In this exclusive interview with our friends from VOICES FROM KRYPTON, Chris Pratt talks about the importance of the new JURASSIC PARK reboot, how he still is amazed at how big GUARDIANS was and the possibility of picking up the hat and whip to become the new Indiana Jones!
Oh what an age we live in! Marvel banks billions at the box office. DC hits homerun after homerun on the silver screen. And Boom!, Avatar, IDW, and Image continue to stretch the boundaries of the original source medium like no one before them. Yet, it’s we, the lil’ indie folks that are living in the most golden of ages. Why? Because the marketplace has found a way to make us matter; to give us a national (if not international) fanbase all at the click of the mouse. And now, before any art is ever born (outside some sizzling promotional pieces) whole projects can be given birth at only the pitch level. Rao bless you, Crowdsourcing.
Of course… they say the Devil is in the details. Right? Back in 2011, when Unshaven Comics was nothing but a lowly anthology series and an educational graphic novel, we opted to use Kickstarter to fund a dream – the creation of a cosplay suit of armor for our Samurnauts series. We had high hopes that if we really stretched out our arms and begged every single person we knew, we could raise the necessary funds (A whopping $1100 to cover the design, materials, and labor to produce a very high quality suit by some great artisans, Malmey Studios). Well, after an agonizing month of hustling? We succeeded. And in funding the suit, and sending out the prizes? We were left in the hole. When the magnificent suit arrived, we couldn’t be happier. And the joy that our live model (both in the suit and in the book, natch) brought to the kids at various cons over the next 2-3 years? It was well worth the effort.
What tickles me to no end is that what we raised then is a mere pittance in comparison to what our compatriots are pulling down today. And to be honest? It scares the poop right outta my colon for our chances, now that we ourselves are considering returning to crowdfunded-fracas. Even funnier? When Unshaven Comics needs 250 people to vote for them, for free, we’re still having trouble. But I digress.
I look no further than my northernly neighbors Tom Stillwell or Gene Ha, and marvel at their recent successes. Stillwell’s Fangirl garnered over 300 backers, and tipped the scales at over $12,000 to help him produce his excellent story of a murder mystery taking place at the largest comic con in the nation. And hey, if that sounds like you want a copy, look no further for a pre-order. And ole’ Gene? Well, not that long ago, he was begging Unshaven Comics for tips on attending a comic con successfully (no lie! He wrote about it here). And now? He’s proven how much of a powerhouse he is, with his Mae graphic novel project boasting over 1,300 backers, and more money than I’d like to type out. Girl power, indeed.
It would appear perhaps these successes are a boon; that finding a fanbase is totally doable, and with the right moxey, the money needed to see our dreams become reality is just a little elbow grease away. But alas, that’s the kind of fluffy talk that sounds wonderful until you try it. Back in October, my Unshaven cohort, Kyle Gnepper, sought backing for his project Toolbox. It’s a strong concept, paired with a wonderful artist (and no, I’m not talking about me, or the other Unshaven guy). But with all his gumption, moxie, and lucky rabbits feet in tow, Kyle was only able to see close to half his needed goal. In the fallout, he’s been paying for the project anyways, a page at a time. His passion – no different than Tom’s, Gene’s, or any of the other successes we know – wasn’t the key to success.
As it were, name recognition matters. The time you debut your campaign matters. The time you promise it takes to bring the completed project to market matters. The price-points of your wares matters. I could go on. What was once a breezy and open marketplace is now its own economic ecosphere, held in place by unseen forces and unknown rules. Where promotion was once tethered to your facebook fan page, a few reddit groups, and maybe your dusty e-mail newsletter list… is now a fully-developed campaign where updates are a necessary evil, along with stretch goals, and swag far beyond the standard tee-shirt or sketch promise. Heck, in the successful campaign for Albert the Alien, I paid a handsome fee to ensure Unshaven Comics be drawn into the book. Why? Because my money was burning a hole in my pocket, and the guy running the show, Trevor Mueller, is too damned nice.
