The Battle Of Los Angeles  Jeez… It’s almost like they’re asking for controversy… This Has A “Butt of All Jokes” Factor of Six Out of Ten
Back From The Future Dark Horse has picked up the comic rights for the upcoming Aeon Flux live action movie. First up will be a four issue miniseries that will serve as a prequel to film. Mike Kennedy will write the mini, with Timothy Green onboard as the artist.    Also on hand (courtesy of Paramount Studios) were some early stills of Charlize Theron as Aeon Flux. Theron fills out the costume nicely. And it looks like there was a concerted effort to make Aeon Flux more feminine and less androgynous than her MTV incarnation. Works for me. This Has A “Trevor Goodchild” Factor of Eight Out of Ten
Riotstarter Over at the Image booth, Michael O’Hare’s Flak Riot really caught my eye, so I asked O’Hare to elaborate on the series:
    It’s a four issue miniseries coming out from Image in June. I’m the creator/writer/artist and Bob Napton is co-writing with me. It’s in full color, courtesy of Michael Garcia who’s an amazing colorist. We just have a really solid team and I think it’s going to be fantastic.
Cyberdata Reloaded As mentioned at the Top Cow panel on Sunday, Marc Silvestri’s Cyberforce will be returning in an ongoing series by Ron Marz and Pat Lee. And here’s a first look at two of Lee’s redesigns for Ripclaw and Cyblade.   This Has A “Velocity Now” Factor of Eight Out of Ten
He’s A BAAAD MUTHA… Shut Your Mouth! Jeremy Love is bringing his creator owned original graphic novel, Chocolate Thunder to Speakeasy, for release this July. Love describes the project as “the ultimate 70's Blaxploitation film on paper. Mixing elements of superhero mythos and kung fu, Chocolate Thunder is an action packed yarn set against a backdrop of urban blight. Guns will blaze and fists will fly…”       This Has A “Dolemite” Factor of Seven Out of Ten
AKA I stopped by the Alias booth on Sunday and took a glance through an issue of The Comic Book Digest. And apparently, I’m credited as a “contributing writer” for TCBD. Huh… Guess you learn something new everyday. The item in question was a reprint of my interview with Reggie Hudlin from last December. But I don’t expect that’ll be a regular occurrence. Not that I had a problem with it, it’s just that The Comic Book Digest has been canceled. The printed version, at least. There is some talk that the magazine could be resurrected on the web as a pay-for-content comics newsite ala Salon.com. This Has A “Micropayments” Factor of Seven Out of Ten
Putting The Hoarse Before The Buggy Elk’s Run has been garnering a lot of buzz online from comic professionals like Brian Bendis, Warren Ellis and B. Clay Moore. So, I was curious to see it for myself and caught up with the writer/creator of Elk’s Run, Joshua Hale Fialkov, for a quick overview:
 We’re trying to tell a story from a unique point of view. Each issue is actually told from a different main character’s point of view. So, in the first issue, we see the hero of the story, who is this young teenager living in this small town that’s cut off from the rest of the world. He’s trying to grow up and be his own person but there is literally no outside reference for him. There’s no pop culture, no radio and no TV. They’re living in a vacuum and when “something” happens in the town that reveals what’s really going on and why they’re actually there, it becomes the kid’s mission to get him and his friends out of there as quickly as he possibly can.  Noel Tuazon is the artist. He’s done a lot of spot illustrations and children’s books. I actually got a minicomic he worked on, called Paper Cuts, which is fabulous. I saw it and at the same time he had contacted me about being in our other book, which is Western Tales of Terror. When I saw his stuff, it just clicked. It was the perfect thing for this book because he has a fabulous retro style, not like 50’s or 60’s, but very traditional illustration style, it feels almost like those New Yorker cartoons. Painting over him is Scott Keating, who is a colorist who’s worked on The Wicked West for Image, The Secret Skull for IDW and he’s also the lead artist for Western Tales of Terror. He did all of our narrator designs and he wrote the lead stories in issues 1 through 3. And he’s honestly, aside from the fact that I’m working with the guy and he’s my friend, by far, one of the best colorists in the industry today. His stuff is just absolutely breathtaking.
  The book should be out a week from this Wednesday and issue two is the new Previews that comes out this week as well. Right now, we’re hoping to ship bi-monthly. If sales allow, we’d like to start shipping monthly. This Has A “Getting The Wolf” Factor of Eight Out of Ten
Sin Vs Wiz Much like my colleague at The Beat, I had an invite to the Sin City screening and press junket. And I wanted to go but had to pass due to my inability to be in two places at once. So, to whoever it was at Miramax who booked the junket against WW, I say “Great job. Just fucking brilliant.” If I was the suspicious sort, I’d say they scheduled it that way on purpose. In fact, word on the floor was that the Frank Miller/Wizard feud is still going strong. Case in point: the Sin City movie. There were no Sin City panels at the con. It wasn’t mentioned in the convention program. And there’s been little coverage, if any in the magazine itself… Now, the Wizard reps at the show were very quick to say there’s no feud with Miller. That it’s the studio limiting their access to the film, which keeps them from covering Sin City. Oh… and we believe them, don’t we? Looking back, I have to wonder if it was a deliberate move by DC to keep Miller’s involvement in All-Star Batman & Robin a secret during their initial announcement in Wizard. How much play would Wizard have given that if they knew ahead of time? This Has A “Yellow Bastard” Factor of Five Out of Ten
The Trend Stops Here After San Diego and Chicago, I was expecting more video game companies to show off their wares here at WWLA. Well, it didn’t happen. Sure, some gaming companies made it out, like Sony, Vivendi Universal and NC Soft. But this was nowhere near the presence video games had at Chicago, much less San Diego. Even more surprising was the lack of booths run by major movie studios. Only Dreamworks and Lions Gate were on the show floor. Frankly, it seems like the gaming companies and movie studios treated the show as an afterthought at best… This Has A “Multiplex” Factor of Six Out of Ten
Wizard World Wrap-Up Overall, I had a good time at the show, but most of the retailers and fans I’ve spoken with voiced their disappointment. And I can understand where they’re coming from. It felt like there was something missing… but I can’t quite put it to words. Next year’s show will supposedly be at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Which would make it the first WWLA to actually be in LA. Conceivably, that would also give them the space to mount a more serious challenge to San Diego’s dominance. I say conceivably, because if they had held the show at the LA Convention Center this year, it would have barely filled a single exhibit hall there. In my opinion, Wizard needs to ramp up the programming schedule, bring in more guests and exhibitors and find ways to expand the show. Because right now, WWLA feels small. Even smaller than last year. It doesn’t help that it was held simultaneously with another convention at the Long Beach Convention Center. But I’m actually not sure if Wizard will be moving the show. The con program lists next year’s WWLA as taking place at the LA Convention center from March 17-19. But on the back of The New West (which debuted at the con) next year’s WWLA is listed as taking place on March 24-26 back here at Long Beach. Decisions… decisions… Alright, that’s all from WWLA. I’ll be back on Sunday. Until then, stay cool. Later, Blair PS If anyone has any rumors, stories or news to share, please email me at blairm@silverbulletcomicbooks.com. Thanks to everyone who has been sending stuff in. It’s greatly appreciated. |
