The Mix : What are people talking about today?

George Romero on ‘Diary of the Dead’

The ShockTillYouDrop crew has posted an interview with legendary "Living Dead" filmmaker George Romero about his upcoming film "Diary of the Dead."

The film, which chronicles a movie crew’s escape from zombies on the day the dead returned to life, hits theaters Feb. 15. With movies like "Cloverfield" proving that there’s still interest in the homemade-style horror that first popped up with "The Blair Witch Project," Romero is going a similar route with the latest installment of the "Living Dead" franchise – and taking a back-to-basics approach both in style of filmmaking and setting for the film, which takes place on the same night as the original "Night of the Living Dead":

We were shooting shots that were eight pages long. There were a couple of days when we did nothing but set the shot up and then shoot only one shot that day, but it’d be eight pages. So, I think this cast, if I asked them, ‘We’re gonna do the whole movie in a single shot,’ they would’ve done it. Never was a shot blown because an actor blew their line. It completely reminded me of the days on Night of the Living Dead where it was just friends coming together to make a movie with no interference.

 

Peter David on ‘Dark Tower: The Long Road Home’

The subject of Marvel.com’s weekly interview this time around is Peter David, co-writer of last year’s Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born and its upcoming sequel, Dark Tower: The Long Road Home.

According to the Long Road Home interview, the sequel picks up where its predecessor left off… with a slight twist: Roland, the main character, is effectively out of commission:

Marvel.com: Roland’s in a coma—how are Alain and Cuthbert, the other members of the Ka-Tet, responding to the Big Coffin Hunters chasing them while they’re trying to get Roland’s body safely back to Gilead?

Peter David: Well, not to sound flip, but they’re responding in the way that one would expect: They’re running like hell. Their job at this point is to survive and return home to tell of everything and everyone they’ve encountered. Goals don’t get much simpler than that.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the series is worth buying simply for the beautiful work of artists Jae Lee and Richard Isanove – the great story is just a bonus. Marvel.com has posted some of the art from Long Road Home with the interview

The first issue of the five-issue miniseries hits shelves Feb. 27.

 

‘Justice League’ Artist on Film Delays and Silver Surfer Design

Daniel James Cox, a concept artist for the "Justice League" film, recently commented on the project’s delay over on his blog:

It’s unfortunate, but the Writer’s strike has delayed further pre-production on the Justice League movie (i was working on it as a concept artist/illustrator) until later in the year. as a comic fan, i’m happy because the script does need another rewrite. however, the art dept has been doing some amazing artwork, so the team and I will all assemble back at Fox Studios in June/July to pick up where we left off!

While that’s all very interesting, his behind-the-scenes look at the "Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer" art he created is definitely worth checking out.

 (Hat Tip: C2F)

‘EZ Street’ Goes to Baltimore Con

In all of the comic book conventions you’ve ever attended, did you ever wonder what it felt like to be a struggling creator?

In today’s brand-new episode of EZ Street, Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley show you what it’s like as Scott and Danny head for Baltimore, to share a table with Michael Oeming.

 

On This Day: The 20th Amendment

Yeah, so we’ve all been completely inundated with political coverage on this Super Tuesday week. But if we’re gonna do this right, it should be noted that today in 1933, the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect.

The Amendment reduced the time between Presidential and Congressional elections and the beginning of the elected officials’ terms. Originally, there were four months between the final election tally and the beginning of a newly elected official’s term, due to the time required to get your business in order and travel to Washington, D.C.

On a related note, this is also the week after James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, the original Captain America’s sidekick, grabbed a gun and a new costume and became the new Captain America! How does that relate to the 20th Amendment, you ask? Well, the connection should be clear – and if it isn’t, the terrorists have already won.

 

Accidental Overdose Killed Heath Ledger

Actor Heath Ledger, who was found dead in a Manhattan apartment on Jan. 22, died due to a lethal combination of various painkillers, anti-anxiety medication and sleeping aids, according to the New York City Medical Examiner.

According to an Associated Press report posted today, Ledger’s body contained a mixture of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine.

There was no information provided about the levels of the various drugs found in Ledger’s system.

Ledger’s publicist released the following statement from Ledger’s father, Kim:

"While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath’s accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."