So, here I sit, with a litany of burning questions broiling in my draft folder for those smarter than myself (it’s a long list, trust me). Does Unshaven Comics actually have a shot at seeing several thousand dollars for a graphic novel of our Samurnauts series? If so, should we be launching it before all the material is done, to ensure we’re far enough away from the holidays so-as to attract wandering buyers? Do we go with IndieGoGo where failure is far harder to achieve (with a lower bar to victory), or go all-in with Kickstarter? Do we seek way-out-of-the-box merch tie-ins for bigger backers? Do we offer wacky and wild limited prizes? Do we call in every favor owed to us by known names in an attempt to garner attention from those who likely don’t know or care to know us? Do we plan a staged coup at a big-time comic con in hopes of being written about on CBR, Newsarama, Bleeding Cool, or Ain’t It Cool News?
The answers, my friend, are all yes. Stay tuned for my greatest leap of faith, perhaps ever, in comics.
The Starz Original series “Ash vs Evil Dead” is rolling out new teasers this week for the 10-episode first season of the half-hour series executive produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell, the original filmmakers of the franchise, and Craig DiGregorio who will serve as executive producer and showrunner. “Ash vs Evil Dead,” which is currently in production in New Zealand, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film franchise The Evil Dead and is set to premiere on Starz in Fall 2015.
Ash, his boom stick, and his chainsaw have made numerous appearances in comics, both in his own series from Dark Horse and Dynamite, and crossing over with a wide variety of characters such as Marvel Zombies, Darkman, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Dracula, Xena, Danger Girl, and Re-Animator.
Campbell will be reprising his role as Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead. When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons –personal and literal. Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its “Evil” grip.
The cast is led by Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) in the role of Ash Williams, Lucy Lawless (“Salem,” “Spartacus”) as Ruby a mysterious figure who believes Ash is the cause of the Evil outbreaks, Ray Santiago (“Touch,” Meet the Fockers) as Pablo Simon Bolivar, an idealistic immigrant who becomes Ash’s loyal sidekick, Dana DeLorenzo (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) as Kelly Maxwell, a moody wild child trying to outrun her past and Jill Marie Jones (“Sleepy Hollow”) as Amanda Fisher, a disgraced Michigan State Trooper set to find our anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility in the grisly murder of her partner.
Raimi (Spider-Man) is directing the first episode of “Ash vs Evil Dead” that he wrote with Ivan Raimi (Darkman, Army of Darkness, Drag Me to Hell), and Tom Spezialy (“Chuck,” “Reaper,” “Desperate Housewives”). Raimi will also serve as executive producer, with Rob Tapert (Evil Dead, “Spartacus,” Xena: Warrior Princess”) and Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) along with Craig DiGregorio (“Workaholics,” “Chuck”) who will serve as executive producer/showrunner. Ivan Raimi will co-executive produce and Aaron Lam (“Spartacus”) and Chloe Smith (“Spartacus”) will serve as producers.
It’s been a couple weeks since we got the news of this coming fall’s network TV lineups. Many have noted it’s a golden age for comic-sourced television. One of the fall’s new shows on FOX will be Lucifer, based on the series of the same name featuring characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith & Mike Dringenberg for DC Comics.
Not so surprisingly, a show about The First of The Fallen getting bored with his tenure ruling Hell so he moves to L.A. to be a nightclub impresario has some folks upset, namely the American Family Association and its offshoot OneMillionMoms.com. AFA & OMM have started online petitions to “urge Fox [to] drop plans to air Lucifer” citing “The program previews mischaracterize Satan, departs from true biblical teachings about him, and inaccurately portrays the beliefs of the Christian faith. By choosing to air this show, FOX is disrespecting Christianity and mocking the Bible.” OMM also points out that “Previews of the pilot episode depict graphic acts of violence, a nightclub featuring scantily-clad women and a demon,” as objectionable content.
