Here are the other book, DVD and movie releases for the week!
HARDCOVER BOOKS
That’s right - I’ve got a brand spankin’ new copy of Kevin Smith’s Batman: Cacophony graphic novel to take home with me this weekend. I am pretty darn excited. I’ve also got American Gods by Neil Gaiman on my nightstand, as well as The Lost Symbol. And Naamah’s Kiss waiting for me at the library. Whew, lot of reading to do!
What are y’all reading this weekend?
Yes, I just said “y’all.” Deal with it. You can’t take the Midwest outta this girl!
The other day, I asked some people on Twitter if they were excited about the new movie coming out today, 9. More specifically, I asked if I was the only one who really hoped it didn’t suck.
For the most part, the response was overwhelmingly in favor of it not sucking.
What struck me, though, was that many people thought it wasn’t going to suck because Tim Burton was involved. This gave me pause. While I’ve always recognized Burton as one of the established purveyors of dark, quirky fantasy stories, for some reason that I couldn’t quite put a finger on, I found myself shaking my head at the sentiment that the man has the golden touch.
In fact, I couldn’t help thinking he had the opposite (The copper touch? No, copper’s pretty valuable as scrap…the nickel touch? Sure, I’ll go with that). But that didn’t seem quite right, either. I mean—he’s Tim Burton. You don’t get that kind of reputation without doing something good.
So I kept prodding the proud followers of @bantamspectra, and true to form, they came through in commendable fashion. What I asked was: what’s your favorite Tim Burton movie. They reminded me that this man has made some classics (and some stinkers, which was probably what I was keying in on—yes, I’m talking about your movie, you dirty ape. Seriously, with so many good actors, how could that movie have been so bad? Oh, yeah—all the good actors were dressed as frickin’ monkeys).
As such, I’ve decided to make a list of the movies that Tim Burton has made that have made his fans, well, fans. And while not necessarily ranked (because, regrettably, I haven’t seen all of these movies), I do believe this could work in a “best of,” starting with “the best.”
Labor Day is a long holiday weekend, meant for traveling, reading and super sales all over the place—from mattresses to furniture to clothes to electronics.
The book industry also partakes in these sales!
Borders is offering several weekend discounts and sales. Free shipping for purchases over $10. One free bargain book for every two purchased. And the coolest one:
My five suggestions:
Happy Reading!
Rainy Sundays are good for three things: laundry, reading, and surfin’ the webs. Thus far, I’ve managed all three of those things today, on top of other less exciting ventures such as eating breakfast, brewing coffee, and showering (two of those other things were done simultaneously; I’ll leave it to you to imagine which they were). And it was while I was crawling aimlessly through the webs, like a hungry spider who’s misplaced that plump captured fly, that I came across two juicy morsels that I thought I’d share with you. Both are about graphic novels AND both relate to Suvudu.
No kidding, it’s Suvudu outside the box, in a way.
Our first article comes to us by way of NYU’s School of Publishing and is about a visiting talk given recently by Del Rey’s own (and thereby also our own) Tricia Narwani on Graphic Novels 101. Tricia talked about a number of issues in the graphic novel industry including the various genres, the rise and popularity of Manga, non-fiction graphic novels, and the influence of webcomics. The article summarizes the talk quite nicely and, for such a deep topic, reads quite easily.
“Bully to you, NYU School of Publishing!” As the kids today might say*. You can read the article here:
Graphic Novels 101 | NYU School of Publishing Blog
“You’ve heard of ‘Maus’ and ‘Persepolis,’ but, really, what’s a graphic novel? Tricia Narwani, Editor with Random House’s Del Rey Books (with more than 100 manga titles this year), recently answered that question at NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute. Speaking to students, she talked about the state of the industry, the various genres and much more. Even though the term ‘graphic novel’ was popularized in 1978, the category can be amorphous…and confusing, she noted. More simply put, graphic novels are comic books that may have complex story lines and are bound in similar format to books. To get everyone on the same page, Tricia mentioned Neil Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ and Brian K. Vaughn’s (of Lost fame) ‘Y, the Last Man’, and this got students nodding their heads in recognition.” Read the whole post.
The death of Batman, the hard noir of Parker, and the life of Asterios Polyp make up the next article on anti-heroes after the jump…
Here are the other book, DVD and movie releases for the week!
HARDCOVER BOOKS
PAPERBACK BOOKS
DVDS
IN THEATERS FRIDAY
Newsarama has posted an interview with Christian Bale, where the actor talks about Terminator Salvation, the next Batman movie and his other work.
I saw Terminator Salvation two nights ago. I cannot post my review until this evening at 12:00 AM EST but I will say it is a vast improvement over Terminator: Rise of the Machines.
More tonight!
A month ago Bruce Wayne went to that great Bat Cave in the sky, leaving Batman fans wondering what was going to happen to Gotham and its other heroes. After all, Batman is the glue that holds them all together but just because Bruce Wayne is no longer around doesn’t mean someone can’t wear the bat costume, right?
This coming June 10th, fans will discover who is the new Batman!
Visit DC Comics Solicitations for all other June 2009 comic book releases!
And after more than a year of believing Captain America dead at the end of Marvel’s Civil War storyline, it looks like Cap is coming back on June 17th! How is this possible? Only Marvel has the answer, True Believer!
Visit Marvel Comics Solicitations for all other June 2009 comic book releases!
Altogether, it looks like June is shaping up to be a great comic book release month!
What are you looking forward to?
As a web developer for several authors, I am always interested in clever marketing.
