Star Wars: Invasion TPB

Thanks to writer Tom Taylor’s site, the cover of the collection of the excellent Star Wars: Invasion series from Dark Horse is now up. You may recognise Jo Chen’s great cover from the first issue of the series, but also from the cover of our Arcana mag, in which we have an insightful and amusing interview with Taylor. The official solicitation info of the TPB is below. Congrats must also go to Taylor, as not only is his Rombies one-shot now out from Gestalt (get it now, it’s cheap!) but he’s also working on something special for DC/Wildstorm.

STAR WARS: INVASION VOLUME 1—REFUGEES
Tom Taylor (W), Colin Wilson (A), Wes Dzioba (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale May 12
FC, 144 pages
$18.99
TPB, 7″ x 10″

Twenty-five years after the Battle of Yavin, Luke Skywalker and the galaxy are facing their first real threat since the Sith were defeated: an invasion of hostile warriors from another galaxy—the Yuuzhan Vong!

The peaceful planet of Artorias is in the path of the alien armada. Finn Galfridian, his spunky sister Kaye, and their parents find themselves separated and fighting for their lives when the surprise invasion occurs. But their ordeal is just beginning . . .

• Collects Star Wars: Invasion #1–#5 and #0.

• This new series ties in to—and fits between—the nineteen novels of Del Rey’s New Jedi Order series.

• Features some of the first visual representations of this turbulent era of the Star Wars saga, including Han and Leia’s Jedi children!

December 17, 2009
Categories: New To Comics? . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Iron Man 2 Trailer

Surprisingly I can’t find it on YouTube, but I’m sure it won’t be long. For now you can go here to see the just released official Iron Man 2 trailer. The film opens in May. The trailer features glimpses of Nick Fury, Black Widow, Whiplash and War Machine. Oh, and Iron Man.

December 17, 2009
Categories: Movies . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Robin Hood Trailer

Opening in May is the next Ridley Scott/ Russel Crowe team-up – Robin Hood, based on the legendary archer. It just looks like Gladiator with bows and arrows so far, but we’ll see when it opens next year.

December 16, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

The Paranormally Active Engineer

I saw the much hyped low budget film Paranormal Activity last week, and though it didn’t terrify me, I certainly admired it’s film-making creativity. To read my review of the most financially successful film ever made, go here.

Up at the blog for Arcana magazine I also put up a preview of The Engineer, a great sci-fi series which is now available from Archaia for only $10. That’s a bargain for a full colour 128 pager.

December 16, 2009
Categories: Comic Art, Movies, Reviews . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

William Baldwin Is Batman

I can’t really conceal my excitement for this film. It’s a great time to be a DC fan! The latest in DC’s growing line of animated films involves the Justice League and their evil counterparts from an alternate earth. I’ve chosen this film as one of the must haves for the first quarter of 2010 in next month’s Arcana mag.

Thanks to Warner Bros, below is an interview with William Baldwin, the actor portraying Batman in the film,w ho reveals he almost played the character on film before George Clooney beat him to it.

DIRTY SEXY MONEY STAR WILLIAM BALDWIN ASSUMES THE ROLE OF BATMAN FOR JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS

Dirty Sexy Money star William Baldwin slides easily into the famed cowl as the voice of Batman in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, an all-new DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movie from Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation.

A fan of the super hero genre since his youth when the Baldwin brothers would role play in their backyard, William Baldwin has proudly, enthusiastically undertaken the deep, gravelly vocal tones of the Dark Knight. While Baldwin has crafted a fine career in live-action film and television, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths represents only his second foray into voiceover for animation, having recorded a few episodes on the Nickelodeon series Danny Phantom.

Beyond ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money television series, Baldwin has offered memorable turns in the feature films Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Flatliners, Backdraft and The Squid and the Whale, the latter of which earned (ironically) a Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is an original story from award-winning animation/comics writer Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League). Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday) is executive producer, and the film is co-directed by Lauren Montgomery (Green Lantern: First Flight) and Sam Liu (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies). The full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video on February 23, 2010 as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def, as well as single disc DVD, and On Demand and Download.

Baldwin took time after his recording session to chat about visualization techniques in the sound booth, his children’s influence on his choice of roles, the super hero roughhouse role play by the Baldwin brothers (particularly Alec Baldwin) in their youth, and his very nearly being cast in the live-action role of Batman. Now let the man speak …

QUESTION: What are your thoughts about joining the list of actors from Adam West and Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer and George Clooney to Kevin Conroy and Christina Bale – that have played Batman?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: I almost did join that group – I was one of Joel Schumacher’s top choices when Val Kilmer wound up playing Batman. Tim Burton and Michael Keaton had left, so Joel had the luxury of replacing Michael Keaton and he told me that his four choices – which was an eclectic, diverse array – were Daniel Day Lewis, Ralph Feinnes, Val Kilmer and me. I didn’t even know it at the time – he told me when I had a meeting with him later. The next time, when George Clooney did it, (Schumacher) said, “You were on my original short list with those other three actors, but the studio went with Val and this time I’d like to go with you.” And that Friday afternoon, I thought I was playing Batman – and then Monday morning, the headlines in the trades said that George Clooney had gotten the part. So apparently, I did actually come very close.

