See Video Clips for Today’s DVD Release of Cowboys & Aliens
Universal is releasing [[[Cowboys & Aliens]]] on DVD today and they have sent out some preview clips. The set below focus on the delectable Olivia Wilde.
Olivia Wilde Stunt
Explosions
Category: News
Is Gareb Shamus Really Gone From Wizard World?
A terse SEC filing on Friday has led to headlines all over comics: Gareb Shamus has resigned as CEO, President and Director of Wizard World, Inc., the convention-running entity of the Wizard empire. Seeing as how Shamus is the owner and founder of the company it came as a shock. But what does it really mean? Has Shamus really been ousted from his own company — or is it just a filing to reflect some internal resource shuffling?
The latest iteration of the shrinking of the Wizard brand began about a year ago when Shamus announced that the magazine would return as a downloadable PDF. As we noted at the time, Shamus seemed almost eerily focused on this new outing, promising an audience of millions and the ability to break new comics. “We can make things cool,” he told us at the time, a perhaps distant echo of Wizard’s one time ability to actually make any new Image artist cool in their early 90s, pre-internet heyday.
The PDF continued to come out at irregular intervals, and with a declining posse of warm bodies to actually produce it, as long time staffers Mike Cotton and Justin Aclin gradually faded into the forest, leaving a skeleton staff of Shamus, brother Stephen and convention runner Peter Katz, along with new hire Kevin Kelly, who came on board as managing editor a few months ago.
Just recently, however, a couple of very strange things happened — both so quickly that we never even had a chance to write about them….
Harlan Ellison releases four new books
Harlan Ellison, once called “the 20th century Lewis Carroll” by the Los Angeles Times, invites you to explore his 56-year career in four new books.
These four volumes, designed to bring Ellison’s writing to a new generation of readers while collecting rare works for his long-time fans, gather classic stories, entertaining essays, unpublished teleplays, and the author’s never-before-reprinted second novel from 1960.
Bill Willingham on “Fables” vs “Once Upon A Time”
Comic Book Resources gets Bill Willingham to talk about the similarities between the long-running Vertigo comic series Fables and Once Upon A Time:
For those of you who just came in, let’s start with some of the basics. “Once Upon a Time” is a weekly TV series showing on the ABC television network. It’s just over a month old now, having aired four episodes by the time of this writing. It was created by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis.
“Fables” is a monthly comic book series, published by Bill Willingham, the author of this essay.
Both series explore the notion of popular fable, folklore and fairytale characters, native to a fantasy medieval setting, but still living today in modern day America. Let’s discuss.
via Bill Willingham on “Fables” vs “Once Upon A Time” – Comic Book Resources.
The Point Radio: Backstage At COVERT AFFAIRS
That old Technical Boogey Man took us out of theme on Friday, but we’re back today with plenty to share including more backstage dish from USA Network‘s COVERT AFFAIRS. For example, how Chris Gorman trained to be “blind”, how Piper Peabo speaks all those languages and why the producers can’t seem to plan ahead. Plus those WATCHMEN 2 rumors and an early Christmas gift for FRINGE fans.
The Point Radio is on the air right now – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or mobile device– and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like” or follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.
“John Carter” Trailer Convinces Us
We admit it, we’re hooked by this trailer. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars has a look and feel that separates it from our previous visual incarnations while remaining faithful to the source material. With this and The Hunger Games in March, suddenly that month is starting to feel like summer.
“Cowboys & Aliens” Studios Sued For Copyright Infringement
Scott Rosenberg involved in legal problems and accused of theft? What are the odds?Cowboys & Aliens studios Universal Pictures and Platinum Studios have been sued by cartoonist Stephen Busti, who claims that the graphic novel and Jon Favreau movie infringes on his strip ‘Cowboys and Aliens’, which appeared in Bizarre Fantasy #1 in 1994.
TMZ reports that Busti’s story was spotlighted in a 1995 issue of Comic Shop News on the same page that ran a story about Platinum’s Scott Rosenberg. The studio executive later presented the Cowboys & Aliens concept to the studio.
Platinum produced a Cowboys & Aliens poster in 1997 and sold the rights to the property to Universal and Dreamworks. It did not appear in graphic novel form until 2006.
HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO MYSTERY MEN (& WOMEN) VOLUME 2!
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock
MYSTERY MEN (& WOMEN) VOLUME TWO
Written by Various Authors
Cover by Mike Fyles
Interior Art and Design by Rob Davis
Published by Airship 27 Productions
New Pulp is such an interesting creature. It is organic, something sprouting from the past, but as it grows and blossoms, it becomes its own thing. And there are Publishers and Writers today who continue to care for this beautiful thing we call New Pulp, making sure that it remains available, that it stands out as innovative and different, not derivative and unoriginal. A leading Publisher in doing just that is Airship 27 Productions, a company that divides itself between New Pulp based on Public Domain pulp characters as well as new and original characters blazing trails through New Pulp.
One of the titles that showcases the movement of original characters in Airship is their MYSTERY MEN (& WOMEN) series of books. Four stories in the first volume introduced the idea and it has been continued in a second volume. Overall, the book is enjoyable, a hoot to read, and wonderful to view. Individually, the stories vary in style and quality.
THE RED BADGE ATTACKS- by Mark Halegua and Andrew Salmon
This is not only the debut of the vigilante known as The Red Badge, but it’s also the first story published by the Badge’s creator, Mark Halegua. The premise is simple. A vigilante is in the city taking out the bad guys as quickly and violently as possible. Throw into that the fact that the identity of the Badge is a mystery, even up until the very end, but a mystery with a myriad of suspects.
The Red Badge has definite potential as a concept. The path traveled by this story is well worn, but its also one that could be done with twists and turns. Unfortunately, that’s not done nearly enough with this tale. Yes, some of the action scenes sing like a chorus of tommy guns, but others drag like they’re falling on dead chambers. The same with the dialogue-There’s a few solid exchanges, but overall it’s stilted and weak. The strongest point of this story is you can see what Halegua (with help from Salmon) wants the Red Badge to be, which gives one hope he may get there in future tales.
TWO OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
LAIR OF THE MOLE PEOPLE- by Greg Bastianelli
One of the neatest stories in Pulp is when you take a person in an occupation that isn’t cop, adventurer, spy, and you throw them into a Pulp over the top adventure tale and it works! Bastianelli does this with his character Jack Minch, Ace Reporter in this tale and does it so well and with such skill that the story was over before I even realized it. The premise, again like with the previous story, is straightforward. Minch opens a message from a woman who had left it behind to be opened if she disappeared, which she did. This action leads this spunky, two fisted typewriter jockey into a world beneath the city, as indicated by the title, and at that point, the real fun begins.
This story crackles with solid characterization, strong dialogue, and enough jump-from-around the corner action to keep any Pulp fan enticed and most definitely wanting more!
FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
DOCK DOYLE AND THE WANDERING CITY by Adam Lance Garcia
This story gave me fits. Here’s why.
Dock Doyle is a great American Hero and Movie Star, legends galore attached to his name. And this story takes him on an adventure deep into the Jungle for what is apparently another film job, but Doyle finds out far too late that things are not at all what they seem. And the reader finds that out as well, even about the central character himself.
This is quite possibly one of the best stories I have ever read. No kidding. Looking at it as an avid bibliophile who reads across all genres and recognizes all the movements, nuances, and influences in literature, mainstream and otherwise, this story is one of the best examples of post modern deconstruction I have found in a long time.
Looking at it as a reviewer of Pulp….It isn’t. It simply isn’t a Pulp Tale.
Don’t get me wrong. Some key elements are woven in. Action. Quick Pacing. Exotic locales. Defiance of death. All of that is there. Where this fails as a Pulp story is in the characters, especially the lead himself. Garcia paints vivid pictures and builds characters from the ground up. But they’re not Pulp characters. And trust me, I don’t feel Pulp characters have to be two dimensional or all good or all bad….but with Dock Doyle, there’s far too much gray even in the lead character…especially in the lead character…for this to be a Pulp Tale.
THREE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT- It ain’t Pulp, but it is damned good.
A MAN CALLED MONGREL by Derrick Ferguson
One of the great things about a good author…no, about a great author, is that he/she can deliver consistently, even when they are writing characters with some similarities in the same field of literature. And not just consistently in terms of quality, but also consistently in terms of differentiation-in making their work stand out solidly from what has come before.
Derrick Ferguson is just such an author. A master of the art.
