Attention Comic Book Writers

Think you have the next great idea for a comic book in your head?
Having trouble getting it out of your head and onto paper?
Paper?
Sorry, that was so "Silver Age" of me.
Well if you are having those problems and live in or near Los Angeles, California, this may be your answer.....

David Seidman (comics writer, consultant, and publicist) is having a seminar at Blankspaces to teach you how to get your work out there.
David was one of the founders of Disney Comics, and as the company's senior editor, he specialized in discovering new talent.
He has taught comic book writing at UCLA, marketed comics and graphic novels for Claypool Comics and NBM Publishing.

You can learn more about the seminar and his follow up course on Comic Book and Graphic Novel Writing here.

But hurry, the Seminar is on April 1.

Thai 'Spiderman' to the rescue

After I made my comments the other day about people dressing up as heroes, it did my heart good to see this.....

Thai 'Spider-Man' to the rescue

An unusual disguise has helped a Bangkok fireman rescue an eight-year-old boy who had climbed on to a third-floor window ledge, Thai police say.
The firefighter dressed up as the comic book superhero Spider-Man in order to coax the boy, who is autistic, from his dangerous perch.
Police said teachers had alerted the fire station after the boy began crying and climbed out of a classroom window.
It was reportedly his first day at the special needs school.
Efforts by the teachers to persuade the pupil to come back inside had failed.
But a remark by his mother about his passion for comic superheroes prompted fireman Somchai Yoosabai to rush back to the station, where he kept a Spider-Man costume in his locker.
The sight of Mr Somchai dressed as Spider-Man and holding a glass of juice for him, brought a big smile to the boy's face, and he promptly threw himself into the arms of his "superhero", police said.
Mr Somchai normally uses the costume to liven up fire drills in schools.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7961208.stm

I'm really glad they explained that last bit, because I was thinking, "Okay, why does this guy have a Spiderman costume in his locker?".

Zatanna Zatara - DC Comics

Zatanna by Ed Benes

Zatanna Zatara was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson back in Hawkman #4 (October-November 1964).
Zatanna is the daughter of the Golden Age character, magician Giovanni Zatara.
The character seems to be fairly popular despite not having attained superstar status.
I'm guessing like Black Canary, the fishnets have something to do with it.
That and her shadowy relationship with Batman.....
Besides Smallville, Zatanna has shown up in Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited.
Back in 2005, screenwriter Hadley Davis proposed an action-comedy starring a teen-aged Zatanna, but nothing ever came of it.

One Extreme Or The Other.....

It doesn't have to go this far...

As I kinda feared, Watchmen opened well, but the box office dropped suddenly.
Is this the death knell of comic book movies?
Hardly.
You cannot compare Watchmen to say Batman or Iron Man or Spiderman.
I don't think you will see product tie-ins like with the "colorful" superheroes.
Can you imagine a Rorschach Happy Meal?
Or a Comedian dress up set?
Nope, kids aren't supposed to emulate the Watchmen.
It's an adult story.
But Batman, The Hulk, Wolverine, now there are your commercial tie ins.
I think the movie industry had better think twice before "darkening" the more popular heroes.
The Dark Knight was just about as far as Hollywood needs to go and stay profitable.

Actually I keep wondering if we may be looking at a backlash soon.
I watch "Batman: The Brave and The Bold" and I love it.
It's not the dark brooding Batman. It's the 50s and 60s detective with gadgets.
But he's still bad.
They show a lighter Batman, but I don't get it confused with the Dark Knight.
BTW, I absolutely loved Batman: The Animated Series and I think both cartoons work, just on different levels.

Maybe we are making our heroes too dark.
Some of course, it suits.
But a darker, edgier Fantastic Four?
Heck, lets just get Frank Miller to do the Power Puff Girls.
Lets make it all so dark and bloody and gory that you really can't tell the heroes from the bad guys without a scorecard.

We need the dark avengers like Bats and the Punisher.
But we also need the "boy scouts".
I know I seem to keep harping on this, but I feel pretty strongly about it.

Maybe I'm schizophrenic since I liked Watchmen and The Rocketeer.
I like Batman AND Superman.

But there has to be a middle ground.
And no it's not Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin.

Real Life Super Villains and Heroes...Kinda

Ever wonder why crazy people can't put on costumes and go out and fight crime?
You know...like Batman.
It seems like everyone you hear about that dresses up as a comic book character picks a super villain.

