Tagged: Times

Mike Gold: The Man Who Didn’t Save Krypton

gold-art-131211-148x225-3279509I’ve gone on record many times about how I enjoy much of DC Comics’ digital line. I’ve even been snotty enough to note that, unlike much of The New 52, these titles are quite readable and are DC’s saving grace. So I’ll take it one step further.

One of these weekly digital titles is called Adventures of Superman. Yes, I realize it’s not the first comic book (let alone teevee or radio show) to employ this name. This doesn’t matter. Like DC’s digital Legends of the Dark Knight weekly, each story is by a separate creative team and said stories usually run across several “issues.”

If you’re thinking about sampling, let me strongly recommend the three-part story that was just completed (Adventures of Superman numbers 31, 32 and 33). The story is called “The Dark Lantern” (yes, I will not be surprised when DC does “The Dark Sugar and Spike”) and it was written by Jim Krueger and drawn by Neil Edwards and Scott Hanna; a fine pedigree. I single this story arc out for three reasons: its concept, its execution, and its timing.adv-supes-33-150x115-9844960

The concept is first-rate. It figures that Krypton must have fallen within some Green Lantern’s sector. Clearly, that GL didn’t save the planet and presumably it went blooie on that guy’s watch. How does he feel about that? Does he think he should atone for his failure to prevent the incident? And what happens when he learns there was a survivor?

The execution is first-rate. The story is well told and complete within its 60 half-page bandwidth. DC reprints some of this stuff in trades or pamphlets and stacks the half-pages, so let’s call this a 30-page story. Simply put, we rarely see so much story within 30 pages.

I mean, we used to. Hell, Ditko and Lee took 11 pages to introduce Spider-Man and tell his origin. 38 years later, it took Bendis and Bagley about 136 pages to tell that same story. Times change, and not always for the better. Mind you, I enjoyed their retelling and we no longer rely on nine panel pages to get through a tale, but my point remains. It is quite unusual to see so much story from DC or Marvel in so few pages, and if “The Dark Lantern” is a throwback, then let’s throwback some more.

However, nobody can take credit for the timing. Take a good look at the two panels above. “I failed to save his people and threatened to kill those he now loves. I fought him and brought poison to him. And still he forgives me. Still he thinks of me.”

It is simply amazing that this issue was released within hours of Nelson Mandela’s death.

THURSDAY MORNING: Dennis O’Neil

THURSDAY AFTERNOON: The Tweaks!

FRIDAY MORNING: Martha Thomases

 

Judd Winick Talks Adapting ‘Batman: Under the Red Hood’

  • News
  • June 11, 2010

Judd Winick has returned to Gotham City with a vengeance. The award-winning cartoonist has  transitioned one of his benchmark storylines from comic book pages to animated film with the upcoming release of Batman: Under the Red Hood, the latest entry in the popular series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.

Born and raised on Long Island, New York, the University of Michigan graduate gained national fame as a cast member of MTV’s The Real World, San Francisco in 1994. In the wake of the death of his Real World roommate and friend, AIDS activist Pedro Zamora, Winick embarked on a national AIDS education lecture tour. Later, the lecture and his friendship with Zamora was documented in his award-winning graphic novel Pedro And Me.

Winick next created his original comic book series, Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius, and then began a long running stint as one of the top writers on mainstream super hero comics. Winick has scripted such titles as Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Trials Shazam, Green Arrow and Outsiders (for DC Comics), Exiles (for Marvel) and Star Wars (for Dark Horse). He also was the creator and executive producer of Cartoon Network’s animated series, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee.

joker-crowbar-3891312He is currently developing live action television and animation, writing the new bi-weekly comic title for DC Comics Justice League: Generation Lost, as well as the monthly Power Girl.

In 2005, Winick presented his Red Hood storyline in the Batman comics and it was met with tremendous sales alongside powerful waves of controversy. He has evolved that story into the script for the all-new DC Universe film, Batman: Under the Red Hood. In celebration of the film’s July 27 street date, DC Comics will distribute a six-issue mini-series, Red Hood: The Lost Days. Written by Winick and drawn by Pablo Raimondi, the mini-series offers greater insight into the back story of the title character.

Batman: Under the Red Hood will be distributed by Warner Home Video as a Special Edition version on Blu-Ray™ and 2-disc DVD, as well as being available on single disc DVD, On Demand and for Download. (more…)

What if the Kindle had been invented first?

