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In My Ears and In My Eyes (Part 2), by Elayne Riggs

  • News
  • March 26, 2008

whirledpeace-8842297So as I was saying last week, by the time I hit college I went full-force into my first round of Beatlemania. I must have frequented my share of Beatlefests (as noted in the comments to last week’s column, there’s one coming up in NJ this weekend), but really only remember going to one because that’s where I got Harry Nilsson’s autograph, on the cover of his album A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (for a reason I no longer remember, I have Jimmy Webb’s autograph on the back). From what I hear, they’re still going on. But the Beatles started influencing pretty much everything else in my life.

I named my fictitious corporation Pen-Elayne (wordplay on "Penny Lane" and "the pen of Elayne") Enterprises, which pun I borrowed again for my weekly comics reviews Pen-Elayne for Your Thoughts and my current blog Pen-Elayne on the Web. Penny Lane really became my theme song; I’d always envisaged something I can only describe as God’s Hidden Camera following my every move, so the line "And though she feels as if she’s in a play, she is anyway" really resonated. Particularly now with Google’s Street View!

Having already gone through two years of Shakespeare in high school, I was primed to expand my Anglophilia, and the Beatles were a perfect outlet for my fascination of all things English. That interest has since culminated in marriage to an actual Englishman who, although four years my junior, is probably more knowledgeable about Beatles trivia than I’ll ever be, has hundreds of bootleg songs, keeps up on all the news items of what’s happening with their music, and generally makes my head spin. Oh, and even though Robin is a southern country boy, we like to goof around with pretty bad imitations of Liverpool accents (okay, his is better than mine, as you’d expect). Through Rob I also met artist Alan Davis and my lettering goddess Pat Prentice, who both share a birthday with Sir Paul. I seem to remember Alan introducing me to Pat by joking that she "sounds like Ringo," since she’s also from Mersey-way. (She doesn’t, although I find a female Liverpool accent as cute as a male one.) (more…)

‘Hellboy: The Science of Evil’ Screenshots Debut

  • News
  • March 25, 2008

Sure, Hellboy rebelled against Satan’s plan to conquer the world, but he’s doing just fine on his own these days.

Mike Mignola’s character debuted in comic books, but has gone on to be a hit  in novels, toys, movies and animation. Now, Konami has released new screenshots from their upcoming Hellboy: The Science of Evil videogame.

The game will allow fans to take on the roles of Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman and Johann Kraus against the evil Nazi Herman von Klempt. Although the game’s continuity is independent of the movies, it features the voice talent of actors from the original film, as well as the upcoming Hellboy II: The Golden Army, including Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones. 

The game will support online and offline multiplayer co-op for up to four players. Hellboy: The Science of Evil is scheduled for a summer 2008 release on PlayStation 3, PSP and Xbox 360.

Jon Sable, Freelance: A Nuke as Big as the Ritz

  • News
  • March 25, 2008

In today’s brand-new episode of Jon Sable, Freelance: Ashes of Eden, by Mike Grell, Jon gets to the bottom of the scheme behind the scheme to steal one of the world’s biggest diamonds.

Is it a plan to enrich the rich — or is it something much, much worse?

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

More: Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden

 

 

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R.I.P. Fletcher Hanks Jr., Son of ‘Stardust’ Creator

  • News
  • March 25, 2008

In last year’s collection of Fletcher Hanks comics, I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets, one of its best features was an epilogue written and illustrated by Paul Karasik that explained his effort to track down Hanks, or at least one of his relatives.

Karasik ended up at the door of Fletcher Hanks Jr., a great man in his own right who shed a lot of light on his father. Strangely enough, Hanks Jr. had never even known that his father illustrated comics, let alone had become something of an idol in the indie comics community.

According to a story posted on Karasik’s Web site, Hanks Jr. died on March 16 after a March 8 auto accident. He was 90.

