Filed Under frankenstein, ghosts, mummy, vampires, werewolves
Lego Frank
By Matt Armstrong.
General Mills Monsters vs. Darkstalkers
By J. Ho.
Monster Maker
By me. With lots of help from the San Antonio Express-News’ Monster Maker.
Filed Under agatha christie, dracula, incredibles, indiana jones, poirot, sherlock holmes, spies, werewolves, x-files
Incredibles (and other Pixar) comics
Boom! Studios just announced today that they’re going to be making comics based on Pixar properties like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc. and WALL-E. Most exciting though is that someone finally wised up and decided to do an Incredibles comic. I’ve been wanting one of those since the movie came out, but have been afraid that if one ever did come out that it wouldn’t live up to expectations. With Mark Waid writing it though, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.
The art above isn’t from the upcoming comic, though how cool would Mignola covers be on an Incredibles comic? Almost as cool as Darwyn Cooke covers, which are what we’re actually getting. It’s like Christmastime!
Casanova movie
Congratulations to Matt Fraction who’s sold the film rights to his truly awesome spy comic.
More on that Indy DVD cover
I didn’t really understand what it was when I linked to that cool-looking DVD case before, but fortunately someone left a comment pointing me in the right direction. Here’s an in-depth review of it. Apparently it’s a $50 Blockbuster item, though I imagine that we’ll be able to pick them up a lot cheaper at the end of the summer.
Masterpiece Mystery
I’ve kind of lost interest in Masterpiece Theater since they finished the Jane Austen marathon. Kind of lost interest in Jane too. Oh, well.
But I’m starting to get interested again thanks to their summer plans for Masterpiece Mystery. Looks like they’re getting rid of some detectives I’ve never heard of and are replacing them with Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Kenneth Branagh as Kurt Wallander. I’ve never heard of Kurt Wallander, but I love Branagh, so I’m in for that.
Holmes movies
Know what else I’m up for? Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes in that Guy Ritchie version we talked about.
I’m not nearly as excited about Sacha Baron Cohen as Holmes (and Will Ferrell as Watson) in a Judd Apatow comedy. It’s not that I think humor is an inappropriate approach to Holmes – Without a Clue is awesome – it’s just that I’m going to need convincing that this will actually be funny.
I Want to Believe
Here’s a cool interview with Chris Carter about the new X-Files movie that only increases my hope that it’s going to be really good. He also talks about possible plans (and a date) for a third X-Files film.
The Dracula Horror Series
Christopher Mills turns us on to a series that sounds way cooler than its title suggests.
A wheelchair-bound scientist and his Puerto Rican ex-New York cop assistant travel to Transylvania, where they revive Count Dracula with the intention of using the Lord of Vampires as their agent in a war against evil. They figure to control the Count by surgically placing a mechanical implant into Dracula’s chest that, should the fiend defy them, will drive a sliver of wood into his heart. The scientist has an implant of his own – if his heart should stop beating, it will send a signal to activate Dracula’s.They succeed, and over the course of the series Dracula is pitted against giant vampire bats, voodoo masters, satanic cults, Elizabeth Bathory(!) and other forces of evil, while constantly scheming to free himself and take his revenge upon the crazy crime fighters.
It’s out of print, but you can find copies on Amazon.
IHG Award nominees
The International Horror Guild has announced the nominees for best works of 2007. I always discover at least a couple of good books thanks to this list every year. Nice to see Ben Templesmith’s Wormwood nominated for Illustrated Narrative. I’ve got Shaun Tan’s The Arrival sitting in my reading pile too. Need to get to that.
Mike Mignola’s cover to his and Christopher Golden’s Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire is also very cool.
Wolf Man
Empire has the first still from the upcoming Wolf Man remake and it looks encouraging.
Filed Under vikings, werewolves, wolves of odin
Wolves of Odin
By Grant Gould and Mark McHaley. Like the preview book, this will also be available in San Diego in limited quantities.
Batroc
By Dan Boyd.
Filed Under alpha flight, grant gould, hulk, jessica hickman, middleman, oddly normal, shang chi, vikings, werewolves, wolves of odin, wonder woman
Oddly Normal
Caught up on some TiVo last night and got to see the episode of Middleman where Otis Frampton’s Oddly Normal makes a guest appearance.
