Red 2 is coming this summer and it’s promising to look as much fun as the first one was. Summit is releasing this sequel, based on the WildStorm graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner in late July with the full cast returning (although Ernest Bognine is sadly no longer with us). Instead, we get the addition of Catherine Zeta-Jones, which is just fine with us. The new one-sheet was released today.
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| Cover Art: Howard Chaykin |
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| Art: Howard Chaykin |
Hermes Press has released the first cover for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, a four-issue mini-series written and drawn by Howard Chaykin premiering August 2013.
Here’s how Hermes Press describes the book:
“Before Star Trek and Star Wars, Buck Rogers captivated audiences around the world and made science fiction a national obsession. Now, over 80 years after the creation of the newspaper strip that became a household word, Howard Chaykin has returned the character and his universe back to basics: Buck Rogers, former World War I ace is accidentally suspended in time only to awaken to a new and different earth, 500 years in the future, fragmented by war and ruled by an omnipotent force — the Chinese. Now, Buck along with Colonel Wilma Deering, begin a new fight, to free the United States!”
Actress Anne Heche returns to TV in the new NBC comedy, SAVE ME (premiering with two episodes Thursday at 8pm). She talks about the message the show delivers and her reasons for turning to more comedy in her career, plus John Krasinski shares what it was like to close the door to THE OFFICE one last time and DC axes four New 52 titles, including one surprise victim.
Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.
Yes, #CoulsonLives.
We’ve been lax in telling you about the new stuff coming from Thrillbent, and with Tim Gibson bringing his stunning comic Moth City to Thrillbent starting today, we have our story hook.
Moth City is a compact manufacturing island given to an American tycoon, Governor McCaw, by the Chinese Nationalist government. In exchange, McCaw is to outfit the government’s vast army as it attempts to destroy the Communists and unite the world’s greatest nation. Now, after a brazen and brutal murder, McCaw must unravel the island’s secrets before everything he has built is wiped out by the warring factions. New issues will be posted on Thrillbent.com for free, every Tuesday. Here’s a video preview:
And here’s the first chapter:
Tim spent three years illustrating worlds, characters and monsters for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, with film credits including Tintin, District 9 and Avatar to his name. Moth City is the project he’s been secretly working on along the way. Tim lives with his fiancée in Wellington, NZ.
Moth City will be joining Thrillbent’s other continuing series, including:
Arcanum, written by John Rogers with art and colors by Todd Harris:
Insufferable, written by Mark Waid with art by Peter Krause and colors by Nolan Woodard:
The Endling, written by Jonathan Larsen, illustrated by Cecilia Latella, and coloring by Paul Mounts and Jenn Manley Lee:
The Eighth Seal, written by James Tynion IV, illustrated by Jeremy Rock, and colored by Nolan Woodard
The Damnation of Charlie Wormwood, written by Christina Blanch and Chris Carr, artwork by Chee:
All strips are lettered by Troy Peteri.
There is an unwritten law in the black community: support black projects in the arts, especially film and television ventures. The thinking is if we don’t support them then it will be that much harder to get another project made with black stories as the draw.
It’s hard as shit to get a black project green lit in Hollywood unless your last name is Perry. I’ve seen one Tyler Perry film and have no desire to see any others. It’s just not my thing. Nothing but respect for the man and his work but it’s just not for me. His films are the thing for an awful lot of black people and that is the audience he and his partners at Lion’s Gate pursue.
Now, a film like Red Tails was my thing. I’m a sucker for anything WWII and the story of the Tuskegee Airmen is just so badass as soon as it was announced I was on board. Before I could see the film I’d heard it was terrible. I saw it, did not like it and that’s all I’m going to say about it.
George Lucas, who put the project together and who wrote the check for most of the $58 million dollar budget (which I think is the biggest budget ever for a film that features a black cast) said that if the film flopped (and boy did it flop) then it will be that much harder to make another big budget film with a black story line and black cast.
The film Peeples premiered last Friday. Perry produced it but he did not star or direct the film. The film bombed as Tyler’s faithful stayed away from it. I had no intention of seeing it; again, not my thing. Why did the movie fail so dreadfully among the Tyler faithful? It’s not like there were any other black films out there to watch so why didn’t it preform?
Maybe because the film sucked? Or perhaps unless Perry put’s on a dress, black audiences won’t think it was funny?
I think the movie flopped because Iron Man 3 was the film most moviegoers wanted to see over the weekend. No, Iron Man is not a black character… and that’s my point, I like millions of other black movie goers, don’t decide to just go see black movies.
Duh!
We decide to go see a movie. The audience for Tyler’s movie will also go see Iron Man and to think they won’t because Tony Stark is not black, just stupid.
Iron Man, like Superman, Batman, the Avengers and Spider-Man, were born in our beloved comics media. In many ways the comics industry is much more liberal creatively than film and TV but still we lack the balls to see beyond race on many fronts.
Consider this, Static Shock was a major hit for many years on television and more than a decade after its release it’s still being shown somewhere. Yet despite that massive success on TV has never been any toys, games or fucking underoos. Hollywood and the comics industry have what seems like a written law, which is black superheroes won’t sell.
