Tagged: Image Comics

J.J. Abrams takes on the Micronauts

  • News
  • November 6, 2009

J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Lost, Alias) is reported to be in discussions to produce a feature film based on the Micronauts toy franchise, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Micronauts toy line was created by Takara, later acquired by Tomy, and debuted in 1974 in Japan, where the line is known as Microman. Two years later the Mego Corporation introduced Micronauts to the US, and released five series of toys through 1980.  Palisades Toys acquired the right to reproduce the toys in 2002, and the entire line was recently acquired by Hasbro.  Additionally, Marvel Comics, Devil’s Due and Image Comics published Micronauts comic books, with several paperback books based on the property published by Byron Preiss Visual Publications.

At one point, they were so tightly integrated with the Marvel Universe that they crossed over with the X-Men and spun out a character that has crossed over with most of the rest of the line, Captain Universe.

No word yet on who will actually write or direct the film. But should we worry about these robots being handled by a production company named Bad Robot?

50 comics facts about the Class of 2013

  • News
  • September 2, 2009

Every year, Beloit College puts together a list of facts regarding the mindset of the class entering college this Fall—the Class of 2013. Their list, as always, is well worth a read, but this is ComicMix, and we’re here to talk about comics, by gum.

So as we get ready to send them off to college, we wondered: what constitutes the comics status quo for them? What’s normal to these kids born in 1991 (he asks, knowing that being born in 1986 puts him in largely the same boat)? So glad you asked.

  1. The guy who did the above strip had already ended his daily strip and retired by the time these freshmen started reading newspapers.
  2. There has never been a Miracleman (or Marvelman) comic published in their lifetime.
  3. They have no idea who Don Thompson or Carol Kalish were.
  4. Gambit has always been on the X-Men.
  5. Spider-Man was always married to Mary Jane… until One More Day.
  6. There wasn’t a DC multiverse until the end of Infinite Crisis.
  7. Wally West was always the Flash, and his first sidekick was Impulse.
  8. Adam West has never been Batman—he’s best known as the mayor on Family Guy.
  9. Wolverine never wore a brown costume, and has always had a solo book.
  10. Barbara Gordon has always been in a wheelchair.
  11. Sandman has always been that pale-skinned goth guy with the hair.
  12. Batman has had three Robins: Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damian Wayne.
  13. Lex Luthor has always been a businessman.
  14. Image Comics has always existed.
  15. So has Wizard Magazine.
  16. New Mutants was a short-lived series from 2003-2004, until the recent relaunch.
  17. Hank McCoy’s always been blue and furry.
  18. Elektra has always been dead.
  19. Frank Miller is the guy who did Sin City, and he never worked with Klaus Janson.
  20. There’s never been a character named “Streaky the Supercat.”
  21. The only composite Batman-Superman was a giant robot.
  22. The original Dove has always been dead.
  23. Thanos has always been searching for the Infinity Gems, so he can impress Death.
  24. Death has always been a goth chick.
  25. Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes has always been War Machine.
  26. S.H.I.E.L.D. has always stood for Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate.
  27. Kyle Rayner has always been a Green Lantern.
  28. Starman has always worn goggles and a leather jacket.
  29. John Romita. Jr. has always been known as a regular penciller for Amazing Spider-Man. John Romita, Sr. never was.
  30. Ghost Rider was Danny Ketch.
  31. Jean-Luc Picard was the first captain of the Enterprise.
  32. Cerebus the Aardvark was always a classic.
  33. Grendel has always been a Dark Horse title, except for that DC crossover.
  34. Cassie Sandsmark was the first Wonder Girl.
  35. Roy Harper was only known as Arsenal up until the current volume of Justice League of America.
  36. There’s never been a First or Eclipse Comics. Comico only did some of those soft-core Elementals books.
  37. There were originally four Justice League titles on the stands.
  38. The original Teen Titans were comprised of a de-aged Atom (Ray Palmer), Risk, Argent, Captain Marvel, Jr., Omen, Prysm, Fringe, Arsenal, and Joto.
  39. Julia Carpenter was the original Spider-Woman.
  40. The two Avengers teams were the East Coast and West Coast branches. None of this New, Mighty, Dark, Pet, and Caramel Covered.
  41. There’s always been a comic called Love and Rockets.
  42. The superhero cartoons of choice were Darkwing Duck and Fox’s X-Men. For live action, it was all about the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.
  43. Kraven the Hunter has always been dead.
  44. Northstar has always been out of the closet.
  45. Kevin Conroy has always been the animated voice of Batman.
  46. Jim Shooter was the guy behind Valiant, then Defiant, and then he wrote the Legion for a while. Wait, he was at Marvel, too?
  47. Phoenix is Rachel Summers, not Jean Grey.
  48. Karate Kid was Ralph Macchio, and Ralph Macchio was the guy editing X-Men.
  49. There have always been Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novels.
  50. Disney never had a major successful comic book franchise.

