The Goon
What Are You Reading? with Gardner Linn and Dave Lentz
Signs and Meanings
Hello and welcome to What Are You Reading? Today our special guests are Gardner Linn and Dave Lentz, the creative team behind the webcomic Registered Weapon — “the internet’s only webcomic starring a robotic cash register who fights crime.” They just kicked off their latest story, Case 006, on Nov. 12, and you can also download the first ten pages from their site if you prefer to read in bigger chunks.
To see what Gardner, Dave and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …
The Goon Kickstarter campaign gets funded with $441,900
The Kickstarter campaign to fund a feature-length story reel for the stalled CGI-animated adaptation of The Goon ended successfully Sunday, exceeding its $400,000 goal by $41,900.
“Frankly, we don’t have the words to describe our APPRECIATION, Goon Fans,” the message on the Kickstarter page states. “We NEVER could have imagined how much SUPPORT we’d receive from this fan community. It’s truly been OVERWHELMING. Through your time, energy, dedication, and donations, you’ve given us an AMAZING opportunity to help keep The Goon Movie dream alive.”
That dream dates back to at least 2008, when it was announced that producer David Fincher and Blur Studio would adapt the acclaimed comic by Eric Powell. Progress soon stalled, however, as financing proved difficult. Test footage, featuring the voices of Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti, was at last revealed last year, giving fans hope the project might eventually see the light of day. With few additional signs of movement, Powell gave in to pressure and revealed at Comic-Con International he would turn to Kickstarter.
The result of the campaign won’t be the actual film; that budget is pegged at somewhere around $45 million. Instead the $441,900 will be used to finance a story reel to shop to studios.
The Goon movie Kickstarter campaign launches
Three months after teasing he would give in to pressure and use Kickstarter to help fund the stalled CG-animated adaptation of his comic, The Goon creator Eric Powell launched the campaign this morning. Although the film’s budget has been pegged at $45 million, the drive’s goal is $400,000 to pay for a feature-length story reel to shop around to studios.
Billed as an effort by Powell, producer David Fincher, Blur Studio and Dark Horse Entertainment, the campaign asks fans to “Help us make a NEW KIND of animated film … one that’s LOUD, VIOLENT and OFFENSIVE TO YOUR GRANDMA.”
Announced in 2008, the animated movie has been slow moving as the producers searched for financial backers. “The Goon is in the exact same position it’s been in for the past couple of years,” Powell said in January. “Prepping the design and script while searching for funding.” About a year ago, the cartoonist shared well-received test footage that featured the voice talents of Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti, who are set to return for the story reel and the eventual feature.
SDCC ’12 | A roundup of news and announcements from Friday
Comic-Con International kicked into full gear Friday in a bustling second day that was capped off last night with the presentation of the 24th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. Here’s the highlights of the announcements emerging from the second day — and a few holdovers from the first day — of the San Diego convention:
• During its annual “Cup O’ Joe” panel, Marvel teased post-Avengers Vs. X-Men plans that include: A+X, described as “the opposite of [AvX: VS],” by such creators as Jeph Loeb, Dan Slott, Dale Keown and Ron Garney; Avengers Vs. X-Men: Consequences, a five-issue miniseries written by Kieron Gillen that addresses the effects of the summer crossover; Marvel NOW! Point One, featuring Nick Fury Jr.; and an October one-shot called Avengers Vs. X-Men: Babies, by Skottie Young.
• After initially dismissing Kickstarter as a potential source of money for the stalled Goon animated movie, creator Eric Powell teased he plans to launch a campaign on the crowd-funding website.
CCI: Eric Powell turning to Kickstarter for The Goon movie
Although The Goon creator Eric Powell had previously dismissed the notion of using Kickstarter to fund the stalled CG-animated adaptation of the comic, noting the project’s budget is $45 million, he’s now caved to public pressure.
Taking to Twitter this morning from his booth at Comic-Con International, Powell wrote, “Ok, everybody that’s been yelling at me for us to do a Kickstarter for the Goon film,” and included the above photo of a flier bearing the headline, “Let’s Kickstart This Fuckin’ Film!” and information on how to be notified when the campaign launches.
Produced by Blur Studio and David Fincher from a script by Powell, The Goon film stars Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown as the voices of the Goon and Franky. Although announced in 2008, the project has been slow moving as the producers searched for financial backers. “The Goon is in the exact same position it’s been in for the past couple of years,” Powell said in January. “Prepping the design and script while searching for funding.”
More recently, he explained the delay to Comic Book Resources, saying, “It’s just the combination of finding the right people, the people who understand it and get it and don’t want Goon to have a singing, talking dog and coming up with the right budget. They’re still plugging away, they’re still talking to people — it’s not dead by any means. But it’s just a waiting game, it’s finding the right people.”
However, more than a year ago we got a look at test footage, which you can see below.
C2E2 | A round-up of news from Friday (and before)
C2E2
Publishers, creators, retailers and fans rolled into Chicago this weekend for the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo, or C2E2. While the convention officially kicked off Friday, the announcements started rolling out Thursday during the Diamond Retailer Summit. After going through Kiel Phegley’s lengthy report on CBR, I’ve pulled out a few tidbits that publishers shared with attending retailers:
• Dynamite Entertainment shared that the first issue of Garth Ennis and Aaron Campbell’s The Shadow, which comes out next week, will likely go to second print. Following their Vampirella and Pantha projects, they also plan to roll out more of the former Harris Publications characters they now own, and they said they plan to work again with Kevin Smith in the future, who they’ve worked with on Bionic Man and Green Hornet.
• Dark Horse Comics announced two Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff miniseries; one featuring Spike and one featuring Willow (Editor Scott Allie spoke more about them with CBR). In addition, legendary artist Russ Heath will draw some pages in an upcoming issue of Buffy. Dark Horse will launch a new Dragon Age series in August, following the online miniseries that’s been running on Dark Horse Digital. They also confirmed that Becky Cloonan will return to Conan after James Harren’s three issues, and they announced Ex Sanguine, a five-issue miniseries by Tim Seeley and Josh Emmons. Finally, The Goon will go monthly with issue #40.
Comics A.M. | Vatican newspaper decries limits on Tintin in the Congo
Tintin in the Congo
Comics | Calling Tintin a “Catholic hero,” the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano took strong exception to the decision by U.K. publisher Egmont to sell the controversial Tintin in the Congo with a protective band around it — or, as the paper says, “wrapped up like a pornographic magazine and consigned to the adults-only section” of bookstores because of its portrayal of racial stereotypes. If you’re going to do that, the editorial argues, why not ban Boy Scouts, which were founded by notorious eugenicist Anthony Baden-Powell? “But then, he was English,” the paper snidely concludes. [Agence France-Presse]
Digital | ComiXology confirmed Tuesday that the Comics by Comixology app will be available for Amazon’s Kindle Fire when it goes on sale next week. ComiXology CEO David Steinberger said the company is prepared for the smaller screen size the Fire has, compared to the iPad: “Ah, well we’re lucky there, because our Guided View reading technology was designed first for a very small device — the iPhone — long before tablets became the norm. A great comics reading experience is one of the core reasons we’re so successful, and it translates great to all devices, from small to large. The Comics by comiXology reading experience is the same on all platforms, so it’s going to be very familiar to our fans. You can toggle in and out of Guided View with a simple double-tap. The Fire has a great screen, and for those pages that have lettering a little too hard to read, Guided View is a fun way to get in there and see the details.” [Chicago Sun Times]
Check it out: The Goon‘s Eric Powell takes on He-Man
I’m not one to lay out exuberant adjectives, but this piece by Eric Powell gets me jazzed on a couple levels. Check it out:
It’s a painting The Goon artist did for a mini-comic inserted in selected toy action figure packages for He-Man recently. This gem popped up on my radar when it came up as an eBay auction by Powell’s account there, and although there’s little chance we’ll see Powell ditching his creator-owned digs for a trip to Eternia, the fact that Dark Horse is the one publishing this comic for He-Man is interesting … could they be acquiring the license for He-Man, side by side with Conan?
Food or Comics? | Butcher Baker and Daredevil‘s Food Cake
Daredevil #1
Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item. We’re coming a little late today due to a power outage in my neck of the woods — due to a blackout, not because I spent the money for the electric bill on Flashpoint or Fear Itself tie-ins.
Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.
Graeme McMillan
Because I’m not doing San Diego this year, some kind of crazy comic karma has decided that this week will be filled with comics I want to read. For example, if I had $15, I’d run to grab Daredevil #1 (Marvel, $3.99), which I’ve been looking forward to for some time — Mark Waid, Paolo Rivera *and* Marcos Martin? How can anyone refuse? — before scooting back to the DC aisle to pick up both DC Retroactive: The Flash – The ’70s #1 and DC Retroactive: Wonder Woman – The ’70s #1 (Both DC, $4.99), because I am such a sucker for old-school DC that even this weird “slight return” of the same seems exciting to me.