Mongrel is a member of a family who essentially has a corner on the genius gene pool. When an attempt is made on the life of a family member, Mongrel swings into action against a Family that is focused on taking down leading corporations in the world via super science. But not while Mongrel Henderson is on the job.
This tale is raucous, over the top, and yet grounded in strong values. Family connections, pure heroism, and the battle of intellect versus emotion are all not only clearly on display in this story, but turned up to Eleven and broadcast in every single word. These characters, particularly Mongrel, exude excitement, action, as well as humanity. Mongrel can take on nearly any baddie that wants to stand with him, but he still cowers when called down by his mother. Ferguson’s strong suit in all his work is that the action is relentless, the violence is pointed and necessary, and the characters ooze the good and bad of simply being human, although the smartest, toughest, and most righteous or vile humans ever seen anywhere. This story stands out as the best in the entire volume and likely in the entire MYSTERY MEN (& WOMEN) series to date.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
Design and Art-Even though I said what I did about Dock Doyle’s debut story, the first image of Dock to be seen, the cover of this volume, is phenomenal. Award winning artist Mike Fyles delivers once again and proves he understands the concept of what Pulp covers are and what they need to convey.
Likewise the interior art and design of the book by Rob Davis does just what both of those things are supposed to. Davis’ work supports all the stories, the images bringing out in wonderful line work and iconic imagery exact moments from the stories and the format of the book makes one feel as if they’re holding a Pulp from a news kiosk back in the Thirties. Even the back cover design as well as the ads included add to that authentic feel.
FIVE OUT FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
Even though every story wasn’t a grand slam and one might be better suited in another volume, MYSTERY MEN (& WOMEN) VOLUME TWO as a whole delivers.
OVERALL-FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT!
Alex Cox promoted to Deputy Director of CBLDF
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fundis pleased to announce that Alex Cox has been named to the position of Deputy Director. In this new capacity, his responsibilities will expand to include full oversight of the CBLDF home office and fundraising program. Cox joined the CBLDF in the fall of 2010 as Development Manager.Since joining the CBLDF last year Cox has improved the organization’s membership program and convention presences. Under Cox’s watch, membership in both the retailer and individual capacities has shown dramatic increases. Cox has also overseen the creation of a more robust volunteer program in the New York home office. Prior to CBLDF, Cox was a 15-year veteran of comics retail, including owning and managing the nationally recognized comic book store Rocketship.Speaking about the promotion, Cox said, “I’m extremely grateful to be in a position to help the comics community fight back against anyone that would threaten free expression in this art form that we all love. As a comic fan and student of the art form for close to 30 years, I never thought that I would see anything like the panic caused by Seduction of the Innocent in my lifetime. But with the current case in Canada, the creeping specter of censorship and persecution is rearing its head again, making the CBLDF even more important. I’m proud to be a part of it and I look forward to working with our members, retailers, and the creative community in the years to come.”
“Alex has been a great addition to the CBLDF, and we’re excited to be able to develop a space for him to grow even further within the organization,” says Charles Brownstein, CBLDF’s Executive Director. “Alex has made great strides in developing our fundraising program in a very difficult time, and his leadership in the office has helped us bring in even more talented volunteers to help us fulfill our work. He’s an extremely valuable member of our team, and we’re glad to see him take on this new role.”
Independent Comics Month-to-Month Sales: October 2011
Buffy continues in the top spot, while a double-shipping Walking Dead takes second and third places. Turtles creeps back up to fourth, and Star Trek/ Legion of Superheroes gets off to a very promising start. Further down, Orchid benefits from a rock star contributor, Garth Ennis & John Byrne launch new titles and a remarkable success story finishes off the month.
This month everyone wants to know how DC’s New 52 has affected the sales of everyone else’s books. It’s a little too early to tell, the re-charting DC books have pushed a lot of indies off the charts, but while the indie publishers have a lot less titles charting this month, their market and dollar share have only dropped a little, suggesting that sales are up overall. The next three months will show the effects far more clearly.
Only 87 indie books charted this month, down from last month’s high of 127 and again the number 87 book sold around the same as the number 87 book last month. The bottom book sold 5,167 compared to last month’s 3,341. In total those books sold approximately 921,878, well down on last month’s 1,053,116. That said, last month the average sales were 8,292 per book, this month it’s 10,596.