Among comics fans, Hanks Jr. will always be known as the son of the evil genius of the Golden Age. But it’s important to recognize his accomplishments, many of which overshadow his father’s legacy:

Hanks, known for his action-adventure life and strong opinions, is best known for his experience "flying The Hump," both in wartime and years later in the commemoration of his fallen comrades, and his book, Saga of CNAC 53, which chronicled those events. He often said his life’s work was remembering his 23,000 friends who died in the war.

From July 1942 to August 1945, Hanks, sometimes called "Christy" by his colleagues, flew 347 trips in unarmed C-47s delivering supplies to inaccessible areas of China using a path from India over the south ridge of the Himalayas called "The Hump." Years later, in 1997, he returned to China and he and a group of Chinese soldiers found the wreckage of CNAC 53, the airplane piloted by American Jim Fox and his Chinese co-pilot and operator.

A ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Movie? Stars Say They’re Game

  • News
  • March 25, 2008

I guess it has to do with comic book culture becoming ever more enmeshed in celebrity culture, but it seems like MTV has become the place to go for interesting material in the world of comics and comics-related movies and TV shows.

The latest: At a reunion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast members, several spoke favorably of the potential for an all-new Buffy movie. And, of course, they also brought up the recent lesbian tryst in the Buffy comics series.

"I don’t know if Sarah [Michelle Gellar] wants to be kissing girls, so for Sarah’s sake, we’d say, start from the TV show," said Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander. "But I think for everyone else, start from the comic book. I want to see Sarah kissing girls."

Beyond the question of whether or not to include girl-on-girl action, a few other pitfalls stand in the way of a movie. No script or studio is in place, and Joss Whedon is busily crafting a superhero musical.

Speaking of Whedon, he certainly didn’t sound opposed to the project, although he seemed far to dismissive of the comics:

As Whedon said on the panel, "many stars" would have to align — not the least of which would be a certain lead actress wanting to participate. "But if I had to shoot down everything that we’re doing in the comics because we’re doing a film," Whedon said, "I wouldn’t lose a lot of sleep over it."

Happy Birthday: Night Girl

Lydda Jath was born on the planet Kathoon, a world that lives in permanent darkness. Her scientist father found a way to give her super-strength but didn’t realize it would only work at night or in deep shadows.

Lydda applied for the Legion of Super-Heroes but was turned down because they felt her power’s limitation made it impractical. She met Brek Bannin, Polar Boy, at the tryouts and together they formed the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

After the events of Infinite Crisis, it appears that future history has been rewritten and Lydda has become a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes instead.

ComicMix Radio: Dragging ‘Kick Ass’ to the Big Screen

It’s comics and movies making sweet rumors today, including:

— One issue out and now it’s a Kick Ass movie

— Sexy comics get a new book

— Tintin and The A-Team move closer to the big screen

—  Our rundown of new comics and DVDs, plus another chance to grab an exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant — and you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

 

 

Jeez, the kid has had it bad enough – Just Press The Button!

Review: ‘Little Nothings: The Curse of the Umbrella’

  • News
  • March 25, 2008

Little Nothings: The Curse of the Umbrella
Lewis Trondheim
NBM/ComicsLit, 2007, $14.95

Trondheim is one of the major comics creators of France, responsible for the Dungeon series, Mr. O, and A.L.I.E.E.N., among others. At least, that’s what NBM tells me – I have to admit that I’ve never read his stuff before.

Little Nothings is a daily diary comic, much like James Kochalka’s American Elf – but the book doesn’t say where Little Nothings originally appeared (online? In a newspaper? On paper airplanes wafted through Trondheim’s neighborhood?). I’m assuming that it did appear somewhere, originally, but there’s no reason to think that – it’s possible that it was done as a project to be published for the first time as a book.

So each page of Little Nothings apparently represents one day, though none of the strips are dated, so it’s not always clear if days are missing (or sequences changed for whatever reason). And a couple of the strips seem to be multiple pages for one day — or maybe it’s just that he’s thinking and cartooning about the same thing for several days straight.

