Tagged: San Diego Comic-Con

New York Times Profiles Comics Art Collectors

  • News
  • June 30, 2008

batmankillingjokespecialalanmoorebr-4924521Comics have long been a haven for collectors, that niche of consumers who’ll drop six figures on an old Disney issue or a near-mint of a Golden Age superhero.

As comics are becoming less of a disposable form of entertainment, the issues are increasingly common. So individual issues are no longer a hot commodity.

I don’t see it as a new trend, but The New York Times saw fit to devote a lengthy story to the new target of comics collectors — original artwork. The article mentions how originals were once used to sop up ink stains, but they’ve gradually become more and more valuable, to the point that they’re now selling for inordinately high prices.

Collectors of original comic-book art sound like a subculture within a subculture, and that’s fine with many aficionados. “There was a thrill in finding something nerdier than collecting comics,” said David Mandel, 37, an executive producer of the HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” who first bought original art during a visit to the San Diego Comic-Con in 1995.

Mr. Mandel has pieces that would make many fans drool, like the cover, by Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum, of Giant-Size X-Men from 1975, which trumpeted Wolverine, Storm and others as the new incarnation of the mutant team, and the 1982 cover of Daredevil No. 181, by Frank Miller, depicting the death of Elektra, the title hero’s girlfriend.

His collection also includes the last four pages from “The Killing Joke,” a seminal 1988 story that helped usher in a new level of maturity for comic books. That Batman tale chronicles a possible origin for the hero’s nemesis, and was written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. In November the last page of the story became available at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. Mr. Mandel landed it for just over $31,000.

It would’ve been nice if the reporter had talked to Scott Dunbier, currently an IDW editor and formerly one of the better known art dealers. If you want to hear some great stories about buying and selling comics art, I highly recommend Scott’s blog.

San Diego Comic-Con Gets ‘Watchmen’ Clips, Nite Owl’s Ship?

  • News
  • June 26, 2008

There’s a lot of Watchmen news hitting the ‘Net these days, as we chase the shot of fake "Veidt Enterprises" commercials we posted earlier with some San Diego Comic-Con International rumors related to the big-screen adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel.

Cinematical has provided a nice synopsis of the interesting bits gleaned from several recent video interviews with Watchmen director Zack Snyder.

According to Cinematical (I haven’t had a chance to watch the videos myself, so I’m taking their word for it), the videos indicate that there’s a high probability of seeing the first clips from Watchmen prior to screenings of The Dark Knight next month. There should also be some extra footage shown during Comic-Con later that month, too. Additionally, Snyder hinted that Nite Owl’s flying ship might make an appearance during Comic-Con.

Be sure to check out the Cliff’s Notes version of the Snyder video over on Cinematical for a few more items of note, and when you have the time (there’s around 10 minutes of video to watch), view the full interview over at Collider.

 

 

Yes We Can…by Michael Davis

Yes We Can… unless we are stupid.

I’m always amazed at just how stupid, petty and small-minded some people can be. Remember the onslaught of bad press and savage criticism Barack Obama had to deal with because of Jeremiah Wright? The millions of TV news stories, the billions of You Tube hits, and the zillion chat room comments? Jeremiah Wright’s antics almost torpedoed Barack Obama’s shot at the Presidency. Rev. Wright’s sermons were broadcast recently but they were old sermons that someone found and put out for the entire world to see long after they were first spoken.

The furor had all but gone away making Rev. Wright’s recent TV news tour the worst possible moment for him to defend himself with regards to the Senator.

The title of Senator Obama’s book was The Audacity Of Hope. The Rev. Wright gave that title to the Senator. I hear that the Rev. Wright is writing a book; you think the title will be The Audacity Of A Dope?

Nah.

