At San Diego Comic Con, we were so lucky to interview the Powderpuff Girls cast & writers. Cartoon Network rebooted the series this year with new writes & voices and while change is hard (PPG was one of the defining cartoons of our childhood) we really warmed up to Amanda Leighton (Blossom), Kristen Li (Bubbles) and Natalie Palamides (Buttercup). We also got to talk to some of the writers Jake Goldman & Hayley Mancini (also the voice of Princess Morebucks) and the producers Nick Jennings & Bob Boyle. We talked a lot about how the Powerpuff brand of feminism has been updated for 2016 and what it’s like to be voice actors and what kind of choices go into voicing such iconic characters. There’s so much to talk about!
Halfway through the first five-year mission, Captain James T. Kirk has grown complacent, even bored. The thrill of discovery and adventure seems to have worn thin and he’s restless, ready for a change. Still in his thirties, young by 23rd century standards, he seems to be having a midlife crisis ahead of schedule. At much the same time, Spock yearns to join the remaining Vulcans in order to perpetuate the species, concluding this is his destiny.
Life has a funny way of upending plans and so we find the crew of U.S.S. Enterprise, Kelvin division, at the outset of Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond. The film was well-received by fans who felt the previous film, Star Trek Into Darkness, was as a betrayal and disaster. Unfortunately, an inept marketing campaign from Paramount Pictures meant along with a robust summer of competition meant the new film underperformed at the box office.
As 50th Anniversary celebrations go, Paramount largely screwed the pooch on this one, although the film delivers everything fans want: human stakes, humor, references to the larger Star Trek universe, and action. There are multiple themes at work here including whether or not the unity of the United Federation of Planets weakened its member’s species or there was strength in numbers.
Simon Pegg and Doug Jung have done a wonderful job adding in depth and character, allowing the triumvirate of Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and McCoy (Karl Urban) to interact and explore their own futures. While Lin shines the spotlight on the reset of the ensemble, these three get the meatiest parts which honors Gene Roddenberry’s original series.
The entirety of the Star Trek franchise is well-served by this story with Easter eggs galore for the diehard fans without losing the more casual viewer. Instead, the screenwriters and directors take us into new territory seeing things we’ve never seen before. The drone bees that attack and then destroy the Enterprise is a clever attack and the comment the ship’s shields were not designed for such an attack shows that even in the 23rd century, Starfleet architects have things to learn.
Less clever, though, is Krall (Idris Elba), the protagonist that ironically ends up feeling the weakest part of the story. His motivations are ill-formed and while his backstory and history are nice nods to Enterprise the series, they are less interesting than an alien representing a race that challenges the very ideals the Federation was founded on. He is more a stock opponent and weakness what is otherwise a very strong film.
I would have liked to know about the other races lured to Krall’s planet, including the one that brought Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) to be there. She’s lost her family and has taken up residence in the hulk of the U.S.S. Franklin a starship from the earliest days of Starfleet.
The sense of legacy pervading the film is a strong theme and I wanted to see more of that. Kirk mourns his father and the appearance of Commodore Paris (Shohreh Aghdashloo) hints at the famed lineage culminating in Voyager’s Tom Paris. But the scene between her and Kirk is leaden and doesn’t go far enough to explore character or advance the plot. When Kirk tells Picard in Generations — “Let me tell you something. Don’t. Don’t let them promote you. Don’t let them transfer you, don’t let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you’re there, you can make a difference.” – we understand Kirk’s commitment to being a captain. Paris should be the one passing that on to Kirk, reminding him of his first, best destiny.
Similarly, Kirk looks more wistful than pained when his starship goes down in flames. The Prime Kirk would have been in agony at that stage of his career. That said, it went well and it’ll be interesting what’s new on its replacement.
Lin brings a visual verve to the production so we see the starship zipping through warp space or shot from fresh angles so we were dazzled. He had lovely touches such as the glowing universal translator pips on Kalara (Lydia Wilson). On the other hand, given the loss of gravity in several scenes and the frenetic action, his editing left me dizzy and occasionally uncertain of what was happening.
