http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/ The trends, the buzz and the business of the comic book industry. Written by Tom McLean. en-US 2008-11-21T11:42:26-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/bags-boards-no.html Yes, it's true. At least, partly. This is the final post for this blog on Variety.com. The news came recently from Variety.com editor Dana Harris, who assures me it is a decision based solely on economics. After five years of working on this blog, both as a Variety staffer and a freelancer, I will be sorry to see it go. A lot has changed since the first post in October 2003, when few people had even heard the word blog... Current Affairs Tom McLean 2008-11-21T11:42:26-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/reviews-rasl-x.html "Rasl: The Drift" (Cartoon Books, black and white, $13) collects the first three issues of Jeff Smith's new sci-fi series in a nice, oversize format that includes new pages. The first of three volumes, "Rasl: The Drift" is above all else a comicbook. It's not written like a move, drawn like a movie or intended to be like a movie in any way — and it's incredibly refreshing to find such a thing. But it's also good — the concept... Reviews Tom McLean 2008-11-20T22:52:44-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/cap-writers-an.html Two major Marvel announcements hit this morning, one of which is enouraging and the other less so. On the encouraging side is the hiring of writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to write the screenplay for "The First Avenger: Captain America." The duo were named one of Variety's 10 Screenwriters to Watch in 2005 and have penned the acclaimed HBO biopic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" as well as having worked on both Narnia pics to date. Variety... Film Tom McLean 2008-11-19T18:25:50-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/news-bits-hero.html Platinum Studios has announced it has teamed up with IM Global to finance, produce and distribute a TV series based on the comicbook "Hero By Night." This seemingly innocuous announcement has a major train-wreck context, however, given that "Hero By Night" creator DJ Coffman — who won Platinum's Comic Book Challenge and was one of the company's staunchest defenders — has since been fired from his own creation and was not even notified by Platinum that the series was in... Current Affairs Tom McLean 2008-11-18T11:13:16-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/new-watchmen-tr.html Here's the new trailer to "Watchmen," released this evening at Yahoo! Movies. I wish it showed a little bit more than what was seen in the previous trailers, but at least there's some dialog and a slightly better sense of how it's going to play. Film Tom McLean 2008-11-13T19:24:08-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/johnston-helms.html Joe Johnston has signed on to direct "The First Avenger: Captain America" for Marvel Studios. Johnston is a solid choice for this — he's a former VFX artist who worked on the original "Star Wars" trilogy. He also directed "The Rocketeer," an underrated adaptation of Dave Stevens' excellent comicbook, as well as "Jurassic Park III," "October Sky," "Hidalgo" and "Jumanji." He's currently finishing up "The Wolf-Man," starring Benicio del Toro. (The image at right is the cover to the rare... Current Affairs Tom McLean 2008-11-12T14:38:07-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/new-watchmen-ba.html WB has released six new banners for "Watchmen," each featuring one of the main characters. Click to the jump to see them all! Plus, Zack Snyder chats with Dark Horizons about the state of the film (nearly finished), the new trailer appearing with "Quantum of Solace" this week, the plans for multiple editions, and confirms some speculation about whether the film sticks to the ending used in the book. Film Tom McLean 2008-11-12T14:18:27-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/bat-controversi.html The entire world has Batman on the brain as "The Dark Knight" gets ready for its DVD coming out and a full-throttle awards season campaign. But nothing is as strange as the news that the city of Batman, Turkey, is suing Warner Bros. for using its name without permission. Seriously. I'm no attorney, but good luck getting that one to stick. Meanwhile, Chip Kidd is taking a lot of flack from folks upset that Jiro Kuwata's name did not appear... Current Affairs Tom McLean 2008-11-12T14:09:53-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/2009-eisner-awa.html Jackie Estrada, administrator of the Will Eisner Comic Book Industry Awards, has announced this year's judges. They are: * Amanda Emmert, owner of Muse Comics & Games in Missoula, Mont. * Mike Pawuk, a teen-services public librarian for the Cuyahoga County Public * John Shableski works for Diamond Book Distributors as a sales manager with a focus on the independent bookstore market and on public and school libraries. * Ben Towle, a cartoonist and educator living in Winston-Salem, N.C. *... Comic-Con Tom McLean 2008-11-07T09:43:18-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/benefit-reading.html I find it hard to believe it's been 20 years since Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" debuted as a comicbook series, but it's true — the first issue had a cover date of January 1989 and was on stands in November of '88. To celebrate, there's a couple of events in New York City this weekend, including a dramatic reading of the stories from the series at the Helen Mills Theater on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. The reading will... Events Tom McLean 2008-11-05T18:43:55-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/iron-man-hulk-b.html Marvel's third-quarter results (available here as a pdf) got a boost from the success of "Iron Man," with net sales of $182.5 million and net income of $50.6 million. That's up from net sales of $123.6 million and net income of $36.3 million in the same quarter last year. That boost came almost entirely from its producer fees for "Iron Man" and "Incredible Hulk." Licensing revenues were down from last year, when "Spider-Man 3" was bringing in signficant income. And... Current Affairs Tom McLean 2008-11-04T11:54:42-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/11/does-heroes-sha.html The recent shakeup behind the scenes on "Heroes" shows that there may be a limit to how accepting mainstream auds are of the kind of storytelling common in mainstream superhero comicbooks. That's one way to look at the shakeup on the show, which saw co-exec producers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander axed on Sunday night by the show's creator and showrunner Tim Kring. Cynthia Littleton reports in today's Variety that Kring is trying to refocus the on simpler storytelling that... Television Tom McLean 2008-11-04T11:48:18-08:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/10/news-updates-do.html Marvel Studios has signed Robert Downey Jr. to reprise his role of Tony Stark in two sequels to "Iron Man" and in the "Avengers" pic set for 2011. "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau also signed to helm "Iron Man 2" and to exec produce "Avengers." Studio also confirmed Don Cheadle is taking over for Terrence Howard in the role of Jim Rhodes in both "Iron Man 2" and "Avengers." There's a fake "Flash" trailer that some folks are trying to... Current Affairs Tom McLean 2008-10-31T14:08:29-07:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/10/four-cool-thing.html "Joker" (DC Comics, $19.99) is a hardcover graphic novel by writer Brian Azzarello of "100 Bullets" fame and artist Lee Bermejo that explores the grotesque world in which this character operates. It takes a page from "The Dark Knight" in its portrayal of the character, taking the psychopathic edge Heath Ledger brought to the screen and trying to figure out what this character would do when he's not fighting Batman. This is not a trip for the squeamish, and Bermejo's... Reviews Tom McLean 2008-10-28T12:34:40-07:00 http://weblogs.variety.com/bags_and_boards/2008/10/news-oscars-for.html Box office hits may be getting a bigger push this year from studios. The New York Times says that not only is a major campaign planned for "The Dark Knight," but Par may give "Iron Man" a push now that "The Soloist," which also stars Robert Downey Jr., has been bumped to spring. Christopher Nolan talks about the runaway success of "The Dark Knight" with the L.A. Times and what he's thinking in regards to a third Batman outing. A... Film Tom McLean 2008-10-27T16:39:22-07:00