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Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark Makes Changes
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,
When a comic book title starts to suffer a long decline of sales, the publisher tries to turn things around by bringing in a new creative team.
And apparently when a Broadway musical based on a comic book gets horrible reviews, repeatedly injures its cast, repeatedly delays its official opening night and looks to be a huge embarrassment, they also make some changes.
The producers of the troubled Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark musical have done just that. They’ve kicked the original director Julie Taymor to the curb and brought in a new director - Philip William McKinley - and at least one person who is actually familiar with Spider-Man: writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa.
They’ll be making some changes to the extravaganza and one of our Broadway spies was able to slip me an internal memo of the reworking that's going on prior to the show’s latest official opening date sometime in the summer of possibly this year.
Here then are the Top 10 Changes The New Creative Team Is Making To Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark:
Click to continue reading Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark Makes Changes
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The Spider #1: Martin Powell & Pablo Marcos
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Independent,
Before The Punisher, before Batman, even before Superman, there was The Spider, Master of Men. The classic pulp hero was created in 1933 by Harry Steeger (co-founder of Popular Publications) to compete with the other pulp crime-fighter, Street & Smith’s The Shadow.
Now, here it is 70 + years later and The Spider is back, now as a comic book character in his first ongoing series, courtesy of award-winning writer Martin Powell and artist Pablo Marcos. The cover is by Dan Brereton (The Nocturnals), and the interior coloring is by Jay Piscopo.
The Spider #1 debuts this week from Moonstone Books as part of their ““Return of the Originals” publishing program.
Here’s the Moonstone pitch: “There was no escape for Nita Van Sloan, abducted by a horde of inhuman monstrosities, doomed to become the victim of a diabolical experiment. The Spider, Master of Men, strikes back with a vengeance, fighting alone against the brutally brilliant creator of the Frankenstein Legion, in a desperate race against time to save the only woman who shares his darkest secrets!”
Click to continue reading The Spider #1: Martin Powell & Pablo Marcos
Scarlet In Gaslight Is Back
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Dark Horse Comics, Independent,
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Back in the day, one of the comic books that I was peripherally involved with was Scarlet In Gaslight, a Sherlock Holmes & Dracula mini-series. And I'll clarify that right away by saying that I had nothing to do with its creation.
It was created and written by Martin Powell, and illustrated by Seppo Makinen and after it was acquired by Malibu Comics for its Eternity imprint, it was edited by Chris Ulm. My role was limited to reading the issues as the original art came in. Ulm would drop it off on my desk and say, "You gotta read this." I was later the art director for the first collected edition.
Malibu was a creator-owned publisher back in those days, and the rights to Scarlet In Gaslight were held by the creators. In the years since its original publication, Martin has done an excellent job of keeping the collected edition in print. Its last edition is sold out, but the good news is that it's coming back, along with other Martin-based projects.
Click to continue reading Scarlet In Gaslight Is Back
I met Christopher Golden on the convention circuit back in the go-go 1990s. I was so impressed by our 5-minute-in-the-aisle conversation that, after the con, I wandered over to my local bookstore (you could still do that back in those days) and grabbed a copy of a book of his called Of Saints And Shadows. It was a vampire novel, long before everyone and his institutionalized grandmother starting writing about them.
I took it with me on a camping trip and it proceeded to scare the crap out of me. It was well-written, very scary, had great dialogue and Golden kept the story moving and kept raising the stakes until the breathless end. I was impressed and even more, I was hooked, but never again would I take a horror novel on a camping trip.
Since then, Golden has written quite a number of terrific novels and lots of comic books as well (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Dr. Fate and Baltimore: The Plague Ships).
Now he's got a new book out - the first in a series - called The Secret Journeys of Jack London: Book One: The Wild. Golden co-wrote it with Tim Lebbon and there are illustrations by Greg Ruth. You can read an interview with the guys at Golden's website.
Click to continue reading Christopher Golden And Jack London
Weekend Reading: Atlas, Dick Tracy and Cowboys & Aliens
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, TokyoPop,
It’s the weekend and I have just one word for you: Winning!
Now let’s see what you’ve won:
Tie-In: I missed this: Apparently Scott Rosenberg’s Cowboys & Aliens has been reissued by It Books, a division of HarperCollins.
Plainclothes: If you’re a fan of Dick Tracy or Joe Staton, you might already know that there’s going to be a change in your newspaper on March 14. Mike Curtis and Staton will be the new team on Dick Tracy, and here’s a little profile of them, courtesy of their syndicate.
Atlas: If you remember the old Atlas/Seaboard comics of the 1970s or just love a good comic book retrospective, mark your digital calendar for March 11. Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is hosting “Atlas At Last,” which also ties in with the relaunch of the company’s characters from Ardden. Check it out!
Wulf: And speaking of the Atlas relaunch, here’s a review of one of the titles I’ve been waiting for: Wulf The Barbarian, written by Steve Niles.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Atlas, Dick Tracy and Cowboys & Aliens
So far, so good. Following the loss of its Pixar titles, Boom! Kids has rebranded itself as Kaboom! and outlined a number of its upcoming titles in a series of tease posts on the internet in the past week or so.
The curent line-up will feature Word Girl, based on the PBS animated series (newsstand readers and iPad owners will love this), a new Roger Langridge series called Snarked, a Star Wars parody (always a good bet) called Space Warped (which is a translated French series that someone will go in and rework all the French-specific jokes to tap into US nerd culture.
Best of all is a new Peanuts project that had keyboards smoking as the legion of armchair detectives tried to guess what it was: New? Reprints? Ultimate Peanuts by Mark Millar, oh please, internet, tell me!
Turns out it’s a new adaptation of a new Peanuts animated movie called Happiness Is A Warm Blanket Charlie Brown, which Warners Home video will release this month.
Click to continue reading Boom! Goes! Kaboom!
Eagle Returns: Neil Vokes & Jack Herman
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Independent,
Back in the go-go 1980s there were a number of creators who jumped into the direct market with their own comic books, spurred on by a low barrier to entry, an open marketplace and a burst of energy and talent. And the ability to own and control the rights to their creations.
One of the very best of that bunch was Eagle by Jack Herman, Neil Vokes and Rich Rankin.
Now, Moonstone Books is releasing the first collection of this black-and-white classic in a deluxe edition trade paperback.
Moonstone's PR describes the series as "Lone Wolf And Cub meets Blade Runner" and I'd say that's pretty on the mark. Eagle is supernatural adventure with swords. Even if I weren't already a fan of the original series, I'd pick it up based on that alone.
This volume collects the first six issues and offers up a preview of the new series that the guys have in development. Neil and Co. have tossed in some extras here too: a cover gallery, concept sketches, and "editorial pieces from the creative team and artists that were inspired" by Eagle.
Eagle: The Original Adventures TPB Vol. 1 is a whopper, weighing in at 200 pages for just $16.95. That's a bargain for this kind of comic, and its success will pave the way for the rest of the series.
[Artwork: Eagle: The Original Adventures TPB Vol. 1 cover by Neil Vokes]
Comic Book Jobs: Checking Out Craigslist
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Television,
Let’s take a look at the job offerings on my favorite employment-based website.
Do you have a bit of Alex Trebek or Jimmy Kimmel lurking inside you? Well, they’d like it back. Oh, wait. No, there’s a production company that’s looking for a host for the pilot of their new comic book show.
A different TV pilot, this one in New York, needs extras for a fight scene between a superhero and a super-villain.
Do you play music? Do you have a band? You could be chosen to be on the soundtrack for a comic book mini-series.
Hound Comics has a deal for the blogging community involving Miami Wizard World 2011 and some press credentials.
An “established and award-winning production company” is looking for an artist to create a style guide for their upcoming animated series.
And finally, the call is out in Canada for “Female Ninjas.”
Good luck, job seekers!
[Artwork: Jimmy Kimmel]
Comic Book Jobs: All Over The World
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Wizard Entertainment,
Comic books are popular all over the world, and so, it seems, are comic book jobs. Let’s travel:
In Durban City, South Africa, an art team developing an African tribal comic book and they’re looking for “African women to pose for stock photos for it.” The twist? It’s for a Canadian comic book. Go figure.
In Mumbai, India, ACK Media (Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd.) is looking for a Senior Manager Business and Channel Development person. Your main job would be to “develop new channels (e.g., malls, SMS ordering, in flight magazines) for selling our comics, books, DVDs, soft toys and other products.”
If that doesn’t work for you, they’re also looking for: Senior Finance Manager, Senior Manager Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Product Manager, and a Human Resource Manager.
Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: All Over The World
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