While Scotty (Pegg) has some wonderful moments, the rest of the crew needed more. John Cho’s Sulu has a husband and daughter but it would have been nice to see him talk about them or take charge of the crew while they were prisoners of Krall (and why were they being detained?). Chekov (Anton Yelchin) uses his innate genius to handle some of the tech demands but otherwise fawns after Kirk’s instinctual genius. I did like seeing Uhura (Zoe Saldana) in action and showing initiative, but had little else to say. Her romance with Spock is on the rocks which is under-explored.
Overall, this is a strong Star Trek film and is certainly the strongest of the three Bad Robot films, make of that what you will, but the leads have grown into their roles and we’re finally given a chance to see who they are. The death of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock is nicely handled and the end title memorials to Nimoy and Yelchin are nicely done.
Star Trek Beyond is out Tuesday from Paramount Home Entertainment in a 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, Digital HD combo pack. While I can’t speak to the 3D, the high definition transfer is excellent along with good audio. The bonus features two short deleted scenes (1:02, with one more good Easter Egg) and eight short pieces, each one examining thematic aspects of the film, with copious footage taken from across the preceding films and television episodes: Beyond the Darkness (10:08); Enterprise Takedown (4:31), Divided and Conquered (8:17); A Warped Sense of Revenge (5:15), Trekking in the Desert (3:06); Exploring Strange New Worlds (6:02), New Life, New Civilizations (8:04); and, To Live Long and Prosper (7:51). Additionally there is the too short and choppy For Leonard and Anton (5:04), paying tribute to the passing of the Trek; and of course, Gag Reel (5:13).
What’s the pothole situation in Starling City? And the re-zoning hassle – that still a headache? And the business with the access lanes to the bridge – was that ever settled?
Since Oliver Queen’s been elected mayor, it’s reasonable to think that this kind of mayoral busyness is the better part of his days. At night, of course, he puts on a mask and hood and grabs his bow and arrows and kicks (or maybe punctures) miscreant ass. Oh, and his also training a bunch of wannabe vigilantes to help with the kicking/puncturing – and not always being Mr. Nice Guy while he’s doing it. (Maybe he’s got some marine drill sergeant DNA?)
The question is, who is better for Starling City, the politician or the archer? If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’d probably choose the archer because obviously anybody would be better than a politician.
But that can of worms will be left unopened. Tell you what: let’s reframe the question. Who’s more useful to a storyteller, archer or pol? I guess it depends on the kind of tale being told. A story by…oh, say, Aaron Sorkin or Robert Penn Warren or Allen Drury would perhaps fare best as political drama. The kind of fantasy/melodrama/action tale we’re considering here is better with an ass-kicker as its protagonist. Which leaves our man Ollie where?
A kind of hybrid, one who favors the arrow shooting part of his persona, is where. That’s pretty much how it has to be. Nobody with a taste for adventures – that is, nobody who’s Arrow’s natural audience – is going to tune in to watch a guy in a three-piece suit behind a desk reading policy papers. We want to see some arrows shot and some of that good martial arts action! Leave that other stuff to CNN.
Casting a superhero as a civic leader, it seems to me, strains the genre. Part of the appeal of costumed superdoers is that they can do what duly constituted authorities can’t. Where a mayor’s job ends, theirs begins. One explanation for adopting a second persona – and it’s not a bad one – is that the disguise keeps the bad guys from knowing who to wreak revenge on. The other reason for a civic leader hiding behind a costume and fighting crime is that he couldn’t do as mayor what he does as vigilante because the vigilante must break the law to do his deeds. But whoa! Don’t mayors swear to uphold the law? We got us some hypocrite mojo working here?
Another deep appeal of double-identited heroes might require some psyche excavation. The idea is, we all have more than one identity lurking within us – we behave differently in different situations – and we might feel that the real us is one of those unseen lurkers. Costumed heroes manifest this idea and also give us a hook into identifying with the good guy.
I think part pf the storyteller’s task is to make the two identities distinct and that’s often a failure. I tried and pretty much failed to convince my Batman writers that Bruce Wayne should present himself as a tough-as-nails businessman, but as a good-natured bumbler. And I never liked Clark Kent as the best reporter in town. (Didn’t he win a Pulitzer?)
Of course, as always, the secret is in the recipe, not the ingredients. If the story entertains, the creators have done their jobs and they’re free to go watch tv. Wonder what’s on the CW?