Bullshit.
Black superheroes done badly or marketed badly won’t sell. But then again that’s true of any superhero. The entertainment industry, of which comics are becoming an even bigger part of, still follows the notion that America falls down on racial lines when it comes to creative content.
That’s even more bullshit.
The most influential person on television? Oprah.
The biggest name in sports? Tiger.
The most powerful man in the world? Barack.
Not one of the above could have gotten to where they are without overwhelming support from non-black people so clearly; comics, film and television are all missing something. Hancock was a movie about a black superhero movie and it made more than half a billion dollars worldwide. Spawn and Blade were also very successful yet still I hear black superheroes won’t sell. What did they have in common other than black leads?
They were not marketed as black movies, and they all were well made.
After Earth, the new Will Smith movie, will be out on May 31st. For the majority of that film only Smith and his son are on screen. It’s a father and son movie science fiction movie, not a black movie – although Smith and his son both happen to be black.
I’m sure some will say if the movie bombs it was because it was a black movie, others will say, if the movie succeeds it’s because it’s a Will Smith movie.
I have no wish to see it regardless, it just seems weak to me but then again, Red Tails seemed to me like a sure bet, so what do I know?
Wednesday: Mike Gold – Great Uncle Shield
Thursday: Dennis O’Neil – Tony Stark Grows Up
As you may know if you’ve read my column recently (and if you haven’t, what’s wrong with you?? Well, don’t worry – you can always catch up here), I’ve declared it Interview Central, following on my time at Awesome Con DC. There, I interviewed the amazing voice actors Phil LaMarr and Billy West. Both were delightful, so if you haven’t gotten a chance to check out those columns (and/or audio recordings) yet, scoot on over to those links and do so!
While at Awesome Con, I was also happy to be able to catch up with the very talented cartoonist Nick Galifianakis (and to obtain this cartoon for my wall. Hah! I love it!). If you’re not already familiar with Nick’s work, you really should check it out, pronto, because it is wonderful stuff. Both insightful and hilarious, and sometimes hitting uncomfortably close to home, Nick’s relationship-oriented cartoons regularly accompany the nationally syndicated advice column Carolyn Hax, and have been a regular staple of The Washington Post since 1997. Nick has also previously published his work as an editorial cartoonist and illustrator for USA Today, US News & World Report, and various other nationally distributed periodicals.
In 2001, Nick illustrated Carolyn Hax’s book, Tell Me About It: Lying, Sulking, Getting Fat … and 56 Other Things NOT to Do While Looking for Love, and in 2010 he published a collection of his cartoons entitled If You Loved Me, You’d Think This Was Cute: Uncomfortably True Cartoons About You. (FYI, his book is available for purchase on Amazon or you can get a signed copy via Nick’s website. I highly recommend picking it up). In 2006, Nick was nominated for the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in the Newspaper Illustration category, and in 2012, won the Reuben Award for Advertising Illustration.
To me, one thing that makes Nick’s cartoons so wonderful is the way they manage to come across as both very personal and fairly universal at the same time. He also has a unique talent for distilling an entire relationship issue or situation down into one illustrated panel, which hits the reader with all of the impact that most people couldn’t convey in several pages. I find that talent fascinating, and am happy to have had the chance to talk with him about his work and his process, and to be able to share that chat with you here. So read on for more details!
Nick, thank you for doing this interview. Let’s start at the beginning – when did you first get interested in art and/or start drawing?
I started drawing like many other artists – my whole life, I don’t remember not drawing. Any flat surface would do.
And how did you end up doing the style that you do for the relationship cartoons, and do you do other styles as well?
I don’t really think of them as styles. You draw well enough to get your point across – whatever it is you’re trying to say at that time is how you draw. Sometimes that may require something leaner; or something with more volume; and you have to strike that balance. But you draw well enough to say what you’re trying to say. If you start showing off with your draftsmanship prowess, you get in the way of what you’re trying to say. Unless that’s what you’re trying to say. So when people say, “I can only draw stick figures” – well that actually might be all you need to be able to draw to make your point.
True! You focus a lot on the relationships between people in your cartoons in The Washington Post, which accompany the advice column written by Carolyn Hax. How did that come about?
I was a political cartoonist before that. I started in small papers and then worked my way up to USA Today. And then I actually sort of became bored with political cartoons, for a couple of reasons. One was that when there’s an issue of the day, you know that tomorrow four hundred different cartoonists are all going to gun for that same exact issue. There’s going to be overlap, and there’s something about the lack of uniqueness in the target that bothered me. And also, if you were to look at a political cartoon from the late 1800s, and it’s on, for example, the budget or the economy, it’s going to be quite similar to one of the ones you see today.
