Marvel
Entertainment, DC Comics; Warner Bros, Marvel Comics
Et United In Spirit By Death Of Gene Colan; Friendly
Rivalry Continues - 28th June 2011
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Rest
In Peace, Gene Colan: Stan Lee And Dozens Memorializing
Legendary Artist...
Late
last week the comic book industry mourned the legendary
Gene Colan, who passed away Thursday at age 84. Colans
was inducted into the Will Eisner comics hall in 2005...dated
from the World War II era to as recently as 2009.
Late Sunday, fellow legend Stan Lee, a friend and
associate of Colan for much of the past 70 years,
shared some of his thoughts:
"That
Gene was a great talent is beyond dispute" "But
he was also one of the nicest, kindest, most conscientious,
hard-working people Ive known." "Gene
had a great love for movies, and that feeling was
apparent in the way he laid out his strips
as though each panel were a scene in a movie, each
effortlessly flowing into the next, just as such scenes
might do on the big screen. "He was truly an
artist in the best sense of the word and I join his
countless legion of fans in declaring he will be greatly
missed."
On
Saturday, Bleeding Cool reported that Clifford Meth
has set up the Gene Colan Scholarship at the Joe Kubert
School.
Gene
Colan was like no other artist of his generation.
His ability to create dramatic, multi-valued tonal
illustrations using straight India ink and board was
unparalleled. The comics industry has lost one of
its true visionaries today. Jim Lee,
DC Comics
He
knew who he was how valuable his contributions
to the world of comic art have been how prized
it remains by so many. Yet he never felt less than
grateful to anyone whod even read a single panel
that hed drawn. ... And he was never satisfied
with his artwork but always eager to learn a little
more, do a little better, try something new. At 84.
Clifford Meth
The
one time he drew a script of mine was one of those
moments when I would have paid the company for the
honor. I received Xeroxes of his pencilled pages
so much more wonderful, of course, than the printed
product and I just grinned for days
because
Id just written a comic drawn by Gene Colan.
He always made everything look so damned good.
Mark Evanier
Gene
is one of those rare breed of comic book artists that
invent their own idiom. Colans work never looked
like anybody elses he was a true originator,
a one-of-a-kind visionary. Tom Brevoort,
Marvel Comics
"Gene
Colan is a one-of-a-kind artist whose style is as
synonymous with my early comics-reading experience
as that of Jack Kirby, Neal Adams or John Buscema.
Axel Alonso, Marvel Comics
Gene
Colan was one of the great draftsmen in the industry
and his work is a fond part of some of my best comic
book memories. Dan DiDio, DC Comics
"Gene
Colan was one of my favorite artists in my early teen
years, when I was first discovering comics. ... Gene
Colans work was unique, personal, and always
a joy to look at. May he rest in peace." - Scott
McCloud
Marvel Superheroes and the Fathers of Invention (The
New York Times) - 25th June 2011...
The
comic book industry began life in the early 20th century
as the province of con men who stripped artists of
their creations, then moved on to the next mark. The
artists who were paid virtually nothing for work on
characters that are now worth billions at the movies
are nearly all dead. But their heirs are beginning
to speak for them through a federal copyright law
that practically invites descendants to sue for ownership
interests in characters whose current value could
never have been imagined at the moment of creation.
Courts
have already granted a share of the copyright for
Superman to the heirs of a co-creator, and sided with
Captain Americas creator in another copyright
fight. These cases are small fry compared with the
battle now being waged between Marvel and the heirs
of the legendary comic artist Jack Kirby, who breathed
life into such pop culture icons as the X-Men, the
Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man,
Thor and the Silver Surfer.
Of
course these court battles are about money. They also
force the modern entertainment industry to reckon
with the often amoral practices of the old comics
workshops. And they raise deeper questions about how
to credit creative works produced at a time when even
the most talented artists were treated as serfs.
Marvel
pioneered a new method of comic book production. It
broke with the industrys tradition of requiring
artists to draw almost by rote from a pre-existing
script. Instead, it gave its best creative minds wide
artistic latitude.
The
Marvel editor Stan Lee sometimes offered general ideas
for characters, allowing the artists to run with them.
