Category: News

Waid, Cebulski Promoted

  • News
  • July 20, 2010

Yesterday, BOOM! Studios joined the growing number of companies to add the rank of Chief Creative Officer to their mastheads. Mark Waid, the publisher’s Editor-in-Chief was named CCO with Matt Gagnon promoted to Editor-in-Chief. Marvel also formalized C.B. Cebulski’s talent scout role by naming him Senior Vice President, Creator & Content Development of Marvel
Entertainment.

In both cases, the emphasis has been placed on creative and talent issues, which acknowledges the shifting playing field for the top publishers. To fuel the growing number of titles released in America, talent from all corners of the world and the creative community has to be scouted, groomed, and put to work.

Recently, DC Entertainment named Geoff Johns its first CCO followed by Marvel upping Joe Quesada to the same title. IDW most recently named Chris Ryall their own CCO.

At San Diego’s Comic-Con International, opening tomorrow, the expectation is that more talent exclusives will be signed, another acknowledgment of the increased competition.

ComicMix congratulates all three men on their new assignments. (more…)

“Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour” was Midnight last night

  • News
  • July 20, 2010

Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour was released last night at midnight in select locations and is already at #16 on Amazon’s best seller lists. According to Oni Press, over 150 comic shops all over the United States and Canada participated in early release parties. Oni said fans had “midnight releases to all day shindigs, costume contest, door
prizes, give-aways, rock concerts, and street parties” to enjoy. Creator Bryan Lee O’Malley joined the fun at Toronto’s block party, the center for everything Scott Pilgrim. O’Malley had a signing while bands Hurry Hard, Chang-A-Lang, Sister, and Soft & Wet rocked out in the spirit of the Scott Pilgrim universe.

This is the sixth and final volume in O’Malley’s graphic novel series. The story revolves around Scott Pilgrim, a slacker who plays bass guitar in the indie rock band Sex Bob-Omb. Pilgrim falls for Ramona Flowers, but he must defeat her seven evil exes before he can date her. The fun, entertaining series gained a huge fan following, making way for more media donning the Scott Pilgrim title. Ubisoft is currently developing the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World video game, which has a retro gaming aesthetic and a musical sound track by Anamanagichi, a popular 8-bit punk band. The highly anticipated Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
movie will arrive in theaters August 13 this summer. 

Mr. Pilgrim will also make an appearance at the San Diego Comic Con on Thursday, July 22, where a panel with the Scott Pilgrim movie cast, director Edgar Wright, and creator O’Malley will talk about the upcoming film and show a sneak peek of the “epic of epicness.”

Although the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series has come to an end, fans still have a movie and video game to anticipate. If you missed the early release parties, pick up a copy of Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour today.

‘Sunday Funnies’ postage stamps issued

  • News
  • July 19, 2010

On July 16, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio, the Postal
Service™ issued a 44-cent, Sunday Funnies commemorative stamps honoring five of our most beloved comic strips:
Beetle Bailey, Calvin and Hobbes, Archie, Garfield, and Dennis the
Menace, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20
stamps, designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland.

Presumably, the logic is that if you collect comics, you can probably be lured into becoming a stamp collector too… and I’ve heard worse ideas to balance the federal budget.

Jennifer Lawrence Joins ‘X-Men: First Class’

  • News
  • July 16, 2010

While much attention has been given to Marvel Studios’ ramp up to production on Captain America: The First Avenger and the recasting of Spider-Man, 20th Century-Fox has been making great strides towards repopulating Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Students.

Production is slated to begin in early fall on X-Men: First Class, to be directed by Kick-Ass’ Matthew Vaughn. The latest casting caught our attention as the acclaimed Jennifer Lawrence has signed on to portray Mystique, the tortured shape-shifter. Lawrence is enjoying some of the notices of the year for her work in the independent film Winter’s Bone, currently in theaters. We first discovered her in The Burning Plain and suspect the model/actress will be a stand out in the new cast.

She joins a cast that already includes James MacAvoy as Xavier and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr (Magneto). The story will focus on the philosophical split between the old friends as the issue of mutants around the world becomes more than a scientific curiosity and political talking point.

With Magneto not quite a villain at this point, who will they fight? A character to be portrayed by Kevin Bacon, although his exact nature has fans speculating on his being everything from Arcade to Mister Sinister.

The other mutants to play prominent roles include Emma Frost to be played by the British beauty Alice Eve, Banshee, portrayed by Caleb Landry Jones (No Country for Old Men), Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man) as Henry “Beast” McCoy; and Lucas Till as Cyclops’ brother Havoc. Cyclops, though, has yet to be formally cast.

X-Men: First Class is being sandwiched in for a June 3, 2011 release, a month after the May 6 debut of Thor and Captain America, coming July 22. And of course, two weeks after the mutants return, Ryan Reynolds arrives as Green Lantern. If you thought this summer was a little dull, just wait for next year.

EW: Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern

  • News
  • July 15, 2010

It’s San Diego time, so now the movie studios and magazines are starting the high powered mush– er, push. Here’s Entertainment Weekly, which has decided to own the con over the last few years, running the first pics of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern on the cover of next week’s issue.

Think there will be a line at Hall H to see this preview?

And what’s this about the new Buffy?

