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Iron Man and Wolverine Animated Shows Coming to Nicktoons Network

  • News
  • March 18, 2008

Iron Man and Wolverine are no strangers when it comes to animation. Both of them have been the stars of animated programs in the past and now both of of them will get a chance to return to the medium thanks to the new popularity afforded to them by upcoming big-budget, live-action films.

Wolverine and the X-Men and Iron Man: The Animated Series will debut in the early part of 2009 with 26 half-hour episodes each on Nicktoons Network.

The plot of Wolverine and the X-Men is as follows:

The story begins as an explosive event shatters the lives of the X-Men and takes away their mentor, Professor X. The beaten heroes, including Beast, Storm, Cyclops and Nightcrawler, walk away from it all but then they are given a rare glimpse into the future, where they see a world in utter ruin … ruled by giant destructive robots. They discover the world has spiraled out of control because the X-Men have given up. So now the most legendary of all X-Men, Wolverine, must take the lead on the ultimate mission — to prevent the world’s destruction — while fending off enemies Magneto and The Brotherhood.

As for Iron Man’s show, the plot roughly follows that of the comics, just with Tony Stark as a teenager instead of a middle-aged alcoholic:

Tony Stark, heir to a billion-dollar corporation, lives a life of luxury, free to pursue his chief interests — seeking extreme thrills, solving scientific mysteries and creating mind-boggling inventions. But everything goes horribly wrong when a tragic accident robs Tony of his father and nearly costs him his own life. Now dependent on his own impressive technology for survival and dedicated to battling corruption, Tony must reconcile the pressure of teenage life with the duties of a Super Hero. Inside his remarkable invention, Tony Stark is geared for high-speed flight, high-tech battles and high-octane adventure! He is Iron Man.

Will a new generation of children tune into to the action packed adventures of Iron Man and Wolverine or will they stick to their precious little anime programs? Only time will tell in this battle to capture young minds and advertising dollars.

 

(via SHH)

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ComicMix Radio: Back In The Flash

flash12-7786147It’s a new direction for The Flash, a boat-load of second printing variant comics, and no less than two Katee Sackoff DVDs that hit the stores this week. We’ve got your new comics & DVD rundown, plus:

— Marvel and FX cook up a movie deal

— NBC courts Christian Slater

— It’s in the cards for Speed Racer at Topps

—  And we feel so generous that here is a hint for today’s new trivia question that is worth an  exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant — and you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

It’s all a click away, so just press the button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-3643779 or RSS!

Jon Sable, Freelance: Stealing Junk

  • News
  • March 18, 2008

In today’s brand-new episode of Mike Grell’s Jon  Sable, Freelance: Ashes of Eden,  Maggie and Jon don’t fight.  Instead, they figure out why the McGuffin Diamond is so important, and why Jon was hired to protect it.

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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British Ad Agency Creates New Comic

  • News
  • March 18, 2008

mothercomic460-6047303Though the history of comics largely began through free newspaper inserts, that practice has gone unused for decades.

Fitting, then, that such an unexpected distribution model would accompany the release of a new comic book series created by an advertising agency. Mother, the London-based agency best known for promoting Coca-Cola, recently announced it will be shipping Four Feet from a Rat – a collection of comics stories – in the weekly Time Out listings magazine.

Read the full Guardian article right here. Strangely enough, the comic doesn’t even include advertisements. The company explained that it serves simply as a creative outlet for employees.

The story behind the creation is pretty interesting: Mother has a history of offering its services for favors instead of money. The company did some work for Time Out in exchange for pages in the publication. Once they accrued enough pages, they set about making the comic.

Mother partnered with comics publisher Mam Tor for the art on the stories. Guardian comics critic Will Hodkinson said the stories carried on in the tradition of Hellraiser and Sandman.

"This isn’t as good as those comics – it is a little derivative," said Hodgkinson. "One might almost call it a pastiche. But it’s well drawn and well written and it’ll be interesting to see how it develops as they find their voice."

If the book has some success, keep an eye on other publishers who might try something similar.

