The Mix : What are people talking about today?

Unsporting Behaviour, by Elayne Riggs

  • News
  • April 30, 2008

headbutt-3718782The 2008 Major League Baseball season is now well underway, so much so that broadcasters tend to get bored already and search around for anything else sports-related about which to pontificate; last weekend, as I recall, it was the NFL draft. Heaven forfend we stick to one sport at a time, after all. Or that we enjoy the leisurely pace of a game that used to be America’s Pastime until what happened between the lines got crowded out by commercial concerns, steroids and Americans’ need for speed.

Still, I’ll take the off-topic prattling of networks like FOX and ESPN over some of the local shmoes. Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay is particularly infuriating. Do he and his colleagues really need to make it so obvious how beholden they are to the Steinbrenner family by being completely unable to criticize the home team when the Yankees objectively act like schmucks?

Last month in spring training, the Yankees were playing the Tampa Bay Rays when Ray infielder Elliott Johnson, trying to score in the ninth inning, hit rookie Yankee catcher Francisco Cervelli hard, breaking Cervelli’s right wrist. His immediate strategy didn’t work, as Cervelli held onto the ball, but it precipitated retaliation, as these things often do. On March 12 outfielder Shelley Duncan (whom Robin and I have nicknamed "Mongo") slid spikes-high into the Rays’ second baseman Akinori Iwamuri, and naturally a benches-clearing brawl ensued. It was all Kay & co. could talk about — from a strictly Yankee-centric standpoint, naturally. Those awful Rays, breaking that young catcher’s wrist! Those brave Yankees, suspended for a paltry couple of games for their rally of revenge! It’s enough to make tonstant viewer fwow up.

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A Tale of Two Trailers: ‘Batman’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ Compared?

  • News
  • April 29, 2008

In case you haven’t seen the most recent Dark Knight Internet meme to hit Instant Message clients, blogs, Twitter, humor sites and just about every user-generated link farm around (I know it crossed my computer screen at least 20 times today), let ComicMix be the latest site to post the "Dark Knight/Batman Trailer Split-Screen" video — but with a twist. For those who haven’t heard about it yet, the video was passed around by many InterWebs users who claimed it was a split-screen comparison of the eerie similarities between the trailers for the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film and the upcoming Christopher Nolan film, The Dark Knight.

 


 

Despite the video’s sudden popularity today (with quite a few people linking to the video via the College Humor website — which also seemed to frame it as a comparison of the two trailers), this video has been around since late 2007, and was created by YouTube user VaportrailFilms after the Dark Knight trailer was released. As many Digg.com users have pointed out, this is also not a magical moment of synchronicity in the vein of Dark Side of the Moon and Wizard of Oz, either. In fact, it’s actually a "mash-up" of the Tim Burton film and the Dark Knight trailer — made up of bits and pieces sampled from the 1989 film and arranged for the best possible match.

So, while I hate to burst a good online conspiracy bubble, that’s not the original Batman trailer in the video, folks. It is, however, the product of some very nice video editing skills.

But I have to admit, <a href=”

version that used the 1966 Batman film is more my cup of tea.

 

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe: Super or Silly?

  • News
  • April 29, 2008

It’s been over a week since Midway announced that the rumored Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game was in fact real. The reaction from both comic and gaming communities has been a collective, "Huh?"

At first it seems like an odd couple, but it isn’t without precedent. In the past, Capcom combined their 2D Marvel fighting games with their Street Fighter franchise to create X-Men vs. Street Fighter, the first of many successful Marvel vs. Capcom games. Look at it this way: people know Mortal Kombat and they also know the Justice League. So, from a sales point of view, this looks like a mainstream winner.

But from a fanboy perspective, does this work? Sure, we hear the cries of "Superman would just rip the head off of Sub-Zero," but it just might be more interesting than you think. If this Superman is reigned in to a reasonable level, he could be a boss-level character — but not invincible. Think less Silver Age or post-Infinite Crisis and more Superman: The Animated Series or John Byrne’s Man of Steel. And remember, Superman’s as vulnerable to magic as anyone else, so the Mortal Kombat warriors’ special abilities could be a hassle for Mr. Faster Than A Speeding Bullet. And when you think about it like that, Sub-Zero’s freezing power doesn’t seem so, well… powerless.


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First ‘Dragonball’ Poster Revealed

  • News
  • April 29, 2008

Dragonball may not be coming out until next year, but 20th Century Fox is getting an early jump on advertising. The first teaser posters for the film have been spotted in the wild and they’re, well, about what you would expect: a picture of a ball.

If someone was unfamiliar with the concept behind Dragonball, they might just think it’s a sports movie similar to Rollerball or a film inspired by Marble Madness. Depending on how you feel about the manga and the anime, those might be preferable options.

Slashfilm has the full-sized picture of the teaser poster if you can’t get enough pictures of balls.

Munden’s Bar: Ladies’ Night

  • News
  • April 29, 2008

In what may be the single greatest Munden’s Bar story ever (drawn by the lovely and talented Joanna Estep, with a writer too modest to name here), we see what happens every month to the women who live on Paradise Island.

The Amazons have been living together for three millennia. Their cycles are synced. And then ….

 

Credits: Bob Pinaha (Letterer), Joanna Estep (Artist), Martha Thomases (Writer), Matt Webb (Colorist), Mike Gold (Editor)

More: Munden’s Bar

ComicMix Radio: ‘Secret Invasion’ Required Reading

Marvel is doing their part to make sure you have all the pieces in hand to enjoy Secret Invasion by combining several recent sold-out titles in one volume, plus:

— Oni sends another comic to the big screen

— We send you into the comic store well-armed with a list of what’s cool this week

—  Harry Potter sends his stuff  on tour

So send the mouse over and press the button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-4010776 or RSS!

