"Star Wars" Q&A
USA Today has a sit down with Lucasfilm folks to discuss continuity confusion and other matters related to the new flick.
The new Holmes
Sherlock is popping up in lots of recent novels, Reuters reports.
Caleb Carr's "The Italian Secretary," a novel commissioned by Conan Doyle's estate, hit book stores last month, following Mitch Cullin's "A Slight Trick of the Mind," featuring the sleuth amid the debris of the world's first atom bomb attack.
"I think that he just embodies the modern era's belief that through reason ... we can solve all our terrible difficulties," Carr told Reuters. "That's been challenged recently by the resurgence of fundamentalist religious thinking."
Pulitzer prize-winning writer Michael Chabon's "The Final Solution" puts Holmes in 1944 Britain hunting for a parrot of a German Jewish boy, who is muted by Holocaust horror. Laurie King, in a book due in June, has Holmes tapping repressed memories of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The authors have aged Holmes accordingly in the historical novels. Holmes is 89 in the Holocaust tale. The detective is 93 as he ponders the devastation of Hiroshima.
Caleb Carr's "The Italian Secretary," a novel commissioned by Conan Doyle's estate, hit book stores last month, following Mitch Cullin's "A Slight Trick of the Mind," featuring the sleuth amid the debris of the world's first atom bomb attack.
"I think that he just embodies the modern era's belief that through reason ... we can solve all our terrible difficulties," Carr told Reuters. "That's been challenged recently by the resurgence of fundamentalist religious thinking."
Pulitzer prize-winning writer Michael Chabon's "The Final Solution" puts Holmes in 1944 Britain hunting for a parrot of a German Jewish boy, who is muted by Holocaust horror. Laurie King, in a book due in June, has Holmes tapping repressed memories of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The authors have aged Holmes accordingly in the historical novels. Holmes is 89 in the Holocaust tale. The detective is 93 as he ponders the devastation of Hiroshima.
More details on the "EC Comics Archives"
From the Yahoo! EC Comics Group, Russ Cochran further details his plans for a hard cover series reprinting the classic EC titles:
Gemstone Publishing is about to embark on a new adventure: Reprinting
the ECs in a format called the EC Archives. Similar to the DC
Archives, and the Spirit Archives, these would be hardcover volumes, sewn, not
perfect bound, in full color, approximately comic book size, and the
"new" thing about these books is that they would be aimed at the book
store trade market...the Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc, etc stores. I
have a couple of questions I would like to have feedback on from this EC
forum:
1. Should the EC Archives stick strictly to using all the EC stories,
in chronological order...or should we pick out the "best" stories?
2. DC Archives are printed on a matte finish paper. Marvels are
printed on a slick glossy paper. Which do you prefer? We plan to make new
colorings of each page of the EC art and print these by scanning the
artist's colorings, not by the old fashioned way of mechanical
separations. This would give a greater range of colors than the old way, more
subtleties in the coloring, while still sticking the the original EC
coloring theme in general.
In Comic Book Marketplace #116, as an experiment, I asked Marie Severin
to color a 7 page Wally Wood story, "Hate", from an early issue of
Shock Suspenstories. I was very happy with the result. This was printed
on glossy stock, but I can also see the validity to the argument of
using a matte finish paper of good quality but not glossy. Help me out
here, EC fans...tell me what you think!
For what it's worth, I vote matte finish paper (it's not shiny, doesn't reflect light so much and shows off the art better) and am in favor of reprinting everything chronologically.
Man, this is great news...
Gemstone Publishing is about to embark on a new adventure: Reprinting
the ECs in a format called the EC Archives. Similar to the DC
Archives, and the Spirit Archives, these would be hardcover volumes, sewn, not
perfect bound, in full color, approximately comic book size, and the
"new" thing about these books is that they would be aimed at the book
store trade market...the Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc, etc stores. I
have a couple of questions I would like to have feedback on from this EC
forum:
1. Should the EC Archives stick strictly to using all the EC stories,
in chronological order...or should we pick out the "best" stories?
2. DC Archives are printed on a matte finish paper. Marvels are
printed on a slick glossy paper. Which do you prefer? We plan to make new
colorings of each page of the EC art and print these by scanning the
artist's colorings, not by the old fashioned way of mechanical
separations. This would give a greater range of colors than the old way, more
subtleties in the coloring, while still sticking the the original EC
coloring theme in general.