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Michael George and the Pittsburgh Comicon

  • Uncategorized
  • March 18, 2008

thumb_michael_george-3590217Well, this has been an interesting morning.

I awoke to a slew of e-mails from people either asking me about, or trying to get me to not go to, the Pittsburgh Comiccon. Not that I had decided one way or the other, although a lot of friends of ours (including ComicMix’s own Timothy Truman, Mike Grell and Robert Tinnell) will be there. It’s a good show.

This boycott is in response to yesterday’s conviction of Michael George, who, along with his wife Rene, is the promoter of the show. Michael was convicted in Michigan of murdering his first wife 18 years ago. The details of both the crime and the conviction are in the Macomb Daily.

I understand the sentiments of those who feel that they do not want to support a convention run by a convicted murderer. But I strongly believe such feelings are misguided.

First of all, the Pittsburgh Comicon is also a major charity event. Last year, for example, they raised nearly $30,000.00 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and some $5,000.00 for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Both are quite worthy causes.

But, more important, Michael George will not benefit from the profits of the show. Quite frankly, he’s set for life – if spending the rest of your life in a Michigan State penitentiary is your idea of “set for life.” It’s Rene who will lose out if this show winds up in the red.

After a long and horrific trial, Rene probably can use a few bucks. No doubt she’s looking at massive legal bills that were hardly of her making – despite her relationship with Michael, she didn’t kill anybody. She now has to create an entirely new life from the ground up; as such, she’s another victim of Michael’s efforts.

I don’t know if I’ll be at the show as I’ve got commitments to other shows and I can only spend so much time on the road, a lesson I learned the hard way last year. But I’m going to try. It’s a good show, Rene is a good person and the Pittsburgh Comicon no longer has anything to do with the sad horror that is Michael George.

Mike Gold is editor-in-chief of ComicMix.

 

ComicMix at WWLA: The Mondo Marvel Panel

  • Uncategorized
  • March 18, 2008

avninv002small-9601351Wrapping up our coverage of this weekend’s Wizard World LA convention, we have this report from Sunday’s Mondo Marvel panel at the Los Angeles Convention center.

Like the X-Men panel, leading the discussion again this time is Marvel Comics marketing guru Jim McCann. Once things settled down a bit and got organized, he introduced the distinguished panel of Marvel creators including Matt Fraction, Chris Gage, Aubrey Sitterson and Charles Knauf.

Knauf, who is currently co-writing Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD, said of the book, "It’s kind of interesting to write the most hated man in the Marvel Universe. I can’t wait till the movie comes out; it’s going to bring a lot of attention to the book."

Among Knauf’s future plans for the book are the introduction of a new "femme fatale" and an attempt to return Iron Man to his "hero status." He will also be trying to make the book "a little more fun."

"The flaws are what make him so great," chimed in Fraction, who’s also writing an Iron Man title: Invincible Iron Man. Said Fraction: "I’m looking forward to sending Iron Man on a big redemptive arc. He is his own arch-rival. I’m looking forward to grinding him to dust and seeing where he ends up," said Fraction.

Next, McCann turned to Chris Gage who is currently working on Avengers: The Initiative with Dan Slott — which has issue #10 at comic’s shops now. According to Gage, Issue #11 will feature the Mighty Avengers and Gage also said fans of the New Warriors may want to check it out, too, "just in case."

(more…)

Our Comics Community, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • March 18, 2008

Things are fanning out all over.

But before we go any further, let me explain and, while I’m about it, issue an OFA, or Old Fart Alert.

Back in the day – now you begin to understand the reason for the OFA – part of the fun of attending science fiction and comics conventions was seeing stuff like outtakes and blooper reels and old movies and especially old serials, entertainments virtually unavailable anywhere else. Another pleasure was listening to other fans who were In The Know reveal secrets, or at least semi-secrets, about the actors and artists and, yes, even writers whose work we enjoyed and was the raison d’etre for the whole she-bang.

