Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Big comics Friday. That's what today is. Check out all the goodies Andrew from Grayhaven Magazine.com has sent over for you today. Roll around in it. Bask, if you will. There's more on the way, every damn day this weekend. This man never sleeps. EVER!!
First up, here's some news on SPIDER-GIRL:
'The daughter of the original Spider-Man, May 'Mayday' Parker has inherited her father's amazing powers. Possessing the proportionate strength, speed, and agility of a spider, as well as the ability to cling to walls, she now follows in his web lines!'
SPIDER-GIRL: CANCELED?
You Can Prevent It!
Some Spider-Girl fans were surprised earlier in the week when they attempted to renew their subscriptions to Spider-Girl and were told that it would not be possible. With the removal of Spider-Girl from Marvel.com's online subscription section, rumors started to spread throughout the Internet, that the title was once again in danger of cancellation.
Earlier Tuesday, Editor Tom Brevoort had this to say:
"My understanding is that, barring some un-foreseen spike in the sales over the next month or two, SPIDER-GIRL is likely to end with #50. We got a minor bump when the campaign to save the book was in full force, not to mention an outpouring of support--but that all vanished once the original cancellation was overturned. And as much as we've been hoping for a turn-around in the numbers, it hasn't been forthcoming."
When asked about the odds of a stay of execution if another save Spider-Girl campaign was run, Brevoort responded:
"It couldn't hurt, but after the last reprieve, this would have to be one major push. When the cancellation was reversed, people had the expectation that the numbers would pick up, based on the outpouring of reaction we'd received. And that really never happened--the people who like the book continued to go on reading it, and those who weren't didn't start picking it up in any kind of numbers. So you'd need to demonstrate a long-term, effective change to convince the powers-that-be again, I think, since we've been down this road once before with negligible results.
So there you have it, Spider-Girl fans. You know what comes next.
Christopher Grissom who led the charge to save the book from cancellation a year ago has dusted off the 'Save Mayday' website and is once again asking for people to come over and let their voices be heard. Go to SaveMayday.com and show your support for this book.
But emails and petitions alone won't save the book this time around. You need to act with your wallets. Find your nearest comic book store and pick up a copy of Spider-Girl #44 (on sale today) and ask your retailer to pre-order (pre-ordering is the key) the next solicited issue of Spider-Girl. Don't let one of the best kept secrets in comics disappear forever.
Spider-Girl follows the adventures of young May (Mayday) Parker, daughter of Peter and Mary Jane Parker. Spun off from an old issue of 'What If', the series takes place in an alternate reality, enabling the creative team to have limitless avenues in which to take the characters. Spider-Girl is written by Tom DeFalco and illustrated by Pat Olliffe and Al Williamson.
In the Comics Industry, it's difficult to find more than a handful of people who can agree on anything, but there is one thing that the critics are sure about and that is that Spider-Girl is a great book. Check out these comments and then go pick up a copy and see for yourselves.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
"This outside-of-continuity title is, oddly enough, an excellent gateway for new readers into the world of comics and the Marvel Universe." - Don MacPherson, The Fourth Rail.com
"DeFalco and Olliffe deliver a book that hails back to the good old days of Spider-Man, where each issue melted into another, like a never-ending, but thoroughly riveting, soap opera. This book is easily one of Marvel's best-kept secrets and is well worth your time." -Brian Meredith, Spinner Rack.com
"I picked up an issue or two on the recommendation of some friends, and enjoyed the series so much that I tracked down every back issue that I could find." - Rebecca Salek, Sequential Tart.com
"Spider-Girl is one of the most quietly consistent titles Marvel has. DeFalco continues to build his future-Marvel continuity much better than the present-day is being handled in some quarters." - Alan David Doane, Comic Book Galaxy.com
"Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe's Spider-Girl is the Spider-title I enjoy the most. Everything clicks together so nicely each month, and here we've got all sorts of new twists to keep the story fresh and to keep us guessing. Olliffe has managed to maintain his great effort through this entire series and it's refreshing to see an artist who likes what he does enough to keep doing it each month." -George Berryman, Hero Realm.com
"Oliffe really gets to let loose here - not just with the emotion painted in pantomime, but also in some deft bits of storytelling to convey points that would otherwise need to be hammered home with some spare caption boxes." - Augie De Blieck Jr., Comic Book Resources.com
"Well worth the cover price. And I have to give praise to the art team of Olliffe and Williamson. Out of all the comics I read, these two are tops in my book. They consistently put out great material and, put it out on time! Nice job, fellas." - Will Harrison, Spiderfan.org
"Kid friendly while not insulting adult reader's intelligence. One of the few mainstream titles featuring a female heroine that young women can look up to." - Andrew Goletz, Grayhaven Magazine.com and AICN.