I was very excited to do this. I wasn’t really thinking about any past Batmans, but more of letting the material sort of dictate the choices that I make as an actor. What’s happening physically, what’s happening emotionally, what’s happening in the writing. That’s what really drives your performance.

QUESTION: How did you choose to interpret the character? And was there anything you wanted to do differently than what had preceded you?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: I was mostly influenced by whom I perceive Batman to be, with the possible exception that I think sometimes I allow a certain sensitivity or an emotional dynamic to give (the character) maybe a likeability or an accessibility. That’s almost an insecurity of mine as an actor – to want to breathe a little bit of those types of emotions into characters. I think I find them more appealing and more likeable and more human. What I didn’t choose to do is to go towards the darkness of the way the original Batman series was intended. Because Batman, in the original comic series, was a lot darker than the character that was brought to life in television.

QUESTION: Are there any personal attachments to Batman that make voicing this role special for you?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: It’s a number of things – certainly the history of the character. The people that have been lucky enough to portray Batman on screen, or provide his voice, is a short list and it’s pretty cool. I’m in good company. I enjoyed it as a child, and the character still resonates for me. And I’m a father of an 8-year-old, a 7-year-old, and a 4-year-old – my boy is sandwiched between his sisters, and he just loves the super heroes. We watch Justice League together. I try not to let him overdo it too much with television, but there’s great, wholesome messages that come out of that series. When I told him that I was playing Batman, his jaw dropped. I almost took him out of school today to have him come down here (for the recording session).

QUESTION: How many times have you said “I’m Batman” in the past week?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: Probably about a half a dozen, usually just joking with my kids and my wife. I was in the studio about a 9-iron from here, where my wife (Chynna Phillips) was recording, and all the band members were giving me different lines to say as Batman. Or having me improvise some lines. And we were having some wicked, twisted fun with it (he laughs).

QUESTION: It seemed you were quite focused in the booth, conveying all the physical and emotional traits as Batman. How immersed in the role did you feel?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: I take it seriously. And I enjoy it, especially recreating the sound effects of the fight sequences and stuff like that. One thing that was interesting to me was how clean they need the lines and, thus, how specific I had to keep my relationship to the microphone, and making sure there weren’t any other sort of ancillary sounds. When I’m doing looping for a film, I guess it’s sort of a method approach. I’ll put things inside my mouth and try to recreate the circumstances or the emotions that existed while I was performing. There’s nothing better than when you’re grunting from lifting something to try and create that sensation. I do a lot of visualization, too. So when you’re having the confrontation with Lex Luthor or Superwoman, sometimes I’ll look through the mike into the booth to somebody in the room. I’ll look at them and just sort of imagine it in my mind, to just pick somebody and lock into that, giving off this energy to them. It’s very helpful for me to have that specificity to lock into.

QUESTION: Did the Baldwin brothers play super hero games growing up?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: You’ll have to get my brother Alec in here sometime – he’s got the scars to prove it. Back in the early ‘60s, he tied a bathroom towel around his neck as a cape and was doing his Superman (impression), and he went through a plate glass sliding door. He ran right through it. He has these big V-shaped scars under his bicep and his forearm from all the stitches that he took when he was five or six years old.

So yeah, we did play super hero games. And my family was pretty rough. I mean, when we were playing super heroes, if there was a cartoon where somebody got thrown off the roof and they landed on the ground with a thud, then Stephen or I got thrown off the roof – into a pile of leaves, or into somebody’s swimming pool.

QUESTION: You rode along with the Chicago Fire Department to prepare for Backdraft. What kind of research went into this performance?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: First of all, some parts lend them self to that type of research and preparation more than others. Secondly, I had a fairly deep understanding of this character because I’ve been watching the shows and films and the character for 40 years. So if I felt like I didn’t have enough of an understanding, I probably would have postponed (the recording session). But when I was looking at the script on a plane a few days ago, I felt it was kind of a piece of cake based on my understanding of the character, and really fueled my attraction to the character and the piece. There’s a lot of two- and three-line exchanges rather than two- and three-paragraph exchanges. There weren’t a lot of monologues that required a lot of line memorization, or anything incredibly challenging emotionally. I just had to get into the rhythm of how the character speaks.

Batman’s spectrum of emotion is fairly narrow – for a number of reasons. He’s always in command, he’s always in control, he’s always holding it together, and he’s pretty tough relative to the rest of us in this room.

