31 Things I Love About Halloween: Scarecrows

This probably counts as another decoration, but it's the last one I'll sneak into the list. I mentioned last year when I was counting out 31 Monsters of Halloween that scarecrows are one of my favorites. Probably thanks to Dark Night of the Scarecrow, but also thanks to a very cool scarecrow costume I got to wear for Halloween one year as a kid. I won first prize at a party with that baby and didn't want to take it off even though I leaked straw everywhere I went.

Art Show: Kingship of the Apes

Posting ten images a week hasn't been helping me make headway against my backlog. In fact, I'm getting further and further behind. So to help me catch up, this week's a whopper.

Cabin Boy



By Pierre Joubert. [Illustrateurs]

Belit



By Mike Hawthorne. [ComicTwart]

Kitty Pryde, Pirate



By Adam Withers. [Swing with Shad, a cool sea-themed blogger who's started his own set of Art Show posts.]

After the break: Way too much to list. Seriously. It's a butt-load of art.

Art Show: I'd forgotten how cute Death is

The Suicide Squad



By Mike Maihack.

The Wolfman



By Daniel Danger.

I never did get a review written of The Wolfman. There are very few werewolf movies that I actually dig. The Lon Chaney Jr's Wolf Man and Jack Nicholson's Wolf are pretty much it. With that in mind, The Wolfman was a good werewolf movie. Not a good movie movie necessarily, but I liked the atmosphere enough that I'd put it in the few werewolf films I'd watch again.

It doesn't compare favorably to Chaney's version though. Del Toro is good at the tragedy of Larry Talbot, but captures none of the humor that made Chaney's tragedy so much more potent. The less said about what they did to Talbot Sr, the better. What an awful waste of Anthony Hopkins. [/Film]

More monsters, Death, and a couple of robots after the break.

Friday Night Art Show: Trick or Treat!

A Haunted House... A Haunted Life...



By Boris Dolgov. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Frankenstein



By M@tthew [Avalanche Software Art Blog]

Boo!



By Phil Postma [Sketchy Business]

Halloween



By Matthieu Forichon.

Ghostie



By Corrie McAlpine.

Pumkin



By Mathieu Reynès.

And Now the News: So Many Ways to Take a Life

Here's the rest of the news from last week that (mostly) wasn't about Disney's buying Marvel.

Meandering Aquaman

The Stonechat Museum - a Hawkman blog - picked up a quote I missed from Dan Didio about the difficulty of finding a spot for Aquaman in the current DCU:

Where is Aquaman: Rebirth? It’s hard for us to do a Rebirth because Rebirths stand for something to us. It’s a particular character returning who had the lead mantle of that character, and him being re-established in the world. Aquaman has never been removed from the role, with the exception of maybe what we did with the One Year Later. It’s a different sensibility going on there.

The other thing with Aquaman is he never got the level of traction the other characters did. He never broke free. Most people’s references to Aquaman really are the cartoon series from the 1960s and Super Friends. We look at Aquaman a lot of times and say "What is the iconic interpretation?" When we do that, you have 15 different answers because the problem with Aquaman ... is that every time he was rebooted, the origin was moved a little bit to the right, moved a little to the left, moved around half way and then it came back three quarters. He never really had a clear change and his story just meandered along. Our goal following Blackest Night, if there is an Aquaman, would be to make sure to get clear what the iconic interpretation is and present it in the best light possible.

I don't have any real concern that DC's going to leave Aquaman dead at the end of Blackest Night, but what this does sound like is that there are no definite plans for him yet. They're still feeling their way around, trying to get to that "iconic interpretation." Which is strange, since Didio says what the iconic interpretation is right there in his comments: the '60s and '70s cartoons. Maybe those are what I should be checking out instead of old issues of Justice League.

Doris Danger: Giant Monster Adventures



It's like they're making this stuff just for me now.

The Three-D Musketeers

Paul WS Anderson is adapting The Three Musketeers in 3D. I have a hard time getting as upset about this as /Film does. Anderson's not a brilliant director or anything, but he's no Uwe Boll either. I've very much enjoyed the Resident Evil movies and it's not like there aren't a zillion, other, good Musketeers movies to fall back on if this one blows.

And really? I don't get what /Film is complaining about other than some justifiable concern that Anderson may not make a very good movie. He wants to make a Musketeers film that's "rich in eye-popping action, romance and adventure?" Good! That's exactly what a Musketeers film should be. And it's kind of putting words in his mouth to say that he wants to make a "non-period period film" when all that he really said was that he didn't want the "corsets and feathered hats" to be the focus. I don't want them to be the focus either. The Three Musketeers shouldn't be The Duchess.

Gripe all you want that Anderson's making another movie. I do that about Michael Bay all the time. Just don't pretend that he's ruining some sacred franchise by doing a new version of it with some cool technology.

Untitled Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz Spy Movie

Double O Section has new information about the cool-sounding spy movie formerly known as Wichita. Like most people, I've been skimming over Wichita news because of the non-descript title and missing that it's about a woman whose life is turned upside down when her blind date turns out to be a super spy and takes her on a violent, worldwide journey to protect a powerful MacGuffin.

Fantastic Four movie reboot

I think it's interesting that on the very day the Disney/Marvel deal was announced Fox let everyone know that they're starting from scratch and making a completely new Fantastic Four movie. All they have so far is a new screenwriter with a shaky resumé, but - as much as I'll miss Chris Evans - I welcome the attempt. Please please please let them get it right this time.

Half-Minute Horrors



How scared can you get in 30 seconds? Lemony Snicket, James Patterson, Neil Gaiman, R.L. Stine, and others want to help you find out.

Dark Days direct-to-DVD movie has a director



That's good news. The bad news is that Melissa George isn't returning as Stella. Not that no one else can play the role, but it would've been nice to see her back if only for continuity's sake. Hopefully they'll find someone who (with a new Eben) can stick around for a while and make future sequels like Return to Barrow and Eben and Stella.

Still, Dark Days is my favorite of the 30 Days of Night books and I'm looking forward to seeing how this comes out. Especially since Steve Niles has a co-writing credit on the screenplay. The director (and other writer) is Ben Ketai, who's been involved with the 30 Days of Night web shorts.

Rambo V: The Savage Hunt

This story on the proposed next film in the Rambo series sounds like it's trying very hard not to say the word "werewolf," but I totally hope that's what it's about.

Trick 'r Treat review



I've been hoping that Trick 'r Treat is as cool as that poster makes it look. According to /Film, it is.

Inglourious Wizerds



"That’s why every sonofabitch we find wearin’ a Death Eater mask, they’re gonna die."

It gets said often, but still not enough: Chris Sims is a genius.

No more Harryhausen comics



Ray Harryhausen and Bluewater Comics have parted ways, each saying that they're the party who made the decision to leave. The only disappointing part of that news is Harryhausen's statement that there are "no plans to move the properties to another publisher," because frankly the world needs Harryhausen comics. We just need some with a professional level of art that Bluewater hasn't been providing.

Of course, "no plans" doesn't mean that Harryhausen wouldn't consider other offers; just that there aren't any attractive ones on the table right this second. Hopefully someone will step up and make some comics worthy of the man's imagination. Of course, I'd rather have no Harryhausen comics than deal with the frustration of constantly seeing ones on the shelves that I have to pass up because they're awful.

Steampunk Art at Oxford



Brother Calvin's turned up a steampunk art exhibit at Oxford University. Reason #5,695 that I need to visit Britain.

Monster Monday!

How Not to Promote Your Giant Monster vs. Vikings and Alien Movie



Don't let the poster give a single freaking hint about all the awesomeness you've packed into the film.

2008: The Year in Frankenstein



Frankensteinia conveniently wraps up every Frankenstein event from the past year.

Fishman



By Ben Simonsen.

Scarecrow



By Grant Gould. I know he's not technically a monster since he's part of a Wizard of Oz set, but I don't care. Scarecrows are awesome and this one is particularly groovy.

What Looks Good: A Murder of Scarecrows

Desperado Publishing has a promising-sounding comic coming out next month. It's cleverly titled A Murder of Scarecrows and features a pre-Revolutionary War masked man taking up arms against his British oppressors. Sounds a little like The Black Coat and a lot like Dr. Syn, but I like both of those things, so all the better.

According to the press release I got, the graphic novel will run 64 pages and the story is the first in a planned series.

The Awesome List: Dr. Syn, Eleventh Hour, Sheena stickers, Coraline movie, Atomic Robo, and Kill All Monsters!

Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow



I've mentioned before how much I love scarecrows. I also love The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. (No, not the movie version. Gag.) And I love dark, masked antiheroes with big guns. And I'm quite a big fan of adventure stories set in the 18th century.

So, when Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill started talking about a 1780's version of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and I saw that it included a dark, masked antihero in its ranks, I was curious to learn more. Imagine my excitement when I learned that though you can't really tell it in O'Neill's drawings, Dr. Syn is actually dressed like a scarecrow.

Now imagine how I feel that Disney is finally releasing their classic Dr. Syn TV series on DVD. I don't know if it's any good, but I aim to find out.

Eleventh Hour

Know who else I love? Rufus Sewell. Ever since Cold Comfort Farm and Dark City.

And now he's going to be in a TV show about a "special science advisor" to the government who saves the world from mad scientists every week with the help of a "feisty female bodyguard." It's like they're making TV just for me now.

Sheena stickers

I've experienced mixed results from Devil's Due's comics output, but man if I'm not excited about their new line of comics-related merchandise. I'm gettin' some of those Sheena stickers.

Coraline



Neil Gaiman's posted a teaser trailer for his next movie: a 3D adaptation of Coraline.

Atomic Robo

I've already told you how to get your hands on free Atomic Robo in May. What I didn't tell you is that that's just the beginning of new Atomic Robo adventures. According to the press release I got:

"Red 5 Comics is pleased to announce that starting this fall, Atomic Robo will return as a continuing series, with (co-creators Brian) Clevinger and (Scott) Wegener on-board for over twenty issues of Robo exploits over the next three years.

"'We couldn't be happier to be able to share more of Robo's adventures,' said Clevinger. 'I can promise more explosions and more punching, but the two are probably unrelated. Punching things until they explode is just bad strategy, even for a robot.'

"On the success of Robo, Wegener waxed, 'It was Mark Twain who said, "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society." The first time I drew Robo in a pair of cargo pants and muddy combat boots it was instant BFFs. Thank God other people seem to like the idea too.'"

Kill All Monsters! gets it wrong

In Kill All Monsters!, Jason Copland and I have humanity building giant robots and mecha suits to fight giant monsters. Robotics expert Daniel Wilson explains why that's a bad idea. I hope he doesn't mind my stealing homaging some of his suggestions, because burrowing, explosives-laden suicide robots are exactly what the comics industry needs.

The Orphanage (2007)

I've finally figured out that I'm not as much of a horror fan as I thought I was. I like the fantasy/scifi elements of monster movies and my absolute favorite horror movies are actually mysteries. The Orphanage falls into that category.

It's the story of a woman who grew up in an orphanage before she was adopted. Now, a parent herself, she moves back into the orphange with her husband and son, planning to reopen it and give other children the same positive experience she did. Unfortunately, her son begins hearing voices and talking about creepy imaginary friends and before too long he disappears.

Now Mom has to figure out where he is by putting together supernatural clues in order to find out a) what happened at the orphanage after she left and b) what those events have to do with her boy. It's a clever mystery, creepily presented (with underwater caves, secret passageways, mysterious old women with shovels, spooky ghost children, and a scarecrow mask), that makes sense and satisfies when it's done. There's a lot of style to the film, but it supports a well-crafted plot, which is nice because usually I find that stylish films are trying to hide a crap plot.

With Guillermo del Toro attached as producer, I'm not surprised that it's good. It's just nice to not be disappointed.

Five out of five creepy scarecrow boys.

Scarecrows, Echo, and fanfic REVEALED!

If he only had a brain.

I'm too distracted by Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man right now to analyze why, but I've always been a big fan of scarecrows. It probably started with Dark Night of the Scarecrow, but I'm still hooked. I'm even tempted to see Jeepers Creepers 2, for crying out loud.

Anyway, Caleb over at Everyday is Like Wednesday totally wrote his blog just for me in the days leading up to Halloween with his Scarecrow Week.

"I am a little worried that people will be angry when they find out it's not Rowling."

Here's more skinny on that James Potter site that I mentioned last week. It's fanfiction. (Thanks to my pal Charles again for the link.)

"That’s not rain, or hail."

I never was able to get into Strangers in Paradise, but Terry Moore's become such a legendary figure because of it that I'm really looking forward to getting in on the ground floor of his next big project, Echo.

Odds and ends

Doing a little housecleaning on my links folder.

Thanks to Jess Hickman for directing me to this cool statue by Chris Sanders.

A buddy of mine has started a free, monthly, arts + entertainment magazine called Paperthin. It's mainly focused on Knoxville, Tennessee, but there's lots of good stuff in there no matter where you live.

I'm such a sucker for stories about scarecrows. Especially when the scarecrows have pumpkins for heads. Especially especially when small town folk let one loose every Halloween and try to kill it before it can make it to the local church.

The Newsarama Blog that I contribute to made it onto Publishers Weekly's 100 Favorite Blogs list. I'm going to pretend they were talking about me when they mentioned "insightful creator interviews."

The knowledge that I'll occasionally read posts like this one is why I read Neil Gaiman's blog every day.

Dave's Long Box gives the comic book equivalent to The 100-Page Rule: The Flip Test. It's excellent and I'll be using it from now on, both in my purchasing decisions and in my writing.