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Marvel Gets Smart, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • June 24, 2008

As I begin to type this, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, there are only 211 days left before someone else lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, near the Potomac. I tell you this, not because it has anything to do with what follows, but to perhaps lend a note of cheer to your hour.

Now then:

I didn’t stay through all of the Iron Man flick’s end credits, but I should have because my friend Ken Pisani told me that Samuel L. Jackson has a brief scene in which, in the persona of Nick Fury, he reveals to Robert Downey’s Tony Stark that he represents an organization called, in acronym-crazed Sixties fashion, S.H.I.E.L.D. Dissected, that meant Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law Enforcement Division when the organization first appeared in 1965. It was later changed to stand for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate, which was probably more au courant, but is no less a mouthful.

It is a nifty coincidence, but no more than a coincidence, that S.H.I.E.L.D. makes a big screen appearance at about the time as another espionage-themed entertainment with roots in the spy-mad decade of peace and love, Get Smart, gets into the malls.

It is not a coincidence that the current tv promos for another popcorn movie, The Incredible Hulk, tells us that Marvel has done it again, thus making a solid connection between theaters and comic shops. So, we don’t go to the multiplex to see a superhero movie, we go to see a Marvel superhero movie. This is called “branding” and it means, as I understand it, the identification of a group of products as a single, collective entity. You, fashionista that you are, don’t buy a suit, you buy a Brooks Brothers suit because the Brooks Brothers label guarantees a certain level of quality and a certain approach to the creation of clothing. (And aren’t you a bit young to be dressing so conservatively?)

(more…)

Heroes Con: Elsewhere On The Grid

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

Ah, convention season… when the wind-down from one show overlaps with the preparation for the next.

In case you missed our two-part report on last weekend’s Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, Van Jensen provided ComicMix readers with a great summary of all the important happenings from the the convention, including some interesting thoughts on DC’s dilemma from the publisher’s rumor-plagued Executive Editor, Dan DiDio, as well as the unfortunate overshadowing of the sizeable small-press crowd.

There are some great roundups of the show to be found elsewhere on the ‘Tubes, too. Here are a few links to checkout if you want to read up on the show a bit more:

The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald has a great wrap-up of Heroes Con: Day Two, including a few more quotes related to all of the DiDio madness that has swept the industry press.

DiDio described DC’s audience as a “collector market” but defended DC’s use of character deaths and upheavals at the same time by saying these plot devices always new for some one.

(more…)

Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #8 – Silence in the Library

The hit BBC series Doctor Who is now in its fourth season on the Sci-Fi Channel, and since we’re all big fans here at ComicMix, we’ve decided to kick off an episode-by-episode analysis of the reinvigorated science-fiction classic.

Every week, I’ll do my best to go through the most recent episode with a fine-tooth comb (or whatever the "sonic screwdriver" equivalent might be) and call out the highlights, low points, continuity checks and storyline hints I can find to keep in mind for future episodes. I’ll post the review each Monday, so you have ample time to check out the episode once it airs each Friday at 9 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel before I spoil anything.

Missed a week? Check out the "Doctor Who in Review" archive or check out any of the past editions of this column via the links at the end of this article.

Keep in mind, I’m going to assume readers have already watched the episode when I put fingers to keyboard and come up with the roundup of important plot points. In other words, SPOILER ALERT!

Let’s begin now, shall we?

Season Four, Episode #8: "Silence in the Library" (more…)

Happy Birthday: Frank Bolle

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

Born in 1924 in New York City, Frank Bolle grew up doodling. He went to the High School of Music and Art and then served in the Air Force from 1943 to 1946.

After the war Bolle attended Pratt Institute and began looking for work—his first job in comics was in 1948 and he has been working in the industry ever since. He illustrated westerns like Black Phantom, Tim Holt, and Redmask for Magazine Enterprises; worked on Sherlock Holmes, The Lone Ranger, and other adventure stories for Western Publishing; drew several strips and covers for Boys’ Life; and did Doctor Solar, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and others for Gold Key Comics.

In 1982 Bolle joined Stan Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones comic strip, which he drew for seventeen years—Bolle also drew the Winnie Winkle comic for twenty. He is still drawing Apartment 3-G, which he took over in 1999.

Bolle has won three Graumbacher Gold Medallion Awards for his oils and watercolors. In 2003 he was awarded the Inkpot Award for lifetime achievement.

 

‘Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy’ Report – The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

The Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art set aside Sunday, June 22, for a day of panel discussions about superheroes, the people who create them, and what they wear.

In promoting the event on their website, the Museum took the unusual step of admonishing visitors as follows: "Please note that visitors in costume will not be admitted to the Museum."

They don’t tell that to people who attend lectures on the Egyptian collection.