What’s yours?

(Alan Kistler and Glenn Hauman contributed to this list.)

A reply from Imagi about ‘Astro Boy’

  • News
  • August 5, 2009

astro-boy-media1-11-7264049

imagi-reply1-6557076With regards to the recent C&D letter from Imagi’s lawyers, we’ve received the following:

August 4, 2009

Mr. Glenn Hauman
ComicMix.com

Dear Glenn:

Imagi Studios apologizes for any misunderstanding or inconvenience caused by the legal letter of July 29 regarding the image posted with your story about Astro Boy. This letter, which truly resulted from a miscommunication, was sent in error, and is hereby retracted. We thank you in advance for your understanding.

We would only like to point out that the image which appeared on your site is not from the movie as it is early concept art, and therefore we would greatly appreciate it if you could replace this image with one of the new stills from the Astro Boy movie, which are attached herewith.

Imagi Studios prides itself on being collaborative with the media by providing images as well as access to filmmakers and executives, and we hope to further our relationship with you in this way as well. We would also like to express our warm appreciation of your support and that of ComicMix.com to date, and we look forward to sharing updates on Astro Boy and future projects with you and the ComicMix community.

Best regards,

Erin Corbett
President, IMAGI STUDIOS U.S. & Chief Marketing Officer Worldwide

Erin, your apology is accepted. We’ve restored the articles to the site, and while we won’t replace the image, lest we be accused of histroical revisionism, we’re happy to make an annotation to the article indicating it’s early art and share the newer images with the rest of the world– starting with the one above, which I think is one we haven’t seen before.

idw-cmx-logo-8952454

IDW and ComicMix Join Forces

  • News
  • March 26, 2009

idw-cmx-logo-8952454Well, we’ve been hinting at this for about six months now. Some of you traditionalists have been asking when and how and where and when you can buy printed versions of the ComicMix comics. I’m proud to announce that we have partnered up with our friends at IDW (where GrimJack and Jon Sable Freelance and Mars last appeared) to produce one graphic novel and two comic books each month, starting this fall. Plus hardcovers and omnibuses and such, as the market demands.

O.K., I’m one of those traditionalists as well, and while I love reading this stuff online (particularly on my iPhone), I’m looking forward to seeing them in print. And I’m looking forward to running my typical long-winded introductions in the trades and letter columns — yet, genuine letter columns! — in the comics.

So if you’d like to email us a letter for publication, just post ’em as comments to the comics. Oh, yeah, we’re starting off with GrimJack: The Manx Cat and Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden in mini-series format. As if we should start somewhere else? IDW’s press release, for the record:

SAN DIEGO, CA (March 25, 2009) – IDW Publishing, a leading publisher of comic books and graphic novels, has begun an innovative partnership with ComicMix.com, a free website offering new and classic comics. Through this multi-year agreement, IDW will publish graphic novels, books and comics for ComicMix.com properties, enabling both companies to expand their offerings to customers and retailers, and combine their audience reach.

