Go to Comic-Con On Your Xbox

News
July 25, 2008

The best way to experience the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con is to be there. The second best is to constantly refresh ComicMix.com. But the third might be to fire up your game console.

The Xbox 360’s online video service offered excellent coverage of last year’s Comic-Con. Not only did they show footage premiered at the con, they also offered daily wrap-ups, interviews with comic creators, and videos of entire panels. I didn’t fly out to California, but I saw J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 panel as if I had a front row seat.

To borrow a phrase from one of their upcoming games, this year the coverage will be “bigger, badder, and more bad ass.” Xbox LIVE has partnered with Warner Bros. and DC Comics to show a weekend’s worth of footage. For free! Hosting the events will Larry Hyrb, better known by his Gamertag as Major Nelson, the public face of Xbox LIVE. To start things off right, the service reposted their daily wrap-ups from last year.

Now if they could just figure out how to download a convention T-shirt, I’d be set.

SDCC: Kevin Spacey Partners With Devil’s Due

News
July 25, 2008

Shortly before Comic-Con started, word spread that Devil’s Due was bringing a major celebrity mystery guest, who was then shortly revealed to be Kevin Spacey.

Kevin Spacey? The actor? Yep, that guy.

At Comic-Con on Thursday the sort of odd pairing was explained, which ComicMix‘s Chris Ullrich reports:

Devil’s Due partners with triggerstreet.com to find new comics talent and hopefully get them to the big screen

Kevin Spacey (co-founder of triggerstreet.com) said when asked why they were doing this, "Because comics are taking over Hollywood"

Triggerstreet started as a site to allow aspiring filmmakers to upload content for peer review. Now you can upload comics for the same purpose (and to be discovered, I suppose). Here are their uploading guidelines, which were just posted:

* The page size should be 6.875" wide x 10.438" high.
* The page count should be a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10.
* You may also (optionally) upload an icon / avatar
associated with your Comic. The image should be 85 pixels wide by 100 pixels tall and in GIF or JPG format.
* Your Comic should be uploaded as a .pdf file.

I am the man! OR I am Sorry! by Michael Davis

News
July 25, 2008

ludacris1-2998066 It’s the Friday of the San Diego Comic Con and I’m either having a great time or I’m miserable. Why one or the other? Well, I threw huge a party last night and it was a smash or was cancelled or it sucked.

I’m writing this a week before, on Friday July 18, 2008. I have a TON of work to finish before the con and a TON of work to do for the con, so I know there would be no way in France I would have enough time to finish this column. So I want to revel in my greatness or apologize.

If you came to the party and had a great time, I know, I know. I’m the man! If you could not get in because it was too packed, I’m sorry.

If you showed up with three people who were not on the guest list and saw me at the door of the club or called me on my cell and I came and got you in, I was glad to be of help! I know I’m the man!

If you showed up with three people who were not on the guest list and saw me at the door of the club or called me on my cell and I told you there was nothing I could do because the invite CLEARLY said your name was on the list and if you wanted to add somebody we would try but there was no guarantee and you left mad and went back to the top of the Hyatt where you sat alone because everyone was at MY party… sorry, but I did tell you.

If you stood on the general admission line and not the VIPs line and I saw you and walked you in past the crowd, please stop thanking me. You’re my friend. It’s the least I could do.

If you stood on the general admission line and not the VIPs line and waited a long time to get to the door and when you did they informed you that you could have walked right in because you were on my list, I’m sorry about that there must have been a grip of people there and it was confusing.

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SDCC: The Marvel Panel

Uncategorized
July 25, 2008

warmachine004-9764518 No huge news yet from Marvel in San Diego, but they did reveal a few upcoming projects at Thursday’s creator-dominated panel, according to various reports.