Case in point:

Gunman Dressed As The Joker Shot By Police
A soldier dressed and wearing face-paint like Batman villain The Joker was shot and killed by police in the Shenandoah National Park after he pointed a loaded shotgun at them after a chase, an FBI affidavit says.
Army Spc. Christopher Lanum, a suspect in the stabbing of a fellow soldier at Fort Eustis, was killed hours after the attack when officers attempted to stop the minivan he was driving, according to court documents filed Wednesday that first disclosed the weekend shooting.
full story here
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/12/national/main4863064.shtml

But on a better note, we may have a real life "Spider-Man":

Paraplegic Man Suffers Spider Bite, Walks Again
He has been confined to a wheelchair for 20 years. Now a paraplegic man is walking again, and his doctors call it a miracle. CBS13 went to Manteca to find out how a spider bite helped get him back on his feet.
http://cbs13.com/local/Paraplegic.Man.Suffers.2.958151.html

But even this story doesnt have a happy ending.....

The story of a paraplegic who man is walking for the first time in 20 years, has taken a new twist.
David Blancarte, the Modesto man possibly being considered as a medical marvel after he was able to walk following a spider bite, is in jail.
http://cbs13.com/watercooler/Paraplegic.Man.Suffers.2.960606.html

::sigh::

To quote Bonnie Tyler:

"Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream
of what I need..."

Fantastic Four Reboot

I heard about this in a really cool way.....
Jessica Alba told me.....LOL
No.
Really.
She did.

Exclusive: Fantastic Four is Getting the Boot...a Reboot that is

IESB's has heard word around town is Fantastic Four over at 20th Century Fox is gearing up for a reboot.
With Daredevil already getting the once over and Planet of the Apes also in the running for a new start with a prequel in the works Fantastic Four is joining the reboot gang.
The two films previously released never really caught on with the fans and the studio is reportedly looking to completely retool, recast and recrew the franchise. This means no Tim Story, no Iaon, no Julian (thank the maker, he never sat well with me as Dr. Doom), no Chris, no Chiklis and no Jessica.
You can read the full article here

Of course I'm sad Jessica won't be in it.
But I had already read that Chris Evans said there wouldn't be a sequel.
At least with him in it.

But how is rebooting a movie that soon after the original gonna work out?
Fantastic Four came out in 2005.
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer came out in 2007.

The Hulk came out in 2003, but it was a single movie with no sequel and they didnt release the "reboot" till 2008.
I don't know, maybe they waited long enough.
I wish them luck.
Even though I really didn't have a problem with the first two movies other than the way they did Doom

I Watched The Watchmen

Yes I saw Watchmen this weekend.
And despite the negative reviews I have read, I really liked it.
Usually I dont know if I love a movie till I see it a few times.
And I'll probably watch it again.

It's not over the top action, although there are some REALLY good action sequences.
What impressed me the most was the storyline and the way the actors played off each other.
I didnt see a weak performance.
The movie didnt drag at all for me.
One of the big "Kiss of Death" moments in a movie is if I look at my watch and go " Geez...still another hour left?"
In this one I glanced at my watch and went "Geez...an hour has gone by already?"

Watchmen did well in it's opening weekend, pulling in a three-day total of $55.7 million.
It also pulled in $27.5 million overseas giving it a total overall worldwide gross to $83.2 million.

As far as it being almost frame by frame with the book....
So what?
Look at "Wanted".
It was Wanted in name only.
This IS the Watchmen brought to life.

One word of warning though, please...PLEASE do not even try to make a sequel.
I know how Hollywood is.
This is a one shot stand alone movie.

Watchmen Reviews

The reviews of the Watchmen are rolling in and.....

"Watchmen" is a bore. Sad to say, the much-anticipated adaptation of the world's most celebrated graphic novel is long, dull and sinks under the weight of its reverence for the original. "
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

"From first frame to last, "Watchmen" holds you in its thrall. Director Zack Snyder ("300") is in full command of the tangled and challenging material, laying out the serpentine mythology in a way that will please the book's rabid fans who have been waiting and dreading this movie, while revealing to newcomers why Time magazine ranked it as one of the 100 best novels."
http://www.mercurynews.com/

"Director Zack Snyder is beginning to look like the best thing to happen to the action movie in this decade. His previous film, "300," took the battle of Thermopylae and re-created it, combining stylized visuals with a feeling for history, culture and character. His new picture, "Watchmen," follows in the same vein, but goes deeper, achieving a psychological sophistication that "The Dark Knight" aimed for but didn't quite reach."
http://www.sfgate.com/

And that's just a few of the reviews.
From what I have read, the film critics seem fairly evenly split.
I guess box office and fans of the book will decide it's future.

Even if the film is horrible, expect the first week to open like gangbusters.
If it's bad, the second week's box office will drop like a rock.
But wih the economy the way it is, the box office may not be a very good benchmark.
So the only thing you can do is go see it yourself and see if it lives up to the hype.
Or the book.