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The Dark Knight Project

  • News
  • July 20, 2008

What do you do when you desperately want to make a Batman movie, except you have little film-making experience and Warner Bros. doesn’t know you exist?

Well, you just go right ahead and make a Batman movie. At least that’s the thought of Jerry Vasilatos, a Chicago director. He decided to create The Dark Knight Project, essentially a fan movie set between the two new Batman films.

The story follows some Gotham students who try to get video footage of their city’s new vigilante. The expected trouble ensues, as Joker’s gang starts to cause problems.

You can watch the film right here. You can also read quite a bit on the background of the project at Vasilatos’ blog, which is right here.

That "other" Batman movie opened this weekend.

(via Doomkopf)

Native Americans in Comic Books

  • News
  • July 20, 2008

Michael Sheyahshe has a new book that features interviews with ComicMix creators Tim Truman and John Ostrander and explores the role of Native Americans in comics.

According to the website for the book:

Native Americans in Comic Books, published by McFarland Publishing, is a unique study and critique of the way in which we Indigenous people are represented in the popular medium of comic books. This work takes an in-depth look at the world of comic books through the eyes of a Native American reader and offers frank commentary on the medium’s cultural representation.

 

Comic Books You Can Hear

  • News
  • July 20, 2008

You make no excuses that you’re a superhero fan. You buy your weekly stack of comics. You watch the blockbuster movies. You tune in to the TV shows. How can you possibly cram more superhero adventure in your life? Audiobooks. You can listen to comics while commuting, driving, or walking. (We’re not going to list exercising. We’re talking about fanboys here, after all.)

I just happened on GraphicAudio.net and figured it was worth mentioning here, as the company offers DC Comics based audio adventures and the tagline “A movie in your mind.” The recordings feature full cast, special effects, and musical score. They’re available as an audio CD, an MP3 CD, or as a digital download. They even adapt massive events like 52 and Infinite Crisis.

There are currently seven recordings available:

  • 52: Part 1
  • 52: Part 2
  • Batman: The Stone King
  • Infinite Crisis: Part 1
  • Infinite Crisis: Part 2
  • JLA: Exterminators
  • Superman: The Never Ending Battle

While I lightly mocked fans who buy these, I have to confess, I own the BBC audio adaptations of Batman: Knightfall and The Death and Life of Superman. And I loved them. Anyone know how to convert cassettes into MP3s?

Video: Batman Needs to Calm Down With the ‘Dark Knight’ Stuff

  • News
  • July 20, 2008

Leave it to the folks at Cracked.com to create a Dark Knight-inspired video that includes Jim Gordon telling Batman, "You’ve apprehended 13 people over the past week for loitering and 12 of them were hauled into the station with poop in their pants. Actual poop!"

And it just gets getter (or worse, depending on your perspective) from there:

 

Dan Abnett’s Top 10 Movies

  • Uncategorized
  • July 19, 2008

Just stumbled across this on the blog of writer Dan Abnett, who’s been doing a hellaciously good job on Nova and, to a slightly lesser extent, the new Guardians of the Galaxy.

Here are his top 10 favorite movies of all time, with a surprise atop the list:

1) Singin’ in the Rain
2) Casablanca
3) Some Like it Hot
4) This is Spinal Tap
5) A Matter of Life and Death
6) The Empire Strikes Back
7) A Canterbury Tale
8) One Million Years BC
9) Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
10) The Magnificent Seven

I can only wonder if that top choice had some influence on the cover of Nova #13 seen at right, wherein Richard Ryder and the Silver Surfer appear to be engaging in some intergalactic tango.

ComicMix Radio: Joss Whedon And The Origin Of Doctor Horrible

  • News
  • July 19, 2008

If you weren’t waiting to see a Batman screening this week, you were probably trying to download an episode of Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, and let’s face it, both were worth the wait. In a Comicmix Exclusive, Joss Whedon spills were it all started and how a little whim became an internet phenomenon plus:

  • Boom! gives it away
  • Bring comics back to Comic Con
  • Vertigo flips their sell-outs
     

So how long did it take you to start humming the songs from Doctor Horrible?  Wait until you  Press the Button!

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-5833042 or RSS!

 

Harvey Pekar’s Next-Door Neighbor

  • News
  • July 19, 2008

In the remote chance that you’ve foolishly passed up the opportunity to read the free online Next-Door Neighbor comics project at Smith magazine, here’s a reminder that Harvey Pekar’s contribution is up now.

The art — a page of which is posted below — is by Rick Veitch.

Spider-Man Musical Casting Call

  • News
  • July 19, 2008

Remember a year ago there we’re all these crazy news stories that producers were working on a Spider-Man Broadway musical? Julie Taymor directing. Music by Bono and the Edge from U2. A plot that revolves around a Spider Goddess. Yeah, that one.

Well, it looks like it’s going forward. Playbill reported that a reading of the story was scheduled to take place on July 12-13. And now an open casting call has been  announced for July 28 at New York City’s Knitting Factory. They’re auditioning three roles:

  • Peter Parker: male, age 16-20’s, great rock voice, nerdy with understated sex appeal and a good sense of humor.
  • Mary Jane: female, age 16-20’s, girl next door, strong pop/rock singing voice.
  • Spider Goddess: female, age 25-35, rock vocals. Sinead O’Connor-type with a Middle Eastern /Bulgarian/Greek/ twist. Foreign, world music types are great, foreign accents are great. All ethnicities will be considered.

Think you have what it takes? Bring headshot, resume, and sheet music of 16 bars of a pop/rock song that shows your range. For more info e-mail: spidermancasting [at] gmail [dot] com

Superheroes Boost Hat Sales

  • News
  • July 19, 2008

Back in the day, it was the cool thing to have a New Era cap of a sports team. I had one of the Chicago Bulls.

That trend has fallen off, though, and New Era is coming back by making an array of caps featuring not athletes but superheroes. The company previously had a deal with Marvel, but now they’re working with DC, as of this week.

Further evidence that comics is the "in" thing, I suppose.

Part of this latest comics push is connected to this weekend’s release of The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie. Over at New Era, they’re running a special promotion for the flick.

One can only wonder if people who jump on the superhero apparel bandwagon are also jumping into comics.

‘Dark Knight’ Sets Midnight Record

  • News
  • July 19, 2008

dark_knight_joker-8165829Extimators are already guessing at Dark Knight‘s opening take, figuring on an opening north of Iron Man‘s $100 million-plus first weekend in May. Variety reports:

Based on the enormity of tracking and advance ticket sales, “Dark Knight” has a shot at opening as high as “Dead Man’s Chest,” although anything over $100 million would be a big win. “Dead Man’s Chest” presently sports the second-best opening on record after that of “Spider-Man 3,” which nabbed $151.1 million over the May 4-6 weekend last year.

It’s off to an excellent start after the Thursday midnight opening. According to the main story on CNN.com, the film set a record for midnight openings.

The film already has the biggest midnight debut ever, with tracking firm Media By Numbers reporting “Dark Knight” made $18.5 million at its midnight showings alone. That breaks the record of $16.9 million held by “Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith.”

During a survey of people who buy tickets through Fandango.com, 38 percent of those who are working said they would be taking either some time or the day off to see the movie.

The movie was expected to be shown on 9,400 screens in a record-breaking 4,366 theaters for its opening, according to its studio, Warner Bros.

 

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