This was especially cool for me because my friend Jess Hickman is illustrating the next volume in the series, Fignation Times.
It doesn’t look like Volume 3 is available on Amazon yet, but if you’re going to be at San Diego Comic-Con, Otis will have a Limited Edition debut available for sale there. Make me jealous and check it out if you’re there.
The Wolves of Odin
And speaking of friends with projects, Grant Gould’s Wolves of Odin Vikings vs. Werewolves comic has a publisher and will debut in November. Grant will also be in San Diego and he’ll have a Limited Edition Preview Book for Wolves with him. You will be hearing much, much more about this from me.
If you’re not going to San Diego and still want a taste of the book though, Grant’s running a Meet the Cast feature on the publisher’s blog. So far he’s introduced these two.
Phil Jimenez is way cool
I loved Phil Jimenez’s work on Wonder Woman and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Wonder Woman Encylopedia he’s editing.
I just discovered this Pop Syndicate interview where he talks about that project and what he’s learned from it.
It’s been fascinating to see how historically the same sorts of stories have been told over and over again. I am not even sure creators between generations actually know this. They just think, “Oh my god I’ve got the perfect wonder woman story!” Like, “someone else is going to be wonder woman.” Only to find out and realize that in comic book history there have been 10 Wonder Women. Three of whom, mind you, are the golden age, earth 1 and post crisis versions. So there are three Dianas. But Wonder Woman has been replaced numerous times. Some cranky Amazon has said ‘I can do your job better than you can’ and has tried to orchestrate another contest. They get the outfit, they find out they are not suited for it, Diana gets the outfit back, – Artemis, Orana, another one from the 60s, Donna Troy, Circe. It’s interesting to me how the costume goes around. The point being that one of the things that has been fascinating me is sort of marking these story trends. And once the encyclopedia is done, I can honestly say that we never need to see another Amazon challenge Wonder Woman to the title, because it’s been done. Not because it’s not such a good story but because it’s been done over and over again.
He also talks about how he’d love a shot at drawing John Byrne’s version of Alpha Flight. I’m so wishing I was in charge at Marvel right now.
The Hulk does not fight?
I’ve always thought this smiley, kiddie version of the Hulk was weird, but now I actually hate him. Again… so wishing I was in charge at Marvel right now.
Master of Slurp Fu
Totally by coincidence, I found two different galleries of two different sets of Awesome Slurpee Cups.
I just thought this was funny
There’s more like it here.
Filed Under allan quartermain, arturo perez reverte, giant robots, indiana jones, scifi, space opera, treasure hunters, werewolves
Giant Robot Monkey vs. Giant Robot Cat
Matthew Porter is taking commissions to have his Giant Cat destroy the city or landmark of your choice. I recommend browsing around his site too. There’s a giant seamonster vs. pirate monkey picture that’s awe-inspiring.
Terra
Oh, wow. I cannot wait to see this.
The King’s Gold
Anytime I hear a main character described as “a brilliant bibliophile and owner of the [insert store name here] bookshop,” I get nervous. “Brilliant bookshop owner” screams Mary Sue to me. But, the combination of stolen Aztec gold, alchemy, and werewolves is intriguing and Publishers Weekly says, “The characters are unique and memorable, the action fast-paced, the plot serpentine and the riddles challenging in this entertaining adventure.”
So, what the heck. I’ll give it a shot. And since I’m psychologically incapable of starting a series in the middle, I might as well get the first one – about a jungle treasure hunt – too.
Still, I expect that Arturo Perez-Reverte’s novel of the same name will be unbeatable.
Allan Quartermain and the Temple of Skulls
Wondering how shameless rip-off kings The Asylum are planning to capitalize on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Wonder no more.
Feel dirty after that?
Shower yourself with the cleansing goodness of the latest Crystal Skull trailer. Sure, you’ve seen it already by now, but not on my blog. And you know you want to hear that whip-crack again.
And now, some more ways in which Indiana Jones makes everything better
Filed Under poe, strangeways, werewolves, westerns
Murders in the Rue Morgue
By Berni Wrightson, who has more awesome Poe illustrations here, here, and here.
Western Werewolves
Guy Davis has made a killer bookplate in promotion of Matt Maxwell’s Werewolf Western Strangeways.
