Friday, February 10
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Somebody’s not happy about Marvel Studios recasting James (War Machine) Rhodes in Iron Man 2.
No, not Don Cheadle; he’s probably pleased. No, not Marvel executives; they’re thrilled. Okay, I’ll give you Terrence Howard, who played Rhodey in the first film. He’s certainly chafed.
But I’m talking about these guys, who are upset enough to launch a website and petition demanding that Marvel Studios change its mind and return Howard to the role.
The message at HowardNOTCheadle.com reads:
In one of the least-convincing Internet hoaxes since a certain Nigerian prince sent a message of an “urgent, private” nature, a video purporting to be the teaser trailer for The Flash made the rounds last week.
There are a few dead giveaways, not the least of which is that it looks terrible beyond even Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four, or Legends of the Superheroes. Another tell is the preface that attests the trailer was shown before a “private screening” of Watchmen. (While footage of the Zack Snyder movie has been shown to journalists around the country, none of the reports mention anything about The Flash teaser.)
And did I mention the teaser is god-awful? It’s so bad that Defamer asks for a moratorium on “dorm-room exercises masquerading as official teasers.”
“Your mastery of Windows MovieMaker is impressive, but seriously, enough.”
I think they’re being kind, though.
Can the Punisher + a skrull rifle take out the Sentry? It sounds like we’ll find out in the new Punisher series that launches in January. Jim McLauchlin talks to Joe Quesada about the new book in his latest MyCup ‘O Joe Column:
In 2009, the Marvel Universe is going to become a very, very scary place. It will be the type of place that’s begging for a guy like Frank Castle. With Punisher 1, we’re throwing Frank Castle right into center ring, hunting Big Game like only he can. It all starts with him standing on the edge of the Jersey shore with a Skrull rifle, his sights trained on the head of a major Marvel Universe player. You’ll have to wait and see who he’s aiming at, but suffice it to say, not since Civil War has Frank Castle been so affected by the ripple effects of the Marvel Universe—and never has it more needed his unique brand of justice. What’s the old saying? “One man with one bullet, in the right place, at the right time, can change the world?” Well, just imagine what Frank can do with a million bullets.
But can fans afford to buy another monthly title — esp. if the prices keep going up?
(Via Irene Gallo)
• Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki‘s Skim has been shortlisted for the Canada Council for the Arts’s 2008 Governor General’s Literary Awards in the Children’s Literature-Text category. [Xtra]
• An Italian prosecutor claims that a vampire manga — which one, I don’t know — inspired Raffaele Sollecito to kill Meredith Kercher in 2007. The defense calls the theory “stupid.” Curiously, earlier this year British tabloids tried to link the bloody murder to Akira. [BBC News]
• Designer and author Chip Kidd talks briefly about Bat-manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan: “”It was a labour-of-love project, an act of graphic-novel reclamation, if you want to call it that.” [National Post]
• Suzan Colón of The Advocate is encouraged by the promise of two non-heterosexual characters in James Robinson’s new Justice League series: Batwoman and the alien Starman. She also rattles off a list of “seven of the most memorable queer heroes.” [Advocate.com]
• If you’re thinking about starting a blog, don’t. Paul Boutin says the Age of the Solo Blogger is over: “Scroll down Technorati’s list of the top 100 blogs and you’ll find personal sites have been shoved aside by professional ones. Most are essentially online magazines: The Huffington Post. Engadget. TreeHugger. A stand-alone commentator can’t keep up with a team of pro writers cranking out up to 30 posts a day.” [Wired]
The stars must have aligned once again, because it’s time for another all-star Cage Match over at Comics Comics!
The basic idea is the magic triumvirate of Tim Hodler, Dan Nadel and Frank Santoro engage in a lengthy blogging critique of an either new or well-established graphic novel (past victims include Omega the Unknown and Heavy Liquid). This time the crew is taking on David Heatley’s newest (and largely autobiographical) work, My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down. Frank lays the opening salvo:
But Heatley’s new book just makes me angry. And I think that’s what he wants. He wants to provoke reactions like mine so that he can “work out” his insecurities, his racism and his issues with women on the page. And be forgiven.
I’ve been waiting to see this cartoonist take the next step and I think his new book is incredibly disappointing.
Dan picks up the ball from there (to mix my metaphors:
I think what riles people up about this book is precisely the public/personal nature of it: That is, it’s a book explicitly about coming to grips with some notion of morality or a way of accepting one’s own behavior. Unlike the demonstrative fantasies of Crumb or meandering autobio of Joe Matt, this is direct, speaking to the reader kinda stuff. It’s specifically drawn as, in a sense, therapy. That such a process becomes so public is what, I think, some people fine alternately compelling or repulsive about it.
As for me, I find myself somewhere in between Frank and Dan’s takes on the book. I think Heatley shows a good deal of promise as a cartoonist and I admire his willingness to bare the intimate and embarrassing aspects of his life, but a lot of the stories in Brain strike me as shallow, like they’re a cataloging events instead of an evaluation of them. I didn’t come away with any better understanding of Heatley as a person after reading his “Sex History” than I did before I began it.
Be sure to read the comments section as lots of thoughtful folks like Tom Spurgeon, Dash Shaw and Eric Reynolds enter into the fray.
– The marketing juggernaut continues: Sam Thielman talks with Art Spiegelman about the latter’s new book, Breakdowns.
– The comic strip Rhymes With Orange has a new Web site.
– Chris Arrant profiles Faith Erin Hicks and her new comic The War at Ellsmere.
– Eddie Campbell guides you through Comic Book Morality 101.
– Todd Allen looks at some of the new Webcomic offerings from Shadowline, Liquid and Marvel, and smells trouble … for them.
– Chip Zdarsky shares his ideas for Marvel Comics and it’s totally NSFW (hat tip: Heidi).
– Brigid Alverson writes about plans for the upcoming Haruhi Suzumiya manga.
– Spurious has an interesting essay on Charles Crumb, Robert’s late, tragic older brother.
– Erin Finnegan looks at Tokyopop’s release of Otsuichi’s Goth novel and manga.
– Richard O’Connor blogs about working on an animated They Might Be Giants video with Kim Deitch.
– The Lego enthusiast known as oxcrew has decided to retell the origin of Two-Face using … well, you figure it out. (hat tip: The Ephemerist)
– So Time Magazine is doing gag cartoons now? That’s interesting.
– David Welsh examines Jiro Taniguchi’s The Quest for the Missing Girl.
– Paul Hornschmeier has an amusing new T-shirt available for puchase.
– DJ Coffman and Scott Kurtz go at it on the Internet, and everyone wins.
– Spot the Frog creator Mark Heath has a new Web site up, promoting his gag cartoons.
Yale University Press has put together a nicely animated video of editor Ivan Brunetti talking about his latest project, An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories, Volume 2, which, I must say, is one of the finest collections I’ve come across this year.
Ivan Brunetti on An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Vol. 2 from Yale University Press on Vimeo.
First Showing corrals a slew of official images from J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek that are scattered across the Internet. On top of that, Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine — Spock and Kirk — share the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly, which features a lengthy, and spoiler-laden, story on the movie.
Illustrator John Cuneo (nEuROTIC) has a nice section on his Web site highlighting sketches that never made it past the sketch stage. (hat tip: Tom).
– 20 things Every Superhero Comic Collection Needs.
– Laura Hudson talks to Brian Azzarello about his upcoming Joker graphic novel.
– Seth is curating a series of films from the National Film Board of Canada. Drawn! has the details.
– The Mindless Ones look at the work of ero-guru artist Suehiro Maruo (note: some images are probably NSFW).
– Peter Sanderson looks at the new edition of Patrick Rosenkranz’s seminal history of underground comix, Rebel Visions.
– Fantasy.fr has an interview with Devilman creator and manga-ka Go Nagai.
– Judith Rosen checks out the Comics and Classics store in Jacksonville Beach, Fla.
– Craig Fischer has a short interview with alt-cartoonist Ben Towle.
– Evie Nagy looks at all the political comics coming out this month.
– Noah Berlatsky did not like David Heatley’s new book. Like, at all.
– Tom Spurgeon interviews Bill Schelly, who’s new biography of Joe Kubert, Man of Rock, should be out in stores any day now.
– In more depressing newspaper news: Acclaimed editorial cartoonist Chip Bok is taking a buyout and leaving The Akron Beacon-Journal. The number of full-time, on-staff cartoonists at daily papers gets smaller and smaller. Of course, so does the number of editors, reporters, photographers …
– On the BBC, they’re talking about comics.
– The Daily Cross Hatch begins a multi-part interview with Art Spiegelman.
– Go! Comi are so excited about their new 07-GHOST series that they’ve set up a whole Web site for it.
– Cool things to bookmark: Elizabeth Conley, Elena Diaz, Pancha Diaz, Andrew Farago, Shaenon Garrity, Konstantin Pogorelov, Jason Thompson, and Leia Weathington have formed a new group blog, titled The Couscous Collective.
– Steven De Souza, who wrote the screenplay for the 1987 Spirit TV-movie (remember that?) offers his thoughts on the upcoming Frank Miller film.
Lionsgate has released a 3-D lenticular poster for Punisher: War Zone, complete with a frame made of fake guns.
The studio also has launched a fully loaded website, which now features all kinds of bells and whistles, including grainy animation that may trigger motion sickness.
The movie, directed by Lexi Alexander and starring Ray Stevenson and Dominic West, will open on Dec. 5.
We’ve all seen the rumors about The Dark Knight sequel: Director Christopher Nolan has signed on. Pre-production will begin in February. The villain will be played by Johnny Depp. Or Angelina Jolie. Or maybe Cher.
Well, forget all you’ve read. It’s wrong.
“It’s all B.S.,” The Dark Knight screenwriter David S. Goyer tells MTV’s Splash Page. “All of it.
He goes on to say that he hasn’t even officially discussed the third film with Nolan, who’s “taking a long, long vacation.”
“We have mused here and there [but] I mean Chris is pretty much a one movie at a time kind of guy,” Goyer continues. “I wish I could tell you more. There really isn’t anything to tell.”
Today the judge in the Siegel case is holding a status conference to set the “FINAL and DEFINITIVE schedule” for the trial. The judge’s all-caps emphasis may seem a bit unusual for a routine scheduling order, but it’s a visceral reaction to the twists and turns the case has taken since the calendar was originally set back in April.
A lot of it is legal wrangling that we’ll set aside for another time, but one issue is particularly relevant to readers of this site — because that issue arose from one of our most recent posts.
The post in question was from late August, and it revealed previously unknown artwork and scripts from the 1934 collaboration between Jerry Siegel and Russell Keaton. As Siegel lawyer Marc Toberoff explains in a court filing:
In lieu of his usual Sunday interview feature, Tom Spurgeon offers “Two Dozen Things I’d Decree To Make Comics Better.” There’s always something to quibble with sure, but by and large it’s hard to debate the merits of items like the following:
4. Make An Industry Goal Of Reliable, Accurate, Instant Information On The Availability Of Comics
I can walk into a bookstore and get a reasonably accurate answer as to whether something is in print and whether or not I can order it. About half the time I try to ascertain this kind of information in a comics shop I’m greeted by obfuscation, ignorance and bullshit. I don’t know what has to be done so that people can provide accurate information upon demand, but I figure this should be more of a possibility now than at any time in comics history. As emperor I would declare that we come to industry-wide agreement that this is a desirable goal: an expectation that someone can walk into any comic shop or any bookseller and find out about the availability of any comic. Then we work on the problem itself.
More at the link.
– The new blog Comix Claptrap has a podcast interview with cartoonist Vanessa Davis.
– The blog Disorder & Its Opposite suggests 10 Ideal Books to Introduce Readers to Comics.
– Ger Apeldoorn shares some more Harvey Kurtzman strips.
– Chris Sims looks at Tom Spurgeon’s top 50 list and comes up with his own:
22. A Comic Where Somebody Punches Hitler
Because seriously, fuck that guy.
– Feel like a free Warren Craghead mini comic? Here you go.
– Seriously, what’s up with Hi & Lois anyway?
