Tagged: comics

Honoring Jerry Siegel

  • News
  • January 28, 2008

Twelve years ago today, the writer and creator of Superman, Jerry Siegel, died.

Siegel and his artist friend, Joe Shuster, were the pioneers behind everyone’s favorite superhero. These days, it seems hard to believe that the character was initially rejected by all of the major newspaper syndicates at the time. Who would’ve guessed that an alien superhero sent to Earth in a space capsule and raised by an ordinary human family would resonate in the hearts and imaginations of the world?

After a long career as a comic book, then a newspaper strip, a radio series, a TV series, another TV series, a movie franchise and countless remakes, Superman remains one of the most iconic comic figures in history. All thanks to you, Mr. Siegel.

Webcomic Interview of Persepolis Creator

  • News
  • January 28, 2008

Even though I don’t live in Portland, OR, where CulturePulp creator Mike Russell’s "journalism comic strip" is based, I find his work to be an endless source of amusement. That’s why I was so pleased to see this recent comic based on an interview with Marjane Satropi, the creator of the critically praised graphic novel Persepolis.

Over the course of the interview, Satrapi takes Russell on a philosophical tour of both her celebrated graphic novel and the animated film based on the book that opened this week. It’s a wonderful bit of comics-on-comics appreciationand contains this highly quotable, made-to-be-sloganized piece of wisdom, courtesy of Satrapi:

I know one thing: culture and instruction are really weapons of mass construction.

In addition to Russell’s comic-based version of the interview, he also provides the full transcript of his 40-minute discussion with Satrapi.

Also worth checking out: this 2005 CulturePulp strip  about the upcoming (at that time) release of the film Aeon Flux.

 

Lost Heroes and Apple Teasing

  • News
  • January 27, 2008

It was a pretty hectic week at ComicMix Radio, and we ended up with a few stories that didn’t make it in the broadcast, all of which have some cool links to check out:

 
We did manage to tell you that NBC.com is conducting another prop auction here, all still to raise money for the Mona Foundation. That’s the group that supports global education initiatives and women’s rights. Items up for auction include canvas print reproductions off the Heroes set from artist Tim Sale plus stuff from The Office and 30 Rock.
 
Days from now Lost returns to prime time TV. Ok, it’s only for eight weeks but that’s something. If you want to catch up on anything, ABC is making it easy with all three seasons posted here. And there is also a fun little site dedicated to Oceanic Air here
 
Cartoonist Dash Shaw has started a new online comic here that he describes ad a "romance about body and mind telepathy." BodyWorld is here and new episodes are posted on Tuesdays. 
 

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So You Think You Have Problems?

  • News
  • January 27, 2008

Looking for that special comic from 40, 50, even 60 years ago to give your loved one struggling with VD, diabetes, AIDS, marijuana, guns or just about anything else?  Musician Ethan Persoff may have just what you seek.

Comics With Problems collects various unintentionally hilarious public service advertisements in the form of comics, with titles like Rex Morgan M.D. Talks About Your Unborn Child and A Message about Sniffing for Young People, and presents them in their entirety for your edification and amusement.  I D.A.R.E. you to keep away from perusing it!

Elsewhere on his site, Persoff’s other ambitious project on his site is collecting an online archive of all issues of Paul Krassner’s seminal zine The Realist, but I notice he doesn’t have any from the ’80s when I was getting it.  Persoff — call me, I still have ’em all.  And say, you wouldn’t happen to know of an old comic warning of the dangers of being a packrat, would you?

$100 Million Earmarked for Chinese Comics/Animation

  • News
  • January 26, 2008

The People’s Daily Online is reporting that the Chinese province of Guangzhou has announced plans to spend nearly $100 million over the next four years on developing the local comics and animation industry.

According to the report, more than 120 comics and animation companies are located in Guangzhou, generating nearly a fifth of the nation’s total revenue in these industries. The plan would devote 180 million yuan (approx. $24.9 million) each of four years to development of domestic comics and animation projects, with 50 million yuan directed toward nurturing, recognizing and promoting new talent, and the rest toward new "development parks" for companies.

"There is a promising market for the comics and animation industry as the city has introduced a series of preferential policies to support and develop the industry," Fan Xu, director of the Guangzhou press, publication, and radio and television (copyright) bureau, said earlier this week.

 

ComicMix’s Interview With Heath Ledger

Exclusive To ComicMix Radio: Heath Ledger On Taking On The Joker

The untimely death of any celebrity leaves a lot of questions and speculation. In the wake of Heath Ledger’s passing, some are looking at his overly dark portrayal of The Joker in Warner Bros’ upcoming Dark Knight Batman film. In a ComicMix exclusive, Heath Ledger tells us just why he took on such a demanding part.

