Patton Oswalt
Patton Oswalt’s ‘Star Wars’/Marvel pitch comes to life in poster
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better than Patton Oswalt’s eight-minute improvised pitch on Parks and Recreation for a Star Wars/Marvel movie crossover, Entertainment Weekly has produced a mash-up poster for Stars Wars: Episode VII — The Gauntlet of Infinity, inspired by George Perez’s cover for The Infinity Gauntlet #1.
In this new version, Thanos naturally remains at the center, while Mephisto is replaced by Boba Fett — how different might have “One More Day” have been? — and Doctor Strange gives way to Luke Skywalker. There’s also a shot of an X-wing and the Blackbird (not a Quinjet!) in pursuit of Slave I, but that’s only for starters.
Patton Oswalt pitches insane ‘Star Wars’/Marvel crossover
Fresh from his turn as Penguin in CollegeHumor’s “Badman,” comedian and occasional comics writer Patton Oswalt pays a visit to Pawnee, Indiana, to pitch his idea for the ultimate Star Wars/Marvel Universe crossover.
Oswalt, who appears on Thursday’s episode of Parks and Recreation as a citizen who filibusters a city council vote, was asked by producers to ramble a while about the subject of his choice. What he delivered instead is a remarkable, and wholly improvised, eight-minute proposal for the plot of Star Wars: Episode VII that begins with the resurrection of Boba Fett before incorporating appearances by Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Daredevil, the X-Men, Mister Fantastic and the entire pantheon of Greek gods, and then ending in … exhaustion. Yes, it’s all done in one take.
Watch the full glorious scene below, and see what makes it to television when Parks & Rec airs Thursday at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Patton Oswalt is the perfect Penguin in ‘Badman’
Comedian, actor and occasional comics writer Patton Oswalt can now add another title to his resume: the perfect Penguin. In the latest installment of CollegeHumor’s “Badman” series — y’know, the parody in which they simultaneously mock the Dark Knight and Christian Bale’s Batman voice — Oswald Cobblepot teams with Commissioner Gordon to try to make the Caped Crusader understand the concept of death. The results are predictably hilarious.
Axe Cop imagines his presidency in teaser for Fox animated series
Although the animated adaptation of Axe Cop, the hit webcomic by brothers Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle, doesn’t premiere for more than six months — July 27, to be exact! — Fox is offering a taste of what we can expect from the show in the form of another installment of “Ask Axe Cop.”
In the clip, which you can watch below, young Keith asks, “Would you ever consider running for president? And if so, what would your platform be?” The answer, as delivered by Nick Offerman — yes, in case you missed it, Ron Swanson of Parks and Recreation voices Axe Cop — is as funny as you might expect.
Part of Fox’s new Animation Domination High-Def late-night programming block, Axe Cop also features the voice talents of Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Patton Oswalt, Ken Marino and Peter Serafinowicz. ADHD premieres Saturday, July 27 at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
Adam Savage transforms Patton Oswalt into ‘Doctor Ock-a-pus’
Patton Oswalt and his 3-year-old daughter, dressed for Halloween
Early this month, comedian, actor and occasional comics writer Patton Oswalt issued a call for help on Twitter: His 3-year-old daughter wanted to dress as Spider-Girl for Halloween, and insisted “Daddy has to be Doctor Ock-a-pus.” The problem was, he didn’t have time to make the required costume. Who should come to Oswalt’s aid but Adam Savage, veteran special-effects designer and co-host of Mythbusters. The delightful results can be seen above.
“As sometimes happens, I just immediately saw in my head how to make a really easy-to-wear, inexpensive, fast-to-build Doctor Octopus costume,” Savage explains. How inexpensive, and how fast to build? Well, he constructed the costume in just four hours using off-the-shelf crafting materials. See how in the video below.
Patton Oswalt swears off DC Comics over survey encounter
While some readers had difficulties completing DC Comics’ unprecedented survey about its line-wide relaunch, Patton Oswalt experienced his own problem in the flesh — and he’s not happy about. In fact, his encounter with an employee of Nielsen NRG at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles left the actor-comedian bidding farewell to DC.
“Don’t go to @MeltdownComics today unless you like getting buttonholed into douch-ey, stultifying New 52 surveys,” Oswalt wrote Wednesday on Twitter, saying that he was approached repeatedly by a “pushy” representative of the market research company, even after he said “no” and walked away.
Although the bulk of the reader survey is being conducted online, Nielsen is also going to a handful of direct-market stores nationwide for in-person interviews. Presumably most of those will go a little more … smoothly.
Comics A.M. | ICv2 conference returns to San Diego; surviving CCI
Comic-Con International
Comic-Con | ICv2 will host a Comics, Media, and Digital Conference on July 20, the afternoon before Comic-Con International kicks off in San Diego. The event will include panels on digital comics, comics in Hollywood and “Comics, Paper and Digital at Comic-Con 2013.” [press release]
Comic-Con | Comic-Con International has released the floor map for this year’s show. Heidi MacDonald helps translate it. [Comic-Con International]
Comic-Con | With just 14 until the big event, Acquanetta Ferguson offers 18 tips to surviving your first Comic-Con, while Liz Ohanesian talks with Doug Kline, author of The Unauthorized San Diego Comic-Con Survival Guide. [Examiner, LA Weekly]
Creators | Sean Witzke talks with King City creator Brandon Graham about world-building, collaborating with other writers or artists, porn and his approach to storytelling: “I’m really into the idea of conveying a story clearly enough for the reader to get all the basics while at the same time having enough information going on where you don’t necessarily get it all or even miss something on the first read through. I think it’s something that came from me reading a lot of European and Japanese comics growing up and just not always getting everything, culturally or just because of weird translations. I like that nice mystery. And there’s the idea that when a story doesn’t give you everything it forces the reader to think a little more. Turns them from being a passive reader to an active one. I think that would be my ideal destination, some kind of clear and simple with a background of complexity.” [supervillain]