Cartoon Network
Talking Comics with Tim | Jill Thompson
Beasts of Burden/Hellboy (one-shot)
The Monday before Halloween, as well as the Monday before the release of the Beasts of Burden/Hellboy one-shot (Set for release this Wednesday from Dark Horse), was the ideal time for an interview with writer/artist Jill Thompson. October has been busy for Dark Horse and Thompson, given that earlier in the month the publisher released the new hardcover Scary Godmother collection of the four “Eisner Award-winning, fully painted children’s books … (Scary Godmother, Revenge of Jimmy, The Mystery Date, and The Boo Flu)”. The prospect of new Scary Godmother was a great topic to cover with Thompson, as well as learning her thoughts on how she creates certain tales and how organic the creative process is for her. Thanks to Dark Horse’s Jim Gibbons for arranging this interview, and I offer a great deal of gratitude to Thompson for this discussion.
Tim O’Shea: How satisfying is it to have all of the fully-painted Scary Godmother stories repackaged into one book? You considered teaming with different publishers to collect the stories, but what factors motivated you to go with Dark Horse?
Jill Thompson: Well, the original books, published by Sirius Entertainment had been out of print for a long while and I was very anxious to find a way to get them back out to the reading public. Since there are two animated specials in seasonal rotation on the Cartoon Network I knew there were a great many new fans I could introduce or reintroduce to the original material. I’m so happy that the book is back in print and available at comic shops and bookstores and online.
NYCC ’10 | First look at Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Green Lantern Animated Series
TV Guide has the first look at some artwork from the upcoming Green Lantern: The Animated Series that will debut on the Cartoon Network next year.
The image is actually from a poster that will be given away at this weekend’s New York Comic Con. Executive producer Bruce Timm, producer Giancarlo Volpe and producer/story editor Jim Krieg will be signing the poster at the DC Comics booth from 4-5 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
A release date for the new animated series hasn’t been announced yet, but no doubt it’ll coincide with the Green Lantern feature film, which hits theaters next June.
Viper nabs Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test
Inspector Gadget
Viper Comics, publisher of the Middleman comics and Dead@17 before it moved to Image, announced yesterday that they have picked up the licenses to produce graphic novels based on two animated series, Inspector Gadget and Johnny Test. From the press release:
Jessie Garza with Viper states, “We’re ecstatic to have been granted the opportunity to give both of these characters the comic treatment. These are two awesome properties to add to our line-up of recently acquired license (Odd Rods).”
Inspector Gadget is a semi-bionic detective who is the cartoon descendant of Inspector Clouseau and Maxwell Smart; the live-action movie came out last year. Johnny Test is a normal 11-year-old boy who frequently serves as an experimental subjet for his super-genius 13-year-old twin sisters; the animated cartoon runs on Cartoon Network. Both graphic novels are due out in 2011.
SDCC ’10 | Peter David writing episodes of Young Justice cartoon
Young Justice
Peter David has announced he’s writing several episodes of Young Justice, the much-anticipated Cartoon Network series based on the DC Comics title he worked on for nearly five years.
“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to reconnect with the characters,” he wrote this morning on his blog, “even if there are some differences between the guys I wrote and the new incarnation. I would love to tell you all about my first episode, but I’m afraid that it’s … oh, what’s the word … Secret.
Fans of the DC Comics series, published from 1998 to 2003, will undoubtedly recognize the not-so-subtle allusion to Secret (aka Greta Hayes), the incorporeal “mist girl” introduced in the 1998 “fifth-week” one-shot Young Justice: The Secret. She, Wonder Girl and Arrowette joined the original Young Justice line-up of Robin, Superboy and Impulse.
We know from the sneak peek that the animated series will focus on a six-person team of Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis and Aqualad. However, in the words of producer Greg Weisman, that is “really just the tip of the iceberg.” The cartoon will feature a 16-member Justice League that mentors the teens plus, judging from the character sheets, appearances by characters like Speedy/Red Arrow and Mary Marvel.
SDCC ’10 | Rob Lowe to voice Captain Marvel on Young Justice cartoon
The Magic of Shazam!
Rich Sands from TV Guide Magazine is reporting that actor Rob Lowe will be yelling “Shazam!” on the Cartoon Network’s upcoming animated series Young Justice. The star of such films as St. Elmo’s Fire and, more recently, TV shows The West Wing and Brothers & Sisters, will play the role of Captain Marvel on the new series.
Sands notes that because he’s really a kid, Captain Marvel “will bond more easily with the younger heroes.” Producer Greg Weisman says that Shazam will be an important recurring character in the series, so this could ultimately involve multiple episodes for Lowe.
Sands also reports that the Young Justice cartoon will get a sneak preview during the Batman: The Brave and the Bold tomorrow morning in San Diego. I thought it was kind of odd that there was no Young Justice panel at the show.
Bring out your dead: DC Comics cancels two more all-ages titles
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #21
Less than a week after the final issue of Super Friends hit shelves, DC Comics has announced the cancellation of two more titles in its all-ages imprint.
The publisher’s October solicitations, released yesterday afternoon, reveal that Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam will end with Issue 21 and Batman: The Brave and the Bold with Issue 22. As Johanna Draper Carlson notes, that leaves Tiny Titans, which begins a three-issue crossover with Little Archie, as the lone remaining superhero title in the Johnny DC line. The other comics are based on Warner Bros. animated properties: Cartoon Network Action Pack, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and Looney Tunes.
The DC Comics section of KidsWB.com is a memorial to recently departed all-ages superhero books, with “free reads” of the first issues of Justice League Unlimited (2004-2008), Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade (2009-2009), Super Friends (2008-2010) and, now, Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam (2008-2010) and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2009-2010).
The demise of Batman: The Brave and the Bold seems odd, and perhaps only temporary, considering the apparent popularity of the Cartoon Network animated series and the planned release in September of the video game. Then again, Super Friends‘ connection to a Mattel toy line didn’t save that comic from the ax.
Talking Comics with Tim: Chris Roberson
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
This Wednesday, February 3, will see the release of the fourth installment in the six-issue Vertigo miniseries, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love by (writer) Chris Roberson and (artist) Shawn McManus. Recently, I was fortunate enough to email interview Roberson about Cinderella, as well as his upcoming ongoing Vertigo series with artist Mike Allred–I, Zombie.
Tim O’Shea: Looking at the historical flashbacks that open issues 2 and 3 of Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, I’m curious are you a fan of history? Which of the historical flashbacks you have built into the story reflects your favorite historical era?
Chris Roberson: History is one of my passions (alongside cartoons, puppets, superheroes, quantum physics, etc). I minored in history in college, and taught middle school history for a couple of years before I’d paid off the karmic debt left over from being a smartass when I was in school. In the eighteen years or so it took me to break into comics, I built a career as a writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, and a good percentage of my short stories and novels have played around with history in one way or another—alternate histories, period pieces, you name it.
As for which of the flashbacks in Cinderella reflects my personal favorite era, I’d probably have to punk out and say “All of them.” I’m a fan of stories set in each of those time periods, and getting to work all of them into Cindy’s backstory was like being a kid in a candy store.
Talking Comics with Tim: Matt Wayne
The Brave and the Bold 24
Matt Wayne‘s latest work for DC comes out this week, The Brave and The Bold 24, featuring the “first meeting of Static and Black Lightning” (as detailed by DC here). Given that Wayne was a Milestone editor back in the mid-1990s, this marks a return to some old friends for the writer. In addition to discussing his comics work, we also discuss his career in animation in this email interview.
Tim O’Shea: You’re shifting Brave & Bold gears, as you wrap up a stint writing the DC Kids Brave and Bold, you will be writing the non-kids line The Brave and The Bold 24, where Black Lightning and Static team up for the first time. With two heroes with similar powers, did you enjoy getting to show their differences in this issue?
Matt Wayne: Sure, any team up’s going to have that aspect to it. For instance, my next episode (Menace of the Conqueror Caveman!) of the Batman: Brave and the Bold show [to be replayed this Thursday, June 18, according to IMDb {check those local listings}] will pair Batman and Booster Gold, and they’re both gadget guys. The differences between the two need to come out in the course of the action, or it’s not a good team-up. There isn’t much in life that’s more entertaining than putting two toddlers in a wading pool and watching them compare belly buttons. But if anything can top that, it’s hero team-ups done right!
Friday diversions, Snake and Bacon Style
Kick off your Memorial Day weekend the right way by watching the pilot episode of Snake and Bacon that debuted on Adult Swim the other week. Below is a little snippet, but go here to watch the whole episode.
‘PG-13′ GI Joe cartoon debuts online tomorrow
GI Joe: Resolute
GI Joe: Resolute, an “adult fan oriented animated mini-series,” kicks off on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim website tomorrow*. The web series is an hour long, and will run as 10 five-minute webisodes through April 25. Then the entire thing will be broadcast on Adult Swim on April 25 at midnight, which is the first place you’ll be able to see the final ten minutes. After that, the whole thing will be online for viewing.
The cartoon is written by comics writer Warren Ellis, who wrote about it on his blog last July:
It went like this. Sam Register phoned me up and said, we’d really like you to write a GI JOE animation, at a PG-13 rating, aimed at an older viewer. I said, I’ve never seen a GI JOE cartoon in my life. The closest I got to a GI JOE comic was drinking with Larry Hama. I’ve never even seen a GI JOE. Couldn’t tell you what they look like if you paid me. I know nothing about GI JOE. It is meaningless in my world.
Excellent, Sam said. Just the guy we need.
The trailer is available after the jump. There’s also a GI Joe: Resolute toy line (who would have thought?) that you can check out here.
Snake ‘n’ Bacon on Adult Swim!
Snake and Bacon fight crime. Ssss!
Yes, it’s true. Tales Designed to Thrizzle auteur Michael Kupperman has revealed that his seminal, wacky pairing of meat product and reptile will debut on the small screen. What shenanigans will they get up to?
Snake ’N’ Bacon the TV show pilot is going to be broadcast as part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block of programming, on May 10th at 12:45 AM. The cast includes Kristin Schaal, Dan Bakkedahl, Bill Hader, Peter Serafinowicz, James Urbaniak, Brian Stack, and David Rakoff, in live-action and animated segments.
Kupperman also has a plethora of screenshots at the link to whet your appetites. Mark your calendars now. (And also remember that the fifth issue of Thrizzle comes out soon, not to mention the first trade paperback collection).
Death metal has a whole new ring to it as The Goon battles Dethklok
One of our readers, Brett, dropped us a note about this over the weekend, and as I was trying to confirm it, MTV’s Splash Page up and announces a mega-crossover between Eric Powell’s The Goon and the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse. And in the tradition of all great crossovers, they aren’t getting together for tea and crumpets, as the one-shot is called The Goon Vs. Dethklok. My money’s on The Goon.
Check out the promo video: