The Mix : What are people talking about today?

Groth vs Ellison: The Fantagraphics side

At New York’s Book Expo America today, Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth took time out from a busy schedule with booksellers, rights agents and talent to talk to ComicMix‘s Martha Thomases and Mike Gold briefly about the upcoming arbitration session to settle Harlan Ellison’s lawsuit. We asked why he wasn’t able to go to Los Angeles for the May 29 session, as originally scheduled. "I’m a single father.  My son turns 13 tomorrow," he said.  "I just couldn’t go to Los Angeles then to New York in three days." Fantagraphics is headquartered in Seattle.

Does he hope the arbitration process will work?

"Yes, I obviously have some hope or I wouldn’t spend the money or take the time to fly down."

Is the process binding?

"It’s binding if we agree on an arrangement we can both sign off on. I don’t know what that would look like. It won’t involve any money damages, because there is no money. That was a condition of our agreement to participate.

At the booth, Fantagraphics was distributing postcards urging interested parties to view the court documents at http://www.fantagraphics.com/support-html.

Groth was in New York promoting a wide variety of Fantagraphics projects, including the Pogo series we mentioned previously and their boxed-set tribute to Bill Mauldin’s classic World War II feature, Willie and Joe. The latter is scheduled for February.

Jack Kirby gets his due

61tigqfq5ol-_ss500_-4905996Few people had the privilege of knowing comics legend Jack Kirby the way Mark Evanier did. Therefore, it is only fitting that Mark was the man selected to pen Jack’s definitive biography.

stuntman1-3577896Kirby: King of Comics will be released this October in a 224 page hardcover edition, complete with a pull-out poster designed by Alex Ross, at a price a lot lower than that of any of Kirby’s Masterworks or Archives editions, a mere $40.00 retail. Normally, I’d be writing up the bit about who Jack Kirby was in case you don’t know the way I was taught in journalism school, but I can’t imagine anybody reading something called ComicMix who isn’t familiar with The King of Comics. But in case you want to brush up, Mark did an excellent job on his own website.

Tons of art and inside information and produced with the full cooperation of the Kirby estate, Mark Evanier’s Kirby: King of Comics is going to be an early Christmas for comic fans old and young.

Artwork copyright by their respective holders.

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Big Two Head Honchos Together

Snapped this photo yesterday afternoon:

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Some interesting faces there, including Tom Brevoort, Mike Carlin, Peter David, Ivan Cohen, Steve Wacker and… wait a second…

olympus-digital-camera-19Why, it’s DC Comics President+Publisher Paul Levitz and Marvel’s EIC Joe Quesada, mere feet away from each other. And they say the recent meetings involving Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are historic! (Yes, DC’s EIC Dan DiDio was there as well, and wound up sitting in the row in front of Quesada, but you’ll have to take my word for that as I don’t have a photo.) What could bring all these comics luminaries together? We’ll have the full report later today.

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Anaheim, Kookamonga, and… Allentown!

wackyland-8462856If you’re going to be in or near Allentown Pennsylvania between June 24 and September 16 of this year, you might want to drop by the Allentown Art Museum to enjoy their massive Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons exhibition.

A greatly expanded version of the exhibit that played New York’s prestigious – and extremely expensive – Museum of Modern Art back in the mid-80s, the program consists of over 160 drawings, paintings, cels and sundry objects used by directors Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett and others in the creation of the famous Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig cartoons from the classic period of the 1930s through 1960. Dozens of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies will be shown in their entirety as part of the exhibition.

Artwork from Bob Clampett’s Porky in Wackyland copyright Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.

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More on Persepolis’ prize

  • Uncategorized
  • June 1, 2007

cannes-thumb-9126334As reported earlier, the Cannes Film Festival awarded the animated film Persepolis (adapted from Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel of the same name) the Jury Prize, which it shares with Silent Light by Carlos Reygadas.  Here’s a nice photo of all three winners (including Satrapi’s co-director Vincent Paronnaud).

If you’re not Persepolis‘ed out after ComicMix running the trailer twice, here’s a nice interview with Satrapi from the International Herald Tribune.

It was forty years ago today…

sgtpepper-1092473…Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play.

They’ve been going in and out of style,

but they’re guaranteed to raise a smile.

So let me introduce to you,

the act you’ve known for all these years…

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Released four decades ago today in the UK and tomorrow in the US. Here’s to John, Paul, George, Ringo, and everybody who appeared on the cover.

(Lyrics copyright 1967 Northern Songs Ltd. After all, it’s only a Northern Song.)