  • News
  • June 28, 2009

From a commenter of Megan McArdle’s at The Atlantic:kindle-dx-1-6229683

I was walking through a bohemian part of town and ran across this
place called a “bookstore”. I thought, “Hmm, that’s interesting. I’ve
always gotten my books electronically on my kindle, but this could be
an interesting idea.” So I stepped inside. What I saw was an unfamiliar
way of experiencing books: on hundreds of of sheets of paper, bound up
on one side with glue and wrapped in a hard cardboard cover. They even
smell a little musty, at least the old ones.

At first I was excited; but then I began to think, well how would I
do a text search in such a book? Supposing it was a reference book, or
I wanted to find a quote that was particularly memorable? Also, I can
resell it if I don’t want it, but I can’t take notes in the book
without ruining its value. Plus, where am I going to keep these books
if I buy a whole bunch of them? They’re really heavy! And it uses a lot
of paper – especially newspapers! What if it’s dark and I need a bigger
font? What if I’m on the train to work and decide I want to buy the
paper version of the Times that day? Can’t get it!! Not only that, but
they wanted to charge me MORE for these clunky, static, physical, books
than the normal electronic price! Honestly, with all these limitations
and disadvantages, they should be giving them away for free. I decided
I’m never going to pay a single red cent for a paper book until these
issues are addressed. No way.

Interesting. Let’s take it from the POV of the comics buyer:

“But still, this paper edition does have a few advantages– I mean, wow, color? I wonder how my Japanese imports would look in full color? And some of the pictures are crisper, the ones that aren’t painted– these paper versions look like someone took all the figures and traced a black line around them, to make them sharper. Neat!

“Oh, a few in paper shouldn’t be bad. It’s not like I’m going to buy thousands of them and keep them around.”

Your thoughts?

‘Wicked’ Film Inevitable

  • News
  • November 28, 2008

Kristin Chenoweth, now out of work with the cancellation of Pushing Daisies, was asked if she’d be reprising the role of Galinda in the inevitable feature film version of Wicked. She told Moviehole, ”Well, will it ever be made? Yes, I do think it will be made. I think — you know, there’s some sort of thing going on right now where everyone’s hearing that there’s going to be a movie. You know, there will be a movie. But I believe — and I could be wrong, but I believe it will be years before we see it as a movie, because — you know, Universal will really want to make sure that they suck it dry, so to speak in all the theaters. And if you look at movies like Chicago and Phantom of the Opera those were 20, 25 years after the fact. And I could see, definitely, me playing Madame Morrible at that point. But I hope they really do it soon, so that I’m young enough to play Galinda.”

The musical is based on Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire which takes a revisionist look at the witches living in L. Frank Baum’s Oz. The best-seller was turned into a musical songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman and it debuted to acclaim in 2003, making stars of Chenoweth and Idina Menzel.

Wanted’s Marc Platt was signed to a long term deal at Universal this past July according to Variety and Wicked was included in the projects he will produce for them. Holzman is said to be at  work on a screenplay with David Stone on board  to co-produce.

‘Hancock 2’ Charged with Bringing Sony Profit

  • News
  • November 19, 2008

hancock-phoho-2-2887071The Los Angeles Times notes that Sony has profited handsomely from its investment in MGM, earning huge profits from Casino Royale and expects a similar payday for Quantum of Solace.  After that, MGM regains full control of Bond so the studio needs fresh cash cows.

Looking ahead, the Times counts off forthcoming films based on The Green Hornet, Flash Gordon, and Preacher are worthy candidates. Closer to home, they are preparing a sequel fro the original super-hero tale, Hancock, which brought in huge dollars and little buzz.

Among the films mentioned, The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen and Stephen Chow, and to be directed by Chow, will be arriving first, in summer 2010. They’ve pencilled in Spider-Man 4 for summer 2011 but the other projects are still in development so the studio can’t start counting on profits yet.

Flash Gordon will be the first feature film featuring Alex Raymond’s classic hero since the 1980 disaster and will be directed by Breck Eisner, known more for his schlock horror efforts. Preacher, though, will be directed by Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition) so comes with greater hopes.

Sony entered into a financing agreement with MGM when the studio was once again facing financial failure.  As a result, by investing in Casino, Sony actually earned more than MGM, netting as much as $100 million in profit. MGM and Sony parted ways after the latter failed to meet sales targets for DVDs from MGM’s library. The deal allowed Sony to participate in Quantum but that will be all.
 

More ‘Dollhouse’ Woes

  • News
  • November 8, 2008

dollhse-io9-flv-5838809Joss Whedon’s new series Dollhouse cannot seem to avoid being examined in great depth.  Yesterday, Fox consigned it to the dreaded Friday night at 9 p.m. slot and then the Los Angeles Times ran a report on continuing production delays and concerns.

