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Happy Birthday: Alfred Pennyworth

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Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth was born the son of a butler—his father, Jarvis, worked for the wealthy Gotham City family the Waynes.

But the life of a domestic was not for young Alfred, and he fled as soon as he was old enough to strike out on his own. For many years, Alfred made a living as a stage actor, but he engaged in more dangerous occupations as well, working for British Intelligence in occupied France during World War II. He was summoned home by his dying father, however, and Jarvis made Alfred promise to continue the family tradition of serving the Waynes. Jarvis’s own employers, Thomas and Martha Wayne, had been tragically murdered many years before, but their son Bruce was now living in Wayne Manor with his young ward, Dick Grayson.

Though he had no desire to do so, Alfred obeyed his father’s last wish and presented himself at Wayne Manor, where he convinced the pair to take him on as a butler. Alfred’s tasks became far more interesting when he accidentally discovered that his employer was the Batman!

Since then, Alfred has been one of Batman’s most trusted friends and allies, and has served not only as a butler, but also as a medic, a scout, a spy, and a confidante. Not bad for a man hired to serve meals and draw curtains!

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ComicMix Radio: Hey Kids, Grab Your Wallets!

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It’s nine days away from the big New York Comic Con here on the East Coast, and that leaves us time for a big trip to the comic stores to get us ready. There’s plenty on the shelves, and we preview it all here, plus:

— Boom Studios’ Northwind is next in line for the big screen

— Scream Factory brings the Fangoria comics online – free

— Johnny Five is alive – and getting a makeover

—  And up for grabs – another  exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant that could be in the mail to you – if you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

Need input? Press the button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-9007258 or RSS!

Review: ‘Little Vampire’ by Joann Sfar

  • Uncategorized
  • April 8, 2008

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There are three stories in the new Little Vampire collection from First Second ($13.95). In the first, the little vampire makes friends with a living boy, Michael. In the second, the two overcome a bully. In the third, they protect a pack of dogs.

If those sound simplistic, they should. The stories spun by the French cartoonist Joann Sfar are quite basic in structure, making Sfar something of a European corollary to James Kochalka.

Inevitably, though, Sfar’s stories take on a rich feel, their depth created in a thousand little interactions among the characters and in the seemingly endless details scratched into the margins of panels.

Those details might strike some parents as shockingly severe. The monsters inhabiting little vampire’s home are more frightening and gruesome than cute (think Beetlejuice or Nightmare Before Christmas). And their actions mirror that ugliness.

One monster is obsessed with poop and even pushes around a wheelbarrow full of it (which eventually becomes a minor plot point). In the story of the bully, the monsters actually kidnap and eat the bully that has terrorized Michael (acting out MIchael’s dark fantasies). The story then becomes about using ghostly powers to return the bully to life.

Sfar uses those types of complications to add another layer to the rote tradition of story as parable, twisting cliches in ever more unexpected directions. He doesn’t treat children as innocent or naive, putting his many children’s books more in the tradition of the original fairy tales, not their Disney-fied reincarnations.

Battlestar Galactica Interview: Mark Verheiden on Cylon Babies and Season Four Secrets

  • News
  • April 8, 2008

 Welcome to the inaugural installment of Battlestar Galactica Weekly, our recurring Q&A with Mark Verheiden, co-executive producer of the hit Sci-Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica. Each week, we’ll interview Verheiden about the events of that week’s episode, what those events might mean for both the season and the series, and hopefully unearth some clues about what to expect as the final season of Battlestar Galactic nears its conclusion.

Along with posing our own questions to Verheiden, we’re also taking questions from fans — so be sure to send your questions to me, your official BSG Weekly interviewer (chris [at] comicmix.com) after each episode airs. New episodes of Battlestar Galactica can be seen every Friday at 10 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel.

This week, Verheiden answers questions about the Season Four premiere, “He That Believeth in Me,” which aired April 4, 2008.

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COMICMIX: What’s the most important story point you want viewers to take away after watching “He That Believeth In Me?”

MARK VERHEIDEN: Starbuck’s back and she believes in her heart of hearts that she knows the way to Earth.  What does that mean to the people who love her and to the fleet?

CMix: What was your favorite part of the episode?

MV: That’s a little like picking your favorite child, but I thought Katee [Sackhoff] (Starbuck) was especially great in this episode.  And the opening battle was amazing.  If there’s a single moment that I really like in that “gave me a little chill” way, it’s the red light from the raider scanning Anders’ eyeball. 

CMix: It seems like Baltar is a bit like Jesus — at least until he shaves. Jesus died for mankind’s sins, but Baltar actually committed a lot of sins. Does that mean someone else needs to die to save the human race? If so, who’s it going to be? My bet is on Helo.

MV: No spoilers, my friends, though I think a number of informed sources have noted that no one in the cast is safe this season. And that means no one. (more…)

Jon Sable, Freelance: Nuke New York?

  • News
  • April 8, 2008

Ah, Christmas in New York!  The decorations, the good will, the beautiful tree in Rockefeller Center!  In today’s brand-new episode of Jon Sable, Freelance: Ashes of Eden, by Mike Grell, the city is all that and more — because the terrorist Bashira has a nuclear weapon, and Jon and Maggie have to find her in time!

