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Neal Adams and Modern Comics Movies

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

You know superheroes are dominating Hollywood when the movie trade Variety features an extended ode to Neal Adams.

The piece, which includes some quotes from Adams, stresses his role in bringing about more serious superhero comics, particularly on Batman, and how that has influenced superhero movies.

Major studios have mounted a corporate takeover of Comic-Con as a vehicle to promote movies and TV shows, but comicbook artists still receive rock star treatment at the San Diego event. And among those artists, none cast a larger shadow over the current cinematic renaissance than Neal Adams.

Teaming with writer Denny O’Neil in 1970, Adams transformed Batman from the "Biff! Bam! Pow!" camp associated with the 1960s TV show starring Adam West back into the sleek, brooding Dark Knight depicted onscreen for the past two decades. By doing so, they helped establish the serious-minded template that has informed the best superhero adaptations that followed.

And the best quote from Adams:

As rendered by Adams, Batman again became a night-shrouded creature and less a superhero than a grim vigilante — Sherlock Holmes with Olympic-quality athleticism. "Batman is the grittiest character in all of comics," Adams said. "This is an awfully real concept, so none of this wishy-washy shit would do."

‘Iron Man’ as Reading Instructor?

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

ironman-2686376Slate posted a slideshow/essay this morning about "early reader books," the works aimed at young kids with the idea of encouraging them to start reading (think Dr. Seuss).

That literary tradition has been taken up by adaptations of superhero movies, like Iron Man and Incredible Hulk, the essay notes, before questioning whether such works are good brain food.

There’s no denying that kids, especially little boys, love their superheroes, and the whole point of early readers is to get kids excited about reading. But do you really want the Hulk teaching your kid to read?

To which Hulk responded:

HULK READ GOOD!!!

(Oh, c’mon. I had to make that joke.)

Matt Fraction Doubles Up Movie Deals

  • Uncategorized
  • July 22, 2008

A big week for writer Matt Fraction, who’s just nabbed a couple deals to see his comics turned into movies.

He’s just inked a deal with producer Rick Alexander (MGM’s Adventures in the Land of Zametherea) and manager-producer Jeff Krelitz to turn two of his co-creations, Casanova and Last of the Independents, into movies. A major A-list actor is already mulling over the lead in Casanova, an adventure-caper about a thief-turned-spy, which Alexander promises will evolve into a "mega-budget, effects-intensive action spectacular." (He says he’s aiming to unleash the "spectacular" during the Fourth of July weekend 2010.) This is merely the first of what the producers hope will be a Bond-type franchise. Casanova "[will] live on but be played by a different actor each time out," says Krelitz, who notes that the duo will hire a scriptwriter only after securing a star and director. As for the swaggering bank-heist thriller Independent? It already has a screenwriter — that’d be newcomer Alex Litvak — so producers are currently shopping for a director with hopes of an early 2009 shoot.

ComicMix at San Diego Comic-Con 2008

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

San Diego Comic-Con 2008 kicks off Wednesday night in Southern California, and ComicMix will be on location, bringing you everything you need to know — and some things you might not realize you needed to know — about the people, places and geekery that make it one of the most anticipated (or in some cases, feared) events of the year for fans of comics and comics culture.

This year, the ComicMix team will be all over the show, providing you with all of the interviews, daily con reports, audio, video, blogging and photo galleries you’ve come to enjoy here. Our podcast team will be broadcasting each day of the show with special guests from the worlds of comics, TV and film, while the rest of our audio and video crew will be doing their best to capture the people, panels and general vibe of the show for ComicMix readers. If you’re looking to connect some faces with ComicMix names, be sure to check out our official Meet & Greet Schedule at Booth #2308.

Throughout the show, we’ll be updating our San Diego Comic-Con 2008 News Archive with links to every Comic-Con story we post, and if all goes as planned, there should also be a fancy button on the right side of the homepage for quick access to Comic-Con news.

Keep in mind that you can also follow all of our updates on the official ComicMix Twitter Feed, as well as ComicMix on Friendfeed.

Christian Bale Arrested For Assault

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

christian-bale-the-dark-knight-00-4851559The Envelope of the Los Angeles Times has reported that actor Christian Bale is alleged to have assaulted his mother and sister. Despite these allegations, he was allowed to attend the London premiere of The Dark Knight, after which he turned himself in to the police.

The alleged incident was believed to have taken place on Sunday night at Park Lane’s Dorchester Hotel in London where Bale is staying.

Bale’s mother, Jenny, 61, and sister Sharon, 40, are said to have gone to a police station in Hampshire to make the allegation, which was subsequently referred to the Metropolitan Police.

The full story can be found here.

ComicMix Radio: Battlestar Galactica Heads Back To SciFi


The next time someone asks you “When is Battlestar coming back?” you have an answer and we give it to you here, plus:

  • Two Final Crisis sell outs
  • Len Wein joins Bloodfire
  • Lots of new comics and DVDs all hit the stores

And remember, ComicMix Radio will be broadcasting direct from the floor of ComicCon 2008 starting tomorrow night (Wednesday) for Preview Night. We will have extended broadcasts every day right through Sunday, and to join us all you have to do is Press the Button!

Don’t forget you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-2246862 or RSS!