Here’s the first look trailer for Lucifer starring Tom Ellis:
OneMillionMoms.com state that “Our goal is to stop the exploitation of our children, especially by the entertainment media,” which begs the questions: Why haven’t they gone after the source material? Why are there no online petitions against any comics or comic book publishers on either the OMM or AFA sites? Doesn’t Fredric Wertham’s theories of youth corruption dovetail nicely with their “values”? Are comics not an entertainment medium?
At the time of this writing 9,175 “Moms” had e-signed (that’s almost 1% of one million) and 53,386 e-signatures have been collected on the AFA petition. It’s unclear if AFA’s numbers include the Moms or not. Oh, and the trailer has 565,783 views on YouTube.
It’s probable that if their petition fails to get FOX to cancel the show prior to its 2016 airdate, they will turn to the tactics they are currently using against TV Land’s Younger and urge sponsors to pull their spots.
A Mr. Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey writes in and says… Something completely off-topic. This is “The Law Is a Ass,” not Roseanne Roseannadanna. However, a Mr. Ronald Byrd writes in and says, “Hi. Wondering, did you pay much attention to the X-Men/Utopia storyline? Because it seemed to me that, by declaring Utopia to be a sovereign nation (whether or not Cyclops’s actions conformed to real-world laws on how to declare a sovereign nation isn’t presently the point), Cyclops unilaterally declared everyone on Utopia to be citizens of that nation and thus unilaterally stripped them of their (for the most part) American citizenship. Without asking. Which struck me as, I don’t know, inappropriate? Did I misunderstand that part? Thanks for your time.”
Is that what happened in Utopia? I’m afraid my memory is like fine wine. It did get better with age. Then it was exposed to oxygen and turned into vinegar. So, if that’s what happened in Utopia, I kinda forgot about it. (Forgetting was kind of a defense mechanism.) But if that’s what happened, then here’s why Cyclops didn’t do the bad thing you thought he did. (Which would be the first time in a long time that Cyclops, as currently written, didn’t do a bad thing.)
American citizenship is guaranteed in the United States Constitution. The first sentence of the Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” It’s called the “Citizenship Clause,” which is a bit grandiose considering it’s only a sentence, not a whole clause. The Citizenship Clause was written to undo the infamous United States Supreme Court ruling in the Dred Scott, about which the less said the better, because Dred Scott held African Americans were not, and could not become, United States Citizens.
The Citizenship cemented the right of all United States citizens to be citizens. Which wasn’t always the slam dunk you’d think it would be.
American citizens have a constitutional right to be American citizens. Seems rather basic. But in 1940, Congress adopted a bleach to basic attitude. Remember, this was in the days and years leading up to World War II, when our relations with several foreign countries – such as Germany, Japan, and Russia – were as strained as Spanx on Honey Boo Boo’s Mama June. Back then, the United States motto was “For every action there is an equal and opposite overreaction.” Japanese interment camps, anyone? One of the biggest overreactions was the Nationality Act of 1940.
Among the many provisions of the Nationality Act of 1940 was Section 401, which created many ways in which citizens could lose their citizenship. Naturalized citizens, for example, could lose their citizenship, if they lived abroad. (Ruled unconstitutional in the case Schneider v. Rusk under the Equal Protection Clause.)
All citizens could lose their citizenship if convicted of military desertion during a time of war. (Ruled unconstitutional in the case Trop v. Dulles as a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment.)
Other provisions of the Nationality Act said citizens could lose their citizenship if they performed military or government service for another country when coupled with citizenship of that country. Or if they lived in a foreign country to evade military service. Or if they served in the armed forces of a foreign state, voted in a foreign election, or acquired the nationality of a foreign state. And that would be the type of expatriation concerning us today; loss of citizenship when one becomes a citizen of a foreign country, like the mutant country of Utopia.
Most mutants didn’t ask to become citizens of Utopia. They became Utopians when Cyclops claimed them. Did they lose their citizenship because of what Cyclops did? The short answer is “no.” The long answer is, “No and here’s why.” Because the core function of this column – to inform you of how the law works – requires exploring the “here’s why” part, we’ll go with the long answer.