In Comic Book Marketplace #116, as an experiment, I asked Marie Severin
to color a 7 page Wally Wood story, "Hate", from an early issue of
Shock Suspenstories. I was very happy with the result. This was printed
on glossy stock, but I can also see the validity to the argument of
using a matte finish paper of good quality but not glossy. Help me out
here, EC fans...tell me what you think!
For what it's worth, I vote matte finish paper (it's not shiny, doesn't reflect light so much and shows off the art better) and am in favor of reprinting everything chronologically.
Man, this is great news...
New CD releases of note
May 31
Björk Army of Me
The Impacts Wipe Out!
Terry Melcher Terry Melcher
DVD Moog
Freddie Roach Brown Sugar
June 7
Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass Going Places, SRO and What Now My Love
The Decemberists The Tain EP
Graham Parker Songs of No Consequence
Ringo Starr Choose Love
White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
DVD Marc Bolan and T. Rex Born to Boogie
Björk Army of Me
The Impacts Wipe Out!
Terry Melcher Terry Melcher
DVD Moog
Freddie Roach Brown Sugar
June 7
Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass Going Places, SRO and What Now My Love
The Decemberists The Tain EP
Graham Parker Songs of No Consequence
Ringo Starr Choose Love
White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
DVD Marc Bolan and T. Rex Born to Boogie
Best of Dudley Do-Right Vol. 1
Complete James Dean Collection (East of Eden / Giant / Rebel Without a Cause Special Edition)
Dukes of Hazzard Complete Third Season
Gary Cooper Collection
Best of Mr Peabody & Sherman Vol 1
Rebel Without a Cause
Will Eisner authorized biography coming
Details:
Dark Horse’s prose imprint M Press is proud to present a new authorized biography on one of comics’ true legends, Will Eisner. Will Eisner: A Spirited Life is the only authorized and extensively researched biography of Eisner over three years in the making. Chock full of entertaining anecdotes told by the comic industry’s top talents, A Spirited Life pays tribute to a true American original whose legacy will forever be felt not only in comic books and graphic novels but in commercial illustration, fine art, film, television and multimedia.
Pop culture would never have been the same without Will Eisner. Internationally recognized as the founding father of an utterly American medium—comic books—Eisner pioneered this art form in the 1940s, and continued to shape its direction until his passing at 87 in 2005. This personality-driven biography, written by Bob Andelman, explores the fascinating life of Eisner and details a career that stretched across six decades. Eisner spearheaded the cause of comics for adult readers (including 30 years spent producing comics for the U.S. Army and corporate clients such as General Motors and the United Nations) and in 1976 created the first widely accepted graphic novel, A Contract with God.
Eisner influenced some of the world’s greatest comic art talent: Bob Kane (Batman); Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four); Jules Feiffer; Dave Berg (Mad); and Joe Kubert (Tarzan). Eisner also inspired generations of modern artists and writers, including Frank Miller (Sin City), Robert Crumb, Harlan Ellison, Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and Art Spiegelman (Maus).
“As Will’s authorized biographer, I spent the last three years with the artist in his studio and his home, as well as poring through his substantial archives at The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library and interviewing dozens of his colleagues, friends and family,” commented biographer Bob Andelman. “We should all be lucky enough to have left such consistent and positive impressions on so many people for so many years.”
Featuring an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and an appreciation by Neal Adams, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life arrives in stores September 2005 with a retail price of $14.95.
Dark Horse’s prose imprint M Press is proud to present a new authorized biography on one of comics’ true legends, Will Eisner. Will Eisner: A Spirited Life is the only authorized and extensively researched biography of Eisner over three years in the making. Chock full of entertaining anecdotes told by the comic industry’s top talents, A Spirited Life pays tribute to a true American original whose legacy will forever be felt not only in comic books and graphic novels but in commercial illustration, fine art, film, television and multimedia.
Pop culture would never have been the same without Will Eisner. Internationally recognized as the founding father of an utterly American medium—comic books—Eisner pioneered this art form in the 1940s, and continued to shape its direction until his passing at 87 in 2005. This personality-driven biography, written by Bob Andelman, explores the fascinating life of Eisner and details a career that stretched across six decades. Eisner spearheaded the cause of comics for adult readers (including 30 years spent producing comics for the U.S. Army and corporate clients such as General Motors and the United Nations) and in 1976 created the first widely accepted graphic novel, A Contract with God.
