July 25 comics vodcast
Video from Comic Con
Including the new James Bond car, Boom! Studios’ new Pixar comics and the DC Universe Online game.
Take a bullet from the Punisher
SAN DIEGO — “Punisher” fans had a chance on Thursday to look as if they were shot by the man himself. At the Marvel booth, makeup artists applied bullet wounds to the interested throughout the day. Also on hand was the stunt double for The Punisher, taking photos with fans in full “Punisher” gear.
– Matt Price
“Watchmen” toys revealed
DC Direct revealed action figures and busts based on “Watchmen,” the upcoming film directed by Zack Snyder. The world-premiere of the figures was at the DC Booth on Thursday afternoon at Comic-Con International.
– Matt Price
The Battlestar Galactica that might have been
SAN DIEGO — At the 30th Anniversary Battlestar Galactica panel at Comic-Con International, “X-Men” producer Tom DeSanto talked about the Battlestar Galactica that almost was — a direct sequel to the original series. Starting in 1998, DeSanto worked with director Bryan Singer to bring a continuation of the series to television.
After some original confusion about who owned the rights, in July 2000, Singer and DeSanto pitched a $13.5 million backdoor pilot to FOX, with a series pickup contingent on the ratings.
FOX and SciFi entered into an agreement that would have allowed SciFi to broadcast letterboxed versions of the episodes a few days after they originally aired.
“We were eight weeks away from shooting when 9-11 happened,” DeSanto said.
The pilot’s plot, about kamikaze pilots crashing into buildings on the human city of New Caprica, suddenly seemed too close to home. DeSanto and company attempted to rework it, but the schedule slipped, and Singer had to decide between “Battlestar Galactica” and “X-Men 2.” Singer and FOX struggled with the decision, but ultimately Singer went on to helm “X-Men 2.”
DeSanto showed several effects tests for the series, which he wanted to have a World War II, 16 mm newsreel feel.
DeSanto correlated the “Battlestar Galactica” story to the biblical exodus of the Jews. The sequel would have followed that story.
“What if the Jews had stopped at Mt. Sinai and built Las Vegas?” he said.
The story was set 20 years after the events of the original series, when the remaining humans voted to build a new society and stop the search for Earth. They became unprepared for the Cylons, who eventually found them.
“9-11 paralleled our story very much,” he said. “Cylons came back with a fury.”
After a sneak attack on the humans, the conflict is reignited.
The final shot of the pilot would have revealed a human-Cylon hybrid — the former Apollo, played by Richard Hatch.
The storyline of the series would have showcased the conflict between Apollo and his son, now the commander of the fleet, and the battle for Apollo’s soul.
– Matt Price
“Spaced” arrives on DVD
Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg in “Spaced.”
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
By Matthew Price
The cult-hit British sitcom “Spaced” arrived on DVD this week. The series, co-created by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes, featured London twentysomethings posing as a couple to save on rent.
Pegg played aspiring comic-book artist Tim Bisley, and Hynes played aspiring writer Daisy Steiner.
Hynes has stayed busy post-“Spaced” — when she called to talk to The Oklahoman, she had just finished rehearsals for the evening at the Old Vic in London for “The Norman Conquests,” a trilogy of plays by Alan Ayckbourn. She’ll take a break from rehearsals to visit America this week. Today, she’s at Comic-Con International in San Diego, and she’ll spend Sunday in Austin, Texas, as part of the “Spaced Invasion.” On Sunday at 5 p.m., Hynes and the other “Spaced” creators will be at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, at 320 E 6th St. in Austin for a marathon “Spaced” screening.
“I feel a bit guilty for having a week in America, but it’s a good reason. I couldn’t miss this,” she said.
“Spaced” has been long-requested on Region 1 DVD, leading some to take serious steps to see the program.
“This guy in Austin said that his local video stop started stocking multiregional DVDs in order to sell them to customers who wanted to watch ‘Spaced,’” Hynes said.
Like “The Office,” there had been plans for an Americanized version of “Spaced,” this one developed by director McG. Hynes wasn’t too upset about the failure of the American version to make it on a broadcast schedule, as neither she nor Pegg nor Wright were involved in the remake. Still, she would like to return to “Spaced” in some way.
“Basically, at this point, I have no idea how, when or if Spaced will continue,” she said. “I think Simon’s quite clear he doesn’t want to make a film of it. I think a film would work, but it’s a logistical thing as well. Simon’s signed up for the next few ‘Star Treks’, and Edgar’s making films, and there’s no way we could do it without the three of us, so who knows? I’d love to revive the characters and write the show again, it was great.”
One possibility might be to continue “Spaced” as a comic book. Hynes is a comic-book fan, naming Daniel Clowes’s “Eightball,” Terry Moore’s “Strangers in Paradise,” and Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s “Preacher” as favorites.
“I’ve got a friend, Glyn Dillon, who’s a great graphic novelist,” Hynes said. “He was involved with ‘Tank Girl,’ and we were talking about doing a graphic novel about something different, but I was thinking about talking to him about it, because he’s based in England and it could work. It would be a way of keeping the stories alive, and the characters alive.”
Video game review – Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
By Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor
THE NEXT LEVEL
Aerosmith becomes the first band to get their own “Guitar Hero” theme edition, as gamers follow the career of the band from their first gig at Nipmuc High School to the rock hall of fame.
