Tagged: Spider-Man

Summer Box Office Closing Report

  • News
  • September 5, 2007

The summer is now officially over and our minds are already beginning to turn to… the Christmas movie season.  But first, let’s take stock and see where we are with comic book-based movies.  We have just one left for release this year, the feature version of Steve Niles’ 30 Days of Night, but that’s waiting for the appropriate Halloween period.

Much has been made of the $4 billion summer box office and how it set a new record, until you adjust for inflation and then it doesn’t beat 2002.  Studios say that’s okay, because the hits will also prove strong sellers this holiday season in DVD (regular, HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, collect them all!).  With average ticket prices creeping up to $6.85 (it’s $10.25 in Connecticut, where on earth is it only $6.85?), the receipts have also risen.

Here’s an updated look at the genre films released this year with their total box office to date followed by their budgets. Again, following that logic, 300 remains the clear winner by traditional Hollywood logic.  When all the home video sales get counted next spring, we’ll see if that remains the case.

Ghost Rider, $115,802,596 / $110,000,000

300, $210,250,922 / $65,000,000

TMNT, $42,273,609 / $34,000,000

Spider-Man 3, $336,530,303 / $258,000,000

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, $131,451,007 / $130,000,000

Stardust, August 10, $31,912,000 to date / $70,000,000

(more…)

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COMICS LINKS: Completely Random

  • News
  • August 28, 2007

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Comics Links

Eddie Campbell tries to define what a graphic novel is. (Illustration of Campbell deep in thought by Campbell.)

The LA Times has an article about the webcomic A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge.

Publishers Weekly interviews Satoru Kannagi, writer of Only the Ring Finger Knows.

PW also reports on the massive Japanese convention Comiket.

Comic Book Galaxy interviews the always-sunny Harvey Pekar.

Comics Should Be Good takes their usual monthly look at Marvel’s December covers.

Newsarama talks with the creators of Punks: the Comic.

Comic Bloc interviews Mike Baron.

The CBC interviews For Better or Worse cartoonist Lynn Johnston.

Comics Reviews

Dana of Comics Fodder reviews this week’s Marvel comics.

Sequart’s Rob Clough reviews three volumes of Graphic Classics.

Sequential Tart reviews the new The Spirit comic.

Reviews from The Savage Critics:

 

(more…)

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COMICS LINKS: Monday Again

  • News
  • August 27, 2007

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No links came with obvious top-of-the-post illustrations today, so, instead, let’s focus on the Monday-ness of today, and think demotivation.

Comics Links

Comic Book Resources looks at webcartoonists at Wizard World Chicago.

Wizard talks to Avatar Press artist Jacen Burroughs.

Comic Book Resources interviews Hugh Sterbakov, writer of Freshmen.

CBR also chats with artist Adrian Alphona, soon to take over Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane.

Comics Reporter interviews Comic-Con Director of Marketing and Public Relations David Glanzer.

Newsarama has the second half of an interview with Douglas Wolk, author of Reading Comics.

The New York Times’s Paper Cuts blog interviews cartoonist Dan Clowes.

Comics Reviews

The Joplin Independent reviews Modern Masters, Vol. 7: John Byrne.

Blogcritics reviews The Architect by Mike Baron and Andie Tong.

Comics Reporter reviews Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow.

Brian Cronin at Comics Should Be Good reviews Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23.

Living Between Wednesdays reviews this weeks’ comics, starting with The Immortal Iron Fist #8.

Graeme McMillan of The Savage Critics reviews Battlestar Galactica: Season Zero #1.

(more…)

GLENN HAUMAN: Decompression and burn rate

  • News
  • August 25, 2007

gh_100-4331646Bully makes a speech buried in a comment thread on decompression in comics that I’ve been saying for years, and deserves much wider play, so I’m running part of it here (but read the whole thing):

"Read the books on their own, month by month, paying $2.25 (or whatever they are now), and it’s clear: you get very little story for you money. I can’t quantify value as you say, because your joy over a decompressed story may vary from person to person, but I lament that you can now spend three bucks and read a comic book in less than five minutes. That is poor entertainment value for the money and only exists because of the crack-like addiction we (I’m including myself here) have to these characters.

