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In 'Dr. Horrible' Comics, It's Hammer Time

Posted 7/28/08 2:02 pm EST by in Comic-Con


Neil Patrick HarrisYou know it didn't just end with Dr. Horrible taking his place in the Evil League of Evil -- Joss Whedon is dreaming up more, much more for his supervillain, and first and foremost, it's going to be in comics.

"We'd love to do more Dr. Horrible in any form," he said, "because that's a very rich universe, and it's a comic book universe very specifically."

That's because Dr. Horrible deconstructs superhero stereotypes -- the villain is the nice guy, the hero is a jerk, and the girl they want to save they end up destroying with their actions. That's just for starters. The first of the comics, "Be Like Me," was an eight-page webcomic written by Joss' brother Zack from the point of view of Dr. Horrible's arch-nemesis Captain Hammer, and revealed the hero as the corporate tool Horrible always says he is. It'll be included in the bound volume of the My Space Dark Horse Presents collection. Read More...

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EXCLUSIVE: We Talk To Tori Amos About Her 'Comic Book Tattoo'

Posted 7/28/08 12:14 pm EST by in Image Comics, News


Tori Amos, big comic book geek. Before she was famous, she wrote songs inspired by comics -- especially the "Sandman" series by Neil Gaiman, who she later became friends with and who incorporated her lyrics into his work. So it should come as no surprise that other writers and artists might want to do the same thing with her songs -- and that they came up with enough to fill a whole book. A really heavy coffee-table book, at that.

It's called "Comic Book Tattoo," and while it's already in comic book stores, it hits the regular book world this Tuesday. The title is a reference to a song she wrote called "Flying Dutchman" (in which she sings, "They say your brain is a comic book tattoo") to comfort her comic book artist friend (and the book's editor) Rantz Hoseley back when he and she were starving artists. Read More...

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Hey Hollywood, Adapt This: 'Sandman,' 'Lost Girls' And 'It's A Bird'

Posted 7/28/08 11:11 am EST by in Comic-Con


Lost Girls Excited by the trailer for "Watchmen"? It's probably because you thought Alan Moore's groundbreaking graphic novel might have been -- how did they put it? -- "unfilmable." Several thought the work too dense, too self-referential, too much about comics. But with the little we've seen so far, that seems to be proven otherwise. So what else could Hollywood be wrong about? For starters:

Alan Moore's "Lost Girls" -- It's a wild tale, even by Moore's standards. Alice from "Alice in Wonderland," Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" and Wendy from "Peter Pan" meet up and realize that their stories are actually metaphors for sexual awakening, and go for some girl-on-girl action while they're at it. Very erotic. Or, as Moore prefers to think of it, very pornographic. Either go for an unrated version like "The Dreamers" and be true to the text -- or keep the sex less explicit.

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EXCLUSIVE: Go Inside 'Terminator Salvation' With Our First Look At The Upcoming Prequel Comic!

Posted 7/27/08 4:04 pm EST by in Art, Comic-Con, Hot Stuff, IDW Publishing, Images, Photos, Preview


'Terminator Salvation' Prequel ComicMust be tough, being John Connor -- what with all those Terminators always trying to kill you, your mother, your friends. But it's even tougher to be someone outside of John Connor's immediate circle come Judgment Day.

Thanks to the upcoming prequel comic to "Terminator Salvation" from IDW Publishing, we'll get a glimpse of what life is like for the rest of the world once the machines take over -- and before John Connor is the leader of the resistance -- starting with the first issue, due in January.

"One of the toughest things with stories involving time travel," said writer Dara Naraghi, "is that no matter what you do, there's always some sort of paradox."

Naraghi hopes to avoid those paradoxes when he fleshes out a different part of the post-Judgment Day world. "I get to play in my own sandbox, with a lot of new characters who won't be in the movie," Naraghi said. "There's a lot of breathing room." Read More...

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EXCLUSIVE: We Chat With 'Heroes' Star Milo Ventimiglia About His New Comic 'Berserker'

Posted 7/26/08 9:04 pm EST by in Comic-Con, Preview, Top Cow


'Berserker'Everyone, look out. Milo Ventimiglia has officially gone "Beserk."

