"My career really didn't begin until I started working on books that I helped create. Vertigo is probably the only publisher today that wouldn't have laughed me out of their offices for pitching them a fully painted hardcover novel for 'mature readers' about the Iraq war... starring talking lions."--Brian K. Vaughan, Graphic Attack: Vertigo Raises the Bar (Again) (via Blog@Newsarama)"I always get the impression these articles assume that the baseline for comics is violent, costumed soap opera and these bizarre aberrations exist to fool the rib so we boys can continue to high-five each other and grunt approval to the…
While Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest finishing first at the box office this weekend was a no-brainer, I doubt even the most optimistic pundit predicted an eye-popping, record-breaking haul of $132 million in its first three days.
1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest — $132,028,000
2) Spider-Man — $114,844,116 ($403,706,375; 28.4%)
3) Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith — $108,435,841 ($380,270,577; 28.5%)
4) Shrek 2 — $108,037,878 ($441,226,247; 24.5%)
5) X-Men: The Last Stand — $102,750,665 ($231,288,000; 44.4%)
Considering the first Pirates opened with a relatively paltry $46,630,690 on its way to a $305m domestic haul (plus an amazing $348m overseas), the sequel should be a shoo-in for breaking the $300m mark again, with a decent shot at pulling a Shrek 2, outperforming its predecessor and reaching the rarified air of a $400m+ box office upon initial release. (Star Wars and E.T. took multiple releases to surpass that mark.)
But what of the Man of Steel and his reported $21,850,000 booty, a harsh 58% drop from his opening weekend (Friday-Sunday only) for a stinging $5,375/theater average that pretty much guarantees a significant drop in theaters as Pirates and “sleeper” hit, The Devil Wears Prada (a 43% drop in its second weekend, while matching Superman’s average in nearly a third fewer theaters) will still be drawing significant audiences next weekend. Plus, there’s four new major releases opening the weekend after next.
With $141,677,000 over its first 12 days, while Superman Returns is definitely no Spider-Man and can hardly be considered a franchise-killer on par with Batman and Robin, will it at least be considered a success on the level of Batman Begins, or is it more of an underwhelming disappointment that calls for a return to the drawing board, like The Hulk?
Just as I decide to drastically cut back my pull list, a slew of great new comics are seemingly coming out every other week now, including a couple of unexpected treats from DC thanks to Brave New World. At this rate, I may have to stop drinking just to keep up!Let's do this...Death Comes to Dillinger #1 (Silent Devil, $2.99)Death Comes to Dillinger came out of left field, completely off my radar until its eye-catching cover, um, caught my eye, and it passed the flip test and got to come home with me a few weeks back. In comics as…
Support GOOD Comics! Pre-order something new EVERY month. Part I featured a look at Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse's offerings for September 2006, and now Part II casts the spotlight on the 10 most interesting books being solicited by "independent" publishers. The full solicitations for September can be found at comicsconspiracy.biz. [NOTE: Most of these titles will probably not be available at your local comic book shop (LCBS) if you do not pre-order them. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, download a convenient order form from Diamond and be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find…
While adding a few new blogs to The Watchtower today, I came across Valerie D'Orazio's Occasional Superheroine and a post she made about Robin Williams' desire to portray the Joker in the sequel to Batman Begins.But Williams, despite a career slump in sub-Disney hell, is still an Icon. And maybe that's what the franchise needs. I mean, I can't even remember who played the villain in "Batman Begins."Bad idea, says I.Jack Nicholson completely stole the first Batman, and the sequels tried to one-up their predecessors with increasingly ridiculous stunt casting that ultimately gave us Ah-nold as Mr. Freeze."Chill."No thanks! Christopher…
I started going through some #1s I’ve read recently last night, intending to write up another round of Quickee reviews, but it turned into a lovefest for the previously hypedArtesia as I was sucked back into the Known World and didn’t want to leave!
As I noted a few weeks back, I picked up Artesia: Besieged #1 on a lark, having enjoyed several of the other titles Archaia Studio Press has recently released — The Lone and Level Sands, Robotika and Mouse Guard — and was totally captivated by it, so much so that I bought the first two TPBs, Artesia and Artesia Afield, over the following two weeks and quickly devoured both of them. Mark Smylie has constructed an impressive medieval world that deftly mixes high fantasy with sword and sorcery, and created one of the most compelling lead characters I’ve ever encountered in Artesia, a former concubine who becomes a respected war captain, feared priestess and, eventually, self-proclaimed Queen.
In this first installment of the Fourth Book of Dooms, aptly sub-titled “The Calm Before”, Smylie does an excellent job of setting the stage for new readers without explaining every single detail of what’s come before, instead offering just enough information to make it clear that there’s a much larger world beyond the pages of this issue while placing the spotlight squarely on Artesia and her place in that world. Whether musing about the path that has found her leading an unstable army into war, strategizing plans for engaging in said war, or indulging in “distractions of the flesh”, she is as three-dimensional a fictional character as has ever been presented in the genre, with or without pictures. The story itself sets a couple of intriguing subplots in motion, and ends with a twist that works thanks as much to its context as to Artesia’s reaction to it.
Support GOOD Comics! Try something new EVERY month. My weekly look at select comic books being released Thursday, 7/6/06. The full shipping is list available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com] PICK OF THE WEEK Second Wave: War of the Worlds #4BALLANTINE BOOKS Flight Vol 3 GN, $24.95 For all the praise the first two volumes of this anthology has received, the second one remains buried in my…