QUESTION: Does the Gotham City/New York connection hold anything special for a lifelong New Yorker?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: There’s always been something cool about (Gotham City) being based on New York – it’s where I’m from, where I grew up, and I’ve spent my whole career there. I remember referring to it as Gotham – not Gotham City, either – more often than I called it Manhattan or New York. I’d be on the West Coast finishing a meeting, and somebody would ask, “Where you going?” And I’d always say “Back to Gotham.”

QUESTION: Did having children that enjoy the genre influence your desire to give voice to an animated character at this point in your career?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: That definitely motivates a lot of the choices that I make as an actor now. I’m looking to be involved with projects that are family oriented. Not exclusively, but I’d like to do some things that my children can see. My brother Alec has done a series of films over the last couple years – Madagascar and Thomas (the Train) and things like that – and the kids got really, really excited about that. And we’re good friends with Chazz Palminteri, and Chazz does a lot of animated voiceover work. When they hear his voice, they really get excited.

I was doing a television series for two seasons, so we would watch that together as a family. Sometimes I would let the kids stay up, and they really got a kick out of it. I did a film last year with Henry Winkler called A Plumm Summer that won a couple of family film festival audience awards. So yes, I’m definitely looking for some choices. Because the films in my past, like Flatliners and Internal Affairs, Three Of Hearts and Backdraft and Sliver, Fair Game and The Squid And The Whale and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, these are all films that my kids aren’t quite ready to see.

QUESTION: You’ve tackled this legendary comic character. What other roles would you like to fill?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: I’d like to surprise some people maybe and do the voice of something that’s much more charactery. It could be much more ethnic. Jewish or Irish or a New Yorker. I have a lot of fun with that stuff. I’d even like to sing. I wouldn’t want to sing in the way that you would need Mariah Carey to sing, but just have a character sing and have fun with that, too.

QUESTION: What were your impressions of this animation experience versus some of your previous experiences?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: I’m getting better at it. I’m very tough on myself, so I’m never quick to say that I felt like it was great when it wasn’t. I usually have my own sort of standards that I set for myself. It felt like I was able to achieve my objectives more quickly. I think that comes with maturity as a performer and, uh, it’s nice to know. Because there’s been times where I’ve done voiceover work where they would normally allot two hours for someone who can bang it out, and they would have to allot three or three and a half or four hours. It’s not that I couldn’t do it quickly, it’s just that I’m such a perfectionist. I tend to be saying “Let me try that again. Let’s do one more … one more … one more.” I think I said, “Let me do one more” about 10 times today, which wasn’t a lot. Sometimes I say it 100 times. I think everybody thought that it felt right, it felt good, it sounded great. It’s always fun, but I want to get it right.

QUESTION: Is it difficult acting alone in the booth?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: It forces you to hone in and focus on the performance aspects and the emotional aspects of what you’re trying, and visual them in your head. Acting is not acting, it’s reacting. You’re reacting to what somebody’s saying and how they’re saying it. That was great about the television show that I just did (Dirty Sexy Money) because the props department would tie me in when we would do something like a telephone conversation. When I had one with Donald Sutherland, I didn’t have to come into the studio to do it. They would just have me call on my cell phone from my home in Santa Barbara, and I would call in when the camera was rolling and I would literally have the conversation with him. In the old days, sometimes you would have the other actor come in on his off day just to read that telephone conversation off camera. Then that changed and you would wind up reading this telephone conversation with the script supervisor who (A) is not an actor, and (B) does not know what the choices of the actor are going to be when they shoot his side of the telephone conversation in two weeks. That can be very difficult and very stilted when they cut that telephone conversation together – sometimes you can tell by the way someone’s reacting to a line that they weren’t hearing the actor do it on that day. They just interpreted what they thought the actor was going to do on that day, and they were wrong. I’m talking about stuff that’s very subtle, like someone raising their voice a little bit in the reaction to the other person. Little things. But that’s acting. You’re not just reacting to the words, you’re reacting to the way the words were said. Was it threatening? Was it menacing? Was it intimidating? Was it submissive? It’s all based on little layers and subtleties.

QUESTION: Can you compare acting on camera to acting in the booth, and how Andrea Romano was able to guide you through those differences?

WILLIAM BALDWIN: It’s sort of a mixed bag. On camera, you’re usually acting to another actor who you’re looking at, who’s in the room with you. Today, I was in the sound room and Andrea was behind the glass. And she’s not an actor. But for a director, from a performance standpoint, she was giving me more than enough. What really helped was the specificity of her notes. When something wasn’t right, she would give me a note that would 180 it, or she would give me a little subtle note. That was great. “You’re forgetting to add in this layer” or “Give me a little bit more urgency.” At one point, I throw a punch and Superwoman catches my fist and starts to squeeze my fist. And I said, “Do you want me to wince and scream in pain when she’s crushing my fist? And am I supposed to fight the temptation of revealing to a woman – because wouldn’t Batman wouldn’t want to give away that power that a woman is causing the pain.” I mean, it would be different if Lex Luthor or Superman were doing this, right? So we sort of hashed that out and found those sort of things as we were going along.

