LONE RANGER #11 – PAUL POPE’S PAGES – NEWSARAMA

 

LONE RANGER #11 – PAUL POPE’S PAGES

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Dynamite Entertainment has provided Newsarama with an exclusive look at four of his pages from the upcoming lone Ranger #11.

The solicitation for the issue reads: (cover at right not final cover)
Covers: John Cassaday
Writer: Brett Matthews
Penciller: Sergio Cariello w/Paul Pope

The legend continues to grow as Dynamite continues the first year of all-new Lone Ranger comics!
In this issue, writer Brett Matthews spins a tale that explores the events of the last 4 issues (issues 7-10) and their consequences for Rafael. As we check in on the accused murderer, Tonto pays him a visit and tells a most unique tale. Featuring the incredible art of Sergio Cariello, and the cover art of John Cassaday!

LONE RANGER #11 – PAUL POPE’S PAGES – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: FOR THE LOVE OF COMICS PANEL – NEWSARAMA

It is about time that DC listened to fans again.  They should bring back the letter column!! 

I am also glad that I am not the only one that wants to pretend that Bruce Jones’ run on Nightwing never happened!!

WONDERCON ‘08: FOR THE LOVE OF COMICS PANEL

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Report by Ian Brill
A strange listing in the WonderCon programming book was a panel on Sunday entitled Sunday Conversations: For the Love of Comics which promised Dan DiDio and friends talking about why the love this medium. Before the panel started DiDio, with DC cohorts Fletcher Chu-Fong, Jann Jones, Mike Carlin and Trinity artist Mark Bagley on the dais behind him, asked the audience to move forward so a conversational tone could be struck. That’s just what happened as a relaxed and free-wheeling discussion about childhood memories and recent favorites arose.
DiDio noted how for a few years DC has had panels announcing their forthcoming books and plot threads. Now they wanted to see if they could do panels without the hype machine but where they can just talk comics, fan to fan. The proceedings opened up with DiDio asking the crowd what their first comic book was and who had been collecting comics the longest. The answers were varied but the crowd soon got in synch with each other, trying to remember if they ever read the comics being mentioned by others. When one audience member remembered reading Superman vs. Muhammad Ali the crowd let out an appreciative “oooooh.”

The loose atmosphere of the panel gave the industry professionals a chance to recount anecdotes they would never share at a more structured presentation.
Bagley told of how he got his start at Marvel through, of all things, the Marvel Try-Out Book from the ‘80s. He was 27, working a construction job, married and with child. He didn’t want to hit 30 and still be running around conventions with a portfolio. When he first saw the Try-Out Book he thought it was just a cash grab from Marvel but his friend Cliff Biggers (retailer and co-publisher of Comic Shop News) convinced him to give it a shot. He came in first place out of 90 entries, although Bagley admitted he was mostly up against 12-year-olds.

Once he got to Marvel, along with Doug Hazelwood who won the inking portion of the contest, he had trouble actually getting any work. He eventually had to confront then Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. Arching his neck to look Shooter in the eye he asked him when he’s going to see some gigs. Shooter remembered who Bagley was and gave him a shot. It was, of all things, on one of the New Universe books all of which were that were in the process of crashing and burning. It wasn’t much but from that start Bagley was able to quit his job at Lockheed Martin and support his family by being a comic book artist.

Later in the panel Bagley noted how great it was to finally being able to talk. The last DC panel he participated in he only said a few words about Trinity and wasn’t able to speak at length like the did Sunday
DiDio turned the discussion to the present asking the crowd why they continue reading comics. The answer was still tinged with nostalgia as many people said they follow characters and titles through thick and thin out of loyalty to the books they grew up reading. Some fans expressed that although over the years they have to suffer through some lesser stories (one audience member who was a major Daredevil fan recalled the stories where Matt Murdock was given sight and did jobs for S.H.I.E.L.D.), but they wait for that moment when things will finally be better in their favorite title.

The panel really proved itself to be a real conversation and not a stealth hype session when DiDio asked the question what was the most ridiculous thing the audience had ever seen in a comic. Blog@Newsarama’s own Carla Hoffman said that the issue of Nightwing where Jason Todd becomes some kind of shape-shifting monster was the strangest thing she had encountered in a book. Neither DiDio nor anyone else at DC tried to convince her otherwise. DiDio instead quipped “that’s the best thing about these comics. We pretend that stuff didn’t happen!”

DiDio and Carlin said that one of the great things about superhero stories is the silliness. DiDio’s reign at DC might be seen as one ushering in an era of darkness into the stories but he said he loved really silly stories like the Bob Haney Super-Sons tales. He has even been trying to get a trade of those comics out.

Another issue facing many comic books readers today discussed at the panel whether to stick with monthly comics or switch to trades. DiDio surveyed the crowd, asking which of the readers buy comic book every Wednesday and which wait for the trades. Most of the crowd seemed to still be buying single issues but many, especially some of the older fans, had switched to trades so they can get the complete story in one sitting.
When the fans buying single issues talked about their experiences the discussion turned to delays and art changes in books. The DC people were candid in telling the crowd that a problem that they run into is that some artists need to schedule their work better. A lot of them will take multiple jobs, from comics to trading cards and beyond, because as freelancers there’s the fear that money might dry up for a period of time and it would be nice to have a lot of paychecks coming in at once.

Bagley expressed concern about artists who work so hard to make all of their penciling work so beautiful that it takes forever and there’s no room left for work from the inker or letterer. For DC this means that fill-in issues have to be run but it was noted by panelists and audience alike that a single issue story can be a refreshing break. Every comic is someone’s first and a simple fill-in story might hook someone.
The conversation felt like it could continue for hours but after only one it was time to quit. The convention itself was ending soon. DC seemed please with their little experiment, Carlin declaring that was his favorite panel in 15 years.

WONDERCON ‘08: FOR THE LOVE OF COMICS PANEL – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN

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Peter Svensson
The world premiere of The Spectacular Spider-Man Animated Series hit Wonder-Con, and afterwards the cast and crew made themselves available for questions.
After some initial problems with the volume level, the pilot episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man, “Survival of the Fittest” was played for a crowded audience at Wonder-Con. The episode is set to air March 8th on Kids WB, as part of an hour-long block along with the second episode. The pilot introduced the sixteen-year-old Peter Parker, having spent his summer vacation being Spider-Man returning to Manhattan Midtown Magnet High School, and dealing with the Vulture as well as facing the Enforcers. As well as creating a large supporting cast, ranging from Aunt May and Gwen Stacy to Eddie Brock and J. Jonah Jameson. A plethora of other Spider-Man characters made appearances in the episode, which aired in an almost complete form. Some touching up between the panel and the airing was still to be done.
After the episode concluded, Michael Vogel, Director of animated programming at Sony Pictures took the dais and introduced the other panelists. Supervising Producer Greg Weisman (Gargyoles, Captain Atom) , Supervising Director Victor Cook, character designer Sean “Cheeks” Galloway, the voice actor for Spider-Man Josh Keaton and Eddie Brock’s voice, Ben Diskin.
When asked what their goal was with this series as opposed to previous animated Spider-Man series, supervising producer Greg Weisman (Gargoyles) explained “Our goal was to start from scratch, look at the old Stan Lee/Ditko/Romita Sr, a young Spider-Man like he was at the beginning. Not skipping ahead to college. To really play out the early days his being of Spider-Man. The theme of the show is ‘the education of Peter Parker.’ He thinks he has the world wired, we’re going to take him to school. The second mandate was to create a Spider-Man who moved fundamentally.” Victor Cook elaborated on the need to make a Spider-Man who while recognizable was still simplified enough for the requirements of television animation, and the short production times given.
Weisman then explained their decision to conflate the various eras of Spider-Man history, taking characters who didn’t normally meet Spider-Man in high school and postulating what they would have been like had they been around at that time, while being true to the core truths of the characters.
“Each episode is a stand alone, but it’s an ongoing story, like the comics. Spanning the thirteen episodes of the first season, the 26 episodes we have in the works.” said Victor Cook.
Sean Galloway explained his method for designing the characters for animation, that he wanted the characters to have a modern urban feel. “I want people to think ‘I’d wear something like that.’ It kept me on track.”
We then learned that the voice of Spider-Man, Josh Keaton, is a large Spider-Man fan. “My car’s license plate is THWIP. I’m getting the Spider-Man graphic put on the hood. I was a big geek in high school. So I relate to him. I was like Peter Parker, only I couldn’t stick to walls.” Keaton then explained what he felt like when working on the series. “It was really daunting, it’s such an iconic character, I didn’t want to let anyone down. [...] That’s Spider-man! I grew up reading the book, but I didn’t read as much as I liked. So when I started I picked up the Essentials, did my homework, learned everything. I hope to have translated that into the show.”
Ben Diskin followed up, explaining “Same thing for me. I grew up on the 90’s series. That’s the big Spider-man series out when I was a kid. Venom was my favorite villain. I’ve wanted to do that role since I was 12.” Leading Greg Weisman to jokingly remark, “Not that we’re saying Brock is Venom!” a running gag that continued when any fan asked about the villain.
Q: Is there a future for the series, with Kids WB being canceled?
Michael Vogel: Yes, absolutely. First 13 episodes will air on Kids WB this year. The next 13 are in production. Marvel and Sony are talking to a bunch of people about places where it will air. The CW has been considered.
Q: In the comic series, Venom becomes an anti-hero at some point. Will he do that in this series?
Michael Vogel: If he were in the series, let’s just say he’d be a big problem for Spider-Man, and to find out after that you’ll have to keep watching!
Q: What is your favorite and least favorite part of the series?
Josh Keaton: There is no worst, from the time I get the script, it’s nothing but fun. Best, is these guys and the cast I get to work with. Talented people in the cast we haven’t seen yet.
Q: How much of an influence is Ultimate Spider-Man in this?
Greg Weisman: I’ve read Ultimate Spider-Man, we saw good ideas, you saw Kenny Kong in the episode with Flash Thompson. I’m not shy about stealing from Bendis. But that was cherry picking, whether from the movies, Ultimate comics, later continuity, but the main influences are Lee, Ditko, Romita Sr. When I started work on this, I went out and bought all the Essential Spider-Man volumes, I took copious notes to find the core truths of each member of Spider-Man’s supporting cast.
Q: Do you have plans to use Man-Thing in the series?
Greg Weisman: No, only because we’re not allowed to use other characters from the Marvel Universe. We had interest in using other characters, but also want Spider-Man to stand on his own four legs. [...] It’s a lawyerly decision.
Q: Why did you change the Vulture’s color scheme?
Sean “Cheeks” Galloway: Originally we did use the green color scheme, but Marvel gave notes to not make everyone green. So we went for a more Marvel Knights approach.

WONDERCON ‘08: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: THE LUCASFILM PANEL – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: THE LUCASFILM PANEL

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by Peter Svensson
The premiere of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars theatrical trailer was the endcap to Lucasfilm’s first panel of the convention season. Head of Fan Relations for Lucasfilms, Steve Sansweet, introduced the company’s newest plans and upcoming releases. After first reminding fans that they’ve been proven wrong about there not being any new Star Wars films twice before, he affirmed the theatrical release of a Star Wars animated feature, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Set between Episodes II and III, the feature and upcoming weekly TV series will flesh out the period previously explored by the traditionally animated cartoon shorts.
A short video about the history of organized Star Wars fandom at conventions followed. The clip started with San Diego Comic Con in 1977 and continued through the series of Star Wars: Celebration conventions that have become an annual event for fans, ending with the announcement of Star Wars: Celebration Japan. The convention will occur on July 19th through 21st in a convention center outside of Tokyo. More information will be announced on the Star Wars website. http://www.starwars.com
The upcoming video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was the next topic of conversation, as game producer Brett Rector entered the stage. After the trailer for the game was played, Rector explained the basic plot. The Force Unleashed casts the player as Darth Vader’s apprentice in the time period between Episodes III and IV, charged with exterminating the Jedi and not leaving any witnesses. He also confirmed that the player really does get to use the force to pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky, as portrayed in the trailer. Responding to comments from Sansweet about the extreme depiction of force powers in the game as opposed to the films, he explained that the Clone Wars cartoon by Genndy Tartakovsky was his main inspiration. “It’s not breaking continuity, but a new way of looking at force powers.” said Rector.
George Lucas was involved to some extent with the creation of the videogame, giving guidelines for what they needed to include such as comedy and a love interest. According to Rector, the game is at the Alpha stage, having been completed and free of all major bugs. It’s set for release summer 2008. The game was delayed due to the need to create new technologies for the new generation videogame systems that the game will be released for. The Wii version will use the Wii Remote for the lightsaber, and the Nunchuck accessory for the other Force powers.
Familiar faces from the films and the expanded universe are set to appear. Confirming rumors stated in the recent Vanity Fair article, Rector explained that players will be able to play Darth Vader in the first level of the game. Vader is said to play like people would expect, not running but walking briskly. Gameplay footage from the XBOX 360 version was shown, which had the player kill a large number of stormtroopers, then face a Jedi Master on the planet Raxus Prime.
On April 29th, the fourth and final volume of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles comes out on DVD. A short trailer was played, after which it was announced that there would be ten DVDs with seven full length episodes and thirty hours of bonus documentaries.
Indiana Jones returns to movie theaters on May 22 with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The film’s trailer was shown, followed by a trailer for Lego Indiana Jones: The Video Game.
A short video from Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich was next, interspersing clips from their recent Star Wars themed special on Adult Swim with their answering questions from fans and apologizing for not attending the con. After explaining that they named the show from a Chinese take-out menu as the reasoning for why they chose Robot Chicken instead of Droid Chicken, and commenting on how George Lucas smells good, they said that they probably will include a new Star Wars parody of some sort in their upcoming fourth season.
Then, a short video about the upcoming Star Wars: Clone Wars animated film and series, set to air on Cartoon Network and TNT as a weekly series after a premiere movie shows in theaters August 15th, aired, featuring supervising director Dave Filoni, who explained that fans have been interested in the Clone Wars since their first mention in Star Wars back in 1977. The series is set to further explore the character of Anakin Skywalker, his relationship with mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, and introduce new character Ashoka Tano, Anakin’s padawan apprentice. The young girl Jedi Knight will be introduced in the animated feature.
Producer of the upcoming Star Wars animated feature film and TV series Catherine Winder with Dave Filoni then took the stage, flanked by stormtroopers. Claiming the union cost was exorbitant, the stormtroopers were then ordered to leave by Sansweet. They discussed the series as being what George Lucas wanted to do now that he wasn’t constricted by the need to complete the six film series. Each thirty minute episode will tell a complete story, that will over time form a larger story arc. While the panelists couldn’t discuss the plot for the film, they did talk about the production’s desire to be faithful the original designs for the 1977 film, as well as the work of every designer who followed. George Lucas, who was originally planning to not be very involved with the production meets with the team every week, approving or disapproving of their work as he sees fit. “George will say, ‘Guys, what are you doing? That’s not Star Wars!’ or ‘That’s Star Wars.” said Filoni.
The panel ended with the trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie.

WONDERCON ‘08: THE LUCASFILM PANEL – NEWSARAMA

Review of Justice League: The New Frontier DVD

My review copy of The New Frontier was waiting for me in the mail when I got home on Friday, and the Wife and I watched it as soon as we got the dogs fed and settled down for the evening.

Overall, I liked the movie. It left me with a big smile on my face. My Wife liked it too (a self proclaimed hater of cartoons, even though she usually likes watching superhero stuff me when I watch it ) and even said it was “pretty good”. We had a lot of fun figuring out who was doing the voice on all the characters.

From a “big fan of the book” perspective, I was a little disappointed. I knew that they had to leave a lot of stuff out, but I think they took some of the best stuff from the beginning of the book out and the movie kind of suffered. If there was any movie that DC was going to do where they went longer than 75 minutes, this is the one. Just like the review on Blog@Newsarama said:

The New Frontier, book and movie, answers in the resounding affirmative. If you liked the book, and won’t miss the non-super folk, this movie is a no-brainer. If you’ve never read the book, the DVD is a great introduction.

Ultimately, JL:NF is at least worth a look. It’s not the Peter Jackson version, but it was never going to be.

If you have never read the book, I highly recommend you do. For me, it replaced Kingdom Come as my favorite story. I love this story so much; I have all of the original series, both of the trades, AND the Absolute Edition.

I also really liked the JLA documentary. I have never been a big historian of the “behind the scenes” stuff on how comics were made over the years, so this was a lot of fun to watch. I even watched the audio commentary with Cooke this morning, which I usually never do, and enjoyed that as well.

Even though I got the one-disc edition for free, I think I am still going to buy the two-disc edition just for the extra stuff on the second DVD. I really enjoy those documentaries on comics. The one on Superman: Doomsday was even better than the movie in my opinion.

In a nutshell, if you are, or used to be a big fan of comic books, this DVD is worth a look.

WONDERCON ‘08: IRON MAN MOVIE PANEL – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: IRON MAN MOVIE PANEL

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Report by Blake Morse
Saturday evening at WonderCon a panel for Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Iron Man movie was held with special Q&A guest, Jon Favreau (Elf) director of the film.
First off was a query into the use of the song “Iron Man” as recorded by Black Sabbath. A fan was curious as to how much interaction Favreau had with Ozzy Osbourne. He replied that they, “Had talked to Sharon Osbourne (Ozzy’s wife)…She’s very involved in his(Ozzy’s) music.

He was then asked how much he enjoyed making an action film for a change. He responded the he, “loved it, especially working with Robert (Downey Jr.)…” and hopes to do it again.
Next a fan wanted to know if they had really made Robert fly using hoverboots. While Favreau did not directly answer this question, he did use it as a clever segue into a few short clips from the film that showed Downey as Tony Stark developing the rocket shoes as well as an Iron Man prototype suit. Favreau said that he picked these clips to show because he thought you could get a better feel for the character that has not been shown thoroughly in previous trailers.

He then went on to talk about the Iron Man suit itself saying they tried to keep it close to the original comic book look but wanted to give it something unique that set it apart as well. A panelist then asked if Iron Man’s vault of armors would make an appearance. Favreau said that since toy tie-ins were a huge amount of revenue for films (sighting his son’s obsession with Spider-Man toys from the past three Spider-Man films), that he and Marvel had gone through tons of back issues looking for interesting or useful suits that they could possibly use.

A young filmmaker in the audience then asked what Favreau thought of the current state of independent films, since indie film had been Favreau’s roots. Favreau said that it was an exciting time to be independent since you did not need a lot of money for good equipment due to advances in technology or distribution thanks to the popularity of YouTube and other websites. ”If you put it out there and it’s good, it will get attention…you no longer have to go through the system.” He cited Peter Jackson’s rise in mainstream film as an example.

Favreau was next asked what made him decide to do the Iron Man film. He jokingly replied, ”The box office returns on Zathura”. He said that the Internet was a tool he had used to get opinions from the people who see his films, ”It’s like a giant water cooler” and that the audience “would be surprised what a difference they make”. He wants to make sure he’s making the films that fans want to see and the World Wide Web was the best place to make sure he was doing that.

Next he talked about what it was like working with special effects guru Stan Winston (Jurassic Park, Zathura). He described Winston as, “an icon” and said that the CGI crew would have to work around the physical suits that Winston made. One of Favreau’s major concerns was that there would be complete seamlessness transitioning from CGI and “real” shots in the film. Favreau said it takes real talent to work with CGI and that he had a new respect for Michael Bay after seeing what he did with the Transformers film last summer.

A fan than asked Favreau about the James Rhodes/War Machine character and what role he would play in the movie. He stated that they had taken some liberties with character, such as making him a General in the U.S. army and using him as a comedic foil.
Favreau then mentioned that he would hope movies like this would lead to more dynamic films that take place in the Marvel Universe. He specifically sighted the Avengers as movie he would hope to direct based off the success of the Iron Man film.

He also said that the “Demon in a Bottle” story arc was one that he was interested in for a possible Iron Man sequel.
He was next questioned about internet rumors of characters from this summer’s Hulk movie appearing in Iron Man and vice versa. Jovially he said, “Yes, it’s true, there are rumors on the Internet.” He than went on to say that some of them were true and some were not and since the premiere was still far away he wasn’t going to give up all his secrets just yet.

Favreau than talked about the difficulties of directing, saying it was like making a Macy’s day parade float. There are so many things that can go wrong.
He then took a moment to apologize for mixing up dates on the new trailer’s Lost premiere, which had been slated for last week and went on to promise that it would be on this coming week.
And since he could not show the assembled fans that trailer, since it was exclusive for Lost, he would instead show them another new trailer to end the Q&A.

The new trailer was action packed and showed off more of the films main villains. Cuts were short so it was hard to get a grasp on what was going on from one scene to the next. There was a brief glimpse of what looked like a romantic scene between Tony Stark and his assistant Pepper Potts.

WONDERCON ‘08: IRON MAN MOVIE PANEL – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: THE DARK HORSE PANEL – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: THE DARK HORSE PANEL

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Jeremy Atkins, head of publicity, opened the Dark Horse panel at WonderCon on Saturday afternoon which he co-hosted with Editor Shawna Gore.

Atkins began the panel discussion by asking the audience if they were reading Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was met by applause. Some of the upcoming Buffy plans include Drew (Cloverfield, Buffy) Goddard writing the new arc beginning in March; the next trade shipping in June (which collects the Brian K. Vaughan arc); and a major, although unnamed Buffy and Joss Whedon bit of news coming in July, perhaps during Comic-Con International.

2008 will be a big year for Hellboy, Atkins then said, with a lot of publishing to support the upcoming movie sequel, and two new series coming at the end of the year – a three issue series set in Appalachia, and a six issue Hellboy: The Wild Hunt, which Mike Mignola was working on at the same time he was scripting the second movie with Guilermo del Toro. Speaking of the movie, Atkins said that it will completely satisfy fans for everything they want from Hellboy, as well as what they may be looking for from Pan’s Labyrinth.

In teasing the upcoming Serenity mini-series, Atkins said, “Just imagine what would happen if one of their big deals actually paid off.”
Gore then took over the presentation, and spoke about the upcoming Creepy magazine collections. “It’s known as a horror anthology, but it’s really one of the greatest art anthologies to ever be presented in any medium,” Gore said. The original material will not be shrunk to fit the collections, and Dark Horse will collect the entire 20 year run in either 13 or 14 volumes. None of the original artwork will be altered in the new collections, Gore stressed. The first volume will come out in July, and three volumes a year are planned, with Eerie due to start next year.

In connection with this, Gore said, Dark Horse will produce a new Creepy anthology which will be in comic book format. The series will be black and white, and feature well-known writers and artists from many genres.
Gore then announced that she and Dark Horse have reached an agreement with Bernie Wrightson to reprint his 1983 version of Frankenstein. The Dark Horse 25th anniversary edition of the illustrated novel will be in hardcover, Gore said.

Gore also announced that Dark Horse will collect The K Chronicles in an omnibus collection of the first four collections by Keith Knight. The collection will be 8 ½ x 11” and over 500 pages long. The collection will feature an introduction by Kyle Baker.
Atkins then said that Dark Horse will be re-publishing the first volume of The Perry Bible Fellowship with new material in a new reprint edition. The collection, Atkins said is another step in Dark Horse’s initiative to collect high quality webcomics, and will be collecting both Achewood and Wonder Mart later this year in a similar format to Perry Bible Fellowship.

Moving back to movies, Atkins said that Dark Horse will be doing new Indiana Jones comics starting in June entitled Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods, along with the film adaptation coming in May.
Dark Horse’s Star Wars Vector will continue throughout the year, Atkins said. The crossover storyline will tie all the titles together in continuity – though Atkins was mute on how it will all work out, and admitted that he was originally skeptical about the storyline being able to do it, but it does.

Moving to Conan, Atkins said that Dark Horse will continue with the character in Conan the Cimmerian #0 in June. Conan #50 in March will be double sized “with a couple of surprises,” Atkins said. Dark Horse will also be relaunching many of the other Robert E. Howard characters in the coming months, Atkins said, including Kull and Solomon Kane, both launching this summer.
Dark Horse manga will launch Gantz in June, Atkins said.

Moving to their own online comics, Atkins discussed Dark Horse Presents which appears online at MySpace.com. The “book” will continue on for another year, Atkins said. Shaman Warrior will be appearing every Friday online, chapter by chapter, until the first volume is complete.
The second series of Umbrella Academy is in the plans, Atkins said, but a launch date has not been set.

Moving back to her horror titles, Gore said that Steve Niles’ Criminal Macabre will be moving online in Dark Horse Presents with an eight page short in April, and another in May, both drawn by Kyle Hotz. A collection of Criminal Macabre: My Demon Baby will be coming this summer.
The second collection of Emily the Strange will be coming in the fall. Gore said that another “Emily” based announcement will be coming later this year – “Something which may not have to do with the comics, specifically.”

Gore announced that she’s also shepherding a new horror series entitled The Cleaners which focuses on trauma scene cleaners who are called in to clean up cases that the police don’t want people to know about…things that could not, or should not have happened and border on the supernatural. Gore said she was pitched the series by Mark Wheaton and Joshua Fialkov, and fell in love with it immediately. The artist for The Cleaners is Rahsan Ekdal, a newcomer who first showed Gore his portfolio at last year’s WonderCon. “He draws like if Geof Darrow and Kevin O’Neil had a little love baby.”

Atkins then opened the floor to questions from the audience.

The first volume of Creepy should be released by Comic-Con: International. Gore clarified on the collection process, saying that the volumes will not collect the reprint stories that appeared later in the run.
Currently, there are no plans for any Dark Horse/DC crossovers. “When it makes sense, we’ll find ways to make it work, for sure,” Atkins said.

Asked about how Dark Horse will deal with Solomon Kane, given that he is shown to have some beliefs that are very not politically correct, Atkins said about the character who is something anachronistic, that Dark Horse want to remain true to the vision of the character, but not focus on Kane’s moral values that are somewhat disagreeable.
No artist has been named for Solomon Kane, but Editor Scott Allie will write it.

Dark Horse has a one shot graphic novel for Star Wars: Unleashed which will tie into the game. The OGN is due in late summer or fall.
Asked if any more 13th Son projects coming, Gore said that Kelley Jones has a story in mind for it, but is also working on Supernatural Freak Machine with Steve Niles, and Gore wants him to finish that before moving back to 13th Son.
No new Aliens vs Predator projects are planned, Atkins said, but the property has a lot support in the Dark Horse offices.

WONDERCON ‘08: THE DARK HORSE PANEL – NEWSARAMA

NEWSARAMA.COM: WONDERCON ‘08 – DCU COUNTDOWN TO CRISIS PANEL

WONDERCON ‘08 – DCU COUNTDOWN TO CRISIS PANEL

Report by Matt Brady

DC kicked off its second major panel of WonderCon, Countdown to Crisis Saturday afternoon, with Dan DiDio serving as host.

DiDio opened the panel by warming up the crowd and welcoming the audience and then introduced the panelists: Mike Carlin, Trinity writer Kurt Busiek, his penciling partner Mark Bagley, writers Judd Winick and Adam Beechen, and DC’s Bob Wayne and Jann Jones.

DiDio then announced a special panelist – J. Michael Straczynski. DiDio said that Straczynski will be working with DC Comics in the very near future.

DiDio welcomed JMS to the panel, and said that it was exciting for him personally to bring him to DC, as he’s a huge Babylon 5 fan.

JMS said that he has always been a massive DC fan, and has more Curt Swan original artwork than he can describe. “The chance to work in the new universe is a great opportunity,” JMS said.

He added that he’s looking at projects for later this year and the first part of next year, to which DiDio added that he has an open door and is more than welcome to work on anything he’d like.

DiDio then moved on to correcting something he said at yesterday’s panel, saying that there is no BatWOMAN series coming soon, but Adam Beechen will be writing a new BatGIRL mini-series.Beechen said that the story will answer all the questions from the last few years, and will address all of the questions of why Batgirl has been acting the way she’s been acting, and set the stage for new Batgirl adventures to come.

