Fotographical Friday: My kid’s been loving reading Asterix comics.

Not sure he’ll feel the same about the movies. 

Road to Perdition and THE LAW!

In the “Graphic Novel to Film” class I teach we look at Road to Perdition. Jude Law plays a sleazy photographer/hitman in the film (a character that is not in the graphic novel) and one of my students refered to him in his reading blog as “The Law.” So any time he was mentioned in class the next day, that’s what we called him.

I think once Jude Law’s career takes the next inevitable step of appearing  in only direct-to-DVD action films, can make a meta actioner and call himself “The Law.”

The Cinematologist will see you now

Ever watch a superhero/sci-fi/horror/etc. movie and think, “Could that really happen to a human body?” Well, my friend (and grad school buddy) Kriota Wilberg answers these questions on her blog The Cinematologist. And here’s a video of her explaining how Peter Parker might be able to shoot webs out of his wrists in the Spiderman movies.

Pre-enjoyed shopping – Part 2

Well, we’re back to doing the Netflix, but thank heavens for Blockbuster. If it wasn’t for them where else would I get used DVDs for a fraction of the cost of new?

On a recent trip to see my folks I bought, for $20 total, Punisher: War Zone, the first season of The Boondocks and The Spirit.

My wife asked, “Why did you buy a movie you didn’t like?”

I answered, “Because I’m an idiot.”

Actually I collect films that originated as comics. I even teach a college course on it. And I really love the behind-the-scenes stuff, especially commentaries. And now that I teach this course I do feel I need to keep up on this stuff.

(Sorry that it took me so long to get to Part 2. If you care about Part 1, here it is.

Up! (WARNING: here there be spoilers)

(It’s only one…and it’s pretty minor…but I just didn’t want the blame…)

In the new Pixar movie “Up!” a scientist fits dogs with collars that allow them to talk.

I used this exact same idea in a pitch for an animated TV show a couple of years ago (which was recycled from a comic strip I was peddling in the mid 90s).

I in no way think that they ripped me off – I think it was just one of those things that happens.

In actuality, I can’t claim complete ownership anyway. I “borrowed” the idea from a “Man from Atlantis” comic from the 70’s.

SPACE recap – Part 4

Ryan Claytor

(I’m going to do my SPACE recap in random posts throughout the next few days, as well as show art from some of the cool people I met there. Please click on it and visit their websites.)

Since SPACE is now a week-old distant memory, it’s time to wrap up my recap with some tidbits:

• Since I live in a small town without a bookstore, I asked my friend Jenny if there was a cool one we could go to in Columbus. We went to Half Price Books. This is the kind of economic model I like: spend money and get twice as much. (Notice that I didn’t say,” Pick out the books you want and pay half as much.”). Yep, I spent a lot there. Here’s what I got, in no particular order and from memory (since it’s a big heavy bag of books, it’s downstairs and I have a bad back.) Frank Miller’s Ronin, a James Sturm book, couple issues of Mome, Tank Girl, Anthology of Graphic Fiction, a collection of Stan and Jan Berenstain’s non-bear cartoons, a DVD of Flash Gordon movie serials and probably a few things I’ve forgotten

• I proved my unmanliness at dinner when Jenny pointed out that Payton Manning was sitting a couple of tables over. I know the Payton Manning is some sort of football guy, but you could point out any person short of a 12-year-old girl, tell me it is Payton Manning and I’d have to agree. Luckily, Jenny’s boyfriend Chris was the same way. Because of our collective lack of testosterone, Jenny had to call one of her “real man” friends who would appreciate such an occurrence.

• On Sunday night we watched my Flash Gordon DVD and another movie Jenny had that no one else would watch with her – “Comicbook-The Movie.” (Straight to DVD, directed my Mark Hamill, filmed mostly at the San Deigo ComiCon, starring a load of cartoon voice talent.) Y’know, how one’s interest in certain subject matter can carry one through a piece of entertainment more so than “regular folk”? That didn’t happen here.

“Graphic Novel to Film” class update

I posted here about the “Graphic Novel to Film” class I’m teaching at Gettysburg College and what we’d be covering. Well, the students have picked their subjects for their final presentations (the selection field was broadened to include all comics). Here they are in no particular order:

Tank Girl

From Hell

Constantine/Hellblazer

X-men: X2

The Tick (both animated and live-action TV shows)

Men In Black (film, perhaps animated TV show)

Devil’s Backbone/ Paracuellos

Captain America (awful 90s movie, awful 70’s TV show, maybe old serials)

300

Lone Wolf and Cub

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

The Mask (film, perhaps animated TV show)

Wanted

Daredevil (film, perhaps guest starring role in Hulk TV movie)

Comics go to the movies – The Spirit VS my new class

And the winner is…my new class.

Let me explain.

I went to see cartoonist-turned-director Frank Miller’s film version of Will Eisner‘s classic 40’s character “The Spirit” on the day it opened – December 25th. And I could tell you what I thought…but I’m not going to. See, I’m teaching a new class next semester called “Graphic Novel to Film” and we’ll be studying The Spirit. And it doesn’t seem right for me to be tossing around my opinion if, by some slim chance, one of my future students should read this.

It’s a pretty interesting combination though: one cartoonist interpreting another cartoonist’s creation and able to do it in his own visual style because of the advances of digital film making.

First, the original:

Then Miller’s drawn interpretation:

(Here’s an interesting piece about the poster campaign that came after the one above. It’s an audio “slideshow” with the art director.)

…then Miller’s version translated to a real live human:

BONUS: Did you know there was a 1987 Spirit TV movie? It starred Sam Jones, who was also Flash Gordon in the cheesy 1980 film version. (Wow. That’s one very blue suit.)

Christmas loot list – Part 2

And now for the cartoon-related stuff I gifted to myself. (And now that I think of it, it was all discounted. What a cheapskate I am.)

• Three book collections of Batman and Superman newspaper comic strips from the 30s and 40s.

• DVDs of Superman II, III and IV, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and a collection of King Features comic strip-based animation. Barney Google, Beetle Baily, Blondie, Flash Gordon, Prince Valiant, The Phantom, Hagar the Horrible, Mandrake the Magician. “131 cartoons, 20 hours of hilarity” it says on the cover. (Prince Valiant funny? Who knew?)

• And from my favorite used book store, The Book Centre, in my hometown of Spencerport, NY: “To Afghanistan and Back” by Ted Rall, a Jim Borgman 25 anniversary editorial cartoon collection and book by French cartoonist David B. I don’t know his work at all but I’ve heard good things and, heck, it was a used book… The image below is from the original, not the English translation I bought. (At least I think it’s the same one. Can’t know for sure. I only took 6 years of French.)

Christmas loot list – Part 1

Remember when you were a kid and compared what you got for Christmas with your friends?

I haven’t outgrown that.

I didn’t get a ton of gifts cartoon-wise but ending buying a number of items for myself during the holiday season (more on that later in the week). To be honest, the main reason that my family doesn’t buy me cartoon stuff is that I may already have it…which is why the things I did get are ones I picked out….which is why I got…

• Two copies of the Ironman DVD from two different relatives. (I’m such a comics/film nerd that I returned both and got the special 2-disc special edition. It’s geektastic in many respects but it has no commentary. I mean, c’mon…)

• A DVD of the Bloom County Christmas special “A Wish for Wings That Work.” I still have the VHS tape I used to record it off TV when it aired in 1991, but I couldn’t pass it up for $5 at Walmart…well, I asked my wife not to pass it up.

• And speaking of asking my wife for something, I found a piece of art on ebay by one of the old school “usual gang of idiots”* that made me very happy.

*MAD Magazine-speak for artist or writer.