TOP FIVE PROBLEMS WITH THE NEW 007 FILM

6. I'm not even mentioning the title. It doesn't bother me, even if I don't know what a Quantum of Solace is. I mean, I have a screenplay called Desperate Fences, so who am I to talk?

5. One of the least memorable actors to ever play a Bond villain.

4. Lackluster cinematography. It's Bond. The location-hopping is supposed to be part of the experience. It was boring.

3. No Moneypenny. Why? This can't be something they're building up to, can it?

2. Horrible, horrible action sequence direction. Everything is in close-up in lieu of being actually, oh, I don't know... any good? Pathetic. This from the same guy who directed the stunning action scene in Casino Royale with the spectacular fight in the construction scene and atop the crane?

1. Probably the worst Bond theme song ever. I mean, we're talking worse than Moonraker, License to Kill, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day. Think about what I'm saying here. They should have just used "I Know Your Name" from Casino Royale over again until they came up with something acceptable. Alicia Keys? Wasn't Wayne Newton available?

This is not to say I hated the film. I think most everyone gave excellent performances. The screenplay and story were fine. This one rests squarely in the director's lap. The financial success means the producers and/or the studio are less than likely to learn the lessons that need to be learned at that Casino Royale will remain the high water mark of the series. Too bad.

SECRET WARS RE-ENACTMENT

Not exactly something new on the web... It's been around for years. That said, it's still pretty funny!

Atlas, The Second Time Around

Recently I had the opportunity to revisit "Atlas, The Second Time Around," a feature I had written several years ago for Comic Book Marketplace with fellow contributors Mike Wilbur and Michael Naiman.

Besides the fact that it received a tremendously larger audience in Scoop compared with CBM's miniscule circulation, it was great to get the chance to correct some of the problems with my feature that I discovered only in the years after it was published.

The bulk of the article, though, wasn't changed. The descriptions of all the titles in the Atlas-Seaboard line (the part on which I collaborated with Mike and Michael the most) are pretty much as they were originally, minus an editorial comment or two we always thought inappropriate.

At any rate, if you want to read about an odd bit of comics history including Neal Adams, Larry Hama, LarryLieber, Jeff Rovin, Martin Goodman, Howard Chaykin, and many others, by all means check out the Scoop archives or click here.

We've had some really nice comments on it, too!

New, Free Superhero Film Online: THE LEAGUE

I wrote this for today's edition of Scoop, but I'm really taken with the project and want to continue spreading the word, so here ya go:

THE LEAGUE
What if superheroes formed a union at the end of the Golden Age? This bizarre question is the underpinning of a new project from filmmakers Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel. The duo has just announced the completion of The League, a brand new superhero noir short film.

The film can be viewed free of charge in High Definition at online at http://www.theleaguefilm.com/.

Produced under the banners of Windy City Pictures and the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, The League was mentored by acclaimed writer-director Tom Mankiewicz (Superman, Diamonds are Forever, Dragnet), and was created as a thesis film for Chapman University.

The plot centers around the 1946 formation of The League of Heroes in Chicago, which gives the country its first ever Superhero Labor Union. Founded by The Gray Raven, his kid sidekick Sparrow, and the amazing Blue Blaze, The League of Heroes gave the heroes real status with the police and the community. After 20 years, they’re about to expand nationally when an old foe shows up on the scene.

The poster for The League was illustrated with features artwork by outstanding comic book creator Eric Wight (Justice League of America, The Escapist, My Dead Girlfriend), who also notably provided art for the TV series The OC.

PLEASE PLEASE ME Still Rocks When Done Right

Probably the best performance I've ever seen of The Beatles' "Please Please Me" is by Paul McCartney. What's extra fun about it, for me, is that it's come to Paul after age 60 that he can get some guys together and really rock.

Pets.Com Sock Puppet Bailout?

TUCCI'S SGT. ROCK... well, ROCKS!

My good friend Billy Tucci's new comic book mini-series, Sgt. Rock - The Lost Battalion, debuted today, November 5, 2008, and it's been worth the wait.

Taking DC Comics' most iconic war comics character, Sgt. Rock, and infusing his story with the real life heroism of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (those Japanese-Americans who fought the Axis while there own families languished in FDR's internment camps without trials or even charges, simply for being of Japanese ancestry), Billy has done an amazing job.

He's been covered by a lot of online places, and he's written his own regular column for Newsarama. I've had the fortune to work with him on his own character, Shi, and in his film, some trouble of a seRRious nature, and I've been excited to see his drive and determination in taking on this project. I'm also happy to have written about this effort:

He poured his comic book experience and love of history into this one.

He became an ambassador from a region in France.

He hosted meetings with survivors of the 442nd.

He even got his hair cut for it.

Now he's on tour with the first issue.

JCV writes about CAPTAIN ACTION in November's TOY COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

The November 2008 issue of Toy Collector Magazine is now online and it features a look inside the world of Captain Action by yours truly. As always, the rest of the magazine's pretty cool, too, and you can either read it free online or download a free, print quality PDF version.

JCV in October Toy Collector Magazine

The October 2008 issue of Toy Collector Magazine includes my feature on ReelArt Studios and their incredible work in statues. Michael Hudson seems like a really good guy and was delight to interview.

TCM can be viewed online or downloaded in a print-quality PDF, both free of charge. It's a great publication for collectors and you should already be reading it!

DCU Holiday Special 2008

DCU Holiday Special 2008
80 pages, $5.99, on sale December 17, 2008

Written by Alan Burnett, Franco Aureliani & Art Baltazar, Dan DiDio and others (see below for one of the "others") Art by Rodolfo Migliari, Kevin Maguire, Ian Churchill, Tim Levins, Yishan Li and others Cover by Frank Quitely Celebrate the holiday as the Justice League of America host a surprise party guest! Dr. Light aids with the Festival of Lights and Nightwing delivers a special gift to Robin. Plus the super-secret origin of Santa Claus!

Okay, so I like Christmas comics. Why the extra plug for this one? Because it has my first work for DC Comics in it, that's why.

"Chritmas with the Beetles" is a Blue Beetle Christmas tale with not one, not two, but three (count 'em) Blue Beetles, written by me, and illustrated by Lee Garbett, whose work I love.

So, hey, any extra support you can give this issue is deeply appreciated. The Diamond Comic Distributors product code is OCT08 0145, and it's featured on Page 85 of the October 2008 PREVIEWS catalog.

Long time no posts?

Uh, yeah.

On the plus side, I'm actually okay, but it's been a weird year health-wise. Nothing majorly serious, but just about the time I'd get better from one thing the next one was on me. I finally decided that maybe some rest was in order, so I quit blogging and MySpacing and everything else except writing.

The big plus is that now I'm healthy again and have done a bunch of writing. So, hey, if you're actually still tuning in, thanks.

ZOMBIE-PROOF #3 On Sale MARCH 26, 2008

Finally! Zombie-Proof #3 will be in comic book shops on on Wednesday, March 26, 2008.

ZOMBIE-PROOF MySpace Update

The Zombie-Proof page on MySpace, which we started just a few weeks ago, already has almost 1,100 members. Both Vincent and I hope you'll stop by and check it out. Check out past blogs for interviews, making of, and other behind-the-scenes type stuff. Every Friday we also recommend other great horror or action-oriented comics.

JOIN ZOMBIE-PROOF on MySpace

The MySpace page we started for Zombie-Proof is up and running, with both comic book fans and zombie fans joning in. There are regular (almost daily) posts there and a lot of great behind-the-scenes material. Join us!

MIKE SOLOF PHOTO EXHIBITION

Every year, my pal Mike Solof heads out to Comic-Con International: San Diego and a few other shows and takes many of the photos you see in Scoop. He really does a terrific job, too. So, over on our Zombie-Proof MySpace page, right on the main profile, we have an exhibit running of just some of his great shots. Included are Billy Tucci, Jim Lee, Brian Michael Bendis, Frank Cho, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, and many others. Check it out! We've included a few of his great atmosphere shots as well.

ZOMBIE-PROOF #3 Covers!

Zombie-Proof #3 should be on sale within the next couple weeks. The covers are as follows: First is Vincent Spencer's latest masterpiece (Cover A). Second is David Michael Beck's awesome variant cover (Cover B). Third is our ultra-rare convention cover, limited to 100 copies (Cover C).

DEAD INSPECTOR SNEAK PEAK

Filip Sablik is simply ROCKING on our project, Dead Inspector. He's one of his latest sketches. He's posting them pretty regularly over on his blog, so check it out! We hope to have some interesting news on this one soon.

ZOMBIE-PROOF Screenplay?

The third and final issue of the first Zombie-Proof mini-series is due out in a couple of weeks from Moonstone, so on my weekly train trips I've been working on the screenplay version of it.

Now the first draft is done and it's out to some of my regular readers for notes, and I'm pretty excited about that!

The fun thing is finishing a first draft. The un-fun thing is that now the serious work begins. Numerous wisemen have pointed out that writing is re-writing, and that's very true. What isn't written can't be re-written. To be sure, one has to celebrate getting down on paper, but that's short-lived. There is a lot of work ahead.

And I'm looking forward to it. It's easily one of most film-ready ideas I've ever had and the path that Vincent Spencer and I created for it in the comic just simply screams for a movie.

BARRY LYGA's Second Novel: BOY TOY

First, I have to admit I might have never read Barry Lyga's novel, Boy Toy, if it wasn't written by a good friend, but that doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the work, rather the time in which we live -- in this day and age when you see a guy my age without kids in the YA section of your local bookstore, it sends the wrong message.

That said, I'm really glad that I had the excuse to pick it up. And now, months after I packed it away right before I moved to New York, I finally found it... and made really quick work of it, too.

Barry is one of the freshest voices in fiction today. Considering how long I've known him and how long I've been reading his stuff, it's something that it's fresh at all to me, but it remains so because he knows who his characters are and goes to great lengths to put himself in their respective heads.

I was fortunate enough to see his previous book, The Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, in several early stages, but circumstances weren't as permitting for this one, so I got to it cold. Didn't matter. The characters, action, and environment in Boy Toy scream realism, and much more so than the "ripped from the headlines" approach of certain TV shows these days. The vision is clear and the book is a serious page turner. Check it out!

MS. TREE IN RETURNS IN NOVEL FORM

One of my all-time favorite crime noir comic book series has turned into a novel. Here's my review from Scoop:

In the pages of Eclipse Magazine, the serialized first comic book adventures of Ms. Tree, private investigator Michael Tree, began appearing in 1981. It's been a long road since then, taking the tough-as-nails leading lady through Aardvark-Vanaheim, Renegade Press, First Comics, and DC Comics, movie options and more. During that time the character's co-creator and author Max Allan Collins (Road To Perdition) has sold more than his fair share of novels, but none about one of his favorite creations.
Cut from the same cloth as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Spillane and Collins were close friends, Ms. Tree is the tough guy's tough girl. She is sharp, insightful, hard-nosed, somewhat caustic, and when called for, very deadly. This novel is a bit of a different take on her first two serialized stories ("I, For an Eye" and "Death Do Us Part"), but is mostly a new tale centering on how she became who she is now and what happened those negative elements who got in her way.
It's a synchopated tale of good gal vs. bad people and we're just along for the ride. Mike Hammer fans will find a resonating character that while clearly steeped in Spillane's mindset definitely has her own personality and style. Fans of the comics will definitely want to check this one out, as will crime fans in general. It's from Hard Case Crime and carries a $6.99 cover price.