December 16, 2009
Categories: Cartoons, Interviews, Movies, New To Comics? . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

December Mattel Goodies

Thanks to Matty Collector.com you can now order these pieces of pop culture goodness, including the D-list DC characters B’Wanna Beast and Animal Man (as a Justice in the Jungle 2 pack), a 12″ General Zod from Superman II and a 12″ Egon Spengler Ghostbusters figure. The last two come with real cloth costumes and nifty accessories. Go here to see these figures and others including  Skeletor and a kiddy Hawkman.

December 15, 2009
Categories: New To Comics? . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Marvel’s Greatest And Cheapest Comics

DC Comics has been doing this for a while to promote new series and now Marvel is getting in on the act. This is  a great opportunity for the comic curious, or fanboys looking to get a start on some great recent  superhero series. Details below.

Start Here with Marvel’s Greatest Comics For Only $1.00!

Marvel is proud to announce the all-new Marvel’s Greatest Comics imprint, spotlighting Marvel’s most-acclaimed series with new printings of these must-read issues priced at only one dollar each! This bold new venture, launching in March 2010, offers a perfect jumping on point for new readers as well as provides retailers with a great low cost first chapter to some of the hottest selling Marvel Collected editions. And to really get things going, the first title from this line, Invincible Iron Man #1, is free!

“We’re proud of the books Marvel publishes and now not only are we giving retailers a great way to promote our top collections, but also giving consumers a chance to sample some of our top comics, maybe for the first time and at an unbeatable price,” said David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice-President of Sales & Circulation. “Marvel’s Greatest Comics represents one of the best values in comics today and with Free Comic Book Day only months after the initial launch, retailers will want to be well stocked.”

Retailers can check upcoming editions of the Marvel Mailer or with Diamond Customer Service to find out how they can qualify for the free copies.

The titles launching in March, at one per week, are:

March 3: INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1

March 10: CAPTAIN AMERICA #1

March 17: WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ #1

March 24: THOR #1

March 31: PUNISHER MAX #1

Stay tuned for more details on Marvel’s Greatest Comics at www.marvel.com!

December 15, 2009
Categories: New To Comics?, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

The West Geeks Out

My local newspaper, The West Australian is usually pretty good with comic book coverage, and here in the sunny side of Oz (actually it’s pretty much all sunny) we’ve had a good run of successful comic creators, with Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night, Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse) and Shane McCarthy (All Hail Megatron) being the obvious stars. Last week The West ran 2 comic stories in 2 days, by 2 different journos. Cool. One was on writer McCarthy and the other article was in the business section and centred on local store, Quality Comics. You can read that article here. Gone are the days of BIFF! and POW! being stamped on anything comic related, though they do call McCarthy a “cartoon comic writer.” Man…I don’t understand why people get those two terms mixed up. Cartoons are animated and on TV screens or the cinema. Comics are static and are printed on paper. Lesson over. Hopefully when the Arcana mag launches next month they’ll give us a nod though!

December 14, 2009
Categories: News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Marvel Gods

Or “gods,” actually. Seeing as I rarely mention the Jesus of this blog’s title, here goes….CBR have just uploaded their latest interview with Marvel’s head honcho Joe Quesada in which he answers fan questions as part of his regular Cup O’ Joe feature. Most comic publishers have various gods, demi-gods, and supreme beings all mixed up in a giant blender, so it won’t be any surprise to see how Joe mentions Marvel’s approach of religion in their comics. It’s an interesting discussion nonetheless. Read the highlights below.

Mad_Man_Moon asked a question a while ago that I’ve wanted to get to, which was, “I’m interminably curious about this subject and how it’s addressed at Marvel…Gods, and Christianity, Muslim, Judaism (etc, etc) in particular. The many different pantheons and beliefs are played out multiple times, and yet the Christian God and Devil are never seen (unless I’m mistaken*) in modern times. It seems odd that we acknowledge many gods and see depictions of them (more often than not), but the Christian, Muslim, Jewish (etc, etc) gods never come in to play. Why is this?”

I think there are probably multiple layers to this, Mad_Man_Moon. First of all, the gods of mythology lend themselves more to the superhero genre. They’re much more colorful, they are imperfect and their exploits were really more akin to the exploits we’ve seen done by heroes like those within the Marvel U. All the classic heroes we see in many ways share many traits with the gods of mythology, so it’s an easier transition. Also, in most monotheistic religions, you’re dealing with an all powerful and infallible deity, which, from a dramatic storytelling point of view, really handcuffs you because of their perfection and ability to solve problems as they desire.

And there is the sensitivity issue. These are religions that are practiced by the majority of the planet, regardless of where you fall, whereas the gods of mythology are not. I think it’s a sensitive issue, but more than anything, it’s just that the construct of the mythological gods makes for better dramatic storytelling within the pages of a comic book.