"My point, and I do have one, is that in many ways — not all across the board but in so many instances for so many titles — "comics are your worst entertainment value." Spending three bucks on five minutes of enjoyment and not getting the feeling of a full story is a trend that does not help gain new readers. We lament that it’s hard to turn new readers, especially kids, onto superhero comic books. Is it any wonder, when you get a fraction of a story that reads like the wind. I’m not calling for a return to wordy stories that are "done in one" across the board, but the trend of decompression devalues the worth of the comic as a piece of entertainment.

(more…)

Today’s Hot Comics Links

  • News
  • August 21, 2007

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Comics Links

Suspension of Disbelief (which I haven’t seen updated much lately, so I hope it’s back) looks at Spirit #5, and that old bad-plotting standby, beating a guy until he signs a contract/confession/whatever.

Think the San Diego Comic-Con is big? It’s only the third largest comics gathering in the world – and number one is Japan’s Comiket, held twice a year in Tokyo. This past weekend, about 550,000 people were there.

Forbidden Planet International reports on graphic novels at the recent Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Publishers Weekly reports on the recent land-rush business in movie rights for graphic novels.

Newsarama rounds up and comments on a bunch of stories about DC comics’s Zuda project.

Canada’s National Post reports on the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

The Chicago Tribune talks to Douglas Wolk about whether comics are getting any respect.

The LA Times has noticed that some comics have been “slabbed” by CGC. Once again, the mainstream press runs about a decade behind events in the comics world…

Comics Reviews

Graeme McMillan of The Savage Critics admits that he’s a latecomer to Ultimate Spider-Man, but he likes #112.

Comics Reporter reviews an anthology comic from a few years back, Reactor Girl #6.

(more…)

MARTHA THOMASES: Hot Fun in the Summertime

  • News
  • August 11, 2007

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.  Fish are jumpin, and the cotton is high.  Or so I’m told.  Living in a major metropolitan area in the twenty-first century, I have to take such things on faith.

This summer, the fun times for someone like me are largely political.  The presidential election is over a year away.  The first primaries are six months away.  Nothing is going to be decided any time soon, so I can pretend it will all turn out for the best. 

I spent the summer I was 15 going “clean for Gene,” campaigning for Eugene McCarthy, who was running against Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination on an anti-war platform.  Four years later, I ran as an alternate delegate for George McGovern. Four years ago, I nearly got arrested outside the Republican convention up the street from here.  Presidential campaigns are fun!

Which is not to say they couldn’t be much more fun.  The problem is that presidential candidates tend to be politicians.  They spend all their time hustling campaign funds, writing policy, and meeting the public.  They go on the Sunday morning news shows and show how serious they are.  They go on Oprah or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to show they’re regular folks who can take a joke.

They don’t save the world from alien invasions.  They don’t even fight crime.

Presidential campaigns would be a lot more fun if, instead of Republicans versus Democrats, it was Marvel versus DC.   For example debates between:

 

Captain America and Superman on immigration reform.

Luke Cage and John (Green Lantern) Stewart on affirmative action.

Thor and Wonder Woman about the separation of Church and State.

Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne on the inheritance tax.

Storm and Aquaman on global warming.

The Punisher and Batman on prison reform.

Professor X and Green Arrow on family values.

The Avengers and the Justice League on national security.

(more…)

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WW-CHICAGO: Three to the fourth power!

stampsmarvel250-4325020Today the Big ComicMix Broadcast is at Wizard World Chicago, where the US Post Office kicked off the way by unveiling the Marvel Stamp Collection, plus the debut of the Ultimate Spider-Man Project from the Hero Initiative which was unleashed here as well. DC dropped a few news bombs which we cover and then there’s a new Venom series to talk about from Marvel and so much more.

PRESS THE BUTTON now so we can dish!