Mr. Kirby plotted stories, fleshing out characters
that he had dreamed up or that he had fashioned from
Mr. Lees sometimes vague enunciations. Mr. Lee
shaped the stories and supplied his wisecrack-laden
dialogue. And in the end, both men could honestly
think of themselves as creators.
But
Mr. Kirby, who was known as the King of Comics, was
the defining talent and the driving force at the Marvel
shop. Mr. Lees biographers have noted that the
companys most important creations started out
in Mr. Kirbys hands before being passed on to
others, who were then expected to emulate his artistic
style.
Mr.
Kirbys life experiences informed the look and
feel of the genre. The cinematic movement in his narratives
came out of his experience as an animator. The crowded
fight scenes in comics like the Fantastic Four and
the X-Men are reminiscent of his boyhood days as a
street fighter on the Lower East Side during the Depression.
In
2009, shortly after Disney agreed to buy Marvel for
$4 billion, the Kirby heirs filed notices of copyright
termination. They argue that most of Marvels
film earnings involve Mr. Kirbys creations
and that therefore they have a right to a share of
the copyrights.
Marvel
counters that Mr. Kirbys work falls under the
rubric of work for hire meaning
it was done under the direction, supervision and control
of the company which, if true, would invalidate
the familys claim. But that could be difficult
to demonstrate at trial, given the poor record-keeping
of the era and what is known about how Mr. Kirby worked.
According
to court documents, Marvels predecessor company
fired nearly all of the art staff in 1957 to save
money, making Mr. Kirby an independent operator who
sold his work to the publisher. If this case comes
to trial, Marvels star witness would likely
be Mr. Lee, former chairman of Marvel Comics. In his
2010 deposition, Mr. Lee seemed to suggest that Mr.
Kirby was little more than a talented foot soldier
who followed the whims of his boss.
Mr.
Lee sang a different tune during the Marvel glory
years of the 1960s, when he sometimes described Mr.
Kirby as an equal in the creative process. In a 1968
interview later quoted in The Comics Journal, Mr.
Lee talked about brainstorming with Mr. Kirby, who,
he noted, needed no plot at all to produce
stories: He just about makes up the plots for
these stories. All I do is a little editing. ... Hes
so good at plots, Im sure hes a thousand
times better than I. Analyzing published articles
from that period, the writer Earl Wells, in his famous
1995 essay Once and for All, Who Was the Author
of Marvel?, said the record yields as
much evidence that Kirby was the author as it does
that Lee was much of it in Lees own words!
In
the years since Mr. Kirbys death in 1994, the
once lawless comics business has been transformed
into an industry where creators are more fairly paid,
credit is clearly apportioned and rights are meticulously
spelled out in contracts. The kinds of legal confusions
that have recently flared up in the comic book realm
are unlikely to ever be seen, say, in the burgeoning
world of online games, where corporate authorship
is firmly locked down.
It
is up to the courts to decide the legal questions
at the heart of the Kirby copyright case. There is
no doubt that the King of Comics contributed far more
to Marvel and pop culture than he has
received credit for. (Credit:
The New York Times)
Iron
Man And Wolverine Anime Series Coming To G4...
While
summer TV is often regulated to reruns and reality
TV shows, G4 is about to make things more interesting.
G4 is teaming up with Marvel to launch both a Iron
Man anime series and a Wolverine anime series. The
two original Marvel anime series will premiere via
U.S television on Friday, July 29 at 11 PM ET. The
series will consist of twelve half-hour weekly episodes
with interconnecting storylines. There will also be
cameo appearances by several popular Marvel characters.
Heroes Stars Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia will
both have voice roles in the new anime series. Adrian
Pasdar will be the voice of Tony Stark in Iron Man,
and Milo Ventimiglia will be the voice of Wolverine.
Description: "In an effort to make amends for
his past in weapons manufacturing, Tony Stark has
dedicated himself to building the world up rather
than tearing it down. Traveling to Japan to build
a new arc reactor that will deliver unlimited free
energy to the Japanese people, Stark is challenged
by the Japanese government and the media when he attempts
to import the necessary nuclear priming device. When
the nuclear reactor is repeatedly attacked by the
mysterious Zodiac consortium, Stark must gather his
allies to take on Zodiac and its mastermind."
