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This isn’t really comics, but National Lampoon once boasted the best comics section of any publication of its era, and maybe any publication ever: Jeff Jones, Vaughn Bode, Bobby London, Shary Flenniken, Edward Gorey, B.K. Taylor, Gahan Wilson, Charles Rodriguez and many more were regularly featured along with cartoonists like Sam Gross, Jack Ziegler and B. Kliban. Brian McConnachie was an editor there for a number of years.
Brian would later write for SNL and SCTV and had there been other shows known by acronyms, he might’ve written for them too. I met him once and it was one of those situations that really only happens in New York, or at least in the New York of Woody Allen movies.
I was with a cartoonist friend on our way to lunch and amid shout outs of “Hey!” “How are you?” “You look well!” there was an outburst of handshaking and backpatting. Seconds later, I was being introduced to Brian, who probably forgot my name by the time he’d stepped off the curb 5 minutes later. Still, jokes and clever witticisms flew fast and furious, though I was only an observer, which would certainly be a good reason to forget my name.
Click to continue reading National Lampoon And Brian McConnachie
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| Brian McConnachie
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Comic Book Jobs: Who’s Hiring? Viz Media
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Viz Media,
Viz, the publishers of Shonen Jump, Bleach, One Piece, Dragonball Z and Naruto (and tons of other great manga and anime projects) is looking for a Purchasing & Logistics Coordinator to join their Finance team!
Could that be you? It could be if you have experience in “purchasing and/or supply-chain-management” and “experience in Print/Optical Disc/Home Entertainment Product Packaging procurement” and “knowledge of competitive and lawful bidding and awarding requirements” and you understand the “regulatory factors governing purchasing such as UCC, antitrust laws and ethical principles.” I need a translator for almost everything you just read, but if you don’t, pop that resume over.
The chosen one will assist Viz’s Director of Purchasing with “establishing, communicating, and maintaining company-wide purchasing policies and procedures” so you won’t just be following orders, you’ll be tracking purchasing orders through the system.
Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Who’s Hiring? Viz Media
Weekend Reading: Kick-Ass, iPads, Vertigo Crime and Richie Rich
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
Last week it was Kick Ass, now it’s The Losers, and coming up it’s Scott Pilgrim. Is this not the year of the nerd who loves popcorn? Let’s see what else there is to do while ordering our tickets…
Batman, Robin and Kick-Ass: Over at Something Old, Nothing New, Jaime Weinman longs for the return of a viable Robin character to the Batman movie franchise. Here’s a little taste of the longer and worthwhile read: “The thing about the concept of Kick-Ass is that it deals with an aspect of the Robin character that has been batted around in the comics from The Dark Knight Returns on, and even in the animated shows, but has never been dealt with in the movies: superheroes inspire kid copycats. In a weird way Robin is more ‘realistic’ than a man who, based on no apparent model except a bat, decides to fight crime in his underwear.”
The Losers: “This movie isn’t too violent because…hey look over there: a puppy!” Movie studio publicists work overtime for stories like this.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Kick-Ass, iPads, Vertigo Crime and Richie Rich
What, me hurry? Here’s how quickly things can turn around. Last year, DC Comics reduced the frequency of MAD Magazine, the perennial humor magazine for snarky kids of all ages, from monthly to quarterly. They cited all the usual reasons.
Most bloggers jumped to the idea that DC had done little to actually brand MAD beyond a couple of spin-off magazines. There was no movie (except for a long-forgotten Animal House wannabe called Up The Academy which licensed only the MAD name, and that was 30 years ago), no animated series, no TV show (except for MADtv, which just licensed the name), and little to no merchandise. Oh, and only the most perfunctory of websites.
Jump ahead a year. There’s a change of management at DC. MAD’s frequency is pushed forward so that it’s now going to be bi-monthly.
Click to continue reading MAD Magazine And Cartoon Network
Read More | A.V. Club
Freddy is another one of those “forgotten” comic strips that ran for quite a long time, 1956-1980 and then disappeared. If you don’t know to look for it, you might never find it.
Continuing my series on cartooning and cartoonists, Rupe wrote about himself and his work back in 1964. This is pulled from an oversized saddle-stitched magazine from Allied Publications with the creatively-challenged title These Top Cartoonists Tell How They Create America’s Favorite Comics. It featured an introduction by Beetle Bailey’s Mort Walker and was compiled by Allen Willette.
Here’s Rupe on Rupe and Freddy: “Although I sign my work ‘Rupe,’ my real name is Robert G. Baldwin, and I was born in Washington, DC. I’m fifty years old, and I have five children, ages 11 to 22. Four boys and one girl. Frequently the family gathers around my finished work for discussion and, I hope, for a good laugh.
Click to continue reading Robert G. Baldwin: Rupe and Freddy
“Look out termites, it’s squishing time!”
Yeah, so there’s a super-hero movie out now. No, it’s not Kick-Ass with all its blood spurting, foul mouthiness. It’s Defendor, starring Woody Harrelson. Here’s the pitch, according to Wikipedia: “Arthur Poppington is a regular but delusional man who believes that he is a superhero named Defendor. He combs the city streets at night in search of his arch enemy, Captain Industry, befriending a young prostitute in his quest.”
So Woody puts on a costume to be a super-hero, even though he has no super powers. Sound vaguely familiar? But that’s about the only similarity to Kick-Ass. Poppington is more than a little unhinged thanks to a troubled childhood and a mangled conversation with his grandfather who says that “Captains of Industry” (aka drug dealers) killed his mom. It’s a phrase he mistakes for a villain named Captain Industry.
Reviewer Katherine Monk has nothing but praise for Harrelson’s performance. She says, “Using humor without ever compromising the round edge of his character, Harrelson finds the soft heart of our hero, and makes us care about him as he stands before us in each scene.”
Click to continue reading Kick-Ass? No, Kick Back With Defendor!
Read More | Defendor Trailer
Kick-Ass Pleased Fans, Underperformed at Box Office
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Movies, Reviews, Marvel Comics,
UPDATE: According to THR, Kick-Ass did take the top rank at the box office, despite early Sunday estimates stating otherwise.
Matthew Vaughn’s film adaptation of Kick-Ass contains plenty of good, geeky fun: nerds loving comics; Nicolas Cage channeling Adam West; and an adorable 12 year-old girl slicing and dicing grown men four times her size. Why did How to Train Your Dragon seriously beat this comic book movie down to second place at the box office?
Initially, I was ready to leave (without even finishing my popcorn, mind you!) the theater when I had seen how far the film strayed from the comic; however, I decided to give it a chance and left the theater quite pleased with my final decision. Despite all the alterations, the adaptation was a good time packed with Easter eggs that filled my nerdish heart’s desire. Besides, everyone went nuts over this at last year’s Comic-Con, right?
Click to continue reading Kick-Ass Pleased Fans, Underperformed at Box Office
Read More | The Wrap
Dark Horse Teams Up With Hammer Films
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Movies, Dark Horse Comics,
Comic book publishing house Dark Horse is teaming up with Hammer Films to print a series of comic books and graphic novels in the horror genre (fitting, right?).
First up on their list is a storyline based on Hammer’s upcoming remake of last year’s Swedish film, Let the Right One In (which you must add it to your Netflix queue right now if you haven’t yet). Despite the fact that it has been released in the midst of the current teenage-vampire-lust trend, this tale of a 12 year-old boy and his friendship with a girl who only comes out to play at night is far removed from your typical Twilight fare—trust me!
No word yet as to the novels’ storyline, but the companies claim that it “will incorporate some of the film’s characters and mythology with some fresh themes.”
The American remake, starring Chloe Moretz of current Hit Girl fame and Richard Jenkins, is set to hit theaters on October 1st. Knowing those smart marketers, I’m sure we can expect some of the said comics to be sold in conjunction with the film’s release.
Read More | Reuters
Quote of the Day: Stan Lee on His Iron Man Cameo
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Interviews, Movies, Marvel Comics,
“But I was lucky because I had three girls and the director kept saying, ‘Hold them closer!’ And they must have taken an hour to shoot it. The four of us were almost engaged by the time we were finished.”
- Living comic book legend Stan Lee on his Iron Man cameo.
(Make sure to check out other notable quotes.)
Read More | IESB
Chloe Moretz injured herself on the set of Kick-Ass. The 13-year-old actress, who has caused some controversy due to her swearing in the action comedy movie, admits she was left hurt when she performed a stunt, but didn’t want medics to be called.
“I fell on the edge of a chair, and it kinda broke. I was begging them not to get the medic, but of course they were all like, ‘No, let’s check it out.’ And it was just fine, it was just a cut. I’ve gotten way worse in real life. My dog bit me once.”
The young star also confirms she did most of her own stunts in the film: “Practically all of it is me except for the running up the wall - that was a person who ran up the wall actually, without wires. I was sitting there thinking, ‘Are you kidding me? Is this fake?’ It’s breathtaking.”
British-born Chloe recently defended Kick-Ass against criticism from some people who claimed a young girl should not be swearing in a film. She said, “It’s a movie. Obviously a little girl can’t beat up and kill huge, heavy men. I don’t see how anyone would realize it’s not real. It is a controversial role, but it was a role I wanted to do. If I said a sixteenth of the words I did in that movie at home, I would be grounded for the rest of my life for sure.”
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