You Can't Stop Crap!

In a recent interview with Stan Lee, when he was asked about current projects, the Disney superhero films came up, as well as some other stuff that's made the round in the news. (I'm sure you've heard about the Disney deal - I didn't realize the films had names: Tigress, Blaze, and Nick Ratchet - they sound like winners.)

What I didn't know about was the animated TV series he had planned with Paris Hilton. Or maybe I heard it and blocked it out.

He made Pamela Anderson into a supehero stripper. I cringe to think what he could do with Miss Hilton.

Marvel Animated

Want to catch some cartoons from Marvel you may have missed? You may get a chance to.

The Spider-Man, the New Animated Series CGI toon (starring Neil Patrick Harris) that was on MTV a few years is coming to the internet and cable. Apparently, Kabillion.com will begin hosting episodes on May 1, but you'll also be able to catch these On Demand with various cable companies, like Comcast and Bresnan Cable. This seemed pretty enjoyable, though I only caught one or two eps. And who doesn't love Neil Patrick Harris?

And if you were like me, and missed most of the episodes of Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Heroes because your cable guide never matched what they were actually airing on Cartoon Network, Marvelkids.com has those episodes for you. (Though at the time I didn't think it was good enough for me to try to hunt down the shows I missed.) Soon, Marvelkids.com will also have episodes of X-Men: Evolution.


Thanks to Comics2Film.

I Can't Believe This is Real

And I can't believe it's all the way across the country.



Yes, Too Much Coffee Man has his own opera. This is the sequel. How did I not know about the original?

And what category do I put this in?

Newest Comic Book Movie Adaptation

The Onion never ceases to deliver. Check out this news clip about the upcoming Iron Man adaptation. Lets hope the film is as good as the trailer.


Wildly Popular 'Iron Man' Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film

Superhero Movie (2008) mini review

superhero movie not based on a comic
[6/10]

In Superhero Movie, Drake Bell is an awkward high school student who is on a field trip to a genetics lab and gets bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly. From then on, he develops amazing dragonfly powers, such as the ability to breakdance on a wall, and constantly crash and burn when talking to the girl of his dreams.

As you might guess, Superhero Movie is more a spoof of the Spider-Man films than anything else. There's a little bit of the X-Men films thrown in, as well as a Batman Begins scene, and a Pam Anderson Fantastic Four cameo. But mostly, it attempts to parody the Spider-Man formula. There's some superhero parody, but what's the point, when other films like The Incredibles and Sky High have done it so well?

But I actually enjoyed myself. I went in with expectations LOW, and Superhero Movie was much, much funnier than I expected. Of course, after watching the wretched Date Movie a while back, I was expecting the worst superhero film I'd ever seen (and I've seen some bad ones). The fact that it far over-reached my expectation was not too great a feat. There were several laugh out loud scenes, but they were accompanied by several scenes that were intended to be funny and just fell flat. Some of the humor was actually good enough to remind me of the first Airplane! film - but it just wasn't consistent.

See it if you like Airplane!-type humor. Superhero Movie isn't nearly as good, but there should be enough in it to keep you entertained.


Don't see it you didn't think Airplane! was a classic.

Premiers and Releases

I guess I haven't been paying much attention to the news wire...a ton of stuff has been happening. Now I've finally caught up and updated some dates and links to the right.

Batman: Gotham Knight is finally available by pre-order from Amazon.com.

The two short-lived series - WB's Birds of Prey (which I enjoyed) and TNT's Witchblade (which I never actually caught) - are both coming to DVD.

(Huh - apparently, July is a big month for comic adaptations - all three of these DVDs are out that month.)

Punisher: War Zone has been pushed back a few months.

And finally, everyone seems to be all excited about XIII coming to NBC. I realize NBC officially announced it on their winter line-up, but still - I think I heard about this a while back.

March 2008 Previews Pop Culture Crossover

Comics coming in May - highlights of movies, stories, and other odds and ends adapted to comics in the March Previews. More stuff from classic artists (Harryhausen and Frazetta), some new and interesting stuff, and some comics related to some awesome movies (including great sequels this year).