Filed Under aliens, alpha flight, dracula, forbidden kingdom, jericho, psych, resident evil, robots, steve niles, vikings, werewolves, wonder woman, xena
The God Squad
Marvel’s solicitations for June just came out and I’ve only just read May’s. Sad.
But I’m glad I didn’t skip over it because then I wouldn’t know about Snowbird’s upcoming appearance in Incredible Hercules. You know, Marvel… it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if she were to stick around for a while.
The Forbidden Kingdom
Went to 10,000 BC the other night and saw a huge lobby display for The Forbidden Kingdom. The display made it look like a bad video game movie except that it has both Jackie Chan and Jet Li in it. That’s worth gambling on right there even if it ends up sucking.
Fortunately though, the trailer makes it look really good, like it’s sort of combining the humor of Chan’s movies with the artsy fartsiness of Li’s.
The Many Moods of Wonder Woman
Includes: Smug, Pensive, Surrounded by Idiots, and Running in a Nightie. Thank you, Dorian!
Frank Frazetta’s Dracula Meets the Wolf Man
Steve Niles is writing the latest comic based on a Frank Frazetta painting: Dracula Meets the Wolf Man. So far, the Frazetta comics have been amazing and this should only raise the bar a bit.
It was Lassie ruined Xena
So, I’ve been watching Jericho again and was surprised to recognize the guy who plays Constantino, the whacked out mayor of New Bern. When I was watching Jericho last season, I hadn’t yet discovered Psych, but now I realize that Constantino is none other than Timothy Omundson, who plays Psych’s Carlton Lassiter. But that’s not all.
I wanted to make sure that Jericho hadn’t switched actors for Constantino and that Omundson had actually played him in the first season too, so I took a trip to IMDB. Sure enough, he had, but the big surprise was when I learned that Omundson also played the character who ruined Xena: Warrior Princess for me.
I can’t possibly tell you how much I grooved on Xena up until the point where she and Gabby met Eli and moved to India to become hippies. After that, it was a long, slow descent into crazytown. I’m going to take extra special pleasure every time Shawn and Gus torture Lassiter from now on.
Resident Evil: Degeneration
Not quite the sequel to Extinction I was hoping for, but then, I’m a little fuzzy on whether this is supposed to be a sequel to the Milla Jovovich movies at all. Maybe that one’s still coming.
Automatons
This is how humanity dies. Holy crap, that looks cool as hell.
Outlander
And it just gets better. Vikings vs. Aliens.
The Sinai Secret
Bookgasm mentions a book by Gregg Loomis that sounds like enough of a mixture between Indiana Jones and National Treasure that it would have to try really hard to make me not like it.
Filed Under dinosaurs, fantasy, fringe, giant monsters, neozoic, pirates, strangeways, torchwood, werewolves, x-files
Museums are Cool
When I go to WizardWorld Chicago, I usually stick pretty close to the convention center out in the ‘burbs. This year though, I may have to venture into the city.
I’ve been to the Field Museum before and the dinosaurs are reason enough, not to mention that it was the site of much mauling in the movie version of The Relic, but the Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids exhibit will be there all summer long, so it’ll be an especially good time to go. And in addition to the girly creatures in the title? Krakens.
(Thanks to SFScope — who also reviewed the exhibit when it was in New York — for the heads up.)
And starring Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li
I don’t know how I missed this before.
I stopped caring about Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang a long, long time ago. But casting her as Chun-Li in a new Street Fighter movie? That’s the way to get me to go see a new Street Fighter movie.
The Pirate’s Cove
Rob Ossian, self-proclaimed Pirate King of The Pirate’s Cove, doesn’t look as much like a pirate as he seems to think he does, but he runs a mean, extremely useful website full of pirate biographies, music, books, movies, weapons galleries, timelines, historical documents, and nautical info. He’s even got a sailing simulator! Very, very cool site.
Thank God for Red 5
Seriously. Atomic Robo and Neozoic are drugs for an illness I didn’t even know I had: Lackofawesometosis.
Coming April 30: Neozoic #4
Written by Paul Ens; Art by J. Korim; Colors by Jessie Lam
The walls of Monanti city are smashed, and the lives of millions are trampled beneath the feet of relentless dinosaurs. The Predator Defense League tries to stem the tide. The King finds his family kidnapped. But is Lilli to blame?
