Brian Bendis has bagged a book deal outside of comics – sort of, plus more behind the scenes at HARRY‘S LAW with Nate Corddry and SYFY bags monster ratings with one finale.
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All Pulp congratulates Mark Maddox on being named the Rondo Artist of the Year by the Rondo Hatton Awards for his contribution to horror magazines and book covers such as Little Shoppe of Horrors, Undying Monsters, and Mad Scientist.
No stranger to pulp, Mark’s art has graced the covers and interiors of several New Pulp titles including the Captain Hazzard series, Sherlock Holmes, Our Man Flint, Kolchak The Night Stalker, Lance Star: Sky Ranger, and more.
Congratulations to all of the Rondo Award winners.
All Pulp congratulates to Nancy Holder, writer of Moonstone’s New Pulp Domino lady comic book series on winning a Stoker Award for Best YA Book for her novel, The Screaming Season.
Get the full list of winners at http://www.stokers2012.org/.
Congratulations to all of the Stoker Award winners.
Learn more about Nancy Holder at http://nancyholder.com/.
Pre-orders are now available for the audio dramas of HONEY WEST and DOMINO LADY at http://audiocomicscompany.com/. Visit the site for more information on these cool new audio dramas.
I’m convinced that there comes a time in every creator’s career when he or she has that one project that becomes the project. Be they a writer, artist, photographer, director or whatever, there comes a time when said creator realizes without a shadow of a doubt that they have created their baby.
Their triumph. Their masterpiece.
This is the project that they will not compromise on. There will be no quarter given creatively; there will be no major changes to the premise no matter what.
At the many Static Shock pitch meetings at major television networks we were asked if we would consider many changes to the original bible, which I wrote. Some of those changes bothered me, like Static’s mom being killed in a drive-by. How fucking stereotypical was that shit? But as bullshit as I thought that was it wasn’t a deal killer.
At one high level network meeting the question was asked “How about if we make Static…white?”
I said, “How about I bang your wife?”
True story.
OK… almost a true story. I did not actually say the part about his wife. But the network executive did suggest we make Static a white kid, which to me was just as fucked up as me asking to bang his wife. I did think about responding to him with the wife thing but he had a photo of her on his desk and lets just say…ugh.
Many changes were made to the original Static bible. Some I thought were good many I thought sucked. The show was a different story. I thought the show worked on every level regardless of my personal feelings towards the changes to the original bible. Static Shock was handled wonderfully and I have nothing but good things to say about the show.
But Static Shock was not just my baby and I had little to do with the show once it was on the air. But, I do have a baby.
Actually, I have three babies…damn I’ve got the perfect black father joke but I’m going to let it pass… like child support.
My first baby is a project called The Adjuster. I created the Adjuster over ten years ago and twice it came very close to becoming a reality. I refuse to let the Adjuster go just to get it made. Nope. The deal has to be right. The company has to be right.
My second baby is called The Underground. It’s a Dark Horse project and has been for a few years. If by chance Mike Richardson is reading this I will have the book finished this year. It’s a major undertaking and I’m as anal as I am black so it’s been a labor of love and frustration for the last couple of years. But, Mike, to be fair, you took a while approving the story…and I’m still traumatized by the Comic Con incident. You know the one…
Those are my babies and I’m blessed to have the Dark Horse deal and excited about the future of The Adjuster but there is one project which I consider my masterpiece. I won’t mention the title as it’s currently being considered at a major publisher but I will share with you its journey that is a festinating one. I’ll call it Project X.
In 1998 I had a vision of what I thought was the greatest idea I’ve ever had. The idea was so good it scared me. It scared me because those types of “great ideas” usually suck. It’s never a good idea to think that your idea is a great one.
People lie and the one person people lie to the most are themselves. You may not think it’s lying when you convince yourself that something is a good idea but if you have to convince yourself then to me that’s a lie. But this idea was such a good idea and I was convinced it was great. So, clearly I was lying to myself.
Clearly.
Or was I?
I decided to ask three of the best writers in the industry if they thought it was a good idea. I asked Keith Giffen, Lovern Kindzieski and David Quinn.
They all said it was a great idea. Not a good idea, a great idea. Keith Giffen called it one of the greatest ideas he’s ever heard.
That’s Keith Giffen who said that.
Keith Giffen.
THE Keith Giffen.
After telling those three guys, I ran it past Dwayne McDuffie. He said it was such a good idea he wanted to write it. Not bad eh?
So, with all that love from four of the best in the biz I decided to pitch the idea to DC Comics and I did. And…I sold the idea.
In 1999 I pitched and sold the idea to DC Comics.
Then things got a bit crazy. Nope, a lot crazy.
End, Part 1!
WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold Outs Critics
Tommy Hancock Hosts solo once again but does not ride alone! Joining Hancock on this episode is John Hartness, well known author of THE BLACK KNIGHT CHRONICLES, creator of the BUBBA, THE MONSTER HUNTER stories, and author of THE CHOSEN! Listen as John defines Urban Fantasy, shares a peek into the life of fanboy vampires, explains how a Redneck comes to work for the Roman Catholic Church, glorifies in The Devil being The Angel who Loved the Almighty the most, and so much more! Listen in as John Hartness Gets Pulped!
Reports indicate that a new 10 part series is based on H. Rider Haggard’s classic swashbuckling adventures is on the way from Sonar Entertainment and Ecosse Films.
PRESS RELEASE:
CANNES, APRIL 2 – Sonar Entertainment Inc. and Ecosse Films have joined forces to develop and produce Quatermain. The new 10×60 action-adventure series is based on the classic swashbuckling stories by iconic Victorian-era author H. Rider Haggard. The announcement of the project, which is being introduced at Cannes during MIPTV, 2012, was made today by Stewart Till, CEO, Sonar Entertainment and Douglas Rae, Founder, Managing Director and Executive Producer, Ecosse Films. Rae will serve as executive producer on the project. Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle (Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal) are the writers.
Allan Quatermain, a rugged expedition leader based in the busy, wild port of Durban, has recently turned his back on the lucrative but bloodthirsty practice of game hunts. He is approached by Baron Henry, a wealthy German noble, and Clarice Good, the beautiful but disgraced daughter of a US Governor, to help them find Baron Henry’s brother, who’s been missing since embarking on a dangerous attempt to locate the lost diamond mines of King Solomon.
Quatermain resolves to take on the mission to pay for his young son’s schooling in London – a boy he hopes to give a life very different from his own. Using a rough-sketched map left behind, Quatermain and his African tracker Umbopa lead Baron Henry and Clarice set off across the scorching desert, where they encounter constant dangers and incredible, non-stop adventures along the way.
“Allan Quatermain is one of the greatest adventure heroes in all of literature. In the years since his introduction, he has subsequently inspired many hugely successful characters and franchises, including the Indiana Jones series,” said Till. “We are extremely excited about this opportunity to partner with Ecosse as we introduce Quatermain to a new generation and bring his timeless exploits into the 21st Century.”
“We are delighted to be developing this ambitious new international series with such an experienced and inspiring company as Sonar Entertainment,” added Rae. “Quatermain has huge potential for an international audience.”
About Ecosse Films
Ecosse Films is a multi award-winning company, specialising in high-quality drama for film and television, producing 11 films and over 300 hours of network television for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Showtime, Starz Channel and WGBH. Credits include the hugely successful film Mrs Brown, starring Judi Dench, Charlotte Gray starring Cate Blanchett, Becoming Jane starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy, Brideshead Revisited starring Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon, the global family hit The Water Horse and the BAFTA nominated film Nowhere Boy, the teenage biopic of John Lennon.
TV series include BBC1’s acclaimed long-running drama Monarch of the Glen and more recently the BBC 1 hit series Mistresses. Ecosse’s $50 million international drama, Camelot, a 10 part series for Starz Channel and Channel 4, stars Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower, Tamsin Egerton and Eva Green.
About Sonar Entertainment, Inc.
Sonar Entertainment, Inc. is a leading developer, producer and distributor of award-winning television series, mini-series and movies for the global television marketplace. Sonar owns rights to over 1,000 titles comprising more than 3,500 broadcast hours of programming. The company maintains strategic creative and licensing partnerships with producers and broadcasters throughout the world.
UPDATE: Round Six has closed…
Vote in the March Madness Finals now!
Round 6! It’s the semifinals and we’re down to the Final Four!
And now it’s beginning to look like an average installment of Game Of Thrones or Strikeforce Morituri, with favorites dropping all over the place. The big games were Order Of The Stick beating xkcd, followed by the huge surprise upset of Gunnerkrigg Court over Questionable Content, which knocked everybody’s Final Four picks out, so nobody wins the $50 gift card from Amazon for picking the Final Four.
We remind you that our four remaining contenders will get at least $25, and whoever make it to the finals will get $50, with the grand prize winner walking away with $100.
Round 6 starts right now, and ends this Wednesday night, April 4, at 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time. We’re down to four contestants, and we get to see who makes it to the big game and who walks away. Go vote!
(more…)
Before I begin this week’s column, I need to correct an error from last week’s Music to Write By. Daughter Alixandra let me know that it’s Ewan Mcgregror who stars in Moulin Rouge, not Ethan Hawke.
Onward.
Unless you were vacationing in another dimension last week, you know that the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate for heath insurance contained within the Affordable Care Act, popularly known – or “unpopularly,” depending on which side of the aisle you sit – as Obamacare.
Which got me to wondering about insurance for the übermenschen.
The cost of cleaning up after the supermen give each other black eyes – something that seems to occur on a daily basis in the various comics universes – must be astronomical for the city, state and federal governments in which these manos a manos take place. Not to mention the individual cost to the poor schlubs who either work or live in these battle zones.
Imagine what it’s like living in a world where the odds of getting caught in one of those battle zones is over 50%. There are all sorts of “pre-existing conditions” or “Acts of Superhero” clauses in insurance company contracts, otherwise they would be either constantly teetering on the brink of bankruptcy – or after just one good fight between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, out of business. Add another deduction for SBHI (Super Battle Health Insurance) and your paycheck is a joke. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers “Fight Insurance” for those living in a “Fight Zone” – areas known to periodically sustain damage from the clashes between ultra-powered enemies.
By the way, why does anyone live in the Metropolis of DC or the New York City of Marvel?
What insurance do the superheroes and super villains carry?
I bet Stark Industries has a subsidiary that writes insurance for them in the Marvel Universe. I don’t think it makes money, probably loses money in fact, but accounting creatively writes it off as a business expense, and the rest of Stark Industries makes up for it anyway. And it wouldn’t surprise me that the company does a mean business in insuring the villains, either. After all, if Saudi Arabia can do business with Israel, why can’t Stark insure Magneto? Or perhaps Wilson Fisk has an insurance company among his holdings from which the bad guys can buy policies. With exorbitant premiums, of cause.
Harder to figure out how the übermenschen do it over in the DC universe. Perhaps the Justice League has incorporated itself and has created its own insurance carrier that it offers to the good guys. But I can’t see the JLA offering insurance to their evil doppelgangers – I don’t think they’re quite as business minded as they are over in the neighboring universe. Maybe Superman squeezes some coal now and then to make some diamonds to feed the pot. (But isn’t that illegal? Or is that like the Fed printing money?)
Who pays for the Watchmen?
TUESDAY: Michael Davis
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