SCREAM QUEENS – SEASON ONE
Get hooked on TV’s mischievous and addictive new series – SCREAM QUEENS – that will make you scream with delight! In the thrilling new series, a mysterious “Red Devil” killer wreaks havoc at
Wallace University’s Kappa Kappa Tau sorority, putting every pledge on edge. Tension mounts as it becomes clear that anyone could be the murderer – or the next victim! Meanwhile, Dean Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) forces Kappa’s tyrannical fashionista president, Chanel Oberlin (Emma Roberts), to accept anyone who wants to join the sorority. Also starring Lea Michele, Keke Palmer and Abigail Breslin, “SCREAM QUEENS” is “whip-smart and wickedly funny” (Andrea Cuttler, Vanity Fair). Get all 13 outrageous season one episodes — along with more killer moments and special features that grant you access into Kappa House – with the arrival of Season One on DVD.
As an added bonus, fans can channel their inner “SCREAM QUEEN” with limited edition nail wraps, available as a gift when purchasing the Season One DVD while supplies last!
“SCREAM QUEENS” – SEASON ONE DVD Special Features Include:
Rush Kappa
Between Two Queens
Style Queens
“SCREAM QUEENS” – SEASON ONE DVD
Street Date: December 6, 2016
Prebook Date: November 2, 2016
Screen Format: Widescreen 16:9 (1.78:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH/Spanish/French
Total Run Time: 570 minutes
U.S. Rating TV-14
Closed Captioned: Yes
With a loaded title like that, I guess I just need to cut to the chase. Ok, so here it is. I don’t like zombies. The genre doesn’t do it for me. Seeing the struggle of humans retaining their humanity is always a good read but fighting brainless zombies is just boring. The last (and probably only) zombie movie I really liked was Shaun of the Dead and that’s only because I liked how they spoofed on zombies while keeping the essence of the genre.
So why am I taking the time to sorta bash on a beloved genre? Well, Halloween is right around the corner and I’m feeling topical. Let’s give Halloween its time to shine, especially since Christmas decorations are already in malls.
Ok, that’s not the only reason. Everyone is making a big deal about The Walking Dead premiere as well so it’s on my mind. I gave up after season two but it is one of those shows that everyone knows about it, whether you want to or not. So quick segue for the people complaining about the premiere, even I know that the comics are way bloodier than the show. Everyone’s favorite character dies in those books. Move on. And for the weird fringe group complaining it isn’t a family friendly show; seriously? Get a reality check, a parental channel blocker, and find a new cause.
Segue over. Moving on.
The real reason for my confession is that it’s time for the yearly celebration of horror in prose and comics. That’s right, this time of year is more than haunted houses and scary movies. Readers have their own events to celebrate the scariest time of the year.
All Hallow’s Read is a personal favorite of mine. Starting with Neil Gaiman, it promotes reading scary literature for all ages. But just because it is pushing prose doesn’t mean you stop there! Take this time to read something scary in comics. Just to get you started off, I can always recommend American Vampire from Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque. You already know that zombies aren’t something I read much of, but if you want werewolves in the wild west, check out High Moon by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis.
But maybe you don’t have the cash to spend on new books right now. I get it, but the comics world has you covered. Halloween ComicsFest is happening this Saturday! It is a mini Free Comic Book Day but all scary comics! Mostly all-ages, in an effort to bring new readers to local shops, it also can fill that void for reading something scary this year. I won’t mention how this is the closest I come to trick or treating.
These are both important events because they get you reading. Also, they get you directed towards a particular genre. Now you might be a regular horror reader, but I’m not. This flexes my brain muscles by changing it up from my usual science fiction fair.
Exploring different types of stories is good for your imagination. So tell your friends, your boss, and the creepy guy down the hall to check out some scary comics this year. You never know what suggestions they might have for you.
Last week, Marvel Studios selected the latest winner of their STEM-based internship program in conjunction with the theatrical release of Marvel’s Dr. Strange on 11/4. The theme of this most recent program was The Magic of STEM, challenging girls to explore science and technology that may have once been considered “magic.” The winner of the internship was 16-yr-old Ashley Qin, whose project revolved around wearable biosensors and how they can function as non-invasive glucose monitors.