CBR’s Andy Khouri was there, and listed off the major news:

[Kevin] Grevioux and [Mat] Broome will be coming out with a new title called "Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel." It’s about a black superhero in the late ’50s and early ’60s, who is the most popular hero in the country — but he wears a mask to hide his skin color. When he is revealed to the public as a black man, President Kennedy calls the Blue Marvel to the Oval Office and implores the hero to stand down so as to not disrupt the ongoing Civil Rights movement. Blue Marvel agrees and forty years later his greatest villain returns, and Blue Marvel is the only one who can stop him. The miniseries begins in November and runs six issues.

Grek Pak will write "War Machine," a new ongoing series illustrated by Leonardo Manco. The title will replace the outgoing "Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD." "You will soon see the humanity of Jim Rhodes and War Machine. The book will be HARD. CORE. Around the world, tyrants and madmen are committing the worst atrocities imaginable. Jim Rhodes is going to take on the responsibility of taking them on upon his giant rocket-equipped shoulders." The book begins in December.

Garth Ennis return to the Punisher with the weekly "Punisher- War Zone" miniseries. It’s six issues and begins in December. It takes place in Ennis & Dillon’s Marvel Knights run on "Punisher."

David Mack will adapt Philip K. Dick’s "Electric Ant" for Marvel, with Paul Pope providing cover artwork.

Newsarama offered pretty similar coverage of the panel (and coverage of the X-Men panel), and had this note about a possible big cosmic event:

A fan complimented the cosmic books – Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy – and asked if they’re going to intermingle with the rest of the Marvel Universe. McCann said there were "really big plans" for Marvel’s outer space characters (and not just the ones in the aforementioned two titles), and said more will be revealed at the Secret Invasion panel Saturday.

SDCC: Superman: Man of Tomorrow panel

Uncategorized
July 25, 2008

supermanshield-2894030 DC Comics ran their first panel of the show on Thursday morning with DC: Superman: Man of Tomorrow. The panel was moderated by editor Matt Idelson and featured writers Geoff Johns, James Robinson, and Sterling Gates along with artists Jamal Igle and Renato Guedes (who was provided with a translator, yet never spoke).

Johns kicked off the panel by asking how many in the crowd were reading Action Comics to a strong, but noticeably short of unanimous, ovation. He then continued to explain that what they’re trying to do right now in the books is to create a cohesive universe for Superman so they can “start telling big excellent stories”.

As an example of a big excellent story Johns went on to explain the upcoming “New Krypton” story arc. Coming out of the current Brainiac story Kandor will be restored to full size on Earth. “100,000 Kryptonians come to Earth and say, cool this is New Krypton, and Superman’s like, ‘no it ain’t.’” said Johns.

The panel then turned towards the role of Supergirl in the upcoming stories. Gates expressed a desire to turn the book from a “B”-list title to a more marquee title. Igle said of Gates’ first issue, “I was surprised at how good his script was. I had to go back and read it twice.”

Johns went on to discuss the return of Cat Grant to the Superman titles and the relationship between her and Supergirl. He said that one of the first thing she would do is publish an article called “Why the World Doesn’t Need a Supergirl.” It was later revealed that this article would make up the first page of Gates’ run on Supergirl.

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SDCC: What if Grant Morrison Met Stan Lee?

News
July 25, 2008

stanlee-1939755 Here’s a bizarre bit of "Only in San Diego." Grant Morrison and Stan Lee agreed to partner on a new superhero… Let that soak in.

We’ll see if anything comes of the planned partnership, which came about during a panel featuring the two creators at which they discussed their work with Virgin comics. They also talked up some existing work, including Morrison’s MBX animated shorts. CBR reports:

After a short delay, the panel kicked off with a quick video — an electronic press kit prepared by Virgin — giving a glimpse of Grant Morrison’s "MBX." "MBX," a series of animated shorts, will launch online later this year, and the video showed some behind-the-scenes footage of the motion capture technology and even a glimpse of the characters in action. The characters, based on Hindu mythology but re-imagined by Morrison for the 21st century, fought robots on what looked like a post-apocalyptic landscape. With their energy bows and laser whips, the fierce combatants held off the mechanized swarm. …

Stan Lee, when asked what drew him back to writing comics, said it was "the idea of coming to Virgin and working with new artists on new projects. It’s like the early days at Marvel to dream up something brand new. It’s exciting and I can’t wait to get started."