American citizens cannot lose their citizenship unless they commit a voluntary act which is inconsistent with citizenship. In Nishikawa v. Dulles, a natural-born citizen of Japanese descent moved back to Japan with his family. While living in Japan, he was involuntarily conscripted into the Japanese army. The Supreme Court ruled that he could not be deprived of his citizenship under the Nationality Act, unless his act was voluntary. Because Nishikawa was involuntarily conscripted, his service in the Japanese army could not be used to expatriate him.
The Nishikawa case has a direct bearing on the Utopia matter. If Cyclops unilaterally declared all mutants to be citizens of Utopia, then they didn’t become citizens of a foreign country voluntarily. They became citizens by the high-handed actions of Utopia’s government. Under Nishikawa, all mutants who became involuntary citizens of Utopia by Cyclopean fiat could not have their citizenship taken away. They also can’t have their Fiats or Toyotas taken away. But that’s another matter.
But what about those mutants who did something in service of Utopia? Like Wolverine, who headed up X-Force, the Utopian mutant covert-ops squad. (And why would a place called Utopia need a covert-ops squad in the first place?) Would those mutants lose their citizenship for voluntary actions which were inconsistent with American citizenship? Again, the answer is no.
In Afroyim v. Rusk, a naturalized citizen who voted in an Israeli election was being expatriated. The Supreme Court held the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment dictates that U.S. citizens cannot be striped of their citizenship involuntarily. A citizen may only lose citizenship if he or she voluntarily renounces it. The government may not take citizenship away. Thus, even if citizens commit a voluntary act which is inconsistent with American citizenship, they may not lose their citizenship involuntarily.
So it looks like none of the mutants on Utopia would lose their citizenship simply because they became citizens of Utopia. It’s a win for all mutant kind.
However, the fallout of the Afroyim case is that the U.S. government, which strongly opposed the concept of dual citizenship, has not grown to accept it. That means that the Utopians were citizens of both the United States and Utopia. And had to pay taxes to both of them. So maybe we should reexamine that whole win for all mutant kind notion.
AMC’s 80s computer drama, HALT AND CATCH FIRE, is back for a new season and Mackenzie Davis is here to talk about how her character has a big challenge ahead. Plus he is called one of the most original comics of our time. Michael Blackson is the African King Of Comedy, but how did he get it all started?
We’re back at the start of the week with a look at UNREAL, the new drama that blows the lid off what really goes on with reality TV.
Tomorrowland didn’t do as well as expected this weekend in theaters. Some people celebrated this fact, apparently believing that the movie was the brainchild of George Clooney and that it was a propaganda film about climate change.
They must have seen a different movie than I did.
I’ll admit that, like the Big Hollywood website, I went to the theater with my own set of assumptions and biases. Tomorrowland is my favorite area in the Disney parks, the first place I wanted to go the first time I went (in 1979). I love the work of director Brad Bird, and have since The Family Dog. 
And, yeah, I have the hots for George Clooney and I think climate change is an issue deserving action. Only the first of those affects my ticket-buying decisions.
So, the Disney nerd in me loved the movie. But, more important to this column, so did the comics fan.
Because I love the future. I remember when everybody did.
You see, one of the themes of Tomorrowland is that we, as a society, have become too enthralled with pessimistic stories and fleeting fads. Instead of wallowing in disaster movies (like this) or dystopian dramas (like this), we should work together to make the future better.
Look, it’s really normal for adolescents to be drawn to the “grim’n’gritty” dystopias. And, by “normal,” I mean that I did it. For me, devastated that I was not only the center of the universe but my parents weren’t all-powerful and my body was doing strange things that involved icky fluids, it seemed that pessimism was the more sophisticated viewpoint. I wasn’t a little kid anymore, with bright colors and flowers and candy. No, I wore black and I was sullen. If the cool kids (the jocks and the cheerleaders) wouldn’t have me as one of their own, I was going to act as if I rejected them first.
And then I grew up.
Look, I still like a lot of things that can seem pessimistic. Blade Runner remains one of my favorite movies, based on the work of Philip K. Dick, a rather depressing writer whom like a lot. I like punk rock and Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen. I like Transmetropolitan and The Dark Knight Returns.
