This is the final post for this blog on Variety.com. The news came recently from Variety.com editor Dana Harris, who assures me it is a decision based solely on economics.
After five years of working on this blog, both as a Variety
staffer and a freelancer, I will be sorry to see it go. A lot has
changed since the first post in October 2003, when few people had even
heard the word blog and comics were still a new part of Hollywood’s
vocabulary.
I’d like very much to thank all those who made this blog possible and
helped out over the years: Jevon Phillips (whose idea it was in the
first place), Travis Smith, Jeff Siedlik, Alex Romanelli, Erin Maxwell,
David Lewis, Dana Harris and Anne Thompson.
I am still working as a freelance writer, and you can expect my stories to continue to appear in Variety, as well as other publications.
"Rasl: The Drift" (Cartoon Books,
black and white, $13) collects the first three issues of Jeff Smith’s
new sci-fi series in a nice, oversize format that includes new pages.
The first of three volumes, "Rasl: The Drift" is above all else a
comicbook. It’s not written like a move, drawn like a movie or intended
to be like a movie in any way
Two major Marvel announcements hit this morning, one of which is enouraging and the other less so.
On the encouraging side is the hiring of writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to write the screenplay for "The First Avenger: Captain America." The duo were named one of Variety’s10 Screenwriters to Watch in 2005 and have penned the acclaimed HBO biopic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" as well as having worked on both Narnia pics to date. Variety wrote in 2005 that the duo have a talent for making the familiar feel fresh and work in a very collaborative, craftsman-like way. That bodes well for bringing some heft and energy to the "Cap" movie, which is to be set during World War II and lead into the "Avengers" pic.
On the less-encouraging side is Fox’s hiring of Josh Schwartz to write the continuation of the X-Men films (follow this link to order "Mutant Cinema," my book on the previous X-flicks) in a project called "X-Men: First Class." The idea of continuing the X-Men franchise with younger characters has been discussed since the release of "X-Men: The Last Stand" in 2006 as a way to get around the scheduling nightmares and expense of reuniting the original cast. It also lets Fox retool the franchise for a new audience
Platinum Studios
has announced it has teamed up with IM Global to finance, produce and
distribute a TV series based on the comicbook "Hero By Night." This
seemingly innocuous announcement has a major train-wreck context,
however, given that "Hero By Night" creator DJ Coffman
Here’s the new trailer to "Watchmen," released this evening at Yahoo! Movies.
I wish it showed a little bit more than what was seen in the previous trailers, but at least there’s some dialog and a slightly better sense of how it’s going to play.
WB has released six new banners for "Watchmen," each featuring one of the main characters. Click to the jump to see them all!
Plus, Zack Snyder chats with Dark Horizons about the state of the film (nearly finished), the new trailer appearing with "Quantum of Solace" this week, the plans for multiple editions, and confirms some speculation about whether the film sticks to the ending used in the book.
The entire world has Batman on the brain as "The Dark Knight" gets ready for its DVD coming out and a full-throttle awards season campaign.
But nothing is as strange as the news that the city of Batman, Turkey, is suing Warner Bros. for using its name without permission. Seriously. I’m no attorney, but good luck getting that one to stick.
Meanwhile, Chip Kidd is taking a lot of flackfromfolks
upset that Jiro Kuwata’s name did not appear on the cover of Kidd’s new
book "Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan." A large part
of the book is reproductions of rare Batman manga Kuwata created in the
mid-1960s, when Batmania was in full swing, thanks to the Adam West TV
show. Kidd’s response is here.
Kidd will appear at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood tonight to promote the book.
Meanwhile, WB has made the full script for "The Dark Knight" available in PDF format as part of its awards push for the pic.
Jackie Estrada, administrator of the Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards, has announced this year’s judges. They are:
* Amanda Emmert, owner of Muse Comics & Games in Missoula, Mont.
* Mike Pawuk, a teen-services public librarian for the Cuyahoga County Public
* John Shableski works for Diamond Book Distributors as a sales manager with a focus on the independent bookstore market and on public and school libraries.
* Ben Towle, a cartoonist and educator living in Winston-Salem, N.C.
* Andrew Wheeler, a marketing manager at the 200-year old publishing firm John Wiley & Sons, who reviews comics and manga for ComicMix.com.
More details on the judges and the process at the Comic-Con site or in the full press release, after the jump.
Yes, it’s true. At least, partly.
