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What's Happening
DC Delays Goddess
In light of last week's tragedy, DC has removed its trade paperback reprinting of Garth Ennis and Phil Winslade's Vertigo series Goddess from the schedule indefinitely. Originally to be published next month, Goddess concerns a young woman's realization that she has tremendous destructive powers.
DC Finalizes The Dark Knight
After much discussion, DC has announced the format for The Dark Knight Strikes Again. It will be a 3-issue miniseries, each issue being 80 pages with a cover price of $7.95. No doubt it will be worth it.
"This is Frank (Miller) and Lynn (Varley, the colorist) at their absolute peak," says Group Editor Bob Schreck. "If you were blown away by their work on The Dark Knight Returns or 300, you ain't seen nothin' yet."
A far better excited description than Schreck gave in San Diego, where he tried to couch it in vague sexual terms. "You can't have the first time again - the wrapper's off. But you can still have the best time. This is the best time. (Frank's) had fifteen years to percolate…."
To which James Robinson dryly interrupted, "You've just made Frank Miller sound like a Times Square hooker."
Phew. I've been waiting for the opportunity to relate that story.
DC Gets A New Member Of The Bat-Family
Editor Lysa Hawkins, formerly of Marvel Comics, has joined the Bat-stable. No word yet on which books she will be editing, but of her Marvel work still awaiting release we have Witches, with artwork from Mike Deodato, Jr.
Oni Press Announces Auction
Like many of us, the people at Oni Press really, really want to help in the wake of this disaster. And so, they have announced that they will be holding a charity auction.
The current plan is to offer materials only comics professionals can provide. This means original art, signed comics, limited editions, statues, scripts, etc. All materials will be auctioned through Ebay, with proceeds after Ebay fees and shipping going to the American Red Cross relief fund.
They ask that interested parties e-mail them at comicshelp@onipress.com, to inform them of what you could donate. The items should be at the Oni offices by October 1, with the auction to begin on October 8. Please limit donations to one or two items.
Many artists and writers have already agreed to be involved, including Warren Ellis, Greg Rucka, Ted Naifeh, Gail Simone, Brian Wood, Renee French, Steve Rolston, Jen Van Meter, Beau Smith, Lea Hernandez, Jim Mahfood, Pete Woods, Rebecca Woods, Mike Norton, Scott Morse, Stan Sakai, Dan Brereton, Shannon Wheeler, Brian Bendis, Guy Davis, Tom Grummett & Karl Kesel, Chynna Clugston-Major, Evan Dorkin, Judd Winick, Brad Meltzer, Mike Allred, and Paul Dini.
The editors at Oni stress that this is no way to be seen as an "Oni" event; rather, they want it to be industry-wide.
Benefit Books
Both Marvel and DC have announced plans to produce special "jam" comics that will benefit victims of last week's tragedy. No plot details or formats have been released to the public.
Movies:
Disaster-Themed Movies Off The Schedule
Both Warner Brothers and Disney have removed highly-hyped movies from their release schedule, due to concerns over content.
Collateral Damage, an Arnold Schwarzenegger film, features Arnold seeking revenge on Colombian terrorists after his family gets killed in the bombing of an American skyscraper.
The black comedy Big Trouble, which was to be released next week, involves a plot to place a nuclear device aboard a plane.
No decision has been made yet if and when these films will be released.
Ironically, perhaps, video stores across the nation report that they cannot keep in stock movies in which Arnold, Bruce, or even Steven Seagal kick terrorist ass.
Spider-Man Trailer Yanked
You may have noticed that you cannot view the Spider-Man movie trailer anymore. That's because in it, Spidey captures a helicopter full of thieves in a web spun between the World Trade Center Towers. In response to the disaster, Sony immediately pulled the trailer from the internet and from movie theaters, as well as the movie posters that featured the WTC in the background.
Luckily for the cast and crew, the scene featured in the trailer is actually not in the film at all, but Sony has been rumored to have ordered that all shots of New York that include the towers will have them digitally erased.
Bruce Banner Cast?
Variety reports that the front-runner to play Bruce Banner/The Hulk in Ang Lee's upcoming film is a little-known (to Americans) Australian actor named Eric Bana. Bana, who has spent time as a stand-up comedian, made a critical splash this past summer in an Australian film called Chopper.
This could work. After all, a little-known Australian ended up playing Wolverine, and that turned out okay.
Television:
HBO Pulls Ad Support For Band Of Brothers
…But they wisely did not pre-empt this week's actual episode. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Band of Brothers is a gritty, all-too real look at war, in the guise of the true story of WWII's real Easy Company. No Sergeant Rock stuff here.
Seriously, if you are not watching this show, you should be.
Major Networks Delay Their Fall Season By A Week
The nation hardly notices.
Buckaroo Banzai Coming To DVD
Every fanboy should perk up. MGM has announced that they will release The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across The Eighth Dimension on DVD in January of 2002.
This edition will have the requisite deleted scenes, including the lost prologue with Jamie Lee Curtis as Buckaroo's mother.
If you are not familiar with Buckaroo Banzai, know this much: Writer Earl Mac Rauch and director W.D. Richter created a brilliant superhero series and only turned one of the middle episodes into an actual film. With allusions to previous adventures (and the unfulfilled promise of more to come), the movie may not be for everyone, but it is for you.
Also coming just in time is a reprinting of the brilliant novelization, which has become a cult classic in its own right. You can pre-order it now at Amazon.
Real Life:
I know, I know. We've all seen and heard and read the news over and over, and everyone has their opinion. But Chairshots gave Michael a soapbox last week, so I figure it's my turn here.
In our pain and our patriotism, we have easily slipped into talk of war. While that may frighten many (myself included), it does seem like the only option we have. If so, let us enter into it with as much nobility as we can muster. There has been a lot of talk in this country about vengeance, but not enough about justice.
That said, I would like to make a modest proposal for punishment of those who have perpetrated these terrible atrocities against our nation.
Once found, these men should not, under any circumstances, be put to death, for death holds no terror for them. No. Instead, let us take a page out of The Princess Bride, and let them be put to pain.
Armed guards shall be on round-the-clock duty to hold down the convicted culprits as each and every citizen of these United States gets a chance to hit them in the face. One shot, each citizen. The line-up will be around the block, and believe me, those pops in the snoot will add up.
In addition, once every four hours a lucky lottery winner will be allowed to haul off and kick them in their nether regions. Death may hold no terrors, but six nutshots a day do.
This can be done as either a fixed tourist attraction, or take the villains around the country by train in a whistlestop tour.
How about you? Do you think that movies should erase all reference to the WTC? That Arnold Schwarzenegger's career is over? Write to us.
