During a late-afternoon panel at Wizard World Chicago, Devil’s Due Publishing announced today that it would be producing a Vampire Hunter D miniseries (titled “American Wasteland”) based on the popular anime/manga character. While the full creative team, length of the series and release date haven’t been finalized, DDP president Josh Blaylock will be serving as co-writer for the series, with new DDP staffer Jim Demonakos serving as editor.

I spoke with Blaylock about the project earlier today.

COMICMIX: So why did you target the Vampire Hunter D property?

JOSH BLAYLOCK: I think there’s something cool about him that transcends. It has a very hardcore fan following who are very faithful to the manga and the anime. In the ’80s there were only a few anime you could get ahold of, especially edgy animation. As a comic book fan, you craved that type of content but there was only so much you could get. There was Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the North Star… and D was this crazy, short cut-and-dry story that I got into way back when. It just seemed like it would be a lot of fun to do a Westernized take on him. I’m not talking about changing the look of the character drastically or anything like that, though.

CMix: What do you mean by “westernizing” the character?

JB: It has to do more with the art style more than anything else.

CMix: So will it be following the traditional format of manga with regard to reading direction and such?

JB: No, it will be done in the standard, Americanized style. I think it’s the kind of thing casual comic book fans who still follow manga titles still have a lot of interest in, because there’s a wider love for Vampire Hunter D than people seem to have for a lot of other manga titles. But we want to stay true to the character enough so that the hardcore fans will still still have an interest in the story, too.

CMix: what can you say about the story?

JB: The ink is just dry on this deal, but it’s along the lines of a typical D story: Lone wanderer winds up having to help some people, and so on. It’s very “Conan the Barbarian”… that sort of thing.

CMix: How closely are you going to work with Vampire Hunter D creator Hideyuki Kikuchi?

JB: Well, with Digital Manga Productions, we had been talking to them about doing some things for a while, and that was one of the properties we thought would be cool to do something with. I just threw the idea at them, and expected the creator to be a lot more protective of it, but he was all about it and wanted to go forward with it. Apparently, he loves to see the character played with and to see new things happen to him.

Previously on ComicMix, we brought you a photo gallery showcasing some of the “flavor” of the Wizard World Chicago show.

This time around, the gallery features some of the great costumes worn by fanboys and fangirls as well as some of the more “exotic” staff at the various booths. Heck, there’s even one or two celebrities in there just to spice things up a bit more.

As always, be sure to check back right here at ComicMix all weekend for new galleries from the show.  (more…)

I would like to take credit for getting Sony’s DC Universe Online to move forward back when I posted about the job opening at the development house responsible for the game. I would like to imagine that a ComicMix reader swooped in and kicked the project into high gear. I would like that, indeed.

But the reality is that the upcoming PlayStation 3 and PC MMO game was coming along just fine without my help. As evidenced by Jim Lee talking the project up with U.K. publication Edge magazine. Since I don’t live in the U.K., we have to give the Eurogamer.net website thanks for posting the details for the rest of the world.

Superstar comic artist and DCUO executive creative director Jim Lee described the game as "kick-ass hybrid between a traditional MMO and a first-person action console game". Instead of stepping into the role of Batman or Wonder Woman, you’ll create your own hero that will interact with the DC superheroes. Imagine foiling a plot by Lex Luthor to kill Superman. Or finding Green Lantern’s lost power battery. Or you could be a villain and fight the Justice League.

As for "realms," in the vernacular of MMOs, expect to play in Metropolis or Gotham City. Other locations may be announced down the road.

Player-on-player combat will be limited to arenas but can evolve into boss battles. That works quite nicely with comic book traditions. Two heroes fight due to a misunderstanding, then team-up against a common foe.

Speaking of crossovers, expect some to occur between the game and the comics.

"We can tie-in future DC tentpole events and translate the stories for the gaming world, and have them occur simultaneously," said Lee. "The possibilities are numerous and very exciting."

What would be more exciting is if Sony Online Entertainment decides to release some images next month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Stay tuned.

About a year ago, I wrote about The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Wisdom and Wit in the Wild West. A series of short stories inspired by Jewish folklore and set in the Old West, the book was charming, light and funny – a great way to introduce young children (and their grandparents) to graphic storytelling.

Now, artist/writer Steve Sheinkin has created a sequel, Rabbi Harvey Rides Again: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Folktales Let Loose in the Wild West. It’s an unusual book. There are plenty of disagreements, but no fighting. The most action takes place on a baseball field. The women can be differentiated from the men, not by their massive cleavage, but by their lack of beards … and occasional dresses.

So why do you want to read it? Or, more precisely, why do you want to read it if you are neither a young child nor a grandparent? What if you aren’t Jewish?

Don’t worry. Rabbi Harvey, although a rabbi, does not proselytize, nor does he spend much time in his synagogue. He’s the kind of rabbi Andy Griffin would play, if he played a rabbi instead of a sheriff in Mayberry. This isn’t surprising when one considers who created the show and its characters.

The art style is not in the least bit sophisticated. There isn’t a lot of detail in the drawing, nor perspective. Heads seem to be a bit large, and shoulders are small. Most people are about the same height. The effect is actually quite charming, working well with the gentle intelligence of the stories. (more…)