When both father and mentor turn their backs on her, the emotional show-down turns deadly.
32 pages, $2.95
Strangeways
Strangeways was one of the casualties of Speakeasy’s demise and one of the few titles that didn’t immediately find a new home elsewhere. That’s not a comment on it’s quality though, because I read the first issue and it promised to be one of the best titles Speakeasy produced. It’s high-concept (werewolves in the Wild West) is actually outdone by it’s execution, at least in the first issue. It’s probably the coolest, scariest werewolf story I’ve ever read.
Rather than shop the mini-series around elsewhere though, creator Matt Maxwell decided to hold onto it until it was done and release it as a complete graphic novel. And guess what’s all done and ready to read?
You can check out the first chapter in the link above and find out more about the book here.
Torchwood comics
I gave up on Torchwood not too far into the series. It was bleaker than both Doctor Who from whence it came and The X-Files whom it seemed to try so hard to be. All that darkness needs some humor to offset it and I just wasn’t finding it.
That said, it’s still pretty cool that Torchwood: The Official Magazine is doing a series of exclusive comic strips based on the show.
Speaking of The X-Files
JJ Abrams’ shot at the concept will co-star Denethor from The Lord of the Rings.
Free Giant Monster!
Thanks no doubt to Cloverfield, Boom! released the collected edition of Steve Niles’ Giant Monster mini-series this month.
What’s better, you can read it for free. You’ll still want to buy it because it’s cool, but now you can check it out for yourself first.
Gross Pointe Blank with talking bears
I have this love/hate thing going on with webcomics. There are some really awesome ones, but I don’t have time to keep up with them. Take North World, for example, which is a fantasy epic set in a world pretty much like our own except for the demons, giant eagles, and other mythical creatures in need of killing. I need to read a book like that.
Fortunately, the good webcomics eventually find their way into print and that’s the case with North Wood, the first volume of which will come out in March from Oni.
The Terragoth Chronicles
The story description sounds generic and flowery, but from what I can see of the art, The Terragoth Chronicles should at least be pretty to look at. Unfortunately, most of the art is tiny and I couldn’t find any story pages on the site so I can’t judge how well it’ll be executed, but yeah… pretty.
Filed Under dinosaurs, fantasy, fringe, giant monsters, kristin kreuk, pirates, torchwood, werewolves, x-files
Museums are Cool
When I go to WizardWorld Chicago, I usually stick pretty close to the convention center out in the ‘burbs. This year though, I may have to venture into the city.
I’ve been to the Field Museum before and the dinosaurs are reason enough, not to mention that it was the site of much mauling in the movie version of The Relic, but the Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids exhibit will be there all summer long, so it’ll be an especially good time to go. And in addition to the girly creatures in the title? Krakens.
(Thanks to SFScope — who also reviewed the exhibit when it was in New York — for the heads up.)
And starring Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li
I don’t know how I missed this before.
I stopped caring about Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang a long, long time ago. But casting her as Chun-Li in a new Street Fighter movie? That’s the way to get me to go see a new Street Fighter movie.
The Pirate’s Cove
Rob Ossian, self-proclaimed Pirate King of The Pirate’s Cove, doesn’t look as much like a pirate as he seems to think he does, but he runs a mean, extremely useful website full of pirate biographies, music, books, movies, weapons galleries, timelines, historical documents, and nautical info. He’s even got a sailing simulator! Very, very cool site.
Thank God for Red 5
Seriously. Atomic Robo and Neozoic are drugs for an illness I didn’t even know I had: Lackofawesometosis.
Coming April 30: Neozoic #4
Written by Paul Ens; Art by J. Korim; Colors by Jessie Lam
The walls of Monanti city are smashed, and the lives of millions are trampled beneath the feet of relentless dinosaurs. The Predator Defense League tries to stem the tide. The King finds his family kidnapped. But is Lilli to blame?
When both father and mentor turn their backs on her, the emotional show-down turns deadly.
32 pages, $2.95
Strangeways
Strangeways was one of the casualties of Speakeasy’s demise and one of the few titles that didn’t immediately find a new home elsewhere. That’s not a comment on it’s quality though, because I read the first issue and it promised to be one of the best titles Speakeasy produced. It’s high-concept (werewolves in the Wild West) is actually outdone by it’s execution, at least in the first issue. It’s probably the coolest, scariest werewolf story I’ve ever read.