2009 Harvey Awards Nominees Announced

  • News
  • July 15, 2010

harvey-logo-2010-brown-1408107The 2009 Harvey Awards Nominees have been announced along with the release of the final ballot. Anyone “professionally involved in a creative capacity within the comics field” is eligible to vote. All submissions must be sent to the Harvey Awards before Friday, August 7, 2010. The awards will be presented by Scott Kurtz (PVP Online) at the 2010 Baltimore Comic-Con on August 28.

The Harvey Awards, named in honor of the late cartoonist Harvey
Kurtzman, recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art. They are the comic book industry’s oldest and most respected awards, and are the only awards to have nominees selected and chosen by individuals creatively involved in the comics field.

There are over a hundred nominated names and titles, including Geoff Johns (“Blackest Knight”), Klaus Janson (“Amazing Spider-Man”), and
“The Walking Dead” (Image Comics), to choose from twenty-two categories. The categories range from Best Writer to Best New Series to Best Online Comics Work.

There is a lot of talent listed among the nominees, and voting will certainly be no easy task. Jeff Kinney (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”) was nominated in four categories, Zuda had creators and comics nominated in seven categories, and “All-Star Superman” creators were nominated in four categories. Hopefully three weeks is enough time for voters to mull over all the fantastic nominees and cast their ballots.

(more…)

One week (and fifty years) until Comic-Con 91!

  • News
  • July 14, 2010

Are you ready?

Have you gotten your gills implanted? Gotten your reservations set on the cruise ships? Put money in an interest bearing account to pay for all of this when you withdraw it in half a century?

If so, you’re ready for San Diego Comic-Con 91!

Personally, I’m looking forward to Will Pfeifer finally getting that special Eisner Visionary Award for being the first person to write about Sub Diego in the comics, way back when in 2004. Now that it’s been underwater for decades, this honor is long overdue.

Ten years ago today: ‘X-Men’ released

  • News
  • July 14, 2010

“Are you kidding? Who ever heard of Hugh Jackman? He’s a 6’2 Australian, not a 5’2 Canadian! And he does musicals! How can he play Wolverine? And he’s not even going to be in the costume!”

Yeah yeah yeah. Don’t fib about it, we have archives of you saying it on rec.arts.comics.

Nevertheless, about a half hour into the film that opened ten years ago today, those words were completely forgotten and Jackman was on his way to becoming an international star. And with the comparatively low-budget of only $75 million, X-Men went on to gross nearly double that in the US alone, and spawned a franchise that would gross over a billion dollars worldwide. And suddenly, people believed Marvel characters could actually be translated into successful films… and we’ve all seen the results of that.

So here’s to the scrappy band of mutants that could. Here’s hoping that X-Men: First Class, currently scheduled for June of next year, continues the tradition.

Here’s the trailer for the original film…

Today’s Warner Animators Praise the Past

  • News
  • July 13, 2010

Brandon Vietti is just two weeks away from his solo directorial film debut with Warner Home Video’s looming release of Batman: Under the Red Hood, a dark, emotionally wrenching journey as Batman’s past and present collide.

James Tucker is enjoying another successful season producing the Warner Bros. Animation/Cartoon Network hit series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, a much lighter take on the Caped Crusader’s adventures

Ironically, the super hero roots of both contemporary animators can be found in the same content – Super Friends, the one-hour ABC series that began in 1973, inspiring generations of young imaginations and spawning numerous cartoon series sequels.

Warner Home Video and DC Entertainment will release Super Friends!  Season 1 Volume 2 on DVD on July 20, 2010. Available for the first time since its debut in 1973, this highly-anticipated deluxe two-disc collector’s set features eight exciting one-hour episodes starring the most recognizable DC Comics super heroes and villains of all time.

Super Friends! Season 1 Volume 2 follows the adventures of Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman and Aquaman as they join forces to save the world from unthinkable disasters. This crime-stopping squad, along with heroes in training Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog, combine their special superhuman skills to defeat the evil villains at hand. The collection also features DC Comics favorites Plastic Man, The Flash and Green Arrow. Each hour is packed with timeless adventures of the universe’s greatest heroes as they pave the way for a brighter future.

Both Vietti and Tucker fondly recall the wide-reaching impact Super Friends had on their young lives.

(more…)

Harvey Pekar: 1939-2010

  • News
  • July 12, 2010

Comic-book writer Harvey
Pekar, whose autobiographical comic series American Splendor was made into a 2003 Oscar nominated film
starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey in addition to Harvey appearing as himself,
has been found dead in his Ohio home. He was 70.

Cleveland Heights police Capt. Michael Cannon says
officers were called to Pekar’s home by his wife Joyce Brabner about 1 a.m. Monday.
Cannon says Pekar had been suffering from prostate cancer, asthma, high blood pressure and depression. Coroner’s spokesman Powell Caesar in Cleveland says
an autopsy will be performed.
Pekar’s “American Splendor” comics, which he began
publishing in 1976, record his complaints about work, money and the day-to-day grind of life. The comic was done with stories from dozens of artists over the years in a wide variety of styles. Recently, the stories had begun to migrate to the web, as The Pekar Project.

He gained widespread notoriety from his appearances on Late Night With David Letterman, which can give you a video chronicle of the man. Here’s his last appearance on the show:

Our condolences to Joyce and the rest of Harvey’s family.

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