That said, from time to time, some aspects of today’s modern religions do find themselves into modern comics. I created the Santerians which are characters based upon the Orisha from the religion of Santeria. The Orisha lend themselves beautifully to the comic genre, as does the idea that priests who practice Santeria can become possessed by Orishas. Still, knowing that, I had to be very careful in creating them, because I wanted to be sensitive to those who follow the religion and I wanted to portray the characters in a way that wouldn’t be found offensive, but more aspirational. And, while we aren’t publishing them, I do know that there are comics out there that use aspects of Islam and Hinduism.

It does seem that there’s a little bit of crossover, particularly with characters based on the devil. Something like “One More Day” is built on the folklore aspect of monotheistic religions in stories like “The Devil And Daniel Webster.”

Yes it is. In OMD, it’s built around the classic Faustian pact.

However, Mephisto is an interesting character within Marvel, I remember reading Stan’s account of creating Mephisto. And while he had some of the trappings of Lucifer or Beelzebub, he is not meant to be Satan or have any religious implications. Stan built Mephisto as a super villain, but used the archetypes of the traditional iconography of the devil from classical literature and illustration. He always stopped short of making or naming him Lucifer, Satan or Mephistopheles or saying he was the devil. I get why he would create a character like this; it’s low hanging fruit. The devil, or the idea of a devil, has been one of the greatest villains and mischief makers in literature for centuries. But, Stan most likely didn’t want to start digging in and entrenching this super villain character that would interact inside a superhero universe within Christianity or any other religion. Also, there were probably greater sensitivities to doing this during the ‘60s than there would be later, as we created characters in the ‘70s like Daimon Hellstrom: Son of Satan – who incidentally is not Mephisto’s kid. So, while some may look at a character like Mephisto and say, “Hey, he’s Lucifer,” I would venture to say that he is something else.

December 13, 2009
Categories: Interviews, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

This Week’s Winners

Black Widow: Deadly Origin #2. Essentially this 4 ish mini is a simplified attempt at Black Widow: Year one, but it works. When Iron Man 2 debuts in May, with Scarlett Johansson as the Russian red headed spy, this will be a good place to start for those curious about the character. Paul Cornell manages to write an intriguing tale involving Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow and never allows the flashbacks to her youth to get distracting. Of course, with Tom Raney on the art in the current setting and John Paul Leon on art chores for the flashbacks, it makes for a book as pretty as its titular heroine. Guest stars such as Hawkeye and Winter Soldier never seem jarring and Cornell has a blast making Widow a 007-like action girl with a unique Russian background. I’ve already learned a great deal about this character whom I’ve only ever been marginally interested in, such as the fact that she’s one of many Widows trained by the Soviets and has a long lifespan. #2 throws in some Cold War antics, the activation of the Icepick Protocol and a cool White Widow variant suit.

Toy Story #0. Bringing writer Jesse Blaze Snider to play in BOOM!’s kids line of comics seems like an odd choice, but now I can see why they chose him. Snider’s last work was the surprisingly good Dead Romeo mini-series from DC and here he kicks a new four issue arc off with great skill. Nathan Watson’s art is cartoony, but solid. Of course, it can’t be easy to replicate the 3D magic of Pixar, but each character is instantly recognisable. Woody and Buzz steal the show of course, but the whole gang (from the first film where this issue looks to be set) is here. The amusing chaos begins when Andy receives a new present from his grandpa, but unfortunately it’s another Buzz Lightyear figure. The two Buzzes have a rather funny duel and the voices of every character rings true. It was much funnier than I expected, and is another fast paced and entertaining entry in the BOOM! Kids line. Snider proves his diverse skills as a writer here.

Daytripper #1. Those talented Brazilian siblings Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon launch a delightful new 10 ish series from Vertigo. It follows the life of an obituary writer in Sau Paulo who aims to be a disciplined novelist. Themes of family, life and death run through this issue, but never in a heavy handed manner. It’s quite enticing and very readable, with a magical quality to the art and a lyrical tone to the words. Where Ba and Moon go from the surprising ending will be even more intriguing I’m sure.

December 12, 2009
Categories: Reviews . Tags: , , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Shrek And Scratch9 At Ape

Indie publisher Ape Entertainment have made a bold new addition to their line-up – a line of all-ages comics. Yay! It’s good to see more indie publishers getting in on the kids books act, as there’s still a huge market there. I did notice that they just (very quietly) acquired the Shrek licence from DreamWorks, as seen this week on the just announced list of Gold Sponsors on May’s Free Comic Book Day. Good on them. That’s quite the coup. Also recently unveiled as part of their KiZoic line is next year’s Scratch 9 from Rob M. Worley and Jason T. Kruse. Details below.

Ape Entertainment today announced plans to publish the all-new young readers comic book miniseries Scratch9, in the summer of 2010 as part of its newly-unveiled KiZoic imprint.