This is the 4th challenge that Marvel Studios has put forth to elevate and celebrate inspirational young women who are interested in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics), with each activity tailored to the themes of different Marvel films. Since 2013, thousands of girls across the country have taken part, submitting projects ranging from the creation of hybrid solar thermal collectors to a study of the origins of prosthetic limbs.
Earlier this year, Maia Dua took part in the Girls Reforming the Future Challenge on behalf of Marvel’s Captain America Civil War (now on Blu-ray & Digital HD). Her project was the creation of an affordable “seeing eye-bot,” which uses ultrasonics to “see” objects and help the visually impaired navigate their surroundings.
Maia shares her experience in this inspiring video, where she recounts her visit to the Siggraph 2016 Conference, spends time with the Disney Imagineers, and shadows Victoria Alonso, Executive Producer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
DETAILS ON MARVEL’S S.T.E.M. PROGRAM
MARVEL STUDIOS S.T.E.M. based programs for girls began in 2013 with MARVEL’S THOR THE DARK WORLD ULTIMATE MENTOR ADVENTURE. The ULTIMATE MENTOR ADVENTURE was supported by: Dolby Laboratories, Underwriters Laboratories, the Discovery Science Center, the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a program of National Academy of Sciences, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The ULTIMATE MENTOR ADVENTURE challenged high school age girls to go out into the real world and ask successful women in science, technology, engineering, or math related fields about what they do, how they got where they are today, and how to follow in their footsteps.
10 girls were selected, from over 300 applicants to travel to California for the premiere of MARVEL’s THOR THE DARK WORLD and to spend a week meeting incredible women working in all areas of STEM. The girls and a parent met with over 30 amazing women while getting behind the scenes experiences at Dolby Laboratories, Scarborough Farm, Silver Lake Farms, Underwriter’s Laboratories, Discovery Science Center, Wildlife Learning Center, Disneyland, the set of MARVEL’s Agents of Shield, and the Disney Studios.
In 2015 MARVEL STUDIOS presented the ANT-MAN MICRO-TECH CHALLENGE as their next program to promote STEM to young girls. The MICRO-TECH CHALLENGE was a nationwide competition challenging teenage girls to use readily available micro-technology components to design and build a DIY project that could inspire other young girls to develop an interest in STEM and STEM careers. The CHALLENGE was supported by: Dolby Laboratories, Visa Signature, and Raspberry Pi.
The CHALLENGE winners came to California to attend the premiere of ANT-MAN and to participate in a specially designed technology workshop predominately presented by female designers, engineers, artists, and managers from across The Walt Disney Company. The winners returned to their communities and lead workshops for local girls, sharing their experiences and teaching the next generation of girls to build their projects.
MARVEL STUDIOS CAPTAIN AMERICA CIVIL WAR GIRLS REFORMING THE FUTURE CHALLENGE was the most recent challenge. This CHALLENGE, supported by Dolby Laboratories, Broadcom Masters, and the Science & Entertainment Exchange, a program of National Academy of Sciences, sought to inspire young girls to create positive world change for their generation and beyond through science and technology. The challenge invited girls nationwide, ages 15 – 18 to submit innovative STEM-based projects that had the potential to change the world. Each applicant was asked to submit a short video demonstrating her project and explaining how her science and technology-based project could make the world a better place. Over 1000 girls applied and five finalists were selected to come to California and present their projects to a panel of experts. One exceptional young woman, Maia Dua, was selected to receive a one-week internship with Marvel Studios.
All five finalists had the opportunity to inspire other young girls around the world by participating in a LIVE global Broadcom Masters webinar during which the girls discussed how their STEM skills enabled them to create their projects and become a finalist of the Captain American Civil War: Girls Reforming the Future Challenge. The webinar gave girls everywhere a peak into STEM skills in action outside the lab and the classroom.
In September 2016, Marvel launched the newest Challenge…Marvel, Dolby Laboratories, & Synchrony Financial sought out inquisitive female superheroes to find the secrets of science once thought to be magic for a chance to win a trip to the world premiere of Marvel Studio’s DOCTOR STRANGE and an opportunity to be mentored by members of the Walt Disney Company’s digital team.
While watching the baseball game Saturday night, it occurred to me that the difference between pop culture and geek culture is sports. Sports are part of our pop culture but not generally thought of as a component of geek culture.