 

Review: ‘Bluesman’ by Vollmar & Callejo

Bluesman
By Rob Vollmar and Pablo G. Callejo
NBM, August 2008, $24.95

[[[Bluesman]]] was published once before, as three album-sized collections, but this is the first time the entire story has been collected between two covers. It’s a moody tale, told in black and white – but mostly in grays, from the background to the characters.

Lem Taylor is a blues guitarist, wandering through the rural Mississippi Delta in the late ‘20s, hungry and foot-sore. With him is a blues pianist, Ironwood Malcott, and together they make some excellent music. But that doesn’t put food in their bellies half the time, let alone a roof over the heads and a bed at night more than every so often.

As the book begins, their luck is beginning to look up: they get a decent gig at a popular juke house called Shug’s and are invited up to Memphis to record some sides by J.L. Dougherty, a traveling salesman who also acts as a talent scout.

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Barry Blitt’s Other New Yorker Covers

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

newyorker-00-7663838There’s been quite the hub-bub over artist Barry Blitt’s recent New Yorker cover featuring presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed in traditional Muslim garb and surrounded by various jingo-tastic symbols in the Oval Office, and you can catch up on some of the debate via ComicMix Editor-in-Chief Mike Gold’s recent column, "We Will Think For You."

However, ComicMix reader Simon Owens recently posted a pair of past New Yorker covers created by Blitt that might be of interest to anyone following this story, too.

In all the news coverage over the controversial New Yorker cover depicting the Obamas as terrorist extremists, I haven’t seen many mentions of other works by Barry Blitt, the artist of that cover. Two of his covers last year — which I’m posting below — were among the best the magazine has featured in years.

This first one had every political cartoonist in America smacking his head, saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Thanks for the tip, Simon!

Interview: David Willis on “Shortpacked”

  • Uncategorized
  • July 22, 2008

spcast2-00-2452903As the opening day of San Diego Comic-Con International looms ever closer, it seems only right to turn the spotlight on a webcomic that draws from the world of comic books and toy collecting — the often-overlapping fan cultures that have long provided the backbone of the comic convention scene. With that in mind, this week’s interview subject is David Willis, the author of one of the toy scene’s most popular webcomics, Shortpacked!

Since ending his celebrated series It’s Walky! in 2005 and turning his full attention to Shortpacked, Willis has managed to elevate his semi-autobiographical account of the lives of toy store employees to a prominent role in collectible toy culture  — so much so, in fact, that Willis currently produces both the original, ongoing Shortpacked series and a special version of the comic for Toy News International, one of the most popular toy news sites on the ‘Net.

While much of the series chronicles the oddball cast of characters who work at the toy shop where the series’ main character, Ethan, earns a paycheck, the series often detours into commentary on superhero culture, contradictions and fandom, and rarely shies away from poking fun at the fan culture it calls its own.

I spoke with Willis about the origins of Shortpacked, his decision to "pull the drama tag" in the series, and what toys are on his must-buy list for this year’s Comic-Con.

COMICMIX: Can you tell me a bit about the reason you started Shortpacked? I know it started out semi-autobiographical, but what elements of your life at the time inspired you to run with Shortpacked and end It’s Walky!, your previous series?

DAVID WILLIS: It’s Walky! was coming to its natural end, and I wanted to try something different. I’ve collected toys for most of my life, but what really spawned Shortpacked! was working for a few years at Toys "R" Us. So much of retail work is spoofable. Laugh at the "Customer Protection Rackets" in Shortpacked! all you want, but they’re real. They’re just called something slightly nicer.

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Getting Respect, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

dark_knight_onesheet-795949-7861483Well, it is certainly a superheroic weekend here in New York, and maybe where you are, too. The latest Batman flick has already set one box office record and who knows what others it may yet conquer? The second Hellboy movie is still kicking box office butt. And a while ago, I was paging through the Arts and Leisure section of my Sunday New York Times when I saw a familiar face staring up at me from a photo: my old colleague Frank Miller, grim and determined looking. The accompanying story was about Frank’s writing and directing of The Spirit movie, based on work by yet another old friend, the late Will Eisner, produced by yet another old friend, Michael Uslan. (Good heavens! Whom don’t I know?)

Last week, the loyalists among you, if any, will remember that I strongly recommended a book titled The Ten Cent Plague, by David Hajdu. Since then, I’ve recommended it in conversation a couple of times, and may do so again. Damn good book. One of the points Hajdu makes is that comics were the outsider’s medium: the first bunch of creators and promoters were primarily Jewish, guys who had trouble getting work elsewhere. This is one of the reasons the Establishment may have felt threatened by the four-color trash sprouting from the newsstands like crab grass on a lawn; these were not their kind of people and who knows what kind of anarchy these grubbies might promote, given the opportunity? Decent folk practically had an obligation to put them in their place!

When I entered comics, about a quarter century into their history, the field was still dominated by outsiders, or anyway at least ex-outsiders. As for my cohorts… maybe one of the writers who came into comics at about the same time after I slithered in may have been destined for a respectable career in respectable institutions among respectable citizens, but the rest of us were hippie-rebel, anti-establishment types. If that hadn’t been true, why were we there? Comics publishing didn’t have an established career path, there didn’t seem to be really serious money to be made, at least at the editorial level, and Lord knows we weren’t reputable; only a decade or so earlier, our chosen endeavor had been crucified in magazines and on editorial pages and even in congressional hearings. We weren’t exactly bracketed with axe murderers, but you probably wouldn’t want your daughter marrying one of us.

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