Plus:

  • NBC props are up for sale – again
  • Monsters invade Hollywood – we have proof
  • Witchblade vs. The Darkness – again
  • Marvel’s Twelve blasts out of the stores
  • Urban Monsters goes to Hollywood
  • What were the top selling comics and graphic novels in recent week? We’ve got the list!

All it takes is for you to Press The Button!

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Martha Thomases Interviewed!

  • News
  • January 25, 2008

Sure, pride goeth before a fall and such, but we can’t help pointing out this interview with ComicMix VP of Corporate Communications Martha Thomases over at Friends of Lulu.

The interview touches on Thomases’ long and winding path through the comics industry, including one of her best-known roles: Head of Publicity at DC Comics during the "Death of Superman" event. Having served in both an editorial and PR capacity for various publishers, she provides some insight into the way these two aspects of the industry rely upon each other and the reasons they often appeal to similar personality types.

I told stories. I looked at what we were publishing and tried to figure out who would care about those titles, and what was the most effective way to get the word to them. I dealt with the mainstream press, not the comics press, so I looked for human interest stories. After all, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are at least as interesting as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Thomases also chats at length about the changes she’s witnessed in both the comics industry and the role of women in it.

Mike Mignola Talks Hellboy and Beyond

  • News
  • January 24, 2008

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola explained his growing separation from the character in comics and on screen during this recent chat with Publisher’s Weekly.

The creator’s ever-changing role on the masthead of many of the stories taking place within the Hellboy universe has certainly become more noticeable over the years. With the big-screen sequel to 2004’s Hellboy feature film scheduled for a July 2008 release, as well as a pair of Hellboy animated films hitting shelves over the last few years, many have credited Mignola’s absence to the needs of caretaking for the character’s multimedia growth.

The real reason, according to Mignola, might be a simple case of wanting to move on to the next thing – in comics, that is.

“After 13 years of doing Hellboy, I love the character, I love doing the covers, I love writing the stories, but I’m kind of looking to do something a little different,” Mignola said.

The articles provides a detailed list of many of the Hellboy-centric comics and other projects you can expect to see in ’08 and beyond, including a definitive reference guide and a project Mignola will be working on that occurs within the Hellboy universe, but lacking Hellboy as a character. Fans of the first two Hellboy animated films will be disappointed, though. Mignola says he doesn’t plan to continue producing the straight-to-DVD features.

 

elayne-riggs-100-5355317

The Great Divide, by Elayne Riggs

  • News
  • January 23, 2008

elayne-riggs-100-1215696As I’ve made clear in previous columns, I like reading. I have Bloglines subscriptions to almost 700 blogs, of which I probably read 400-500 pretty regularly. I tend to group my blog subscriptions into two major categories, culture and politics – what I call “news and views” – although lately I’ve been supplementing those with blogs speaking to other interests of mine, like food and grammar and LOLcats. And I’ve noticed the same problem with these blogs, particularly the political ones, which I came across in just about every hobby of mine through the years. By and large, the writers seem to believe their subject matter is the only one worth pontificating about, and any blogger who has “outside” interests is not worthy to be in their circle.

We live in an era of divide and conquer, where each faction is encouraged into its own little category, where the idea of a well-rounded individual is anathema to getting ahead, where specialization is the order of the day. Because of deadline pressures, many artists who make their living doing comic books have to choose between penciling and inking. My husband is fond of noting that in England, where he lived for the first 36 years of his life, there was no such artificial division of labour when he learnt his craft. Imagine his frustration when we were going over the rudiments of baseball and he found out about all the different subdivisions of pitchers and fielders! He still can’t understand how a professional ballplayer can’t field at just about any position, and why most pitchers can’t complete an entire game. To tell you the truth, the part of me that’s been a baseball fanatic since girlhood, and remembers lots of complete games, readily agrees.

But everything these days is compartmentalized to within an inch of its life. “General interest” and “Renaissance person” have become almost freakish notions these days. Why this is so in the days of “multitasking” is beyond me. We’re expected to juggle umpteen tasks simultaneously at work but we can’t choose more than one passion in our downtime? (more…)

Youngblood, Young Avengers, Young Legion

It might be a cold January day, but ComicMix Radio warms things up. Lost returns in a bit over a week, Iron Man premieres in just over 100 days and there is a spark of light at the end of the WGA Strike tunnel.

Plus:

  • It’s a pretty good week for new comics and DVDs, including Young Avengers, more Shooter Legion and Torchwood on DVD – we cover it all!
  • Youngblood sells out and gets a "variant within a variant"
  • More on the revival of Wild Cards

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