DiDio then moved to Winick and asked him to talk about what’s going on in his titles.Winick spoke about the ending of the Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special, saying that it was the most over the top thing they could think of, and no one in the production of the book thought anyone would take is seriously. “It was so over the top we thought it was obvious….we brought him back right away. And then, we shot Connor.”

This was met by a chorus of “boos” from the crowd, which Winick answered with “He’s not dead, dead – he’s just brain dead – in comics, that’s nothing.”

And besides,” Winick continued, “I’m the schmuck that brought back Jason Todd – he can always come back.”

DiDio then moved to Busiek, asking him what prompted him to want to take on a weekly series by himself. “Rank stupidity,” Busiek deadpanned.

The writer explained (as he previously has to Newsarama) how he original pitched an idea to DiDio that would have been seven pages a week, and two years later, it’s 22 pages.

Asked about his role in it, Mark Bagley joked that he came to DC to get away from Straczynski, to which the writer said, “There is no escape.”

The artist said that he was reluctant to come to WonderCon because he had to get back to work, and that’s one of the way he can stay on track – by not going to conventions. “I’ve got some other artists I’d like you to tell that to,” DiDio joked.

Carlin then spoke about Trinity, saying that the main story starring Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman will be connected to the back-up stories to tell one larger, three-act story. Additionally, Carlin reiterated that Trinity will not be connected to the rest of the DC Universe, and will stand on its own.

Busiek said that the backups will be tight in their connection, as the first back up will introduce the villains of the story, the backup in issue #2 will start a major battle, etc…

Opening to questions for JMS (as he had to leave early), DiDio was asked by someone in the crowd if they are going to divorce Superman, in apparent reference to the aftermath of JMS’s last Spider-Man story, “One More Day.”Never,” DiDio said.

JMS answered another fan, saying that he’s hoping to do more Babylon 5 comics now that he’s back at DC, and hopefully, will be able to complete the Babylon 5 graphic novel.

“Superman,” was JMS’ answer when asked who is his favorite DC character?

Moving to the “kids books” Jones said that a woman stopped by the DC booth Friday and said that reading Tiny Titans was like getting a hug. As the crowd said a unison “awwwww” Carlin quickly interjected, “That’s not what reading Trinity is going to be like.”In discussing the titles, DiDio hinted that perhaps as many as two more titles are coming from DC in the same vein as Tiny Titans, Super Friends, and The Magic of Shazam.

Asked if there were plans to collect the original Ambush Bug, Wayne and DiDio said that they would be considering it in the coming weeks.

“She will be appearing…in things,” DiDio answered when asked if Batwoman will be appearing soon. He added that the character will be an integral part of the DC Universe in 2008.

“At the end of Countdown, the multiverse is rarin’ to go,” Carlin said when a fan asked about the health of the multiverse.

Asked about Aquaman, DiDio asked the fan back who is Aquaman now, to which the fan answered, “I’m not sure right now.”DiDio took a poll of the audience to see which Aquaman was the crowd’s favorite, which showed the audience to be split among the different versions. DiDio said that it’s something they’re trying to figure out – which Aquaman should be the Aquaman to bring back.

DiDio said that while the Jim Aparo version is most recognizable, the “harpoon hand” version is also well recognized in the media. All in all, DiDio said, they’re taking their time to bring Aquaman back.

Asked about the previously-announced-some-time-ago All-Star Batgirl, DiDio said that neither the announced creative team of Geoff Johns or JG Jones will be able to do it in the near future, and they are looking at bringing in another team to do it, but have to wait for the other team to come free with their schedules.

Winick said that he will be returning to this own creation Barry Ween some time in the future, and is actually kicking around a story idea now.

The young fan that gave DiDio a hard time about Wally West Flash last year was back in the crowd this year, and thanked DiDio for bringing Wally back. DiDio asked the fan to come up and sit on the panel with the creators as he told the crowd the story about how the young fan doggedly stuck to his question about Wally West returning last year.The fan, named Wyatt, remained on the panel as the official “maybe” person to answer questions with that word.

“He’s coming back, but he’s more dangerous than ever – now he’s Quadragon!” Busiek answered to a question of whether or not Trigon will be returning in the pages of Titans.

DiDio said that Green Lantern will shortly explore the secrets of the origin of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, followed by the Red Lanterns which leads into the “Darkest Night” storyline.

There are no plans at this time for a Batman Beyond comic book series.

Winick’s answer to bringing back Tempest/Aqualad – yes, but not right away was his answer. “It’s Titans, so of course.”

Answering a question about Jimmy Olsen’s fate, Carlin revealed that the cover to Countdown #2 features a giant Turtle Boy fighting Darkseid. Astute readers will remember however, that Friday at WonderCon it was revealed Olsen will survive Countdown and in fact, Geoff Johns and James Robinson have big plans for him in the Superman titles.

Plans for the 50th Anniversary of the Legion of Super-Heroes? “You will see the Legion of Super-Heroes, you will see the Legion of Super-Heroes, and you will see the Legion of Super-Heroes in the DC Universe #0“

Currently there are no plans to bring out trades of the earlier issues of Birds of Prey.

Asked if Supergirl can show up in Tiny Titans, DiDio and Jones said that they are looking at bringing Supergirl into the young readers’ series.

Asked if one of the 52 Earths of the DC multiverse was the Milestone Universe, DiDio said that he loves the Milestone books, and feels that it would be great to see those books come back, and that it’s something that they need to work out with the Milestone creators. “It’s something that takes lawyers rather than fans,” Carlin said. “We’ve actually worked on it many times over the years, and we keep at it and hope to get something working.”