Description
for the Wolverine anime series: "Based on the
popular graphic novel by Chris Claremont and Frank
Miller, the series begins when Mariko, the love of
Logans life, is forced back to Japan by her
crime-lord father, Shingen. Logan vows to get her
back at any cost. He is plunged into a chaotic world
of corruption and violence, forcing him to team up
with young assassin, Yukio, to battle their way through
the Japanese criminal underworld."
The
new anime series will be guided by New York Times
best-selling author Warren Ellis and produced by Madhouse
for Marvel Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment
Japan. Iron Man premieres via US television on Friday
July 29th at 11 PM ET/PT followed by Wolverine at
11:30 PM ET/PT. The two series will air weekly Fridays
from 11:00-Midnight ET/PT. Also, one more thing, G4
isnt stopping with just Iron Man and Wolverine.
X-Men and Blade anime series will premier later this
year on G4.
Peter Parker is no more in 'Ultimate Spider-Man' -
21st June 2011...
PHILADELPHIA
The lights are going out for Peter Parker,
the high school student bitten by a radioactive spider
whose wall-crawling and web-slinging antics have made
him a touchstone of Marvel Comics' universe of heroes
and villains.
The
publisher said Tuesday that Parker's alter ego, Spider-Man,
will finally succumb to one of his most pernicious
foes in the final issue of "Ultimate Comics Spider-Man"
due out Wednesday.
Fans
of Spider-Man need not worry much, though, because
the Ultimates imprint is separate from Marvel's bigger
universe. Whatever fate may befall Ultimate Spider-Man
won't count in the pages of the other series, including
Amazing Spider-Man.
The
death, while dramatic, is not entirely unexpected.
In November, Marvel said that the Ultimate Spider-Man
was going to face an uncertain fate in the latest
storyline by writer Brian Michael Bendis fittingly
titled "The Death of Spider-Man," an eight-issue
arc that saw the return of original series artist
Mark Bagley. Bendis and Bagley had worked together
on the series for 111 issues.
Bendis
told The Associated Press that in issue No. 160 Parker
fights valiantly but will pass on, heroically, in
a pitched fight. To whom? (SPOILER BELOW)
"He
will pass heroically, but he will die at the hands
of the Green Goblin," Bendis said, recalling
his nearly 11 years writing the title, which debuted
in October 2000.
The
death is real and in Marvel's Ultimate Comics imprint,
death is not something taken lightly. Characters in
that universe are dead and gone, never to return.
The roll of the deceased already includes Magneto,
Wasp and Wolverine, among others.
"Ten
years ago, Brian Bendis and Mark Millar changed the
way people saw super heroes with the birth of the
Ultimate Universe. With `Death of Spider-Man' the
two have done it again, creating a story just as big,
and something that would really resonate with fans,"
said Mark Paniccia, Marvel senior editor. "But
Peter's death doesn't signal the end of their larger
plan it's the start of one of the most ambitious
stories you've ever read in comics."
Bendis
said that Parker's death won't be in vain and hinted
that the Ultimate Spider-Man may not be gone forever.
But what exactly is to come, that's something he's
not willing to share, at least not yet.
He
likened the death to that of Parker's Uncle Ben, whose
demise catapulted Peter into being a superhero and
crime fighter, and called it an emotionally ripping
decision to end Parker's life.
"I
won't lie to you, it's embarrassing to say this out
loud . tears were rolling down my face, I was very
emotional in writing it," Bendis told AP. "This
is a character that I have stayed with the entire
time, that I have been almost solely responsible for.
It represents such a great deal of my life."
Axel
Alonso, Marvel's editor-in-chief, said there's never
been a Marvel Universe without a Spider-Man, so killing
the character is a big step.
