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Jennifer Love Hewitt's The Music BoxYou know that the comic book world is getting its share of rape and sodomy when celebrities like Jennifer Love Hewitt are branching out into the industry. I suppose we have Hollywood and San Diego Comic Con to thank for that, eh?

The Ghost Whisperer starlet teamed up with IDW to create her comic book, The Music Box. Wow, so alluring, Jennifer.

What makes it even better is the fact that she has slapped her face on the cover of it (as I have not yet had the pleasure of reading the comic, she may also be the heroine—I don’t know), as if to say, “Even though you typical comic book consumers will walk right past my series (which is incidentally about a lame music box), I’ll plaster my good looks on it to make you at least give it a second glance.”

If you’re feeling up to the challenge of reading a seemingly-unbearable story, the issue is in stands as of yesterday, October 28th.

Read More | NBC

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JJ AbramsHey Warner Bros.—ever consider hiring JJ Abrams? You ought to know that he’s still asking for that Superman gig!

The Star Trek director and Lost co-creator had written a script for the caped crusader way back before his career took off. Despite his vast success with his Star Trek reboot, Abrams is still longing for a shot at revitalizing the Superman franchise. He recently opened up about his relationship with the superhero:

“Writing that script was a long process. It was a very passionate character for me. As a kid growing up it meant a lot to me. It would be wonderful and fun to see that brought back. I don’t know what Warners is thinking or what their plan is. It would be a blast… No one has talked to me about it. Obviously I’m sure Warner Brothers has a plan for what they want to do.”

Did you hear that, higher-ups?

Not only are Abrams fans supporting this collaboration, but apparently so is fellow filmmaker, Kevin Smith—check out the video after the jump.

Click to continue reading JJ Abrams Wants in on Superman Movie

Read More | MTV

Iron ManOkay, here goes: you want to be a part of the comic book industry and you can’t write, can’t draw, can’t edit. But you still can’t let go of that dream. So suppose you could count things (with or without fingers), manage computer technology, and were a good organizer with mad tech skills. In other words, a computer geek who liked comics instead of a comic book geek who has already mastered Windows 7. Is there still a place at, say, Marvel Entertainment for you to park your assets?

Maybe. Let’s take a look.

Marvel is looking for a Physical Asset Coordinator down in Manhattan Beach, CA. Your job will be to “support Marvel Studios’ physical asset management initiative, including the locating, tagging, photographing, sale and tracking of all physical production assets.” There are a bunch of asset management tasks, many of them are written in very specific language that I can’t translate, but if you can, get that resume over there, pronto.

Also, down in Manhattan Beach, Marvel Studios is looking for a Digital Asset Coordinator to assist with “administration of Marvel’s digital asset management system and facilitate communication and secure data transfer between various groups within Marvel corporate and production.” You’ll have a lot of technical duties, and you’ll need some theatrical production experience and familiarity with various video and image formats beyond just being able to post stuff on YouTube. And if you think “letterboxing, streaming, and compression techniques” are tortures from a Uwe Boll movie, it’s best to move on.

Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Who’s Hiring? Marvel Studios


BNSuperman3Rating: *** 1/2*

Blackest Night comes to end for Superman this week - at least for now. Issue three of Blackest Night: Superman is a lot of fun - this whole series has been fun. As I mentioned in a previous issue, sometimes the most simple plots can be the most fun. All you need to know is that the Black Lanterns are resurrecting the dead in the DC Universe, and they are attacking the living. It’s Night of the Living Dead meets the world of superheroes - what more can you ask for?

Writer James Robinson did a very good job with this one. Behind the story of the Black Lanterns attacking Smallville and New Krypton is the story of a family - the Superman family. I like the dynamic between Martha Kent and her sons Superman and Superboy (and of course the family dog Krypto); on the flip side, we see the difficult family relationship between Supergirl and her mother as they tackle their father/husband who has been resurrected as a Black Lantern. Great drama.

Our story jumps back and forth between the events happening in Smallville to the events on New Krypton. Kara is sad and angry over this thing that she has to fight, this thing that looks and sounds like her father. Meanwhile, Superman and Superboy fight off the Black Lanterns of Earth 2 Superman and the Psycho Pirate. The Psycho Pirate has been able to take over Superboy and make him fight Superman, but Superboy is then able to regain control of his senses use his tactile telekinesis to fight off Earth 2 Superman. Conner wants to be more like Superman, but he hasn’t been using this power because Superman lacks his own. Superman tells Conner that he must use all of his powers and be himself, to not worry about being more like Superman.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Superman #3


batgirlAnother big week for people with money to throw around as Nickelodeon just bought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for $60 million. This is yet another reason why it’s great to hold onto your copyrights. If you’re just working on Batman And The Outsiders #128, you already know it’s a basically a boilerplate work-for-hire contract, but if you’ve created Dingo, Rescue Dog Of The Outback get that thing copyrighted in your name and hold onto it. Because it’s always better for you to have the control - and any related money - than it is to just give it away to a corporation. In the meantime, if you’re tired of reading about contract negotiations, take a look around the internet and discover what folks like Mo Willems, Alan Kupperburg, Bill Crider and Bruce Timm are up to. Here’s how you can fill up your weekend:

Alan Kupperburg: Steven Thompson over at Hooray for Wally Wood, has a nice interview with Alan talking about his days working for Wood. Great stuff. Here’s a taste: “So then he (Wood) asked me if I could pencil Cannon for him. I took the pages home and opened up my T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and copied out the appropriate panels and adapted them to the situation. And Woody flipped out. He said, ‘You’re hired.’ Within three weeks I was also writing Sally and Cannon.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Mo Willems, Bruce Timm, TMNT and Wally Wood


Astro BoyIt’s here! After a long and seemingly painful production process, the new Astro Boy CGI feature is in theaters. You can find clips and cool stuff over on the official Astro Boy website. If you want to find out about all things Astro Boy, my favorite go-to place is Astro Boy World. They’re dedicated to “everything Astro Boy, the works of Osamu Tezuka, and other related anime & manga.” They’ve got video, news, factoids, lots of great graphics, and more.

Astro Boy was created by Osamu Tezuka (the “God of Manga” and “The Walt Disney of Japan”) and debuted back in the early 1950s under the title Tetsuwan Atomu (The Mighty Atom). It later became an animated TV series in Japan in 1963. Since then, Astro Boy’s made a lot of comic book appearances here in the US, as recently as right now. Let’s take a look.

IDW: The gang over at IDW released two brand-new Astro Boy comic book series this year. One was a 4-part prequel to the Astro Boy movie and the other was an adaptation of the movie. You can probably still grab individual copies. Better still, they’ve already collected both of them in trade paperbacks that came out last month: Astro Boy: Movie Prequel and Astro Boy: Movie Adaptation.

Click to continue reading Osamu Tezuka & Astro Boy

Read More | Astroboy Movie Official Site

McCafferyHow did you spend last weekend? Well, I didn’t make it to APE (wrong coast) so I spent some time in my local charity-based thrift shop looking for a Halloween costume. No wait, just kidding. I was there because they happen to have a really great used book section and since most used book stores are gone like yesterday’s VHS, a thrift shop remains a shining beacon of musty old paperbacks that smell of basements and cigarettes. That’s where I picked this up: McCaffery by Charles Gorham (Crest Books, 1962).

It’s one of those heavy-handed books that’s packed with stereotypes and talks about sex with the oddball euphemisms of the day, but also with shocking (for the time) language. And the reason I picked it up was because of the back cover copy, which I’ll get to in a little while.

On the pages inside, you get to find great paragraphs like this, as McCaffery enjoys the company of a woman: “I kissed her on the mouth and held it there. I was in charge. I was a man. I could feel it in my blood, the sense of my manhood. I was a man and there was no one in the whole world except me…” Issues much, Mr. Gorham?

Click to continue reading McCaffery: Charles Gorham & Comic Books


AmazingSM609Rating: *** 1/2*

Part one of the “Who was Ben Reilly” story arc left me a bit disappointed two weeks ago.  This week, the story continues and picks up right where we left off.  This issue was a much better read as there wasn’t as much silliness here in this issue than there was in the last.  For whatever reason the silliness annoyed me and here we have some serious action with a sprinkling of the Spider-Man wit mixed in. 

When we last saw Spider-Man, he was fighting Kaine at Raptor’s abandoned hide out.  Spider-Man wants to know the connection as to why Kaine has showed up at the same time Raptor has shown up thinking Peter is really Ben Reilly.  Kaine reveals to Spider-Man that he is not here to fight him, but is instead looking for Raptor aka Damon Ryder as he maybe the only man who can stop his cellular degeneration. 

Click to continue reading Marvel Comics Review: Amazing Spider-Man #609


JLA38Rating: ***
has had its share of ups and downs over the years.
The Justice League has had its share of ups and downs over the years.  Over the past ten years we’ve seen the resurrection of the JLA under the guidance of Grant Morrison with great success.  That title went the way of the dodo a few years ago and was relaunched under the helm of writer Brad Meltzer.  His year run on the title was okay, but not as good as I would hope it would have been.  I haven’t collected the title since Meltzer left, but I decided to pick this issue up as I’ve been reading James Robinson’s Justice League: Cry for Justice.  This series has also had its share of ups and downs, but I wanted to give Robinson a shot and see what he could do with the regular series.  I’m glad I did.

The Justice League is falling apart.  Batman, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter are dead.  Superman is on New Krypton and Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash are off doing their own thing.  The League consists now of mostly second-tier characters with Vixen at the helm.  Our story begins with the character Blue Jay being chased by an unknown assailant.  He’s looking to warn the Justice League of impending danger.  Unfortunately he doesn’t make it and he’s killed. 

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Justice League of America #38


TMNT Movie PosterSomeone break the pizza out—we’re having a party with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

Media conglomerate Viacom (which owns Nickelodeon, MTV, Paramount) recently purchased the rights to the crime-fighting crew for a cool $60 million. Previously owned by Mirage Studios and 4Kids Networks, $10 million of the payment went to terminating the rights 4Kids currently has, which was set to naturally expire in 2012 (because Viacom doesn’t quite have the patience to wait three more years).

Inking the expensive deal comes 25 years after creators Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman (Mirage Studios) self-published the very first TMNT comic. Cowabunga!

To justify the price tag, Viacom plans for an upcoming 2012 film, as well as an accompanying CGI television series. Oh those businessmen—they’re so savvy.

Read More | Bleeding Cool

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