"Month in and month out, this comic is a blast to read." Daily Bugle Headlines.com
"This book has really, really, kept me entertained for nearly 4 1/2 years now. High recommendation, kids." - Puckett, Puck Nation.com
"I'd highly recommend this book for young female readers, but its appeal is by no means limited to that group." - Beta Ray Betty, Click And Carry.com
Okay. Now check out this interview with Ron Zimmerman. Who? Well, read it and find out!
Conducted by Christopher Allen
Ron Zimmerman is a guy you may think you don't know, but you either do or you will. The former executive producer and writer of television programs as varied as V.I.P., Action! and Seventh Heaven, Zimmerman is also well known for his frequent appearances on The Howard Stern Radio Show, and he was nice enough to chat with GHM about a number of new projects he's doing for Marvel Comics, but we'll even discuss the new sitcom pilot he and Stern just sold (1/25/02) to CBS for the Fall.
GHM:Ron, bring us up to speed a bit on some of the things you've done. Are you still involved with V.I.P.? RZ:No, I just did the first year, though I'm still friends with Pam Anderson. First year of Seventh Heaven, too, though I just finished doing a guest shot acting, which is something I like to do now and then.
GHM:Is it a funny part?
RZ:If you think Seventh Heaven is a funny show (laughs), then this is the funniest thing on it. It's…it's a cute part. It's funny, though, I'm either recognized from the Stern show, or Seventh Heaven, since I played this part the first time a year or so ago, and a lot of the time, people who've seen me know me from both shows.
GHM:The same audience for Stern watches Seventh Heaven?!
RZ:Yeah, I guess.
GHM:Maybe the whole family watches Seventh Heaven, and then they put the kids to bed and watch Stern.
RZ:Yeah, but a lot of the kids I meet know me from Stern, too. Hey, Howard and I just sold a pilot today to CBS!
GHM:Really? What's it about?
RZ:It's called Kane--
GHM:--Like the comic?
RZ:There's a comic? No, this is like a family sitcom version of a Faulkner novel or Tennessee Williams play. I've always loved that Southern stuff. It's kind of like The Long Hot Summer. This family is the richest family in this tiny Alabama town, and everyone's screwing everyone over. But instead of like the Paul Newman outsider character, we've got this estranged daughter. And the patriarch is John Henry Kane, who's like this John Huston type-an old guy who still thinks he has to fuck everything that walks. I'd really like Jon Voight to play Kane, but we'll see. I'm more proud of the writing on this than about anything I've ever done. But as much as I liked it, I have to say, Howard loved it! He would not let it go, and kept pushing Les Moonves to do it. He's the toughest motherfucker when he likes something. And with the stuff on the air where Howard's calling Les a moron for saying his Saturday night show was cancelled…it's been an interesting journey to get this sold. But, it's sold, as of today. This is the first time I've sold a show as a spec script, usually it's just a pitch and then you go write the script if they want it. Howard and I are executive producers.
GHM:So what do you do next?
RZ:I have no idea. The script's written. Howard will probably deal with CBS, and I'll cast the thing here in L.A. The script will go through seventeen rewrites, knowing the network, but they'll have to get it in fast, to make the Fall schedule.
GHM:What else can you say about Howard?
RZ:He's my oldest friend in showbiz. I met him when I was 19 years old, and I'm 43 now. I consider him a mentor, and he takes no shit. He's brilliant. As far as performers in the past 30 years, he and Richard Pryor have influenced everything in terms of comedy. Forget Lenny Bruce.
GHM:
You know, on the air, though he says he likes comic books, he doesn't seem to know much about them.
RZ:He's getting more into it now. Ralph (Cirella-Stern's buddy, makeup artist, and provocative personality) got him into the Ultimates. He doesn't talk too much about this stuff on the air because he's kind of embarrassed about it. He hides comics in the bathroom so his girlfriend doesn't see them (laughs). He loves Ultimate Spider-Man, and the regular Spider-Man books, too.
GHM:He said something last week about how he now prefers trade paperbacks to single issues.
RZ:Yeah, that's because of Ralph. Joe (Quesada) gives Ralph tpbs. Robyn (Quivers)'s boyfriend is a comic book fan, too.
GHM:What books are you reading these days?