Well, DC Comics has done a gem, I think! Today I ran across the website www.AfterWatchmen.com, a DC site devoted to the comic books people should read after having read or watched Watchmen. Looking back on DC history, they have published an impressive line of literary comic book series by some of the best talent in the business. These graphic novels are absolutely fantastic, every single one.
The website features Watchmen but the majority of the space is devoted to titles that echo certain elements of the Alan Moore classic.
I dig the look of the website. I dig the Watchmen Doomsday clock being a couple of minutes after midnight. I dig the navigation of the website and the perfect list of great graphic novels on it!
Of those I have read, Kingdom Come, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns are my favorites.
It’s great that DC Comics has supplied that website, a stroke of marketing genius in my opinion. Sure, they publish Watchmen, but the other comic book publishers could just as easily market to readers who enjoyed Watchmen. I myself have not read the entire list supplied by DC but that is something I will remedy. To me, a well written graphic novel can be just as enjoyable as a novel or a movie.
As soon as I finish writing The Dark Thorn, I will be reading. Every day for hours a day. I simply must catch up on all the cool great stuff I’ve missed out on!
I will start with Fables.
And go from there!
What if you changed just one letter in a movie’s title? Get Smart becomes Bet Smart and you’ve got a very different movie. That was the challenge posted recently to members of Worth1000.com, a talented community of 500,000 digital artists that participate in amazing daily contests. Another recent challenge was Villain Swap. The contests are meant to test the artist’s creativity and skills using graphics software such as PhotoShop and Aviary (Aviary just so happens to sponsor the website).
I thought Suvudu readers might get a kick out of these. Jump to see more of my favorites and links for all the entries from both contests.
I’m still recovering from New York Comic Con and, still marveling at how Chip Kidd seems to have so much energy!
First, there was his panel in which he discussed his latest work, Bat-Manga!, followed shortly by a signing that lasted over an hour. Then, there was the guided tour of NYCC that he provided to the folks at Salon.com.
And, as if all of that wasn’t enough, Chip wrote an essay for The New York Times Magazine.
I’m tired just thinking about all of it!
Today Chip Kidd appears on NPR’s Day to Day to discuss Bat-Manga. Worried you’ll miss it? Don’t fret!
Instead, listen to the interview here.
I know it seems as if I’ve been writing a lot about Neil Gaiman as of late. The reason it seems that way is because: I am!
Neil has a lot going on right now. He released The Graveyard Book a few months ago. The movie adaptation of his book Coraline is coming to a theater near you on February 6th. And he is writing the “final” two issues of the comic books Batman and Detective Comics. A busy man with fun projects on his hands deserving of posted news.
Well, all of his hard work has paid off extra today, leaving what I would imagine a huge smile on his face.
The American Library Association has awarded Neil Gaiman the Newbery Medal for The Graveyard Book!
In 1993, a year after DC Comics killed Superman, the comic book publisher also destroyed Batman, probably their second most beloved character. Emotionally and physically exhausted from a long stretch of villainous activity in Gothem, Batman is literally broken when a villain named Bane breaks the back of Bruce Wayne. Hobbled by Bane and having to work through intensive physical therapy, Bruce Wayne handed the mantle of Batman over to another. Life just isn’t easy for ole Bats. Just as they did with Superman, DC proved they were willing to do the darkly imaginative when it came to their best characters. No comic book character was safe if DC could take out Batman for a year.
Well, it is happening again to Batman in February and March 2009!
In a move to generate a few extra box office sales as well as remind the world of its award-worthy brilliance, The Dark Knight will be released in theaters and IMAX on January 23, 2009, giving audiences one more chance to see this fantastic movie on the silver screen.
This is undoubtedly a move to try and dethrone Titanic from the all-time USA box office pull. Titanic made $600,779,824. The Dark Knight, as of right now, has done $531,026,626. Can Batman make $70 million? Will you help? The answer is probably yes on both accounts. I know I will be! I only saw the movie once in the theater and I think it will be fun to gather a few friends and go see it on IMAX.
But the big question is: Will this help Heath Ledger receive an Oscar nomination on January 22nd and give him a win for his outstanding performance as the Joker?
What do you think?
Fine, fine. I can hear what you’re about to tell me: this series is so over.
But, New York Comic Con is only a month away and that’s a good enough reason in my book to bring it back?
Why, you ask?
How ‘bout the fact that you have the chance to meet Chip Kidd .
That’s right, Chip will be there speaking about - what else - Bat-Manga!. He’ll even be signing books after the panel.
Click here for more information.
Looking for a last-minute gift for your friends and family? Why not get them Chip Kidd’s Bat-Manga!?
It’s certainly the gift that’s on everybody’s wish list!
Observe:
See? There really is something for everyone!
Still not convinced? Check out this video.
Happy holidays!
You already know that we here at Pantheon Comics are big fans of all things Chip Kidd, especially Bat-Manga! . In fact, we’ve been singing its praises for months now.
So what does the man himself have to say about the book?
Check out this video from the kind folks at Vimby.com to find out.
Calling all Chip Kidd fans!
Take note: Tuesday, December 16 is the very last Bat-Manga! signing. Yes, you read right.
So, clear your calendar and head to Brooklyn’s Rocketship Comics. There will be a Q&A with Chip, a presentation about the book, and an open bar. Does it really get any better than that?
For more information, click here.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Sure, it’s Tuesday. But, it’s not just any Tuesday. It’s Bat-Manga! day!
Yep - after hearing me talk about the book for months, you’ve actually made it to the on sale date.
So, reward yourself with a copy. Or, if you’re feeling really lucky, you can even enter to win one.
And, while you’re at it, sign up for the Pantheon Comics News to find out about more sweepstakes and great books. (Really, did you not see that plug coming?)
