The Mix : What are people talking about today?

Sam Raimi Begins his Journey to Oz

  • Uncategorized
  • July 26, 2011

Pontiac, MI., July 25, 2011—Walt Disney Pictures’ fantastical adventure Oz The Great and Powerful,  directed by Sam Raimi, went in front of the cameras at the brand-new Raleigh Studios in Pontiac, Michigan, on Monday, July 25, 2011, boasting a stellar cast that includes Academy Award® nominee James Franco (127 Hours) as the young wizard, Golden Globe® nominee Mila Kunis (Black Swan) as the witch Theodora, Academy Award® winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) as Kunis’ sister Evanora and two-time Oscar®-nominated actress Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine) as Glinda, the Good Witch.

The cast also includes Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominee Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State), who will play Franco’s circus assistant as well as lend his vocal talents to one of the CGI creatures in the story — Finley, the winged monkey who accompanies the magician on his journey to Oz; and 12-year-old actress Joey King (Ramona and Beezus), who will voice another CGI character in the story, China Girl, who also joins the future Wizard on his excursion through Oz. (more…)

Captain America

  • Uncategorized
  • July 26, 2011

Joe Johnston knows how to direct adventure films but watching his growth as a director has been a pleasure. His first offering, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was a visual effects feast, thanks to his training at Industrial Light & Magic. He followed up in 1991 with his first comic book adaptation, Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer and while the movie is far better than the critical reaction or box office would indicate, it still lacked that certain spark of delight for a summer blockbuster. Over the intervening years, Joe has continued to direct films that has shown steady growth as he has more subtly integrated effects with characterization with the family friendly Jumanji and the heart-warming October Sky. It was all good training as he took on what has become his highest profile project yet, Captain America: The First Avenger.

Clearly, he has learned his lessons as the critics – both mainstream and geek alike – have raved over the film while the $65 million it earned over the weekend proves he delivered a film people wanted to see. There were many obstacles challenging Johnston so that he managed to overcome them with aplomb is quite impressive. First of all, he had to turn a brief origin story from Captain America Comics #1 into a story that was plausible for modern day audiences. He had to fill it with winks and nods to the comics continuity that has been built around that Joe Simon & Jack Kirby tale of a man being turned into a super-solider. Then there was all the spadework that was required to prime audiences for the next installment in the Marvel Film Universe, next summer’s The Avengers.

Joining me for the Saturday matinee were two neighbors who only knew the character by name so while I sat there geeking out like the rest of you over the little touches, they were thoroughly satisfied with the story from beginning to end. (I had to spend dinner annotating it for them which was a fun test of memory.) (more…)

Marvel Studios Regains Punisher and Blade

  • Uncategorized
  • July 26, 2011

punisher-thomas-jane-300x225-5035670Marvel Studios has reacquired film rights to the characters of Blade and The Punisher according to Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada. He announced this during his Cup O’ Joe panel during Comic-Con International, but cautioned the audience that this did not mean either was being put into active production.

As a result of these acquisitions from New Line Cinema and Lionsgate, respectively, this leaves the X-Men, Ghost Rider, and Fantastic Four franchises still under 20th Century-Fox control while Sony continues to produce Spider-Man films. A Ghost Rider sequel with Nicholas Cage returning as Johnny Blaze is in the works while a reboot of the FF is in pre-production. X-Men: First Class performed so well this summer sequels are already on order.

Marvel has indicated that as the first cycle of films based on their best known heroes chugs along, the focus is shifting to their lesser known characters, most likely leading off with Doctor Strange and Edger Wright’s Ant-Man. At present, none of these projects have been given release dates meaning they are far off.

At the Marvel Television panel conducted by their VP Jeph Loeb, it was shown that the ABC pilot for Alias Jessica Jones continues to move through the production process, and would include Luke Cage in the supporting cast. Cloak & Dagger is also in development for ABC Family.

2012 will see The Avengers on May 3 followed by Amazing Spider-Man over July 4 weekend with 2013 already ticketed to screen Iron Man 3 and Thor 2. Beyond that, the calendar and options remain wide open even though lead actors including Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Samuel L. Jackson are signed for multi-picture deals. Evans, for example, has a nine picture deal with Captain America and The Avengers only covering two of the nine.

Director Kevin Munroe Discusses Dylan Dog

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2011

kevin-munroe-9346382Dylan Dog: Dead of Night played for about three weeks in the spring and is being released Tuesday by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on Blu-ray. In an exclusive conversation with ComicMix, director Kevin Munroe talked about the experience.

