“Witchblade” teaser poster
Comics2Film has the (kinda naked) teaser poster for the upcoming “Witchblade” film. The teaser web site has been launched at www.witchblade2009.com.
– Matt Price
“Whiteout” set for September
Shock Til You Drop reports that the film “Whiteout,” based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, is set for a September 19 release. The film stars Kate Beckinsale as a US marshal trying to solve a murder in Antarctica.
– Matt Price
James Robinson on “Superman”
In the second part of his interview with Comic Book Resources
, James Robinson talks about “Superman,” a new “Justice Society” project, and the new “Starman” collection. Robinson’s first story arc of “Superman” will feature the Jack Kirby-created character Atlas.
Robinson told CBR:
“…the idea of bringing Atlas into present day and having the Man of Tomorrow meet the Man of the Past is a lot of fun.
“At the same, in terms of Superman’s rogues’ gallery, yes, he has guys that can beat him punch for punch; fist for fist, Doomsday is obviously the prime example. But they all lack any sense of humanity. Atlas is going to have humanity. The way I like to look at him is like in the Marvel Universe, Namor is a hero but he really skates the fine line between being a hero and a villain, but he stays on the side of the hero.
“Atlas, skates that line between hero and villain but he ultimately always falls on the villain side.”
– Matt Price
G4 covers “The Age of Conan”
Find out more about the massively multiplayer online role-playing game starring Robert E. Howard’s most famous creation.
Ways to help Gene Colan
Fans, friends and organizations are working to help out Gene Colan, the classic artist of books including ”Daredevil” and “Tomb of Dracula” who is was hospitalized for liver failure earlier this month.
Writer Clifford Meth is running a benefit auction; more information at his blog.
The Hero Initiative is making available a series of prints and posters to benefit Colan.
From the Hero Initiative release:
The Hero Initiative in conjunction with Marvel Comics is launching a series of Gene Colan-themed products, starting with a limited edition print of Gene’s cover art to Invincible Iron Man #1, available at Wizard World Philadelphia, May 30-June 1. Only 200 prints will be available at the show at a cost of $25 each. Net proceeds from sales of these prints by The Hero Initiative will benefit Gene Colan. Another 50 prints will be available at a later date, with plans to have them autographed by both Gene Colan and Stan Lee.
Also at Wizard World Philadelphia, guest writers and artists at the Marvel Comics booth will be signing and sketching two large poster-sized boards, which Hero will auction benefiting Gene at a later date.
And that’s just the start. Wizard World Chicago, June 26-29, will see the release of a second print featuring the cover art to Daredevil #47, the legendary “Brother, Take My Hand” story by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. A third print will be available later in the year, along with other products.
For August, a Gene Colan Tomb of Dracula poster will be available for order via Marvel Previews with proceeds routed to Gene; and in September, a special book reprinting some of Gene’s greatest stories will be made available. In addition to these items, The Hero Initiative will take additional steps to help Gene in his convalescence.
“Gene Colan,” said Roy Thomas, longtime Marvel Comics writer and Hero Initiative Board member, “is one of the most amazingly talented comic book artists in the history of the field. When I was scripting one of his stories, there was no one-not even Neal Adams or John Buscema-whose pencils could make me feel more strongly as if I were looking into a real world. He combines often-photographic realism with dynamism worth of a Kirby…and that makes him unique.”
– Matt Price
Captain America movie gets WWII setting
Blog @ Newsarama reports that the upcoming “Captain America” film will be a period piece set in World War II.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige also confirmed that the mysterious object in the “Iron Man” film was in fact Captain America’s shield.
He also confirmed that a large portion of the upcoming “Thor” film would be set in Asgard.
I think this is good news on the “Captain America” front — first film during World War II, then revive him in the “Avengers” movie. I’d also recommend the “Adventures of Captain America” by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire, as a good starting point for a movie storyline.
– Matt Price
Devo comes to “Guitar Hero”
Devo tells X-Play three tracks from the New Wave band are headed to Guitar Hero.
