fate in the number, taking it for a wild ride of good luck.

But after a night of gambling success, the man wakes to find the dream turned ugly, and the number only leads him farther into darkness.

It’s not terribly difficult to predict where things end up — after all, the book begins with the quotation “Good people are always so sure they’re right,” from a woman who was executed in prison.

The worthiness of the book lies instead in the way in which Ott unspools his protagonist’s demise. The story moves along briskly, and Ott transitions effectively from the sedate beginning into the surreal and terrifying conclusion.

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How Matthew Goode Got the ‘Watchmen’ Gig

News
July 30, 2008

You may have heard of actor Matthew Goode. He was in Matchpoint and The Lookout and has a big new movie coming up called Brideshead Revisited.

Oh, and he plays Adrian Veidt in that little Watchmen flick.

In an interview in the Orlando Sentinel about his role in Brideshead, Goode also shared some interesting background on how he got the Watchmen role:

His nerviest turn to date, in The Lookout, is what he says got him the role that will almost certainly make him world-famous. He is Adrian Veidt, "Ozymandias" in the new film of the acclaimed graphic novel, Watchmen, one of the most anticipated movies of 2009.

"I’m auditioning on my hotel room toilet, in front of a sheet [a video audition], reading two scenes, one of which has me remembering that I’ve killed 15 million people," he says, laughing. Brideshead wouldn’t have prepared him for that. "I got that part because of The Lookout.

"I hadn’t read the [graphic] novel, but I did, and went, ‘Oh my God! This is ridiculous. So complicated. But [W atchmen] is everything you want to play as an actor, all those gray areas, and in a movie millions and millions of people are dying to see."

Time Magazine’s Comic-Con Awards

Uncategorized
July 30, 2008

jackman-9706620 Time magazine is just one of the many major media outlets to drop in on Comic-Con last week, and they’ve just put up some "awards."

Hugh Jackman earns "best actor," for his surprise visit with X-Men Origins: Wolverine footage, of course. Other winners:

Most Popular Costume: The Joker. If Oscar ballots were tallied in San Diego, Heath Ledger’s posthumous Best Actor statuette would be a lock. Guys with red lipstick-smeared smiles and purple dinner jackets were as plentiful at Comic-Con this year as those perennials, the Storm Troopers. A few Jokers said their costumes were an homage to Ledger; one confessed it’s just more breathable than a Batsuit.

Most Enthusiastic Fans: The Twihards, devout readers of Stephenie Meyer’s series of vampire books, Twilight, were the loudest and proudest in Hall H, starting a Twilight chant while they waited, shrieking anytime a cast member, Meyer or director Catherine Hardwicke said anything, and asking lots of questions about vampire hotness. After the panel was over, so many Twihards rushed the movie’s booth that fire marshals briefly closed it down. Fanboys, don’t look back. The fangirls are gaining on you fast.

"Twihards"?

Foster Children, by Elayne Riggs

News
July 30, 2008

It’s finally official. On Saturday in San Diego, IDW announced a new project based on Peter David’s Sir Apropos of Nothing series of novels, to be written by Peter with art by Robin Riggs. “Art” as in pencils, inks and colors — or, as those wacky Brits say, “colours.” Don’t ask me why, they have enough trouble pronouncing words correctly without trying to spell them right as well. Anyway, Robin and I are both pretty excited about this miniseries, and not only because the offer came at the same time as my current job offer so it means we both get to celebrate employment at the same time.

First of all, it’s Peter, whom we’ve both known for a long while and who’s an absolute delight even though he’s never introduced us to his equally-famous friends like Harlan Ellison and Billy Mumy. Secondly, I love the character of Apropos… well, not exactly “love,” he’s kind of a despicable rogue, but I love his adventures, and I love the conceit of a character who’s supposed to be secondary and an afterthought suddenly being the protagonist of his own stories. It’s kind of like if women were lead characters in their own right instead of love interests and fridge fodder! What a concept!

Anyway, the other reason I’m loving the idea of Robin doing a Sir Apropos comic book series is, even though it’s going to be parodying bits of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, art-wise Robin wants to bring to it a sort of Hal Foster Prince Valiant vibe. I think the first story Rob and I ever did together, a 2-pager called Sailor’s Wife, had this sort of feel to it, and the whole medieval atmosphere worked really well with his penciling style.