Our cohort Martha Thomases might say (I haven’t asked, but this seems to follow her logic) this is because when we were in high school the cool kids were into sports and the uncool kids were into comic books and science-fiction stuff, and we, the latter, were the ones who were called geeks. In recent years that line has been blurred significantly.
For example, take the ComicMix crew. Adriane Nash and I are hockey fans. Adriane and Robert Greenberger are New York Mets fans. Mindy Newell is a fan of the New York Giants football team and she is tired of my proselytizing that since they play in the Meadowlands they really should be called the New Jersey Giants. Marc Alan Fishman is a WWE fan, as is Mike Raub. Arthur Tebbel is a Yankees fan, or at least he used to be the last time the subject came up – which was about 15 years ago. Bob Ingersoll is a Cleveland Indians fan. John Ostrander and I are Chicago Cubs fans.
Oh, oh. Well, it looks like Mr. Ingersoll, Mr. Ostrander and I will minimize our conversation for the next week or so… election notwithstanding. Then again, John and I were raised in an environment where politics and sports were indistinguishable.
John Ostrander and I are both Chicagoans, as is Marc Alan Fishman. John and I were raised on the north side, which means that being a Cubs fan is a matter of birthright as well as choice. And we both had a hell of a Saturday night, watching the Cubs win the National League pennant for the first time since, as Steve Goodman sang, “You know the law of averages says anything will happen that can… but the last time the Cubs won a National League pennant was the year we dropped the bomb on Japan.”
Not only did our beleaguered Cubbies win, but they won on a double-play and shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers with five runs. That’s the way to do it.
I’ve waited 71 years for this moment, which is five years longer than I’ve been alive. The only people who can readily appreciate that logic are comic book and Doctor Who fans (and John and I are both), scientists with degrees in theoretical physics, and Cubs fans.
As the game started the ninth inning, the cameras caught quite a number of people in the stands who were crying. Adriane later told me she was as well, and she’d only been to Wrigley Field two or three times – and one of them was to see a New Year’s Day hockey game (for which I shall remain forever grateful, but that’s an entirely different story). My own thoughts drifted over to my late aunt, Francis Goldberg.
Aunt Fran was born about a year after the Cubs had last won the world series; she lived 94 years. We were close, as everybody who knew her was close. She was smart, funny, and affable; the most worthy of role models. She was also the greatest Cubs fan I had ever met, and that says a lot. The last time I saw her was at a family function perhaps a year or so before her death. By this time she had succumbed to Alzheimer’s and she didn’t really recognize anybody in the room. However, she was no less intelligent, funny or affable
So I tried something. I asked her if she still followed the Cubbies. Aunt Fran took mock umbrage, as if I had asked her if she were still a woman. She began to rattle off how the Cubs did that season, proud that they had won the won the National League Central Division championship. And she went back through Cubs history, comparing contemporary events to earlier happenstance. I distinctly remember that if I had more time, she would probably take me back to the days of Albert Spalding, Cubs pitcher / manager / co-owner and sporting goods macher, circa 1876.
That, my friends, is a fan.
The story of the Chicago Cubs is the story of hope and promise. That’s always a vital story, that’s always a saga for our time, no matter when that time might be. I infuse that story with the spirit of my Aunt Francis Goldberg, who missed seeing the Cubs clench the pennant by a dozen years but never, ever had any doubt they would do just that.
Keeping Up with the Joneses is a comedy that isn’t very funny. It isn’t bad, or offensive, or sloppy, nor does it suffer from a lack of effort or energy. It just doesn’t hit with enough punchlines to be worth spending money and sitting still for most of two hours. Most of the jokes seem to have started with the premise “wouldn’t it be funny if people actually lived in the suburbs” without any twist or an examination of why such a thing might be funny. It is actually funny when Jon Hamm has to save Zach Galifianakis from the venomous bite of a disembodied snake head, it is not funny to keep hearing the word “grillbot” over and over again. This movie has too much of the latter and not nearly enough of the former.