Then Lee added, "of course — to compete with someone like this," referring to Morrison, "I wouldn’t have been so eager if I had known."

SDCC: Kevin Smith to do Batman miniseries

News
July 25, 2008

From today’s DC Nation panel at San Diego, Kai Connolly and Arthur Tebbel send the news that Kevin "Silent Bob" Smith will be doing a Batman five issue miniseries.

Titled "Cacophony", it features the return of the villian Onomatopoeia from Smith’s run on Green Arrow, as well as Deadshot, Joker, Mr. Zsasz, and will be drawn by Walt Flanagan. Those familiar with Smith’s View Askewniverse will recognize that name as Smith’s longtime friend, actor and character in his film, most notably as Walt Grover the Fanboy.

Noting Smith’s, shall we say, tardiness on certain comics projects, we’ve been told that solicitations won’t happen until scripts are in hand. Nevertheless, the firstissue is expected out in November.

And with Onomatopoeia as the villian, we can safely assume that somewhere in this Batman story, we will have lots of Pow! Biff! and Sock! action. Just when we thought we were done with all of that…

SDCC: ‘Agents of Atlas’ Returns

Uncategorized
July 25, 2008

For those who gave Jeff Parker’s Agents of Atlas miniseries a shot a couple years ago, it comes as great news out of San Diego that a new ongoing A of A series is on the way.

Parker and editor Mark Pannicia shared some dirt with CBR on the new series which will show up early in 2009.

Paniccia added. "’Weird turn of events’ is something readers should get used to with this book. Jeff’s got quite a few ‘Oh &%$@#!’ moments planned."

The "Agents of Atlas" may control a global empire, but their main base of operations is currently under a California city that’s quickly becoming a Mecca for Marvel heroes. "At the moment the Agents still work from the underground city below San Francisco. But the surface there just became the home to a lot of nosy mutants!" Parker explained. "So they may find it necessary to relocate soon to function without interference."

SDCC: Geek Chic Jumps the Shark?

News
July 25, 2008

comic_con_logo-3880763 There are no shortage of reminders of the lack of attention span in today’s culture, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise that there’s already some murmurings that "geek chick" has "jumped the shark." At the very least, those are two phrases that are well beyond cliché.

The Hollywood Reporter gives some thought to the sentiment that this year’s massive Comic-Con marks the moment the tide shifts away from all things nerdy, with the ominous mention that — gasp! — Paris Hilton is doing San Diego. (No, not the whole city.)

There is talk that despite the high numbers of conventiongoers, or maybe in spite of them, Comic-Con as a measure of geek cool may have reached a tipping point.

Critics are pointing to the scheduled appearances by tabloid mainstays Paris Hilton, who will join Thursday night’s panel for Lionsgate’s "Repo! The Genetic Opera" as well as host a party, and fellow party girl Kim Kardashian, who is supposed to hit DC Comics’ party Friday night before appearing at a "Disaster Movie" panel Saturday. When Comic-Con becomes fodder for the Us Weekly crowd, has the event nuked the fridge? Folks wonder.

"This may be the 2012 of Comic-Cons," said one comic writer-turned-screenwriter, referring to the year on the Mayan calendar that signals the end of the world.

Seriously, one "writer-turned-screenwriter" (whatever the hell that means) made an off the cuff remark and now the comic book renaissance is ending?

SDCC: BBC America Adds ‘Torchwood’ Season Three

News
July 25, 2008

I just got an e-mail from ComicMix‘s Chris Ullrich, who was sitting in on a panel at Comic-Con regarding the TV show Torchwood.

Chris has an update on the show that’s sure to be happy news for fans of Torchwood.

He writes:

I’m at the torchwood panel and they just announced season three was picked up by BBC America. Deal was done today.

As always, stay tuned to ComicMix for news from San Diego.

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