"We've
never seen a world without Spider-Man, a world without
Peter Parker, so his death is a significant event
for the Ultimate Comics universe and we're going to
see how quickly it changes everything," he said,
adding that the fallout from Parker's death will play
out in the upcoming "Ultimate Comics Fallout"
as the company retools its Ultimate universe. (Credit:
Associated Press)
'Avengers' stuntman 'almost beheaded' during filming
- 28th June 2011
A
stuntman working on The Avengers has claimed that
he narrowly avoided being decapitated in an on-set
accident. Jeremy Fitzgerald lost part of his scalp
while shooting the comic book team-up on Friday after
a controlled fall resulted in him hitting his head
against a brick floor. Fitzgerald was filming a sequence
that involved him getting 'struck' by an arrow and
safely plummeting 30-feet to the ground below, but
was put off course after catching his foot on the
way down. Despite his significant injury, Fitzgerald
told TMZ that he was grateful to walk away from the
incident intact after barely avoiding a head-on collision
with a razor sharp rain gutter. Fitzgerald declined
to be hospitalised after the fall and returned to
work shortly after. Production of The Avengers was
recently jeopardised after Samuel L Jackson's script
was stolen and leaked online. The Avengers, which
stars Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth
as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America, arrives
in theatres on May 4, 2012.
Marvel
Studios Casting WPAFB Airmen For 'Avengers' Movie...
FAIRBORN,
Ohio - Marvel Studios is looking for 50 airmen from
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to act in the new
"The Avengers" movie being filmed in Ohio.
The airmen will portray a deck crew on an aircraft
carrier. The scene will be shot Aug. 1-4 in Wilmington.
The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Samuel
L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson. It opens in 2012.
Just watch you're head!
No
Avengers Panel at Comic-Con - 22nd June 2011
Did
you year...the Avengers won't be back on stage together
at Comic-Con this year, nor does it sound like any
footage will debut either. LA Times' Hero Complex
is confirming that Marvel Studios is passing on having
a panel for the highly anticipated film at Comic-Con
and won't have any presence in the huge Hall H, where
the biggest panels are held. Marvel stresses they
aren't skipping the convention in its entirety and
no doubt they'll still have their large booth promoting
both their comic books and flicks, where it's very
possible that some Avengers content (perhaps prop
displays and/or poster giveaways) will be present.
In addition, Marvel will of course also have many
comic book-specific panels. Hero Complex says that
there is "talk of a promotional event beyond
the walls of the San Diego Convention Center"
for Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger at
Comic-Con, which opens the same weekend as the convention.
They speculate that could involve some sort of special
premiere or screening event. So why no Avengers panel?
Hero Complex points out that Disney is throwing their
second Disney-specific D23 convention in August, and
it's possible Avengers will be part of that
John Carter, also skipping a Comic-Con panel, is expected
to have a heavy presence at D23. Warner Bros. is also
not having any film panels at San Diego Comic-Con,
including for The Dark Knight Rises, meaning that
arguably the two biggest comic books movies ever aren't
going to be doing the usual push at Comic-Con. Of
course some would say neither of these films need
to build buzz like other films do, but it is a bit
funny that while people complain about a lot of non-genre
TV shows and films coming to Comic-Con, these two
projects so suited for Comic-Con will
have a diminished presence. Hero Complex notes that
there will be a panel for The Amazing Spider-Man
which comes from Sony, not Marvel Studios in
Hall H at Comic-Con.
Marvel
announces adaptions of John Carter novels - 7th June
2011
PHILADELPHIA
(AP) John Carter Edgar Rice Burroughs'
other famous pulp creation is having his stories
told anew thanks to an agreement between Marvel Entertainment
and the author's estate that will return the Earth-born
adventurer's Martian adventures to comic books.
Marvel
said Tuesday that it will do new graphic novel adaptations
of Burroughs' Martian series, starting with "John
Carter, Warlord of Mars," as a five-issue mini-series
in September.
Burroughs
is best known for his creation of Tarzan.
The
first mini-series will be written by Roger Langridge
and drawn by Filipe Andrade.
"We
are looking forward to introducing this original interplanetary
adventurer to a new generation of fans and await the
first issue with great anticipation," said James
Sullos, President of Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc.
Marvel
called the adaptations a new way of experiencing the
tales Burroughs wrote that were dubbed the "Barsoom"
series. There are 10 novels in the series, with the
11th a collection of two separate stories.
The
novels are set on Mars and include Princess Dejah
Thoris, a four-armed warrior Thark named Tars Tarkas
and plenty of fighting.