(None of that matters terribly much, though; it’s just that I’m obsessive. I think about these things far too much; it’s a sickness, I know.) (more…)

Press ‘Ctrl Alt Del’ For New Cover

  • News
  • March 25, 2008

Good news for fans of Ctrl+Alt+Del webcomic. The out-of-print, first-volume collection of the series, Ctrl+Alt+Del Volume 1: Insert Coin, will be reprinted with a brand new cover. It will also be offered in a signed hardcover format limited to 500 copies. Previous editions of the hardcovers sold out quickly, so creator Tim Buckley recently gave his fans the heads up on his website that they will be available soon.

Ctrl+Alt+Del chronicles the insanely funny adventures of roommates Ethan and Lucas. The pop-culture- and videogame-obsessed Ethan is barely held in check by his level-headed friend and a cast of characters including girlfriend Lilah and Zeke, a game console brought to life so that Ethan would always have somebody to play with. Besides being one of the most popular webcomics on the ‘Net, Ctrl+Alt+Del has been brought to life as an animated series online and on DVD.

Also shown on Buckley’s website was the cover to the second issue of Analog and D+Pad, the spinoff comic book that reimagines the cast of CAD as superheroes. Both books will be available in the CAD online store.

ComicMix Exclusive Interview: Joe Lansdale on ‘Pigeons from Hell’

  • News
  • March 25, 2008

Joe Lansdale is a prolific author of horror stories, both short and novel-length, including Drive In and Bubba Ho-Tep.  He’s also no stranger to comics, having partnered with Timothy Truman for projects featuring  such characters as Jonah Hex and The Lone Ranger, and has even written for Batman: The Animated Series and other television series.

This spring, Dark Horse Comics is releasing his four-part miniseries, Pigeons from Hell, adapting a story by Robert E. Howard.  It’s Lansdale’s first time working with artist Nathan Fox, and he recently sat down for a brief chat with ComicMix and a preview of the first issue.

COMICMIX: Thanks for agreeing to chat, Joe.  This is not your first work with Robert E. Howard.  You previously wrote a Conan miniseries. So tell me, what is it about Howard that you like?

JOE LANSDALE: Howard has always appealed to me because there is a raw storytelling talent at work, and he has a Texas background, and like me, he lived in a small town where the sort of profession he pursued was not entirely understood. I always thought he appealed to the little boy in all of us, and by that, I mean that part of us that loves a good raw story. He appeals to that aspect in all of us. Like Jack London, The Call of the Wild is eternal. I don’t think Howard had the same depth that some of London‘s work had, but it has the same primal element, if not the social element. Thing is, I don’t consider that bad or lesser, just different.

CMix: Did you ask to write Pigeons from Hell, or was it an assignment?

JL: I think it was mentioned to me by the film company that has Howard’s work, because I had written the Conan miniseries. It had been well-received, and I mentioned Pigeons From Hell, and it was thought an update might be fun, since Dark Horse had already done a literal adaptation, so, it just sort of snowballed from there and Dark Horse was for it. [It was] kind of an accident.

CMix: How did you approach expanding and adapting a prose work into a four-issue miniseries?

JL: I tried to use the original story as the frame, and I tried to bring younger contemporary characters into it. Howard’s work was of its time, and it could be casually racist, so I wanted to avoid that. I also added more mystical elements. Again, a perfect adaptation had already been done for the comics before, and there was a really good Thriller episode of the story years ago, though now it seems a little dated, so I wanted to approach it in a different manner. I think the story is still true to the original in most ways.

CMix: What is it about Howard’s work that you think still makes it relevant today?

JL: I think it’s the pure storytelling. You can learn to be a better writer with effort and time, but that is something that seems almost inborn, though I’m not sure how to explain it. But he has it, and the work is recyclable and constant. (more…)

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