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Movie Auction sets record

  • News
  • April 6, 2007

The auction we told you last Friday (http://comicmix.com//news/2007/03/30/to-do-april-5-buy-superman-oz-props/) is over,and sold more than $2 million in props.  Among the highlights of interest to ComicMix:

— SOLD $ 31,625.00  Lot 376.  Original car from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland.

— SOLD $ 34,500.00  Lot 384.  Illuminating model of the Nautilus submarine from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

— SOLD $ 23,000.00  Lot 413.  Hero costume w/rocket pack from The Rocketeer.

— SOLD $ 31,625.00  Lot 525.  Yvonne Blake costume sketch of Superman from Superman: The Movie.

— SOLD $115,000.00  Lot 537.  Christopher Reeve hero ‘Superman’ costume from Superman:  The Movie.

— SOLD $ 26,560.00  Lot 545.  Screen-used Kryptonite crystal from   Superman III.

— SOLD $ 63,250.00  Lot 560.  Val Kilmer ‘Batman’ costume from Batman Forever.

— SOLD $ 48,875.00  Lot 561.  Alicia Silverstone ‘Batgirl’ costume from  the Ice Cave battle in Batman Forever.

— SOLD $ 40,250.00  Lot 566.  Wolverine hero claws worn by Hugh Jackman in X2: X-Men United.

— SOLD $ 34,500.00  Lot 591.  Early Leonard Nimoy "Spock" tunic from the first season of Star Trek.

— SOLD $126,500.00  Lot 631.  H.R. Giger Alien creature suit on display from Alien.

— SOLD $ 40,250.00  Lot 640.  Jedi Master stunt fighting lightsaber from SW: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

— SOLD $ 69,000.00  Lot 641.  Golden headpiece of "Staff of Ra" from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Wonder Woman on the radio

Trey Songz will release his second album, Trey Day, June 12, via Songbook/Atlantic Records. The lead single from the album will be “Wonder Woman,” which features production from Danja.  You can get a preview at his website, www.treysongz.com/

MARTHA THOMASES: Why I love the Legion

  • News
  • April 6, 2007

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It was in early 1980 when I realized what I geek I had turned into. The night before, I had a dream. My dream was not the inspirational kind like Martin Luther King, Jr., nor the poetic kind that Neil Gaiman would later spin into a career that brings happiness to millions.

I had a geek dream.

In my dream, the Ramones tried out for the Legion of Super-Heroes, and were turned down because Legion rules didn’t allow for more than one person to have the same super-power, which, in this case, was being a Ramone. I no longer remember precisely who turned them down, but I do remember Bouncing Boy suggesting they join the Legion of Substitute Heroes. Joey wanted to, but Dee Dee refused.

Then I woke up.

I read my first Legion story in Jamestown, New York, visiting my grandparents in the late 1950s or early 1960s. I had what must have been an Adventure comic, with a story about the adult Legion of Super-Villains fighting Superman, and the adult Legion of Super-Heroes joining in. My grandparents, while lovely people, were very boring, and I dove into that comic as a way of avoiding Lawrence Welk on television. Luckily, this eight-page story had plenty to mesmerize a young girl. Cosmic King versus Cosmic Man! Lightning Lord versus Lightning Man! Saturn Queen versus Saturn Woman! The villains had regal names while the heroes had descriptive names. Clearly, ego and a class system must be what turned people bad.

Over the next several decades, I read as many Legion stories as I could. I loved the variety of powers these kids had (Matter-Eater Lad!), and that they had a meetings where they could gather and sit behind desks, with title cards that explained their abilities, in case they forgot. (“I’m Invisible Kid, but I don’t know what I do. Oh, here it says on my name-plate. I can turn invisible!”)

But mostly, I loved that they had a clubhouse.

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Anime on the move

  • Uncategorized
  • April 6, 2007

axpo-8384794Anime conventions are running hot and cold this year.

IVC2 reports that Anime Expo, currently the nation’s largest anime convention with over 40,000 in attendance last year, will be moving back to its original home at the Long Beach (CA) Sports Arena on June 29 through July 2.  A highlight of the show is sure to be the return engagement of "AX Singing Idol" — details can be found at the AX website.  Be sure to pack the sunscreen!

We used the word "currently" up there because Reed Exhibitions, the people who brought you the New York Comic Con, have been busy organizing the first New York Anime Festival, to be held at the Javits Center on December 7 through 9.

nyanime-2315951According to Reed’s press release, the con will "span the complete breadth of anime pop culture including exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, and sessions with the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America. The event will also explore the Japanese cultural experience with a showcase of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese cuisine, apparel, and lifestyles." Dress warmly for the late fall!

And if you simply can’t wait until then, particularly if you live in the Northwest US and aren’t all tired out from the Emerald City Con, don’t forget that Sakura-Con 2007 ("the oldest and most well-attended Anime Convention in the Pacific Northwest — non-profit, all ages, all volunteer and ‘for the fans by the fans’") starts tomorrow, April 6, through Sunday the 8th at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle.

sakura-3077187Logos for each of these three conventions are pictured at right.  That’s a lot of anime, but really just a small cross-section of the actual anime con circuit, which is easily as impressive as the mainstream comicon circuit…

When cartoonists gather

  • Uncategorized
  • April 5, 2007

Two good reports on cartoonist meetings, complete with pictures:

Howard Cruse details a get-together in Massachusetts of some Pioneer Valley cartoonists, and Mikhaela Reid talks about the Women, Action and the Media (WAM) conference in Washington DC, where she and fellow cartoonists Stephanie McMillan (who also has a review) and Jen Sorensen presented a "Resistance through Ridicule" panel and slideshow.

