“The tall tales of Superman and Batman have become as integral a part of American folklore as Paul Bunyan and his blue ox”: So says Earl Parsons in this story. What I want to know is, when was the last time someone made a movie or cartoon about Paul Bunyan? When was the last time Babe the Blue Ox had fruit snacks, canned spaghetti meals or breakfast cereals featuring her shape? That’s right. Suck it, Bunyan!
“Not Bad, Considering…”: Er, yeah, it could have been worse. But things could always be worse. ICv2.com has their regular sales numbers and analysis up, dealing with the month of March. Apparently no comics cracked the 100K mark for the month. I hope everyone keeps that in mind the next time they see a press release from one of the Big Two trumpeting the fact that one of their books “sold-out” or that a second or third printing of a book that doesn’t feature Obama and Spider-Man on the cover is necessary. Sell-outs are meaningless when you don’t know the print-runs, and seem exceptionally cynical in an industry that is all but print-on-demand. Did any books “sell-out” in March? If so, they did so at not-very-impressive numbers…
God, I hope not: “Is Megan Fox a She-Hulk?” this post at Screen Rant asks, pondering a rumor that the wispy, 5’5 actress might play the Jade Giantess (Are Christina Ricci, Devon Aoki and Lil’ Kim all unavailable?). The source for that post was a post at Comicbookmovie.com, which quotes an unnamed source that says, “She-Hulk comics are popular so it’s only natural that the character makes the transition to the big screen.” She-Hulk comics are popular? Really? Okay, obviously the source doesn’t know what he or she is talking about…
Tatsumi’s epic drifts into the NYT: The New York Times gave a big chunk of real estate to Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life, and Peggy Burns of publisher Drawn and Quarterly wonders briefly why such coverage no longer seems like a huge deal to comics pundits, shares her own excitement about the coverage and notes the effects it has on sales.
Tommy on Wonderland: The New Straits Times interviews writer Tommy Kovac about his work on the SLG-produced Wonderland series with Sonny Liew, which was just released in collected form through Disney Press. Unfortunately, the interviewer doesn’t ask a follow-up when Kovac says, “They only asked for two very minor changes in the first issue’s script, nothing that affected the story itself.” What were those two things?! It’s an interesting read; I’ll have a review of the book posted here later today. Three-word version of my review: It’s really good.
Hey, how long do I have to say “spoiler warning” regarding a comic book that came out on Wednesday?: The comics blogosphere’s, smallest, fluffiest and most photogenic pundit reacts to the last page of Amazing Spider-Man #591 by imagining what other Marvel characters would make for good mayors of what other cities. If he ever tires of blogging, Bully may have a future as a political consultant.
Did you know that Chris Sims is a genius? And that Matthew Allen Smith draws super-cute dinosaur ghosts?: It’s true! And if you don’t believe me, I invite you to check out the second part of their Chronicles of Solomon Stone comic for proof.
The green lighting of Green Lantern: They’ll start filming…? Already?! I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that there will apparently be a live-action Green Lantern movie before a live action Wonder Woman, Flash or Aquaman movie.
“If you hate it, you really don’t know much about typography either, and you should get another hobby”: Emily Steel covers the hatred of Comic Sans, the font that the inscription on the gates of hell uses, for the Wall Street Journal, and interviews its creator, here. The unfortunate thing about doing this little link-blogging thing only a couple times a week is that better, quicker bloggers sometimes beat me to my jokes. For example, Heidi MacDonald already used the WSJ article as an excuse to post to link to the Achewood strip dealing with the creator of Comic Sans.
April 18th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Ask 10 random children which one they recognize, Paul Bunyan, or Superman.
April 18th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Caleb, why such a hard time imagining a GL movie? OK, it’s hard to imagine WB making a movie of a DC Comics character NOT named Batman or Superman or not based on a Vertigo book. Granted. But before WW, Flash or Aquaman? That’s a no-brainer to me.
I like WW, but it seems to be a sad truth that female heroes don’t get their due in the marketplace (WW herself is a prime example), Flash had a (short-lived) TV show that seems quaint now… But aside from that? I still wonder how his bright red costume, and running effects, will look on the big screen.
And Aquaman? Well, I think it’s got film potential but most people’s image is of the goofy guy in orange who talked to the fish in Super Friends. In other words, a laughing stock.I’d like to see a variation of the Peter David reboot/JL animated Aquaman on the big screen, but again that’s not the image most people have of Aquaman.
Anyhow, I’m looking forward to the GL movie, but I’d feel better if there was some casting news. I know my top choices (Nathan Fillion or David Boreanz) won’t happen because they’re seen as “too old” (Umm… was Robert Downey too old too?), but I hope they won’t cast someone too young or too baby-faced to be taken seriously as a hero who’s lived a hard life.
I never thought I’d say it, because I never cared for the guy, but Brian Austin Green (who’s lobbying for the role), seems a better choice than any of the rumors I’ve heard thus far.
April 18th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
“when was the last time someone made a movie or cartoon about Paul Bunyan?”
Well, let’s see, he got pretty fair coverage in Fargo, Oliver Platt played him in Tall Tale, and there was the classic 1958 Disney cartoon where he got voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft (Hey Paul, hey Paul Bunyan…He’s sixty three axe-handles high with his feet on his ground and his head in the sky, Hey Paulll…Paul Bunyan!) And for the record, John Henry was in all of those as well as his own George Pal Puppetoon. How’s that?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoG94ieN828
April 20th, 2009 at 11:14 am
The full quote is:
“If you love it, you don’t know much about typography,” Mr. Connare says. But, he adds, “if you hate it, you really don’t know much about typography, either, and you should get another hobby.”
That’s a different meaning, when you quote his entire statement.