Gone Fishing
C’mon… you weren’t going to believe anything we posted today anyway. Go vote in the Mix March Madness webcomics tournament, even though it’s now April.
Tagged: April Fool
April Fools Day Round-Up: Were You Fooled?
When it comes to April Fools Day on the ‘Net, I’m not sure where I stand. On one hand, I’m endlessly entertained by the creativity various companies show in their efforts to pull the digital wool over readers’ eyes. It’s also an amazing promotional opportunity, providing websites that normally wouldn’t be players in the viral marketing scene a chance to flex their creative muscles and attract new readers.
On the other hand, however, it’s an editor’s worst nightmare. Every story is likely to be a hoax, and it’s damn near impossible to break any authentic news due to the inherent skepticism of online readers for a 24-hour period.
It’s a bit of a personal hell for me, too. Every year, I wake up on April 1 and remind myself that anything I read that day is probably an April Fools Day prank. And every year, I end up getting excited about a story anyways, only to realize that it was just another joke — more often than not, this happens after I go public with my excitement, adding to the embarassment. In the end, I’m reminded of Charlie Brown trying to kick that football time and time again, even though he ends up on his back in the dirt every time he makes the attempt. I feel his pain.
So this year, I’ve put together a list of some of the highlights from this year’s April Fools Day on the Interwebs. It’s nowhere near a complete list, just some of my personal favorites from the world of comics and comics culture, as well as a few notable non-comics pranks. Feel free to add your own to the ‘Mix (pun totally intended) by adding a link in the comment section at the end of this article. (more…)
ComicMix Radio: Playing it Straight on April Fools Day
Looking back at the stories we’ve covered over the last year, it would be hard to make anything up that actually — in comics — couldn’t be true! Instead, we leave the whoopee cushions to others and deliver our dead-serious list of new comics & DVD releases for the week, plus:
— More on Warren Ellis’ exit from Thunderbolts
— Devil’s Due Publishing brings their comics to your cellphone
— Jae Lee awaits words from the fans on Dark Tower sequel
— And, no joke, another exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant could be in the mail to you — if you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com
Just press the button and nothing bad will happen!
And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via 
or RSS!
Ellison and Groth to mediate?
Back on April 1st, we ran a little piece entitled "Ellison, Groth sign historic peace accord". Because of the date, many readers thought we were engaging in an April Fool’s joke and making the whole thing up.
Now columnist Rich Johnston reports: "I understand that both Fantagraphics and Harlan Ellison were asked if they would participate in mediation over their current legal confrontation and that both have, at this time, gladly agreed. This will occur on May 29th at the Federal District Court Of Appeals in California. It will be attended by Ellison, Groth and their respective legal representatives. Given the good will from both sides regarding this approach, maybe we could indeed see peace in our time."
Don’t worry. We only use our predictive powers for good. We tried using our powers to find out the ending of Lost, but there the future is truly unwritten, as are the scripts.
Blades of Box Office Gold
Blades of Glory was the number one film for the April Fool’s weekend, with an estimated take of $33 million. Disney’s Meet The Robinsons came in second, with $25.1 million.
300 came in next, with $11.2 million, followed by TMNT with $9.2 million. If Hollywood realizes that both films owe their existance to Frank Miller (whose graphic novel, Ronin, was the inspiration to Eastman and Laird back in the 1980s), no one admits it.
Wild Hogs, Shooter, Premonition, The Last Mimzy, The Hills Have Eyes 2 and Reign Over Me rounded out the list.