Fun fact from Stephanie: "When cartoonists get together, it takes a maximum of about ten minutes for the conversation to turn to Photoshop and/or font programs."

Peabody for Boondocks

  • Uncategorized
  • April 5, 2007

boondocks-5197567Congratulations to Aaron McGruder and company for garnering Peabody award for the Boondocks cartoon episode "The Return of the King!"  The awards committee calls this "An especially daring episode" which "imagines Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reviving from a 32-year ‘coma’ and outraging Americans of all colors and creeds by confronting them with truths that he, at least, still holds to be self-evident."

The full list of 66th Annual Peabody Award recipients can be found here.

Logan’s Run Gets Silver Star

  • Uncategorized
  • April 5, 2007

Joel Silver, who makes movies where things blow up real good, says he’s planning to remake the 1976 science fiction classic, Logan’s Run. 

"I love the original material but I think that version is a bit silly," he told reporters in Barcelona where he was promoting his latest film The Reaping starring Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank.

The original starred Michael York, Peter Ustinov, Farrah Fawcette and Roscoe Lee Browne.  Directed by Michael Anderson, it won an Oscar for its visual effects.

Edward Gorey Movies

  • News
  • April 5, 2007

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the work of everyone’s favorite creepy cartoonist, Edward Gorey, will be made into a movie. The project is being developed by Walden Media (the people who brought you the Narnia movie), the Jim Henson Company, and Fox 3000. 

Brad Peyton will direct from a script written by Matthew Huffman.

It’s hard to come up with a creature that you’ve never seen before in any medium, and he’s a unique little creation who is very appealing without being cute or cloying," Jim Henson Co. co-CEO Lisa Henson said. "He’s sophisticated yet simple at the same time, but it’s not overly juvenile. Adults can find him cute, too."

No word yet on a cast, or if the film will be live action or animated.

Depp’s daddy Disney disaster?

  • News
  • April 5, 2007

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As you may have heard, earlier this week rock legend Keith Richards acknowledged snorting the ashen remains of his father. Within 24 hours, his publicist issued a retraction. April Fools, she said, a few days late.

O.K. Fine. I believed the former, I don’t want to believe the latter, but what the hell it wasn’t my dad.

But it was said by Johnny Depp’s dad – as in, "Keith Richards plays Johnny Depp’s father in Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End."

There’s a wonderful opportunity for an exciting new ending here. Otherwise, Disney’s spin-meisters are going to have quite a tangled web to weave.

Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End opens May 25th.

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MATT RAUB reveals: Bob Dylan is a Cylon!

  • News
  • April 5, 2007

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So it’s been about two weeks since the season 3 finale of Battlestar Galactica. “Crossroads Part 2” has aired, and I’m tired of sitting on what I have to say about it. If you’re one of the unfortunate one’s who have still yet to see the show, here’s the spoilers: Basically we learned: who the final four Cylons turn out to be, how everyone copes with the recently deceased Starbuck, the outcome of the Gaius Baltar trial, that President Rosaline’s cancer has returned and she’s back on the wacky drug that made her see snakes, and finally, that Bob Dylan is a Cylon!

Don’t worry; I know there is a lot here, so I’m going to break it down for those playing along at home.

Those of you who remember the set-up in “Crossroads Part 1” know that throughout the episode, Colonel Tigh, Sam, Chief Tyrol, and Press Secretary Tory Foster (played by Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas, Michael Trucco, and Rheka Sharma, respectively) hear strange sitar music that draws them toward the center of the ship. We don’t know where it comes from, only that these four are the only ones that can hear this music. We find out in the finale that mysterious music is a cover of the Bob Dylan song “All Along the Watchtower” – and not Jimi Hendrix’s, either! Now, those of you who read my review for the film 300 know my feelings about switching from orchestral beats to heavy modern guitar, but that goes full force when it’s a sci-fi show that uses an actual song when the show takes place millions of years ago and/or galaxies away!

Either way, we discover that these people hearing the music are drawn together and discover that they are all Cylon sleeper agents. This is probably one of the biggest moments in the season, and I feel likeit  didn’t get the respect it deserved by clumping all of the Cylon-outings in one scene.

Moving on, we also get the verdict of the excruciatingly long trial of Giaus Baltar. The arc basically consisted of a whole lot of father/son Adama melodrama, cranky Rosaline explains how her cancer has returned (which should be a non-issue because we know that the bastard Cylon-baby is the cure) and some more mystifying lines from Batlar’s lawyer, Matt Murdock-lite Romo Lampkin (played by 24’s Mark Sheppard). After some deep prodding from the prosecution, a recently de-commissioned Apollo takes the stand and gives this entire speech on what he’s been feeling from day one. This was a great little monologue, because he talks about how the fleet has forgiven all of its past “crimes against humanity,” referencing a lot of the back story along the way. Essentially this is what persuades the tribunal of judges to give Baltar a verdict of not guilty.

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