 

Review: ‘A People’s History of American Empire’ by Howard Zinn

With the recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s no surprise that Howard Zinn has something to say. The author of A People’s History of the United States, Zinn retold America’s story through the eyes of all those who were beaten down in the country’s expansion.

Now he’s back with an updated account, albeit in a strange form. A People’s History of American Empire (Henry Holt, $30) is an illustrated version of the previous People’s History with notes on the current imperialistic efforts of the United States, as seen by Zinn. No graphic novel, it’s more of a slideshow of Zinn’s lectures. Here’s a sample put together by the publisher and narrated by Viggo Mortensen:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg

For those long familiar with Zinn’s writing, there’s nothing especially new here, though he does effectively tie in his past lessons to the current mess in the Middle East. And while Mike Konopacki’s art is impressive if sheerly for the quantity (a dense 250-plus pages), it’s not worth seeking out the book just for that.

The purpose of this book, more than anything, is to take Zinn’s message to new readers in a new way. In comics form, that message becomes easily digestible, though without losing any of its intellectual punch.

The story of the dark side of American history remains an important ones for the country’s youth. Now that story comes in a book they’re more likely to enjoy.

Rene Engström on SPX and the ‘Anders Loves Maria’ Tour

  • News
  • April 29, 2008

alm-02-2001-8730269A while back, I spoke with Anders Loves Maria creator Rene Engström about her webcomic and where she finds inspiration for the popular series. Yesterday, Engström provided a little more insight regarding her creative inpirations by posting a video tour of the Gamla Stan neighborhood in Stockholm, Sweden, where many of the stories in ALM are set.

Regular readers of the series will recognize many of the buildings, statues and other landmarks Engström has used as a backdrop for stories, including the monument where Anders and Bjorn recently had a heart-to-heart of sorts. For anyone not familiar with the strip, well… you’ll probably find it interesting, too — and for more than just the beautiful Stockholm scenery. After all, one of the most popular questions posed to comic creators tends to be “Where do you get your inspiration?”

Thanks to Engström, fans of ALM now have an answer.

Also of note: Engström has posted a recap of the Small Press Expo held this past weekend in Stockholm, as well as a few photos from the show. Apparently, confusion among event organizers when it comes to the webcomic side of the industry is a common occurrence, no matter where your show is held.

Mind you they did seem very unorganised when it came to booking a table (you couldn’t), and they really had no clue what to do with webcartoonists. At one point they were trying to push me into this locked, out of the way, media room, but I refused that idea and stole a spare table and set myself up right near the entrance to the con. Which was good and bad. Good because of the traffic, but bad because everyone thought I was the information desk. “No I don’t know where the toilets are, thank you very much, please read my webcomic.”

grantmorrisoncomic-3297974

Interview: Grant Morrison on ‘Final Crisis’ and ‘Doctor Who’

  • News
  • April 29, 2008

grantmorrisoncomic-3297974As I wandered around the press gathering at the New York Legend Award ceremony for Stan Lee, I saw a familiar face — a face I first saw in an issue of Animal Man many years ago.

It was, of course, Grant Morrison, who is currently wowing folks in All Star Superman and weirding them out in Batman.

Known for cosmic-scale work in such titles as The Invisibles and various stories during his run on JLA, Morrison seemed the perfect choice to handle DC’s upcoming crossover mega-event, Final Crisis.

I spoke with Morrison about the influences and potential ramifications of Final Crisis, as well as his future as one of the primary architects in the DC Universe. We also chatted a bit about another series that has us excited: the reinvigorated hit BBC science-fiction classic, Doctor Who.

COMICMIX: First of all, you have to settle a bet for me, Grant. In the weekly series 52, the villain called "The Ten-Eyed Man" was re-introduced for the first time since Crisis on Infinite Earths, except now it was a whole cult of ten-eyed warriors who were very creepy and seemed to be mystical and demonic. That revamp had to be your idea, right?

GRANT MORRISON: Yes, yes it was.

CMix: I knew it! I said, "That is pure Morrison!"

GM: Wait ’til you meet "The Nine-Eyed Man" in Batman. He’s a renegade who cut off one of his fingers and is crazy now.

CMix: That’s just so weird, I love it.

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Marvel Millie and Me

  • Uncategorized
  • April 29, 2008

xxx1-3015233So the third New York Comic Con is one for the annals and I have stopped twitching.

It was, at its Saturday afternoon height, a cauldron of mad, chaotic energy. (And wasn’t it dangerous? Couldn’t all that energy, confined and concentrated by four walls, affect the hearts of atoms and cause the forces that bind them together to disintegrate us all into quarks that would join the neutrinos in spewing through the universe?) That’s okay, for me, in small doses, and maybe in large doses for you, especially if you’re young and new to the megacon scene.

I won’t bother describing the event for you. If you frequent this site, you probably already have all pertinent information. Instead, a tiny, personal note:

Every one of the panels on which I sat was interesting and, I was happy to see, well-attended, which hasn’t always been the case in huge cons, where it sometimes seems that the exchange of currency is more important than honoring and discussing and learning about an art form. But the absolute, stone, hands-down high point came early, on Friday night, when I shared a stage with Peter Sanderson, who moderated, and Gary Freidrich, Joe Sinnott, and Stan Goldberg. Except for Peter, we were all veterans of Marvel’s early days, before the company became Marvel Entertainment and attached its logo to vastly expensive motion pictures, soon to play at a multiplex near you, back when it just published comic books – all kinds of comic books, not just the superhero kind – and there were no multiplexes in which to show ridiculously costly films, even if such films had existed.

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