Movies

• Igor Movie Prequel #1 (series or mini, IDW )
  Prequel (obviously) to the animated film Igor due out in October. Star-filled cast, including Steve Buscemi, John Cusack, and John Cleese.
• Indiana Jones Adventures, Vol. 1 (pocket book, Dark Horse)
  Indiana Jones story written for kids (according to Previews).
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull #1 and 2 (2-part mini, Dark Horse)
  Adaptation of the upcoming film. With all these awesome sequels, I need to have an 80s movies weekend and rent Raiders of the Lost Ark, and...
• Lost Boys: Reign of the Frogs #1 (4-part mini, Wildstorm)
  Rather than an adaptation, this fills the gap between the original The Lost Boys and the upcoming The Lost Boys: The Tribe.
• The Man with No Name #1 (new series, Dynamite Entertainment)
  Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name immortalized in comic form. I still need to see these films...
• Ray Harryhausen Presents 20 Million Miles More (Graphic Novel, Bluewater Productions)
  Sequel to the 1957 film, 20 Million Miles To Earth.
• Tron Vol. 1: The Ghost in the Machine (TPB, Amaze Ink / Slave Labor Graphics)
  Sequel to the original film, taking place in the present day; collects the 6-issue series.

Books/Stories

• Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son #1 (5-part mini, Dabel Brothers)
  Book One in Koontz's trilogy. Adapted by Chuck Dixon.
• Hercules #1 (5-part mini, Radical Comics)
  The Greek myth revisited.
• In Odd We Trust (graphic novel, Del Rey)
  Prequel to Koontz's Koontz's Odd novels.
• The Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft (TPB, Transfuzion Publishing)
  Collection of the full-length adaptations originally published by Malibu.

Other

• Bionicle Volume 1 (TPB, Papercutz)
  Based on the toys - collects comics that were available to fan club members.
• Frank Frazetta's Swamp Demon (one-shot, Image)
  Another comic based on a Frazetta painting.

Anything else you're getting? Did I miss anything good?

Comic Book: The Movie (2004) mini review

about comics
[7/10]

Don Swann (Mark Hamill) is a comic book fan along for the ride as Hollywood takes control of his childhood hero, the patriotic Golden Age superhero, Commander Courage, and turns him into gun-toting terrorist-fighting anti-hero Codename: Courage. Well, technically, they take the grim and gritty revamp of the hero (written by Peter David), and adapt the film from this modern version of the hero (along with his sidekick who is morphed from a teenage nephew into a sexy superheroine). Swann attempts to derail the movie's production and turn it back to the original Golden Age hero.

As director and producer, Mark Hamill puts together a mostly-improv'd film with the help of several voice actors, comic creators, and other personalities. The film pokes fun at the current state of comics, including the penchant for remaking comic heroes into something more seemingly palatable for modern movie audiences.

It was genius on Hamill's part to show real people talking about the rich history of not only this fictional character, but also his creator, Jack Whitney. Names you'll recognize include Peter David, Paul Dini, Mark Evanier, Bruce Timm, Bruce Campbell, Stan Lee, Matt Groenig, Lloyd Kaufman, and Kevin Smith (talking about the Giant Spider™ yet again). And that's only the tip of the cameo iceberg. It takes place at the San Diego Comic Con, so it even attempts to be a documentary of sorts of what it's like to enjoy the chaos of the con - though, I've never been, so I don't know if it succeeds in that.

There's a lot of voice talent here, as Hamill relies on his peer group to provide a lot of the characters. I can't begin to list all their credits here, so I'll just include what they're probably most famous for, along with a few superhero parts. Tom Kenny and Jill Talley (married in real life) play Swann's friend, Derek Sprang and his wife Jill. (Kenny is famous for Spongebob Squarepants, but is also the Mayor and the Narrator on PowerPuff Girls, The Penguin on The Batman; Talley has had parts in Stripperella and The Batman). They both actually had small parts in Sky High, playing the couple the end of the film admiring their new house - my daughter was watching that on the Disney Channel the other night, and I thought I recognized them from this film. [Side note: What's this about a Plastic Man cartoon pilot on Cartoon Network in 2006 starring the couple??]

