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‘The Wind in the Willows’ Review

  • News
  • February 5, 2008

Classic Illustrated Deluxe # 1: The Wind in the Willows
Novel by Kenneth Grahame; adapted by Michel Plessix
Papercutz, 2007, $13.95 (paperback) / $17.95 (hardcover)

I’ve wasted a lot of time not writing the review for this book, mostly because I suspected it would be one of the shortest in my career. (And both you and my ComicMix overlords deserve better than a super-short review.)

The problem is that there really isn’t much to say about Michel Plessix’s adaptation of The Wind in the Willows: it’s lovely and sweet, one of the best adaptations of a novel into the comics form that I’ve ever seen. When a book does everything right, it can be hard to talk about it, and I can’t see anything that Plessix does wrong here.

Plessix’s linework is careful and assured, capturing complex scenes with ease and giving life and emotion to a wide variety of anthropomorphic animal characters. Even more than that, he’s mastered the tricky art of those animals: they’re human enough to have gestures and body language, but animal enough to be believable as talking frogs, badgers, rats, and so on. And then he draws humans in the mix as well, and makes the combination not just work for the space of a few pages, but feel natural and obvious.

On top of all that is a carefully-chosen palette of mostly light, pastel colors, trying it all together with the perfect touch. The art of The Wind in the Willows is simply exquisite, but you need to look at it closely; it doesn’t demand attention but instead serves and advances the story. (more…)

On This Day: Red Nose Day!

  • News
  • February 5, 2008

Today in 1988, The United Kingdom celebrated its very first "Red Nose Day," a sort of semi-holiday in which everyone dons a red nose during the all-day charity telethon run by Comic Relief.

The event was so effective on its first go-round that Comic Relief was able to raise about £15 million (back then, that looked a lot bigger when it was turned into $), all going to charity. The event continues to be held every year, and even those in military and school uniforms are allowed to break their dress codes with the clown apparatus.

Oh, how very cheeky!

First Look: Mark Bagley at DC

  • Uncategorized
  • February 5, 2008

bagley-dc-3943647When longtime Ultimate Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley announced he was moving to DC Comics, it caused quite the uproar in the comics scene. Now, Newsarama has a peek at the first piece of art from Bagley’s new, mystery project.

The ‘Rama crew also reposted the following excerpt from a Bagley interview last month that, they believe, sheds some light on the secret project:

"…my old buddy Kurt Busiek and I are together again for what looks like a really great project. I’m also really happy that Art Thibert will be inking me . He did a bang-up job when he and I worked together on Ultimate Spider-Man. I just got back from a three-day creative meet with Dan DiDio, Mike Carlin, Liz Gehrlien, Kurt, and Ian Sattler. It went great—they’re a bunch of great people with a real passion for what they do."

 

William James and the Superbowl, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • February 5, 2008

Big game day. As I sit down to write this, the coin toss that will start this year’s Superbowl is about 90 minutes away. Let a hush fall over the universe. The Pats and the Giants are preparing to vie for godlike supremacy. Who’s your favorite QB – Eli or Tom? Me – I’m going for the Giants, not because I know anything about them, but rather because Marifran likes the Patriots and we have this annual bet. Winner gets to choose the next movie. Call us sports.

Wonder what William James would have thought of the Superbowl?

William James, brother of Henry, as the English majors and philosophy fans among you probably know, launched the concept of the “moral equivalent of war.” Although he was a self-proclaimed pacifist, he recognized that war has its uses – he even declared that history would be “insipid” without it. And it does. It hastens technological development, helps young men understand others who are not of their tribe, offers an opportunity for individuals to test themselves (and maybe learn what they really feel), provides an opportunity to develop managerial skills…You can probably add to the list.

War also kills and maims the innocent and destroys economies and nations and minds and brutalizes the survivors and gives money and power to those least deserving of them, such as men who have never fired a shot except, maybe, at forest animals and who knows? – even then the shooter might miss his target and hit a companion instead. Feel free to add to this list, too.

The trick, then, according to James and like minds, is to find a way to do the good things war does, and omit the bad. It’s a trick nobody has learned how to do. But we have some activities that approximate war that don’t do significant harm and may do some good, and sports is one of them. It allows young folk to obey their evolutionary imperative to engage in strenuous physicality with the goal of beating someone or something and maybe copping some glory and admiring glances and, please, let us not knock that imperative; it helped our distant, burrow-dwelling ancestors to claim a home on the Earth’s surface after a big chunk of rock did in the dinosaurs.

(more…)

Worst Movie Dialogue Ever?

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

EW.com recently ranked the "15 Nominees For Worst Movie Dialogue Ever," and a trio of films near and dear to science-fiction and comics fans made the list.

Among the 15 lines of dialogue, the much-maligned piece of dialogue offered up by Storm (Halle Berry) in "X-Men" to Toad (Ray Park):

‘You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.”

Also on the list are two lines of dialogue that were meant to be romantic, but ended up just sounding silly: One of the many ill-scripted romantic moments between Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Amidala (Natalie Portman) during "Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith", and a moment shared between two violence-prone lovers in the big-screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City.