Eisner influenced some of the world’s greatest comic art talent: Bob Kane (Batman); Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four); Jules Feiffer; Dave Berg (Mad); and Joe Kubert (Tarzan). Eisner also inspired generations of modern artists and writers, including Frank Miller (Sin City), Robert Crumb, Harlan Ellison, Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and Art Spiegelman (Maus).
“As Will’s authorized biographer, I spent the last three years with the artist in his studio and his home, as well as poring through his substantial archives at The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library and interviewing dozens of his colleagues, friends and family,” commented biographer Bob Andelman. “We should all be lucky enough to have left such consistent and positive impressions on so many people for so many years.”
Featuring an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and an appreciation by Neal Adams, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life arrives in stores September 2005 with a retail price of $14.95.
"Indiana Jones 4": It's a go
Creator George Lucas has approved a script for the film, to star Harrison Ford, Cinematical reports.
Jeff Nathanson's draft of the Indiana Jones 4 script has been approved by both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. All that Paramount is waiting on now is for star Harrison Ford to give his approval.
Filming would likely start in 2006.
Jeff Nathanson's draft of the Indiana Jones 4 script has been approved by both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. All that Paramount is waiting on now is for star Harrison Ford to give his approval.
Filming would likely start in 2006.
65 CDs of Motown
That'll be the final tally of CDs included in Hip-O Records' project to issue every Motown single in box set form, according to this Billboard story.
So far, the Web-only label has issued to box sets, bringing things all the way up to 1962. The boxes are limited to 5,000 copies each, but tunes also are available for download via iTunes.
The project continues in the fall with a five-CD set devoted to the 45s of '63."So little of what is in these first three packages had made it to the CD era, or even to the LP era," Hip-O Select senior director Thane Tierney says. "It offers an unparalleled insight into probably the only label in history where, if you say the name of the label, it sets off a sound in your head."
When the project is completed in 2008 with a package covering the label's output for 1972 (the year the label moved from Detroit to Los Angeles), it will comprise 12 volumes totaling 64 or 65 CDs. To mark Motown's 50th, a complete set will be issued in 2009 -- hopefully in a scale replica of the old Hitsville USA building. "We're going to pull out all the stops," Tierney says.
Check out Hip-O Select.
So far, the Web-only label has issued to box sets, bringing things all the way up to 1962. The boxes are limited to 5,000 copies each, but tunes also are available for download via iTunes.
The project continues in the fall with a five-CD set devoted to the 45s of '63."So little of what is in these first three packages had made it to the CD era, or even to the LP era," Hip-O Select senior director Thane Tierney says. "It offers an unparalleled insight into probably the only label in history where, if you say the name of the label, it sets off a sound in your head."
When the project is completed in 2008 with a package covering the label's output for 1972 (the year the label moved from Detroit to Los Angeles), it will comprise 12 volumes totaling 64 or 65 CDs. To mark Motown's 50th, a complete set will be issued in 2009 -- hopefully in a scale replica of the old Hitsville USA building. "We're going to pull out all the stops," Tierney says.
Check out Hip-O Select.
92 and still going strong: "Lone Ranger" artist Tom Gill
The Albuquerque Tribune has a nice feature this week on Gill, who drew the Masked Man's comic book adventures for 20 years for Dell/Gold Key.
Now a consultant with New York City's School of Visual Arts and a teacher at Westchester and Dutchess community colleges in New York, Gill talks a bit about his early days. A New York native, he admits that the Western settings in his comic book work came solely from his imagination. And he reveals where he learned to draw such great horses:
"I bought a $1 book called `How to Draw Horses: It's Fun and It's Easy,' " he says. "I studied it."
Now a consultant with New York City's School of Visual Arts and a teacher at Westchester and Dutchess community colleges in New York, Gill talks a bit about his early days. A New York native, he admits that the Western settings in his comic book work came solely from his imagination. And he reveals where he learned to draw such great horses:
"I bought a $1 book called `How to Draw Horses: It's Fun and It's Easy,' " he says. "I studied it."
First Finger award winners announced
Lifted from Mark Evanier's blog, here's the press release on the winners of this first-time award for excellence in comic book writing. The awards are named after Bill Finger, comics scribe and co-creator of Batman.
Jerry Siegel and Arnold Drake have been chosen as the first recipients of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. They were chosen by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by Jerry Robinson. The committee decided to give two awards, to honor both a deceased and a living writer who exemplify the award's criteria.
