Stephen DeStefano: Lucky In Love

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Independent,

Comic book fans might know Stephen DeStefano best from ‘Mazing Man for DC Comics, or Hellboy, Jr. for Dark Horse. Animation fans might know his name from The Venture Bros. and Ren And Stimpy.

His new graphic novel, Lucky In Love, co-created with writer George Chieffet, has just been published by Fantagraphics Books.

That means it’s time to celebrate. Black/White: A Retrospective Of Cartoonist Stephen DeStefano runs from September 16-18 at the mdh Gallery in New York City (233 W. 19th Street). DeStefano and Chieffet will appear on the 16th, starting at 7pm to sign copies of the book and DeStefano will show off (and sell) some original artwork. Wine, I’m led to believe, will be there as well.

And it won’t be just a display of DeStefano’s work from Lucky In Love. There will be stuff from the animated shows and comic books he’s worked on as well as the Popeye licensing stuff he does. It’s a cartoon fan’s dream come true, and did I mention the wine?

So be cartoon-hip and go to a gallery showing of cartoons! This is the kind of event I love to attend, but I’m on the opposite coast.

[Artwork: Cover to Lucky In Love, © Stephen DeStefano and George Chieffet

Read More | mdh Gallery

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Lindsay Lohan: Comic Book Star?

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Independent,

Let us all pause and give thanks to Lindsay Lohan, whose career trajectory will make Brad Renfro look like Gregory Peck.

Now that her most recent trial is behind her and her most recent rehab stint has ended and she’s free-ranging in L.A. yet again, we should celebrate with a look at her comic book career.

Comic book career? That’s right. You can be forgiven if you missed it. Her clothing line has lasted longer.

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Weekend Reading: Breyfogle, Batman, Whedon & Wild Cards

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, Television, Independent,

Welcome to the back to school edition of Weekend Reading. Here are a few things better than homework, unless your homework includes classes at MoCCA.

Everything’s Archie: Norm Breyfogle is interviewed by Matthew Price over at NewsOK. The subject? Archie and the gang at Riverdale.

George R.R. Martin: You know what’s coming up in November, back in print after a decade? Wild Cards 1, expanded with new stuff.

Witchblade: Author Paul Bishop has a favorite Forgotten Book. It’s the Witchblade tie-in novels based on the short-lived TV series with Yancy Butler that was based on the Top Cow comic book without Yancy Butler.

Batman Under the Red Hood: SF Signal has a review of the just-released DVD.

Donald E. Westlake: Whether writing under his own name or his many pseudonyms, Westlake is one of my favorite crime-and-caper writers.

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Vampire PA: J. C. Vaughn, Brendon & Brian Fraim

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Independent,

“I finally had the guts to ask Dee-Dee out, but only after she saw me drive a stake through the heart of a vampire.”

That’s Dean Marklin, vampire hunter in suburban Pittsburgh, the star of Vampire, PA, the new 3-issue mini-series from Moonstone. The series is created and written by J. C. Vaughn and illustrated by Brendon and Brian Fraim. Dean’s found himself in the middle of two warring factions of vampires, and one of the vampires, Jocelyn, may be trying to play him for a sucker. Dean’s already killed her once and he may have to do it again.

This “Fistful of Dollars with vampires” set-up delivers the goods, in large part because of the characters. Dean treats his nighttime vampire hunting as a job – a thing that has to be done to clean up his hometown. He goes about it with precision and good-natured humor, and drags along his friend Scuba Dave and girlfriend Dee-Dee. And, except for the wooden stakes and Super-Soakers filled with holy water, he’s got a normal life – he’d like to get married and re-open the town’s aging movie theater. He’s not some super-human guy either – he’s simply doing the best he can to rid his town of these creatures and is still learning as he goes.

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Comic Con International 2010: Snowflakes By Zach Weiner & Chris Jones

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Reviews, Independent,

I was talking to Zach Weiner (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal) at this year’s San Diego Comic Con and he mentioned that he and artist Chris Jones (the guys behind Captain Excelsior) had a webcomic called Snowflakes that they do with James Ashby. Weiner scripts, Jones arts and Ashby plots.

Zach said the problem with doing a kid-friendly webcomic is that parents tend not to seek them out for their kids - they go right to the “safe” sites like Disney or Nickelodeon and that’s it. And that’s too bad, because they’re missing out on a real treat. Snowflakes began in 2009 and it updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Because it’s the internet, all of the previous episodes are posted so you can always start back at the beginning and catch up.

Here are the basics, cribbed from the site: “On a mountain top somewhere in the Andes mountains, a small group of very, very, very old nuns maintains a cozy orphanage. The kids have lost their families, and it may never stop snowing, but there’s always a fire in the fireplace and a never-ending supply of snowballs just outside the front door.