The older I get, however, the more I want hope. And that hope lies in the future.
Comics helped me with this. Adam Strange not only engaged with an alien world, but fell in love and married an alien. The Legion of Super-Heroes posited a time when the whole universe would band together to make life better.
A lot of today’s best comics come from a hopeful place. I’d include Saga and Sex Criminals and even Bitch Planet as works that rouse the spirit.
Another science fiction writer I enjoy, William Gibson, is sometimes credited as one of the founders of the cyberpunk movement, which often painted a bleak future. His most recent book, The Peripheral, has it’s share of dystopian prophecy, but ends up (SPOILER, maybe?) making the case that we can change the future. We can make the world better.
A better world is worth the effort. Especially if it includes George Clooney.
Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass War series, a dark fantasy look at Alice In Wonderland, has had a strong spinoff life in comics with Hatter M, the story of Hatter Madigan who is the bodyguard to the Queen of Wonderland and head of the elite security force known as the The Millinery.
Beddor has debuted a new Young Adult prose series at BookExpo America, Hatter Madigan, which shows his early days at the Millinery. And to mark the occasion, fan of the series Whoopi Goldberg will be highlighting the series and characters on The View on Friday. Beddor literally brought his characters to life on The View by inviting a team of cosplayers dressed up as his characters to appear on the show. “The audience exploded when they saw them come out. Fantasy rules reality. The reaction was amazing.”
The new book, Hatter Madigan: Ghost In the H.A.T.B.O.X, is a prequel to the existing Looking Glass Wars time line and will hit stores in March of 2016.
But we know what some of our readers really care about is the cosplay. Well, fear not– we got our hands on some photos for of the behind-the-scenes of the costumes…
How to be a Superhero
By Mark Edlitz
Bear Manor Media, 586 pages, $42.95/$29.95
Longtime readers of pop culture magazines have no doubt read interviews with actors who have donned capes, cowls, spandex, and prosthetics to portray heroes and villains drawn from comic books. I certainly was involved in my fair share of such interviews working at Starlog Press and its successors have continued, especially contemporary online outlets which are enjoying a bonanza of options.
Most of those interviews tend to be about the most immediate project with little insight or context about an actor’s association with a media property or being the latest in a long line to play the same role. And certainly, these interviews are sandwiched between news, features, and other topics. So, it’s a bit of a surprise that such a collection has not been attempted before.
Mark Edlitz, a hardworking writer with credits including The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex, Moviefone, Sirius/XM Radio’s Slice of SciFi and Empire magazine online, has collected nearly four dozen interviews he’s conducted through the years and is releasing on June 1, How to be a Superhero. It’s not a guidebook or a real “how to” but provides an interesting glimpse into the performers who brought four-color idols to life.
Organized into eight categories, Edlitz introduces you to Caped Crusaders, Heroic Women, Antiheroes, Sidekicks, Supervillains, and so on. There’s even an Appendix that includes the performers he could not interview himself, culling choice quotes from a variety of sources so this is as complete a source as one might hope to find.
Edlitz’s overlong introduction sets the stage and clarifies to us who he considers to be a superhero, which feels like a justification to wax nostalgic about James Bond and including interviews with George Lazenby and Roger Moore. Additionally, he includes an out-of-left field, not terribly useful interview with Leonard Nimoy about Spock.
Overlooking those, the remainder of the book is treasure trove of interesting conversations with actors from Noel Neill and Jack Larson during the nascent television days through Clark Gregg, the coolest hero in a black suit on prime time today. In between, we get everyone you would expect and then some. Edlitz gets credit for speaking to the first Fantastic Four – Alex Hyde-White, Carl Ciafello, Rebecca Staab and Joseph Culp, who played Doctor Doom – in the never-released Roger Corman produced adaptation. Similarly, we also hear from Chip ZIen, who voiced Howard the Duck from that eponymous disastrous production.
