The Mix : What are people talking about today?

12 Overlooked Comics in 12 Years

  • News
  • June 27, 2008

Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter has always been great at introducing me to comics I might never have been aware of were it not for his recommendation, so I was particularly intrigued by his recent list of the "Twelve Mostly Overlooked Comics Published In The Last Twelve Or So Years."

While the list includes quite a few small-press titles that flew under my radar and seem well worth the time to hunt down, Spurgeon also has some kind words for a title with ties to a certain comics-to-film blockbuster:

Maybe the craziest Marvel book ever, US War Machine is emblematic of that brief time in mainstream American comics when it seemed like a terrific idea for the major property-owning players to mess around with its second-tier characters by marching them through the violence, language and sexual implication wringer common to a TV show on HBO or Showtime.

But the title that really caught my eye was the Motofumi Kobayashi manga Apocalypse Meow:

It’s like The Boys From Company C as played by the Muppets, only you keep waiting for a musical number that never arrives and Fozzy Bear gets capped before they get off the boat. Apocalypse Meow (its original title was the even better Cat Shit One) exudes loopy qualities from every pore in a way that makes it a time capsule of its historical moment, when translated manga seemed poised to take over the comics world no matter what the hell might be happening on the page.

Consider me sold.

Head over to The Comics Reporter for the rest of Spurgeon’s list.

MTV Spotlights Comics Based on Videogames

  • News
  • June 27, 2008

Once or twice I’ve written about all the comics that were based on videogames. But I’m relieved to find I’m not the nerdiest comic gamer out there. Tracey John at the MTV Multiplayer blog has posted an amazingly comprehensive list of every videogame that has been ported over to comic books.

There’s the sweet kids’ comics from our youths, like Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as upcoming ones like Gears of War. There’s even the ridiculously infamous Doom comic.

But wait! They left off Mercenaries (with a Mike Turner cover, no less) from Dynamite Entertainment and the upcoming Brothers in Arms. Also conspicuously absent are the Capcom comics Bionic Commando and Lost Planet from Devil’s Due Publishing that were announced here on ComicMix.

I guess my nerd crown is safe… for now.

Free Incredible Hulk/Wanted DVD at Best Buy

  • News
  • June 27, 2008

If seeing The Incredible Hulk movie made you nostalgic for the old television series and you can barely contain your excitement about today’s premiere of Wanted, then rush on down to Best Buy retail stores for a free promotional DVD tied to the two films. Sure, it’s a bunch of trailers and commercials, but there is also some neat behind-the-scenes stuff — as well as a special bonus for older Hulk fans.

And did we mention it’s free?

For Wanted you get:

  • Teaser Trailer
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • "Behind the Scenes of the Viper Chase"
  • A Set Tour Featuring Common

The Incredible Hulk promos are:

  • "A Look Inside"
  • Teaser Trailer
  • Exclusive Teaser Trailer "Awaken"
  • "The Beast Within: The Making of The Incredible Hulk Video Game"
  • The Making of the Hulk Smash! Toy Commercial
  • The Incredible Hulk: Season 5 Premiere "The Phenom"

Yes, it’s that last one that’s truly incredible: a full episode of the classic TV show! And the episode is a hoot, believe me. After hitching a ride with a promising baseball pitcher, David Banner (Bill Bixby) has to save him from unscrupulous baseball managers. Lou Ferrigno hulks out on a baseball field. The startled players pelt him with baseballs. What does the Hulk do in response? He picks up a baseball bat and starts knocking them out of the park!

Oh, and The Hulk also battles a man in a chicken outfit. The ’70s were awesome.

What Happens In Vegas… Sucks, by Michael Davis

  • News
  • June 27, 2008

What many of my readers don’t know is – I’m an artist, trained at some of the finest art schools in the country. I’m also an educator, having written curricula for an art school and created reading programs for high interest low-level students grades four to six. I have quite a few proclamations from various cities for my educational work and my mentor program. I even have part of a school campus named after me.

I’m not telling you this to impress you, but to impress upon you that I know a wee bit about the arts.

Education and training aside, I belong to the “I know what I like club.” I truly believe that art is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t care how big the artist is, I’m not jumping on the bandwagon because his or her last painting sold for a zillion dollars. As an example, take the artist David Hockney. I don’t like his work but I respect the career he has built for himself.