 

 

Marvel’s upcoming slate

  • News
  • August 8, 2007

In presenting its 2Q 2007 report yesterday, Marvel unveiled that it is producing Hulk Smash, a new animated direct-to-DVD movie that will be released by Lionsgate in October 2008.  Concerning its first two self-produced live-action feature films, Marvel has completed production on Iron Man while The Incredible Hulk began production in July, and the two movies are slated for release in 2008 on May 2 and June 13 respectively.  Marvel’s additional movie, TV and stage projects in the works include:

  • Wolverine (Fox) – Gavin Hood to direct and Hugh Jackman stars
  • Punisher 2 (Lionsgate) – Lexi Alexander will direct, starring newcomer Ray Stevenson.

As we noted in yesterday’s Big ComicMix Broadcast, in development at Marvel Studios we have:

  • Ant-Man, writers Edward Wright and Joe Cornish; Wright also directs
  • Captain America, David Self/writer
  • Nick Fury, Andrew Marlow/writer
  • Thor, Mark Protosevich/writer
  • The Avengers, Zak Penn/writer.

In animated TV series development:

  • Spider-Man, with Sony, with a distribution deal in place with Kids’ WB
  • Wolverine and The X-Men (26 episodes) developed by India’s First Serve Toonz
  • Iron Man (26 episodes) developed by Method Films in France.

There are two more animated direct-to-video DVDs with Lionsgate: Doctor Strange comes out next week and Teen Avengers is slated for July 2008.

And finally, the most terrifying project that’s literally in the wings: Spider-Man the Musical, featuring music and lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge the show will be directed by Julie Taymor, and produced by Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment, and SONY Pictures Entertainment.

Whew.

A superhero wedding in St. Louis

  • News
  • August 2, 2007

Look, okay, I knew that when I wrote the first Jewish/Klingon wedding ceremony I knew that very shortly thereafter, some couple was going to use it in their own wedding– it’s just the way we are. So I’m happy to see this:

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Congratulations to Jonathan Wagner and Brigitte Flannery.  The happy couple received a Marvel-themed ceremony from the St. Louis Science Center on Friday, July 20. Here’s hoping the Black Panther doesn’t find out that Storm a) married someone else, and b) is white. And let’s not even talk about the Spider-Man clone…

MICHAEL DAVIS: In The Ghetto

  • News
  • July 27, 2007

michael-davis100-9494775I hate to see stereotypical images of black people, like the thug with the gold teeth who speaks in horrible English:

I was on the way to the crib, you knows wha I’m sayin? When I gots dare tis ho wanted to hang out, you know what I’m saying? You know what I’m saying? You know what I’m saying?

        

No, I don’t know what you’re saying. Nobody knows what you are saying.

I hate to see large black women with little itty-bitty short skirts and 10 inch nails that hook at the end. I hate to see black men grab their crouches. I hate to see black kids with their pants down to their ankles.

Here’s the thing: these are not stereotypes. I know black people like that. I’m sure you know black people like that, or at least you have seen black people like that.

Hey! Keep your hands away from the “comment” button! I’m about to make a point!

Yes, there are black people who act in the ways I mentioned above. There are also lazy black people, black people who love watermelon, black men who love white women, black men with really large (insert word here) and, yes, there are loud angry black women.

These types of black people do exist. I can’t stand most of that behavior, although I have eaten my share of watermelon and dated my share of white women. I have been lazy; when I was a kid I grabbed my crouch. Lastly, I have said, You know what I’m saying?

You know what I’m saying?

None of the above acts makes up a stereotype. I have seen black people engage in every one of those acts. I myself have engaged in a few.

They become stereotypes when you assume every black person acts in such a manner all the time.

That is just crazy.

To assume that all black people behave like this is simply freakin RIDICULOUS! To think that any race of people behaves in one way as a whole is just madness. 

Every race of people has its share of people who are, let’s say “undesirable.” Black people have “niggers,” white people have “white trash,” Latinos have “spics,” Asians have “chinks.” You name the race I’ll tell the stereotypical name.  (more…)

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