ComicMix was able to attend two of the afternoon programs. The first, "Designing Superhero Costumes," was a conversation with Alex Ross and John Cassaday. It was moderated by Stanford W. Carpenter, assistant professor at the University of Chicago. He divided the talk into three sections: 1) Designing for characters with an established history; 2) Designing for referential characters; and 3) Captain America, a character for whom both artists have designed.

Ross described his process as photorealistic, working from live models. "I draw better when I’m looking at something," he said. To provide a sense of realism to how clothing would look on a body, he had a Superman costume built for his model. He now has a collection of several costumes.

Cassaday described how his aunt had given him a book on Batman from the 1930s to the 1970s when he was four years old. As a result, he became a fan of several different eras of Bat costumes. He used this affection in a Planetary story, one that paid special homage to Adam West. (more…)

Review: ‘MuZz, Vol. 1’ by FSc

MuZz, Vol. 1
By FSc (Foo Swee Chin)
SLG Publishing, May 2008, $14.95

There’s a train that runs to MuZz – or, at least, it’s supposed to – carrying ideas and thoughts whose creators have lost interest in them. They’re all pretty odd and motley, as you might expect: a black whale, a phantom cat, and things I couldn’t even begin to describe.

But, on this particular train, there’s also a figure that looks like a teenage girl missing an eye. She’s Modorelin Farllee, she’s an actual human, and she’s not even dead. (Well, I don’t think she’s dead, but I don’t want to be too definite about any plot points concerning [[[MuZz]]].)

Farllee remembers nothing of her past, and wakes up on the train in such a frantic, grouchy mood that she shakes her elf guide to death and has to rely on the standard pamphlet and the advice of her fellow passengers to figure out what’s going on.

And so she quickly learns what I’ve just told you – she doesn’t believe that she’s actually a figment of someone else’s imagination, but she can’t prove that, and drops the subject. None of them are precisely sure what will happen to them in MuZz, but, for nearly all of them, it has to be better than their previous lives.

(more…)

‘Spider-Man: Web of Shadows’ Combat Trailer

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

Back in April, ComicMix gave you the first details on the next Spider-Man videogame, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Many of the details were hush-hush at the time, but since then we’ve learned that the story revolves around Venom invading New York City with an army of symbiotes.

Now for the first time, publisher Activision and developer Shaba Games have pulled back the curtain on what the actual game looks like. The team explains they wanted to improve combat in Spider-Man games and integrate it more with the web-slinging for more aerial combat maneuvers. See the footage for yourself below.

Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is scheduled to be released in late 2008 for the Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360.

 

K9 To Receive New Look and ‘Doctor Who’ Spin-Off Series

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

k9-4214962Confirming rumors regarding the new spin-off series for K9, the much-loved robotic dog from Doctor Who, recent reports indicate that filming for the series will begin next month in Australia.

Bob Baker, who originally co-created K9, will write for the 26-part series, which will combine live action with computer-generated imaging for the half-hour episodes. There is no scheduled date for the series to begin airing.

Images of K9’s new look were also released, showcasing the redesign Baker gave the popular character.

For more details, visit GallifreyOne.

 

Countdown Breakdown: An Illustrated Guide to DC’s ‘Final Crisis’ – Part 1

  • Uncategorized
  • June 23, 2008

kistler-countdown-breakdown-01-200-3553344Hello there, folks. So the first issue of DC’s latest mega-event, Final Crisis, hit shelves last month and the second issue is out this week. The series features a story by one of the greatest writers in the industry, Grant Morrison, as well as one of the best artists in comics these days, J.G. Jones.

So far it’s a great read, in my opinion, and fairly accessible to anyone who doesn’t mind waiting for all of the answers to the questions it raises.

Still, some of you might be wondering, "Should I have read Countdown and the various other miniseries that were intended to lead up to this mega-event?"

Well, maybe you already know about Anthro, the first human of the DC Earth. And maybe you’re aware of Kamandi, the blonde-haired teen who lives in a possible future where he is the last human boy on an Earth ruled by animals. But what about this "war in heaven" that folks are talking about?

And what’s this about a parallel Earth being destroyed?

Well, look no further! I’m here to give you a recap of some of the major Crisis-related happenings over this past year to get you caught up to speed.

(more…)

George Carlin: Death and Coincidence

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

This editorial cartoon was published in the Cincinnati Enquirer, before word of George Carlin’s death.

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I know this is a somewhat different definition of the word "comic" than we usually address here on ComicMix, but Carlin did much – perhaps more than anybody else – to mold and shape our attitudes over the past 40 years. He will be greatly missed.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to the Chicago Tribune’s Charlie Meyerson. His paper also published this cartoon before news of Carlin’s death.

And no, I won’t say "passing." Carlin hated such euphemisms. 

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