Created by writer Rob M. Worley, Scratch9 features the adventures of a rascally house cat who gains the ability to summon any of his eight other lives to his side to aid him in his adventures.

“I’ve seen what today’s cats are reading and frankly I’m concerned. They’re all walking around saying, ‘LOL,’ and, ‘I can has cheezburger,’ when they don’t even know how to spell ‘cheeseburger,'” said Worley, author of the critically-acclaimed junior novel Heir to Fire. “It’s about time we put forth a positive role model for cats. That’s what we’re doing with Scratch9.”

Illustrating the book is Harvey Award nominee Jason T. Kruse, creator of the graphic novel series The World of Quest which has gone on to become a cartoon airing on CW4Kids, Teletoon and Cartoon Network UK.

The four-issue series features covers by Eisner-winning artist Mike Kunkel, creator of Herobear & the Kid and artist on DC Comics’ Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam!

“The second that co-publisher Brent Erwin and I saw ‘Scratch9,’ we knew it was a hit in the making,” said Ape Entertainment Co-Publisher David Hedgecock. “Perfect premise matched by an outstanding creative team. We can’t wait to get this into the hands of young readers!”

The book is the second announced offering in Ape Entertainment’s KiZoic line, following Mecha-Nation. KiZoic specializes in content aimed primarily at young readers.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be doing this book with Ape. They’ve been doing kids comics since day one and I knew Scratch9 would fit right in,” Worley said. “And there are some huge things coming from KiZoic. My little cat is going to be keeping some amazing company there.”

Current plans are to solicit Scratch9 in the Diamond Previews catalog early next year with the book arriving in comic shops in the summer.

December 12, 2009
Categories: New To Comics?, News . Tags: , , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Geeky Christmas

Thanks to Geek Chic Daily, below is an example of a good decoration idea (recycled motherboard Christmas tree ornaments) and a bad example of the same (grenades).

December 11, 2009
Categories: News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Crisis On Two Earths Interview

The 7th entry in DC’s excellent animated films is focused on 2 things near and dear to any true DC fan’s heart – the Justice League and multiple earths. We’re featuring February’s Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths as one of our so-called Objects of Desire for the first quarter of 2010 in the debut ish of the Arcana magazine. Thanks to Warner Bros. below is an interview with the directors of this film.

DIRECTORS LAUREN MONTGOMERY & SAM LIU DISCUSS JOYS & CHALLENGES OF JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS

When you’re dealing with a story so huge that it spans multiple Earths, it’s sometimes a good idea to arm yourself with multiple directors – as did the production team behind Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, an all-new DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movie from Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation.

Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu, the animation directors of the past three DC Universe films, have combined their talents to bring Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths to the screen as a blockbuster tale of super heroes and super villains engaged in the ultimate battle of parallel worlds and, through a diabolical plan launched by Owlman, puts the balance of all existence in peril.

Montgomery has been an active member of the directing team behind several of the DCU films, initially guiding the middle section of Superman Doomsday before accepting the sole directorial role for both Wonder Woman and Green Lantern: First Flight. After directing several Hulk and Thor ventures for rival Marvel, Liu made his long-form directorial debut for the DCU series on Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.

As the film’s lead characters are armed with similar talents while coming from distinctly different perspectives, the same can be said of the two directors of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. Both Montgomery and Liu are relatively soft-spoken individuals, yet both are opinionated in their approach to animation, diligent in their work ethic, and dedicated to achieving the best possible outcome. Over the
course of making the film, they came to learn a great deal about the other’s vision, and the result is even greater than the sum of their talents.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is an original story from award-winning animation/comics writer Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League). Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday) is executive producer. The full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video on February 23, 2010 as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def, as well as single disc DVD, and On Demand and Download.

Montgomery and Liu paused from their current DCU projects (shhh … it’s a secret) to discuss their thoughts on the creation of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. FYI: The interviews were conducted separately. Montgomery’s answers are listed first because, well, decorum dictates that ladies go first …

QUESTION: How did you two go about co-directing Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: We kind of just went over the whole film together and it was really good to get two different points of view as a check and balance for
each other. If we disagreed, we found compromises that would work. If one of us felt strongly about something, we just traded off – Sam would take a sequence he felt strongly about, then I’d take one I wanted. But for the most part, we agreed. We both work in such different ways, it was interesting to see how someone else works and learn from it.

SAM LIU: We went through the film front to back, and if we ran into a problem or an area where either of us had an issue, usually where we thought it could be stronger or could be playing better, we usually solved it right on the spot. If we got to a section that was requiring a lot more revisions, one of us would jump on it and the other would move the rest of the film forward until we hit another rough spot. So that was our process.

QUESTION: What have you learned from each other?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: Sam breaks things down a lot, he’s very analytical. I tend not to. He spends a lot of time thinking about the story and getting into all the
nooks and crannies of it, and I like to work with the general story. He’ll read the whole book, I’ll read the back of the book. I try to get the emotional points down so people can understand them, but Sam will go even deeper to use shots and set-ups to drive the point home, sometimes metaphorically. He thinks harder than I do.