So Rob has been immersed in Foster these past few weeks, going over all his Prince Valiant collections, studying them for inspiration and visual ideas. He even taped together a number of 11 x 17 sheets to make a page (see photo) the size at which Hal Foster originally worked. It’s easy to see how much more illustrative you can get when you’re working 30 x 40. But it takes a true master to know how to draw so that no detail is entirely lost in the reproduction. (more…)

ComicMix Radio: Kumar And The Guide To DC Hell

Podcasts
July 29, 2008

We’re back from Comic Con and ready to hit the comic shop in search of so much we saw previewed on the floor in San Diego, plus:

Kal (Kumar) Penn shows us how he landed on Fox’s House
Keith Giffen prepares us for this week’s visit to the DC Version Of Hell
ComicMix‘s Denny O’Neil warms up the BatCave for Gaiman

Get a pen, your shopping list and then Press the Button!

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

SDCC: Leaked Comic-Con Movie Trailer Round-Up

News
July 29, 2008

As many know, Comic Con International has become more about showing off secret footage of upcoming TV and Film projects than about actual comic books, and for those unable to attend this year, or the attendees who weren’t fortunate enough (or patient enough) to make it into the major halls for the presentations, we’ve put together a small round-up of the leaked footage from this year’s show.

NOTE: This footage was not taken by anyone on the ComicMix staff, and we are only linking to previously published video files, so don’t sue us.
wolverine poster
Starting it off is the biggest of the projects: the trailer (in two parts) for X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

I’d apologize about the unsteady handicam work, but it beats flying across the country and waiting in line for four hours to get a seat, trust me. This seems to be all the footage that has made its way onto the web so far, keep checking back for updates, plus our exclusive Comic Con ’08 video coverage!

Comic-Con Photo Gallery: Creators, Sights and Swag

News
July 29, 2008

As the Comic-Con chaos winds down and everyone deals with the last of the canceled flights and catch-up time, I figured it was a good time to dump the rest of the photos off my camera and provide a final hodge-podge of sights from the show floor (and beyond). Here, then, in no particular order, is the contents of my camera.

Oh, and keep an eye on ComicMix later today for my round-up of the show and the general San Diego Comic-Con International experience. It’s a big one!

By the Power of Hefty Marketing Budgets! It’s the Mattel Booth!

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Another ‘X-Men’ Movie on the Way?

Uncategorized
July 29, 2008

It seems X-Men Origins: Wolverine might not be the only X-Men spinoff movie in development.

There are a few telling signs that Fox is working on X-Men: First Class, according to a story on Superhero Hype.

An interesting listing at Production Weekly caught our eye – "X-Men: First Class." Could 20th Century Fox be developing a movie based on the series written by Jeff Parker and pencilled by Roger Cruz? Or are they using the title of that comic for their proposed Young X-Men spin-off?

The story also notes that if you try going to www.x-menfirstclass.com, you end up right here.

Hmm

SDCC Interview: Mike Mignola on the Hellboy Universe

News
July 29, 2008

hellboy2poster-00-8033153 Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy has certainly been a star in the comics scene for some years but the spotlight must be shining a little brighter now that his franchise includes two hit movies. We were lucky to get a chance to talk to him briefly at the show this year about the future of his book, the impact of the movies on his own storytelling, and the difficulties of letting go of the art chores on the book.

“If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I don’t know what’s going to happen to the book,” said Mignola about the notion of passing the book off to other creators. He said he couldn’t imagine letting go of the character the way Todd McFarlane has let other people work on his most popular creation, Spawn.

When asked if, given that, it was hard to stop being the artist on the book, Mignola said it was at first — but he really likes the look of the book these days and he’s fond of the work Duncan Fegredo has done for the book. “Besides,” said Mignola, “if I was still doing the art it would take forever.”

Readers of Hellboy are undoubtedly aware of the way Mignola uses real-world mythology, so we asked him what we should be brushing up on for his upcoming books. He said they were going to be doing a take on some British mythology and that the content would be similar to the second film in a few ways.

We also asked if he was concerned that Guillermo del Toro’s film franchise seems to be building to a very different conclusion than his comics are. “The only thing that worries me is that the third movie will come out too soon,” said Mignola. Adding that he had a very firm plan for the comics and that this plan might take 15 years to be realized in the comics.

‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ Is Free Once Again

Uncategorized
July 29, 2008

Joss Whedon’s kooky internet musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, was up for a short time for free but then taken down only to be seen for pay on iTunes. Well ComicMix is all about free stuff. Free news, free comics, and free supervillain musicals. Thanks to Hulu.com, we can share the misadventures of Doc Horrible with you guys.

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