It’s not a problem of chemistry, it’s a delight seeing these actors share the screen. Hamm and Galafianakis are very good together. Honestly, Jon Hamm is good in everything, I don’t understand why he isn’t constantly working; he’s a gifted comic actor and has leading man looks. What does Chris Pratt have that Jon Hamm doesn’t? Nothing. But I digress. Isla Fisher does a fine job meshing with the cast although I want more from her than “fussy, carping, suburban housewife” but if these are the roles she’s being offered she’s doing good work. Gal Godot is somewhat less charming and doesn’t appear to be as good a fit but I’m more than willing to write that off as a more businesslike character not meshing well with the stable of wacky characters the rest of the movie offers. The actors don’t fail this movie; the movie fails the actors.
There’s just no spark to the plot in Keeping Up with the Jonses. They spend the first half of the movie alternating between showing how pathetic Jeff and Karen’s (Galifianakis and Fisher) lives are and the detective game about figuring out the Joneses are spies— of which all the funny moments are in the trailer. The second half is a bland spy comedy, which probably would have worked for me at some point, but the genre has fleshed out well in the last decade or so and it’s hard to see Joneses as anything less than a feeble shadow of Spy. The plot is limp, and the jokes fail to connect time and again until you get the cinematic equivalent of flop sweat, and the audience is sort of nervously chuckling trying to push the whole thing forward. I’m not saying there are no genuine laughs in here, but they’re embarrassingly too few.
The secret joy of reviewing movies is seeing bad movies and getting to dunk on them. Good movies are boring to write about unless they’re sublimely terrific at one thing or another, but bad movies are an endless font of fun negative adjectives. I don’t want to slam Keeping Up with the Joneses because I feel like everyone involved suffered enough by just having to show up for work and deliver lines they knew weren’t funny. This isn’t some cosmic malfeasance against the art of cinema, this is just a bunch of talented people (and I should include director Greg Mottola in here as well) working off a script that has a crummy premise and misses way more than it hits when it comes to being funny, the prime directive of any comedy. The worst part is it’s a pleasant enough movie when you don’t realize you haven’t laughed in a while and the stakes of the movie feel meaningless. It would be a great cinematic white noise machine or something, but it isn’t a successful movie.
That, boys and girl, is called knowing the game. Those who don’t shouldn’t play. So despite being blackballed by one of the big two how was I able to thrive?
Alternative means of finding distribution, budget and happiness.
The vast majority of top tier creators in the industry use one option.
There are numerous more, and I’ll touch on those next time.
As well I will break down what option was preferred and why for the project I’m using for this series. I’ve been in the game for a long time. What I use as examples are not intended as a ‘how to’ to get into the comics biz. If so the series would be named ‘how to ruin your career.’
The underlying point is to look at the big picture when entering this field. I believe with every fiber of my being one should always look to do the right thing. Comics are a very small industry and to have a real shot, it’s counterproductive working on how well you write or draw without working on your relationships skills.
Put another way, when people tell who they are and what they are about, trust but verify.
“The vast majority of top tier creators in the industry use one option.There are numerous more, and I’ll touch on those next time.”
It’s next time.
When I wrote about numerous other options, there certainly are. The four I list are ones I can speak about from a personal perspective.
Publishing Options:
Find a major publisher
Crowd Fund
Fund Yourself
Go outside the box.
The vast majority of top tier creators in the industry use option number one. Presentation to publishers differs from creator to creator. My process varies depending on the entity I’m pitching to.
The Comic Book Companies: Who & Why?
I’m not an idiot. This is a pop culture site heavy into comics. As such a significant amount of this, many readers will know. That’s great, but those who know will be surprised to learn many and by many a mean most of the newbies looking to get into the business have clue zero regarding the publishers in the industry.
There are well over two hundred publishers in the United States and thousands worldwide. For our purposes, we should know the players that meet your criteria for your project. The competitive rules are distribution, brand recognition, and marketing clout. What follows are the current major power brokers of the industry in my opinion.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is one of the big two. Marvel has a lineup of some of the world’s greatest comics. They include The X-Men, Fantastic Four, The Hulk, and of course, Spider-Man. When Disney acquired Marvel, the industry thought the mouse would destroy Marvel. Nope Marvel did change but for the better. Marvel is the undisputed superhero king in the mainstream because of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. DC has yet to catch the kind of fire Marvel has on the screen.
DC Comics
DC Comics is the other half of the big two and despite my rocky history with them still my choice universe. Time/Warner owns DC, but as of this writing, the noise is AT&T is about to buy Time Warner.