 

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52 Weeks of Reading Recommendations by Dennis O’Neil

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When ComicMix launched a year ago, we were especially pleased to include the legendary Dennis O’Neil as one of our regular columnists.  Denny has written and/or edited every major character in comics, including Batman, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Superman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Iron Man, the Question, Azrael, and Millie the Model.

Back in the day, when comics had letter columns, Denny would usually share his reading preferences with readers.  We’re delighted to have continued this tradition here on ComicMix in Denny’s weekly columns.

To celebrate the last 52 weeks of Denny’s contributions to ComicMix, here’s a list of what he’s recommended so far, in the order he recommended them and with his thoughts on the recommendations (when he provided them). You’ll notice that, sometimes, he suggests the same book more than once.  And sometimes, he suggests more than one book at a time.  That’s the kind of reader Denny is — he takes his time, and he’s eclectic.

Good reading!

2/13/07

Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud

This is the one essential book for anyone with a genuine interest in the subject.

2/20/97

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, by Sam Harris

2/27/07

Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames, by Thich Nhat Hanh

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Jason Aaron on ‘Ghost Rider’

Ghost Rider is one of those characters that few writers seem to handle well. From one series to the next, the character has often seemed ill-placed, awkwardly written or just plain phoning it in. That all seems to have changed with the current Ghost Rider series, though.

According to the majority of Ghost Rider fans, however, the current, ongoing Ghost Rider series (scripted by Daniel Way and launched in time with the character’s big-screen debut) finally managed to sync up with the character’s appeal. Way departs the series this month, but will be replaced by Jason Aaron, the writer behind the critically praised ongoing series Scalped and the Eisner-nominated Vietnam War miniseries, The Other Side.

ComicBookResources has a nice interview with Jason Aaron about his upcoming Ghost Rider kickoff arc titled "Hell-Bent & Heaven Bound", the threat of machine-gun nurses (yes, you read that correctly) and, of course, where Ghost Rider will fit into the greater Marvel Universe:

“Other than the occasional guest star, Ghost Rider will remain confined to his own little corner of the Marvel U, which I think is when he works best,” Aaron remarked. “Right now, Blaze basically doesn’t give a damn who is or isn’t a Skrull or if Captain America is really dead.  He’s got his own problems to worry about and everybody else can go to hell.”

Aaron’s first issue of Ghost Rider will hit shelves Feb. 13.

 

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Birds of a Feather, by Elayne Riggs

elayne-riggs-100-2729911I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m already burnt out on the 2008 primary season. Okay, to tell you the truth I was burnt out sometime last autumn. The other day I was watching Tom Brokaw’s documentary about 1968 (highly recommended) and one of the political facts mentioned was that Bobby Kennedy didn’t even enter that year’s Presidential race until after the New Hampshire primary! Can you imagine such a thing today, a candidate not even declaring until after an “important” primary has already been run? This year almost all of them dropped out before yesterday’s Super-Duper Pooper-Scooper Fat Tuesday.

It wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of Catholics out there are considering giving up following politics for Lent. It’s not like there’s anything in it for us any more. People joke about the campaigns turning into another version of American Idol, but if you think about it the parallels are valid. You have performances evaluated on TV by a bunch of millionaires, and you’re given the illusion of choice among a very narrowly-acceptable band of telegenic hopefuls running more on the basis of style over substance (hey, they have machines now that can “correct” even live voices so they all come out on-key and synthetically perfect). The big difference with politics, besides the sad reality that the results of this contest matters to our lives and the future and the rest of the world, is that the contestants are also millionaires. Have to be; they wouldn’t be considered “viable” candidates otherwise.

“Viable” is one of those nebulous, never-defined vagaries like “freedom” that means whatever the person using it wants the people hearing it to think it means. The less you define something, the less you can be pinned down and expected to stick to your definition. So when you assume everyone believes “freedom” means the same thing, when most of the time those who employ the term equate it with “unfettered capitalism and false consumer choice” even though others still consider it to mean “having bodily autonomy and not being homeless nor starving nor spied upon nor told how or whether to worship,” they’re able to completely circumvent actual communication and not have anything they say be actionable! And “viable” is a media-created term — they don’t have to admit that their use of “viable” means “rich and part of the political machine and accepted by the corporations we’ve allowed to actually run this country” if they can get us to believe it means “intelligent and experienced enough to be taken seriously despite their income level or circle of cronies.” I mean, we should have known that ship had long since sailed when the last guy got elected despite having mostly negative experience and far too little intelligence for the job. (more…)