Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Comic News: FRANK CHO AND DOUG MURRAY ANNOUNCE WINNER OF 50-GIRLS-50 TALENT SEARCH!



LIBERTY MEADOWS and NEW ULTIMATES illustrator Frank Cho announces artist for upcoming series co-written by THE 'NAM legend Doug Murray!

For the past several months, LIBERTY MEADOWS creator Frank Cho and THE 'NAM writer Doug Murray have searched for the artist to illustrate their all new miniseries, 50 GIRLS 50. Today they're proud to announce the search is over with winner Axel Medellin!

"The number and quality of the submissions really blew me away. I mean, I knew there were a lot of talented comic artists out there, but I hadn’t expected so many to try this out," Murray said. "Judging was very difficult. We had to grade the entries on multiple counts: the fidelity to the model sheets produced by Frank, the story-telling displayed, the quality of the layouts—all of these factors came into play. We managed to pick the final four artists, but choosing a winner out of the four was extremely difficult since each artists had what we were looking for in terms of quality and clear storytelling skills. Frank and I went back and forth till the very last minute on who the winner should be, with Axel beating out the competition."

Axel Medellin will be illustrating next year's 50-GIRLS-50 based off a story conceived and co-written by Cho and Murray. In addition, he will be working alongside Cho as he works off the NEW ULTIMATES illustrator's character and world designs. Cho will also be providing covers for every issue.

Cho added, "Thank you all for the time and effort you put into this. Also for the simple humanity and kindness you showed each other within the various threads of the 50-GIRLS-50 blog. I was as impressed by that as I was by the artistry of your entries."

50-GIRLS-50, a full-color 32-page comic book for $2.99, will be released in early 2010.

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Comic News: BOOM! STUDIOS AT CREATION ENTERTAINMENT FARSCAPE CONVENTION!



See the latest and the greatest of BOOM! Studios Farscape titles




BOOM! Studios, the only source for exciting new and ongoing FARSCAPE adventures, will be coming to the Creation Entertainment Farscape Convention, November 6-8th! Stop by our table where we'll be selling the all of our latest FARSCAPE titles every day from open to close. And don't forget to check out the Main Theater Sunday for the BOOM! Studios FARSCAPE Panel with FARSCAPE editor Ian Brill!

BOOM! STUDIOS CONVENTION SCHEDULE

Friday, November 6th, 2009:
All Day

Saturday, November 7th, 2009:
All Day

Sunday, November 8th, 2009:
All Day
3:15 - 4:15pm – BOOM! Studios FARSCAPE Panel, Main Theater
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Comic News: Get Started With Hickman and Eaglesham’s FANTASTIC FOUR For Free



Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham’s jaw-dropping run on Fantastic Four is turning heads everywhere, with ComicBookResources.Com exclaiming, “[Fantastic Four] has catapulted into the top tier of Marvel comics.”

Now, experience the first two issues of their landmark Fantastic Four tenure for free, courtesy of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, for a limited time at: http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.10151

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Comic News: What Price Victory?




SIEGE: THE CABAL [Prologue to Siege] (OCT090467)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Penciled by MICHAEL LARK
Cover by DAVID FINCH
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC—11/12/09, On-Sale—12/2/09

SIEGE #1 (of 4)
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Pencils & Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL
Variant Cover by GABRIELE DELL'OTTO
Variant Cover by JOE QUESADA
Sketch Variant by OLIVIER COIPEL
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC—12/10/09, On-Sale—1/6/10

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Comic News: Get Your First Look At The Marvelous Land of Oz!



Marvel is proud to present your first look behind the scenes of The Marvelous Land of Oz #1 (on-sale tomorrow), the hotly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times best-selling The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in an all-new free sketchbook RIGHT HERE.

Courtesy of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, get an in-depth look at L. Frank Baum’s masterpiece as the critically acclaimed team of Eric Shanower and artist Skottie Young provide exclusive commentary on their stunning adaptation! With a slew of new characters, never before seen artwork, and commentary by the creators themselves, this sketchbook is a must read!

Plus, don’t miss the red-hot The Wonderful Wizard of Oz HC, on-sale now! You may think you know the story of Dorothy, Toto and the yellow brick road, but you’ve never seen Oz like this before! Eric Shanower and artist Skottie Young present a vibrant, faithful adaptation of Baum’s seminal novel, which has IGN.Com raving “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is one of the finest comics I've read in a long time… This series evokes pure joy in the reader.”

Before The Marvelous Land of Oz #1 hits stores tomorrow, don’t miss The Marvelous Land of Oz Sketchbook for free RIGHT HERE!

THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ #1 (of 8) (SEP090381)
THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ #1 (of 8) SHANOWER VARIANT (SEP090382)
THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ #1 (of 8) MCGUINNESS VARIANT (SEP090383)
Written by ERIC SHANOWER
Pencils & Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG
Variant Cover by ERIC SHANOWER
Variant Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
All Ages …$3.99
ON SALE THIS WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4th!

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ HC (JUL090457)
Written by ERIC SHANOWER
Penciled by SKOTTIE YOUNG
Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG
All Ages …$29.99
ON SALE NOW!

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Toy News: Big WWE® Announcement!



The latest from Mattycollector.com on the new WWE products:

"If you're a WWE® fan, I've got huge news: Mattel is going to launch a whole line of World Wrestling Entertainment® (WWE®) products!If you’re a WWE fan, I’ve got huge news: Mattel is going to launch a whole line of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) products!

Highly-detailed figures, belts, rings, and more will be in stores January 1, 2010! They’ll be insanely accurate in scale, detail, and WWE authenticity. The Superstar figures have tattoos that show even when they’re fully articulated, and the first 1,000 of each WWE basic figure for 2010 will come with one of 1,000 consecutively numbered die-cast commemorative WWE Championship Belts.

Also look for these three segments…

Elite Collection
My design friends at Mattel talked to a lot of collectors to find out what they want, and the Elite Collection is the result. Watch for fan-favorite Superstars and Divas in 2010 that’ll come with a personalized stand and authentic ring attire.

Entrance Greats™
Everyone loves ring entrances! We’ve captured all the excitement with figures packed out in their entrance outfits from epic WrestleMania® battles and a base that plays their music!

FlexForce™ Action Figures
We know kids dig WWE, too, so there’s a ton of toys just for them. The figures can do authentic moves just like a Superstar, and kids can stage matches in the Breakdown Brawl Ring. There’ll be accessories, too, like tables, ladders, and chairs.

Stay tuned to MattyCollector.com for more details and official first-looks at products. Want to know when they go on sale?
Sign up for email from me and I’ll send a reminder right to your inbox!

—Matty

P.S. Remember, you can follow me on
Twitter, too."
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Comic News:The Stronger They Are…




FALL OF THE HULKS ALPHA (OCT090514)
FALL OF THE HULKS ALPHA FINCH VARIANT (OCT090515)
FALL OF THE HULKS ALPHA NYEE MCGUINNESS VARIANT (OCT090517)
FOC – 11/12/2009, On-Sale – 12/2/2009

FALL OF THE HULKS GAMMA (OCT090516)
FALL OF THE HULKS GAMMA ROMITA JR VARIANT (OCT090518)
FOC—12/3/09, On-Sale—12/23/09

HULK #19
Written by JEPH LOEB
FOC—12/28/09, On-Sale—1/20/10

INCREDIBLE HULK #606
FOC—12/28/09, On-Sale—1/20/10

FALL OF THE HULKS: RED HULK #1 (of 4)
FOC—1/7/10, On-Sale—1/27/10

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Comic News: Marvel Reports Q3 and Nine Months EPS of $0.26 and $1.20



Marvel Reports Q3 and Nine Months EPS of $0.26 and $1.20

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DVD News: Animation legends Joe Ruby and Ken Spears discuss today's release of Ruby-Spears Superman on DVD by Warner Home Video



More than two decades after its television premiere, the popular Ruby-Spears Superman animated series returns to TV screens via Warner Home Video as a two-disc DVD collection of cartoons. The DVD is available today, November 3.