RZ:I really think Garth Ennis is a wonderful writer. And Grant Morrison does such great, dense work. Dense in ideas, I mean. He writes the exact opposite of me. I seem to write about guys in bars, talking about chicks. I read Morrison and think, "Maybe I should learn some science or something." (laughs). I met Morrison this week, at one of these big Marvel dinners here, and he's very nice, too. Some of these Marvel writers wouldn't even talk to me, but he and Joe Casey were nice to me…so now they're my favorite writers. (laughs)
GHM:You've just burst on the comics scene with a bunch of new projects for Marvel. Could you tell us about them?
RZ:There's a few things I can't talk about yet, but the first thing you'll see is The Punisher (#8-on sale now). Stuart Moore called me and said they needed a fill-in issue very fast, and did I have any Punisher stories. I basically came up with it there over the phone, and he needed the script in a week. In a way, it's good, because it wasn't really solicited, so I can sort of debut with no pressure. I think it was supposed to be #9 and then they had to flip-flop them for some reason.
GHM:What's it about?
RZ:When I came up with the story, I'd just come back from Chicago, and hated it. So the story gives the Punisher a reason to go to Chicago and do all the things I wanted to do.
GHM:What's wrong with Chicago?
RZ:You know how some cities embrace you and some don't? No matter what I did, I just never felt welcome there.
GHM:Did you find burning bags of crap on your doorstep?
RZ:No, but I just didn't fit in, you know?
GHM:You're also doing a major revamp of Kraven, I hear. Not the original, but his son, Alyosha.
RZ:Right, we're doing like five five-page stories with him and Spider-Man, that are going to be in all the Marvel books for that month. Sean Phillips did the art on those, and it reintroduces readers to this character. He's not like his dad anymore. He wears nice suits and is just this gabby guy, sort of like Howard or Bill Maher. I gave one note to the artist: Make this guy like John Buscema's Conan. Big, tough motherfucker. No jungle shit. The story is called "You Can Call Me Al", after the Paul Simon song.
GHM:Getting away from the foreign-sounding "Alyosha."
RZ:And after that we've got Get Kraven, which is like my tip of the hat to Elmore Leonard. Al's got this girlfriend named Timber, who's a waitress at the villain bar (Note: this bar will be featured heavily in Bill Rosemann's Deadline miniseries). She's this struggling actress who gets treated bad at auditions, which gets Al mad. He thinks, "Fuck these guys" and decides to take her to Hollywood and make her a star himself. I'm using a lot of real stories that have happened to me in this business.
GHM:A lot of times, when comics writers set stories in Hollywood, they revert to these clichés that really brand them as outsiders to that world.
RZ:Everything in Action! was true, just maybe embellished a little. It either happened to me, or Joel Silver had a lot of stories. And this will be the first time in a comic book that real celebrity guest stars are used, with their approval on dialogue. I'm using people I know. Jennifer Tilly has agreed. Maybe Drew Carey, maybe Howard. Mary McCormack. Scott Baio, believe it or not. And the artist, Al Rio, is doing such a wonderful job. We're finding out how great he is at drawing these celebrities; he's just dead-on.
GHM:But wouldn't it be hard to recognize, say, Mary McCormack, as a comic character?
RZ:That's an obvious question, and I always try to deal with those questions in the script itself. I would write, "who's Mary McCormack?" and then another person would say, "Oh, she played Stern's wife in Private Parts.
GHM:And how long is the series?
RZ:It's six issues, but if it's successful, it'll become an ongoing. That's the plan.
GHM:What else do you have coming up?
RZ:Startling Stories: Ben Grimm. It's called "The Last Line of Defense" or "Holding the Line" or something. I've always had a soft spot for Ben Grimm.
GHM:So it's Ben Grimm, not The Thing?
RZ:Oh, I always feel bad calling him The Thing. What a terrible name for such a nice guy!
GHM:But Ben is orange and rocky here?
RZ:Oh, yes. It starts off with him stuck in the middle of this desert--
GHM:--Like The Hulk?
RZ:He's in this desert, sitting in a chair and drinking a case of beer. He's with this young corporal who's the descendant of a legendary character in the Marvel Universe. They're on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D., waiting to intercept something horrible. But they're not due to intercept this thing until night, so during the course of the day Ben gets drunk and tells the kid cool stories about how he's always the guy called in to do the shit work. Like in the first flashback, Ben's on a day but the Wrecker is going nuts in Brooklyn, and nobody wants to deal with him because he's got this crowbar blessed in Asgard, you know? So Ben has to shlep in and get his ass handed to him. He ends up winning, of course, and does something with the Wrecker's crowbar I hope people will think is funny. In the next one, (George W.) Bush wants Ben to go see the Inhumans, who are about to declare war on America. I'm bringing back the rocket shoes! Ben hates these shoes, but agrees to do it if Bush flies him in Air Force One. Ben gets in a big fight with Gorgon, whom he hates, and Karnak and Triton let the fight go on because they're not that crazy about Gorgon, either. Ben hits on Medusa and then has to explain himself to Black Bolt. The third issue is a serious one, a flashback to when Sue was pregnant, and it's just her and Ben in the Baxter Building when a villain attacks. I'm thinking either the Mad Thinker or Doom. Maybe Blastaar. You know, when it's a matter of the heart, Ben is truly unstoppable, so this will be more of an emotional issue than the others, because by the time he tells this story he's really drunk.