Jerry Siegel was, of course, the co-creator (with Joe Shuster) of Superman and Superboy and wrote the Superman comic books and comic strip from the character's first appearance in 1938 up through the late 1940s. He also co-created The Spectre (with Bernard Baily) for DC. After leaving DC (in a well-publicized dispute) in 1948, he continued to write comic books for a variety of companies and served as the comics art director at Ziff-Davis in the 1950s. He returned to DC in 1958, where he wrote uncredited Superman and other scripts through 1964. He died in 1996.
"There is a poetic sense of rightness that Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, and Bill Finger, the unsung hero and writer of Batman, be symbolically united after three quarters of a century after their iconic characters' debuts," says Robinson. "Although both men led tragic lives, by launching the superhero genre and the Golden Age of comics, they left legacies that have enriched our culture."
Arnold Drake's comics writing career spanned the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His credits include Doom Patrol (creator), Deadman (creator), Batman, Superman, Plastic Man, X-Men, Captain Marvel, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Mighty Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Bullwinkle and Rocky, Stanley and His Monster (creator), Little Lulu, Space Ranger, House of Mystery, and Dark Shadows. His It Rhymes with Lust, with art by Matt Baker and Ray Osrin, published by St. John Publishing in 1950, was one of the very first graphic novels.
"Like Finger and Siegel, Drake is a consummate professional writer," says Robinson. "As the author of hundreds of stories from the Silver Age to the present, his credits demonstrate an amazing versatility, ranging from the superhero and adventure such as Doom Patrol to the wry humor of Little Lulu."
The other members of the Finger Awards jury were comics writer and historian Mark Evanier, cartoonist/screenwriter/playwright Jules Feiffer, comics writer/editor Denny O'Neil, and comics writer/editor/historian Roy Thomas.
The awards will be presented during the Eisner Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con International: San Diego. Joanne Siegel will be present to accept the award for her late husband. Arnold Drake will be on hand to receive his award.
The Finger Award falls under the auspices of Comic-Con International and is administered by Jackie Estrada. The 2005 awards are being underwritten by DC Comics; sponsorship will be open to other companies in future years.
Jerry Siegel and Arnold Drake have been chosen as the first recipients of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. They were chosen by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by Jerry Robinson. The committee decided to give two awards, to honor both a deceased and a living writer who exemplify the award's criteria.
Jerry Siegel was, of course, the co-creator (with Joe Shuster) of Superman and Superboy and wrote the Superman comic books and comic strip from the character's first appearance in 1938 up through the late 1940s. He also co-created The Spectre (with Bernard Baily) for DC. After leaving DC (in a well-publicized dispute) in 1948, he continued to write comic books for a variety of companies and served as the comics art director at Ziff-Davis in the 1950s. He returned to DC in 1958, where he wrote uncredited Superman and other scripts through 1964. He died in 1996.
"There is a poetic sense of rightness that Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, and Bill Finger, the unsung hero and writer of Batman, be symbolically united after three quarters of a century after their iconic characters' debuts," says Robinson. "Although both men led tragic lives, by launching the superhero genre and the Golden Age of comics, they left legacies that have enriched our culture."
Arnold Drake's comics writing career spanned the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His credits include Doom Patrol (creator), Deadman (creator), Batman, Superman, Plastic Man, X-Men, Captain Marvel, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Mighty Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Bullwinkle and Rocky, Stanley and His Monster (creator), Little Lulu, Space Ranger, House of Mystery, and Dark Shadows. His It Rhymes with Lust, with art by Matt Baker and Ray Osrin, published by St. John Publishing in 1950, was one of the very first graphic novels.
"Like Finger and Siegel, Drake is a consummate professional writer," says Robinson. "As the author of hundreds of stories from the Silver Age to the present, his credits demonstrate an amazing versatility, ranging from the superhero and adventure such as Doom Patrol to the wry humor of Little Lulu."
The other members of the Finger Awards jury were comics writer and historian Mark Evanier, cartoonist/screenwriter/playwright Jules Feiffer, comics writer/editor Denny O'Neil, and comics writer/editor/historian Roy Thomas.
The awards will be presented during the Eisner Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con International: San Diego. Joanne Siegel will be present to accept the award for her late husband. Arnold Drake will be on hand to receive his award.
The Finger Award falls under the auspices of Comic-Con International and is administered by Jackie Estrada. The 2005 awards are being underwritten by DC Comics; sponsorship will be open to other companies in future years.