SAM LIU: Our processes are very different. I like getting into a script and breaking things down. Maybe I don’t have the best ideas, but I’m pretty good at recognizing where things are needed. I really liked the back and forth process (with Lauren), talking about ideas and batting it back and forth to find a good solution. Lauren is more instinctual, she works more from the gut. And I think she works off reaction rather than an intellectual breakdown. I’m the other way by process. But I do feel like sometimes I over-analyze things, when sometimes it’s almost like the emotional flow of the movie is good enough. Lauren gets that. Sometimes logic can be bypassed if the scene is engaging enough, or interesting enough. It’ll bridge gaps and you don’t need to analytically fix all those gaps.

QUESTION: What do you think you might have taught each other?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: I think Sam stresses out slightly less when I’m around. He stresses and I don’t. I think I calm him down a little bit. But when he’s
alone, he stresses out just as much. Hopefully I helped with that.

SAM LIU: I don’t think I taught her anything (he laughs). She’s a free-flowing,
shoot-from-the-hip kind of person, and I’m kind of an angster – I nitpick things. I like getting into the story, and from there some things do need working out – things related to the emotional journey of a character that need to be highlighted or punctuated to set something up for later. I’m a stickler for things like that. And I
think she saw those things.

I do stress, though – and there are times when I’m freaking out about something and she puts me at total ease. And then there’s times when I’m freaking out and she’s fighting me on it, and it makes it worse. I think we’re both control freaks in our own way, it’s just a difference in approach. I fixate on a lot of things, and she thinks things are just good enough, so let’s move on. We have an innate concept about the overall picture, but she focuses more on the acting and poses and timing and movement, and I think more on structure. I guess there’s a good balance.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite scene in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: There’s a fight between Wonder Woman and Olympia that I thought was really beautifully animated. That’s always fun to watch. It was
boarded well, but the overseas animators took the drawings from the boards and really plussed it out. I think they just enjoy animating girl fights overseas because those scenes always come back looking good.

SAM LIU: More than one scene, I like the overall relatability of the Justice League characters. There was great character interaction. When I watch movies, I like something that has an emotional connection, and this film definitely does.

Specifically, I think the spectacle of these evenly matched supers fighting was really cool. Superman versus Ultraman. Flash fighting someone equally as fast. Strengths against strengths. Jay Oliva boarded the last fight sequence and the Superwoman-Wonder Woman fight is great. They’re both strong, super powerful women and I think it was brutal enough as is, but the way Jay made Wonder Woman use the lasso to slam Superwoman to the ground is pretty amazing.

The battle between Owlman and Batman is awesome, too, because it’s sort of this weird intellectual standoff. Owlman is so far into his psychosis as to how the universe operates, it’s very existential. His concept is crazy, but the way he reasons out the technology of how things work and the way he thinks, it gave us great room to improvise Batman’s reaction. And then when they actually fight, it’s brutal. They do these gadget fights, sort of a modern ninja battle. The sound effects on the planet, the colors, the way it’s animated, it all works really well. And James Woods’ voice is perfect – most of the Crime Syndicate is very thuggish, they’re all about stealing money. But Owlman has created the ultimate plan to annihilate everybody, and James Woods does this great build-up. It’s great acting. He plays
Owlman as a little bit off and kind of creepy, but not sinister creepy. His cadence is great, and his voice is almost charming in a way. It was a good mix of all the things I thought we’d have a problem with if we went too far one way or the other. It’s a great, tight sequence and I’m very happy the way it all came together.

QUESTION: What were the challenges of directing this film?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: It was a challenge because we had a really large cast of characters – lots of main characters – and they all needed a decent amount of
screen time. Both the good guys and the bad. We had to make sure the audience got to know each of those characters and make sure they had a presence in the film that was important, and that was a challenge.

SAM LIU: Definitely the size of the cast and how to give enough screen time to
everyone. At one point, Green Lantern was a little light on having enough important things to do. We needed to add a bit for Lex Luthor, too, and I still don’t think we did enough. We added a fight to show that Lex can fight, too, and tried to beef him up a bit. But there just wasn’t enough screen time to accommodate everyone.

QUESTION: Do you have a favorite character?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: Superwoman … just because she’s so wrong. She’s a bully, but she’s got the muscle to back it up. She’s everything you shouldn’t be, but is fun to work with.

QUESTION: What skills you learned or developed on past projects were you able to apply to this film?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: We had the same animation studio that did Wonder Woman, so we were able to draw from the work done on Wonder Woman and improve on that. Overall, the animation was good in Wonder Woman, but there was some poor stuff, too.  I think they really improved – they saw what we
responded to in Wonder Woman and they tried to do what they knew we liked, and it was good.