Credits:Glenn Hauman (Colorist), Glenn Hauman (Assistant Editor), John Workman (Letterer), Mike Gold (Editor), Mike Grell (Artist), Mike Grell (Writer), Shannon Weaver (Colorist)

More: Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden

 

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New Footage From ‘Iron Man’ Now Online

  • News
  • April 8, 2008

 

Dear Paramount,

Please stop teasing us with Iron Man movie stuff. It’s getting to the point where the anticipation is actually causing physical pain. You’ve sold us. We’re there on opening day.

Thanks.

Apple.com’s movie trailer section scored an exclusive clip of Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, taking flight for the first time in his Iron Man armor. Check out the site to see the clip in more formats than you ever knew were possible.

On Beowulf and Catechism, by Dennis O’Neil

  • Uncategorized
  • April 8, 2008

In days of yore, when cowboys and dinosaurs roamed the land and I was an undergraduate in a Jesuit-run university, not knowing exactly what one was supposed to do in a university, much less what the heck I, a butcher’s kid from north St. Louis, was doing at a university, I had what Friedrich Nietzsche might have called a “slave morality.” That is, I felt powerless and I resented and mistrusted every authority figure on the horizon, even the ones who were trying to help me.

Watching the movie version of Beowulf reminded me of one episode in my inglorious academic career.

Somewhere along sophomore year, an English prof assigned a paper to be titled “Beowulf As An Allegory of Redemption.” (I don’t know if that repeats her capitalization. If not, I apologize.) Well. I didn’t think so. Oh, I could, and did, write the paper using some kind of tortured rhetoric/logic/whatever, then, for a creative writing class, I did a paper called “Three Blind Mice As An Allegory of Redemption,” using the same rhetorical devices. The point was, of course, that you can use rhetorical sleight-of-hand to prove anything you want. The subtext was, of course, “They’re bullshitters”– the they being anyone older, more credentialed, better-looking than a butcher’s kid, and maybe anyone who wore a tie. These degree-waving poltroons will twist anything into a Catechism lesson: so my declaration might have gone.

(more…)

‘Wesley Wyndham-Price’ Warns Salt Lake City Council of Zombie Attack

  • News
  • April 7, 2008

Hopefully you’ve already read the April Fools Day Round-Up we put together (with some help from ComicMix readers), but even if you did, here’s one we missed.

From the April 6 edition of The Salt Lake Tribune, City Council report:

Georgia transplant Wesley Wyndham-Price calmly stood before the City Council, cautioning members about downtown’s derelict emergency-preparedness plan. City elders are "insouciantly" unaware of risks to City Creek Center, he warned.

Wyndham-Price even paused to joke that Georgia’s saltwater taffy is better than Utah’s. "I hope that is not an ad hominem," he shrugged.

Then he got specific and all reason helicoptered into the ether.

City Creek needs an emergency-preparedness plan, he demanded, against zombies.

"Zombies are fierce," he said as a crammed council chamber laughed nervously. "They are going to catch us in there."

Yes, in addition to continuing their adventures in the pages of Dark Horse and IDW comics, your favorite characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are apparently still preaching the gospel of undead threats… to Mormons.

 

(via Whedonesque)

More Viral Marketing For ‘The Dark Knight’

  • News
  • April 7, 2008

Face it, folks. You cannot stop the marketing team of The Dark Knight, you can only hope to contain them.

A website for the Gotham Police Department Major Crimes Unit has popped up on the ‘Net recently, featuring a shot of Gary Oldman’s returning character, Lieutenant James Gordon, and a quote that provides a nice wink-wink, nudge-nudge moment to fans of the comic:

Lieutenant James Gordon has been tapped to head this unit. Long recognized as an exemplary officer, Gordon has an unblemished reputation for fairness and honesty. Police Commissioner Loeb says, "With the establishment of the new Gotham Major Crimes Unit, we join the ranks of the major cities of this country and the world in modern police strategies and tactics."

"Commissioner Loeb," eh?

A video of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character in the film, Rachel Dawes, speaking in support of future Two-Face, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), is also making the rounds.

For more on the massive viral marketing campaign currently in play for The Dark Knight, check out some of our recent coverage:

‘The Dark Knight’ Viral Marketing Prizes Revealed

‘The Dark Knight’ Viral Marketing Strikes Again!

Harvey Dent and the ‘Dark Knight’ Marketing Campaign

 

(via SHH)

 

Happy Birthday: Golden Age Batman

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The Bruce Wayne of Earth-Two was born on April 7, 1915. A crook named Joe Chill robbed and killed Bruce’s parents in 1924, when Bruce was only eight years old. Bruce dedicated his life to avenging his parents’ deaths and protecting others from criminals and their evil deeds.

After many years of training, Bruce donned a fearsome costume and became the Batman. He was a member of both the Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron, and despite not having any superpowers was considered one of the greatest of the American heroes. Bruce also reformed and married the former Catwoman, Selina Kyle—together they had a daughter, Helena Wayne, who later became the Huntress.

After many years, Bruce decided he was too old to continue as the Batman and retired from that side of his life, passing the mantle to his friend and student Dick Grayson. Bruce became the police commissioner of Gotham City instead. The fact that he had been the original Batman became public after Selina died in his arms trying to stop a former Catwoman henchman.

In 1979, Bruce was coaxed out of costumed retirement one last time to stop a super-powered crook named Bill Jensen, and the mission led to Bruce Wayne’s death. After his death, Doctor Fate erased the world’s knowledge that Bruce Wayne and Batman had been the same person.

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