Need a last-minute Valentine’s card? Dark Horse can help
The Goon wants to be your Valentine
If you’ve waited until the last minute and don’t want to brave the crowds at hallmark to find a card for your sweetheart today, Dark Horse has posted several comic-themed cards on their blog, featuring Hellboy, Usagi Yokimbo and more. Because nothing says “I love you” like an imprisoned Goon.
Eric Powell enlists Evan Dorkin for an issue of The Goon
Crossovers are no uncommon thing in comics — but some are more strange than others. If you thought the recent Hellboy/Beasts of Burden one-shot was something, wait until you see what Evan Dorkin has planned next.
The Goon creator Eric Powell tweeted Wednesday that Dorkin will be coming in to work on his series. Described as one of Powell’s “funny book heroes,” Dorkin is stepping in to write The Goon #35, and Powell has even shared a peek at the cover. Dorkin, Powell and Carnies — It’ll be real interesting to see what Dorkin brings to the already off-kilter title.
My own personal opinion here, but I think Evan is very underused in comics — he did one of the best Deadpool stories ever in two issues of Agent X. If you’ve caught up on Dorkin’s major works, this little-known gem is definitely worth a look in your local store’s back issue bin!
Comics A.M. | Diamond plans digital service? Eisner judges named
Diamond Comic Distributors
Retailing | Rich Johnston confirms that Diamond Comic Distributors is developing a digital comics service that, in the words of a company representative, “will be entirely focused on driving sales of digital comic-related content through brick and mortar comic book specialty retailers.” No details were made available, but an official announcement is expected “in the near future.” In the meantime, Johnston gathers initial reactions from several retailers. [Bleeding Cool]
Publishing | Amit Desai, who has worked at Warner Bros. since 2004, has been named as DC Entertainment’s senior vice president, franchise management: “In his new role, Desai will develop and implement the individual franchise plans for Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, MAD Magazine, Vertigo titles, and other DC properties. This will include driving wider cross-promotional support across all Time Warner divisions.” [press release]
Publishing | Alex Segura, former publicity manager at DC Comics, has been hired by Archie Comics as executive director of publicity and marketing. [press release]
SDCC ’10 | A roundup of Saturday’s news
Comic-Con International
Saturday at Comic-Con International in San Diego, once upon a time, was “big movie day” at the con … back before every day became big movie day at the con. Still, today somewhat lived up to its reputation for being eventful, as the Avengers assembled on stage, Green Lantern movie footage was shown and one poor fan was stabbed in the eye while attending programming in Hall H, where several of the big movie panels took place. The victim was taken to UCSD Medical Center, while his attacker was taken away by police after attendees detained him.
In happier news, here’s what was announced on the comics front:
• Marvel Editor-in-Chief and Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada confirmed that Marvel is “gonna be doing some CrossGen stuff.” CrossGen, which published numerous titles like Sojourn, Way of the Rat, Abadazad and Meridian starting 1998, went bankrupt in 2004. Disney bought their assets that same year.
Their titles covered many different genres, from fantasy to horror to detective stories. “I think with the CrossGen stuff you’re going to see us attempt a little more genre publishing, which I think is much-needed in our imprint,” Quesada said. No word yet on what properties they plan to bring back.
• Kurt Busiek announced that American Gothic, the urban fantasy comic announced at last year’s WildStorm panel, will now be called Witchlands. The series will be drawn by Connor Willumson. Busiek is also working on an Arrowsmith novel titled Arrowsmith: Far from the Fields We Know, which will include illustrations by Carlos Pacheco.
Dark Horse to debut ’1 for $1′ reprints in August
1 for $1: Sin City: The Hard Goodbye
On the heels of similar initiatives from DC Comics, Marvel and Image, Dark Horse has announced its “1 for $1″ program offering reprints of 12 of its most popular comics for $1 each.
The campaign debuts in August with six comics: Aliens vs. Predator, Sin City: The Hard Goodbye, Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, Usagi Yojimbo, Conan and The Goon.
Twenty-eight page comics from creators like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Stan Sakai, Kurt Busiek, Cary Nord and Eric Powell — for $1 apiece? That’s tough to beat.
You can see the solicitations for the six titles below:
First look: Eric Powell’s Buzzard #2 cover art
Buzzard #1
Courtesy of the good folks at Dark Horse Comics, here’s your first look at the cover to Buzzard #2, the upcoming miniseries by The Goon creator Eric Powell. The zombie-eating immortal is getting his own three-issue miniseries this June.
For more info the book, check out Shaun Manning’s story from today on CBR.
Update: this is actually issue #2, not #1.