“ComicMix has a great line up of original and classic brands that are currently only available online, and despite the shift to the virtual world, there is still something unmistakable about reading a real-life book” said Greg Goldstein, chief operating officer of IDW. “IDW is known for producing some of the highest quality books in our industry, and we are looking forward to offering this to fans of ComicMix properties.”

Beginning in the fall of 2009, IDW will release trade paperbacks of ComicMix comics, as well as monthly comics, including many new stories that have previously been only available online at ComicMix.com. Initial titles will include GrimJack: The Manx Cat by John Ostrander and Timothy Truman, Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden by Mike Grell, and Hammer of the Gods by Mark Wheatley and Mike Avon Oeming, among others.

“This is a bit of a homecoming for many of us at ComicMix, because we have had a professional relationship with IDW Publishing over the past several years,” ComicMix Editor-In-Chief Mike Gold noted. “We’re honored to be among such first-rate comics and graphic novels. Quite frankly, I don’t think the ComicMix properties could find a better publishing home than IDW.”

The partnership with ComicMix allows IDW to distribute comics via mobile devices, increasing the company’s growing digital, downloadable publishing program, which already includes several major titles such as Star Trek: Countdown and Ghostbusters.

About IDW Publishing

IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. As a leader in the horror, action, and sci-fi genres, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including television’s #1 prime time series, CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation;” Paramount’s “Star Trek;” Fox’s “Angel;” Hasbro’s “The Transformers;” and the BBC’s “Doctor Who.” IDW’s original horror series, "30 Days of Night," was launched as a major motion picture in October 2007 by Sony Pictures and was the #1 film in its first week of release. In April 2008, IDW released "Michael Recycle," the first title from its new children’s book imprint, Worthwhile Books. More information about the company can be found at IDWPublishing.com.

About ComicMix.com

Organized in 2007, ComicMix.com is the free website for brand-new comics, news, opinion and historical research. Organized by comics veteran Mike Gold (DC Comics, First Comics, Image Comics), Internet pioneer Brian Alvey (WebLogs Inc., Blogsmith, AOL, Netscape) and print and online publishing vet Glenn Hauman (Random House, Simon & Schuster, BiblioBytes, DC Comics), ComicMix has been leading the comics industry in the production and online distribution of new comic book stories by major talent.

Top Cow Pledges not to Raise Cover Prices

  • News
  • December 6, 2008

topcow-logo11-4730370The major publishers, DC Comics and Marvel Comics are both inching towards the standard 32-page comic book retailing for $3.99, a dramatic $1 increase during these difficult recessionary times.  The following release arrived from Top Cow, one of the founding imprints as part of Image Comics.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., December 5, 2008 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. announced today it will maintain a $2.99 price point for its regular-sized comic books throughout 2009, despite the recent move of other publishers to raise the cost of some of their books to $3.99.

“We looked around and saw cover prices creeping up and up all around us,” noticed Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik. “It seems wrong to raise your prices on customers during these tough economic times. Once we knew we were going to hold the line on our prices, it made sense to call attention to it. Hopefully, it will encourage some fans to try our titles.”

And despite the price freeze, Top Cow will not compromise the quality of its regular-sized books to cut overhead costs.

“Our content pages will remain the same as it is now and in fact we’re adding more and more added-value pages, including interviews, back-matter articles and preview art,” said Sablik. “We want to be the value and quality leader in the industry.”

The $2.99 price point does not apply to oversized books, exclusive variant covers and special editions.

‘Dark Reign’ Teaser Image Unveiled

  • News
  • November 26, 2008

Marvel today released this teaser image for the next big event, Dark Reign, just weeks before Secret Invasion #8 is released, ending the current big event.  New Avengers: The Reunion was mentioned as a new title at an Ireland convention but no details are known.

‘Torso’ Grows Legs

  • News
  • October 29, 2008

3652-1-9925674Bill Mechanic, the former chairman of 20th Century Fox and now founder of independent production company Pandemonium, told Collider that the long planned adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis’ Torso is heading into production soon.

"Torso is moving right towards the starting gate," Mechanic tells the site. "We’ve got a screenplay and we’re waiting for Paramount to decide when to make it."

He also confirms what many have heard: David Fincher will direct the feature.

"I’m hoping we’re shooting in March or April … [so] it should be [Fincher’s next project]," says Mechanic.

And while he has a ton of faith in the project, he does admit that there will be departures from the source material, much in the way that the movie Fight Club broke off from the novel.

"Torso the movie, which may not be called Torso the movie at the end of the day … makes the book better reading because it doesn’t follow [the book] literally," Mechanic says.

Though he’s known today for revitalizing The Avengers, killing all the mutants in House of M and making Skrulls a threat again in Secret Invasion, Brian Bendis’ roots as a comics creator go back to his days at Caliber Comics. He published a string of noir crime comics with Caliber, including Fire (1993), A.K.A. Goldfish (1994) and Flaxen (1995). His most known early works are Jinx (1996), which is the namesake of his Web site JinxWorld, and the comic in question, Torso (1998). It may be hard to believe with top artists Leinil Yu and others illustrating his work, but Bendis actually illustrated a large part of his early work, including Torso. Bendis also co-wrote the novel alongside Marc Andreyko (DC’s Manhunter).

Torso is a historical fiction limited series published by Image Comics. The story focuses on the "Torso Murderer," an actual serial killer in the 1930’s who left behind only the torsos of his victims, making them very difficult to identify for police without DNA testing. The investigator on the case and protagonist of Torso is Eliot Ness, Cleveland Chief of police and one-time head of the Untouchables, the police task force that enforced Prohibition and went after crime lord Al Capone.

Though no official casting has been made, Mechanic did tell Collider that "a lot of things being written [online] about [the film] are probably true." Jake Gyllenhaal and Matt Damon are the two actors long rumored for Torso, so perhaps they’ll be the guys to star in the feature.

Review: ‘Flash Gordon’ #1

Full disclosure: I had edited a [[[Flash Gordon]]] comics series at one point in my life. It was the third greatest nightmare in my professional life. Not the part about working with the talented and understanding Dan Jurgens; Dan’s a class act and a fine storyteller. No, working with King Features Syndicate was akin to Sisyphus’s task, except the big rock was a huge boulder of shit and pushing it up that mountain happened in the dead of the hottest summer in the innermost circle of hell. And I’ve lightened up on this over the years, too. And so, on with the show.

There may be no greater icon in comic strip history than Flash Gordon. Sorry, [[[Buck Rogers]]]. You came first but Flash had better art and story, and a much, much better villain. Creator/artist Alex Raymond is generally regarded as the greatest craftsman in the field; so great, in fact, that after Dave Sim recovered from producing 300 consecutive issues of [[[Cerebus]]], he started up on a series called [[[Glamourpuss]]] that, oddly, is all about Raymond’s work.

Flash was the subject of what is also generally regarding as the three greatest movie serials ever made due, in no small part, to the performance of actor Charles Middleton as Ming The Merciless. And he had all the other media tie-ins: a radio series starring Gale Gordon (yep; Lucille Ball’s foil), a teevee series staring future Doc Savage model Steve Holland and a teevee series on Sci-Fi last year that was completely unwatchable, various animated series, a movie feature and another one in pre-production and numerous comic books by people including Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson, Reed Crandall, and Wally Wood, and licensed items. When Raymond went off to war, he was replaced by a series of artists nearly equal to him in talent: Austin Briggs, Mac Raboy (my favorite), and Dan Barry.

There’s a reason why Flash Gordon attracted such top-rank talent. Sadly, that’s also the same reason why Flash Gordon is an icon and no longer active in our contemporary entertainment: nostalgia. Flash Gordon was a product of his times, a wondrous visionary made irrelevant by real-life heroes such as Laika the dog, the first living being to orbit the Earth, and Yuri Gagaran, the first human being to orbit the Earth. Only Yuri returned alive, but I digress.