Billy West plays a long lost relative of Courage creator Whitney (he's Fry on Futurama and has had many other parts, including Captain Righteous on The Powerpuff Girls). Of course, Jess Harnell plays the cameraman (he is Wakko Warner, Sewer Urchin from The Tick, and even did voices in Kim Possible and Underdog). The Hollywood stereotypes are played by Roger Rose (many parts on Batman: The Animated Series; Four-Legged Man from The Tick) and Lori Alan (Invisible Woman from the 90's Fantastic Four series, but probably more known as Diane Simmons on Family Guy). Finally, Daran Norris plays the actor who suits up for Commander Courage, and Codename: Courage (he is J. Jonah Jameson on the new Spider-Man cartoon).

The movie's enjoyable, but there are drawbacks. Jess Harnell is fun, but overacts a bit; the improv starts to come apart about 2/3 of the way through the film; and I'm not sure what the whole Hugh Hefner scene was about, except to fit another cameo in.

Finally, I really liked this blurb in the credits:

Above all, we're thankful to the comic books themselves. So to all the artists and writers, both famous and faceless, we dedicate this film.

See it if you're a comic book or superhero fan, or a fan of indie film.

Don't see it if you're not a fan of any of those 3 things. And e-mail me letting me know why you read this blog - I'm just curious.

Superhero Movie Opening Weekend

It's Saturday night, I'm at Superhero Movie here in Florence, Alabama, the movie is about to start, and the theater is definitely not empty. I'm here. And in this poorly lit theater, you can see the only other person here - my brother, who I dragged here with me.

I'm guessing this doesn't bode well. We'll see.

I Can't Think of a Good Title for This Post

I guess it's been a couple weeks since I've posted. I was off of work for a few days for various reasons and "got to" to lay around and do nothing for a while, so I was able to catch a few films. Silver Hawk had been sitting on my DVR for a few weeks. My brother gave me Comic Book: The Movie for Christmas, so I finally watched that. And finally got to sit through Superman: Doomsday. Of course, I've been playing catch-up with work and life since.

Dang but Kevin Smith got a lot of mileage out of writing that Superman Lives script. Probably more than he would've gotten out of it if it was the script they actually used for Superman Returns. It came up in Comic Book: The Movie, and even as a weird cameo in Doomsday. But I think the funniest telling was in An Evening with Kevin Smith. That DVD's a bit raw, but if your ears can handle it, it's pretty funny.

Doomsday wasn't bad. I wouldn't go out and spend the money on it for myself, but I was lucky enough to have a friend who bought it and didn't like it, so he gave it to me. I'm not sure if it needed to be PG-13. It seems like they just added some gratuitous language and a suggested sexual relationship between Superman and Lois just so they could up the rating. If you haven't seen it, you didn't miss a lot. You already know what I think of Silver Hawk, and I still need to post my Comic Book: The Movie review.

Ah, well; I'm off to see Superhero Movie.

Here's hoping I laugh more than twice.

They come in threes? (Spider-Man, Batman, Punisher)

Well, Spectacular Spider-Man is the third animated television premier I've missed. Maybe this'll be the last. And this one is only because I was too stupid to set the DVR in time. What an idiot. I've got it set now, so I'll be able to catch them from now on.

At least I was able to see The Batman two-part finale. I enjoyed watching the Justice League, but it seems odd that they had to pull in aliens for a finale the second time in a row. It's not like Batman doesn't have a rich history and cast of characters on his own.

Completely unrelated, I happened across the Punisher: War Zone official site. It's got limited content, but it's a pretty cool set up. Check out the link to the right under Upcoming Films.

Silver Hawk (2004) mini review

based on a comic
[5/10]

Tell me if you've heard this one. Rich philanthropist by day, costumed crime fighter by, well, other parts of the day. That's the first masked vigilante rule broken by Lulu Wong (aka Silver Hawk) - she seems to do most of her crimefighting during the day, and we all know that to be most effective she should be doing it at night. Of course, today, Silver Hawk not only has to fight poachers stealing panda bears, she has to go up against madmen bent on world domination!

Yes, Silver Hawk has all the makings of a standard, cookie-cutter superhero film. Though it does have Michelle Yeoh - that's got to count for something. And honestly, the fight choreography was enjoyable - Yeoh is pretty amazing.

It's too bad she couldn't completely make up for the silly writing and poor editing. I'm trying to figure out if the original, being made in Hong Kong, was a completely different movie, and they edited the crap out if for Western, English-speaking audiences. Some scenes are completely chopped - to the point that you can't really follow what's going on. And the dialogue? It appears to have been filmed originally in English (except for a few parts in Chinese), but then that English was dubbed over by English-speaking actors who didn't have accents. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Or maybe it was dubbed over by the original actors and it was just a poor job of looping in post.