When Disney purchased Marvel, I was one of the few voices that thought this was a good thing and it was. They were smart enough to let Axel Alonzo and other key playa’s stay and soon fear turned into faith. I also correctly predicted DC would oust Paul Levitz and move operations to the West Coast. This is not to say Paul was an obstacle to DC; he wasn’t. He was problematic. His influence spanned three decades and for better or worse Time Warner knew for DC to compete with Marvel Paul had to go.
In my opinion, and I do so hope I am wrong, if AT&T buys Time Warner and DC Comics is part of that deal (it may not be) then DC Comics may be fucked.
Disney is in the content creation business, and even James Bond can tell you nobody does it better. AT&T is in the telecommunication business and realizes within the high stake arena of telecommunication, they are far from the only game in town. What AT&T has is the ability to deliver content better than anyone. What they don’t have is content they own outright. If they buy Time Warner, they get the mother of all content and instantly become the biggest pimp in town. So big Comcast becomes their bitch, and even Disney had better recognize.
As most of you know, the DC lineup includes Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the Flash. DC further has a mature reader line of books called Vertigo. The Vertigo books have a suspense and horror tilt. Recently DC entirely rebooted their entire 78-year continuity with a revamping and retelling of all their major characters twice. The New 52 did not do the kind of numbers DC was hoping for but Rebirth is very strong and the talk of the industry. Outside comics Marvel may be king in the movies, but on TV it’s all DC.
All good right? No. Not really. If this deal happens all it takes is one high powered mofo to say; “What do we need comic books for?” Remember Disney got Marvel because of its superheroes.
Look at all AT&T gets:
HBO
TBS
TNT
Cartoon Network
Adult Swim
CNN
The CW
Warner Bros. Pictures
DC Entertainment
New Line Cinema
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
You see comics on that list? Nope. DC Entertainment, yes. Comics, nope. You don’t need comics if you own the property already. Far-fetched? Maybe, but so was AT&T buying Time Warner a month ago.
Image Comics
Image Comics started in the early nineties. They quickly rose to the number three position in the industry. They have a consortium of studios that all contribute to the publishing line. Many creators do creator owned books under the Image banner. Their publishing deal is as follows authors deliver the book Image manages the publishing distribution and marketing.
When I ran Motown Animation & Filmworks, my comic book division had its publishing deal with Image.
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics have lots of success with taking their comics to movies. The Mask, Time Cop, Barb Wire, Mystery Men, and Hellboy to name a few. All of those movies were Dark Horse comics first. Their CEO and publisher also owns a chain of comic book stores. They have the most “Hollywood” take on the comic book business. Dark Horse has a history of working with maverick creators and Mike Richardson publisher is one of the smartest men in the industry.
IDW Publishing
Idea + Design Works (IDW) was formed in 1999 by four entertainment executives and artists, Ted Adams, Alex Garner, Kris Oprisko and Robbie Robbins. They decided to create a company that would allow them to work with a variety of clients on the things they liked: video games, movies, TV, collectible card games, comic books and trading cards. They have produced some of the best-looking books in comics.
NBM Publishing
NBM is a graphic album publisher. They rarely do superheroes but do science fiction, fantasy, horror and what they call Eurotica. They are more of a mainline publisher in the way they conduct business. NBM has published many graphic novels in comics stores with a second window in mainstream bookstores such as Barnes and Noble. Smart people run NBM, and they don’t suffer fools on any level so before you pitch to them, or any publisher make it a point to know what they do.
Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment focuses primarily on comic book adaptations of existing properties, with most of their original holdings being new interpretations of the classics. They hold or have held the rights to publish titles based on films (Army of Darkness, Darkman, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, RoboCop, and Highlander), television series (Xena: Warrior Princess) and literature (Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, Dracula, and Zorro). Other properties include Buck Rogers and Sherlock Holmes.
Lion Forge Comics
When Lion Forge added Joe Illidge as senior editor they changed the game. That move should put a certain landmark publisher on notice. Or put another way, you slow you blow.
Crowdfunding
Crowd funding the second option was at one time something I was not at all interested in attempting. I thought there was no formula to speak of and I don’t do maybe or hit and miss in business.
