Continuing a recent spate of mainstream news coverage of comic books, Brian K. Vaughn in profiled over at the Wall Street Journal (not tooooo shabby!):
"On Jan. 30, Brian K. Vaughn will finish his most acclaimed comic series, "Y: The Last Man." After a mysterious plague kills every man in the world instantly, a young escape artist named Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand are strangely spared. Evading female soldiers and gangs of angry, antimale freedom fighters, Brown and his guardian angel, a dreadlocked government agent named 355, search the globe for Brown's girlfriend and an answer to the male holocaust."
Oh wait -- does this mean that Y The Last Man has a...FEMINIST AGENDA?! Oh, noes! If the book is perceived as "anti-male," people won't read it! Oh, wait -- plenty of people are reading Y The Last Man? Both men and women? Well, ohmagosh!
The "Wizard" Seal Of Approval
Speaking of "Y," I noticed that the trade paperback has a big endorsement by Wizard Magazine prominently on its front cover.Now, what demographic is DC going for here?
Does the target Wizard reader enjoy books about antimale freedom fighters?
And does the target reader of Vertigo books like "Y" and "Fables" read Wizard?
Wouldn't the book be better served by quotes from publications like The New York Times or Rolling Stone or Entertainment Weekly?
Iron Man To Appear In "Hulk" Film
C'mon, how cool is this?
"Rumors of the cross cameo have been rampant for quite some time now. It now seems likely that the ultimate goal is, in fact, to tie the “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” movies together and, more than likely, make an Avengers movie that would feature both characters (and likely Nick Fury who is played by Samuel L. Jackson in “The Incredible Hulk”). Jon Favreau, director of “Iron Man” has reportedly already called “dibs” on the Avengers movie."
And this is why I still think having a "JLA" movie cast that differs from that of the other current cinema incarnations of Superman and Batman is a terrrrrrrible idea.
Comix-As-Art
See a gallery of Stan Lee tribute artwork by some of today's most talented fine artists...
Hey, how did that last one get in there? Oh, that's just part of the 30 second recap contest at the ISB!
Strike, Schmyke: How Does It Impact The COMICS Bottom Line?
Here's a new wrinkle to the ongoing Writer's Strike: its eventual effect on the comic book conventions:
"The second half of the TV season is already a doozy, and if production doesn't start soon next season may never start. Since TV shows like Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, and Lost draw in a large part of the crowd at Comic-Con, can we expect a way smaller audience this July?"
Of course, with all these TV writers out of work...might they turn more to comic book writing?
In general, comic book publishers are turning more and more to TV and movie writers to write their comic books. This shrinks the already limited pool of available writing work for professional comic writers.
Maybe those comic book writers should start their own union as well?
Movies By The Numbers
Video: Count along with your favorite movies with "100 Numbers, 100 Movies"
i am really hoping for something ridiculous in the last issue of y...like, a snowglobe or rosebud something.
ReplyDeleteHmmm,shouldn't it be a Kirby tribute gallery, since the bisuals for all the characters were done by Kirby?
ReplyDelete(Save Wolverine, who has nothing to do with either)
In response to the whole JLA/Avengers fiasco's, I have to say that, on the DC side of things, I'm just not sure about The Aesthetics.
ReplyDeleteStylistically speaking, we have a real problem in adding a current movie incarnation Batman into ANY other movie - combining Christopher Nolan's Batman with Brian Singer's Superman and putting them together in a THIRD directors film would surely end up with a brightly lit batman in a rubber suit.
I kind of feel a further movie 're-imagining' of Batman kind of has to happen for him to work in a JLA setting, or the results may look slightly silly. Given that, wouldn't it then be a bit odd to see Christain Bale suit up as a very differently imagined Batman?
I personally really like the idea of seeing Micheal Keaton in the role, a la Kevin Smiths suggestion. Then you would still have the connection to a recognisable movie Batman and could quite feasably play him as an older mentor figure to the JLA, who still puts a batsuit on now and again - styled on the Kingdom Come outfit maybe? - to help out the kids.
On the Marvel side, The Avengers movie, by being talked about BEFORE the wrap of either movie, could help iron out this clash of styles, but i think they have far less of a problem given the characters involved.
"In general, comic book publishers are turning more and more to TV and movie writers to write their comic books. This shrinks the already limited pool of available writing work for professional comic writers."
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying the independent scene is the actual mainstream or anything, but I have a hard time feeling bad for the writers displaced by the Hollywood invasion. If they have the chops as writers, they should be able to prove it with independent books. If the money isn't there, then maybe being a comic book writer for a living is an unrealistic dream? I'm not trying to be all, "Get a real job, you lazy bum," in regards to mainstream comic writers, but maybe it's time to face the truth that the comic market isn't there anymore to support only writing mainstream comics for a living.
oh, also, i am still kicking myself for forgetting to make a "summmary" comic.
ReplyDeleteMaybe those comic book writers should start their own union as well?
ReplyDeleteWasn't there an attempt at this back in the 60's?
And, also: There is *no way* Time Warner would let that fly. Not that I imagine they care too much about DC, so much as they would swat any emerging union out of existence just on principle.
Does the target Wizard reader enjoy books about antimale freedom fighters?
If they were drawn by Ed Benes, yes. ^_^
I think... I think its more to do with the lack of a specialist comics press that is recognizable to the wider world, as has been discussed on this blog before. and, to be fair, if you try really hard, you can read Y as an adventure romp and nothing else.
The obvious answer here would be for everyone to buy a gizzillion copies of Comic Foundry and leave them in doctors waiting rooms and hairdressers about hte country. ^_^
It now seems likely that the ultimate goal is, in fact, to tie the “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” movies together...
Me wants Hulk/Iron Man Movie Fight naow!
But keep Millar the *fuck away* from it. Sorry. I just read Wanted recently, and, *my god* I've rarely seen so much drivel outside of a drivel convention. Ugh.
(Random thought: I just went to look at the Newsweek Wonder Woman story again, and it had an anti-wrinkle cream ad next to it. Huh.)