GHM:He gets more melancholy the more he drinks, like an Irishman?
RZ:Yeah, I think there's even a line in there about him having a touch of Black Irish in him. Ultimately, the series is about this kid and his father.
GHM:Any reflection with Ben and his own dad?
RZ:Now that you mention it, that's a good idea. If the kid shows up again in the Marvel Universe-and I hope he does-Ben will be his mentor. Hopefully, he realizes he's got more of a destiny than just being a corporal, maybe he should follow his own blood a bit more. Hopefully we can incorporate this kid into this legacy from his ancestor.
GHM:Will there be different artists for each issue, due to the flashbacks?
RZ:No, it's all being done by this guy, Don Kramer, who's doing a really great job.
GHM:I think it's great you're infusing Marvel with some new characters. Do you have any plans to do creator-owned work there or elsewhere?
RZ:We're doing a creator-owned book which we then hope to sell as a TV show. It's a very different take on …something Marvel's never done. It's not a done deal yet, so I don't want to say too much yet. Hopefully if we do it, we can incorporate these characters into the Marvel Universe.
GHM:That's okay with Quesada, to blur the lines between creator-owned stuff and company-owned?
RZ:He's very into it. He's even helping with some of the costume designs, and Ralph is helping with costume design, too.
GHM:When do you hope to put this series out?
RZ:We're aiming for the fall, along with Get Kraven. It depends on CBS and what happens with my pilot. My dream guy would be Tim Sale on this, but who knows?
I also have a few other characters I'd like to do something with. I really like Namor, but until I come up with a take on him, maybe I'm not the writer to do him justice. I also wanted to do something in Asgard, but there's a very important distinction writers have to make sometimes between something you want to write and something you want to read. I had a deal years ago to write a movie on Desi Arnaz. At one time he produced 83% of all TV productions; he was really like a don. Antonio Banderas wanted to play him. And they studio is telling me I need to talk to Lucie Arnaz, and this old musician in his band, and at a certain point I realized this is just a movie I really wanted to go to. I thought, I don't want to write this for five years. Unless I can make Namor a big player in the Marvel Universe again, what's the point? I'd love to see Thor go bad and fight the entire MU, a crossover with every book; I'd love to write that. There's only one guy who could defeat him, and that's Captain America, similar to the Batman/Superman mythos. I'd hate to do it as a oneshot…which would be…
GHM:Inconsequential?
RZ:Right. It's gotta be important, Thor's gotta kill somebody. It's got to be real dramatic, or why do it?. I mean, Thor is really about the most powerful character, but you wouldn't know it.
GHM:Every time I tried to read the current run, he's just getting his ass kicked, left and right.
RZ:Yeah. And I'd love to redo the Falcon and make him cool again. When he started-what was it, Roy Thomas and Gil Kane?-he had this cool green costume. Now, he looks like Siegried and Roy's opening act. It was a great character when created, but now they've messed him up so many times. Two obscure characters I love are Falcon, and Red Wolf. They're on my To Do list. I'd like to do something with them as a throwback to the Denny O'Neil/Neil Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow. I'd do Red Wolf more along the lines of Billy Jack and do a buddy road story. A writer of VIP I'm friends with and I are fiddling with it. It might be the thing to do after Get Kraven and the creator-owned book.
GHM:Will you be going to any conventions this year?
RZ:Maybe, since I'll have some comics credits under my belt. I was supposed to do this stand-up thing in San Diego last year-I've got like 45 minutes of superhero comics material-and then I find out I'm opposite Quesada and Kevin Smith, so nobody would be seeing me anyway.
GHM:Do you have any plans for that material?
RZ:I've got a book of it right here I'm looking at. I'd love to do it but where? You can't go to a normal comedy club and talk about Wolverine fingering somebody and killing her, or why Aquaman got his hand eaten by piranha, when he's supposed to be able to just say, "hey, quit eating my hand!" to them. I need the right venue. I really liked that Peter David run, but that always bothered me.
