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Weekend Reading: Gary Friedrich, Walking Dead, Ted McKeeer & Arcana
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics
What a weird, weird funnybook week. Let’s take a look:
Artist Tony Moore is suing writer Robert Kirkman over his portion of money from The Walking Dead.
Gary Friedrich is getting legally crapped on by Marvel Comics.
DC Comics is still legally battling over Superman.
Columbia Pictures drops The Boys from their film roster.
Vietnam is banning comic books.
And how was the rest of the week?
If you've ever thought about opening a used bookstore, here are 25 Things you might discover.
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Weekend Reading: Watchmen, Shazam!, Archie and Image
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics
Watchmen! Shazam! Archie! Oh my goodness! Could a weirder week get any weirder? Oh, it can. It’s only February.
Here’s a few things to read until the Super Bowl fever hits you and, oh, wait. No one reading this cares about sports!
Well, of course DC was going to do Watchmen prequels and create more Watchmen-related graphic novels. The series will never be considered out-of-print (and now with online availability, you can get it digitally 24/7/365 so it will truly be “in print” in perpetuity). Since it’s a thing that can’t be stopped, I wish the creators well and I wish the original creators well as well (and hope they’re being compensated for the reuse of their creations). Forbes, the journal of the 1% weighs in with the “It can’t be wrong if everyone’s doing it” argument. Although Before Watchmen has to be one of the least grabby titles in modern comics history.
Michael Cavna at Comic Riffs, the Washington Post blog, collects various opinions on the coming new era of Watchmen prequels.
Here’s the Daily Beast on the behind-the-scenes soap opera at Archie. Once you realize that this is all about controlling the privately-held company, it starts to fall into place.
Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Marvel Comics
So I’m watching the trailer for the new Ghost Rider movie, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance with Nic (”I’ll do anything!”) Cage and it dawns on me.
Nowhere in the trailer is there a mention of Marvel Comics. No attempt to tie it into the Marvel Universe.
No mention that it’s from the company that brought you Captain America, Iron Man and Fantastic Four. There’s a Marvel Knights logo that flashes oh-so-briefly onscreen at the beginning but that’s hardly the same.
Even the homepage for the Sony release doesn’t play up the Marvel connection.
It’s just a movie about a biker with a flaming head. Trying to help a woman and her little boy.
The same plot as Jean-Claude Van Damme's Nowhere To Run and dozens of other movies.
Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Arnold Drake, James Bond and Star Wars
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Video Games, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics
Last weekend in January, last weekend before the Super Bowl, which means there’s really nothing on TV this weekend. Fortunately, the internets provide:
Neal Adams is gunning for Marvel on behalf of Jack Kirby.
The Comic Book Insider is the new podcast from comic book writer and former DC Comics editor Brian Augustyn.
James Bond vs. Batman: Now there’s a team-up I’d really like to see. The HMSS blog looks at how both heroes have had to adapt to changing times.
One of my favorite movie blogs, Flick Attack, looks at an old film written by veteran DC writer Arnold Drake (Deadman; The Doom Patrol): The Flesh Eaters.
Nope, that’s not the title of a great lost 1980s private eye TV series.
It’s part of a new thing that my pal Danny Fingeroth has organized with the Society of Illustrators called Comics Out Loud.
Here’s the skinny straight from Danny: “Top comic book creators - one from each discipline of the medium - demonstrating and discussing their work processes as attendees circulate around the room and watch the process of ‘sequential art’ (as the great Will Eisner dubbed it) being made.”
So what does that really mean? It means you get to watch (and interact) as Louise Simonson writes, Walt Simonson pencils, Bob Wiacek inks, Chris Sotomayor colors and John Workman letters, each working on a current assignment.
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| Comics Out Loud
P. Craig Russell: Graphic Storytelling
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
One of the great, eclectic masters of comic book art is P. Craig Russell.
Since he burst on the scene in the Marvel comics of the 1970s (Killraven), then jumped to projects like Night Music, Michael Moorcock’s Elric, Sandman, Fables and so many others.
He's worked with everyone from Roy Thomas and Don McGregor to Neil Gaiman and Mike Mignola.
And along the way, he’s collected Kirby and Eisner awards and an army of fans.
Now, thanks to Kickstarter, he’s getting ready to launch P. Craig Russell’s Guide to Graphic Storytelling, a “a web series (and companion DVD) consisting of educational videos that teach the art of graphic storytelling, also known as ‘Comics.’”
Here’s the coolness from their Kickstarter pitch:
Weekend Reading: John Carter, Captain Underpants & Stieg Larsson
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Interviews, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
Greetings, Weekenders! Still up in arms about DC’s new logo? The wrongness of SOPA/PIPA? Forget it. Let’s just enjoy the internets while they’re still free:
The John Carter Files poses some questions about the upcoming John Carter movie.
Two new Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey are coming in 2012.
Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is getting the graphic novel treatment via DC Comics (and their Vertigo imprint). Denise Mina - no slouch as a mystery novelist - is writing with Leonardo Manco, art is by Andrea Mutti, but just check out the kick-ass cover by Lee Bermejo. Omnimystery has all the deets.
Weekend Reading: SOPA, DC, Toth and Redshirts
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics
Welcome to the weekend! Let's see what the internets hold for us!
Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter speaks out against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. It really is a terrible bill that does more harm than good and Tom makes a strong case to do everything you can to stop it from being passed.
Mark Evanier doesn’t like the proposed law either.
If you’re an aspiring fantasy/sci-fi writer, the Clarion Workshop is accepting applications, according to Boing Boing. You can find a list of Clarion alumni here.
And award-winning sf writer John Scalzi provides even more details and words of encouragement about Clarion.
After a few months in the #2 slot, Marvel regained its long-standing #1 position, by a tiny margin. It pushed out DC Comics, which had been #1 since it's big reboot and launch of 52 #1's.
Now DC’s New 52 is changing.
Heidi at Comics Beat reports that the New 52 is about to become the "Recent 46 and the New 6" with the cancellation of 6 titles with issue #8, and 6 others coming in off the bench.
Plus the return of Earth 2 and crossovers.
If you had 8 months in the office pool, you're the winner. I had 10, so I have to cough it up.
Happy new year!
[Artwork: Men Of War #7, the penultimate, © DC Entertainment]
Writer and editor Danny Fingeroth will be appearing at Comics Dungeon in Seattle, WA on January 5th.
Here are the Facts on Fingeroth: "Danny is well known for his extensive editorial runs at Marvel Comics, overseeing titles such as Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up, and more.
"His writing credits include Darkhawk, Dazzler, The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, and numerous issues of The Avengers, Iron Man, Daredevil, and more!
"Fingeroth is also the creator of Write Now! Magazine for TwoMorrows Publishing and is also well known for his books Superman On The Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Society as well as Disguised As Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero."
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