Rev. Wright has not made any other comments lately. I would like to think that he realized that there is something bigger out there than his attempt to get his side of the story out. I know a few people who know the man and from what I hear he’s a real decent and very smart guy. But we all have moments of bad judgment and I’m sure that was all it was, a bad judgment call. As I said we have all had those moments. I have had a few… thousand. (more…)

tobias-7610515

‘Arrested Development’ Characters Sketchbook

tobias-7610515Hidden within his massive, mind-numbingly comprehensive roundup of information about the looming San Diego Comic-Con International convention (which I intend to spotlight in at least one other post here on ComicMix), Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter included a link to something semi-related to CCI but very interesting to me — and possibly quite a few other readers.

Shown here is one of a dozen sketches Zack Smith commissioned from comic book artists at the 2004 Wizard World Chicago convention. The sketches depict characters from the over-far-too-soon television series Arrested Development, which also happens to be one of my favorite series of the last 5-10 years.

You can get the full scoop on the series and information about its potential return over at the Arrested Development page on Wikipedia, but before you do, be sure to take a peek at James Kochalka’s sketch of Tobias (pictured here and played by David Cross in the series), as well as 11 other sketches of Arrested Development characters by artists such as Jill Thompson, Jeffrey Brown, Jim Rugg and other notable creators.

… Heck, even the foul-mouthed puppet, Franklin, has a sketch.

Random Video: Tokyo’s Robot Hotel

I’m not quite sure what to make of this video of the Tokyo Grand Guardian Hotel, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want to book a room there any time soon. Although, come San Diego Comic-Con time, I might think differently.

 


 

 

(via Sean T. Collins)

 

I Lost It at the Movies, by Martha Thomases

Last weekend, my son and I went to see Iron Man. We went in the middle of the day to a movie theater in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood that is rarely crowded, so the only other people there were geeks like us.

We had a great time, and that’s what this column is about. Tomorrow is Mothers’ Day, and last week is the last time I’ll be able to go to a superhero movie with my son, without involving an airplane. He’s moving to Los Angeles next month. That’s as far away as he can go without crossing an ocean or a border.

Our movie-going habits started early. When he was six weeks old, we went to see the original Ghostbusters, with the baby in a Snugli. It’s not that we were those horrible parents who take a screaming infant everywhere, as if the world deserves to share their headache. We knew his sleep schedule, and we knew that if we fed him just before the movie started, we should have at least two hours before he woke up. And we went in the middle of a weekday when there would be few other people, and sat in the back, near the aisle, so we could make a hasty retreat if our calculations proved wrong.

Later, as he grew older, my son developed a love of comics that rivaled my own. Even though he was barely five years old, there was no way he would let us go see the first Batman film without him. Being afraid of nightmares, I found a book that explained how the special effects were done, so he’d know that Jack Nicholson didn’t really hurt anyone. The effects didn’t scare him, but he did remark on how out of character it was for Batman to use a gun.

  (more…)

New York Comic Con: The Brain-Dump Roundup

  • News
  • April 23, 2008

Here we are, two days after the beast that is New York Comic Con settled back into hibernation, and all that’s left of the big show are piles of discarded promo cards, comics with dinosaurs fighting tanks, and a bunch of skrull masks missing their rubber-band straps. Welcome to my post-NYCC highlight reel, folks.

All things considered, the convention was a fine time. Sure, the bar was set pretty low when you consider the debacle of the first NYCC show, but even when one adds all of the other recent conventions to the frame of reference, this year’s NYCC fared pretty well. With a few exceptions, it felt like just the right level of crowd — not packed to an uncomfortable San Diego Comic-Con level, but not the empty, depressing little ghost towns of Wizard World Texas and Philadelphia. The creators I spoke with seemed happy about the show, too. They weren’t hustling to cover the cost of their attendance or feeling frazzled by crowds, contradicting policies or inevitable scheduling issues that pop up at these types of events.