GHM:All right, Ron, I've been ordered by our publisher to ask about the Clone Saga and Ben Reilly, since we hear you're a fan.
RZ:I liked it. At the time, Spiderman was boring as washing the dishes and I thought it was fascinating. Ben Reilly, just the name was interesting. I never understood why people were so mad. The story was interesting and it ended. It had tons of drama, it was sad, it was poignant. And people are still mad about it. I like that Peter Parker thought of this poor clone fuckhead as his brother. I was totally engaged in the whole thing, then I was embarrassed because so many people seemed to hate it. I even loved what everybody hated, that the clone has been Spidey since '74 for something. That was ballsy. I didn't like that Kaine was also a clone, though. When that happened, I thought, -too many clones! They went wrong there, somebody panicked. They could've set up a character still viable now. And I could have done without the blue sweatshirt. I always liked the black costume. And the best was the 2099 costume. I saw that (Peter) David jumped Captain Marvel into the future in his book and there was the 2099 costume. In fact, if the Spidey stuff I'm doing wasn't coming out around the time of the movie, I'd push to put him back in that black costume again. We could sell a lot of toys.
We thank Ron Zimmerman for taking the time to talk to us, and look forward to his various projects for Marvel and television. And while we can't talk about some of those upcoming projects yet, we're pretty sure your jaw will drop when you hear about them!
That's still not enough for you? Good lord! What'll it take, a contest? The promise of free stuff from Oni Press?
THE COPYBOOK TALES CONTEST!!!
Hey Everyone!
You know, I love getting free comic books. And there's nothing I like better than getting free comics, except when I have the chance to give our wonderful readers free comics books. So that's what we're going to do.
Oni Press has offered up several volumes of their amazing Copybook Tales Trade Paperback. Created by J Torres and Tim Levins, this 240-page volume collects the classic comic mini-series, all of the mini comics and several never before seen pages and illustrations.
I've been a fan of this series since the first time I got to meet J and Tim in Montreal years ago while on Dave Sim's Spirits of National Unity Tour. If you're a fan of the slice of life genre and books like 'The Waiting Place' or 'Blue Monday', you're going to absolutely adore this book and hound the creative team until they do a reunion issue.
So what do you have to do to get a copy of this book for yourself without making the trek to the local comic book store? Glad you asked. Since we're such swell people here at GrayHaven, we're giving our readers several different opportunities to score this prize, via 4 different categories: Bribery, Pity, Creativity and Dumb Luck.
Bribery- The only thing the team at Oni Press likes more than people enjoying their books is when fans send them free Star Wars goodies. So you, the dear reader, have to come up with the coolest, most unique or just plain silly Star Wars item and send it over to the Oni crew. Let's not get crazy here and spend more money than the cost of the book. Hell, you can even get cheesy leftover action figures for a buck or two. But because this category involves a bit more work and possible money, we're throwing in a copy of Judd Winick's hilarious 'Adventures of Barry Week Volume 3: Monkey Tales' Trade, too. Best gift idea wins a trade and we just may offer a consolation prize for anyone who is generous enough to part with a Star Wars item. Jamie, Joe and company can't wait 4 months until Episode II so send your warm wishes and love wrapped in a galaxy far, far, away.
Pity- Send us an essay. It should be no less than 25 words but no more than 100, detailing why you, over all of our billions of fans, deserves a copy of The Copybook Tales. And explanation of why you're too cheap to send a Star Wars gift may also be required. So you sympathy mongers, stop whining and start writing and the letter than 'touches' us the most gets rewarded with their own Copybook Tales Trade.
Creativity- If you care about comic books, you obviously know how to read, which gives you a solid edge over many other people. But do you know how to…HAIKU? We're not explaining the rules of the haiku. It'll be funnier to post the incorrect ones. So how do you win this one? Send along your Haiku praising the generous folks at Oni Press for their terrific books and generous prizes and you get one of those terrific books, the Copybook Tales.
Dumb Luck- We're thinking of a number between 1 and 100. First one to email me with their correct guess wins a copy of The Copybook Tales.
All entries must be emailed to ME before the deadline on March 1st, 2002. Winners of the bribery category will have to prove they sent the item before receiving their prizes.
The Copybook Tales- You won't find a better collection this year.
For more information on Oni Press and to view some of their online comic books, go to Oni Press.com
Okay? Can I go to sleep now?
I promise... AICN COMICS will be back this weekend with a new column called BREAKDOWNS, a major piece on SCION, and a Matt Madden interview!!
"Moriarty" out.