Munroe first came to attention with his revival of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, released in 2007 as TMNT and is absolutely no stranger to comics. “Yeah, I think I started with Sgt. Rock and then the European titles which I read growing up on the east coast of Canada. I read Tin Tin, Lucky Luke, Asterix then discovered Plastic Man, “he said.

An avid comic book fan, Munroe became an artist and found work storyboarding episodes of Nickelodeon’s Hey Arnold! before scripting and producing ABC Family’s Christmas special Donner. Comics weren’t far from his mind, though as he wound up writing Dark Horse Comics’ El Zombo Fantasma, with Dave Wilkins. His other comics work includes Olympus Heights from IDW.

Given his work with Dark Horse, Munroe found himself in consideration for the director’s chair at a fortuitous time. “That was happenstance,” he admitted. “I heard of the project, while doing my own project for Dark Horse. I saw they had just done the first issue of the American edition of Dylan Dog and I picked it up. The series had everything I liked about comics.”

His fan interests certainly informed his career choices and he’s perfectly happy finding ways to adapt comics to the screen. “I think comics are such rich world and it’s just so easy to do,” Munroe explained.  “I’m a fan on a visceral level. I like how active it is to read a comic and see the pacing and hear the voices in your head. Personally, I get a kick out of it. Where are the best stories being told? In comics. Who has the best characters? They take their time; create an entire world and mythos.” (more…)

“Last Blood” To Be First Film From Webcomic?

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2011

This is a milestone: it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that a live-action adaptation of Last Blood, a webcomic first published on Keenspot back in 2006, is in the works with Simon Hunter (The Mutant Chronicles) directing with an anticipated 2012 release. To our knowledge, this is the furthest any webcomic has gone towards being adapted into a feature film.

The premise is amazingly simple: After zombies take over the Earth, vampires must protect the last surviving humans so they can live off their blood. Wackiness, as they say, ensues.

Last Blood will be produced by Ironclad exec producer Christian Arnold-Beutel as well as Red Giant Media’s Aimee Schoof, Isen Robbins and Benny R. Powell, and Chris and Bobby Crosby. The Crosby siblings created the graphic novel with illustrator Owen Gieni, and Bobby Crosby wrote the script with Nick V. Sterling.

Monday Mix-Up: Sam The Eagle as Captain America

  • News
  • July 25, 2011

Wait, wait, wait… are there Muppets in this poster?

In spite of the giggle factor, this may be an important milestone– this may be the first official crossover between Disney and Marvel properties, promoting both Captain America: The First Avenger in theaters now, and The Muppets coming out in November.

MINDY NEWELL: How I Became A Comics Professional…

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2011

mindy-newell-1571630…or how the fuck did that happen? Part One

So how did I get into comics?

I wasn’t going to write about this because the last column was all about me, and I don’t want you all thinking that “it’s all about her,” because it’s not, really, but I just reread my first column, and I did promise you, so…

I wish I could tell you that I always knew I wanted to be a comics writer, and that I was encouraged by my high school teachers and then went to university and majored in English with a minor in writing, or that I was a “convention-ho” and showed sample after sample after sample of my writing to every editor who didn’t make a beeline for the bathroom when they saw me coming. Or that I’m related to someone in the comics world, and hey, a little bit of nepotism doesn’t hurt. (Let’s get real, here, right?)

But…

Once upon a time –1983 – I was working in the OR at a “great metropolitan hospital of a major American city.” It was an ordinary day, with no hint of things to come. Lunchtime came, and, not having anything to read while I ate, I went down to the hospitality shop, thinking I would pick up a magazine or maybe a paperback. None of the magazines or books was really catching my interest, when out of the corner of my left eye I noticed a rack.

A rack of comic books! (more…)

Avengers, Assembled: First Looks of Mark Ruffalo as Hulk and Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2011

avengersassemblebig-800x176-4187729

Marvel Comics released a wide variety of posters at the San Diego Comic-Con this weekend with Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Scarlett Johannson as the Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, and Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, all in advance of the May 2012 release of the Avengers movie directed by Joss Whedon, and all making a giant poster after it’s all, ahem, assembled.

The images were created by Marvel Studios Co-Visual Development Supervisor Ryan Meinerding and Charlie Wen. Check ’em out.

