CORRECTION: I'd earlier said Elwes was playing Steve Trevor. My error, as pointed out by a commenter below. Here's the correct info:
Cary Elwes, star of "The Princess Bride" will appear as CEO of Themyscira Industries — the company owned by Diana Prince/Wonder Woman in the upcoming Wonder Woman TV pilot.
Adrianne Palicki ("Friday Night Lights") will play the Amazon princess and Elizabeth Hurley has been cast as villainess Veronica Cale, a recurring character.
New pop culture books
Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 11
Creepy Archives Volume 9
Tarzan: The Jesse Marsh Years Volume 8 (Tarzan 8)
Little Lulu Volume 26: The Feud and Other Stories
The Fifties in Pictures
The Forties in Pictures
Prince Valiant: 1941-1942 (Vol. 3) (Prince Valiant)
Buz Sawyer: The War in the Pacific (Vol. 1)
The Mysterious World of Sherlock Holmes: The Illustrated Guide to the Famous Cases, Infamous Adversaries, and Ingenious Methods of the Great Detective
A 1960s Childhood: From "Thunderbirds" to Beatlemania (Childhood Memories)
Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s
Custom Lettering of the 40s & 50s
Cereal: Snap, Crackle, Pop Culture
Blood 'n' Thunder: Winter 2011: Adventure, Mystery and Melodrama in American Popular Culture of the Early Twentieth Century (Volume 28)
Agonizing Love: The Golden Era of Romance Comics
Court documents in Kirby vs. Marvel case posted
This is some interesting, albeit fragmentary, reading: A series of court documents from the current lawsuit between the heirs of comics creator Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics. The Kirby family is suing Marvel over ownership of various characters, including the Fantastic Four, Hulk, X-Men, etc.
The documents include depositions from Stan Lee, John Romita, Kirby assistant/comics historian Mark Evanier, Kirby's children and more.
If you've read about about Kirby's career and the various arguments about whether he did or should have had a stake in ownership of different characters, etc., I doubt you'll glean much new information. But it's interesting to see the details laid out in this fashion.
What struck me were the details, mostly from Romita, of what it was like working for Marvel as a non-staff person (the argument seems to be whether "work-for-hire" and freelancing are the same thing). There were no contracts, no benefits and always the risk that the publisher may not buy the pages you spent days drawing.
I'm reading in my own interpretation and arguments here, but, this leaves open the possibility that, if artists were free agents, generating their artwork and, under the "Marvel method," stories "on spec" as it were, does this mean the publisher really has a right to claim copyright on any of the ideas or characters the artists generated? Did payment for pages just secure publication rights, or the rights, for decades thereafter to profit from movies and TV shows and toys and t-shirt images, etc., of those characters?
This case and it's outcome will be of great interest.
The documents include depositions from Stan Lee, John Romita, Kirby assistant/comics historian Mark Evanier, Kirby's children and more.
If you've read about about Kirby's career and the various arguments about whether he did or should have had a stake in ownership of different characters, etc., I doubt you'll glean much new information. But it's interesting to see the details laid out in this fashion.
What struck me were the details, mostly from Romita, of what it was like working for Marvel as a non-staff person (the argument seems to be whether "work-for-hire" and freelancing are the same thing). There were no contracts, no benefits and always the risk that the publisher may not buy the pages you spent days drawing.
I'm reading in my own interpretation and arguments here, but, this leaves open the possibility that, if artists were free agents, generating their artwork and, under the "Marvel method," stories "on spec" as it were, does this mean the publisher really has a right to claim copyright on any of the ideas or characters the artists generated? Did payment for pages just secure publication rights, or the rights, for decades thereafter to profit from movies and TV shows and toys and t-shirt images, etc., of those characters?
This case and it's outcome will be of great interest.
John Lennon in How I Won the War coming to DVD
The Richard Lester-directed "How I Won the War," featuring John Lennon in his only non-Beatles movie role, will be out on a remastered DVD March 20.
Originally released in 1967, the absurdist anti-war film features Lennon as a foil to star Michael Crawford. It's not a great pic, as I recall, having watched it a time or two on VHS years ago. Very much a piece of it's time. Still, it's a bit of Beatles memorabilia. It also marks the debut of John's granny glasses, which he wore for the role of Private Gripweed and, being nearsighted in real life, continued to wear thereafter.
A booklet accompanying the DVD includes an intro by Yoko Ono.
Originally released in 1967, the absurdist anti-war film features Lennon as a foil to star Michael Crawford. It's not a great pic, as I recall, having watched it a time or two on VHS years ago. Very much a piece of it's time. Still, it's a bit of Beatles memorabilia. It also marks the debut of John's granny glasses, which he wore for the role of Private Gripweed and, being nearsighted in real life, continued to wear thereafter.
A booklet accompanying the DVD includes an intro by Yoko Ono.
Diane Lane to play Ma Kent in Superman movie reboot
From the press release:
Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Oscar®-nominated actress Diane Lane will play Martha Kent, the only mother Clark Kent has ever known, in the new Superman movie to be directed by Zack Snyder.
Snyder stated, "This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman. We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination."
Lane will star with Henry Cavill, who was recently announced as the new Clark Kent/Superman.
Lane earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 2002 drama "Unfaithful." She most recently starred in the family hit "Secretariat." She next stars in the HBO feature "Cinema Verite," opposite Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini. Lane's long list of film credits also includes "Nights in Rodanthe," "Hollywoodland," "Must Love Dogs," "Under the Tuscan Sun," "Perfect Storm," "My Dog Skip," "Chaplin," "The Cotton Club" and "A Little Romance," to name only a portion.
Elizabeth Hurley to play villainess in Wonder Woman TV pilot
We don't know who she'll play, or even if it's a villainess based on the comic book series, but Elizabeth Hurley recently tweeted:
"Thrilled to be doing the NBC pilot Wonder Woman. I'll be playing the evil villain. Can't wait."
New comics shipping March 2, 2011
Things I'll buy:
Buz Sawyer: The War in the Pacific (Vol. 1)
UNCLE SCROOGE #401
Other items of note
Dark Horse Deluxe Classic Uncle Scrooge Statue Series 2 #4: Huey, Dewey, and Louie
Classic Peanuts Character #3: Linus Statue
Conan Volume 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter And Other Stories (Conan (Graphic Novels)
Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond
Batman: Time and the Batman
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam: Mr. Mind over Matter
DC Direct Women of the DC Universe Series 3: Poison Ivy Bust
Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales of Bud Sagendorf
Spider-Man: Grim Hunt
Classic Dan Dare: Trip to Trouble (Dan Dare (Graphic Novel)
Popeye, Vol. 5: Wha's a Jeep?
The Smurfs #5: The Smurfs and the Egg
Buz Sawyer: The War in the Pacific (Vol. 1)
UNCLE SCROOGE #401
Other items of note
Dark Horse Deluxe Classic Uncle Scrooge Statue Series 2 #4: Huey, Dewey, and Louie
Classic Peanuts Character #3: Linus Statue
Conan Volume 1: The Frost Giant's Daughter And Other Stories (Conan (Graphic Novels)
Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond
Batman: Time and the Batman
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam: Mr. Mind over Matter
DC Direct Women of the DC Universe Series 3: Poison Ivy Bust
Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales of Bud Sagendorf
Spider-Man: Grim Hunt
Classic Dan Dare: Trip to Trouble (Dan Dare (Graphic Novel)
Popeye, Vol. 5: Wha's a Jeep?
The Smurfs #5: The Smurfs and the Egg
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