Weekend Reading: Reboots, Disney, Superman and Cheech Wizard

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics,

With all the talk of DC’s big reboot, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at something Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Mark Millar, and Tom Peyer put together for DC back in 1998: Superman 2000. And it was. I would totally read these comics.

Now let's see what else can be read:

Euro: I always get a kick out of it when someone reads their first graphic novel. Karen at the Euro Crime blog (a terrific blog for crime fiction) read a Doctor Who graphic novel. Her verdict: “looks beautiful but doesn't take long to read!”

Halloween: It’s never too early to talk about The Halloween Legion, a new project from Martin Powell.

Bambi: It wasn’t always a classic of children’s literature as some might suspect. The Storyboard blog at the Walt Disney Family Museum breaks it down. Bonus: rabbit death.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Reboots, Disney, Superman and Cheech Wizard

Boom! Floyd Gottfredson And Mickey Mouse

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent,

Boom! starts January off with a bang. I haven’t seen this get the attention it deserves so I’m going to give it a shout-out here. Boom! Studios, as part of their Boom! Kids division, has been publishing the Disney Comics for a while now and the results have been impressive.

Now, in January 2011, with Mickey Mouse And Friends #304, they’re publishing something that’s driving me nuts with anticipation.

In that issue, part of their 70 Years of Walt Disney Comics celebration, they’re reprinting a classic Mickey story written by Bill Walsh (go ahead, check out his IMDB credits; I'll wait) and illustrated by Floyd Gottfredson.

It’s “The Pirate Ghost Ship!” and this will be the first time it’s been printed since 1944. This special 40-page issue  also features two other stories, another Gottfredson classic called “Laundry Blues” and a Goofy story by Romano Scarpa.

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Jim Korkis: The Vault Of Walt Disney

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies,

Mr. Jim Korkis and I have a history that goes back to the dawn of time. His knowledge of comics and cartoon history is astounding and the number of people he's met and interviewed over the years makes Jay Leno seem like a hermit.

Back in the days of Malibu Comics, I hired Mr. K to write some text pieces and introductions to many of our comic strip reprints. They were fascinating and entertaining and I always found out stuff I didn't know – he was the pre-Google Google for certain topics. And his work would arrive many days before his deadline.

I also had the privilege of editing two big softcover books of his, written with his then-frequent collaborator John Cawley, another guy who knows more about animation than Don Bluth forgot. One book was Cartoon Confidential, one of my favorite books I ever got to work on.

The other was the Animation Art Buyer's Guide and Price Guide, which was an inexpensive book about buying, selling, pricing animation art and stuff to look for and look out for.

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Read More | Jim Korkis Interview

Weekend Reading: Halloween, Stan Lee, and The Walking Dead

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, Television, DC Comics, Image Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics,

Happy Halloween to all of you!

My costume this year is simple - I’m going to walk around with my iPad and call myself The Future Of Comics. Which, I admit, is something I do pretty much every day.

First off, congratulations to my pals at Boom! Studios and their sales on Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero #1. And kudos to Boom for sharing their actual numbers.

And if you’d like a 10-page freeview of the November release of Stan Lee’s The Traveler #1 by Mark Waid and Chris Hardin, Scoop has that for you too.

Let’s see what else is out on the internets...

Zombies: Pop culture historian Jim Beard writes about the Walking Dead phenomenon that will soon be sweeping the nation thanks to the new AMC TV series.

Beard, by the way, is the editor of a new anthology that looks back at the Batman TV series of the 1960s, Gotham City: 14 Miles.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Halloween, Stan Lee, and The Walking Dead

Weekend Reading: NYCC, Donald Duck and The Incredible Hulk

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Reviews, Television,

I’ve been thinking over the last couple of years that with blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, podcasts, video and live internet feeds that you can probably have a decent out-of-town convention “experience” without leaving your house.

For example, the New York Comic Con is over and Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has the best con report: news reports, links, observations and opinions. He didn’t attend, but it’s hard to argue with his analysis.

Incredible: In case you haven’t heard, Marvel is developing a new TV series based on The Incredible Hulk. No doubt a “Get Lou Ferrigno A Role On The Show” Facebook page will be up by the end of the day.

Duck: Jaime Weinman poses a few questions in a post he calls “Disney And The Copyright Police.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: NYCC, Donald Duck and The Incredible Hulk

Weekend Reading: Iron Man, Geek Chic, Chip and Dale and I Love Lucey

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,

Lots of good stuff going on as we slide into the weekend. We’ve got Iron Man, Archie Comics, Douglas Adams’ Monty Python connection, Chip and Dale and tons more.

Let’s start with my pal Bob Greenberger, the noted comic book writer, novelist, tie-in writer, and a guy who actually knows how to make a physical comic book/graphic novel (all that production/printing/binding/press run/distribution stuff). He has a new book out. Iron Man: Femme Fatales has just been published by Del Rey and it should keep fans happy post-Iron Man I movie and pre-Iron Man II movie. Bob happily blogs about it at his website where he reposts this nice review. I haven’t read the book yet, but I snapped up a copy off the rack at Wal-Mart to feed a little royalty money Bob’s way. I also reshelved the remaining copies to give Bob a better display. That’s how I roll, people.

Harry Lucey: The animator John Kricfalusi has a nice gallery of great Lucey covers from assorted Archie titles at his blog. The covers are absolutely stunning in their simplicity. There’s a “Get Off My Lawn!” part of my brain that wishes the books still looked like this.

Geek Chic Daily: Nikki Finke has a few details about the Hollywood playas lining up behind Gareb Shamus’ new online presence.

George Tuska: Marvel and DC artist George Tuska, so prominent in the comics of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s has passed away at 93. Mark Evanier has a nice look at Tuska’s career. Here’s a real nice original art page by Tuska—no superheroes, just guns, gangsters, street scenes and a hot girl in a bikini. He was from the generation of comic artists who all knew how to draw people, horses, cars, the folds of clothing, and characters in hats who could still make a guy in an iron suit seem believable.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Iron Man, Geek Chic, Chip and Dale and I Love Lucey

Disney Buys Marvel Comics: Top 20

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Fanboys of a certain age will always remember where they were on Monday August 31, 2009, the day the vast Disney empire, home of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Quentin Tarantino, announced it was buying Marvel Comics, the home of Iron Man, X-Men, Spider-Man and all the rest, at a price of $4 billion.

For now, both sides are saying all the correct, corporate, and SEC-friendly things designed to placate worriers and fretters from Wall Street to Melrose Avenue. If you’d like to know what the future holds, though, here are the Top 20 Signs That Your Comic Book Company Has Been Bought By Disney:

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COMIC BOOK JOBS: WHO’S HIRING? VIZ, DISNEY and ASTRO CITY!?

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

You know what it’s like. Fall is here, you’re clenching your college degree in one hand and a Stoli in the other and you’ve pretty much wasted the summer since graduation. You’ve read some comics, commented on some blog sites, maybe even gone to this year’s Comic Con International. But now it’s the fall and people are starting to wonder if you’re ever going to put that expensive college education to good use so your parents can start bragging about the ROI they’re getting for their cash.

Wonder no more, because if you’re interested in a job in the funny book industry, they have jobs for you. Well, some of you. And you might need more than just a college education. But still. A job in a sputtering economy based around a stepchild of the dying tree-based publishing industry is still pretty good to find, right?

Read on, then, for a few surprise opportunities at places like Viz (the manga people in San Francisco), Disney (the Empire of the Mouse), Astro City (no, seriously) and a Texas-based company where the cowboy hat might be optional.

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DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE FREUD FRONTIER

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Occasionally, I find things that are so weird, I just have to post them. There are a lot of bloggers who post random panels of comic book weirdness. Mike Sterling does it over at Progressive Ruin; Mark Waid does it at his Boom! blog with Great Moments In Comics; and so does Steven Thompson at Booksteve’s Library. That’s just three from the many hundreds.

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DISNEY TEAM-UP: PINOCCHIO and HUEY, DEWEY AND LOUIE!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews,

Do you remember that time in Star Wars when Luke Skywalker and Han Solo dropped by Harry Potter’s house to see if he wanted to help them defeat Darth Vader and destroy the Death Star? Of course not, because it didn’t happen, except perhaps in Star Wars-Harry Potter Fan Fiction.

That’s what I felt like, though, when I was reading an old copy of Walt Disney Comics Digest (#23, July 1970) I found at a library book sale. I’m flipping through this old digest-sized comic book of classic Disney comics and there between the “Brer Rabbit” story and the “Super Goof” adventure was a tale called “The Magic Brew,” starring Donald Duck’s nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Identical triplets, the three nephews were created by Ted Osborne and official Disney Legend Al Taliaferro. HDL first appeared in a comic strip on October 17, 1937. Their first animated appearance was in the cartoon “Donald’s Nephews,” released on April 15, 1938. You can get all that info and more at the Wikipedia.

So far so good, but the actual plot of “The Magic Brew” is what really threw me.

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