The show shut down production for two and a half weeks in September as Whedon and his team rewrote scripts and refocused the direction. The initial pilot was scrapped in favor of an all new introductory episode.

The Times wrote, “On Thursday, it became obvious that the problems persist. Production on the seventh episode, which is supposed to begin Monday, is being delayed at least a day because the script was in such bad shape, according to a source who requested anonymity. The script for the sixth episode also had big problems, causing production delays that left the cast and crew very frustrated, the source said.”

The article went on to note that Whedon is rarely seen on the set, instead spending his time with the writers. "We have yet to gain any momentum," an inside source told the Times. "The network wants to tone things, and Joss is trying to figure out how to give them that and still do the show he wants to do."

Fox President of Entertainment Kevin Reilly  was an early supporter of the series, telling the Times,  "He had me at ‘hello’ I was kinda drunk with the surprise of it all. He laid out the whole concept but I think it was one of those things where I heard every other word of it."

That ardor may have cooled given the time slot.  Meantime, a new teaser ad went live earlier this week so you can get a feel for the premise for yourself.


 

Obama Walks in Pettigrew’s Footsteps

  • News
  • November 4, 2008

pettigrew02-5498772A black man could be elected president today.  But he would not necessarily be the first depicted in the media.  After all, we’ve already seen black presidents such as Morgan Freeman in Deep Impact but even he was beaten to the Oval Office in 1976 by New York Governor Timothy Pettigrew.

Pettigrew was the creation of Berry Reece and was featured in a serialized story that ran in A Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact from January through June 1964. Joe Sinnott, famed as inker on Fantastic Four, did the artwork as part of his long association with the Catholic Church’s magazine.

According to Reece, Pope Pius XI asked that American parochial school students becoming more aware of and active in civic affairs. The result was the six-part serial featuring the African-American’s run for office.  He came in second in New Hampshire’s primary and even survived an assassination attempt. In an eerie foreshadowing of the Kerry campaign, Pettigrew is accused of cowardice in Vietnam, a conflict ongoing at the time of the serial.

His efforts are aided by the children of press secretary Bart Blatt, getting the message across to the magazine’s readers. He is seen as a silhouette or shadow throughout the first five parts and it’s not until he wins the Democratic nomination that readers realize he is black.

"And so this man Pettigrew became the first Negro candidate for the President of the United States,” the final panel of the serial read. “He then went out across the land, this black man, to campaign for the highest office. Would he win? Well, the year was 1976. It was the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Could he win? Well, it would depend in part on how the boys and girls reading this comic grew up and voted … it would depend on whether they believed and, indeed, lived those words in the declaration — All Men are Created Equal."

Reece, a Yazoo City, Miss., native and Notre Dame graduate, told the New York Times today that he had entirely forgotten about the series until it s was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered back in February. “I wanted the students to judge him on the strength of his character before they made any judgments about his race,” Reece told the National Catholic Review.

“I was trying to conceive of a person, a hero, a protagonist, who could unite the allegedly United States of America,” Reece told them.

“What we wanted to do,” Reece told the Times, “was get the readers in deep through this Pettigrew’s integrity, his charisma, before we ever disclosed his race so that they would not prejudge him”

The serial ended with Pettigrew a candidate but not yet elected.  How did Reece see the conclusion.  He told the Times, “Could he win? Well, it would depend in part on how the boys and girls who were reading this grew up and voted.”

For another look at the serial, check out the clip below.

Batman’s Comedy of Eros, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • September 16, 2008

Way back in the late 80s, or maybe early 90s, an inker working on one of DC’s superhero comics rendered a female form rather more like the Lord made female forms than the mores of the time allowed. The editor dealt with the problem by putting a color hold – a purple one, I think – over what some would have deemed offensive nudity.  Sex always wins. The lady’s charms shone clearly though the purple haze and a fuss ensued.

I remembered this anecdote when I saw, in the New York Times, an item about a Batman comic describing “a two page action sequence that is filled with foul language…uttered by (a) heroine…

“A black bar covered the blue words, but it was too transparent and allowed the text to be read.” Sex always wins and maybe “foul language” at least doesn’t fight fair.

According to the Times, the print run was destroyed. Having made more than my share of blunders when I sat in an editor’s chair, I know how easily goofs like this can occur and I hope the ensuing fuss doesn’t devolve on the editor, whoever he or she may be. As a certain Secretary of Defense said, stuff happens.

But I’m curious.  Did the creative folk always intend the offensive language to be covered? Surely not. Why go to the bother and expense of lettering copy that no one will read? Easier, one imagines, to simply do the black bars in the first place, though as a storytelling strategy, that would be questionable; why pull the reader out of the story while they puzzle over the meaning of the black bars?