So I got bored with that and wanted to try something else. I had always noticed people and their interactions. Always. That dynamic has just always held my attention for some reason. And so when Carolyn created her advice column, the editor, Peggy Hackman, suggested that I do a little icon to go with it – but I wasn’t interested in doing an icon, so I did a whole sort of conceptual cartoon connected to the column, but also one that stood alone. And it satisfied something in me. It seemed to work out as a great partnership – still does, thank goodness. Carolyn is absolutely brilliant; hands-down the best advice columnist – not only out there, but probably ever. She’s been a partner long-term, outside of our marriage and then outside of our divorce. It’s like the institution between us stands alone.
And how does that work, when you’re doing each individual cartoon that goes with a column? Does she send you the column first, or do you sometimes have an idea and she writes about that?
No; she sends me a column, then I read through and I edit the column. And I write a bunch of stuff down, and she incorporates it. And then I do a cartoon to accompany it.
I have to know – as someone who writes relationship cartoons, do your friends always come and ask you for relationship advice?
No.
They don’t do that? Really??
Close friends rarely do; unless things are completely out of whack; then they do. But the people who do ask are friends who are sort of the second circle of friends; or people who you’ve just met who you’ve become friendly with. People that I’ve known since I was seven – they don’t ask me about that stuff. Not unless everything is completely falling apart.
That’s interesting. What is the process when you’re having an idea? Is it ever because you’ve seen something particular?
Well, I am trying to peg it to a column; but I do have feelings about that kind of thing. Feelings about jealousy…or you know, “How do I feel about this particular situation?” – controlling people; really insecure people; people who talk a lot. So I have a response to that kind of thing, and then it’s a matter of, one, noticing it. People say, “Where do you get your ideas?” Well – I get my ideas the same place you get your ideas. It’s just a matter of noticing that it is indeed an idea. And then there’s how you feel about that idea, and you tap into sort of the “honest portal;” and then once you identify how you feel about that thing, how you’re working out feeling about that thing, then the trick becomes how to express that.
At that stage, I choose to do it for an audience of one person. I choose me; because I figured out that by doing it that way, it guarantees that it’s honest, which, in turn, I believe that the authenticity is recognized by many, many people. As opposed to sitting down and saying, “Okay, here’s the idea, how can I make this appeal to a lot of people?” That’s how you create sitcom television.
So the ideas come from what you’re feeling, and you think about how you react to it?
Totally. It’s literally an audience of one.
Do you ever see other people doing something and start from there, or is it always with you? Like, when you’re observing other people, do you sometimes start from there?
Sure; all the time. Sure – you know, how people interact; how they hold hands; how they cut each other off; the unrealistic expectations they have of each other. But always it’s how I feel, how I can relate to it. Where am I in the thing – and then that helps me get it across to everybody else.
That’s fascinating. Well obviously, we know where to find your steady work, which is with the advice column in the Post; but tell me, are you working on other projects as well? Are you working on another book, or other projects?
Yes, I have a few things that are going to be coming out in the next year or year-and-a-half. One is an “art of” book that’s not my own. One is an art book that is my own. One is a World War II book.
Ooh – what’s your angle on that one?
I’ve interviewed hundreds of people who are now over the age of ninety, who either witnessed, were around, or actually took part in this particular battle in Greece. So that’s the focus.
Wow, that’s really neat. Are you going to illustrate that too, or will it be just prose?
No, just prose.
Well I look forward to that. What’s the “art of” book, can you tell us?
I can’t say yet; but it’s going to be a huge book, with a lot of impact.
Cool! And so people can find out about that from your website?
Yes. Everybody will find out about that there.
Great! Well, thanks, Nick; this has been awesome.
• • • • •
And thanks to everyone who’s been reading these great interviews! Check out Nick’s work on his site or The Washington Post’s site, or in his book, and as always, until next week, Servo Lectio!
TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis
WEDNESDAY MORNING: Mike Gold
I won’t lie — I usually find it cute when my sons and my husband geek out over Superman or Batman. But there are times when the antics wear thin. Like when my 3-year-old refuses to wear his glasses because “Wolverine doesn’t wear glasses.” Or when he chases our cat around the house, fists flying, screaming, “BATMAN!”
Now the journal PLoS One has published a study to inspire hope in mothers like me: Scientists said Wednesday that experiencing a Superman-like power of flight, in a virtual reality simulation, made people more helpful. In real life!
via Pretend superhero powers boost helpfulness in real life – latimes.com.
In preparation for Star Trek Into Darkness, we present you with these dark moments…
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?
The image supposedly is from a first season episode of The Carol Burnett Show. Surprisingly, little seems to be known about the details of why Leonard Nimoy is there in full Spock regalia. Some sources indicate that the skit uses Spock as a punchline for Burnett wanting baby advice from “Dr. Spock,” though is both supported and refuted, depending on what source you want to go with. Other sites say that the sketch is titled “Mrs. Invisible Man,” though no details about the it or why Nimoy is there are offered.
Pretty funny, though.
via Your moment of TrekZen*. | The Fog of Ward.
And we would be remiss if we didn’t point you to this meeting of the Spocks…
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
January 20, 2023
The Law Is A Ass #460: Those “For Life” Sentences Are Nonsense
February 24, 2022