New CD releases of note
May 24
Belle & Sebastian Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
Johnny Cash The Complete Original Sun Albums
Alex Chilton Live in Anvers 2003
Gorillaz Demon Days
Shelby Lynne Suit Yourself
Stephen Malkmus Face the Truth
Sleater-Kinney The Woods
Son Volt A Retrospective: 1995-2000
James Blood Ulmer Birthright
VA Garage Beat ‘66, Vol. 4: I'm in Need! and Vol. 5: Readin' Your Will!
DVD Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
May 31
Björk Army of Me
The Impacts Wipe Out!
Terry Melcher Terry Melcher
DVD Moog
Freddie Roach Brown Sugar
Belle & Sebastian Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
Johnny Cash The Complete Original Sun Albums
Alex Chilton Live in Anvers 2003
Gorillaz Demon Days
Shelby Lynne Suit Yourself
Stephen Malkmus Face the Truth
Sleater-Kinney The Woods
Son Volt A Retrospective: 1995-2000
James Blood Ulmer Birthright
VA Garage Beat ‘66, Vol. 4: I'm in Need! and Vol. 5: Readin' Your Will!
DVD Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
May 31
Björk Army of Me
The Impacts Wipe Out!
Terry Melcher Terry Melcher
DVD Moog
Freddie Roach Brown Sugar
This week's DVD new releases
New DVD Releases for May 24, 2005
Andy Griffith Show Complete Second Season
The Aviator
Baa Baa Black Sheep Complete First Season
Batman the Animated Series Complete Third Season
Chappelle's Show Complete Second Season
The Day After Tomorrow
I Robot
Law and Order Third Year
MASH Complete Eighth Season
News Radio Complete First and Second Seasons
Samurai Jack Complete Second Season
Super Friends Complete Second Season
The Batman - Season 1, Vol. 1 - Training for Power
Return of Madness
Many Americans only remember the "Our House" video, but Madness was a brilliant band. They started off as part of the ska revival band and soon ended up as a wonderfully melodic pop group that incorporated funny/sad lyrics commenting on contemporary British society ala The Kinks. One of the better British groups ever. And it looks like they're back.
Billboard reports:
Esteemed U.K. ska act Madness has signed with V2, which is eyeing a July 19 North American release for an as-yet-untitled new album from the original lineup of the group. Although details are scant at deadline, the set is tipped to consist of ska, punk and reggae covers the band performed last summer when it toured as the Dangermen.
Billboard reports:
Esteemed U.K. ska act Madness has signed with V2, which is eyeing a July 19 North American release for an as-yet-untitled new album from the original lineup of the group. Although details are scant at deadline, the set is tipped to consist of ska, punk and reggae covers the band performed last summer when it toured as the Dangermen.
"Batman Begins" soundtrack details
It's out June 15:
a unique collaboration between two of the screen's most honored and respected composers, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, working together for the first time.
...The soundtrack contains 12 tracks composed by Zimmer and Howard and is 60 minutes in length.
"Collaborating on this project has been a lot of fun. Since 'Batman Begins' is a character driven story, we wanted to give Batman credibility through the music. We've created a score that tried to stay true to the duality of the character, capturing the motion, energy, darkness and rage of Batman," said Zimmer and Howard.
a unique collaboration between two of the screen's most honored and respected composers, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, working together for the first time.
...The soundtrack contains 12 tracks composed by Zimmer and Howard and is 60 minutes in length.
"Collaborating on this project has been a lot of fun. Since 'Batman Begins' is a character driven story, we wanted to give Batman credibility through the music. We've created a score that tried to stay true to the duality of the character, capturing the motion, energy, darkness and rage of Batman," said Zimmer and Howard.
Wilson talks "Smile"
USA Today has an interview with Brian Wilson about his excellent "Smile" album and the DVD documentary on same, which is out tomorrow.
"Smile represents my most advanced and best work," Wilson says as he settles into the sofa of his family room. "If I hadn't finished it, I'd probably be in the dumps. Knowing what I created made me happy, but I wouldn't be so happy if it had bombed. I needed that love. When I die, I hope people remember Smile as a great piece of music."
"Smile represents my most advanced and best work," Wilson says as he settles into the sofa of his family room. "If I hadn't finished it, I'd probably be in the dumps. Knowing what I created made me happy, but I wouldn't be so happy if it had bombed. I needed that love. When I die, I hope people remember Smile as a great piece of music."
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