Tagged: comics

How the Superheroes Saved Movies

  • News
  • July 23, 2008

hellboy2poster5-7914902We’ve heard plenty about the dominance of the superhero in Hollywood, but a new story in the UK Telegraph puts some numbers together and shows just how much movies are benefitting from the comics influx.

After a huge run of successful comics films, The Dark Knight (which happened to open with a record $158 million weekend) was just the cherry on the ice cream:

It becomes the fifth film with a comic book or graphic novel theme to dominate the box office in recent weeks following Universal’s blockbuster Iron Man, as well as Hellboy II, The Incredible Hulk and Wanted. Together they have generated more than $500 million (£250 million) in US takings alone.

Sequels to this year’s hits are already planned and dozens more offerings based on comic books are in the pipeline.

“They have become Hollywood’s safety net,” said Jeff Bock, of Exhibitor Relations, the box-office analyst.

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how much of that gigantic sum is actually coming back to comics publishers.

Disney and Pixar Go Boom

Boom! Studios has announced they’ll be publishing comic book adaptations of Pixar cartoon properties, with the first announced being an Incredibles project.

The news comes as an early announcement from Comic-Con International, which is just getting underway. Boom EiC Mark Waid will be writing the Incredibles series, featuring covert art from Darwyn Cooke.

"Today, American comic books are aimed primarily at an older readership. Comics produced for an upcoming generation of readers are scarce – and BOOM! Studios aims to do something about that," said Waid. "There will be comics for kids again!"

To commemorate this historic partnership, BOOM! will be releasing a special preview book featuring sneak previews of upcoming projects using the characters from TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO, and MONSTERS, INC. Featuring commentary by Waid, this preview will give comic fans and interested parents a look at the quality comics BOOM! will be producing for a younger audience by the end of the year.

According to the release, these won’t be straight adaptations, but rather all-new stories set in the world of various Pixar films.

Boom also is going to be doing a Muppets book, Waid told CBR.

It was also announced Wednesday night that Waid will be writing "The Muppet Show." Given the Muppets’ long and varied history in television and film, CBR asked Waid about the particular form this series would take. He was able to reveal that the first thing to appear would be a four-issue miniseries, but future series are "something that’s more in flux." "We’re talking about doing a couple one-shots that could be collected into a trade paperback, we’re talking about doing series that are based on ‘The Muppet Show‘ itself," Waid explained, "and then we’re also talking–with Disney’s heavy encouragement–to do things like Muppet Robin Hood, or the Three Muppeteers or whatever. They’re talking to us about following sort of the paradigm they set up in the movies about classic stories retold with the Muppets."

The Comics Confluence, by Elayne Riggs

  • News
  • July 23, 2008

As The Dark Knight breaks more box-office records (with its accompanying Watchman trailer leading to orders for the original book jumping up near the top of the Amazon charts) and Hollywood relocates to San Diego for the coming four-day weekend that used to be known primarily as Geek Prom, it’s clear that comics continue to affect the wider culture as never before. Two recent examples of this seepage and mingling have reared their heads in the world of toys and politics – respectively, as reported here on ComicMix and lots of other places, Mattel’s decision to release a special-edition Barbie dressed as Black Canary, and the New Yorker cover featuring a scare-fantasy version of Barack and Michelle Obama. Lots of comics folk have weighed in quite nicely on the latter, including our own Mike Gold, but heaven forfend I don’t take my turn before the subject is completely eclipsed by the next manufactured controversy in the ever-spinning news cycle!

To the Barbie matter first. For whatever reason, the UK newspaper The Sun took the wacko group Christian Voice seriously (which is like American media taking Bill Donohue’s Catholic League seriously) when the CV nutbars complained about the incarnation. And you just know an organization that supports marital rape has the moral authority to comment on how the Canary costume is “irresponsible” and “filth”!