The gameplay of “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” is largely the same as the original “Guitar Hero” games. As the song plays, gamers hit the notes on the special Guitar Hero guitar controller at the correct times. Miss too many notes, and get booed offstage. Get them right, and win the crowd over. Successful gigs unlock more songs.
“Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” has some flaws, however. First, the game doesn’t include most of the band’s bigger hits: Janie’s Got a Gun, Crazy, Dude Looks Like a Lady, Don’t Want to Miss a Thing — all absent.
You’d assume someone willing to shell out $60 for “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” would like Aerosmith quite a bit, but the disc starts off with Cheap Trick and Mott the Hoople. The first three Aerosmith songs unlocked — “Make It,” “Uncle Salty,” and “Draw the Line” — aren’t exactly the first tunes one thinks of when discussing Aerosmith. It’s not until the tenth song unlocked that the game offers a song suitably well-known, when “Sweet Emotion” becomes available. There are 31 songs in the career mode, with a few more available to unlock.
Essentially, “Aerosmith” is a repaint of “Guitar Hero 3” with Aerosmith character models and guitars. The gameplay, career and other modes are basically the same.
So, “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith” could be worth it if you’re a big fan of the band, a big fan of the franchise, or if you haven’t played a lot of “Guitar Hero” before — otherwise, it’ll seem like more of the same.
“Witchblade” blazed path on cable
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
By Matthew Price
WORD BALLOONS
The tale of the Witchblade, an ancient weapon first seen in comics, blazed the path for original cable TV programming, says the publisher of the “Witchblade” comic books. “Witchblade,” the television series, will be released on DVD on Tuesday.
“When “Witchblade” debuted on TNT back in 2000 there weren’t that many comic adaptations particularly on television,” said Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik. “In fact in the era of ‘The Shield,’ ‘Monk’ and ‘Rescue Me’ it’s funny to remember that there wasn’t much original cable television programming.”
“Witchblade” is about a New York City police detective, Sara Pezzini, who encounters the Witchblade, an ancient and powerful artifact. The Witchblade is a gauntlet that’s been passed down from woman to woman throughout time and serves as a balance between the forces of dark and light. Yancy Butler starred as Pezzini in the 23 episodes which aired over two seasons.
Sablik said the “Witchblade” series stayed mostly faithful to the comic book.
“They were limited by budget as far as what they could do, but the key characters … were all there,” he said. “The Witchblade is still an ancient powerful weapon, but instead of a organic like metal it took the form of a more traditional gauntlet with a sword that came out.”
“Witchblade” remains Top Cow’s most popular comic book. Sablik described “Witch Hunt,” the first story arc by writer Ron Marz, as a good jumping on point for “Witchblade.” Comic-book stores have a special edition of the story for $4.99, collecting six issues.
“It’s the entry arc for the modern era of ‘Witchblade,’” Sablik said.
“Witchblade” is currently in development for a 2009 feature film.
DVD review: Birds of Prey
From Friday’s The Oklahoman:
Following in the footsteps of “Smallville,” Batman-related characters got a youth-oriented WB television series in “Birds of Prey.” Following the Tim Burton Batman films, to a degree, the film is set in “New Gotham,” in the future. Batman and Catwoman have had a daughter — The Huntress (Ashley Scott, “Jericho”). Batman himself has disappeared after a final showdown with the Joker — and the Joker, after escaping, shot and paralyzed Batgirl (Dina Meyer, “Starship Troopers”). Her paralysis didn’t stop her crusade — only how she accomplishes it. She now fights crime as Oracle, a cyber-sleuth who trains superheroes for the future, including Huntress.
Joining Huntress and Oracle is Dinah (Rachel Skarsten). Her telepathic powers keyed in on Huntress when Catwoman was killed, and on Oracle when she was shot. Thus, she believes these women are the key to her destiny.
“Birds of Prey” debuted strongly, but ratings slipped. Comic fans thought the series deviated too much from the comic book on which it was based. The show did alter the origins, but it didn’t ignore the comics; it just melded several different versions into one show. In retrospect, the show was better than it gets credit for, but not as good as it could have been. Meyer is consistently good, and it’s too bad fans didn’t get to see more of her as Batgirl or Oracle.
The original pilot, with Sherilyn Fenn (“Twin Peaks”) as Joker sidekick Harley Quinn is included. Fenn was replaced with Mia Sara (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”).
Also included are three seasons of the flash-animated “Gotham Girls,” which come to about an hour of programming.
– Matthew Price
Midnight Gaming in city area Saturday
Get your game on as midnight gaming continues in the Oklahoma City area Saturday night.
Gamers across the metro can go head to head at the third-annual Midnight Gaming Championship.
The Midnight Gaming Championship 2008 season competition includes Guitar Hero III, Madden NFL ‘08 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Winners of each Saturday night gaming tournament receive cash and prizes. All participants can enter to win an Xbox360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii and two free airline tickets and admissions to the Video Gamers Awards in Las Vegas.
This week’s tournament runs 6 p.m. to midnight on Saturday at McDonald’s, July 26, 1200 Garth Brooks Blvd in Yukon.
On August 2, games will be held from 6 p.m. to midnight at the McDonald’s at 9000 SE 29th Street.
For more information, visit www.midnightgamingchampionship.com.
