Tagged: comics

The Origin of Image Comics?

  • News
  • July 12, 2008

Part of me really just wants to post the image here and leave it at that, but there probably should be some explanation. Over at the San Diego Reader, former Rock n’ Roll Comics co-creator Jay Allen Sanford has put together an illustrated history of the "The Birth of Image Comics" as part of a recurring feature spotlighting some of the local comics talent in the run-up to San Diego Comic-Con. Seen below is Sanford’s interpretation of the reaction from Stan Lee when Rob Liefeld decided to break from Marvel.

See? The explanation wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the illustration now, was it?

Also in this edition of the Reader’s "Local Comic Publishers History" lesson:

  • The Birth of Image Comics
  • Pacific Comics: The inside story of a legendary local comic book company (including a history of indie comics and the Creator’s Rights revolution)
  • RIP Dave Stevens, famous former neighbor who created the Rocketeer
  • Don’t Fear the Funnies: A history of censorship in comics
  • The New Kids On The Block VS Revolutionary Comics – illustrated by Superman/Supergirl artist Stuart Immonen

Writer Shares Origins of ‘Batman’ TV Series

  • News
  • July 11, 2008

The 1960s Batman TV series couldn’t be more different than the current movie versions — Batman Begins and the upcoming The Dark Knight — with the former being campy fun and the latter being dark, psychological action epics.

Variety tracked down Lorenzo Semple, Jr., writer of the Adam West TV version, and printed a lengthy article from him on the differences between the Batman stories and how his version came to be.

As we sat in the garden of that splendid caravanserai, sipping cool sangria, Bill pulled something from the inner pocket of his jacket. For those who never had the privilege of knowing him, Bill Dozier was one sophisticated gent. "This," he said, with a look of humiliation bordering on shame, "is what ABC has given us." It was, as the shrewd reader will have guessed, a copy of the comicbook "Batman." I’d seen this comic from time to time, even read it with amusement, but I was hardly a dedicated fan. Nevertheless. At the risk of pretending to Minerva-like wisdom, I must tell it like it happened: The TV show concept virtually exploded in my sangria-enhanced brain, full-blown. Bill asked me what I was thinking. I replied it was a really terrific idea — trust me and fly back home to Los Angeles, and I would write it. Trust me. …

It was a writer’s hog heaven. I was sent four issues of the comic for plot ideas, each featuring one of the Big Four villains. The Joker seemed the best pilot choice, though I’m not sure why. I mailed Bill the script at Fox. He and his folks loved it. Then I flew back from Malaga to New York for a meeting with ABC, where Bill eloquently pitched the script and its high-camp POW!! BLAM!! WHAMMO!! style, those onscreen graphics already written in. The network was a bit flabbergasted, so different was this from their usual pilot, but they got it. A particular supporter was exec Douglas Cramer, whom I like to think was only exhibiting the same exquisite connoisseur’s taste that has since made him one of America’s leading contemporary art mavens and collectors.

ComicMix TV: The ‘Hellboy II’ Ron Perlman Interview

No Hellboy interviews are complete without talking to the titular character himself. Ron Perlman’s name has been on the lips of just about any comic book or television fan since the mid ’80s. In a fun interview with Perlman, we got to ask him about his evolution as Hellboy, his interest in comic books, and his thoughts on returning to the 1980s TV show Beauty and the Beast (at this interviewer’s expense).

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens today, July 11.

 

 

Missed one of our Hellboy II: The Golden Army interviews this week? Here are links to all of the recent ComicMix TV interviews with the Hellboy II cast and crew:

 

ComicMix TV: ‘Hellboy II’ and the Guillermo Del Toro Interview

Guillermo del Toro has made his mark in the comic book and sci-fi/fantasy world with his work on both Hellboy films, writing and directing Marvel’s Blade II, and possibly now joining in on future projects such as Doctor Strange and The Hobbit. See what Guillermo has to say about his favorite comics, the evolution of characters in the new film, and even a little Pan’s Labyrinth homage in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which hits theaters this Friday, July 11.

 

 

Missed one of our Hellboy II: The Golden Army interviews this week? Here are links to all of the recent ComicMix TV interviews with the Hellboy II cast and crew:

Who’s the Best Superhero?

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

Of all the heroes in all of the comics ever made, who is the greatest?

While the answer to that one is easy (it’s Rom: Spaceknight, of course), Chicago’s RedEye Magazine seems to think the question merits a bit more discussion. They’ve put together a bracket-style "Best Superhero Tourney" to choose the greatest superhero, and even went so far as to recruit Stan "The Man" Lee to provide an audio greeting for participants.

Sure, some of the choices are easy (does anyone really think Popeye stands a chance against the Silver Surfer’s power cosmic?), but there are some conspicuously absent characters — including [gasp] Rom! The RedEye crew also loses points for naming two of the groupings of characters the "Nicolas Cage Region" and the "Rosario Dawson Region" — but that one’s forgivable. The absence of Rom, however, should be considered an affront to comics history as we know it.

With that in mind, I think it’s time to do a little ballot-stuffing, folks. Who’s with me? Let’s head over there and make sure Popeye ends up trouncing Superman in the final round.

The first 32-character round ends this Friday, July 11, so register your votes soon — then come back the following week to vote on the "Sweet Sixteen" of characters.

Nudist Camp: The Comic

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

The National Post’s writer and cartoonist team of Ben Kaplan and Steve Murray recently chronicled their foray into a nudist colony in Ontario, Canada, and the resulting story and comic strip, well… they pretty much speak for themselves. From naked lawn care to threesomes in a hot tub, both features provide a funny, fish-out-of-water look at the inner workings of a popular no-clothes destination.

"Who’s going to believe I go to a nudist camp to get away from my sexual urges, but it’s true," English, 62, says in his trailer, where a pair of jockeys rests on a tub of gum drops. English now wears tan shorts and white Crocs and quotes Second Timothy, Chapter III, Verse six in a sermon that invokes rape fantasies, C.S. Lewis and a diatribe against Four Seasons showing porn.

(via journalista)

Exorcising the Comic Shop Stigma

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

George Munoz is a new comic shop owner, having just purchased Windy City Comics in Northlake, Ill., and he’s gotten a little local press for wanting to combat the Android’s Dungeon stereotype.

For anyone who hasn’t seen The Simpsons, that’s the comic shop owned by the Comic Book Guy, the obese, stinky, rude resident nerd on the show.

From the article in the Franklin Park Herald-Journal:

As such, he wants to change some of what he describes as stereotypes in comic book stores.

"Many have this weird funky smell, the owner is a jerk and won’t even let you look at the books," Munoz said. "I want to convert this to a different style of comic store."

His ideas include bringing in comic book creators for signings, selling original comic art, showing comic based movies in the store, adding gaming and perhaps a small cafe.

"I want to bring in people who wouldn’t normally come into a comic book store," Munoz said.

Now, a lot of those ideas aren’t the most novel, but I’m curious what other comic book buyers think about their shops. How inviting are they, especially to non-traditional comic book readers?

And, alternately, for retailers, what are you doing to entice new readers?

‘Exterminators’ Headed to TV

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

Simon Oliver and Tony Moore’s bug-annihilating comic series The Exterminators appeared to have taken a lethal dose of RAID, with this month’s issue #30 scheduled as the series finale.

But the story, which was originally pitched by Oliver as a TV series, now comes full circle as it will live on in televised form on Showtime. The Hollywood Reporter has the story:

Showtime is reteaming with "Dexter" executive producer Sara Colleton for "Exterminators," a drama project based on the comic by Vertigo/DC Comics.

Created by Simon Oliver and Tony Moore, the comic centers on an ex-con who joins an exterminator company, working with a freakish supporting cast of characters. A mystery surrounding his girlfriend and the manufacturer of an insect poison percolates on the periphery, and the insects are much more dangerous than they seem.

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Muriel Kubert Passes Away

  • News
  • July 10, 2008

brb03415-4621879Muriel Kubert, co-founder and administrator of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Art for 32 years, died Tuesday from breast cancer.

A graduate of Rider College with a B.S. Degree in Business Administration, Muriel and her husband, comics legend Joe Kubert, started America’s preeminent school for cartoonists in 1976. The school’s many illustrious graduates include Steve Bissette, Tom Mandrake, Jan Duursema, John Totleben, Tom Yeates, and Timothy Truman… among many, many others.

Muriel and Joe had five children. Andy and Adam followed their father to the drawing board and became two of the most respected artists of the day. Lisa, Danny, and David round out the pack. In turn, their children gave them 11 grandchildren.

Muriel often modeled for Joe’s work, although this reporter cannot say the process was fully intentional. The resemblance between Mrs. Kubert and Shiera Hall from the early 1960s Hawkman revival is uncanny. 

‘Elfquest’ Movie Moves Ahead

One of the more shocking moments in my life came when I was pretty young and randomly picked up an Elfquest comic book. Tolkien’s stately creatures, these are not.

Now, after years of failed efforts to get the property to screens, Warner Bros. appears to have made major headway toward an Elfquest movie, going so far as to announce a writer/director/producer.

The original comic, which Wendy and Richard Pini initially self-published in 1978, followed a tribe of elves known as the Wolfriders in their attempts to survive and link with other dispersed elves on a Earth-like planet with two moons while on the lookout for tribes of humans and trolls, both of which acted as allies and enemies.

The series — later published by both Marvel and DC Comics — attracted a more mature audience as it went along, with scenes of battles and sexuality that were intense for that time.

Rawson Thurber ("Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story") will write, direct and produce the feature, whose format is undetermined.

One can only wonder how graphic the film will be, and if a whole new generation is set to be startled.

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