  • News
  • July 25, 2011


July 22, 2011

The Latest News from RadioArchives.com!
* New in Classic Radio: Claudia, Volume 5
* New in Digital Downloads
* New in Pulp Fiction: Doc Savage Volume 49 and The Shadow Volume 51
* Rave Reviews for “Python Isle” and “The Adventures of Doc Savage”
* Coming Soon: The Exciting Audio Adventure “White Eyes”
New in Classic Radio: Claudia, Volume 5ra215-250-5008466If you were a stay-at-home housewife in the 1930s and 1940s, you were most likely a fan of the soap operas. Ever-present on radio, and later on television, these daytime dramas of romance, heartbreak, mother love, sacrifice, and somewhat overdramatized family life became a staple in the lives of millions of avid listeners – many of whom planned their daytime chores around the five-times-a-week adventures of “Our Gal Sunday”, “Ma Perkins”, “Stella Dallas”, and the other dramas that dominated the airwaves between 10 AM and 5 PM.

But, in 1947, a new soap opera debuted that was far more quiet and gentle and down-to-earth than its strife-ridden neighbors on the radio dial. “Claudia”, based on the best-selling novel and play by author Rose Franken, told the tale of Claudia and David Naughton, two newlyweds just beginning their married life. Young, enthusiastic, and very much in love, they weren’t suffering from any of the crises or tragedies that were the common plot points of most daytime dramas. Instead, they were two people simply facing the many challenges of marriage and learning to live together as husband and wife. Thanks to insightful scripting, as well as charming performances by Kathryn Bard and Paul Crabtree in the leading roles, “Claudia” remains one of the unsung classics of radio’s golden age – as well as one of the most entertaining soap operas ever aired.

One of the sad things about radio show preservation is the fact that so many long-running series exist today only in fragments – a broadcast here and a broadcast there, rather than long continuous runs of a particular program. Happily, that’s not the case with “Claudia”; RadioArchives.com has been able to locate and preserve the entire eighteen-month run of the series – 390 episodes in all – allowing you to enjoy the complete series just as it was originally aired.

In “Claudia, Volume 5”, you’ll enjoy 24 more consecutive broadcasts that were first heard in April and May of 1948. Priced at Just $17.98 for the six audio CD set and Just $11.98 for the six hour digital download, this charming series is one you’ll want to share at home with your family – or keep it in the car and play one episode a day as you drive to or from work. Either way, we know you’ll be delighted by the endearing adventures of “Claudia”, now available from RadioArchives.com!

New in Digital Downloads ra067-200-2742848For well over a decade, RadioArchives.com has been known for the amazing audio quality of our classic radio compact disc collections – and it’s no wonder. We insist upon finding the absolute best quality masters, and then carefully restoring them so that they retain all of the audio luster of the original recordings with none of the crackle, pops, hiss, or muffling so often heard in radio shows from other sources.

So, when we decided to start offering digital downloads of these same collections, we knew that you’d accept nothing but the absolute best quality. That’s why every classic radio collection you download from RadioArchives.com comes to you as a zip file containing each individual show encoded as a mono 128 kpbs MP3 file with a sampling rate of 44,100.

ra102-200-4681737If you often enjoy audio entertainment on your computer, your cell phone, or a portable device, you’ll be glad to hear that we’re continuing to add selections to the Digital Downloads page at RadioArchives.com. The latest additions include such long-time customer favorites as “Amos ‘n’ Andy”, the star-studded variety series “The Big Show”, the understated police dramas of “Dragnet”, and the hilarious comedy series “Father Knows Best”.

Digital downloads from RadioArchives.com give you the best of everything. Top quality shows in sparkling audio fidelity, available to you for instant delivery around the clock – and, with digital downloads, you’ll pay no postage or delivery charges! No matter what continent or time zone you may live in, just place your order and, within minutes, you’ll be enjoying some great entertainment.

Stop by RadioArchives.com often and see what’s new in our digital downloads section. Great shows, great sound, and at great prices, too!
New in Pulp Fiction: Doc Savage Volume 49 and The Shadow Volume 51Anyone living in the world today knows that true heroes are very hard to come by. But, in the pulp fiction world of the 1930s and 1940s, heroes were always on watch to fight the criminals and evildoers that threatened our way of life. You’ll find proof of this in the two new double-novel pulp reprints now available from RadioArchives.com, featuring the top heroes from this Golden Age of literary entertainment:

First, in “Doc Savage Volume 49”, you’ll thrill as the Man of Bronze and his daredevil cousin Patricia Savage battle deadly menaces in two classic pulp novels by Lester Dent, writing as Kenneth Robeson. First, a fatal force is destroying America’s Naval fleet. Can Doc Savage end “The Terror in the Navy” before a weakened America falls victim to a foreign power? This novel has been restored with the addition of 3,500 never-before-published words from the author’s original manuscript. Then, Doc and Pat Savage investigate the mystery of bizarre fifteen-foot “Waves of Death” on Lake Michigan. This classic pulp reprint features the original color pulp covers by Robert G. Harris and Emery Clarke, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations, and historical commentary by Will Murray.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? In “The Shadow Volume 51”, the Knight of Darkness battles strange supercrime in two pulp thrillers by Walter Gibson that foreshadowed classic Batman stories. First, The Shadow goes undercover in Chinatown to battle a legendary oriental demi-god in “The Living Joss”. Then, what can prevent “Judge Lawless” from making a mockery of the law? Only The Shadow knows! BONUS: “Djaruti, Goddess of Death”, a lost Orson Welles thriller from the Golden Age of Radio! This instant collectors’ item features both classic cover paintings by George Rozen, the original interior pulp illustrations by Tom Lovell and Paul Orban, and historical commentary by Anthony Tollin.

Also available: “The Spider Volume 19”, featuring two stories of pulp fiction’s Master of Men: “Slaves of the Dragon” and “The Spider and his Hobo Army”.

Escape the worries and troubles of today with the exciting adventures featured in these pulp fiction classics. Each beautifully formatted issue features impressive cover art, full-length stories reformatted for relaxed reading, and many special features to add to your enjoyment. Each of these issues is priced at Just $14.95 – a true bargain for such engrossing entertainment. Make RadioArchives.com your source for the best in pulp fiction classics!

Rave Reviews for “Python Isle” and “The Adventures of Doc Savage”“Python Isle”, the new Doc Savage audiobook from RadioArchives.com, has been generating a lot of buzz lately, with an impressive number of excited reviewers weighing in with their opinions. They’ve got us blushing…but that’s not going to stop us from sharing their thoughts with you!

On the Retroist website, Vic Sage writes:
“I began listening to Python Isle at my computer. It just didn’t feel right so I popped out the CD and placed it in my Emerson “old time radio” replica, laid back on the floor, and thrilled to the exploits of Doc Savage and his compatriots! I’m hard pressed to think of a better way to spend an evening as the sun starts to set, the room illuminated by the soft yellow glow of the radio dial as Michael McConnohie’s soothing voice reads Will Murray’s prose, both mingling flawlessly together to transport me to a pulp world that I sometimes wish I could do more than just visit. This is what all radio plays and audiobooks should strive to sound like!”

Meanwhile, at Audiobook Heaven, critic Steven Brandt writes:
“Radio Archives has taken the well-traveled hero, and brought him to life in this amazingly high-quality production. Michael McConnohie lends his voice talent to this adventure. His narration comes through the center channel as usual, but his character voices come from the left or right, putting the listener right in the middle of the action. I’ve heard this production method once before, and I like it a lot. McConnohie’s melodramatic voices are perfect for this recording as well, giving it kind of an old-time radio feel. Doc Savage is one more pulp fiction hero revived with modern technology. I’m liking this trend in audiobooks, and I hope Radio Archives will bring us many more Doc Savage stories.”

5000-200-7061684But it isn’t just “Python Isle” that’s drawing rave reviews. At Mystery Scene Magazine, Dick Lochte has written a review of “The Adventures of Doc Savage”:
“About 25 years ago, two tales featuring pulp-master Lester Dent’s 1930s adventure hero Doc Savage were adapted by producer Roger Rittner and author Will Murray for a rip-snorting 13-part series that aired on National Public Radio. The result, commercially unavailable until now, is an entertaining replication of radio’s golden age, when a muscled renaissance Man of Bronze and his gifted but eccentric crew could do battle with seemingly unconquerable foes, wind up in trouble at the end of each episode and just as easily escape in the next. In the seven-part adaptation of the 1934 adventure “Fear Cay” Doc and his gang fly to a dangerous Caribbean Isle where they fight a wily old bird who claims to be the 130-year-old discoverer of the Fountain of Youth. The other story, presented in six chapters, finds our heroes in Indo-China battling baddies and deadly serpents in the city of “The Thousand-Headed Man”. The stories and the performances by Daniel Chodos as Doc and the other cast members are properly a bit over the top. It’s good clean fun.”