Personally, I’m shocked by the absence of MY choice for worst line of dialogue in film history.

Does anyone remember the brilliant observation made by vampire-killer Blade (Wesley Snipes) upon vanquishing the villain of the first film? In case you subconsciously willed yourself to forget it, here it is:

"Some motherf*ckers is always trying to iceskate uphill."

Beat THAT, EW.com.

 

Russell T. Davies on ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Torchwood’ and ‘Sarah Jane Adventures’

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

The Los Angeles Times has posted a fairly extensive interview with "Doctor Who"  Executive Producer Russell T. Davies, touching on everything from the upcoming broadcast schedule for various "Who"-related projects to the sexuality of "Torchwood" and his decision to distance himself from the "Who" fanbase.

According to the interview, the highly anticipated "Sarah Jane Adventures" – another "Who" spin-off project with a decidely younger target audience – will hit U.S. networks in April, along with the next season of "Doctor Who." The world of "Doctor Who" is quickly becoming a universe, according to Davies, and with the expansion comes some necessary sharing of resources.

"’Sarah Jane’ inherited some of our ‘Doctor Who’ monsters," Davies said. "We can’t afford new prosthetics."

Davies goes on to discuss the controversial sexuality of the more adult-themed "Who" spin-off, "Torchwood", as well as his unusual stance against becoming too entangled in fan message boards and fan-community response to the various series.

"I think we’re an unusual science-fiction franchise in taking a very big step back from fandom and having nothing to do with them. . . . Every program on the BBC has a message board on the website. I forbid it to happen on ‘Doctor Who.’ I’m sorry to say this, all the science fiction producers making stuff in America, they are way too engaged with their fandom. They all need to step back."

(Hat Tip: Outpost Gallifrey)

Demons of Sherwood: Snakes Alive!

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

In today’s brand-new, free episode of Demons’ of Sherwood, Robert Tinnell and Bo Hampton show us a skirmish between Robin Hood’s Merry Men and a band of gypsies. 

When the dust settles and everyone’s asleep, Robin thinks he sees something.  Something really big.  Big and hungry.

 

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Marvel Comics Greatest Moments in Sports

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Never one to miss a promotional tie-in, Marvel.com has posted a rundown of the publisher’s greatest moments in sports.

The "Marvelous Moments in Sports" roundup was clearly written before the big game, because it lacks the sorrowful tone one might expect from a post-game writeup by New England Patriots fan Ben Morse. In fact, it’s a pretty funny trip down memory lane, with bits like this one about a bicoastal game of softball played in the pages of Avengers:

EARTH’S MIGHTIEST SOFTBALL GAME (WEST COAST AVENGERS ANNUAL #2, AVENGERS ANNUAL #16—1987)

Picture the softball game at your annual company picnic between marketing and accounting, but then sub in Thor at cleanup, Captain America at pitcher and Hawkeye on the base paths—that’s what the Avengers and their West Coast branch were going for in the late ’80s during their one and only showdown on the diamond. It’s pretty easy to understand why they never gave it another shot when you consider that the cosmically empowered Grandmaster interrupted the game, killed half of each team and then forced the remainder to compete in battle for his amusement. The GM eventually resurrected the fallen Avengers, and Cap learned a valuable lesson as they resumed the game: Hawkeye cheats.

 

Venom Solo Film Planned?

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

Spider-Man fans everywhere rejoiced when it was announced that the hero’s popular arch-enemy, Venom, was planned for the third big-screen installment of the "Spider-Man" film franchise. Unfortunately, the film failed to live up to expectations for most diehard Spidey (and Venom) fans. Recent reports regarding a potential Venom solo project could provide cause for celebration again.

IESB.net has confirmed that "a studio" is in talks with various movie writers to produce a film based upon the Venom character introduced in "Spider-Man 3".

The report cannot confirm which studio – or which writers – are involved in the discussion, but offers the following evaluation of the news:

Eight years ago, New Line Cinema held the theatrical rights to Venom. Since then, the rights have reverted back Marvel. But does Sony have complete control over the character since he was a part of Spidey 3 or does Marvel control the rights to the character with Sony only having distribution rights?

We have to assume that since there is movement and there has been recent meetings with writers this property must belong to Marvel since they have made an interim agreement with the WGA and proceed to develop projects during the current strike. Either way, one thing is for certain, Venom will get a second shot at the big screen.

 

Germany Publishes Educational Comic on Holocaust

  • News
  • February 4, 2008

German schoolchildren will soon be incorporating a comic book into their lessons about the Holocaust and the Nazi regime, according to Reuters.

The Search, described as a "Tintin-style" story, was created by Dutch cartoonist Eric Heuvel, and explores the Holocaust through the perspective of a fictional survivor. German officials hope to use the book to assist in the education of underprivileged children who might not otherwise be interested in learning.

The 61-page book, already available in various European languages, will be used alongside worksheets in history classes at secondary schools in Berlin for six months, after which the project hopes to go nationwide.

 

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