I also think that Thomas Kinkade is the luckiest man on earth. I much prefer and miss Bob Ross and his “happy little trees.” For my money, his “happy little trees” pimp slap anything done by either Hockney or Kinkade. That may be because I just liked him as a man and that translated into why I like his work so much. Truth be told, his work was more of a gimmick – but I don’t care: I like what I like. Hockney or Kinkade are huge successes and deserve to be. They create the art and let it speak for itself. Critics love it or hate it, people buy it or they don’t. (more…)

‘Diesel Sweeties’ Opts Out of Print Syndication

  • News
  • June 26, 2008

When Rich Stevens announced that his popular webcomic Diesel Sweeties was entering into a significant print syndication deal more than a year go, it was big — no, huge — news for webcomic creators and the online publishing scene as a whole. Last night’s announcement by Stevens that he was ending print syndication of Diesel Sweeties in mid-August might be even bigger news.

The situation, according to Stevens:

As of mid-August, DS is ending its run in newspapers and going back to being web-only! Why? Because I’m an optimist, I opted out.

In the meantime, long story short: This is my decision, I wasn’t fired, I don’t regret it and I’m not gonna blame anyone. No dissing Garfield. I am “crazy amounts of” looking forward to being my own CEO again. There will be nary a bump in schedule for the main webcomic.

While the statement Stevens posted on the DS website offers up a general idea of why he made the decision, his interview with Gary Tyrrell over at Fleen gets down to the details of the situation, including some thoughts on the difficulty for any new comic — no matter how popular — to get its foot in the newspaper door.

Overall, I think about 50 papers ran DS at one point or another. Some loved it, some hated, some didn’t care. It was a pretty respectable launch, especially in a down newspaper market. If I had no other creative outlet, I’d have stuck around. That’s a hell of a lot of people, even if they’re generally less interested than a web reader.
. . .

It’s natural in these things for us geeks to spring on the “Evil Syndicate“, but I don’t blame ‘em for anything. They can’t force editors to dump 80-year-old comics and they can’t legally kill all the rabid Snuffy Smith fans who would set the world ablaze if he ever left print.

I’m not saying they aren’t working on ways to kill these people, but I don’t think radioactive nanodagger ink is ready for prime time yet.

Given the status of DS as one of the most popular webcomics on the ‘Net, the question is whether Stevens’ decision to "opt out" of what was a significant print syndication deal in favor of online distribution says more about the current publishing environment in the print world or in the online scene.

Be sure to check out the full interview with Rich Stevens over on Fleen.

Review: This Week in ‘Trinity’ – Part 4

We’re up to week five of DC’s big weekly event, and I regret to inform you that I’ve already caught myself thinking "same old, same old."

What happened?

The fight with Konvikt continued, with all the heroes getting knocked around, including your Big Three. At least they took the fight away from civilians, but still, so far the main point seems to be that there’s nothing really special about Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. They get their butts kicked by giant, purple aliens just like everyone else.

Quick tangent — I’m not sure if there are any other Weeds fans out there, but I find it impossible to read the name "Konvikt" and not immediately think "Dumb name" in Doug’s snarky voice.

Back to the issue, which was pretty breezy, it ends with Batman doing some detective work to take a new tack with Konvikt (dumb name), and then getting ambushed by another alien, Graak (really dumb name).

Meanwhile, villains Morgaine Le Fey and Enigma (who needs to just come out of the Two Face closet and admit to being  Harvey Dent) watch on their magic crystal ball and offer cryptic commentary.

Whoop-dee-doo.

(more…)

Review: ‘Madame Xanadu #1’ by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley

Fresh off another successful Grendel run and two excellent Batman miniseries ([[[Monster Men and Mad Monk]]]), Matt Wagner is switching gears so hard he may have just shredded the transmission.

A revival of the occult heroine Madame Xanadu? Really?

Sure enough. Wagner is writing the Vertigo series, the first issue of which debuted this week. It’s, well, odd, for lack of a better word. The first chapter begins in Arthurian times as Xanadu tries to prevent Camelot’s bloody fall.

Wagner channels a bit of Shakespeare’s lyricism in Xanadu’s dreamy, esoteric narration. And much of the goal seems to be recasting the common legend in surprising ways, not the least of which is Merlin as an old horndog.

The art, by relative newcomer Amy Reeder Hadley, is as graceful and natural as the titular character. The slight manga influence further similarizes the book to Elf Quest, which it mirrors fairly closely in tone.

The only real problem so far is the lack of scope in the first issue. Not a whole lot happens, at least till the last page, and there’s almost nothing to hint that this series is going to be an epic love story between [[[Xanadu]]] and the Phantom Stranger that lasts through several ages. I had to check the PR cheat sheet for that info.

Van Jensen is a former crime reporter turned comic book journalist. Every Wednesday, he braves Atlanta traffic to visit Oxford Comics, where he reads a whole mess of books for his weekly reviews. Van’s blog can be found at graphicfiction.wordpress.com.

Publishers who would like their books to be reviewed at ComicMix should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Van Jensen directly at van (dot) jensen (at) gmail (dot) com.