“Python Isle”, written by Will Murray and directed and produced by Roger Rittner, is now available from RadioArchives.com as an 8 audio CD set priced at Just $25.98 and as an 8-hour digital download priced at Just $17.98. “The Adventures of Doc Savage”, featuring all thirteen episodes of the original series plus many special features, is available as an 8 audio CD set for Just $24.98 and as an 8-hour digital download priced at Just $17.98. Join the thousands of excited listeners who are thrilling to the audio exploits of the Man of Bronze. Order your copies of these two exciting sets right away!
Coming Soon: The Exciting Audio Adventure “White Eyes”
The place: New York City. During the depths of the Great Depression, in the shadow of streamlined skyscrapers, reporters scramble for clues about an insidious wave of bizarre deaths – everyday citizens struck dead, the eyes in their lifeless bodies turned a sightless and ghastly white. The Blind Death has the teeming city paralyzed with fear; in desperation, civic leaders turn to the one man who can discover who or what is behind this gruesome series of murders: Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze.

From his offices high above the city, Doc and his band of trusted colleagues soon uncover a terrifying scheme to gather together all of the city’s criminal elements as a single and seemingly undefeatable force. Their intent: to seize the wealth of the Man of Bronze and destroy him once and for all!

“White Eyes”, the second in a new line of audiobook adventures from RadioArchives.com, is an epic tale of crime from the pen of Will Murray, heir apparent to Lester Dent, creator of Doc Savage. Featuring dramatic narration by Richard Epcar, “White Eyes” is a roller coaster ride of action and excitement that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Produced and directed by Roger Rittner, who joined with Will Murray to bring you both “The Adventures of Doc Savage” radio series and the thrilling audiobook “Python Isle”, “White Eyes” will bring you ten hours of engrossing entertainment. Soon to be available as both a ten audio compact disc collection and a ten hour digital download, this new release from RadioArchives.com will also feature evocative cover art by Joe DeVito and two fascinating and exclusive audio interviews with the author.

Join the Man of Bronze for a suspenseful tale of action and adventure in “White Eyes”, the new Doc Savage audiobook coming soon from RadioArchives.com!

radioannouncer-5528866Listen to this Newsletter!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy this newsletter as an Audio Podcast! Click anywhere in the colorful banner at the top and you’ll automatically hear the Radio Archives Newsletter, enhanced with narration, music, and clips from our latest collections! This audio version of our regular newsletter is a pleasant and convenient way to hear all about our latest products, as well as the newest pulp fiction reprints, special offers, and much, much more!

The releases we’ve described in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s pulp fiction classics, our new line of audiobooks, colorful and exciting items from Moonstone, timeless movies and television shows on DVD, or the over 150 compact disc collections and digital downloads containing thousands of sparkling and fully restored classic radio shows, we hope you’ll make RadioArchives.com your source for the best in timeless entertainment.

FORTIER TAKES ON DEAN KOONTZ’S FRANKENSTEIN ONE LAST TIME!

  • Uncategorized
  • July 25, 2011

ALL PULP REVIEWS by Ron Fortier

FRANKENSTEIN: The Dead Town

By Dean Koontz

Bantam Books

402 pages

stein-4504199
Seems like there is a new trend in wrapping up great, fantastic literary journeys.  The folks at Warner Brothers wisely split the last J.K. Rowling Harry Potter book, “The Deathly Hollows” into two truly amazing movies, the finale now showing in theaters everywhere is a superb adaptation of the book’s climatic ending.

Likewise writer Dean Koontz went deliriously overboard in relating the final conflict between the mad scientist Victor Frankenstein and his pathos filled creation, the so called “monster” now known as Deaucalion and offered it to his legion of fans in two parts.  “Frankenstein: The Dead Town” is a truly fitting resolution to not only the first part of the narrative, “Lost Souls” but the entire five book series.

One of the common traits of most successful pulp writers today is that they are prolific.  The tons of words they produce daily is staggering and would make the old pulp writers proud.  Koontz is no exception in this ability.  Whereas being fast does not assure quality, only a professional competency his readers have come to expect.  Of all his series, the new Frankenstein books are easily some of his most enjoyable action heavy offerings yet.

In part four, “Lost Souls,” the town of Rainbow Falls, Montana, was being invaded by clones created with super nano-technology in a hidden missile silo long abandoned by the military.  The twisted genius behind this assault on humanity was the surviving clone of the first Victor Frankenstein; his goal, the complete eradication of all life, human, plant and animal, on the planet. Battling him at every step is Deucalion, that stitched together protagonist.  Whereas in this series, he is a near indestructible superman who has developed a truly beautiful soul and is determined to fowl his mad creator and save the world.

The fun of this, and the previous volume, is the eclectic band of town citizens, all of them unique, eccentric characters in their own right, who ultimately band together as Deucalion’s army and bravely aid him this apocalyptic battle that has the fate of all mankind resting on its outcome.  Koontz is truly a master tale spinner and in “Frankenstein – The Dead Town,” he is at his best.  And that’s saying a lot!

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks