Tagged: musical

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?

Review: ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’

If there is one absolute statement that can be made about [[[Hellboy II: The Golden Army]]], it is that this is easily director Guillermo del Toro’s lightest and funniest film — which may just be its greatest downfall. If the first film were to be classified as a “horror/action with comedic relief”, this film is most definitely a “horror/comedy with action sequences,” and that could be what hurts the film the most.

The story picks up about a year from where the first film leaves off: the [[[B.P.R.D.]]] has grown, with the addition of Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), who is now Hellboy’s live-in girlfriend. Tom Manning (Jeff Tambor) is still in charge of the team and is trying his hardest (“trying” being the operative word) to keep it all a secret from the public. There’s all of this, and then there’s also an epic war being forged between a renegade elf prince and mankind.

The film starts off sweet enough, on a military base on Christmas during one of Hellboy’s adolescent years.  A cameo from John Hurt gets the audience excited right off the bat. Hurt then tells a young Hellboy the story of the first Human/Elf war. This is where we set the mood for the rest of the film. The story is told using computer-generated wooden dolls, rather than actual elves or humans. While Guillermo is known for his imagination with monsters and/or children, this may have been a bit much in the direction of puerility. Instead of giving the impression of a childhood story, the CGI comes across as sloppy and unfinished.

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Joss Whedon on his Superhero Musical

  • News
  • March 19, 2008

"Once more, with feeling!" No, it’s not the infamous musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Joss Whedon is developing another musical.

This time around, the project will feature his other passion: superheroes! Whedon revealed on his blog today that during the writer’s strike he and his family wrote three 10-minute episodes of a musical intended for the Internet. And to his great surprise, they actually finished it, began preproduction and are in the midst of filming it.

Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog will star Neil Patrick Harris, best known for his role as Doogie Howser, M.D., and Nathan Fillion, best known as Capt. Reynolds on the sci-fi show Firefly. We’re tickled that the actors once again assume those titles when they play Doctor Horrible and Captain Hammer respectively. Rounding out the cast is Buffy alumni Felicia Day as Penny.

The news directly from Whedon:

So…..

The bag is catless.

During the strike I started writing a musical intended as a limited internet series, 3 episodes of approximately 10 minutes each. Writing with me was my brother Jed, his fiancee Maurissa, and my other brother Zack. To my shock and surprise, we finished it. To my greater shock and surprise, we managed (with the help of many people I’ll be praising at length soon) to drag it into preproduction (yes, just as DOLLHOUSE was given a start date two months away and all my comics were due.) And today, after a grueling week of writing everything ever while trying to be a producer, I got to start shooting. A musical.

This much I will say: It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. And I’m having the time of my life.

"DOCTOR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG"

Neil Patrick Harris…..as Dr. Horrible

Nathan Fillion……….as Captain Hammer

Felicia Day………….as Penny

And a cast of Dozens!

Coming soon.

-j.

 

Allan Turner’s Folklife Treasures, by Michael H. Price

  • News
  • March 9, 2008
 
roun1866_cover-1074035The measurable results of bare-knuckled research, like gold and luck, will turn up where you find ’em. Folks often think of cultural research in academic terms – the ivory-tower stereotype, alone in the realm of uninterrupted thought and empirical fact-sifting, or the aloof egghead at large amongst the tribes – but a truer basis must rest with the very folks whose thoughts and dreams and deeds form the foundations of any popular culture.
 
Or should the term be populist, as opposed to popular, culture? No matter – the root word means “of the people,” in any event. And some of the most lasting such research has come from the efforts of working-civilian folks whose interest in the down-to-earth lives of other folks drives them to venture among the masses with a companionable attitude, laden with note-pads and recording devices, to take down impressions for the long term. (Pete Seeger has a good term for such excursions, research-driven or not: “a political vacation.”)
 
The Allan Turner Collection at the University of Texas provides a memorable example of this people-to-people imperative. The namesake of the archive is a news-biz colleague of long standing, and several of these conversational interviews date from a collaborative push that Turner and I accomplished during the 1970s and ’80s. 
 
Deep-rooted sources of this influence include Thomas Edison (1847–1931). Eager to popularize and perfect his version of the 19th-century phonograph, Edison reconciled note-taking anthropological research with sound-recording technology by sending crews far afield, into the streets, to capture the crowd noises and pushcart-vendor cries of the turning of a century.
 
Then, in a more focused campaign of the early-middle 20th century, the father-and-son team of John and Alan Lomax concentrated upon the preservation of American folk music – starting with the songs of prison inmates and field-hands in the Deep, Deeper and Deepest South. Alan Lomax (1915–2002) helped in particular to forge new commercial possibilities for traditional folk-singing during the 1950s and ’60s – advancing a Voice of the People urgency during the reactionary post-WWII years, on the one hand, and arguing the case for a purer folkloric expressiveness during the 1960s’ craze for a more commercialized dilution of folk-singing.
 

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On This Day: ASCAP Formed

  • News
  • February 13, 2008

It seems only fitting that on the week the WGA strike comes to an end, it’s also the anniversary of another organization formed to protect the rights of artists.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, also known as ASCAP, was created today in 1914 in New York to help protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

Some of ASCAP’s earliest members include Irving Berlin and John Philip Sousa. ASCAP continues to work for its members’ protection, making sure artists get paid for their creativity.

Really, though — someone should’ve come up with another acronym. To put this delicately, saying "ASCAP" out loud does conjure up feelings of constipation.

 

Spooks Goes Online

  • News
  • January 30, 2008

Supernatural investigations are big in comics these days. From Perhapanauts to B.P.R.D., readers can’t seem to get enough of teams-investigating-scary-stuff stories. Add another to the mix with the upcoming launch of Spooks from Devil’s Due Publishing.

Before the series goes on sale next month, fans can check out preview pages, character profiles, creator interviews and more on the shiny, new Spooks website.  

According to the site, Spooks is about the agents who work for the Department of Supernatural Defense, which "recruits, arms, and deploys sepcially trained forces based within the nation’s borders in support of national security …. to keep the country free of supernatural enemis, whether their origins are domestic, international or otherworldly." 

Spooks is written by Ryan Schifrin and Larry Hama.  Schifrin produced and directed the film, Abominable, for the Sci-Fi Channel, and also served as musical consultant for Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2.  Hama worked on some of the most influential comics of all time, including Wolverine, G. I. Joe, Mort, The Dead Teenager and others.  

The art is by Adam Archer and Jonny Rench (Friday the 13th). Covers are by Greg Staples and Adam Archer, Federico D’Allesandro, Bill Sienkiewicz and Drew Strewzan.

On this day in history: Sting gets animated

  • News
  • January 9, 2008

Sixteen years ago, a musical icon made his cartoon-self debut on "The Simpsons" when sexy yogi and former "police"man Sting appeared on an episode called "Radio Bart."

In it, Bart’s practical joke turns ugly when all believe a little boy is trapped in a well. Sting helps fund raise for the cause by releasing a song called, "We’re Sending Our Love Down the Well."

Aw, Sting, waddaguy.

Here’s the song. We couldn’t actually get the clip from The Simpsons, because Fox has been exceptionally snarky with YouTube of late– so you’ll have to make do with this version, recast with Inayashu characters.

 

Tumbleweeds Tumbles Its Last

  • News
  • December 30, 2007

Tom Ryan’s Tumbleweeds ends its 42 year run in the newspapers today, at the request of the artist.

The always entertaining big-foot western strip launched an animated teevee series, a musical and a theme-park, as well as appearing in hundreds of newspapers throughout the years. Ryan continues a trend of creators retiring their strips at the end of their careers instead of allowing the syndicates to turn their creations over to others, transforming their work into minor family annuities.

Great Hot Comics Links For Free!

  • News
  • December 2, 2007

Here in the east, we are getting our first look at snow. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than tossing a few issues of 52 on the fire and clicking our way around the cool spots we found for you:

The play A Very Ninja Christmas, based on Jimmy Gownley’s  Amelia Rules! series, is running this week (December 6th, 7th, and 8th) in Marlborough, New Hampshire on  2007. Adapted from a Christmas themed story that appeared in the first Amelia volume, “Amelia Rules: The Whole World’s Crazy,” the musical relates how 9-year-old superhero-wannabe Reggie Grabinsky enlists his superhero crew to try to prove Santa is a fraud. It is produced by Small Pond Productions. Plans to make the musical available to other theater companies is in the works and you can get details here.

That new Warren Ellis community we told you about is here. It’s actually a site for the upcoming webcomic FreakAngels which is set to premiere in February, 2008.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has kicked off its 2007 Holiday Benefit Auction here on ebay. You’ll find featuring a ton of rare and one-of-a-kind items offered to support the First Amendment legal work; proceeds from this auction will directly benefit the ongoing defense of Gordon Lee in Rome, GA. Items include original art by Jeff Smith, Matt Wagner, Dave Sim, Dustin Nguyen, David Lloyd, Kevin Nowlan, Terry Moore, David Mack and  signed items by Laurell K. Hamilton, Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, Will Eisner, Robert Kirkman, Jon J Muth, Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee and others. Bidding is now open, with most items closing on Sunday, December 9.

A week or so ago, we told you about the Get Munked promotional effort for the feature film Alvin and The Chipmunks. In case you haven’t had a chance yet to annoy friends and family, go here and become the above-average chipmunk by recording a unique voice message. We are happy to say there are also free Chipmunk mobile voicetones, so start drinking now.

This week, ComicMix Radio plunges ahead with a big week for new comics and DVDs (Battlestar Galactica: Razor, anyone?), a behind-the-scenes on Bo Hampton and Robert Tinnell’s Demons Of Sherwood (coming to ComixMix – FREE, of course), another Hidden Gem from your local comic shop and a visit from the creator of America’s #1 family comic strip. That should hold you for another seven days!

Simpsons: Testify This September 18

  • News
  • July 16, 2007

homer_1024x768-3652991The Simpsons movie is set to open in less than two weeks, meaning there will be a long, hot stretch of summer with no new Simpsons.  Thus, the anticipation for the 19th season will be even more fevered.  Adding to the frenzy will be a CD, Simpsons: Testify, from the Shout Factory.

The soundtrack includes the vocal talents of the regular Simpsons’ cast (Dan Castallaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartright, Yeardly Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer and guest regular Kelsey Grammar) plus musical ringers like Jackson Browne, Weird Al Kankovic, Ricky Gervais, and David Byrne.

For complete track listing, please visit: http://www.shoutfactory.com/press/214/the_simpsons_testify_a_whole_lot_more

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