Michael Hutchison: August 2005 Archives

DC Comics now has a preview of Jonah Hex #1.

Comic books have been verging on $3 for the last few years. Are the increasing prices consistent with inflation? Not really, as far as I can tell, though it's difficult to calculate due to the changing comic book economy.

(Hat tip to Walter Williams' column on gasoline which linked to a handy inflation calculator.)

A 20 cent comic in 1971 would, if adjusted for inflation, cost 90 cents today. Maybe that's not a fair comparison, since a 1971 comic wouldn't resemble today's product.

What about the comics of 20 years ago? Crisis on Infinite Earths cost $.75 in 1985; adjusted for inflation, a comic like that printed today should sell for $1.33.

BUT...

I got thanked on the Best of the Web again. The airbus joke was mine.

(Yes, again. I've previously sent in The Taiwan joke and the time capsule Onion link. I don't even remember which items I submitted on this page and this one, so don't ask.)

Batman 644 reveals the real killer of Stephanie Brown (Robin nee Spoiler). It turns out it was Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who killed her just to try to send Batman a message. (Swipe that to see the identity.) Bill Willingham has addressed the numerous outraged fans with a message that boils down to "controversy is good, anyone crying over it is a disturbed geek and no one is going to quit reading Batman over it."

This is a hilarious promo film (in Quicktime format) for the Hollywood Reporter’s "26th Annual Key Art Awards". (You can right-click on it and choose "save as".) It features the five men who perform almost all of the voice-overs in Hollywood.

(EDIT: Oops, I forgot the link. Sorry!)

Rod D. Murgatroyd reveals the origin of the word Murgatroyd, his family name.

A constable appointed by the king chose to rename himself Johanus de Morgateroyde, or John of Moor Gate Royde.

Moor-gate-royd roughly translates to "the clearing on the way to the moor." What an impressive title.

And I thought it was spelled Mercatroid based on Snagglepuss' pronunciation of it!

N-Game has about 10 ways to bloodily die in every level.

Spidey Kicks Butt - The Ultimate in Spider-Man Commentary

Chris Franklin, of Shooting Star Comics, has a report about WizardWorld Chicago.

All my yammering yesterday about the slight fuzziness of the print quality for Metro Med #0 may be worrying about nothing. I talked to Mark at Jimmy Jams Comics last night. He said he'd finally seen a copy and it looked just fine; he didn't know what I was fretting about.

So, just to make it clear:
1) Average comic reader probably won't care, except to squint a bit at the text pages (so I'll put those text files on the Internet)
2) The type of comic reader who primarily cares about art should just be aware that this isn't the best that our art could look and the real Metro Med book debuting in 2006 will have resolved all of our technical difficulties. That's all.

Picked this one up at the con, just cuz I like Bullock. I glanced at the credits. Dixon. Shoulda known. Dixon's name has been appearing on a surprising number of the comics I bought, and in most cases I wasn't even aware he was one of the creators! It's a pleasant surprise.

I loved this one. It is dated 1999, though it clearly happens before No Man's Land. And I have to say, it was probably a welcome relief from that year of dark, desperate Batman tales. The book borders on flat-out comedy. Bullock's his ol' unrepentant self, awash in Pesti cola and donuts while watching classic movies in his slop-hole of an apartment. It is the story of Bullock's temptation toward cooperating with Black Mask. Bullock freely admits he crosses the line to get the job done, but this is becoming an all-out dirty cop. His solution is dirty but it gets the job done.

Art is, if I recall correctly, Flint Henry.

If you haven't read "Bullock's Law", I'd urge you to seek it out.

This is the first I've heard of the 'Charlotte's Web' live-action movie debuting June 2006. I fondly remember the cartoon, though, especially Paul Lynde as the voice of Templeton.

So who is voicing Templeton in the movie? Steve Buscemi! Brilliant!

I know, I still haven't followed up on my post about Wizard World Chicago. My life's been hectic for this entire month, and I've had very little time on the computer. I was going to wait until Shooting Star's online store was ready to go, but I think you've all been waiting long enough to hear about my newest comic book, Metro Med #0.

The Ashcan edition of Metro Med debuted at Wizard World Chicago. Artist Phil Meadows and I would like to thank the folks at Shooting Star Comics for helping us get a Metro Med comic in people's hands this year. I felt that I'd teased folks enough for the last year and we had to get a comic of some sorts out, so artist Phil Meadows knuckled down to meet the deadline and Shooting Star comics went to great lengths to produce this comic in time for Wizard World Chicago. Shooting Star artists Erik Burnham and Robert Bavington helped us with a few additional art pieces. They even footed the bill for an eye-catching color cover, which is going above-and-beyond for a convention ashcan. I want to thank all of them again for making this happen.

"Metro Med #0" contains two 8-page stories. The first one is the story that was submitted to (and won) the Small Press Idol 2004. The second was made just for this book. There's also a gorgeous two-page spread of our principal cast by Phil Meadows, plus pin-ups of some of our superhero characters by Erik and Robert, and a map and short history of the Tri-Metro area where our story takes place. All of that in a beautiful package for $2.

I do need to stress that this is an inexpensive ashcan edition, and it revealed a few technical glitches that we need to work out. There was some fuzziness to the printing, which is a problem on a few of my biographical text pages which have small print. Due to those flaws, the copies printed for Wizard World are all that will ever be printed of this volume. (The nice part of that is if Metro Med becomes the next Tick or Turtles, the ashcan copies will be collectibles.)

We don't want to be responsible for anyone's eyestrain reading the fuzzy small text pages. For this reason, I've decided that all of the text pages will become part of the Metro Med web site for everyone to see. (I will, of course, censor some of it so that I don't reveal surprises from the stories.) I still have to update the Metro Med site; I'm hoping to have some time for that this weekend.

I hesitate to draw attention to the flaws in the printing, but I owe it to Phil and the rest of the art team to stress that their work will look better in the Metro Med book when it debuts in a year. In the meantime, this $2 ashcan is your chance to read Metro Med. Shooting Star Comics will have the book available for purchase shortly, when their online store goes live in a few days. Rest assured, I'll tell you in this space when it's possible to get a copy.

UPDATE: I've been asked about the stories and whether you need to read them. Without giving anything away...yes, although there's the possibility that these 8-pagers might be reprinted or collected later, it would be best if you read them before issue #1 debuts.

I've been meaning to add a plugin to our site that will screen out the spammed comments and trackbacks...and I just did something stupid that makes it clear I need to do that soon!

I was clearing out all of the "animal sex," "black history month sex" and "casino" trackbacks, as I do every day. It's time-consuming, as I need to select "check all" and then uncheck all the legitimate trackbacks. However, today I goofed up and wiped out the good trackbacks and kept all the spam! I apologize to all of the folks at sites like The Sock Drawer, DVD Player News, Dial B for Blog and others (their names sadly lost) who linked to our articles.

Chuck Dixon has this to say about the new book, Hellbent: The Art of Flint Henry:

My good pal has a sketchbook being released this week from SQP. It's an oversized paperback with tons of his madly detailed drawings he's done for minature figues and toys, some of his own bizarre imaginings and a previously unpublished comic story. If you know Flint's work you'll kinda know what you're in for. But be warned: the book is very much adults only. I highly recommend it. It's a short peek into that rat's nest of a mind of his.

The 1966 Batman Tv Tribute Site- Catwoman #1 Julie Newmar

I haven't seen the episode in question, but this audio clip sounds hilarious. (But I don't have Realplayer at work so I haven't heard it yet.)

Oh yeah, the page also has lots of hot Julie Newmar pics.

Catwoman: "I can give you more happiness than anyone in the world, I mean its me and you against the world."
Batman: "ooh, What about Robin?"
Catwoman: "Well, I'll have him killed.. painlessly! Well he is a bit of a bore with his holy this and holy that... "
Batman: "Aw That does it Catwoman, I thought you had a modicum of decency, but I can see that I erred in my judgment!"

Click that link to hear the quote, too.

The Old Negro Space Program is a parody of Ken Burns films, and it's extremely well-done and extremely funny.

(Warning: Contains profanity.)

Erik Burnham gives a preview from the next Nick Landime book.

Here we go, everybody. Bookmark this forever.

GasPriceWatch finds the cheapest gas in your area.

The Aeon Flux trailer is up... and I don't know what to make of it.

On the one hand, Charlize Theron may have the shape for Aeon but she doesn't have the skimpy shelf-bra outfit. That's understandable, of course. Nor does she have the oh-so-recognizable hairstyle, and that's more of a shame. Sure, it may have required a wired wig to pull it off and perhaps was too unrealistic, but it would be nice if she had that hairstyle for at least a few scenes in the film.

The film also seems a bit too standard for Aeon Flux, which was strange to the point of incomprehensible.

Still, that scene with the grass is a nice bit of Flux-ish weirdness, so there's hope.

I also notice the bits taken directly from the shorts and the series episodes. Such as the French Kiss used to transmit microfilm (and mono, presumably); this was the opening scene in "Gravity." The shot of Aeon and a fellow agent crossing a security area is from "A Last Time for Everything." And the gun-toting Aeon killing numerous soldiers standing on a wall is from the pilot.

Perhaps the movie will prompt the studio to put out an Aeon Flux DVD box set of the shorts and episodes.

I didn't even know that the Simpsons box set for season six was out! Thanks for the note, Chaim.

Amazon's price is great, too. I checked around and it actually beats the usually-cheapest price at DVDPacific.

I've been meaning to post about the new Thin Man box set. With Sue Dibny raped and murdered and Elongated Man cast aside at DC, I think it's going to raise my spirits to grab this series of movies featuring the original sassy husband and wife detective team that inspired the adventures of Elongated Man and Sue.
The Thin Man is the story of a famed detective, Nick Charles, who marries a rich heiress and intends to not work another day in his life. Unfortunately, he keeps running across murder cases and his wife Nora pushes him back into action just to see him work. The mysteries are really just excuses for snappy patter and oddball situations, complicated by the low class thugs and stooges from Nick's life who keep reappearing. The first film has a terrific climax where Nick asks several big knuckled hairy goons to pose as waiters.

The series sparkles because of Myrna Loy, an actress as funny as she is gorgeous. Her character Nora Charles provides ample comedy relief. Most of the best lines are hers. She realizes her faux pas when she instructs the waiter, "Would you please serve the nuts? I mean, would you please serve the guests the nuts?" And when a policeman, noting an unregistered gun in Nick's bedroom, says, "Ain't you heard of the Solomon Act?", Nora replies, "It's all right. We're married."

I don't mean to give away the best bits. Go click that link and buy it for yourself. It's money WELL spent.

Notes: The Thin Man, like the diamond Pink Panther, is not actually referring to the lead character, and the name is used for the whole series even though it makes no sense to do so. The thin man in question is actually the murder victim.

The second Thin Man movie features Jimmy Stewart before he was Jimmy Stewart.

The third movie introduces the couples baby, Nick Jr. Worth watching just for the funny baby party hosted by Nick's criminal friends.

Conservative Comic Book Pundit (that's the blog name, not an opinion) has a review of Combat Zone. That's the book that Marvel was going to release as a mini-series, then they shelved it and put it out as a TPB.

I've been on the fence about buying the book only because I'm leery of a comic written by a reporter instead of a trained comic book writer. I should think a book written by an embedded reporter collaborating with someone who knows comic storytelling would rock. Perhaps Dan Jurgens, no stranger to writing, was more than just the artist, especially when one considers that it's a Marvel book.

Anyone know of any interviews with either Jurgens or Zinsmeister about the Combat Zone book? Please pass along the link.

How many "walking" jokes can I do with this guy's name in one day?

Anyway, just wanted to confirm that no, Walken is not running for president, and that web site is just a prank. This is confirmed by Walken's PR rep.

What's surprising is the number of people saying, "Awwww, I wanted him to run." One woman on that link comments that she wishes that Walken had beaten Bush. (Um, he's not running. She doesn't know about that Amendment to the Constitution, I guess.)

I am a huge fan of Hampton Sides' book "Ghost Soldiers", yet I had no idea that there was a movie adaptation of it debuting this week! That's because they changed the name to... blech... The Great Raid.

Ghost Soldiers is the true story of an Army Ranger expedition led by Col. Henry Mucci (I liked the guy so much I actually based a character in "Metro Med" on him). He is tasked with finding a way to rescue 500 Allied POWs from a Japanese camp in the Philippines and doing it in 2 days. If he fails to make that deadline, it is predicted that at that point the Allies will have advanced and the retreating Japanese will kill every POW there, as they have done in other camps in the declining days of WWII.

The movie opened this last weekend, though it is not yet playing in Rochester, MN. Rest assured I'll have a review if it plays here. "The Great Raid" is actually based on both Ghost Soldiers and another book about the same incident. Turns out this movie was greenlit in 2001 and was finished in 2002, but was put on the shelf due to Miramax's problems. (Apparently they are known for having numerous finished projects sitting on the shelf.)

Sadly, the movie has been released with little advertising and a rather lacklustre trailer, and it is not doing well. Libertas has an interview with the producer and a review.

I've heard about this, but I didn't realize that the Weapon of Choice video where Christopher Walken dances was available online!

PvP started something last week where Francis Ottoman was laying into Brent about how much better Francis was at Halo 2 and how he own's Brent's butt. "I own you!" or "You're owned" is slang for being so much better than someone else, and thus Brent is "owned". Then Francis wore an awareness bracelet, raising awareness about the plight of the "owned".

Then Scott rolls out a new product: the awareness bracelet. (Yeah, this is pretty manipulative. Reminds me of when Gene Roddenberry wrote the episode about the IDIC pin in hopes that it would sell the crappy pins he'd already bought so he could profiteer from the slavish Trek fans.)

But here's the thing: The bracelet says "Support the Pwned". And that's not one of Scott's usual typos, apparently, that's what he wants the bracelet to say.

What's Pwned? I assume this is one of those stupid childish gamer slang things like L33T SKILZ which I have never understood. (How hard is it to spell elite?) But I'd like to know why it's Pwned.

UPDATE: I'd like to thank Brian Hogg for linking me to the Urban Dictionary entry. Short version: It originates from a misspelling in a game, which was then repeated by gamers.

Okay, so it was 14 years ago. Toth was writing during the height of Lobo's popularity, when "dark" was the catchphrase. There's still so much that is applicable to the industry today.

Oh, these translations are always fun. Watch Star War: Backstroke of the West

Warning: a few of the translated words are swear words, although they weren't swear words originally.

I love Anakin's threat: "Giving first aid the already disheveled hair projection." Also, the "Jedi Council" is translated as "the Presbyterian Church."

I'm sure some of you were very surprised that I have been missing from this site for two weeks. What's been happening?

In the week before Wizard World Chicago, I was busy packing and had little time for posting. I didn't even have the time to hype my comic, Metro Med #0, finally being printed! Yeah! My comic, in the works for over a year...waiting to be printed for so long...finally is in print form, and I didn't even have time to do up a post about it or place some graphics on the site. That should tell you how busy I was.

At Chicago...well, I'll offer a full con report later, and hopefully you won't mind it being a week late. But I drove to/from Chicago with four of the five contributors to Metro Med #0: my good friend and collaborator Phil Meadows, and pinup artists Robert Bavington and Erik Burnham. (Colorist Roz Terrill couldn't make it, but was with us in spirit.)

Robert, who has assisted Phil and I in designing some of our superheroes, was visiting from England and then drove home with me to be our houseguest for a week. It was delightful to see Rob again, as he's a friendly guy with an infectious good humor. Unfortunately, he also brought the infectious Mad Cow Cold, and Phil Meadows and I have been so sniffly we haven't been near a keyboard much for the last week. OK, I'm kidding, we don't think it was Rob, but Phil and I have been sick for a week, which is why little has happened on the Metro Med promotional front.

Still, I've had a good week playing host to Robert and taking him to see the Minnesota Imax theater, the Minnesota Zoo and the Mall of America. We watched movies, drove around Rochester and played games. Oh, and since I had a foreigner in my home, I did the American thing and put him to work for no pay, ripping up tile in my basement. Rob took off yesterday, heading for Vegas. Thanks for staying with us, Rob! Rob also presented me with a full-size copy of his Magnitude pinup for our book. It looks fantastic and you'll see it when you get a copy of Metro Med #0.

And I've spent the last 24 hours trying to get caught up after 11 days away from the Internet, with hardly any time for paying bills, sorting mail, doing dishes, etc.

Again, I'll do a convention report later tonight; I'll also have coverage of the Metro Med #0 debut, with details on the book's availability.

The Indy Experience now reports that Indiana Jones 4 is now a go picture. 63-year-old Harrison Ford will still portray Indy as he travels the world to pick up his Social Security check.

During his discussion of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mark Steyn has a side comment about Christopher Lee.

My favourite moment in the Lord of the Rings movies isn’t actually in any of the movies, but in one of those ‘the making of’ documentaries that appears on the DVD. It’s the scene where Saruman gets stabbed by Grima Wormtongue, and Lee explains to director Peter Jackson that the backstabbing sound isn’t quite right, because in his days with British Intelligence during the war he used to sneak up and stab a lot of Germans in the back and it was more of a small gasp they made. Jackson backs away cautiously.

Wow. I need to dig out my LOTR box set and find that segment.

Happy Birthday to Kevin Smith.

Ben Stiller a Dad Again

Ben Stiller and his wife Christine Taylor, are celebrating after the birth of their Baby Boy three weeks ago. Quinlin Dempsey Stiller was born on July 10 in Los Angeles, weighing in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces. The low-key Dodgeball and Zoolander co-stars, who celebrated five years of marriage in May, already have a three-year-old daughter, Ella.

Congrats to one of my favorite Hollywood couples.

The Blue Tights Video Journal has some interesting footage of the Superman movie under construction.

We are now exactly 365 days away from the premier.

Cattywoman, I mean.

Lynda Carter says Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sandra Bullock are too old to play Wonder Woman. Joss Whedon says that Mischa Barton (of The O.C.) and Katie Holmes (of Batman Begins, though she's described here only as "Tom Cruise's fiancee") are on Joss Whedon's short list to play Wonder Woman for a 2007 movie.

This same news page discusses the Aeon Flux movie and how Charlize Theron has forced the movie makers to redesign the distinctive costume so it isn't as skimpy. It now has pants. PANTS! On AEON FLUX??? That's like making a Punisher movie and not putting a skull on the shirt.

OK, let's face it, the costume is ridiculously skimpy and impractical, and making it a bit more modest will save the film a million dollars on body waxing. Still, what else IS there to Aeon Flux besides the distinctive costume?

Reminds me of how Angelina Jolie wouldn't wear a Lara Croft shirt in the distinctive aqua color.

Inker Tom Nguyen is asking that you find it in your heart to look at 50 stunning beauties and vote. Although it was a terrible sacrifice of my precious time, I have done so and I hope you will, too.

One of my models, Lauren Hindi, is Miss MN Teen USA. She will be on national television next week on Monday night, August 6th to compete for the title of Miss Teen USA. Covergirl.com is holding a national voting for your favorite competitor. THE TOP TEN LEADING VOTE-GETTERS WILL HAVE THEIR VOTES COUNT IN THE COMPETITION!!!! I'm trying to drum up some votes for her. In this case, your favorite competitor will have to be Lauren Even if you live outside of Minnesota, haha. If you could please vote for her she, her family, and I would greatly appreciate it! Not only is she one of my prestigious models, but I am also a co-sponsor of hers. I have provided the links, and here's what you need to do (I know it's kind of a hassle): Here is where you have to get color-matched for makeup (guys, just make it up! ) :

Then close the window and go here.

Scroll to the bottom and click "Vote Now!"

Now you'll be taken to a page where you can scroll across each of the contestants to pick your top 10 in the swimsuit, evening gown, and personality categories. So after you click on Miss MN Teen, go ahead and pick whoever else you want....it doesn't matter anymore. :) When you're done with this, you will be taken to a page for the final step to submit your votes, which is simply to type the number code you see on the screen.

Granted, you really don't have to do this; I'm just trying to get as many votes as I can. We all appreciate it!

Best,
Tom

I must say...out of a sea of nearly identical women, Lauren has a unique look. I like her hairstyle. She looks like a nice version of the animated Killer Frost. (Oo! Oo! Tom, there's your next painting!)

Miss Wisconsin's quite fetching, too. Go Minnesota and Wisconsin! Our states may have death taxes, but our womens ain't bad.