meltblog

99 Cents Only or What Middle Class?

Sony and the production team behind the highly anticipated Spider-Man 3 have done a great job of giving the fans behind the scenes looks at the making of the movie via the internet. But now Spider-Man producer and long time Sam Raimi collaborator, Grant Curtis has put together an excellent book, The Spider-Man Chronicles: The Art and Making of Spider-Man, which details nearly everything that went into the making of the sure to be summer blockbuster. I got a chance to talk with the very busy producer about the trials and tribulations of continuing the most popular comic book movie franchise of all time.
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DC will be previewing its new weekly series “Countdown” on MySpace.com’s comic book area. Details from the PR:

DC COMICS PARTNERS WITH MYSPACE FOR AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF COUNTDOWN

New York, NY - COUNTDOWN, DC Comics’s new, yearlong weekly series, will be supported with an unprecedented preview of the first two issues of the series on MySpace’s new comic book community.  MySpace Comic Books, located at www.myspace.com/comicbooks, will be the only place to see the first two issues of COUNTDOWN online, in their entirety. The online content will roll out over a series of three weeks:

•       The first ten pages of COUNTDOWN 51 will be on www.myspace.com/comicbooks on May 4.
•       The last 12 pages of COUNTDOWN 51 will be on the site on May 11, along with the first 12 pages of issue 50.
•       The last ten pages of COUNTDOWN 50 will be on the site on May 18.

DC will also launch a DC Nation MySpace page on May 2.
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Like he was that far away from the look with The Matrix’s Morpheus…

According to Variety, Laurence Fishburne will provide the voice of the Silver Surfer in this summer’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie. According to the trade, the earlier rumors that Fishburne would be the voice of Galactus was incorrect, as its yet to be decided if Galactus will even speak.

What’s also unclear is what form Galactus will take in the film – or if Galactus will even appear in the film, as there have been conflicting reports that the “eater of worlds” will not appear at all in the film, or that he may appear, but as a storm cloud (perhaps more homage to Marvel’s “Ultimate” version of the character).

Marvel Studios has confirmed that plans are underway to produce a Broadway musical based on Marvel’s ever popular Super Hero, Spider-Man. Produced by Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment, and SONY Pictures Entertainment (billing in formation), the musical will be directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with U2’s Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics for the project. A reading is scheduled to take place this summer. No dates for a Broadway opening have been confirmed at this time.
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On Sunday, May 13, The Cartoon Network’s popular Adult Swim animation showcase will premiere the long-awaited pilot of The Drinky Crow Show, based on cartoonist Tony Millionaire’s long-running Maakies comic strip. The show’s comedy is brutal, existential, and hilarious. As with animated shows like The Simpsons or Futurama, The Drinky Crow show is a fast-paced, plot-twisting laff-riot combining adventure, romance, debauchery and graphic violence — offering something for everybody!

The 11-minute pilot, titled “Mermaid,” finds Drinky Crow encountering a mermaid following a broken-hearted suicide attempt on the high seas. Drinky immediately dedicates his life to meeting her again. At the moment he gives up his quest he sees his friend Uncle Gabby in the process of being eatend by a shark and thinks Gabby is his beloved mermaid. In a whirlwind of head-chopping violence, Drinky Crow rescues his friend and the good ship MAAKIES from the clutches of ferocious Napoleonic French alligators.
Watch the first thirty seconds:

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Official trailer for Imajimation’s upcoming Blokhedz animated feature

Shin Wolf and Cub, the sequel to Lone Wolf and Cub, has started in Japan. It is being done by original writer Kazuo Koike and drawn by Hideki Mori, who replaces the late Goseki Kojima on art chores.

Koike begins the new Lone Wolf and Cub manga right where the original ended, with Daigoro amidst the aftermath of his father’s revenge. A mysterious samurai appears at the seashore and forms a new bond with the boy.

Dark Horse will be publishing the series in English in the US, possibly under the title New Lone Wolf and Cub. It is also planned for volume 1 to include an essay by Koike on returning to the series after 30 years and on the comic’s international popularity and influence on such works as Road to Perdition.

That’s right! Every Monday here at Meltdown, unmarked back issues are still a dollar.

$1=1 comic

and

1 comic=$1

Ain’t math grand?

At Drunken Master we just received a limited number of copies of the Korean Special Edition of PAN’S LABYRINTH! We didn’t get a lot and I don’t think we’ll get any again, so I expect to be out of it pretty quick. Not only is the U.S. release not set to come out for another month and a half, but it certainly won’t be as nice as this - 2 DVD’s in a beautiful embossed leather case that also holds a book of Guillermo’s design sketches for the film! I don’t personally keep as many “special editions” as I used to, but I am so keeping one of these! It’s not only a great film definitely worth owning on DVD, but this is a beautiful package. The movie is in Spanish (DD 5.1 and a DTS track) with removable English and Korean subs. It is REGION 3, so you need to be able to play all region DVD’s, and if you can’t play it come in or call and ask me how you can.

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