San Diego Comic-Con Gets ‘Watchmen’ Clips, Nite Owl’s Ship?

  • News
  • June 26, 2008

There’s a lot of Watchmen news hitting the ‘Net these days, as we chase the shot of fake "Veidt Enterprises" commercials we posted earlier with some San Diego Comic-Con International rumors related to the big-screen adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel.

Cinematical has provided a nice synopsis of the interesting bits gleaned from several recent video interviews with Watchmen director Zack Snyder.

According to Cinematical (I haven’t had a chance to watch the videos myself, so I’m taking their word for it), the videos indicate that there’s a high probability of seeing the first clips from Watchmen prior to screenings of The Dark Knight next month. There should also be some extra footage shown during Comic-Con later that month, too. Additionally, Snyder hinted that Nite Owl’s flying ship might make an appearance during Comic-Con.

Be sure to check out the Cliff’s Notes version of the Snyder video over on Cinematical for a few more items of note, and when you have the time (there’s around 10 minutes of video to watch), view the full interview over at Collider.

 

 

Danny Elfman on Scoring Films Based on Comics

  • News
  • June 26, 2008

From Beetlejuice and Batman to Nightmare Before Christmas and the recent remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Danny Elfman has provided the music that has turned good films into great films, and has been no stranger to scoring the big-screen adaptations of comic books. In a short time, movie-goers will be treated to another pair of Elfman-scored films based on popular comics, as the Emmy-winning and (many times over) Oscar-nominated composer has provided the music for Wanted and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

SuperHeroHype recently snagged Elfman for a short interview about the process of finding the right sound for comic books, his inspiration and the difference between the two films from his perspective.

CS/SHH!: Was "Wanted," which has much edgier music, more fun?

Elfman: Well, they are each fun in a different way. "Hellboy" was a little more romantic and traditional, but I love paying homage to Bernard Herrmann, who for me is my master. Any time I get to do that it’s a great joy. "Wanted" is like a whole other ballgame. I did a whole different thing: more synthesizers, percussion, and guitars. I had my guitar out. I was so glad that the two of them were so different.

Check out the full interview on SuperHeroHype.

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for June 26, 2008

  • News
  • June 26, 2008

Just for the fun of it, here’s one last story from Heroes Con (which I reported on extensively here and here). Nobody’s mentioned this, but simultaneous to the comics convention was another big event titled “Dub,” basically a con for tricked out cars. One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen was a group of P. Diddy look-alikes gaping as a Heroes attendee strolled past in full manga gear (don’t know which character) and did a spinning kick/sword swipe right in front of them. I’m still amazed the weekend ended peacefully.

That aside, let’s turn to the week in comics, which was huge. HUGE. DC trotted out Final Crisis #2, and Marvel counter-punched with an incredible 30-plus issues. Once the smoke cleared, Marvel stood up strong, dominating another go ’round. And DC’s bad month just got worse.

Book of the Week: The Immortal Iron Fist #16 — This is a packed book, starting out with the wind down from the epic battle that just took place in the Seven Cities of Heaven. Danny Rand is a changed man, dismantling his corporation and doing whatever he can to help the world.

You can see the influence of Orson Randall, and it’s nice to see his presence linger on after his death. Danny’s transitioning into a more mature character, asking the big questions. It’s the natural result of the recent ground-shaking, and Matt Fraction’s a smart man for taking things in that direction.

There are lots of extremely well written little personal moments in this issue, between Danny and Misty, Jeryn, Luke Cage and a swarm of pint-sized karate students. But before things get too heart-warming, Fractioin ends with a game-changing reveal that’s shocking in part because of how well it’s set up, in part through brilliant page layouts.

The only question is how well the book will hold up once Fraction moves on.

The Runners Up:

Captain America #39 — There’s lots to see in this issue, as per usual with Ed Brubaker, but the main draw is the fight between Bucky and the former Nomad, both of whom are essentially masquerading as Captain America. Think about that: A revived Bucky with a robotic arm fighting against Nomad.

That sounds like something straight out of the dreadful muck of the ’90s, yet Brubaker pulls it off with ease, crafting another tense and dramatic issue with plenty of action. There’s also the continued subtle developments of Red Skull’s agenda, a nice moment for Sharon Carter and a quality fill-in artist for Steve Epting.

Daredevil #108 — We’ve finally seemed to pass the “Matt Murdock’s life can’t get any worse” stage that had dragged on for several years. He’s still miserable (and he gets his butt kicked), but he has quite the interesting case to dive into and appears to be responding well to the mental challenge (even if he does resort to  fisticuffs at one point). Also, Dakota North is quickly becoming a favorite character. (more…)

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks