animation
Is this logo the new look of DC Comics?
Less than seven years after replacing its long-established “bullet” logo with a 21st-century “swoosh,” DC Comics appears ready to make another change.
Bleeding Cool noticed that just last week the company submitted two versions of a new logo to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The design, which you can see at right, depicts a D flipping back to reveal a C below; one version includes the words “DC Comics” below, the other “DC Entertainment.”
Although the “flipping” aspect of the logo may not be obvious in its static form, it’s likely designed with animation in mind, for inclusion at the beginning of movies, television shows and video games. How that design might translate to comics remains to be seen.
Comic Book Resources has contacted DC for comment but received no response.
The publisher’s current logo debuted in May 2005 as part of an effort to emphasize the DC brand across all media. Designed by Josh Beatman of Brainchild Studios, the “swoosh” replaced the Milton Glaser-created “bullet” the company had used in one form or another since 1977.
- January 13, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Quote of the day | ‘Amethyst has been through a wringer’
“I had no idea it [Amethyst] was being animated. You know, when you create something, it isn’t unreasonable to imagine it belongs to you. That whoever is in charge in the corporate structure, they’ll want to consult you as to where your character is headed. Not DC Comics. Maybe not any corporation. Maybe we could have been better business people, better negotiators. Amethyst has been through a wringer, twisted by lesser lights than the guys who created her — Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and — if you’ll permit me — me.”
– veteran artist Ernie Colón, lamenting to Comic Book Resources the treatment of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, the DC Comics fantasy property he created with writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn
- December 21, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Bruce Banner and Doctor Strange take an ‘Incredible Drive’
Toyota has teamed with Marvel for “The Incredible Drive,” a four-part stop-motion animated adventure promoting the car manufacturer’s Yaris model. Created by the crew behind “Marvel Super Heroes: What The–?!” — Ben Morse, Jesse Falcon, Alex Kropinak and others — the first short features a Yaris-driving Bruce Banner forced into therapy with Doctor Strange, who suggests all he needs for his anger-control issues is a road trip. With him.
Yes, the guy who transforms into a 7 1/2-foot-tall monster drives a subcompact car — but, hey, it’s no weirder than him rooming with the Red Hulk or seeking mental-health advice from a magic-wielding neurosurgeon (apparently Doc Samson isn’t covered by Banner’s HMO). Strange’s Monarch-esque voice is a little much, but it’s definitely worth sitting through for the Marvel Universe-themed destination billboards and the late addition to the unlikely road-trip crew.
- December 20, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
A NSFW sneak peek at the DC Comics/Robot Chicken special
DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns announced at the New York Comic Con earlier this month that the animated series Robot Chicken is planning a special all-DC Comics episode. Johns himself is writing some of the segments, along with MAD‘s Kevin Shinick. Today on Twitter, Johns shared a link to “a taste of Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special Summer ’12 on Adult Swim” in the form of a video featuring Green Lantern and Sinestro. Note that it’s very much not for kids and probably not safe for work, either:
- October 24, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
NYCC | A round-up of Saturday news
Avengers Assemble
Saturday at the New York Comic Con brought news for the Avengers, Superman, Legendary Comics and … Disney’s Prep & Landing? Here’s a round-up of announcements from the show today.
• With a big, blockbuster Avengers movie scheduled for next May, Marvel announced a new ongoing series, Avengers Assemble, by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley. The book will launch next March and will feature most of the Avengers featured in the movie — Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Hulk. The first arc will feature the villainous group the Zodiac.
• Speaking of that big, blockbuster Avengers movie, fans were treated to new footage from it featuring Bruce Banner and the Black Widow. Tom Hiddleston spoke to CBR about his work on the film.
• Marvel also announced that writer Rick Remender and artist Gabriel Hardman will take over Secret Avengers with issue #21.1, adding new members and pitting them against a new Masters of Evil.
• At the Cup O’ Joe panel today, Marvel also announced a Disney/Marvel crossover — Prep & Landing: Mansion: Impossible. It features the elves from the Disney television special who prepare homes for the arrival of Santa Claus every Christmas eve — only this time they’re trying to break into Avengers Mansion to get it ready for Santa. Written by director Kevin Deters and drawn by story artist Joe Mateo, the story will run in the back of the Marvel Adventures books as well as Avengers #19 in November.
- October 15, 2011 @ 08:42 PM by JK Parkin
NYCC | A round-up of Friday news
New York Comic Con picked up steam in its second day with announcements from Vertigo, Dark Horse, Marvel, IDW Publishing and Image, and the possibility of Sesame Street comics. Here are some of the highlights:
• Following in the footsteps of DC Comics: The New 52, most of Vertigo’s titles will be available digitally the same day as print.
• Geoff Johns announced that work is about to get under way on a Robot Chicken DC Comics special that will skewer the company’s superheroes in the same way that the show tackled Star Wars. The episode, written by Johns and MAD‘s Kevin Shinick, is set to air next summer.
• Confirming last-minute speculation, Ed Brubaker announced that he and frequent collaborator Sean Phillips (Sleeper, Criminal, Incognito) will release their next project through Image Comics. Called Fatale, the series blends noir elements with the supernatural world. “I’ve been wanting for a while to do something with a more supernatural element to it,” Brubaker told Comic Book Resources. “So Fatale mixes what we do and all the ways we’ve poked fun at the noir genre. If Incognito was us doing ‘What if Doc Savage, Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler had all existed in the same universe?’ then this is a weird combo of James M. Cain and Lovecraft. It’s got a real horror element to it — the first time I’ve really tried to do anything with horror — but it’s also got this really epic story to it.”
- October 15, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Dash Shaw illustrates, animates a Blind Date episode, for some reason
Never let it be said that Dash Shaw isn’t an artist who follows his bliss. The video above represents the fourth time Shaw has drawn a faithful adaptation of a segment from the kind of gross reality show Blind Date, in which more or less attractive young people are brought together to do something “fun” and either get along terribly or end the evening swapping spit or, y’know, whatever. The amusing part of doing this as a video is that you can hear the original audio the whole time, and trust me, the sound is worth the price of admission alone toward the end there. How does the date go? Let Shaw show you!
- October 6, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
Warner Bros. to debut Catwoman animated short, Justice League: Doom footage at NYCC
Catwoman
The New York Comic-Con is coming up Oct. 13-16, and Warner Bros. has revealed some animated plans for the show.
Warner Home Video, Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation will present “an action-packed hour of first looks” at DC Universe Animated Original Movies that Friday from 3 to 4 p.m., which will include the premiere of the animated short Catwoman, starring Eliza Dushku as the voice of title character. The 15-minute short will be included on the release of Batman: Year One, which arrives Oct. 18 on Blu-ray, DVD, for Download and On Demand.
The panel will also include the first footage to be seen from Justice League: Doom, the next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies.
Panelists will include the voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, DCU executive producer Bruce Timm and casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano … and quite possibly welcome a few surprise guests to the stage. An autograph session with the panelists will immediately follow the panel.
- September 20, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by JK Parkin
Joshua Middleton joins The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra
From Joshua Middleton's poster for "The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra"
Following a stint last year as an art director for Warner Bros. Animation’s upcoming Green Lantern: The Animated Series, artist Joshua Middleton announced this week that he’s joined the staff of Nickelodeon’s The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra. And he does so in fine fashion, with the beautiful illustration he created for the limited-edition poster that debuted at Comic-Con International.
The eagerly awaited sequel to the hit Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra picks up 70 years after the original series, following the current incarnation of the Avatar, a hotheaded teenage girl from the Southern Water Tribe. The 26-episode series is set to debut in mid-2012. Check out Middleton’s full poster after the break.
- July 28, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | Ghostface Killah sued over Iron Man cartoon theme
Ghostface Killah
Legal | Composer Jack Urbont is suing rapper Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan and Sony Music Entertainment for illegally sampling the theme to the Iron Man animated series from the 1960s. The theme was used on two tracks from the 2000 album Supreme Clientele. Killah, who sometimes goes by the alias Tony Starks, had a song in the 2008 film and appeared in a deleted scene on the DVD. [Rolling Stone]
Digital | In Maps & Legends co-creator Michael Jasper shares a breakdown by percentage of where their sales are coming from, noting almost half of their sales are through Barnes & Noble’s Nookbook Store. [Michael Jasper, via The Beat]
Digital | The Globe and Mail looks at how electronic publishing is changing the way authors tell stories: “The Next Day is a graphic novel about people who have attempted suicide. Once it is posted online in September, you’ll be able to click your way through it according to your own preferences about how it should unfold.” [The Globe and Mail]
- July 12, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Brigid Alverson and JK Parkin
Comic-Con International rolls out Sunday programming
Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International has unveiled the programming schedule for Sunday, July 24 — the final day of the convention — that’s heavy on presentations and workshops for kids and teens, with plenty still for older attendees.
There are spotlights on Jordi Bernet, Ashley Wood, Mark Tatulli and Joelle Jones, the annual tribute to Jack Kirby, a look back at 25 years of Watchmen, and a breakdown of what it takes to create a great cover. Want more? There’s a Q&A with Axe Cop creators Ethan and Malachai Nicholle, a showcase for the women of Marvel, a collaboration how-to, and the last of the panels devoted to DC’s September relaunch.
To help you with your Comic-Con planning, we’ve highlighted the comics-specific programming below. To see the full Friday schedule, complete with television, film and video game content, visit the convention website.
- July 10, 2011 @ 10:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comic-Con International announces Friday programming
Comic-Con International
Just like clockwork, Comic-Con International has released the schedule for the second day of the convention, one marked by tributes to Gene Colan and Frank Frazetta, spotlights on David Finch, Tony DeZuniga, Gary Alanguilan, Jeff Smith, Chester Brown, Dave Stewart, Ed Bennes and Dave Gibbons, the Aspen Comics, Oni Press and Radical Publishing panels, and a look at the state of the Hellboy Universe.
There’s also plenty of comics-to-screen action, with a viewing of the rejected Locke & Key television pilot (followed by a Q&A), The Walking Dead panel, presentations on The Amazing Spider-Man, The Adventures of Tintin, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Marvel Anime, and the premiere of the animated Batman: Year One.
Add to that a look at Marvel’s X-Men, DC panels devoted to the September relaunch, Superman and the Justice League, a discussion with Roman Dirge (conducted by Comic Book Resources’ Jonah Weiland), and — well, you’ll have to check out the rest for yourself. And it’s all topped off by the annual Eisner Awards ceremony.
To help you with your Comic-Con planning, we’ve highlighted the comics-specific programming below. To see the full Friday schedule, complete with television, film and video game content, visit the convention website.
- July 8, 2011 @ 11:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Your video of the day | Rocketeer 20th anniversary fan film
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the film adaptation of Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer comics, and John Banana has created an animated tribute that’s pretty dang awesome. Check it out.
- June 24, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
‘There will be no escaping from the DC Universe’
The Warner Bros. mural (photo by Jonah Weiland)
Even as DC Comics continues the rollout of the sweeping relaunch of its DC Universe titles, Warner Bros. Consumer Products is laying out a three-year calendar that sees the company “investing significant resource” in its superhero properties.
“Over the next three years there will be no escaping from the DC Universe as we deliver on our commitment to produce new content,” Bruno Schwobthaler, senior vice president of sales and business development for Warner Bros. Consumer Products Europe/Middle East/Asia, tells Licensing.biz.
The licensing agenda begins, of course, with the Green Lantern movie, which opens next week, and continues with upcoming big-screen adaptations The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel. But it also includes the animated Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, the Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters video game, the Batman Live arena tour, and projects geared toward younger audiences.
“We’re taking a franchise approach to the brand and investing in original animation targeting children,” Schwobthaler says. “This will ensure that the brand has something to offer superhero fans of all ages, lives beyond a single movie release and claims its position alongside superheroes such as Batman and Superman.”
- June 8, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
What a bunch of poozers: A review of Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, the latest foray in Warner Brothers’ collection of straight-to-DVD animated movies, is a tired collection of military cliches interspersed with some impressive fight scenes. Words like honor, sacrifice and bravery get batted around like a well-used hacky sack at a Grateful Dead concert, but to little effect, other than to remind you that there’s a big screen, live-action movie starring Ryan Reynolds that will be coming out in theaters any day now.
- June 3, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner