Tagged: comics

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.

Review: ‘Ordinary Victories: What is Precious’ by Manu Larcenet

ordinary-victories2-3501417Ordinary Victories: What is Precious
By Manu Larcenet
NBM/ComicsLit, August 2008, $15.95

[[[Ordinary Victories]]], in France, is a series of four graphic novels about a photographer named Marco Louis. They’ve been very successful, selling hundreds of thousands of copies of each book. But those books are each only about sixty pages long, so they’ve been combined for the American market. This volume contains the second half of the series: volume 3, “[[[What Is Precious]]],” and volume 4, “[[[Hammering Nails]]].”

I can’t be the only one to wonder how much “Marco Louis” – a guy in a creative profession in France – resembles his creator with the same initials, but the book itself doesn’t provide much in the way of clues. Let’s just throw this one onto the groaning pile marked “semi-autobiographical” and move on from there, shall we?

“[[[What is Precious]]]” opens with Marco and his partner Emily – it’s not clear if she’s a girlfriend or a wife, but she’s around for the length of the book – visiting Marco’s mother in Brittany in the aftermath of his father’s suicide. Marco needs to clean out his father’s things, which inevitably makes him think about his difficult relationship with his father.

(more…)

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‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ Photos

With all of this talk about blockbuster adaptations of comic books, it’s easy to forget about some of the other big films hitting theaters this year. Luckily, the Cinematical team has provided a reminder about one of those big releases that’s likely to appeal to ComicMix readers: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

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Warner Bros. recently released some images from the film, and Cinematical has collected them in a nice little Half-Blood Prince gallery. Posted here is one of the images, but head over to Cinematical for the full host of photos from the film, which is scheduled for a November 21 release.

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