Science fiction was rocked to its core. It took talent like Harlan Ellison, Michael Moorcock, and Gene Roddenberry to re-purpose the genre, to focus more on the social aspects of the genre and extend those concepts out into the future. If you’re going to make Flash Gordon work in the 21st century – or the last four decades of the 20th, for that matter, you’ve got to distill the concept down to its essence and rebuild according to the mentality of our time.

(more…)

invincible-11-4189338

Review: Invincible the Series

invincible-11-4189338

During the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, MTV New Media debuted their new animated series based on Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s Invincible comic. Published by Image Comics, [[[Invincible]]] tells the story of Mark Grayson, a young man who inherits his father’s superpowers. It’s been released through various outlets: iTunes, Xbox, Amazon, MTV2, MTV.com, and MTV Mobile.

Instead of creating brand new animation, the series has decided to use the latest editing techniques to “animate” Cory Walker’s actual comic book art. Just use existing comic art and let the camera to give the illusion of movement. To younger viewers this may seem innovative, but it’s been done as far back as the Marvel Comics based cartoons from the 1960’s. It was used again, very artistically by MTV, when they brought [[[The Maxx]]] to television. Even more recently [[[The Watchmen]]] has been done in this style.

While the story and art deserve all the critical praise that the Invincible comic has received over the years, [[[Invincible the Series]]]’ biggest stumbling block is its editing. The MTV produced show has the same pacing as MTV’s promo spots, wildly kinetic with lots of flashing graphics and texts. Never let the eye settle for minute. This is fine for 15-second ad, but watching a full show like that is taxing.

In a one step forward, two steps back move, the show decided to include the actual word balloons from the comic. But instead of letting people read it, the text has a subtle shake to it. To emphasize energy, I guess. While nothing sits still on the screen, you would expect the parts you want people to read to be motionless.

A good way to judge an animated show’s sound is to close your eyes and listen. Does the soundtrack still create images of the action? In Invincible’s case, the answer is yes, but barely. The voice acting and sound effects are serviceable. They don’t do anything cringe worthy, but neither do they stand out. No Kevin Conroy or John Di Maggio here.

If the production calmed down, this could’ve been a great show that brought quality comic books to video formats. But as it is, I couldn’t stand watching this for more than a few episodes. And like I said, I’m a fan. Imagine the effect to someone who’s browsing MTV2 late at night.

Watch the first episode for yourself below. Let me know if you think I’m right or wrong in the comments section.

 

If You’re Not There, You Just Won’t Get It – Conclusion, by Michael Davis

  • News
  • August 29, 2008

This is the last segment in this month long saga. If you are anything like me, you are sick of this. I mean four weeks of me reliving history is a bit much even for a guy who LOVES history. To that point, all I watch on TV is All My Children (the greatest show ever!), news, and The History Channel. I don’t even watch the shows I write or have created. I’m not kidding. I have never watched an episode of any show that I have been involved in.

I love history and I thought when I started writing this it would fill me with a wonderful sense of nostalgia.

Wrong. Now I’m just pissed.

Don’t get me wrong, Milestone is and will always be a BIG part of my life and career and I’m very happy to clear up some misconceptions about Milestone… particularly my involvement. Take a look at the previous installments to read about some of those misconceptions surrounding Milestone, Christopher Priest and DC’s “ownership” to name but a few.

Here’s my BIGGEST problem and the misconception that burns me to this day. There have been many, MANY articles and or books that have featured Milestone. A lot of them have said that I left Milestone quick, fast and in a hurry.

That, like the promise that Bush would be a good president, was a compete and utter lie. There’s more truth in the belief that the world is flat and women in L.A. don’t care about what you drive.

I was there the moment Milestone was created. I did not leave until two and an half YEARS after that. The writer Les Daniels (who’s books I enjoy, by the way) wrote in his book, DC Comics Sixty Years Of The World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes (1995) “A fourth partner, Michael Davis, quickly left to run Motown Animation.” (more…)

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks