July 29, 2010 | 4:03 am
The Top 8: Comic-Con 2010
Posted by Wendy J. Madnick
8. Ballroom 20—More Fun Than a Poke in the Eye
A surprise live performance of “The Big Bang Theory” theme by The Barenaked Ladies and “Chuck’s” Jeffster dancing to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” in Ballroom 20 helped redeem Comic-Con this year after the disappointing final “Harry Potter” panel and that shocking nerd brawl in Hall H.
7. Klingons—Out, Stormtroopers—In
Despite the City of San Diego making a big show of translating its Gaslamp-area transit signs into Klingon, there were few Kronos natives to be found. Instead, stormtroopers ruled the weekend as the 501st Legion ferreted out Rebel scum ... and posed for pictures.
6. Berkeley Breathed—First-Timer, Award Winner
He was a daily/weekly cartoonist from 1978 to 2008, but—surprisingly—this year marked Berkeley Breathed’s first Comic-Con appearance. CCI honored Breathed with an Inkpot Award; he remarked it was the first award he’s received since his Pulitzer in 1987. Breathed presented a slide show (of actual playground slides) and offered a thought-provoking explanation of why he won’t sign the Cartoonists Freedom of Expression petition (he believes the petition needs to be signed by Muslim organizations willing to support cartoonists’ rights). His book, “Mars Needs Moms!,” is being adapted as a 2011 Disney motion-capture film starring Joan Cusack and Seth Green, and Breathed brought his own mom to Comic-Con. Awwww!
5. Wonder Woman’s Modest Costume—Such a Nonissue
Talented writers, directors and producers, including Felicia Day (“The Guild”), Marti Noxon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Melissa Rosenberg (“Dexter”), brought up Amazon warrior Diana Prince during the “Girls Gone Genre” panel, but nary a word was said about her outfit change. Now can we please start talking about a “Birds of Prey” reboot?
4. Zombies Are the New Vampires
Last year was all about sparkly vampires and Taylor Lautner’s chest with the debut of “New Moon.” This year, screaming Twihards were replaced with “The Walking Dead” as AMC filled the Gaslamp and the Exhibition Hall with bloody zombies and a ransacked country house to promote its adaptation of the Robert Kirkman/Tony Moore comic book series.
3. Bags as Swag
This is the first year I walked away with more swag bags than actual swag. Even though most of the studios seemed to holding back on the freebies, SyFy, DC and others handed out bags that might actually see the light of day after the con.
2. “RED” (Retired Extremely Dangerous)
The sight of Dame Helen Mirren sporting a machine gun in this Summit/DC Comics film won me over instantly. Bruce Willis stars as Frank Moses, a retired black-ops CIA agent targeted for assassination. With his identity compromised, Moses reassembles his former team—Joe (Morgan Freeman); Victoria (Mirren), a wet-work operative; and Marvin (John Malkovich), an LSD-fried weapons expert—in order to survive and save his handler, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). The Comic-Con audience went wild for the “RED” trailers. Yes, the buzz is strong with this one. Co-starring Richard Dreyfuss, the film is due out Oct. 15.
1. Stan Lee
A Holocaust motion-comic panel would normally be an also-ran at Comic-Con. But add former Marvel head Stan Lee and it became a standing-room-only event. At 87, Lee was busier than ever—taking part in six different CCI events in two days and attending a gallery exhibition. Oh, and don’t forget that feature-length doc, “With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story.” Excelsior!
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July 27, 2010 | 5:39 pm
How Jewy is Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet?
Posted by Adam Wills
Seth Rogen at Comic-Con on July 23. Photo courtesy Columbia Tristar
Seth Rogen tends to play characters who closely resemble … well, Seth Rogen. So does that make his modern take on Britt Reid—the masked vigilante newspaper publisher at the center of “The Green Hornet”—a Jewish action hero?
“Actually, Tom Wilkinson [who plays James Reid, Britt Reid’s father] is decidedly not Jewish,” Rogen told GeekHeeb at Comic-Con. “The Green Hornet is half-Jewish at best.”
Still, Rogen says real life does help inspire his Britt Reid, especially at the beginning of the action-comedy directed by Michel Gondry.
“We really wanted to show the journey of a guy from being very unheroic to ultimately being a hero. And so in the very unheroic parts of the movie I think I was able to inject a lot of my own personality in. And as the character evolves, he becomes more of what you would consider the traditional heroic type,” he said.
Rogen traces the inspiration for his big-screen “Green Hornet,” which co-stars Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz, back to his youth in Vancouver. After an episode of the campy 1960s “Batman,” Rogen and Evan Goldberg, his childhood friend/writing partner, would watch the 1966 “Green Hornet” series, starring Van Williams as Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as Kato.
“We wanted to write a movie about a hero and a sidekick and the relationship between them, and explore that. We just realized ‘The Green Hornet’ was the perfect movie to do that with, because of how famous Kato is in relation to the Green Hornet,” said Rogen, who describes himself as a big fan of Bruce Lee.
But calling Kato a sidekick in this “Green Hornet,” scheduled to open Jan. 14, is a bit of misnomer. In the script by Rogen and Goldberg, Kato (Jay Chou) is equal – if not superior – to Britt Reid.
July 24, 2010 | 9:16 pm
‘A Contract With God’ heads to silver screen
Posted by Adam Wills
Will Eisner‘s “A Contract With God, And Other Tenement Stories,” released in 1978, is considered one of the first graphic novels ... and an intensely Jewish one to boot. During the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic-Con on Friday night, Denis Kitchen announced Eisner’s influential work will be adapted into a live-action feature film.
“A Contract With God” explored stories and memories from Eisner’s childhood growing up in a New York City tenement, with each tale capturing the brutality, fragility and tenderness among people living in a New York City tenement in the 1930s. In the film version, four directors will take on the graphic novel’s separate but related stories: “A Contract With God” (Alex Rivera), “The Street Singer” (Tze Chun), “The Super” (Barry Jenkins) and “Cookalien,” (Sean Baker).
Writer-producer Darren Dean said he looks “forward to finding the fine balance of offering Eisner fans a very faithful interpretation of his work and allowing the voices of these strong and competent filmmakers to be heard. We are all approaching the inaugural stage of this project with respect, honor and anticipation and hope that the fans will welcome us with both faith and scrutiny. This is for them, as much as any of us.”
Principle photography will begin in 2011.
The film adaptation will be produced under the auspices of the Eisner estate. Bob Schreck, a 30-year veteran of the comic book industry, and Michael Ruggiero, former head of original programming at STARZ, will serve as co-executive producers.
“Getting to know Will Eisner was one of the great honors of both my personal and professional journeys,” Schreck said. “We are all well aware that the work ahead has a very high bar of excellence to aspire to set by Mr. Eisner’s pioneering achievements in storytelling.”
July 23, 2010 | 4:59 pm
Holocaust education comes to Comic-Con
Posted by Adam Wills
From left: Rafael Medoff, Neal Adams and Stan Lee.
When legendary comic book artist Neal Adams was 10 years old, he swore he would never get involved in anything related to the Holocaust.
In the early 1950s, Adams was living in Germany, where his father was stationed with the American occupation forces. The military screened three hours of concentration camp footage to the soldiers, their spouses and children “before they showed it to America, so they knew how much people could take,” Adams told an audience at Comic-Con on Friday. “I can tell you, after seeing that I didn’t talk to anyone for a week.”
More than 50 years later, those images are still with him.
But Adams, 69, changed his mind about doing anything related to the Holocaust in 2006, when he joined artist Joe Kubert and former Marvel head Stan Lee to create a comic book about Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, an Auschwitz survivor who sought the return of her Shoah-era watercolors from the concentration camp’s museum.
While the campaign to reunite Babbitt with her art was unsuccessful, the effort inspired Adams to reconsider getting involved in other Holocaust-related projects.
Now, Adams and Rafael Medoff, founding director of the Washington, D.C.-based David Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, in collaboration with ABC News, Disney Educational Productions and Vanguard Productions, are launching a motion-comic series set to debut in the fall titled, “They Spoke Out: American Voices Against the Holocaust,” which will be released online monthly at TheySpokeOut.com.
July 23, 2010 | 6:21 am
Kollin brothers win Prometheus Award
Posted by Adam Wills
Eytan, left, and Dani Kollin at Comic-Con in 2009.
Dani and Eytan Kollin have won the Prometheus Award for their novel “The Unincorporated Man,” which portrays a future, space-faring human society in which religion has died, people ostensibly live forever and can buy shares in each other. The brothers beat out Cory Doctrow, Harry Turtledove and Orson Scott Card with their debut work.
The Prometheus Award, sponsored by the Libertarian Futurist Society, is one of the oldest fan-based awards, behind the Nebula and Hugo. The ceremony will be held during the 68th World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne, Australia, Sept. 2-6.
For those who won’t be able to make it to Worldcon this year, the Kollin brothers will be at the 41st annual Comic-Con on Saturday, speaking alongside writers like Samuel R. Delany and Alan Dean Foster on the ominous-titled panel: “Welcome to The Future: Are You Sure You Want to Stay?” (4:30-5:30 p.m., Room 4).
July 22, 2010 | 7:28 am
Our picks for Comic-Con 2010
Posted by Adam Wills
The following are our picks for panels, screenings, workshops, discussions, etc. for Comic-Con in San Diego (July 22-25).
Feel free to post your own picks—or reviews of events—under comments!
THURSDAY
10:30-11:30
Danny Elfman
From Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure to Alice in Wonderland, composer Danny Elfman discusses his 25-year collaboration with director Tim Burton. Their legendary partnership includes such films as Beetle Juice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare Before Christmas, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Joining Mr. Elfman will be Warner Brothers Records executives to announce their plans to celebrate this quarter-century milestone. Room 6BCF
11:30-12:30
Dumbrella
Artists from Dumbrella, one of the most popular online comic collectives, discuss webcomics, independent publishing, and subverting popular culture. Feel free to quiz Andrew Bell (The Creatures in my Head), Meredith Gran (Octopus Pie), Jon Rosenberg (Goats), Richard Stevens III (Diesel Sweeties), and Chris Yates (Chris Yates Studios) about anything your Internet heart desires. Room 3
July 21, 2010 | 9:26 am
Riddler rumor names Gordon-Levitt, again
Posted by Adam Wills
The Riddler will be a villain in Chris Nolan’s next Batman installment, based on a source at Warner Bros. who claims to have read the casting grid for the film, according to First Showing. And the name of the “interested” actor listed on the grid to play said character: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, (500) Days of Summer). Then again, a similar rumor popped up in June, and Gordon-Levitt was rumored to have been a possible replacement for Heath Ledger’s Joker in 2008.
Still, who would you rather have as Riddler? Gordon-Levitt or Eddie Murphy?
We’d like to point out that this news should be considered confirmation that The Riddler is the villain in Batman 3 and less confirmation of the recent suggestions/rumors regarding Gordon-Levitt’s casting as the enigmatic villain. A casting grid is used in the industry to keep production companies, agencies, etc. in the loop on a project’s progress and the roles available for actors to potentially take. These documents are used for business planning in the industry and by no means would use internet speculation to list a character that may not even appear in the film. But when it comes to listing actors, this is info that can change at anytime, and just because an actor or studio is interested in one or the other, does not mean it will actually happen.
We’re also cautious because the age range listed for the character is 35 to 45, and with Gordon-Levitt being 29 years old falls a little short of the mark. Of course, this wouldn’t really be a reason for him to be excluded as characters can be modified in the script to accommodate a favored actor. On the lighter side though, the actor is fresh off working with Nolan on the brilliant Inception, so they’ve surely developed quite a working relationship as Gordon-Levitt called him “the genuine article… a real artist” and “a unique voice.” For now we’ll consider Gordon-Levitt’s involvement a rumor, but seeing The Riddler in a studio casting grid is solid confirmation of Nolan’s villain for Batman 3. Hopefully we’ll get an official confirmation sooner than later. [First Showing]
July 12, 2010 | 10:24 am
Harvey Pekar, alt comic writer, dies at 70
Posted by Adam Wills
Harvey Pekar, writer of the alternative comics series “American Splendor,” which was adapted for a 2003 film, has died. According to the Los Angeles Times, Pekar, a cancer survivor, was found by his wife, Joyce Brabner, early Monday morning at their Cleveland area home; he was 70 years old.