Some other odd, random stuff I have to comment on -

The extreme-sport ninjas were an interesting touch.

Did that guy really just go to old-magazine-covers.com to find old magazine covers?

I was going to note this as not based on a comic, but according to Michelle Yeoh's website, it's based on a comic from the 40's and 50's. Of course, I can't find any other reference on the internet to this comic, much less any other pictures. But maybe that's because it's over 50 years old, and I don't know how to search the web in Chinese.

English actor Luke Goss (Blade II, the upcoming Hellboy II) plays villain Alexendar Wolfe, and Michael Jai White (Spawn, various DC-comics related animated projects, the upcoming Dark Knight) plays one of his henchman.

And the second masked vigilante rule broken by Silver Hawk: When you're about town in your secret identity, never, ever, fight exactly like your super alter ego. In broad daylight. In front of people. So that basically everyone can figure out your secret identity without a bit of detective skill.

See it if like Hong Kong films or Michelle Yeoh, or if you can't sleep and notice that it's on Encore Action tonight.

Don't see it if you're bored with the same old same old in superhero films.

2008 Free Comic Book Day Previews Pop Culture Crossover

Free Comic Book Day is May 3. A few pop culture crossover selections that will be available at comic book stores.


Movies

• Comics Go Hollywood (TwoMorrows Publishing)
  Not a comic, per se, but a background look at Justice League: New Frontier, Heroes, and the X-Men and Batman movies.
  

Books/Stories

• Graphic Classics (Eureka Productions)
  Adaptations of stories by Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, and others.
• Del Ray & Dabel Brothers Preview (Dabel Brothers)
  A little bit Dresden Files; a little bit Wild Cards; a little bit Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son.
  

Animation

• Bongo Comics Free-For-All (Bongo)
  It's not a Free Comic Book Day without The Simpsons and Futurama!
• Gumby's Coloring Comic Book Special (Wildcard Ink)
  It's not a Free Comic Book Day without Gumby!
• Transformers Animated (IDW)
  Adapation of the first episode of the animated series.

Games

• Sonic the Hedgehog #1 (Archie Comics)
  It's not a Free Comic Book Day without...ok, that was probably old back on Gumby. This one's a reprint of the first Sonic comic.

Other

• NASCAR Heroes: All-Stars Special (NASCAR Comics)
  Superhero NASCAR drivers. What will they think of next?

February 2008 Previews Pop Culture Crossover

This month I forego Supernatural, Star Wars, Star Trek and several others for some new and different series and one-shots culled from movies, stories, games and other areas.

Movies

• The Complete Persepolis (TPB, Pantheon Books)
  I had to pick up the book that the Oscar-nominated film was based on.
• The Mummy Movie Prequel: The Rise & Fall of Xango's Ax #1 (one-shot?, IDW)
  There's another mummy movie coming out next summer?

Books/Stories

• The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle #1 (4-part mini, Dabel Brothers)
  Originally a series of books about a private detective and wizard, it has also been adapted into a SCI FI Channel series. This is an original story penned by the author of the series, Jim Butcher.
• James Bond: The Paradise Plot (TPB, Titan Publishing)
  Ian Fleming's popular spy. Collection of the aformentioned tale and the non-Fleming Bond story Death Mask!.
• Mack Bolan, The Executioner: The Devil's Tools #1 (5-part mini, Dabel Brothers)
  I read a book from this classic series quite a while back - I'm surprised this doesn't have a Mature Readers warning.
• Oz Book 1: Mayhem in Munchkinland! (TPB, Transfuzion Publishing)
  Why does the Wizard of Oz have so many dark adaptations and sequels?
• Pigeons from Hell #1 (4-part mini, Dark Horse)
  Based on a Robert E. Howard short story - I can't tell when it was written, but it was first published in 1938 - two years after Howard died. You can see the original story here. It was even adapted to an anthology TV show (like Twilight Zone) - Boris Karloff's Thriller.
• Wild Cards: The Hard Call #1 (6-part mini, Dabel Brothers)
  It's been forever since I've read them, but I loved this George R. R. Martin series about a horrible virus that, when unleashed, killed 90% of those affected, left 9% horribly deformed, and gifted 1% with amazing superpowers. The Hard Call is a new story in the Wild Cards world.
  