Hawkman will be playing a part in Final Crisis, DiDio said, but he will be playing a larger role in Rann/Thanagar: Holy War .”He’s in Trinity as well, starting with issue #6,” Busiek said.

Are there plans for a Power Girl monthly series? Wayne said that he thought he saw it on a big board in a room, but it wasn’t there lately.”There’s a story that’s going to be told where Power Girl goes to visit Earth-2, and how that story resolves itself could ultimately lead to more stories for Power Girl,” DiDio said.

Asked if there are more plans for Harley Quinn, DiDio said, “If you came to the New York Comic Con (April), I would have answers for you,” referring to the current developments with the character in Countdown.

Will Wonder Girl, Robin, and the rest of the sidekicks ever stop being so “emo?” DiDio: “Have you ever met a teenager?”

DiDio said that the upcoming Rogues Revenge will address what’s been going on with the Rogues, and their part in Bart Allen’s death and how they come to reconcile that.

Is the “Great Disaster” of Countdown and Final Crisis the same thing? Carlin: “No – you will see the Great Disaster in Countdown.”

Is there any chance of a letter column in any book other than Ambush Bug? “No plans at this time,” DiDio said.

Is Earth-13 the animated DCU? DiDio: “No. It’s supposed to be a darker version of the DC Universe.”

The big story of Final Crisis? “It is the day that evil wins in the DCU,” DiDio said.

What are the Kuberts doing? Adam is finishing up the “Last Son” story, and will be moving on to a standalone mini-series; Andy’s is on his second issue of a four-part mini-series, and has another project DC will be announcing later this year.

A Lex Luthor mini-series is in the works that’s not on the schedule yet.

The Sinestro Corps will not be playing a role in Final Crisis, but the Alpha Lanterns will be.End of live updates

NEWSARAMA.COM: WONDERCON ‘08 – DCU COUNTDOWN TO CRISIS PANEL

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI SPOTLIGHT PANEL – NEWSARAMA

 

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI SPOTLIGHT PANEL

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Report by Ian Brill
J. Michael Straczynski stood in front of one of the largest rooms in the Moscone Center West at WonderCon Saturday as the hour upon him devoted to his life and work began, taking questions from fans of Babylon 5, Rising Stars, Amazing Spider-Man and Squadron Supreme.

Announcing the projects he has recently finished and what was next proved that Straczynski might very well be one of the hardest working writers in popular culture. The big news in his comic book writing career is that with his Marvel exclusivity over he will be doing books for DC Comics soon, although he can’t announce what the specific title or titles he will write.
He has also signed a deal with Image recently of which will come two creator-owned books, Justice and Ten Grand.

He has not left Marvel behind. The Twelve will continue its limited run and Thor is an ongoing Straczynski wants to write as long as possible
For the world of film his script for The Changeling has been made into a film directed by Clint Eastwood, produced by Ron Howard and starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich. Straczynski was quite proud to say that the first draft was shot. The film comes to theaters November 7th.

He has also written the screenplay to World War Z for Plan B Studios and Paramount, based on the book by Max Brooks. It will follow the author of the U.N. report of the Zombie Wars. He is adapting the story “A March into the Sunlight” about a college campus and the Vietnam was in 1968 for Tom Hanks’s studio. For Fox he has written a script for a Silver Surfer feature. He has seven more projects he can get to now that the WGA strike is over.
Audience questions led the rest of the hour. Squadron Supreme was brought up early on. Straczynski says that when the book went from Supreme Power to Squadron Supreme and the focus was taken off of Hyperion “I started to suck.” Straczynski asked that the book stop.

Asked about what the legacy of Babylon 5 is, Straczynski said it opened the door for science fiction to tell their stories in long, complicated arcs with lasting consequences. He sees the influence of his creation in Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and The 4400.

For what the Silver Surfer movie entails Straczynski says it will cover the origin of the character. He said it will feature Galactus, noting that the latest Fantastic Four film held off on showing Galactus to reveal him for this film.
On what his influences are Straczynski listed Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling, and Norman Corwin. “Guys who have a moral point-of-view and can do things with words that I can’t do.” Straczynski says is what he sees in those authors. He implored the audience to seek out the work of radio dramatist Corwin, saying it is some of his favorite writing ever.

Concerning the “One More Day” storyline in Spider-Man Straczynski said that Joe Quesada brought him the idea of Aunt May getting shot leading to a story that would reset Spider-Man’s status quo. Straczynski didn’t agree with all the details but thought they would be worked out later and agreed to do it.
As for how it turned out Straczynski says “Joe Quesada is a friend and a good editor but we had different ideas of how to do the series and it was his call.” He then went on to praise Quesada for the job he has done turning Marvel around after the company’s bankruptcy.

Straczynski’s tenure on Fantastic Four was brought up. He said there are definitely more stories he wants to tell. When he started both Fantastic Four that book and Amazing Spider-Man were becoming more tied into the larger events going on at Marvel, which Straczynski was uncomfortable with. It was around that time that he pulled back his work for Marvel, getting ready to start working for other companies.

Straczynski had an inspirational message for his audience. He brought up the fact that at this and other solo panels he has done he never sits but stands before the audience. When the audience cried out why he told them the reason was “because you always stand when addressing your superiors. You, the next generation of dreamers, are my superiors. I look forward to the stories that you create.”
He revealed that he is working on an autobiography that will tell the story of how anyone can become a writer, even someone from the streets of New Jersey with a funny name. “It doesn’t matter where you come from,” he said. “If you have the skills you’ll get there.”

