The Mix : What are people talking about today?

Overheard at San Diego 2008, part 2

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2008

Continuing our shameless eavesdropping, ComicMix presents the stuff that you missed while you were trying to get into the party last night…

"Alfred is the new Batman."
—overheard at the DC Nation panel

"Steven Moffat and Neil Gaiman are ‘going on a date’."
—from somewhere around Hall H, further speculation that Neil may write an episode of Doctor Who

"What happened to me? What happened to my life? I used to have a career…"
—artist who was real big in the 90’s

"I’ve only heard blissful things this year. Everything is going fine."
—Bill Willingham

me-and-the-devil-blues-6413812

Manga Friday: ‘Me and the Devil Blues’

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2008

me-and-the-devil-blues-6413812It’s unofficially been Blues & Jazz week here in my reviews – and, if you’re wondering how Erotic Comics fit in there, you don’t know what the word “Jazz” means. So, for Manga Friday, here’s the first book in a series that retells the life of blues legend Robert Johnson from a very different perspective.

Me and the Devil Blues, Vol. 1
By Akira Hiaramoto
Del Rey Manga, July 2008, $19.95

If you know anything about Robert Johnson – the archetypal bluesman, who came out of nowhere to record 24 songs and then die young – it’s that he sold his soul to the devil, one night at a Mississippi crossroads, to get his amazing ability to play and sing. Is it true? Well, it’s a damn good story, and that’s what matters most.

Speaking of damn good stories, Akira Hiramoto weaves one here, drawing from the legends and few known facts of Johnson’s life and bringing in careful research on the rural Mississippi of the ‘30s, plus his own speculation and fiction. In a life as full of holes and mysteries as Johnson’s, the only way to tell a story is to make it up.

Hiramoto starts his story in 1929 with a young man called RJ, who works on a plantation, dreams of becoming a bluesman (though he’s not very good at singing or guitar playing), is harried by his domineering sister Bessie, and loved by his pregnant wife Virginia. He sneaks off to the local juke joint just about every night, to drink, talk with his friends, and hear the blues. He keeps trying to play, but never gets far – he really is lousy. The traveling bluesman Son House tries to explain to RJ what the blues is, but RJ doesn’t quite get it.

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SDCC: Fox’s Special ‘Wolverine’ Surprise

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

jackman-3662401Fans already had seen quite a lot at Twentieth Century Fox’s Comic-Con panel — getting early peeks and cast Q&As from The Day the Earth Stood Still and Max Payne — when they got quite a surprise from a man with wicked sideburns.

Fresh off a plane from Australia, Hugh Jackman snuck in to announce that shooting had just wrapped on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and to unveil a clip from the movie. Newsarama has the details, including the big reveal that Gambit will show up in the film.

“I’ve been waiting to bring Wolverine to Comic-Con for years,” Jackman said. “I owe you guys my career.” He pointed out that the three X-Men movies never did huge presentations at SDCC for one reason or another and said there was no way he would miss it this time around.

Jackman then earned huge points with the gathering by not only lavishing praise on Wolverine co-creator Len Wein, and then ran offstage to shake Wein’s hand, who was sitting up front. Is it any wonder fanboys love this guy?

Jackman told Wein “thank you for creating this character. It made my career,” he said.

The Aussie actor talked about the film being action-packed and bad ass, and said to expect ‘lots of berserker rage in this one.’
 

SDCC: Stephen King and Marvel Make Video Comics

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Hot on the heels of announcements of the pseudo-animated versions of DC’s Watchmen and Image’s Invincible, the Wall Street Journal breaks early word that Marvel will join that game with an adaptation of an unpublished Stephen King short story.

Marvel’s announcement probably will come today. The story, N, will be available in 25 installments starting next week, available for download on iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere.

It’s sort of a tie-in promotion for King’s new book of stories, including N, from publisher Scribner. And no one’s sure what to expect:

For Scribner, the venture is a shot in the dark. There’s no way of forecasting how well the videos will translate into book sales. While Scribner’s corporate sibling, CBS Mobile, cites Nielsen data showing that roughly 14 million cellphone users in the U.S. pay for video services, it doesn’t know how many of those people are regular book buyers. However, the links from the videos to the NisHere.com pre-ordering Web site will allow Scribner to get a sense of how many sales result from video viewings.

Mr. King is optimistic about the video’s prospects. "I think they’re readers," he says of likely video viewers. But he admits that the venture is "something of a test" whose outcome isn’t certain.

 

SDCC: Radical Making Movie News

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Comics and movies meet at Comic-Con, and this year Radical appears to be the most forward gal at the dance, so to speak.

The relatively new publishing company announced recently that a film version of its Old West action series Caliber is headed to screens with John Woo attached to direct. In balmy San Diego, they’ve announced another three series getting development deals.

The company has also made deals for Hercules: The Thracian Wars and the mecha book Freedom Formula. Blog@ notes:

Radical Publishing is introducing the five-issue series this week at Comic-Con, and will release the first issue in August. …

The comic, created by Edmund Shern, is set in a future in which racing exo-suits have replaced fighter jets. The story centers on Zee, a genetically engineered racer who transforms himself into the hero of a dying city.

SDCC Interview: Producer Gale Anne Hurd Talks ‘Punisher: War Zone’

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Producer Gale Anne Hurd has been involved with some of the most successful and exciting sci-fi and action films of all time. From the original Terminator through Aliens, Terminator 2, Armageddon and the recent Hulk, Hurd continues to deliver successful, entertaining and action-packed films over and over again. And her career is showing no signs of slowing down.

Recently, Hurd is readying yet another comic book adaptation for the big screen — a new new film called Punisher: War Zone which is, of course, based on the very popular Punisher comic. I caught up with Hurd at the San Diego Comic-Con to talk a bit about the new film, its dark, violent nature and why she thought a woman was the perfect choice to direct it.

COMICMIX: Hi Gale, thanks for talking to me. Let’s get right to it. Is Punisher: War Zone a sequel, a reboot or. . . ?

GALE ANNE HURD: its a reboot. We wanted to really go back to the origin but this isn’t an origin story in the way that we did it with hulk and take the origin of the punisher from the comic and we have that set up in flashbacks. So in the film we have Frank Castle set up on his mission of vengeance to punish the guilty.

iIs very much a MAX series. It’s a pedal to the metal, violent, tough hard-core film and it takes place in New York. We knew the heavy-duty fans were disappointed that the earlier film took place in Tampa.

For this movie we wanted to go back to the essence of the character, the locations, the other characters and the world and make it much closer to the comics.

CMix: Was it difficult decision to go back and reboot the franchise? Why did you do it? Did the first film not do well? (more…)

Watchmen Comic Gets Animated on iTunes

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

Creators have been struggling with how to bring comics into the digital age: CD-ROMs, subscription based services like Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, or for free on the web like ComicMix.

A full-page ad in the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine gave readers a link to download the premiere episode of Watchmen Motion Comics for free on iTunes. Motion Comics is Warner Premiere’s new videos of comic books animated with full audio.

In many ways, it’s like those old Marvel cartoons where they took comic art and moved mouths and use limited animation to move cut-out pieces of art. But this time, they’re using modern digital manipulation technologies. The effect is weird, but it works. It’s Dave Gibbons’ art, but it’s moving.
 

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.

ludacris1-2998066

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

  • News
  • July 25, 2008

ludacris1-2998066It’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.

(more…)

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