Games

• Brothers in Arms #1 (new series, Dynamite)
  Based on the WWII game by Ubisoft. Take a look at the website - the game looks pretty intense.

Other

• Gnome One-Shot (one-shot, superrealgraphics.com)
  I never thought I'd see a comic based on a lawn ornament.
• Thoreau at Walden (graphic novel, Hyperion Books)
  Walden; or, Life in the Woods - one of the many books on my to-read list. I think I actually have a copy on my shelf, collecting dust. This is an interpretation of Henry David Thoreau's philosophical treatise.
  

I left a lot out, but I didn't think it necessary to list another Friday the 13th story, or Night of the Living Dead collection.

The Gene Generation

So, what's the deal with The Gene Generation? Is it going straight to DVD? When will I be able to see it?

But nearly as important, is it based on the comic The DNA Hacker Chronicles? Or is the comic just a prequel, and the story got cooked up because it's so cool to base movies on comics (er, graphic novels) right now?

I'm not here to spoil anyone's marketing campaign; I just love comic book movies and really want to get down to the truth - is the film based on a comic book? If it is, I'd like to see the source material - what was the original comic like?

The answer took a little work.

Bloodfire studios is publishing the comic The DNA Hacker Chronicles as a prequel to The Gene Generation. But they're saying it's a redesign of a a "cuberpunk comic" that was a "sold out underground hit". The problem is, I couldn't find a single reference to the "underground" comic anywhere on the internet - except in reference directly to the Gene Generation movie. Bloodfire Studios' web site (linked above) states, "Creator Pearry Teo is quoted saying 'I've held back the idea of re-releasing the comic book unless I can find an amazing slew of artists and cutting edge minded people to work with...'" So, according to them, Teo is the original creator of the underground comic. The Bloodfire Studios ComicSpace page notes that "The DNA Hacker Chronicles is a 6 issue mini series from the mind of Pearry Reginald Teo" and that with it, they are bringing to the U.S. the "...the underground comic sensation that inspired the movie The Gene Generation."

Hmmm...

The Gene Generation MySpace blog mentions the re-release of the comic through Diamond Comics. It also says the film is based on the The DNA Hacker Chronicles, showing a pic of Bloodfire's new release. It also gives this little blurb:

From grassroots beginnings, The Gene Generation started out through artists and friends and fans who have a similar vision: That Cyberpunk is still alive and kicking. With only a couple of sketches in 2004, we have come a long way to finally completing a feature film. This myspace page is a dedication to those who have stuck with us as we continue (without studio backing) to push forward in spreading the word about this humble project, both as a comic book and a movie.

Which doesn't tell me much - except maybe both projects started in parallel.

But maybe it's really underground. I couldn't find references on the author's (director's) MySpace page, I couldn't find anywhere that's selling back issues of the "sold out" comic. I mean, sure, maybe it was self-published and there were so few copies that it's extremely rare. But I would think that somewhere on the internet, as much information as gets posted about everything, that somebody would talk about it. Nothing in Google searches, nothing in Wikipedia, nothing on ComicSpace. Nothing concrete on any site related to the Gene Generation or DNA Hackers; just the aforementioned vague references to the sold out underground comic hit.

There are even some interviews that talk about how the movie came about. Teo talks about getting the script in this interview - nothing about a comic. And the interviews on this Gene Generation MySpace page don't allude to a comic book source either.

And finally paydirt. One of the stars of the film (Parry Shen) blogged in December that the comic was coming out in January "to strengthen the audience base for the movie." But the final nail in the coffin was reading on comic book artist Matt Olson's web site that he was working on a "comic adaptation of a feature film." The internet trail can be a funny thing. I found his site from his MySpace page. But I got to his MySpace page from another MySpace page, where he left the comment, "I have this other book series in the works called 'DNA Hacker Chronicles' in the meantime (not my idear but based on a movie) ".

So, it looks to me like Bloodfire Studios cooked up the story for a little publicity.

I think my work here is done.

I'm sorry if I bursted anyone's comic book movie bubble...

But if there is some sort of weird underground comic that came before - somebody please let me know.