Steve Rude on the radio
Press release from Steve Rude, who is on the radio right this minute:
Go to WRNJ and click on LISTEN NOW at the top of the page
http://www.wrnjradio.com/
Direct link to the MP3 of the promo for Steve Rude: http://www.timetravelispossible.com/files/SRPR.mp3
Guest: Steve Rude
Air Date: Friday May 23rd 2008
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 P.M. (E.S.T.)
Synopsis: Yes, time travelers, The Dude is coming. That’s right, Steve Rude
is getting set to blast off with us in our time machine. Steve Rude, that
amazing comic-book artist and painter who has captured the secret sanctums,
skyways, and dimensions so well with his mighty pen and brush, taking us to
Space Ghost’s Ghost Planet, Thor’s Asgard, Batman’s Batcave, the circus of
the Moth, and the Ylum of Nexus! Steve Rude, a man influenced by the
worlds of Jack Kirby and Hanna-Barbera! When the big guns (Marvel and
DC) need a painter to capture their characters perfectly for a special project
or item, there are only a select few artists that are so battle-tested, so
reliable to hit it out of the park every time as our next TIME TRAVEL guest.
Your free boarding pass for The Dude awaits. (And please turn off your cell
phones during the performance of this Space Opera.) Thank you, gang!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
More from Neil Kleid of “Action, Ohio”
Here’s a little more from writer Neil Kleid about his Zuda comic “Action, Ohio.”
Matt Price: How did you decide to submit to Zuda, and what was the process like?
Neil Kleid: Paul (Salvi) and I originally were going to pitch the series to Image and assorted print publishers, but I’d been jonesing to do something for Zuda and this project was in the early stages (at least in our partnership, it was – I’ve been working on this for years!) enough to reformat it for the Zuda proportions. I’ve had several friends and collaborators involved with the Zuda competition in the past, some whom have gone on to great success like David (HIGH MOON) Gallaher, Dean (STREET CODE) Haspiel, Kevin (STRANGLESWITCH) Colden and Jim (SAM AND LILAH) Dougan. With their encouragement and support, Paul and I created eight pages – a prologue of the larger ongoing story – and through the Zuda site, registered, filled out personal information and sent in the art and a short synopsis. It took about two months until we heard we were in the May competition and boy, it’s been promote, promote, get votes ever since!
MP: What’s been interesting, so far, about being a Zuda creator?
NK: I’m not big on confrontation, so it’s pretty hard to be walking the walk and talking the talk, getting people to vote for me instead of the other guy – especially when the other guy has a great comic that I’D vote for if it wasn’t running against my own! What I love about Zuda, though, is the fiercely dedicated community on and off the comment threads and message boards who aren’t afraid to tell you what they think of the comic and even if they won’t vote for you why they like it. Sure, it gets a bit heated, but it’s the internet, right? I’m sure if my comic wasn’t up against their friend’s comic, they wouldn’t have a problem sitting down to see where Action,
MP: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
NK: Just that Action,
Superheroes come to Ohio
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor
WORD BALLOONS
Writer Neil Kleid deconstructs superheroes with his Zuda.com submission, “Action,
Q: How did you come up with Action,
A: When I first wrote Action,
Q: Tell me about the story.
A: In the ’60s, men responsible for Silver Age comic-book heroes discovered a town of proud but ailing citizens, riddled with the fallout of the atomic age. The comic-book men invented fictional characters based on the town’s residents to divert the world from their existence: If
Q: Tell me about your collaborator on “Action,
A: Paul Salvi is the illustrator and my co-creator. We met on the Panel and Pixel message forums, a place devoted to creating comics.
Together, we replotted the story and identified the themes and motivations of the characters. This is Paul’s first high profile strip, I believe, but the man should be consistently working – he’s got a great style, very animated and streamlined like the Bruce Timm-Mike Parobeck style you see on some of the DC Comics animated cartoons. He’s also an excellent co-plotter; working together, passing the story outline back and forth, he helped me see story holes and opportunities I’d missed in the past, making “Action, Ohio” a better comic for it.
“Action,