Pekar wrote his first comic strip in 1972; it was illustrated by his friend, R. Crumb. He began publishing regularly, or semi-regularly, a few years later. “American Splendor” was illustrated by a variety of artists and focused on the minutiae of Pekar’s life as a file clerk.
...
Pekar was born to Polish immigrant parents in Cleveland; he was raised there and tried one year of college at Case Western Reserve before joining the Navy. After returning, he eventually found work as a file clerk at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital, where he stayed for 37 years, retiring in 2001.
In the evolving world of graphic novels, Harvey Pekar’s “American Splendor” was a regular reminder that comics could be adult. Pekar’s world — working class, day-to-day — was almost the antithesis of superhero comics. Unlike other adult comics that were written and illustrated by the same team, like the Hernandez brothers’ “Love and Rockets,” Pekar’s series didn’t have a visual identity. His use of different artists from issue to issue meant that the only through-line was his story, and that always hinged on Pekar’s character: obsessive-compulsive, jazz-loving, curmudgeonly. [LA Times]
Pekar’s 2005 graphic novel, “The Quitter” (art by Dean Haspiel), documented his upbringing as the son of Jewish immigrants. Another of Pekar’s graphic novels, 1994’s “Our Cancer Year,” co-written with his wife, documented the writer’s fight against lymphoma.
July 2, 2010 | 10:59 am
British Jewish actor cast as new Spider-Man
Posted by Adam Wills
Andrew Garfield in “Lions for Lambs.”
Marvel Studios and Columbia/Sony announced that British Jewish actor Andrew Garfield, 26, has been cast as the new lead in the “Spider-Man” reboot, which is expected to feature a younger Peter Parker.
Marc Webb (“(500) Days of Summer”) is directing the 3D film, slated for a 2012 release. The reboot emerged from the ashes of “Spider-Man 4,” and comes only five years after the release of the dreadful “Spider-Man 3,” which featured an embarrassingly emo Toby Maguire.
On selecting Garfield, Webb said, “Though his name may be new to many, those who know this young actor’s work understand his extraordinary talents. He has a rare combination of intelligence, wit, and humanity. Mark my words, you will love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.”
Born in Los Angeles, Garfield moved to England with his British mother and American father when he was 3. In an interview with indieLONDON, he says he grew up in a middle-class Jewish home and attended private school.
A stage actor by training, Garfield has a short but impressive film and television resume, including a striking performance as the youthful sleight-of-hand expert Anton in Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Heath Ledger’s last film) and starring opposite Robert Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep in his first big-screen film, “Lions for Lambs.”
The fannish crowd might recognize Garfield as Frank, the young Hooverville resident in the series three “Doctor Who” episodes “Daleks in Manhattan” and “Evolution of the Daleks.” Later this year you’ll see him in David Fincher’s Facebook film “Social Network.”
Garfield beat out other stars like Anton Yelchin (“Terminator Salvation,” “Star Trek”), Aaron Johnson (“Kick-Ass”) and Logan Lerman (“Percy Jackson”) for the “Spider-Man” role.
July 1, 2010 | 6:13 am
Space Nazis invade Earth in 2018
Posted by Adam Wills
Get ready for Nazis in Space! And no, this is not a Mel Brooks parody.
“Iron Sky,” an indie film set for a 2011 release, has Nazis escaping to the dark side of the moon during the final days of World War II, only to return in flying saucers as the Fourth Reich to claim the Earth in 2018.
The Finnish-German co-production has raised 90 percent of its $8.5 million budget, according to the Underwire blog, and filming is set to begin in Australia and Germany this fall.
In addition to money from 12 traditional financiers (including Disney’s Finland division), the filmmakers also received 52 micro-donations through its Web site. The first teaser for the film pulled in 1.3 million views over the past two years on YouTube, and a new trailer released this month, featuring special effects footage from the film, continues the request for funds.
From Underwire:
CGI maestro Samuli Torssonen supervised Iron Sky’s visual effects after spending seven years working on zero-budget feature Star Wreck. For the Iron Sky trailers, “everything was either shot by ourselves or created by our VFX team at Energia Productions,” Torssonen told Wired.com in an e-mail. “I think for indie productions it is very important to have in-house creative which can archive visually impressive shots with a decent budget.”
...