MICHAEL DAVIS: Game Over

super_mario_64_01-9409709michael-davis200-5541101I have the greatest respect for the Sony company, but I have major issues with the way they handled the PS3 launch. So, to my friends at Sony: I still feel you are one of the greatest companies on the planet and it’s because of that I write this.

You should have known better…

Not so long ago in a galaxy real real close there was a giant named Nintendo. They were the undisputed champions of the video game world. They ruled the gaming world with their Mario Brothers Franchise and related games. So successful was Nintendo that the words Super Nintendo and Mario Brothers became part of the American lexicon.

So, there they sat secure in the knowledge that most of the market share for video games was theirs. One day a little guy named Sony showed up. Sony was known for televisions and stereos, not video games. So when they showed up with a new platform – the disc format – Nintendo, as they say in the hood, could give a (insert bad word).

No, Nintendo just sat idle while this “Play Station” chipped away at the big giant’s castle. Years before Sony had learned a bit about under estimating the competition. Back in the 70s they developed a video device called Betamax. It was the first affordable home video recorder. Well a year later other companies developed a VHS format and said to Sony,  “Hey Sony, share your Beta format with us and we will hook you up with our VHS format.” Sony, as they say in the hood said “You can kiss our (insert bad word here).

Well, the rest of the industry went about their business and developed VHS leaving Sony holding the video format that America did not want. So you would think they would have learned their lesson.

You would think.

Anyway, as I was saying, Nintendo was so secure in their complete dominion of the video game market that they paid no mind to the little disc driven Play Station. Nintendo could have paid a little more attention to the disc format, but no!! They figured that the entire world would stay with them. They could have met the challenge head on developing a disc system of their own, but NOOOOO the world would stay with them they were *NINTENDO!

* Note: Please feel free to add your own ominous sound track whenever you see NINTENDO!

They were the leaders were they not?  No one could catch them they were NINTENDO! They were so sure that their brand was so strong that they ignored the up start Play Station. Well it was soon evident that Play Station was the coolest thing on the planet.

And Nintendo heard what they thought they never would.

Game Over.

You would have thought that Nintendo would have quickly learned their lesson and converted to a disc system at the moment when Play Station kicked their ass.

(more…)

Ellison / Fantagraphics mediation delayed

  • Uncategorized
  • May 31, 2007

As previously reported, the scheduled mediation in the civil case between Harlan Ellison and Fantagraphics Press, originally scheduled for May 29 in the 9th Circuit Court in Santa Monica California, has been delayed until June 28.  "As to the postponement of the court-mandated mediation hearing that was scheduled for the 29 of May, which did not transpire, I am disappointed. Very disappointed.  Very, very disappointed."

John Carmichael, Harlan’s lawyer, explained that he received a call from Fantagraphics lawyer,, A. J. Thomas, saying that  Gary had a prior commitment that he either didn’t know about or tell his lawyer about at the time.  Carmichael had hoped the mediator would have time in the first week of June, but she only had June 23-28. She explained that it is her policy to only re-schedule once.  The reason Gary could not be in California on May 29 was his commitment to be at Book Expo in New York City, which begins June 1.  "I’m focused on getting the case settled, and if not, winning the case," he said.

Does he expect this to be resolved in one session?

"I don’t know," Carmichael replied.  "The Ninth Circuit has a very detailed sophisticated mediation program where they have court-appointed mediation lawyers.  This woman is flying down from San Francisco.  The parties are in separate rooms, they’re together at the beginning and make a statement, so each side feels heard, and then she separates them and they go into separate rooms and she shuttles between them.  It’s a great process.  It’s a great way to solve the problem."

Let us hope.

ComicMix gets YOU to the Super Bowl?

Middle of the week blues got you down?  Our perky li’l Big ComicMix Broadcast will fix that as we roll out our summer reading series with a look at a great comic series you probably missed, plus news on the Hundred Dollar Quarter and how to get Super Bowl and World Series tickets already! We pack up for the huge New York City Book Expo and we take a trip back to Sunday Night TV of three decades ago!

If you just Press The Button, Friday will be here that much quicker!

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Harry Potter theme park coming

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Nikki Finke reports that Warner Bros Entertainment and Universal Orlando Resort are teming up to bring "The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter" to Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park in late 2009. The pair of studios are partnering to "create the world’s first fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment" envisioned as a "theme park within a theme park".

Much more, including how Disney was frozen out of the negotiations, at the link. Bigger versions of the pictures are here. My only concern — did Thomas Kinkade do some of the preview art? Nah… Harry Potter’s probably too Satanic for him.

 

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