Debuting in 1988, the Ruby-Spears Superman series brought back some familiar foes and new unfriendly faces for battles against the Man of Steel. In addition to the thrills of Superman’s weekly adventures, each episode included a mini-segment called Superman Family Album that told the “real” story of what it was like to grow up as the most powerful boy in Smallville.

Produced at Ruby-Spears Productions right next door to Hanna-Barbera Studios, and animated in Japan and Korea at Toei Animation and Dai Won Animation, the series benefited by a stellar production team of writers and artists (including supervising producer John Dorman, story editor Marv Wolfman, and production designer Gil Kane), solid voice acting, and an immediate link with Christopher Reeve’s popular films via an opening theme score that was remarkably similar to John Williams’ acclaimed Superman music.

Ruby-Spears Productions was founded in 1977 by veteran writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. The team started as sound editors at Hanna-Barbera Studios, branched out into writing, and eventually went on to create “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” In total, Ruby-Spears Productions produced 36 different TV series including the hit, “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” They continue to be a creative force in the industry today.

Joe Ruby and Ken Spears took a few minutes to reminisce about the creation, development and production of their landmark 1988 series in a recent conversation. Here’s what the animation veterans had to say:

QUESTION:
How was the title character developed for your Superman series?

JOE RUBY:
“We went through a lot of different directions in development as to what kind of Superman we wanted. We had several different models – the crying/feeling Superman, the lecturing/do-gooder/save-the-day Superman, then there was the hip Superman and even the long-haired Superman. And, of course, there was the old straight-as-an-arrow Superman. Ultimately, we settled on the Christopher Reeve model – he had personality and a sense of humor, and yet he was still Superman. We figured that it worked for the films, so it would work well for us.”



QUESTION:
Why were there only 13 episodes to the entire series?

JOE RUBY:
“I think the problem for us was our timeslot. It turned out 8:30 in the morning was a killer for Superman. Only the little kids were up, and they don’t understand Superman as well as the older kids. It wasn’t for 4- to 5-year-olds”



QUESTION:
Was there a guiding theme to the series?

KEN SPEARS:
“I think we were true to Superman to begin with – we produced a show that the audience expected Superman to be. He was the tried and true Superman, That’s who they wanted to see – that’s the feedback that we continue to get today.”

JOE RUBY:
“We basically had Superman tackling anything and everything, with the marching orders to have bigger-than-life fights.”



QUESTION:
What did you see as the strength of your Superman series?

KEN SPEARS:
“We had the best talent in the business at the time – that was our strength. They were excellent. When you first create a show, you hope your talent will be able to plus it – and they really plussed it. There are so many shots in the show that weren’t written into the script – those kind of great additions come straight from the artists and the storyboarders.

JOE RUBY:
“We had a pretty amazing crew – and an especially great crew of artists – including some of the best comic book guys in the business, and that made for good filmmaking. Guys like John Dorman and Gil Kane – we had an army of great talent on that show. Give credit to John Dorman – he’s a filmmaker and that’s the difference. He made sure the show had all the creative shots, the movement, some of that great left-to-right or down-angle camera moves. The show was well paced, well boarded, and I think John really put these things together well.”



QUESTION:
Did splitting the production between two overseas studios in Japan and Korea cause any problems?

JOE RUBY:
“It was an experience for us, from a production standpoint, traveling overseas and working with two different interpreters having to translate in three different languages. They’d be answering before I’d get done with my question. It was the worst torture I ever had in my life.”



QUESTION:
Looking back now, can you see how Ruby-Spears Superman fits in the canon of productions surrounding the Man of Steel?

JOE RUBY:
“As a kid, we all grew up with Superman. He’s the favorite, always. Your heroes stick with you. So we wanted to make the best Superman show we could, to really set it apart. I think everyone that worked on it felt that way. He’s Superman.”

KEN SPEARS:
“It was like an honor to do something that classy and classic as Superman. He’s the No. 1 guy. We wanted to do it justice.”



Ruby-Spears Superman is available today, November 3rd, at most major retailers.
MSRP: $26.99
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