Elsewhere on the Internets: Some Cool Indie Comics

Before the blog goes quiet for C2E2, here are a couple of more links to some contributions I made to Robot 6's What Are You Reading feature. I've been re-reading Mark Smylie's Artesia series, but I also checked in on some independent comics that I quite liked.



Indigo Blue is a dystopian spy story in which cute, anthropomorphic animals fight for equality in a human world.



And Solomon Azua is a cool space pulp story that reminds me of my favorite things about Star Wars. The same week I read it, I also checked out and dug the third issue of Robot 13. As usual, click those links for more info.

That's it for a while. Stay tuned to Robot 6 for C2E2 reports and pictures. I'll be back here on Monday to start catching up on the last month in adventure news and reviews.

BlogTV: Castle; Battlestar Galactica

Castle Promo



So awesome. And just in case you were worried, Castle's been renewed for next season.

Battlestar Rhapsody



This is pretty old, but it's worth watching all the way through if you haven't seen it yet. I LOLed several times.

Elsewhere on the Internets: Lincoln's Assassin, Kids vs Nazis, and June's Adventure Comics

It's been a while since I've done one of these updates, so I'll split it into two sections. Today is just the Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs columns from the past month.

Along with Jane Yolen's Foiled, we talked about four First Second books in a row.

Booth



I thought Booth was an informative, but flawed - mostly in regards to its storytelling, but I also thought the art could've been more dynamic - look at Abraham Lincoln's assassin. CC Colbert is the pseudonym for historian Catherine Clinton and Booth is not only her first graphic novel, but her first fiction work as well. That shows, but it's still an interesting account that made me curious to learn more.

Comic Book Resources also interviewed Clinton about the book and her research on it.

Resistance, Book 1



I enjoyed the first volume of Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis' Resistance a lot more. It's the story of some kids who get caught up in the French Resistance and learn to work effectively against the Nazis. There are at least two ways you can tell this story. You can either make it a fun, adventure-filled romp or you can realistically highlight how scary it would be for real children to be put in that situation. Either of those choices could make for a great story, but I was surprised and pleased that Resistance chose the second of them. And even more pleased that it did it so well.

The other choice (and a whole bunch of other adventure comics) after the break.

TV News: Marvel monsters, Star Wars kids, and Natalie Morales

Super Monster Squad



John Rozum's writing an episode of Super Hero Squad that features Dracula, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, The Living Mummy, and Brother Voodoo. If the show's not already on your radar, you're missing out.

Star Wars: Galactic Heroes series?
 


Speaking of shows made from kids' toy versions of popular franchises, rumor has it that George Lucas wants in on that action with another Star Wars cartoon series. If it's anywhere near as fun as Super Hero Squad, I'll be a happy Star Wars fan, but I do wish he'd get working on that live-action drama he promised us. [IESB]

So long, Natalie. See you soon.



This is barely adventure-related, but it's a follow up to an item that was. When it was announced that Marsha Thomason was coming back to White Collar, I wondered if there'd be room for her and Natalie Morales (Middleman) both. Apparently there's not - which makes me sad - but Morales isn't completely out of work. She's scheduled for a series of guest appearances on Parks and Recreation.

C2E2

I've been a bad blogger lately. Sporadic posting; getting further and further behind on news and other Internet reading. There's just a lot going on with life right now. It's mostly fun and excitement, including looking for a new job, but it's time-consuming and I apologize for not being more on top of the blog too. Hopefully things will settle down soon, but before that happens I'm going to go mostly offline again during the last part of this week.

It's not really an "appearance" because I won't have a table or anything, but I'll be at the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo, hanging out with Jason Copland, taking lots of pictures, and writing about the show for Robot 6 (much like I did for Wizard World Chicago last year). I'm really looking forward to having a real comics convention in Chicago again after the last few, disappointing years of Wizard World. Can't wait to see what it's like.

If you're going to be there too, drop me a line (or comment below) and let me know.

Who Reads the Cownt?

Apologies to First Second Books for stealing the title of this post from them.

In other Cownt news, I forgot to mention that Newsarama's Chris Arrant was nice enough to interview me about the Hooved Horror. We conducted the interview last Fall before you could buy the comic online, so it's a little out of date, but there's some stuff in there about the Cownt's creation that I don't think I've talked about anywhere else.

Writing is Hard: What is Drama?

David Mamet explains the importance of drama in this letter to the writers of The Unit. It's an entertaining memo to read, but it's also a very helpful reminder of just what the writer's job is. As Mamet says, "The audience will not tune in to write information. You wouldn't, I wouldn't, no one would or will."

He goes on to define drama as the quest of the hero to overcome those things which prevent him from achieving a specific goal. Writers then must ask themselves three questions about every single scene:

1. Who wants what?
2. What happens if she doesn't get it?
3. Why is it important right this second? (I'm paraphrasing what I think he means in that last one.)

Mamet's obviously talking to TV writers, but this of course applies to any medium. I do like what he says though about writing drama-less scenes in hopes that the actors will be able to make them interesting. "If the scene bores you when you read it, rest assured it will bore the actors, and will, then, bore the audience." It strengthens his point about the importance of writing good drama, regardless of how many collaborators you may have on a project. That's also excellent advice for comics writers who may be tempted to "let" the artist be responsible for making the story exciting.

As Mamet says, someone has to make the scene dramatic. It's not the actors' job, it's not the director's job, and it's not the artist's job either. It's the writer's.

Dark LIfe: Underwater Adventure Book and Film

Kat Falls' novel Dark Life is scheduled to be released next month with a movie adaptation (directed by Rober Zemeckis) set to follow. It's an underwater adventure story set in a post-apocalyptic future where most of the Earth has been covered in water. Humans either crowd together on the little land that's left or adapt to live under the ocean. A girl and boy (one from each group of humans) have to work together to uncover a government conspiracy.

Cinema 2009

Today got busy so just one post. And possibly a lame one because I know that a lot of you've already seen this. But if you haven't, take a look at this wonderful montage of darn near every movie released last year.

Movie News: Welcome Back, Xander.

Immortals



Hot on the heels of Percy Jackson and Clash of the Times comes a third Greek mythology film called Immortals. It'll star Henry Cavill (The Tudors) as Theseus, who joins the Greek gods to fight the Titans. Kellan Lutz (Twilight) will play Poseidon, John Hurt is Zeus, Mickey Rourke will be King Hyperion, and Isabel Lucas (Transformers 2, Daybreakers) plays Athena. It'll be directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell) who plans to shoot it "in Renaissance painting style." [/Film]

Three Musketeers director



There are a couple of Three Musketeers movies in the works. One by Paul WS Anderson (Resident Evil) and one by the guy who produced Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. The second of those has a director now: Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. and Mrs. Smith). [/Film]

National Treasure 3 writers



I suppose that one day I could tired of these, but not yet. In fact, they're about the only Nicholas Cage movies I trust anymore. This third one's being written by the guys who wrote the Prince of Persia film. [/Film]

Xander Cage, Black Widow, Alfred Hitchcock, Resident Evil, Buck Rogers, Godzilla, and the real Runaways after the break.

Kooks in the Congo: Congo Maisie and Road to Zanzibar

Congo Maisie (1940)

When I sat down to watch Congo Maisie all I knew was that it was a movie about a Brooklyn chorus girl (Ann Sothern) who gets stranded in the jungle. I expected some hijinks and not much else, so I was taken by surprise by the plot that was actually kind of thoughtful and complicated.

What I didn’t know was that it was the first of a long line of sequels to 1939’s Maisie. Other installments (ten films in all) have her joining the Gold Rush, entering the world of boxing, building airplanes for the war, graduating business school, and becoming a spy. I can see why it was a successful series. Sothern’s undeniably charming in the role.

In Congo Maisie she’s in Africa trying to get to a gig, but she stows away on the wrong boat and ends up heading upriver deep into the jungle. The only other passenger on the ship is a grumpy, selfish businessman named Michael Shane who’s heading back to his rubber plantation after a brief stay in civilization. There’s a bit of a mystery around Shane. The riverboat captain keeps calling him “Doc,” which ticks Shane off. When the boat breaks down and has to put the passengers ashore until repairs are made, we find out why.

The deal with Shane (and also Crosby and Hope) after the break.