Now…bloopers are shown on network television, as are outtakes, and one major international star has, for the last decade or so, incorporated them into the films themselves. And although nobody, to my knowledge, is showing serials regularly, a cable channel used to and somebody almost certainly will again and even if that doesn’t happen, these crusty old flicks are easily buyable, or rentable, or, maybe, available at your local public library. As for other kinds of old movies…Well, let’s just say that I’ve filled in some of the gaps in my appreciation of Rocky Lane, Lash LaRue, Wild Bill Elliott, the Durango Kid, and the indomitable Sunset Carson by watching the Westerns Channel from the comfort of my living room.

Insider info? It’s practically a national industry, only they call it gossip and push it at us on television and in the magazines I read in doctor’s offices. Push a lot of it, I might add. And most DVDs have material in addition to whatever movie’s on them and these, too, frequently feature gossipy tidbits, though never scandalous ones.

(more…)

‘Smallville’ Comic Contest to Determine Plot, Comic-Con VIP

  • News
  • March 17, 2008

Years ago, DC let fans determine whether Batman sidekick Jason Todd met his end at the hands of the Joker via phone-in voting. Fans of Smallville, the television series that follows Clark Kent before he was Superman, now have a chance to play a similar (albeit far less morbid) role in determining the direction of a superhero-themed story.

Twice a week, fans will be able to vote on how Smallville: Visions, a DC-produced digital comic scripted by Stephan Nilson with art by Andie Tong, will evolve. At the end of the voting period, the pages will become (virtual) reality for readers.

Along with determining the outcome of the story, fans can also participate in the Stride Gum contest that goes with the promotion. All participants in Smallville story development will be entered for a chance to win a "VIP Weekend" at this year’s Comic-Con International: San Diego. They’ll also receive a year’s supply of Stride gum — which could come in handy amid the funk of the convention floor.

 

 

Interview: Jacen Burrows on Garth Ennis, Warren Ellis and ‘Crossed’

  • News
  • March 17, 2008

Artist Jacen Burrows has already had an impressive career in a relatively short amount of time. His talent, bold visual style and penchant for the darker, more sinister aspects of life have already earned him a place collaborating with some of the most popular and successful writers working in comics today.

Some of these writers include Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis and Alan Moore on projects such as Dark Blue, Scars, The Courtyard and 303. More recently, he’s worked on Chronicles of Wormwood with Ennis.

And, just yesterday at Wizard World in LA, it was announced that he’s doing a brand-new project with Ennis called Crossed — described by Avatar Press’ William Christensen as "a story about the worst people can possibly be, as a group of good people attempt to survive in a world of pure evil."

ComicMix caught up with Burrows at Wizard World LA to get some more details on Crossed, his other work with writers like Warren Ellis, what artists he admires and much more.

COMICMIX: Jason, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. Let’s get right into it with a little background. When did you first start drawing?

JACEN BURROWS: I’ve been drawing from the beginning. Three years old I was doing more drawing than anything else. And I think everyone does that. All kids draw but it was just the thing I happened to stick with because everyone would tell me I was good at it so I never stopped. When other kids were outside doing things I was inside working on my drawing. So, its kinda my curse.

CMix: Your parents encouraged you?

JB: Oh yeah, they were like "do what you want" and let me do my thing. Early on I had a tendency to draw the things that were fun to me, like war scenes with tanks and dead bodies.

Teachers would freak out and my mom would come in and tell them I was just being creative. Later, when I had art teachers, they would say it’s all perfectly normal.

CMix: You liked that kind of thing? Monsters, severed heads, etc?

JB: Yeah, I had a nice healthy obsession with drawing monsters, werewolves and things like that. It’s the fun stuff. (more…)

On This Day: The National Gallery of Art

  • News
  • March 17, 2008

The National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C. on March 17, 1941.

Financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon established the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust just before his death in 1937, and it was this trust that worked with Congress to establish the art museum. John Russell Pope, who later designed the Jefferson Memorial, designed the original building, and I.M. PEI designed an East Wing addition that was completed in 1978.

The gallery was centered around twenty-one masterpieces originally owned by Catherine II of Russia—Mellon purchased the collection in the early 1930s.

 

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