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI SPOTLIGHT PANEL – NEWSARAMA

WONDERCON ‘08: WARNER’s 10,000 B.C./GET SMART PANEL – NEWSARAMA

 

WONDERCON ‘08: WARNER’s 10,000 B.C./GET SMART PANEL

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Report by Blake Morse
Saturday afternoon a Q&A panel was held for two upcoming Warner Brother’s films, 10,000 B.C. and Get Smart. The panel started with an introduction from Director of Programming for WonderCon, Eddie Ibrahim.

Ibrahim explained how delighted WonderCon was to be able to get such major coverage from Hollywood on the weekend of the Oscars. He then went on to quickly introduce Jeff Wattley. Wattley was only out momentarily to show a trailer for 10,000 B.C. and then introduce the film’s director Roland Emmerich (Stargate, Independence Day).

Emmerich thanked the crowd for coming and explained how pleased he was to be at WonderCon, telling the audience, ”You are the kind of guys who watch my movies.”

The audience was than treated to a special, never-before-seen trailer for 10,000 B.C. that featured a Wooly Mammoth hunt and a few brief glimpses of what appeared to be a dinosaur. The trailer also revealed some new information on the plot of the film which follows one primitive man, played by Steven Strait, whose life is changed when his village is attacked by slave traders who kidnap his love-interest, played by Camilla Belle. She is taken to what appears to be Egypt and the epic journey of our hero’s journey begins.

After the trailer Emmerich invited the stars Belle and Strait to join him on stage for a question and answer session.
Emmerich was first asked how difficult this movie was to film. He said it was the hardest movie he ever made. Since it was shot in both New Zealand and Africa balancing the complexities of shooting on two continents was a hardship.

When asked of his influences for the film he remarked that he had watched a documentary on the history channel about primitive man and a book entitled, Fingerprints of God, which is book on the theory of lost civilizations. He also stated he was big fan of The Quest for Fire and has always been inspired by ancient Egypt. He also stated, “My Mother always said I had a vivid imagination.”
One fan noted how similar Emmerich’s world was to that of Conan the Barbarian’s. Emmerich admitted to being a big fan of the Conan world and said his world had a lot to do with Conan’s in a weird way, since no one knows what happened in prehistory. He felt it gave him chance to be creative in the same way.

Emmerich also responded to rumors that his next film was indeed going to be 2012. He simply said that it was, “true” and he could discuss nothing about it.
The actors discussed what type of preparation work was done before filming. Strait said he spent time getting comfortable with the dialect which was a mix of English and Arabic as well as extensive physical training for the action scenes of the film. The actor did most of his own stunts for the film but was not too worried or afraid of which he accredited to having a great, well organized team, saying, ”I got nothing more than some cuts and bruises.”

Belle said that she prepared for the film by “Trying to simplify mannerisms” such as the way she walked and used facial expressions. She also said that the make-up and shooting on location was a great way for her to get into character.
Next they were questioned as to the difficulty of working with CGI. Both described it as awkward at first. Belle said, “You always feel stupid with stuntmen in jumpsuits running around trying to scare you.”
Finally the entire panel was asked who their favorite super heroes were, since this was, after all, a comic book convention.
Emmerich replied, ”Batman. He has no super powers”

Strait said he loved the Punisher when he was growing up. And Belle stated she liked Batman for the same reasons Roland did.
Next the audience was treated to a surprise sneak peek at the upcoming animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars film, which comes out August 15th.
The film continues the story of what happened in between episodes 2 and 3 during clone wars. It will also leads into a new animated series which, “will be unlike anything you’ve seen before” according to the director.
It was a brief trailer and quickly the panel was back on track to the next topic, the upcoming film Get Smart.

Get Smart is based off the TV series from the late 60s/early 70s of the same name. It is directed by Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, Naked Gun 33 1/3) and stars Steve Carell (The Office, 40-Year-Old Virgin) as lead character, Maxwell Smart. The film also stars Anne Hathaway (Princess Diaries, Brokeback Mountain) as Agent 99, Max’s partner.
The audience was shown an exclusive trailer that was put together just days before the event. It was full of slap-stick humor and included some of the trademark catch phrases from the original TV series such as, ”Missed it by that much”

You could tell Segal was a big fan of the original calling it, ”one of greatest shows of all time” and said he was really trying to embrace its spirit. He also said that having a great cast to work with helped a lot in trying to capture essence of the original while adding the sensibilities of a modern generation.
Most of the questions were directed to Steve Carell or were about working with him. Hathaway and Segal both said they loved working with Steve.
Segal remarked that it was the most fun he’d had making a film and that sometimes him and Carell even hung out in real life.

Hathaway called Carell,” one of the great comedic masters of our time.” And, “Just a nice person.” She also said she was nervous about the amount of improvisation that would be involved working with him.
Steve Carell in turn described Hathaway as, “In person funny, kind and goofy, but once camera rolls her demure and sophistication brought another side that was riveting.”
Carell was then asked questions about his hit show, The Office. He said a recent experience serving on jury duty had inspired him to perhaps write an episode in which his character went through the same experience. He also told everyone that they start shooting in two weeks, now that the writer’s strike is over.

When asked why he had originally gone into improv Carell said, ”I didn’t want to learn lines”, which drew a laugh from the audience.
When asked if he would be taking on anything different from his comedic roles Carell said he said, “As long as I get paid, I’m fine.”
Carell was then asked if he tried to emulate the voice of the original Maxwell Smart, Don Adams or use his own voice. The actor said he tried to use his own voice but found it difficult to deliver catch phrases without reverting to the classic Don Adams.

The final question went to Segal who was asked about how trying to make a Shazam movie was going. He stated that there had been delays due to the writer’s strike and that they were trying to get a first draft for the script as we speak. He also stated that as previously announced they were still in talks to get The Rock, who has a supporting role in Get Smart, to play Black Adam.

WONDERCON ‘08: WARNER’s 10,000 B.C./GET SMART PANEL – NEWSARAMA

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