"There is nothing wrong with your web browser. Do not attempt to adjust the monitor. I control the horizontal. I control the vertical. I control the lack of proper grammar. For the next few minutes sit quietly, for you are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the shock and awe which reaches from the inner mind to...The marX Files."
"I can only
conclude that I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate." – Ivanova,
Who Me? - Catching you up on what I’ve been up to with writing, interviews and reviews.
Web Chatter - A collection of news bits bouncing around on the Web.
Strange News - Truth (or at least the
possible truth) is often stranger than fiction.
Explore, if you dare, the stranger side of The marX Files.
Not Comic Books, But I Like It - Movie and TV news that isn’t necessarily comic book related, but I like it.
Prepare To Be Adapted, Resistance Is Futile - News on comic book adaptations.
Happy World Aids Awareness Day!
(Or if you are reading this Saturday…Happy Eat a Red Apple
Day!)
Things are still busy for me. I’ve been taking a video class and just wrapped up a short documentary. It has been a really cool experience in camera work and video editing.
Huzzah! The death of my old files was a tragic error on my part. Bart managed to save it all. The world is safe…for now.
As always, feel free to email me if you would like me to review your book(s) or pass along news.
Saving Manhunter – DC’s excellent series Manhunter was
going to end at issue twenty-five. Ah,
but fan support got their way and Manhunter shall survive for at least five more issues. Writer Marc Andreyko
is “pimping” big time on the web in an attempt to get people to try Manhunter
out. All I can say is that this is one
of my favorite new DC books in the last few years. It truly deserves a long, long run. So if you haven’t tried it yet, go and try it
out.
The Real Dynamic Duo
- Wow, it looks like the Dynamic Duo of Batman and Robin are real. Just ask
“They pretended to be drunks looking for a fancy dress party and knocked on the door of the suspect’s home. … Those inside refused to answer the door to the loud, comically dressed visitors — which was what the officers wanted.”
So they went around back while seven uniformed cops knocked on the front door and were invited inside to hear complaints about the costumed drunks. That is when the suspect ran…
“Batman — Sgt Smith — gave chase,” the newspaper reported, “jumped over a fence and BIFF, POW, THWACK, arrested him.”
Those funny brits. I could so see them doing this on Life on Mars.
Women + Comics – DC has announced a new female friendly comic book line called Minx. Not exactly the name I would have chosen. It doesn’t have the most woman friendly definition. I think they just wanted a title with an X in it.
Oddly there are few female creators in the creative teams for these new books. I have no doubt that men can write books for women, but it would have been a nice opportunity to give female creators a chance to show what they’ve got. Especially now with the ever growing number of bloggers complaining about bias (aka sexism) towards women in comics (both the fictional women characters and the women creators).
One of the latest entries was Valarie D’Orazio’s blog “Goodbye To Comics.” Click on over and read it. I did. I laughed, I cried, I went temporarily insane, I regained said sanity, and then I laughed again. It is a very gritty look at D’Orazio’s experiences with comics, the men in the comic industry, and DC comics. It is one of those soul baring moments that can make some uncomfortable.
One of the last straws for D’Orazio
was the rape of Sue Dibny. Do you think DC is exploiting issues like
rape just to make a quick buck? One of
my favorite shows, Veronica Mars, has
dealt with this subject a number of times.
Heck, even the main character was raped.
I don’t feel like they exploited the topic, but it just feels wrong in Identity Crisis. How could have DC handled the rape
differently? Was it even necessary for
the plot? There is no doubt that the DC
universe of today is far darker than it was a few years ago. I’m amazed weekly by the growing death counts
in DC comics. Not just with the superheroine’s and other costume folk, but the hundreds and
hundreds of ordinaries that have been getting slaughtered lately. Is this a more mature DC comics or just one
trying too hard to be shocking for increased sales? Either way it does seem to be working
financially for DC. At
least for now.
Do You Believe? – According to Baylor Religion Survey’s (BRS), a surprising number of Americans believe in the paranormal. Surprisingly, most of these people are not members of a traditional religion. For example, 74.5% believe some alternative treatments are at least as effective as traditional medicine, 52% believe some dreams can foretell the future, 25% believe UFOs are probably spaceships, 41.2% believe in ancient advanced civilizations, 37.2% believe in haunted houses, etc.
You know, I’ve always been puzzled that many members of
traditional religions don’t believe in supernatural stuff. I mean the Bible does have prophets, magic,
ghosts, demons, angels, etc.
Polonium-210, The New
Energy Drink – By now everyone knows about ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko being poisoned by the radioactive
polonium-210. This is quickly becoming a
story that could have easily been on TV.
If this was TV, I would predict a twist.
Like
Ah, but now Mario Scaramella, an Italian contact of Litvinenko's, is also considered to have been poisoned by the same type of radiation. Add that to Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya being assassinated in October and recently former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar possibly being poisoned, then things look more likely to be organized criminal elements that have truly taken over the Russian government and are doing anything to keep that control. Which is a little scary considering they do have nuclear weapons. Oh well, sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. Lets just hope they don’t starting “whacking” people with nukes.
Space Exposed – You see it all the time in science fiction. Someone is “spaced” or gets a breach in their space suit. Sometimes they freeze solid and sometimes they blow up. Sometimes they die instantly and sometimes they survive for minutes. But what is the reality? Click on over to Damned Interesting for the answer.
Space Tractors – Worried
that a Deep Impact or Armageddon could be in our near
future? It looks like two NASA
astronauts have come up with a solution…a gravity tractor.
NASA
is taking the danger seriously and is considering a manned mission
to land on an asteroid to see how feasible it would be to deflect it from its
course.
White Lightning –
I spoke a few columns back about a white buffalo. Sadly this buffalo was struck by lightning
and died. So, according to Native
American legend, a white buffalo foretells peace. So what does it mean when the white buffalo
is killed by a lightning strike?
Not Comic Books, But I Like It
Battlestar Galactica is on the move – SciFi
Channel’s Battlestar Galactica is moving to Sunday nights. Don’t do it!
I like my SciFi Fridays the way they are.
Doctor Who joins the Heroes? – Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) will be joining the Heroes cast in January. No idea on how many episodes. When I first heard, I was hoping he was going to be Sylar. Ah, but it appears that isn’t the case. Instead, he will be the invisible man Claude.
It Raines in March – According to Variety, the new supernatural series Raines, starring Jeff Goldblum as a detective who sees ghosts, will start airing
on NBC this March. Raines will air on Friday nights at
Doctors, Red Shirts,
same thing really – Looks like
the rumors of the character Dr. Carson Beckett leaving Stargate Atlantis were true.
According to GateWorld,
executive producer N. John Smith confirmed the news at a recent event in
The Lost Tales Are Coming – I have
spoken before about the made-for-video movie(s) called Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.
Looks like this one may actually happen
folks. Warner Home Video and Warner
Brothers Television officially announced production on the movie that will tell
two new stories set in the
Apparently both stories are set several years after the
original series. Hmm…perhaps we could
eventually see a wrap-up to Crusade. Look for the DVD sometime in 2007.
The New Sarah Connor – According to Variety,
Lena Headey (Imagine Me & You, The Brothers
Grimm, The Cave) will play Sarah Connor in the Fox pilot The Sarah
Connor Chronicles, which is based on the Terminator films.
In the pilot Sarah Connor and her son, John, fight attackers from the future in
present-day
Recently Announced
(or Rumored) DVD Release Dates (all prices are SRP):
24: Season 6 Premiere (
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Season 2, Volume 1 (
Batman Beyond – Season 3 (
Captain N: The Game Master (
Criss Angel Mindfreak – Season 2 (
Doctor Who: The Invasion (
Doctor Who: The Sontaran Experiment (
Justice League: Unlimited (
The Immortal: The Complete Series (
The Incredible Hulk: The Complete 2nd Season (mid-2007)
Venture Bros. – Season Two (
Voltron: Defender of the Universe – Volume 2 (
The Wild, Wild West: The Complete Second Season (
Prepare To Be Adapted, Resistance Is Futile (Just ask Alan Moore…)
Hulk To Smash Box Office In 2008 – According to Variety, The
Incredible Hulk is set for a
Preacher is coming to HBO – According to The Hollywood Reporter,
HBO is developing the Vertigo series Preacher as a one-hour live action series. Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider, Daredevil)
is writing the pilot and Howard Deutch (Grumpier
Old Men, Pretty in Pink) will direct. Preacher creators Garth Ennis and Steve
Dillon will co-executive produce.
Johnson told SCI FI Wire that he wants to turn each issue of the
comic into a single episode, staying as close to the original source material
as possible. "I gave [HBO] the comics, and I said, 'Every issue is an
hour,'" Johnson said. "And it's exactly the book. ... I had my
meeting yesterday, and [Preacher creator] Garth Ennis is on the phone, and
we're all in the room, and Garth is like, 'You don't have to be so beholden to
the comic.' And I'm like, 'No, no, no. It's got to be like the comic.' So
that's what's so brilliant about it. It's just like, HBO, who else would do it
but them? Nobody. ... HBO is just like, 'Bring it on.'"
Preacher is
the story of Jesse Custer, a down-and-out
Rise of the Fantasticar - USA Today takes a look at the Fantasticar design from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
The Sadhu Gets
Caged – According to Variety, Virgin Comics is adapting its comic book
series The Sadhu into a $50 million big-screen film with Nicolas Cage
starring. Deepak Chopra is writing the
script.
The Sadhu, is about James Jensen, a down on his luck colonial-era Englishman soldier posted with his family in
And no…spiritual
warrior doesn’t mean flaming skull motorcycle riding demon. That Nicolas Cage movie is coming out in
February 2007.
Six + FOX = Them – Mike Oeming and Daniel Berman’s graphic
novel Six wasn’t a big hit in 2004 when it was published by Image. But according to Variety, this
one-shot did catch someone’s attention, because FOX is developing the graphic novel
into an hour-long series called Them. It will be directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator
3) and written by David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) and John
McNamara (Profit).
The graphic novel was
about a sleeper cell of human-looking aliens on Earth. They encounter a “contamination” when they
begin to feel human emotions.
Eick sees the
series as a "metaphor for
Mene Sakkhet Ur-Seveh!
That is all for now. If you have any questions, comments, scoops, criticisms, or even comic book trivia questions, feel free to email me.
Until next time...Marx out.
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