Okay, the copy was meant to be seen? Didn’t somebody wonder if such language could cause trouble and…I dunno – ask around?

Maybe someone saw it as a free speech issue. If so, I’d demur.

I think the First Amendment is the crown jewel of the Constitution, and, personally, I can be a potty mouth. Much of my choirboy vocabulary was left on an aircraft carrier and much of whatever was left in the gutters of the East Village, pre-gentrification. But I think the way things are marketed creates expectations, and it’s not playing fair with the customers to thwart those expectations. Anything – and I do mean anything – should be allowed in the public arena, but if one buys a book bylined Henry James, one should not be subjected to a story by Mickey Spillane.

Comics have come a considerable distance in the few years since I left editing. Hell and damn, once verboten seem okay both in comics and on TV, and a few gamier locutions are beginning to pop up. But I don’t believe the medium – comics – has evolved to the point where authentic street lingo is expected.

A final consideration: The question in matters like this is always a simple one. Does it help the narrative? Is the vocabulary the writer is using his way of showing off, or does it serve a larger purpose? Any vocabulary that tells the story is almost certainly the right vocabulary, though I’d expect to get argument on this. In the case of the Batman comic we’ve been discussing, I don’t know, and probably never will.

RECOMMENDED READING: Redemolished, by Alfred Bester

Dennis O’Neil is an award-winning editor and writer of Batman, The Question, Iron Man, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and The Shadow– among others – as well as many novels, stories and articles. The Question: Epitaph For A Hero, reprinting the third six issues of his classic series with artists Denys Cowan and Rick Magyar, will be on sale in September, and his novelization of the movie The Dark Knight is on sale right now. He’ll be taking another shot at the ol’ Bat in an upcoming story-arc, too. 

Marvel Lets Japan Recreate Its Heroes

  • News
  • August 25, 2008







circle-01-3037080Marvel Comics announced a deal with Japan’s Madhouse that will have their core super-heroes reimagined for Japanese audiences.  Originally designed as animated fare, the long-range plans call for the Marvel Japanese Universe to be found on mobile devices and comic books.

Essentially, the heroes will experience new origins taking into account Japanese culture and society.  Their problems, foibles ands villains will all reflect the country of origin, using “something that is part of the fabric of society” according to Jungo Maruta, the president and chief executive of Madhouse. He told the New York Times, “Marvel gives creators freedom to fly.”

The first characters to undergo transformation will be Iron Man and Wolverine in thirty-minute anime intended for Japanese television in 2010. “Although they say, ‘I want Japanese anime,’ it’s not what they actually want. They want a hybrid between Japanese and Western animation,” Alex Yeh, the chief operating officer of the studio, told the Times.

“Marvel has continuously looked to push the boundaries with the Marvel Universe and seek new mediums for our characters. Madhouse is helping us expand the Marvel brand with a truly global vision tailored to themes and artistic styles popular in Japan, creating a uniquely localized and cross-cultural adaptation of the Marvel Universe,” said Simon Philips, President, International & Worldwide Head of Animation, Wireless & Gaming for Marvel Entertainment in a release.

Marvel previously attempted this concept with an India-inspired Spider-Man which was a commercial and critical flop from Gotham Entertainment Group in 2004.

Madhouse was founded in 1972 and is seen as a creative powerhouse in Asia, perhaps best known for its Vampire Hunter D.

 

Legos, Peter David vs Howard Stern and Free Links

  • News
  • November 11, 2007

brickj-6931344In case the change in weather hasn’t hit your area yet, let us remind you that pages of the calendar are flying by as fast as in a one of those old Hollywood movies and those holiday are rushing closer. That being said, keep in mind a lot of our links do make way cool gifts!

• After existing since 2005 as a digital edition averaging over 100,000 downloads per issue, TwoMorrows will be taking BrickJournal into the print world. The print edition will debut in February 2008 with a new #1, and will be offered in the December issue of Diamond Distribution’s Previews and will be carried at newsstands and bookstores nationwide, as well as on the publisher’s website. Meanwhile, the latest issue (#9, the last digital-only edition) is available now as a free download here for anyone to sample.

• Just in time to drop under your tree, Museum Replicas Limited has their limited edition prop quality Magneto Helmet . Created from the actual 20th Century Fox prop, used in the motion picture X-Men 3 – The Last Stand, based on Marvel’s ever popular Superhero franchise, the helmet is full steel construction, has a leather padded lining and a polished enamel finish.  If the quality doesn’t have collectors everywhere clamoring for one, the attractive display stand, certificate of authenticity or the 2,006 piece limited edition run, will. If you just want to drool over the thing, go here.

(more…)

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