Category: News

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Abrams Shoots Hulk into Space…

  • News
  • October 10, 2007

sfondo1-2207222Now that I’ve got your attention, No: J.J. Abrams is not doing a line of Hulk books. Rather, he’s just announced that former Hulk star Eric Bana will be facing off against the new Captain James T. Kirk in 2008’s remake/reboot/re-imagining/re-whatever of Star Trek. Bana is signed to play Nero, the newest/oldest baddie who has a plan to take down Kirk and probably the whole enterprise.

So far, Abrams has been pretty good on keeping a lid on casting rumors and things we, the fans, don’t really need to know just yet. Back at ComiCon, he announced that Heroes‘ star Zachary Quinto would be playing our new Spock.. along side Nimoy, who will ALSO be portraying the role. This brings up theories that it could be a parallel universe, or alternate timelines, or they could all be lost on an island that has mystical powers… let’s hope it’s not that last one.

Also set star is Anton Yelchin (Huff) as young Chekov, Zoe Saldana (Pirates Trilogy) as the young Uhura, and it is rumored that Mike Vogel (from the new giant monster/alien/who knows movie Cloverfield/1-18-08) will take the helm as our new, less bloated James T. Kirk.

The film is currently set for a Christmas 2008 release.

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Unrealistic body types ain’t just for superheroines

  • News
  • October 10, 2007

annarexia1-4706914If you worry about the unwholesome imagery and unhealthy body types being portrayed in comics — corsetted Wonder Woman, bare belly Supergirl, fishnet clad Zatanna and Black Canary, leather wearing Storm, and so on — and are worried that it could provoke problems when people try to squeeze into outfits like that for Halloween this year, just know: it could be worse.

There’s this number to our right, which the seller labels as “Anna Rexia.” And yes, those are tape measures for a belt and choker.

Guess she won’t be having much candy… or she’ll be throwing it up right afterwards.

ELAYNE RIGGS: The Fifth Freedom

  • News
  • October 10, 2007

elayne100-9344719Last week was the American Library Association’s annual "Banned Books Week." What bothers me most about Banned Books Week isn’t its concept, but its name. Even its proponents admit it’s not about banned books, but challenged ones. Even at our country’s most fascist periods (like, um, now), I don’t believe our federal, state or local governments have actually banned books in decades, if ever. But apparently "banned" has a more alliterative cachet than "challenged" or "endangered" or even scrapping the misnomer altogether in favor of something like "Freedom to Read Week" which is more in keeping with the point of the event — to "celebrate the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stress the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them."

Oh sure, lots of backwards-thinking people, the kind who usually believe every word in the Bible is true (rather than seeing the book as allegorical fiction and an interesting take on history by multiple authors, the way a lot of rationalists view it), seek to limit others’ imaginations and freedoms and generally stir up trouble by whining in the courts about any piece of fact or fiction they don’t like, from science texts to Harry Potter. And these attempts at censorship should be and are condemned and fought by patriots and book-lovers everywhere they crop up. Partly because of these efforts, no attempts have succeeded.

And yet, people’s hobbies and even lives have been ruined by this repression. Even in our hobby, the CBLDF abounds with stories of comic shop owners who paid for a misstep or a failure to predict ever-shifting "community standards" usually embodied by the community’s loudest kook.

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Strongbad teaches you to make webcomics

  • News
  • October 9, 2007

strongbadwebcomics-1848644It’s not enough that Strongbad can type with boxing gloves on, apparently he can draw too. Or cut and paste, like so many others do. But we do admire his closing argument: Why can’t you just make a comic? Everyone knows that putting "web" in front of words just makes them crappier…

RIC MEYERS: Fantastic Up Creature – Rise of the Surf’s Comforts

  • News
  • October 9, 2007

ff2-8815270There were rumors to the effect that the first Fox Fantastic Four movie was the victim of studio interference that somehow moved a mid-film confrontation to the climax. But given its success, FF2 would be the full, unadulterated vision of director Tim Story. Right?

Well, with the “Power Cosmic 2-Disc Edition” DVD release of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, it appears those rumors were merely wishful thinking. If you liked #1, you’ll probably be fine with #2, but if, like me, you felt #1 was lacking, you, like me, may find #2 essentially insupportable in terms of comedy, drama, action, and/or romance.

On the one hand, Sue Storm — a.k.a. Invisible Girl a.k.a. Jessica Alba — is given a nice wardrobe, especially her pre-wedding robe. On the other hand, she’s given Cleopatra’s  make-up and has gotten the same disease as Lois Lane in Superman Returns and Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 3 – that is, the safety of the world is nothing compared with her bee-otchy, selfish, superficial ego needs.

But what of the special features, which, nominally, this column’s about? If you’ll remember last time, the first film’s DVD was saved by some above average history of comics and the graphic FF. This time just about the only thing that buoys the effort is the  “Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book Origins of the Silver Surfer Documentary.” There’s also some interest inspired by the “Character Design with Spectral Motion Featurette,” but the rest of the many, many extras are self-congratulatory ego-boo fests for a job mediocrely done.

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A day that still lives in infamy…

  • News
  • October 9, 2007

images-9269317Fifty years ago today, Walter O’Malley announced that the Dodgers were moving from Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles, California.

Not that we know people who are BITTER about that sort of thing, oh no. But just ask any Brooklyn Dodgers fan this question: You’re in a room with Hitler, Stalin and Walter O’Malley and you have a gun with two bullets: Who do you shoot? And of course the Dodger fans would say, "You shoot O’Malley twice."

DENNIS O’NEIL: Darkness in Four Colors

  • News
  • October 9, 2007

If I want to be reminded of a very good reason for being where I am for the next six weeks or so, all I need do is look out the window. The foliage is always glorious. I wish I were a poet, or Henry David Thoreau, or James Lee Burke, so I could properly celebrate the changing of the leaves.

But I’m not. What I am is a guy who’s had a lot of reason to think about superheroes and – here comes a stretch – they’re changing, too, just like the leaves.

Well, maybe not just like. Actually, whether you think these überpowered gallants are getting glorious or dreary as dishwater is emphatically a matter of opinion. If you’ve already made up your mind about this … permission to skip to another column granted. If you haven’t … some remarks.

They’re getting darker, these superheroes. Grim, tormented, almost tragic. No doubt about that. Just read a few comics, or, if time and/or budgetary constraints don’t allow for a trek to your nearest pop art dealer, turn on the television.

Because one of the major changes in the superhero saga is that they’re no longer the exclusive property of comics (or low-budget film and video enterprises.) There are the big budget theatrical movies, of course. And television is rife with superheroes, and I’m not referring to the Saturday morning kiddie television ghetto, either; I’m talking prime-time network stuff. It’s about money, as it usually is.

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Steven Massarsky: 1948-2007

  • News
  • October 7, 2007

Steven J. Massarsky, an attorney and businessman best known for co-founding Valiant Comics with Jim Shooter, died October 5, 2007 at 12:26 p.m. in Manhattan from complications related to cancer.

In 1989, Massarsky co-founded Voyager Communications Inc. (Valiant Comics), which grew into the third largest comic book publisher in the U.S. The company was sold to Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. where Massarsky remained as President and Publisher of the Acclaim Comics division until their bankruptcy. Prior to that, operated an entertainment law practice. His clientele included Nintendo, The Wailers, Cabbage Patch Dolls, the Psychedelic Furs, Collins Management, Aerosmith,

Tom Chapin

and

Willie Mays

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The response to Massarsky’s passing has been mixed. One industry pro said that thanks to a royalty agreement he signed with Massarsky, "I got the biggest damn check I’ve ever seen. Paid off all back debts and made a sizable downpayment on the home I am now in — which would never have happened otherwise. Because of the deal Massarsky made with me." On the other hand, other industry pros said Massarsky never paid them for work performed and that he "was such an asshole he was kicked out of rock ‘n’ roll by Aerosmith while they were still on drugs."

For a detailed, although obviously biased, look at Massarsky’s time with Valiant, see this interview with Jim Shooter.

25 years of Cats

  • News
  • October 7, 2007

Twenty five years ago today, the musical Cats debuted at the WinterGarden theater on Broadway. Featuring music by Andrew Lloyd-Webber, the show drew its lyrics from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The show ran for 7,485 performances over nearly 18 years, breaking the record for longest-running Broadway musical in 1997. The show closed almost seven years ago, and sadly, they still can’t get the cat smell out of the theater.

Phasing in with more to come

  • News
  • October 7, 2007

Wow, it’s been some week for ComicMix, and we appreciate all the kind words of support and terrific reviews we’ve seen so far!  Please let us know where you’ve seen our comics discussed, we don’t want to miss any feedback!  In the meantime, here’s your weekly wrapup of our regular columns:

As you can see, Mellifluous Mike Raub‘s Big ComicMix Broadcasts are now all accessible right from our front page, so no need to recap them here any more; just scroll down on the right sidebar and there they are!  In fact, it just so happens that all of the above columns can currently be accessed from our section entitled "More Comics News" at the bottom of our front page, mixed in with our news items.  Can a separate column archives be far behind?  Well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?

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