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Read More | Snowflakes Website

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Weekend Reading: App TV, Scott Pilgrim, Scooby-Doo and Brian Keene

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, Television, Independent,

If you want to know where the future of TV and games is headed, check out this piece at Gaming Business Review by my old buddy Chris Ulm. A co-creator of Rune, co-founder of the Ultraverse (it was his idea), and now the CEO of Appy Entertainment, he thinks a lot about those kinds of things.

This’ll get you started: “The living room right now is a no-man’s land of standards and cables, universally poor and inconsistent user interfaces, huge numbers of channels, multiple boxes of hardware, hated cable companies, and multiple video game systems, each with its own proprietary hardware and expensive software.”

Scott Pilgrim: John Scalzi explains the failure of Edgar Wright’s movie in terms we can all understand: the value of nerd-love.

The Cleveland Show: Tom Spurgeon’s brother interviews voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, the voice of Cleveland Jr. and countless other characters.

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Comic Con International 2010: The Smurfs

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies, Television, Independent,

-Smurf’s up! In the smurfing world of Smurfs, Papercutz has the smurfing Smurf rights and will smurf out some graphic novels for the smurf market.

Written by Yvan Delporte and illustrated by Peyo, the Smurfs began life in the Belgian comic magazine Spirou back in 1958 and eventually spawned an award-winning and long-running Hanna-Barbera animated series back in 1981, and a series of Random House graphic albums around the same time.

And now in seeming anticipation of the

Cheapjack Shakespeare: The Graphic Novel Play

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Independent,

With all this talk of comic books being turned into movies (I’m looking at you Scott Pilgrim and Green Lantern and countless others), how about one that’s being turned into…a play? And no I’m not talking about the expensive Spider-Man musical.

I’m talking about Cheapjack Shakespeare, a comedy about a summer Shakespeare company that’s falling apart as they’re “beset by infidelity, egos, ambition and a particularly ill-timed lightning strike.” Shaun McLaughlin, a reknowned comic book writer (Aquaman) and TV producer (Batman Beyond, Static Shock and various incarnations of Justice League), created the online graphic novel that debuted earlier this year. “It’s like Glee with booze and Shakespeare,” McLaughlin says.

Cheapjack Shakespeare: The Non-Musical has finalized its casting, begun rehearsals and set its premiere date for September 9th at the Alt Theatre in Buffalo, NY. Additional performances will be on September 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25.

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Weekend Reading: Breyfogle, Ellis, Craven, and Spider-Man Sings!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Independent, Marvel Comics,

I can’t believe the Spider-Man musical will hit Broadway on December 21. Are there really enough little old ladies who want to take the bus in from Long Island on a Wednesday afternoon to see an all-singing, all-dancing super-hero? That’s quite a bit different from Starlight Express and Cats, right? My prediction: It’ll close before the Tonys are announced, but then a touring version will criss-cross America for years with Jake Lloyd, Mischa Barton, Gabe Kaplan and Angela Lansbury in key roles.

Now let’s see what else is going on:

Scott Pilgrim I: Over at John Scalzi’s Whatever, guest blogger John Anderson bows down before the triumph that is Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

Scott Pilgrim II: The Early Word takes a look at how a comic book movie adaptation might help sales of said comic and then delivers a slap to the way DC Comics handles itself. “However, those intrigued by the Green Lantern movie are unlikely to be engaged by the continuity-heavy, you-must-buy-every-single-collection tale like Blackest Night. The folks buying Blackest Night? They are already Green Lantern comics fans.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Breyfogle, Ellis, Craven, and Spider-Man Sings!

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The Expendables V. Eat Pray Love V. Scott Pilgrim

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Independent,

Let’s see…what movie should I see this weekend? Well, there’s The Expendables with Sylvester Stallone (who also directed), Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke, Gary Daniels, and cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. All manly men getting ready to punch each other and others, shoot each other and others, and mouth off a bunch of one-liner catchphrases. Plus, added bonus: I’ve met Gary Daniels when he was wearing the original Hardcase costume for a proposed Ultraverse movie.

Then there’s Eat Pray Love where I can watch Julia Roberts be sad because she had to leave her happy marriage, take a pile of money that no one else has and travel around the world to wherever she wants, eat what she wants and have everyone she meets absolutely adore her. I like fantasy movies, but they need to have swords.

But there’s also some indy film starring Michael Cera and directed by that guy who did Shaun of the Dead. It’s called Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and it appears to be based on a comic book or something. Anybody know anything about it?

[Artwork: promo poster for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World]

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