The Mix : What are people talking about today?

‘Y: The Last Man’ and ‘Transmetropolitan’ – Plagiarized?

  • News
  • February 28, 2008

With all the recent talk of creators getting ripped off, here’s another one for the old "Things That Make Me Shake My Fist Angrily" pile.

According to the ever-vigilant mightygodking.com, Y: The Last Man, Transmetropolitan, Fables and various other fan-favorite titles were all based on old Silver Age comics — and the site is chock full o’ proof!

Unsurprisingly, the writer of Yorick, The Last Man On Earth was a woman: Sally Polenti, a trailblazer in the comics field and almost totally unknown today. Her work on Yorick is more soap-opera-ish, perhaps, than Brian K. Vaughan’s – but then again, she also doesn’t have any of those Trivial Pursuit factoids Vaughan seems compelled to insert into any and all narratives he writes. And if you thought Vaughan’s depiction of the longing between 355 and Yorick was hot – well, Polenti’s positively smolders. Plus, mad scientists in just about every issue.

Seriously, though, the Photoshop skills are strong with this one. Color me impressed.

 

(via TheBeat)

‘Astro Boy’ Movie Casting Begins

  • News
  • February 28, 2008

feb28astro-8438475When the people of the future are in trouble, they turn to one thing to save them from the forces of evil -a tiny robot that doesn’t own a pair of pants and can deploy guns from his rear.

Astro Boy is being adapted into a big budget CG movie by Warner Bros. and The Weinstein Company and the titular character has already been cast. The voice of Astro Boy will be provided by Freddie Highmore.

Highmore is familiar to most film fans as Charlie Bucket from Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He’s no stranger to voice work either, as he recently provided the voice of Pantalaimon in The Golden Compass.

Astro Boy debuted as a manga in 1952 and became a television series in 1963. The character was created by Osamu Tezuka, considered the "god of manga" by some, and the television series was one of the first cartoons to use the anime asthetic.

The film version is slated for release in 2009 and is being scripted by Timothy Harris, the man responsible for Space Jam – the greatest movie to ever involve Michael Jordan and Bill Murray teaming up with cartoons to fight monsters from space. Astro Boy is in good hands.

(via CHUD)

Where Are Simone & Ajax?

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  • February 28, 2008

Oh where, oh, where, could Simone & Ajax be? They’re taking a quick one-week breather so that they can thrill you and chill you with their next exciting all new adventure: "The Case Of The Maltese Duck!"

Action! Adventure! Amazing Fantasy! All in color for less than a dime! All starting next week!

Update: Jess Fink and Hot Topic

  • News
  • February 28, 2008

The Jess Fink / Hot Topic rip-off scandal continues to evolve, and recently spilled over into the world of Fleen, where the popular webcomic blog’s mustachioed marksman, Gary Tyrrell, took aim at the clothing company and provided some helpful information for those looking to pepper Hot Topic with bullets of justice and, well… I think this metaphor has pretty much run its course.

First, Tyrrell provides a handy little example of history repeating itself when it comes to comic creators getting ripped off by t-shirt sellers.

For “Shmorky”, substitute “Jess Fink“. For “Todd Goldman”, substitute “Hot Topic“. For my take on the whole situation, allow me to quote Kris Straub on one of the past iterations of Wikimesses:

That’s pretty goddamn weak.

In a subsequent post, Tyrrell offers up some suggestions for resolution that, unlike many suggestions offered up by the online masses, do not involve burning each and every store to the ground and dancing a celebratory jig in the ashes. Tyrrell later updates his call to action and coverage of the whole mess with additional, more appropriate contact information for Hot Topic and even a few talking points.

The last of these posts prompted quite a bit of discussion, including one comment from an alleged buyer for Hot Topic who claimed that the situation "is being handled." Over on Fink’s site, however, [WARNING: NSFW Content Featuring Soaps and Butts and Elijah Wood] the situation certainly doesn’t sound like it’s "being handled."

 

‘Black Freighter’ Tale Confirmed For ‘Watchmen’

  • News
  • February 28, 2008

Tales of the Black Freighter, the story-within-a-story found in the original issues of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, will indeed make it into the film adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel.

Actor Gerard Butler (300) confirmed to Empire today that not only will an animated version of Black Freighter be produced for the Watchmen DVD, but he will voice the main character of the tale.

“I actually read the script before reading the comic book and I thought it was awesome,” continued the 38 year-old. “Then I read the comic book and it’s great. The little bits that have been added define it so much more. It’s very dark and there’s just something so descriptive and scary. It’s this descent into madness but explained in such a sane way that you totally feel it yourself. By the end, my heart was pumping!”

According to Butler, the project will use anime-style animation.

Watchmen hits theaters in March 2009.

 

(via SHH)

Frank Miller on ‘The Spirit’, Actors and Movies

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  • February 28, 2008

Over at the official site for Frank Miller’s upcoming film The Spirit, the director has posted a new entry on the site’s production blog. Among the topics Miller discusses in the entry are more details about the film itself, the filmmaking process and his feelings towards actors.