Given how slightly defined the heroes were in film and on television in the 1940s-1960s, the actors themselves attempt to fill in the gaps and explain their work process. Then there’s Yvonne Craig who pretty much admitted she didn’t put much thought in to Batgirl given how little she was given to work with.
On the flipside, some of the book’s best comments come from Michael Rosenbaum, exploring the events that shaped Lex Luthor on Smallville. Kevin Conroy and Tim Daly, who voiced the World’s Finest heroes, also have some strong comments about what it means to be a hero.
Behind the camera, Tom Mankiewicz, who wrote for Bond and the Man of Steel, provides an informative glimpse into how 1970s fare was conceived while Ken Johnson talks adapting the Hulk to the small screen, mostly avoiding the horrible telefilms that tried to create a Marvel televised universe.
What would have helped the book was providing some context for exactly when each interview was conducted so we have a better idea how the performers were influenced by contemporaneous comics publishing and film competition. He also asks each subject for a question to ask the next one but they run in a chaotic order so it feels jarring rather than delightful.
As interesting as the words are, the pictures leave something to be desired, mostly public domain press pictures and far too few of them. Still, these are minor quibbles in what is an enjoyable reading experience.
With 20-something superhero pictures to come in the next few years, this book is a fine encapsulation of the pioneers who paved the way for today’s fare. Dealing with stereotyping, poor special effects, meager budgets, and ridiculously tight production made it hard to stand up for truth, justice, and the American Way so they are to be saluted and thanked for their contributions.
It’s profoundly irritating just how lifeless Tomorrowland is. I’m not even talking about how in the grand climax there was clearly no budget for extras so it just seems like three people fighting in a bunch of cavernous empty sets. I mean that one of the biggest movie stars of a generation joined forces with a director that could seemingly do no wrong and they made a movie that always seems like the next scene is the one where things are finally going to kick in to high gear, but instead it just sits in neutral and slowly sinks in to the mud. Tomorrowland is a promise of a future never fulfilled and I wish I could believe that was a really deep metaphor and not a punchless script.
There’s one really fantastic sequence in Tomorrowland set in the 1964 World’s Fair with a young boy presenting his entry in to an invention contest and proposing a thesis on the virtue of imagination and technology’s role in inspiring people to dream, we then get some coverage of the fair followed by our first peek in to the titular Tomorrowland. It’s a killer sequence, it’s funny, it’s compelling, it feels consistent with the ideas behind the theme park the inspired this film. Unfortunately, this is the first ten minutes of the film and it never gets back to that level again. Maybe we shouldn’t even be making movies inspired by theme park sections.
The remaining two hours of movie are just so spirit-destroyingly bland. Plucky young NASA fanatic Casey Newton is a character desperately in need of a character trait deeper than “really likes science” or maybe just a visual aesthetic more complex than “wears a hat.” Then there’s Athena, the young precocious British girl who exists solely to dole out secrets at the appropriate times and not get in the way at others. I’m getting quite sick of the precocious British children cliché and maybe the trope should be discarded completely if you feel the need to have the emotional climax of your film to be a prepubescent girl explaining what love means to a man in his 50s. It gets a little creepy. George Clooney is fine, I suppose, he only ever really performs grumpy and somewhat less grumpy but he has enough raw movie star magnetism to steal every scene he’s in. It feels like a waste of his talents but it also feels a bit like he got tricked in to being in this movie, like he met Brad Bird at a party and gushed about how much he loved Iron Giant and signed a blank contract. There’s no chance that’s the real story but I can’t believe Clooney either liked this script or needed this money.
Tomorrowland is disappointing most of all because it is the first misstep from Brad Bird. He’s had a 16-year run of directing exclusively excellent movies (ok Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is only pretty good) and I wanted to believe he could do that forever. That’s the way I identify most with this movie: the same way George Clooney feels let down by the future utopia that never came, I feel like I’ve been let down by my idealized version of Bird. There are no cities with elevated multi-level pools and ample municipal jet packs, just as there are no Spielbergs who never made Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We can’t live in a perfect world but we can try to live in an interesting one, and that is not one that includes Tomorrowland.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
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