I can sort of see the sighing over fishnets. I’ve never liked fishnets. I think I tried to wear them when I was a teenager, years before wearing ripped ones became fashionable (I think I would have liked ripped ones), and they were just all itchy and made marks on my skin and were simply uncomfortable. They seemed like something made for guys to leer at on women, rather than something made for women to enjoy. Likewise, I don’t care for the way high heels can cripple a woman’s legs, and I don’t wear ’em myself because I figure I’m tall enough, but the heels on those boots aren’t really that high. And leather? Seriously? A leather jacket and gloves, some sign of the impending Apocalypse? Didn’t the outrage about this clothing choice reach its peak around the era of Marlon Brando and James Dean? (more…)

Big Changes at Image Comics

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

The summer of change continues for Image Comics. Earlier, Erik Larsen stepped down as publisher, turning the reins over to Eric Stephenson. And now Robert Kirkman has signed on as a partner at the company.

The New York Times has a story on this latest development in today’s Books section.

And this week at Comic-Con International in San Diego, Image Comics will announce that Mr. Kirkman is becoming its newest partner. Under the company’s structure, partners profit mainly from their own work but also have a say in what will be published.

“This is kind of a big deal for me,” Mr. Kirkman, 29, said by phone from his base in Richmond, Ky. “Image Comics as a company was founded by comic book creators for comic book creators.”

This was rumored yesterday in Rich Johnston’s Lying in the Gutters, and Johnston also mentioned other big changes that could be afoot at Image, including offering page rates on certain projects by star creators.

Expect to hear more out of Comic-Con.

Neal Adams and Modern Comics Movies

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

You know superheroes are dominating Hollywood when the movie trade Variety features an extended ode to Neal Adams.

The piece, which includes some quotes from Adams, stresses his role in bringing about more serious superhero comics, particularly on Batman, and how that has influenced superhero movies.

Major studios have mounted a corporate takeover of Comic-Con as a vehicle to promote movies and TV shows, but comicbook artists still receive rock star treatment at the San Diego event. And among those artists, none cast a larger shadow over the current cinematic renaissance than Neal Adams.

Teaming with writer Denny O’Neil in 1970, Adams transformed Batman from the "Biff! Bam! Pow!" camp associated with the 1960s TV show starring Adam West back into the sleek, brooding Dark Knight depicted onscreen for the past two decades. By doing so, they helped establish the serious-minded template that has informed the best superhero adaptations that followed.

And the best quote from Adams:

As rendered by Adams, Batman again became a night-shrouded creature and less a superhero than a grim vigilante — Sherlock Holmes with Olympic-quality athleticism. "Batman is the grittiest character in all of comics," Adams said. "This is an awfully real concept, so none of this wishy-washy shit would do."

ComicMix at San Diego Comic-Con 2008

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

San Diego Comic-Con 2008 kicks off Wednesday night in Southern California, and ComicMix will be on location, bringing you everything you need to know — and some things you might not realize you needed to know — about the people, places and geekery that make it one of the most anticipated (or in some cases, feared) events of the year for fans of comics and comics culture.

This year, the ComicMix team will be all over the show, providing you with all of the interviews, daily con reports, audio, video, blogging and photo galleries you’ve come to enjoy here. Our podcast team will be broadcasting each day of the show with special guests from the worlds of comics, TV and film, while the rest of our audio and video crew will be doing their best to capture the people, panels and general vibe of the show for ComicMix readers. If you’re looking to connect some faces with ComicMix names, be sure to check out our official Meet & Greet Schedule at Booth #2308.

Throughout the show, we’ll be updating our San Diego Comic-Con 2008 News Archive with links to every Comic-Con story we post, and if all goes as planned, there should also be a fancy button on the right side of the homepage for quick access to Comic-Con news.

Keep in mind that you can also follow all of our updates on the official ComicMix Twitter Feed, as well as ComicMix on Friendfeed.

dark_knight_onesheet-795949-7861483

Getting Respect, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • July 22, 2008

dark_knight_onesheet-795949-7861483Well, it is certainly a superheroic weekend here in New York, and maybe where you are, too. The latest Batman flick has already set one box office record and who knows what others it may yet conquer? The second Hellboy movie is still kicking box office butt. And a while ago, I was paging through the Arts and Leisure section of my Sunday New York Times when I saw a familiar face staring up at me from a photo: my old colleague Frank Miller, grim and determined looking. The accompanying story was about Frank’s writing and directing of The Spirit movie, based on work by yet another old friend, the late Will Eisner, produced by yet another old friend, Michael Uslan. (Good heavens! Whom don’t I know?)

Last week, the loyalists among you, if any, will remember that I strongly recommended a book titled The Ten Cent Plague, by David Hajdu. Since then, I’ve recommended it in conversation a couple of times, and may do so again. Damn good book. One of the points Hajdu makes is that comics were the outsider’s medium: the first bunch of creators and promoters were primarily Jewish, guys who had trouble getting work elsewhere. This is one of the reasons the Establishment may have felt threatened by the four-color trash sprouting from the newsstands like crab grass on a lawn; these were not their kind of people and who knows what kind of anarchy these grubbies might promote, given the opportunity? Decent folk practically had an obligation to put them in their place!

When I entered comics, about a quarter century into their history, the field was still dominated by outsiders, or anyway at least ex-outsiders. As for my cohorts… maybe one of the writers who came into comics at about the same time after I slithered in may have been destined for a respectable career in respectable institutions among respectable citizens, but the rest of us were hippie-rebel, anti-establishment types. If that hadn’t been true, why were we there? Comics publishing didn’t have an established career path, there didn’t seem to be really serious money to be made, at least at the editorial level, and Lord knows we weren’t reputable; only a decade or so earlier, our chosen endeavor had been crucified in magazines and on editorial pages and even in congressional hearings. We weren’t exactly bracketed with axe murderers, but you probably wouldn’t want your daughter marrying one of us.

(more…)

Chess Boxing and Comics

  • News
  • July 21, 2008

Time Magazine recently turned the spotlight on a sport that’s worth noting here for two reasons: First, it sounds so bizarre that it could have been ripped off the pages of a comic book; and second, it was pulled from the pages of a comic book.

Welcome to the world of "Chess Boxing," folks.

The chess-boxing combo traces its roots back to a 1992 comic book, titled The Nikopol Trilogy, in which the men of the future box on a chessboard floor. The image inspired Dutch artist Iepe Rubingh to hold — and compete in — the first official chess-boxing bout in Amsterdam in 2003.

According to Time, chess-boxing competitors "alternate between three-minute rounds of boxing and four-minute rounds of speed chess,  with one-minute breaks in between to get the gloves off and hunker down at the chess table." Victories are earned via knockouts, checkmates, or referee decisions.

The current Chess Boxing champion is a19-year-old Russian math student — which makes it that much more interesting, as far as I’m concerned.

Comic Books You Can Hear

  • News
  • July 20, 2008

You make no excuses that you’re a superhero fan. You buy your weekly stack of comics. You watch the blockbuster movies. You tune in to the TV shows. How can you possibly cram more superhero adventure in your life? Audiobooks. You can listen to comics while commuting, driving, or walking. (We’re not going to list exercising. We’re talking about fanboys here, after all.)

I just happened on GraphicAudio.net and figured it was worth mentioning here, as the company offers DC Comics based audio adventures and the tagline “A movie in your mind.” The recordings feature full cast, special effects, and musical score. They’re available as an audio CD, an MP3 CD, or as a digital download. They even adapt massive events like 52 and Infinite Crisis.

There are currently seven recordings available:

  • 52: Part 1
  • 52: Part 2
  • Batman: The Stone King
  • Infinite Crisis: Part 1
  • Infinite Crisis: Part 2
  • JLA: Exterminators
  • Superman: The Never Ending Battle

While I lightly mocked fans who buy these, I have to confess, I own the BBC audio adaptations of Batman: Knightfall and The Death and Life of Superman. And I loved them. Anyone know how to convert cassettes into MP3s?

Superheroes Boost Hat Sales

  • News
  • July 19, 2008

Back in the day, it was the cool thing to have a New Era cap of a sports team. I had one of the Chicago Bulls.

That trend has fallen off, though, and New Era is coming back by making an array of caps featuring not athletes but superheroes. The company previously had a deal with Marvel, but now they’re working with DC, as of this week.

Further evidence that comics is the "in" thing, I suppose.

Part of this latest comics push is connected to this weekend’s release of The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie. Over at New Era, they’re running a special promotion for the flick.

One can only wonder if people who jump on the superhero apparel bandwagon are also jumping into comics.

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