At the blog, Miller describes the filmmaking process as "fun, thrilling and glamours as all hell. It’s also as hard a line of work as you can find." He also counts himself lucky to be working on the film and with so many talented actors, referring to himself as "one lucky S.O.B." He also goes on to thank "all the people who dragged me into this crazy business."

Having worked on a few film sets in my time as well I can tell you Miller’s observations about the process are pretty much spot-on. Making movies is often grueling, arduous, time-consuming, soul-sucking work that demands more of you than you ever thought you could give. Still, it can sure be fun much of the time.

There’s a saying in Hollywood that i’ve alway thought was appropriate: "The worst day on a movie set is still better than the best day working at a bank." I’m sure Miller would agree.

The Spirit hits theaters January 19th, 2009.

 

 

Review: Brian K. Vaughan’s ‘Batman: False Faces’

batmanfaces-1-4292282With the recent and much heralded conclusion to Y: The Last Man, the continued strong run of Ex Machina and a gig writing for Lost, Brian K. Vaughan is living pretty high on the hog nowadays. But it can easily be forgotten that Vaughan wasn’t always a superstar writer, and the new collection of comics from his formative years at DC serves as a telling picture of the artist in progress.

In Batman: False Faces ($19.99), we’re taken back to Vaughan as a struggling writer, working a day job at the psychiatric ward of St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York. Three stories in the collection feature Batman or his rogues, and the fourth sets Wonder Woman against Clayface.

As Vaughan writes in his introduction: “[A]nyone who thinks that pitting a character made of magical clay against friggin’ Clayface isn’t a totally awesome idea is a dirty communist.” True enough. But while the setup is golden, the execution isn’t. What could have been a deeply introspective story is more cursory and trivial, while also moving a bit too slowly in places.

The Batman stories (which Vaughan wrote later) show the expected improvement. Further exploring issues of identity, Vaughan takes a thoughtful look at Batman’s two-bit-criminal alter ego Matches Malone in one story, and then he explores the diseased mind of the Mad Hatter. When Hatter says, “The only way you shall ever comprehend insanity is by ducking the shallow gerund,” Vaughan reveals the savvy and linguistic dexterity that would go on to make him a star.

[[[False Faces]]] isn’t for everyone, but for Vaughan devotees or those interested in the development of a talented creator, it’s a must-have collection.

ComicMix Radio: When Good Heroes Get Bad Makeovers

So you grow up with a favorite comic character and then you actually get into the industry and get a chance to work on the hero you read as a child. What happens when the story you work on happens to be the one in which they trash the character? ComicMix‘s Andrew Pepoy shares his story here, plus

— It’s another midnight release for Marvel’s Dark Tower

— Ultimates 3 has another sell out and bounces back in black & white

— Komikwork’s World Of Quest hits Cartoon Network UK

— Believe it or not,  another brand new trivia question and another chance to grab an exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

This time – no hint – it’s an easy one – Just Press The Button and get us an e-mail!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-4568234 or RSS!

 

Spielberg Says ‘No’ to ‘Indy 4’ Digital Projection?

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  • February 28, 2008

I don’t always believe many of the "rumors" circulating around the Internets. The web is a big place and people sometimes exaggerate, or perhaps even fabricate, in order to get some kind of "scoop" or exclusive "insight" for their websites.

That said, I am inclined to believe the following rumor which has recently surfaced, courtesy of tipster ‘Ohio Munson’ at JoBlo: Steven Spielberg won’t be allowing any theaters to show Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull using digital projection. It will only be available on film.

Think about that for a minute and then I’ll tell you why I’m inclined to believe this one. Spielberg is an old-school kind of filmmaker and has never really embraced his buddy George Lucas’ love for all-things digital. In fact, he vehemently resisted Lucas’ attempts to persuade him to shoot Indy 4 digitally.

Since he’s Steven Spielberg and is working with Lucas, a devout technophile, the director could have had the most advanced digital camera system in the world at his disposal for Indy 4 and yet, he still went with film.

He’s also, by his own admission, one of the few directors out there still cutting negative during post-production — something that, with digital post and non-linear editing systems like AVID and Final Cut Pro being the "standard’ these days, is almost never done.

Given his feelings regarding digital and his prior decisions, I feel he will stick with film for the theatrical release of Indy 4. Film is an aesthetic and creative choice he believes in, likes to works with, and, when playing at your local theater, will want his movie to be shown on. It’s really that simple.

If true, is this a bad decision on Spielberg’s part?

On This Day: Milton Caniff and Gaston LaGaffe

  • News
  • February 28, 2008

In 1907 Milton Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. Caniff was best known for the Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon cartoon strips. He helped found the National Cartoonists Society and received its first Cartoonist of the Year Award in 1947. He was entered into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1988.

 

In 1957, issue #985 of Le Journal de Spirou introduced a new cartoon character, a bumbling young man named Gaston LaGaffe. Created by André Franquin, Gaston was a popular character and strip for almost forty years.

 

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