Rather than shop the mini-series around elsewhere though, creator Matt Maxwell decided to hold onto it until it was done and release it as a complete graphic novel. And guess what’s all done and ready to read?
You can check out the first chapter in the link above and find out more about the book here.
Torchwood comics
I gave up on Torchwood not too far into the series. It was bleaker than both Doctor Who from whence it came and The X-Files whom it seemed to try so hard to be. All that darkness needs some humor to offset it and I just wasn’t finding it.
That said, it’s still pretty cool that Torchwood: The Official Magazine is doing a series of exclusive comic strips based on the show.
Speaking of The X-Files
JJ Abrams’ shot at the concept will co-star Denethor from The Lord of the Rings.
Free Giant Monster!
Thanks no doubt to Cloverfield, Boom! released the collected edition of Steve Niles’ Giant Monster mini-series this month.
What’s better, you can read it for free. You’ll still want to buy it because it’s cool, but now you can check it out for yourself first.
Gross Pointe Blank with talking bears
I have this love/hate thing going on with webcomics. There are some really awesome ones, but I don’t have time to keep up with them. Take North World, for example, which is a fantasy epic set in a world pretty much like our own except for the demons, giant eagles, and other mythical creatures in need of killing. I need to read a book like that.
Fortunately, the good webcomics eventually find their way into print and that’s the case with North Wood, the first volume of which will come out in March from Oni.
The Terragoth Chronicles
The story description sounds generic and flowery, but from what I can see of the art, The Terragoth Chronicles should at least be pretty to look at. Unfortunately, most of the art is tiny and I couldn’t find any story pages on the site so I can’t judge how well it’ll be executed, but yeah… pretty.
Filed Under 30 days of night, bond, cat people, john carter of mars, poe, shazam, the killer, underworld, werewolves, writers strike, x-files
Okay, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do today, so some of this is old.
Writers’ Strike
I don’t have a lot to say about the strike except that I support the writers, naturally. I’m getting most of my info about it from Mark Evanier, and though I’m concerned about some of my favorite shows — especially this final season of Scrubs — I’m totally into what the WGA is trying to achieve.
Superheroes
A while back I wondered if The Rock was going to play Captain Marvel or Black Adam in the upcoming Shazam! movie. It’s Black Adam.
Spies
I agree with Jeff Parker. It’s not fair that Britain gets James Bond stamps and we get Yoda.
Paramount is making a movie based on Matz and Luc Jacamon’s The Killer, which is unbelievably exciting to me.
Horror
Sweeny Todd trailer.
An Underworld prequel is coming together, but it doesn’t have Kate Beckinsale in it, so do I care? Surprisingly, yes. Beckinsale’s my main attraction to the other two movies, but Rhona Mitra has the right look to play a similar character. Does she have the acting ability though? Someone who watched/watches The Practice, Boston Legal, or Nip/Tuck will have to tell me.
Tony and Ridley Scott are adapting Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” into a modern-day, psychological thriller.
The second X-Files movie has a release date, assuming it’s not affected by the strike: July 25 of next year.
I hate these kinds of articles. In talking about his role in the upcoming Wolf Man remake, Anthony Hopkins dismisses the original as “pretty corny.” Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but there’s a trend of actors trying to validate their current work by disrespecting what it’s based on, whether that’s the original version or the genre it’s associated with or whatever. Josh Hartnett made some statements early on in the 30 Days of Night publicity campaign trying to downplay the horror aspects of the movie. Maybe I’m out of touch or just like corn or something, but of all the Universal monster movies, I think The Wolf Man holds up particularly well. The themes are strong, the performances are strong, and that’s the best damn werewolf makeup ever.
I watched the original Cat People not too long ago and absolutely loved it. I’m buying it, in fact. I considered writing a review of it, but Will Pfeifer has done it for me. (Incidentally, he wrote a lot of horror movie reviews last month, which gives me some serious reading to do. Adding his blog to my reading list too.)
Science Fiction
Some stuff about Pixar’s John Carter of Mars movie, including that it’s the first of a planned trilogy.