SAM LIU: I think, this whole process was better for me this time, especially working with Bruce (Timm) and Lauren. I was able to let go a little bit and not have to over-think things, and still know that things would work out. I generally stress over everything until the very last minute. With Lauren, I sort of learned that you can say “that’s enough” and move on to the next thing. I appreciate Lauren and her patience, and that we’re still friends. In the end, you take care of the important things and everything will work out.

QUESTION: So, are you happy being an animation director?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: It’s never been an easy job. It can be draining. But it’s still a really fun job. I mean, we get to work on great stories with iconic characters. I know people who would kill to work on Batman and Superman. When you think of it that way – well, if I weren’t working in this job, I’d definitely want to. A little bit of the excitement is taken off because I’ve done it so many times, but it’s still a really cool thing to do.

SAM LIU: I love doing long-form animation. I’ve been offered to go back to TV
series, but I like this better. Direct-to-videos are hard – you have a short amount of time to create a world from the ground up every time and, once it’s done, it goes on the shelf and you move on – but I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with BSP (Broadcast, Standards & Practices – the network’s content watchdogs). What I love most is that you get to tell stories people can love, you can have emotional pain and great action, and you get to work with things that are too adult for
children’s broadcasting. That’s the stuff that I like – telling full stories. So I’m very happy.

QUESTION: What’s your favorite part of the job?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: The best part is when you see the film start to come back (from overseas animation studios) and it’s looking good. That’s a really
nice part. When you see it coming together to be something good, that’s very satisfying. You know all your hard work has paid off.

SAM LIU: I think it has to be working with the story and the characters. I love
the development of the characters and how they fit into the story, helping their growth, even if it’s subtle or small. I like finding the core of what our story is about and trying to push that story. I think most of the time it’s about the characters and their conflicts in the beginning, and how they resolve those conflicts. On this film, we were able to do that a lot even after production had been underway – particularly with Batman’s motivation, and showing why it was important for him to stay behind and get Watchtower online. Superman believes one thing; Batman has a different opinion. It’s a conflict, and it pays off later.

QUESTION: You’ve been living with this film for well over a year. Can you still watch and enjoy it?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: I enjoy it most with a new audience. You get to see their reactions, and it makes me look at it in a new light. I enjoy watching all of our movies, which is a good thing – it’s nice to be able to watch what you’ve done and feel good about it.

SAM LIU: It’s hard sometimes, because when you’re making a movie, there’s so
many things you want and wish for, and you still tend to see the things that are missing. In this case, I’m comfortable watching because there are so many things that were done right. I’m not comfortable watching some of my older stuff. But this is one of the best movies I’ve ever worked on, and it’s very satisfying. I think
there’s the right amount of action, good conflict, good closure, and intelligent characters. They’re not just one-dimensional characters. So it’s satisfying to watch.

QUESTION: What’s the DC Universe film you hope to direct some day?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: I want that Aquaman project, but I doubt we’ll every make it.

SAM LIU: I’d love to do Sandman from the Vertigo line. I don’t know what kind
of story that would be, but I’d love to work with Neil Gaiman because I really loved those comics.

QUESTION: Now that you can see the final product, how do the voices match their animated characters?

LAUREN MONTGOMERY: Gina Torres and James Woods are probably my favorites. Everybody loves Owlman. He’s such a unique character. Gina is really good as Superwoman – she has this strong, seductive, confident voice, and it makes you fear and respect her. Mark Harmon is really good as Superman. At first I was worried because I thought his age might come through, but his voice really works well. It’s funny because when we started watching the voice with the animation, it struck us how you could hear little tones of George Newbern and Tim Daly – two of our regular Supermans – in his voice, which is pretty cool.

SAM LIU: I really liked Mark Harmon – he’s got a gentle streak and it goes
really well with the strength of his voice. When he was in the recording booth, I thought he might be too gentle, but it works even in the scenes where he has to be more assertive or powerful. I think it works really well because it never crosses that line of him being mean or not genuine or sneaky. It’s very pure, just as Superman should be.

I also thought Josh Keaton did a great job as Flash. He’s hilarious. So much of these movies are based on the acting, and Josh really sold it.  The chemistry between characters was good, too. James Woods and Gina Torres have this strange relationship, and their acting makes them real characters. They really engaged their personalities. That’s what good actors do. The voices in this cast really flesh out the characters and give them texture.

December 11, 2009
Categories: Interviews, New To Comics? . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

David Mack Speaks

Awesome artist David Mack was kind enough to send me these two links relating to his work. Last Saturday he gave a talk at the Salt Lake Library. There’s some beautifully massive pics and two great videos right here.

There’s also an insightful interview with the man himself here. Mack is always generous with his interviews and are definitely worth reading and I don’t just say that because we have an interview with him in next month’s Arcana magazine! Yay!

December 10, 2009
Categories: Comic Art, Interviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

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