Michael Hutchison: August 2007 Archives

A big congratulations to my buddy Tom Nguyen, whose art instructional book "Incredible Comics With Tom Nguyen: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Kick-ass Comic Art" debuted today.

I heard that Impact, the publishers, brought 50 copies to Comic Con and they were snapped up in an instant. Tom had only one copy left to show at his table throughout the con, and many pros who stopped by to leaf through it said that it was one of the best instructional books they'd seen in years. (And they said it BEFORE Tom slipped them the $100 bill, so you know it's on the up and up.)

I actually did not buy this today. The reason being that there's only one copy on the "New This Week" shelf at Jimmy Jams and I want some other patron to see it and buy it. Next week, the replacement copy would just be amongst the art instructional books. So I'll hold off and get it later, after giving this one a chance to find its way into the hands of someone else.

But I did look through it. When I flipped it open, it went right to the page about drawing boobs correctly. (Prurient content in a Tom Nguyen book? Say it ain't so!) Granted, that sounds funny, but given how many wanna-be artists (and working artists, sadly) have no idea how to draw breasts, or how fabric interacts with breasts, or how breasts move, or (probably) what they feel like, it's worth doling out some instructions on the matter. This is why Tom has made it his life's mission to study them in great detail every hour of every day.

Nice work if you can get it.

All kidding aside, it was a thrill to see Tom's book on the stands today. I know he's been working on it for quite some time; it's nice to see that it's out and it's a hit. Way to go, Tom!

(Look for a review...with more honest appraisal and less friendly taunting... when I get my review copy in the mail with the $100 bill.)

Punisher: War Zone will be the name of the sequel to The Punisher movie. Replacing Thomas Jane will be Ray Stevenson, who portrays the Roman Legionnaire Titus Pullo on the HBO series "Rome". (I just watched the entire season 1 box set this last weekend while I was canning spaghetti sauce - what better use for a day confined to the kitchen?) and I can easily see him as Frank Castle.

Thomas Jane left the project back in May, after two years of prepping for the role.

The bunnies reenact Saw in 30 seconds.

Sounds like the location of these scary tracks is Vancouver's north shore.

I have one question: how smart is it to have such dangerous track and such wild stunts in a place that is maddeningly inaccessible to an ambulance? You'd better hope your fellow X-gamers feel like portaging your busted butt back to civilization.

Thanks to Steve Czaban for both of the links.

Scary!

I never even liked going over a curb on my bike. As for this path...I wouldn't even want to play a video game of this path, let alone attempt it on an actual bepedaled conveyance!

SPOILER WARNING: Slight, unimportant spoilers from the splash page of today's "Birds of Prey" #109.

I respect Tony Bedard. A lot. I wouldn't say I'm a devotee who buys everything he produces, but I have found that most anything with his name on it will be a solid comic book that is totally worth the cover price. Bedard writes comics that I enjoy re-reading, which isn't something I say very often. His "Negation" was one of the highlights of the sadly-defunct CrossGen comics. I say all this to make it clear to everyone that I do not consider him an incompetent, a hack or a lame-ol.

Which is why I'm stunned by the blunder in the opening of Birds of Prey today. In it, Green Arrow in his classic uniform is facing off against a Batman villain when Batgirl arrives. Green Arrow puts the moves on her and then realizes that she is a lot younger than he thought she was.

Barbara comments in voice-over that the costume made her look "at least twenty". So she's NOT twenty yet in the flashback. This must be occurring in the early years of her career. That would make sense; maybe Green Arrow is acting like such a cad because he isn't yet in a serious relationship with Black Canary (for our purposes here, I mean that as in living together, being a recognized "item", etc.).

We can surmise that this is happening in the early years of the Bronze Age, roughly concurrent with the comics published in the early 1970s. The JLA has their satellite H.Q., maybe they've recently added Elongated Man and Red Tornado to their roster, etc. Robin (Dick Grayson) is probably still in high school, given how young he is in Batgirl: Year One.

So...WHO is the Batman villain that is facing off against Green Arrow on a rooftop? It's not important to the story, really. Could be any of three dozen Arkham inmates. Bedard probably threw a dart at random, which is the only explanation I can come up with as to why he would use THE VENTRILOQUIST!

You know...the Ventriloquist: the only truly noteworthy addition to Batman's Rogues Gallery from the late 1980s until today. (Okay, yeah, Bane, I suppose.) And that's the problem: his first, classic introductory story was published in 1988.

What else happened in 1988? Oh, just that Commissioner Gordon's ex-Congresswoman librarian daughter got shot right around then, losing the use of her legs. And by that time, Green Arrow has been living with Black Canary for ages, had suggested marriage, and ditched the feathered hat and trick arrows, all in 1987's the Longbow Hunters.

Of all the villains Bedard could have used, he uses the one whose appearance at the time is impossible. Look, I'm not some nitpicky fanboy who demands that a untold earlier origin of the JLA be invented just to explain why the publication date of Green Lantern's first appearance doesn't gibe with the JLA's origin story. (You do know what I'm talking about, right?)

I'm just saying that I'm baffled that Tony Bedard made this kind of error. Even more confusing, I can't believe editor Mike Carlin missed it!

I realize that DC will just now announce that Ventriloquist, like all good Bat-villains, will now have his backstory retrofitted to occur in Batman's first year.

Here are all of Stan Lee's Marvel movie cameos (well, except for the too-ostentatious speaking role in Spider-Man 3).

My buddy Rob says he's never seen a live action Wonder Woman. I boggled... then remembered that hey, I barely caught Wonder Woman myself. I wasn't even ten when it was on...and Rob's a decade younger than me.

Still...with DVD box sets, there's no excuse to not at least watch it sometime. I mean, aside from the dumb plots. But here's what Rob is missing:

Yeah, it's dumb, it's dated, the robots and aliens are lame, and Debra Winger as Wonder Girl doesn't even know how to spin...

But there's one main reason to watch Wonder Woman. (And no, I won't even make the "okay, two" joke. It's disrespectful to the awesomeness that is Lynda Carter.)

So, okay, Wonder Woman is basically the 1970s version of Baywatch. I was about to tell Robert that, when he sends me this message:

[16:46] Rjbav: So, WW is like Baywatch from the 70s?

Sometimes I'm not as clever as I think I am. (Sometimes? Probably most of the time.)

She was made to wear the starred shorts. (Heck, she even wore striped shorts when she was Miss America.)

So, no excuses. If you haven't seen it: SEE IT!

I almost missed getting into 30 Rock because I can't stand "Scrubs" (the "Wings" of the new millennium), the show which came on before it. If NBC smartens up, they'll put it on in the same hour as "The Office." If you haven't yet been won over, check out The 10 Best Moments from 30 Rock

Here are a few of my faves:

Here's the short version: we can't make it.

I can't tell you how bummed I am to cancel. I've been planning all year to talk to various contacts and get my business card in the hands of any and all potential artists for Metro Med. Short of traveling across the entire country, I won't have another chance to meet a range of artists until NEXT YEAR. I can't believe I'm going to miss it.

Brace yourselves.

The Weinsteins are developing a remake of "The Seven Samurai".

I've never even seen the movie and I know it's heresy!

Via Libertas, where this comment made me laugh: "I think Kurosawa is going to come back from the grave and eat their brains. Say that
would make for a great plot! Terrible Hollywood execs raise an army of dead zombie directors due to
their constant remakes starring Matt Damon."

I'll be at Wizard World Chicago on Saturday, August 11th. I need to find a new artist for Metro Med, plus I'll be feeling out publishers for the book when it is ready. My plans are to wander the hall talking to publishers and reviewing the portfolios of anyone I see carrying one. You have to find me.

Here's the deal: find me. Find me and you'll get a FREE COMIC BOOK!

All you need to do to get the free comic is come up to me and say, loud enough for people around to hear you, "METRO MED IS THE BEST COMIC BOOK I'VE EVER READ!"

("Your comic book is the best comic book I've ever read!" is also acceptable.)

How can you identify me? I'm a chubby guy, buzz cut hair (where I have hair) and I'll be tugging around a blue tote crate. I may have some Metro Med or Fanzing clothing on, but no promises. Check out my picture on my ComicSpace and mentally picture me without the "bad Spock" goatee.

Approach me. Don't be shy! It doesn't matter if I'm eating or even talking on my cell phone. (You MAY want to wait a few minutes if I'm talking to Dan DiDio about doing a book for DC.) Just say the phrase that pays and you'll get a comic book worth up to $6.

One per person/family. Valid as long as supplies last.

If you happen to see the portfolio of a good artist looking for some modestly-paying work, please send them my way. If you are a publisher willing to consider publishing Metro Med, contact me. Thank you!

Michael Hutchison, writer of Metro Med, the hospital for superheroes.
http://www.metromedcomic.com
http://www.toomanylongboxes.com

How cross-media can you get? Futurama, the canceled TV show, is coming back as a movie...which will be released directly to DVD. It will then be divided back up into TV episodes and broadcast on cable. This was announced at Comic Con via a special comic book, which was then performed by the cast on stage as a sort of radio theater, with the panels of the comic displayed behind them on projection screens, giving the effect of a digital comic book!

The first movie, "Bender's Big Score," debuts this November; it will be widescreen and high-definition.

Here's a question: With the Simpsons movie doing boffo box office, isn't there anyone considering what an awesome visual spectacle a Futurama movie would make for theaters? I thought the Simpsons was a vibrant delight; I really was stunned at how much better the Simpsons looked in widescreen. But in the end, it's just a yellow family doing the same tired schtick that wore out its welcome over eight years ago. (My brother has a theory that all the best writers from Simpsons took their A-game to Futurama, which is why Simpsons started sucking from 1999 onward.)

Why not do a Futurama theatrical movie, given that most Futurama episodes had alien invasions and explosions while Simpsons has a fat guy on a couch?

To celebrate, enjoy the beatbox variations for Futurama:

That's one of the first topics on our new message board, and I'd really like your input.

So, what do you think will be the appropriate attire?
Hawaiian shirt or... Hawaiian shirt?

This has been one of my favorite Dr. Demento bits for years, but I didn't know this video existed. Enjoy!

What have I been up to for the last week?

First off, no, I didn't die in the Minnesota bridge collapse; that's just an urban legend. I appreciate everyone's concern, but that's about 90 miles north of where I live.

Let's just say I've been preoccupied with a few things over the last week.

First off, I was interviewed for, and received, a permanent job at the Mayo Medical Laboratories as their Web Specialist. Yay!

Secondly, I installed the newest version of MovableType on TheHutch.com. I finally have a personal blog replacing that four-year-old placeholder page! Phew! The new MT system is very advanced.

One sweet aspect of this new version is that it allows several different comment authentications, not just TypeKey. While I find TypeKey convenient and painless, there are many people resistant to it. It's hurt our blog mightily because comments have dwindled down to the same dozen people, whereas before they were numerous. However, I couldn't risk open comments or we'd be flooded with spam. I want to put the new MovableType on the Monitor Duty site as well; I'm just very anxious about NOT goofing it up. You'd think it would be easy to update, but if there's one thing I've learned this week, it's that it's never as easy as it should be.

Speaking of "flooded with spam", our Monitor Duty forum has been practically unusable for over a year. I've spent the last week installing PHPBB 3.0 on both our site and my Hutch site. I've had endless problems, despite how "easy" it's supposed to be, because the PHPBB designers seem bullish on making their instructions user unfriendly. I finally managed to weed out our spammers, all 4000 of them...leaving only 31 users! Finally, I got the new 3.0 installed.

And HERE'S THE NEW MONITOR DUTY BOARD! Booyah!