Friday was manageable, Saturday was tolerable and Sunday was actually somewhat relaxing. The temperature allowed attendees to dress comfortably — no winter jackets to increase the sweat level once you enter the building, and no oppressive heat outside to raise the humidity levels before you even reach the front door. The big programming dust-up on Saturday, in which a perfect storm of late-running panels and big-name guests prompted the convention staff to close the panel area for a short time, was the only major problem I had with the show — and only because it made me slightly late to the panel I planned to attend. (more…)

Sci-Fi Summit Report: More on ‘Star Trek’ and a Tale of Two Spocks

  • News
  • April 16, 2008

[EDITOR’S NOTE: You’re about to read our special ComicMix report on the Star Trek panel and Q&A at this year’s Grand Slam: Sci-Fi Summit in Burbank, CA. If you’d like to know more about the convention, we also have a general roundup of the Sci-Fi Summit and a special report on the James Marsters panel and Q&A session with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor. -RM]

2-spocks-3-tm-6878406Last Sunday, Sci-Fi Summit attendees were treated to one half of the writing team behind the upcoming Star Trek film and the recent live-action Transformers movie, as writer Roberto Orci kicked off the grand finale of the show. After the writer apologized for the absence of Alex Kurtzman, his associate of 17 years, the fans were treated to a screening of the Star Trek trailer and some photos that Orci took on set.

The trailer didn’t feature any new footage, and included shots of the U.S.S. Enterprise’s construction, apparently on Earth. When a fan expressed his displeasure at this, Orci assured him, “Just because they start building it on Earth, doesn’t mean that it can’t be finished in space.”

Orci’s slideshow also failed to reveal any spoilers, with the possible exception of a photo of an inedible-looking craft service table marked “Romulan’s Only,” confirming the appearance of the alien race in the film

When the recent writer’s strike ended, Orci said he and Kurtzman spent nine weeks writing Transformers 2 and handed in their first draft this past Friday. When asked what new Transformers fans could look forward to in the film, the writer answered, “Maybe Soundwave.”

Orci also hinted that there are Star Trek references in both of his previous films, The Island and Transformers, and there will be more references in Transformers 2. He also confirmed that the writing team did a polish on the script for Watchmen.

According to Orci, famed director Steven Spielberg played a large role in J.J. Abrams’ decision to direct Star Trek. Abrams had agreed to produce the film, but was not sure if he wanted to direct. Spielberg read the script and convinced Abrams to helm the project. Orci also recalled a set visit where the Close Encounters of the Third Kind director sat on the bridge of the Enterprise and helped block out an action sequence. (more…)

ComicMix Columns for the Week Ending Mar. 2, 2008

  • News
  • March 2, 2008

I love March, particularly the way the winds blow in such promise for the year to come.  Spring training, buds on the trees, the hope that we can avoid any more snowstorms, it’s all fraught with positivity.  Even our weekly ComicMix columnists seem to be more enthusiastic than usual (particularly Michael Davis with his Obama-at-SDCC teaser):

Spring forward, fall back into bed now…

Finding a Hotel for San Diego Comic-Con International

  • News
  • February 7, 2008

 

The news feeds are buzzing today with countless horror stories about creators, media and exhibitors trying to find lodging for this year’s Comic-Con International. Apparently, the only way you’re going to get a room near the convention center this year is to shack up with a lonely furry. Seriously.

Over at The Beat, Heidi MacDonald weaves a tapestry of epic victories and crushing defeats in the quest for San Diego room reservations:

Just like when you’re hunting for an apartment in New York City, at moments like these you have to make a snap judgement. There’s no “think about it”. There is only “do”. We hit our sentimental favorite hotel, The Horton Grand, which is sort of out of date and yes, the staff is cranky, but, hell the toilets have pull chains. Old skool. We hit it again. Rooms available. Name, address, credit card…we kept forgetting to check the boxes to approve everything, so had a nerve wracking wait. A bad feeling crept over us. The blue bar moved so slowwwwwly. Would THIS be the year? Could this be the disaster we’ve avoided for so long?

She also checks in with a few big-name creators about their search for rooms, and examines some questionable factoids being thrown around by San Diego’s local officials. Yes, it seems that Comic-Con isn’t nearly as much of a boon for the local economy as a convention for "geographic information system software."

… Or is it?

 

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