As the actor's foray into comics continues via his production company DiVide Pictures, the man you know as Peter Petrelli has been using all his powers to get out a new title, about a group of people seemingly unconnected to each other who discover, unbeknowst-to-them, they had been born with hidden abilities. No "Heroes"-ripoff here -- the hidden power here is to kill, and the comic is called "Beserker" from Top Cow Publishing.

You'd think the ability to go really aggro could be a boon -- but one character, Ferris Jorn, who is trying to get back to his life after being in the military in Afghanistan, is having extreme difficulty. "You can't make a distinction between enemies and comrades," Ventimiglia said. "Imagine you're being pushed over the edge. You're at the height at an adrenal rush. Your veins are bulging. Your blood is moving. And you can't control it -- not even around your loved ones. You will rip them to shreds. It's an extreme and uncontrollable rage." Read More...

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Milo Ventimiglia Wants To Be Batman, Nightwing, Anything

Posted 7/24/08 1:26 pm EST by in DC Comics, News


Milo VEntimigliaMilo Ventimiglia has other "Heroes" he wants to play. He told us about wishing he could be Nightwing before, and now he reveals that he actually auditioned for "Justice League," although he was a little coy about exactly which part.

"You look at how they did 'The Hulk,' with Robert Downey, Jr., as Tony Stark in there," Ventimiglia said. "It's very thought out, the cross-breeding. So when 'Justice League' came up, I thought, 'I'm in. Whatever it is.'"

We suspect that the part was Batman -- simple because Ventimiglia got most excited talking about "The Dark Knight" and what could be in the next installment of that series. "I love a lot of that because he's a normal man," he said. "He didn't come from Krypton and have every ability except one weakness. Batman had to apply himself physically and intellectually to do what he's doing. He's not a crazy f---ing bat." Read More...

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EXCLUSIVE: 'Heroes Volume 2’ Graphic Novel Gets Covered

Posted 7/23/08 7:18 pm EST by in DC Comics, Photos, Preview


Need a "Hero"? How about 43 of them?

While you're waiting for "Heroes" to hit the air again, you could read the web comics online -- or you can get them as a collected volume. "Heroes Volume 2" will include every online chapter from season two, from "Flying Blind," introducing Claire's classmate West Rosen, to "The Kill Squad," when Fallon finally gets his own team to kill whichever powered person he pleases. The book, which is due out November 19, spills a lot of details about the motivations behind characters and fills in the gaps from the show -- while at the same time bringing to life what "Heroes" is all about. Here's a first look at the cover art (note: this may not be final):

Heroes

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Is 'The Dark Knight' The Best Superhero Movie Ever Made? One MTV Comics Fan Says No

Posted 7/23/08 1:59 pm EST by in Great Debate


Christian Bale in 'The Dark Knight'Don't get me wrong -- "The Dark Knight" is a great film (with some flaws). But is it the greatest comic-book movie ever made? I have to say no.

Before you jump on me, the way fanboys on Rotten Tomatoes attacked any critic who dared give the movie a negative rating -- and this was before the picture was ever released -- consider this: Just a month ago, people were saying "Iron Man" was the best comic-book movie ever made. There's an unfortunate mob mentality that comes into play with comic-book movies: the minute one comes out, it's immediately the best movie ever -– at least until the next best thing ever.

This is a disservice to many great comic-book films of the past -- many of which a lot of people might not have realized were adapted from comics. Like "Road to Perdition," "A History of Violence," and "Ghost World." The thing is, there are no objective criteria to determine the "greatest comic-book movie." It's only a matter of opinion. And of course, not all comic books are the same -- they’re not all action-packed, or all about superheroes. So consider some of the movies that have been drawn from this broad literary field. How could you possibly compare "Mystery Men" to "American Splendor," or "Persepolis" to "Hellboy"? It's apples and ottomans. Read More...

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Cover Artist

Splash Page welcomes Ed Tadem to our cover artist family (our custom-designed theme up top). Currently working on the forthcoming "Avengers" animated series, Tadem's work can also be seen in the "Jackie Karma" issues of Image's "'76," and in "Pop Gun, Volume 1." Ed Tadem can be found online at EdTadem.com.