As a hybrid model blending conventional business cash with microdonations from sci-fi zealots, Iron Sky is emerging as the most expensive fan-curated movie to date. As such, it points the way toward a future in which audience and investor become one and the same.
“I think it’s great that the audience can, in some terms, ‘order’ a film that they find cool by investing, participating in the production or donating money,” Torssonen said. “They can give ideas and feedback, become part of the whole process, and finally see a film in theaters that has been tailored for their needs.”
June 30, 2010 | 3:53 pm
Wonder Woman gets modest makeover
Posted by Adam Wills
Covered arms, shoulders and legs? Say hello to the new modest Wonder Woman. The busty Amazon beauty has ditched her barely there singlet for a body suit and jacket. (Yes, she still sports her iconic tiara, bracelets and lasso.) The new look—courtesy of Jim Lee—is the first significant change to the character’s appearance since her debut in 1941 (not counting the 1960s mod look—less said the better).
The tough-but-elegant outfit is generating mixed reactions, drawing opinions from Hollywood writer Nikki Finke and Linda Carter.
From DC’s The Source blog:
Starting today, Wonder Woman will appear like you’ve never seen her before. ... bestselling artist and DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee has redesigned her costume for the modern era, just in time for BABYLON 5 creator and critically acclaimed writer J. Michael Straczynski and artists Don Kramer and Michael Babinski to launch the Amazon Princess into an exciting and epic new era of adventure.
...
It’s a look designed to be taken seriously as a warrior, in partial answer to the many female fans over the years who’ve asked, “how does she fight in that thing without all her parts falling out?”) She can close it up to pass unnoticed…open it for the freedom to fight…lose the jacket or keep it on…it has pockets (the other fan question, “where does she carry anything in that outfit?”, it can be accessorized…it’s a Wonder Woman look designed for the 21st century. The bracelets are still there, but made more colorful, tied on the inside and over the hand, with a script W on each of them that form WW when she holds them side by side…and if you get hit by one of them, it leaves a W mark. This is a Wonder Woman who signs her work…letting her enemies know that she’s getting closer.
Under the headline “DC Comics Has Ruined Wonder Woman,” Deadline Hollywood’s Nikki Finke wrote:
Of course, it took a bunch of men to ruin her. ... she looks ready for Goth Day at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. (Shame on Diane Nelson, the head of DC Entertainment, for allowing this to happen. And for not finding a talented woman writer to update the icon’s saga.)
But Linda Carter, who played Wonder Woman on television in the 1970s, told ABC News she likes the new look:
“I think it will take time for people to get over not seeing a lot of leg ... [But] I think it’s going to be very sexy and it’s new and I love the little cap sleeve. You know, she’s a hip girl.
“I think Wonder Woman has a mind of her own. And I think she was just kind of ready for something new. She’s got an attitude and if this is the new thing that she wants to wear, well, by God, she’s going to wear it. And I like that. And I hope that in the story someone mentions, where’s the old one? And she says, get over it!”
And Willa Paskin at New York magazine’s Vulture blog—excited that Wonder Woman gets to wear pants—describes the “overall effect to be fairly badass, and nicely common sense: It really is much easier to focus on fighting crime when one isn’t worrying about accidentally flashing lady parts. And, for those fanboys worried too much has been covered up, don’t worry: These pants are way too tight for pockets.”
Bottom line: observant fangirls just got a new outfit choice for Purim/comic-cons/cosplay.
June 30, 2010 | 2:48 pm
‘Paranormal Activity 2’ teaser online
Posted by Adam Wills
Israeli American director Oren Peli helped Paramount scare up almost $200 million with the Halloween 2009 release “Paranormal Activity,” a “found footage” film about the haunting of a suburban family, which he shot for $15,000 in his San Diego tract home. The Halloween 2010 sequel, which features Peli as producer, has Tod “Kip” Williams directing a script by Michael R. Perry. The trailer, playing before “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” (Hello, female demographic!), went online today.
Spoiler: The footage doesn’t show much, but when Katie appears in the bathroom doorway be sure to look at the crib and then look at the crib’s reflection in the mirror. Freaky! Most likely the baby’s name is Hunter, which a demon voice says at the end. Is Micah the baby-daddy? We’ll have to wait until October to find out.