What many people fail to realize is once funded they assume all the roles that go along with a crowdfunding gig. It’s true that some notable people (Spike Lee for one) have crowd funded projects. It’s easy with that kind of name recognition and people at that level have an existing infrastructure.
Funding must cover marketing creative, printing, and fulfillment of whatever incentives promised those who chip in. That alone is a massive undertaking. To reach a mass market would in my estimate take funding of between $30,000-$70.000.
There is a growing number of companies that will handle the undertaking for you. Some for a small fee some for a huge stake in your creation. I’m rethinking crowd funding mainly because I found a gem of a project which wasn’t moving. Taking a chance, I funded it all myself then brokered a deal for the property at a mainstream publisher. I don’t own it, didn’t create it but the creator can now think about just doing the work and let someone else do the heavy lifting selling.
What do I get? Right now nothing but the future isn’t built on right now.
Next week I’ll break down funding yourself and try and get you out of the box.
It’s fairly amazing that it took five men — Nicolas Wright, James A. Woods, Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, James Vanderbilt – to conceive the story and pen the script to Independence Day: Resurgence when it trod no new ground and felt like the worst rehash of the original film and many other SF flicks from the preceding twenty years.
The original ID4 was an unassuming popcorn thriller with implausible science and predictable actions but leavened with strong performances and quirky, fun characters. They were having fun fighting the alien invaders and we had memorable lines and Will Smith punching out an alien with “Welcome to Earth”.
Somehow, these five, including Devlin and Emmerich who gave us the first, left out the fun. Instead, for two hours we see a mix of familiar and unfamiliar figures watch an even larger alien ship arrive, intent on destroying Earth either as an act of revenge or still in need of our resources, the locust that would ravage Earth before moving on to the next world. And of course it all happens conveniently on the 290th anniversary, as if the aliens would calculate time so precisely.
The kids have grown up and we focus on Dylan Dubrow-Hiller (Jessie Usher), the son of Jasmine Dubrow-Hiller (Viveca A. Fox) and stepson of Steven Hiller (Smith) and Patricia Whitmore (Maika Monroe), daughter of President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman). New kids on the block include Rain Lao (Angelbaby) and Jake Morrison (Liam Hemsworth), not that they get much to do. They are our first line of defense and somehow mankind has reverse engineered the alien tech so they could rapidly rebuild Earth and then build a massive station on the moon (the technological advanced are perhaps the most implausible aspects of this film).
We still have David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) as the smartest man in the room along with Dr. Brakish Okun (Brent Spiner), the craziest man in the room. And there are numerous newcomers, none of whom are given anything resembling a personality or real role in the film spoiling the talents of Sela Ward as the current President and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a fellow scientist.
Apparently, a third race has arrived to warn us of the impending invasion but we fired first and it takes time to uncover the Poké Ball, with its dire warnings. The mother of a ship arrives, all 3000 miles of it, and the heroes make a valiant attempt during the trench run to launch the missile into the exhaust port. When that fails, they fall back and fret a lot until smarter minds come up with a plan while the aliens bore into Earth’s crust trying to suck out the molten core. None of the physics of such a massive presence on Earth’s Atlantic Ocean or the drilling deep into the tectonic plates is ever felt.
We win, of course, and the alien queen is stopped seconds shy of victory, all too predictable, all too anticipated and therefore all too futile to entertain. After twenty years, one had every right to higher expectations.
The film is out now from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment in a 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, Digital HD combo pack. The MVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1 and an adequate transfer, if a bit murky here and there. The 3D version feels entirely like a wasted effort, average at best. The film gets more bang out of the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix, not that it makes up for a sorry excuse for a sequel.
The 3D disc does not contain any special feature, all saved for the standard Blu-ray. There you get a handful of Deleted Scenes (8:24) with optional commentary by Roland Emmerich; The War of 1996 (5:11) a faux news recap of events between films; It’s Early ABQ (3:07), another faux program with Fred Armisen as an early morning talk show host; Another Day: The Making of Independence Day: Resurgence (55:25), a four part look at the film’s production with cast and crew interviews; Gag Reel (6:14); Audio Commentary by Roland Emmerich; Concept Art: Aliens (5:48), AI (:43), Humans (2:58), Locations (1:33), and Original Presentational Images (1:28); and Theatrical Trailers (5:18).