Marvel
published a John Carter series in the late 1970s that
lasted 28 issues. The character has also been the
subject of other series from different publishers,
too, including a four-issue mini-series that featured
Tarzan from Dark Horse Comics; a newspaper comic strip
in 1941-1942; and a series by Dynamite Entertainment
called "Warlord of Mars."
"Edgar
Rice Burroughs created one of the great action heroes
in John Carter and we're excited to bring his novels
to comics for a new generation," said Axel Alonso,
Marvel's editor-in-chief. "Roger and Filipe are
going to blow everyone away with their take on the
John Carter novels, keeping fans new and old on the
edge of their seats." (Credit:
Associated Press)
Marvel
Movies Upcoming...
Movie
Studio Date
Captain
America: The First Avenger Paramount Pictures 7/22/11
Ghost Rider 2 (3D) Sony 2/17/12
The Avengers (2012) Buena Vista 5/4/12
The Amazing Spider-Man Sony 7/3/12
Iron Man 3 Buena Vista 5/3/13
A
Green Lantern Sequel?!...
Warner
Bros. is apparently planning a sequel to Green Lantern
despite that film's box-office and critical underperformance.
The Hollywood Reporter has the word from the studio,
noting that that it "won't walk away from the
superhero franchise, despite the film's soft box office
performance. ... Sources say Warners still believes
in the franchise, even if the studio is 'somewhat
disappointed' with Green Lantern's result." The
film dropped some 66% domestically in its second weekend,
meaning it's only made about $89.3 million as of last
night. That's not a lot considering the reported costs
of the picture ($300 million at least including marketing),
and internationally it is not performing either. So
why announce a sequel now? As THR notes, with Harry
Potter coming to an end, the studio needs big franchises
big time. And there's always the chance that Lantern
will make a ton of money on DVD and Blu-ray and digital
download. Plus, God only knows how the balance sheet
looks for these things in terms of toys and all the
other merchandising. Movies are also made for games
these days, so don't you forget that. Of course, maybe
Warner Bros. is just saying there's going to be a
Green Lantern sequel since it wasn't very good. Maybe
Warner Bros thinks their green monster will create
more green cash, and they would know that answer better
than most. As they say at Media Man and Marvel Entertainment,
"Don't just read the comics and watch the movies,
Play the games!"
Thor
And X-Men First Class Tipped To Hammer Home Results...
Thor
and X-Men: First Class got great reviews and we're
awesome, and Captain America: The First Avenger seems
set to hit the spot to, but big questions remain about
Green Lantern, and the vibe is not particularly good.
Green Lantern with Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively
is getting very reviews. Review aggregator Rotten
Tomatoes has a 23% approval among movie critics, according
to the 153 reviews counters. But 72% of the 62,000
plus user reviewers say that they "liked it"
with it just premiering in the U.S theaters Friday
after a midnight release on late Thursday/early Friday.
Comic Book Movie.com indicates are pretty negative
on the flick. One reviewer called the movie "inert,
artificial and dead on arrival." During the midnight
release on Thursday, the film drew $3.35 million 0
the same region that alike movies that were recently
released did; X-Men: First Class brought in $3.37
million on June 2nd, and Thor did $3.25 million on
May 5th. X-Men: First Class and Thor both had a budget
significantly less than Green Lantern; the former
had a budget of $160 million while Thor had exactly
half the budget of Green Lantern $150 million.
While the flick will likely end up eventually surpassing
its budget, the fact the other comic book movies had
much less budget isnt a great result. Ultimately,
X-Men: First Class raked in $55.1 million in its opening
weekend while Thor did $65.7 million. With this being
the third comic book-based movie released in a month-and-a-half
and mixed reviews, will Green Lantern under perform
this weekend, or will the hardcore - fanboy type audience
that has been largely ripping on it, check it out
at the cinema?
Our
top picks: Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger
looks like a safe bet.
Be
it movies, comics or games, we think that Marvel Entertainment
leads the pack, followed by DC Comics, with with Dark
Horse Comics getting a third, based on the positive
news leaks and insider tip offs we've been getting.
As
Marvel living legend Stan Lee would say, Excelsior!
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