The Beat |
- A Year of Free Comics: COOL FRIEND is your online DATA source
- Which Eternals will fans ship the most?
- EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: The search continues in Jeff Lemire’s MAZEBOOK #3
- Whoa! Taika Waititi Signs on for The Incal Movie
- INTERVIEW: Rob Paulsen & Maurice LaMarche reflect on their friendship voicing Pinky and the Brain
- INTERVIEW: Voice director Andrea Romano reflects on SUPERMAN: TAS and the voiceover industry
- INTERVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN AND HOWARD…and Jeffrey Brown
- EXCLUSIVE: Check out variant covers by Peach Momoko and Jim Rugg for Ed Piskor’s RED ROOM: TRIGGER WARNINGS #1
| A Year of Free Comics: COOL FRIEND is your online DATA source Posted: 04 Nov 2021 03:00 PM PDT In the online Data comics by Cool Friend, the irresistible android that adorns the bridge of the D gets to take center stage! With a foundation that is firmly rooted in an unabashed adoration of puns, no fan of TNG's most human bridge crewmember should allow these hilarious single-panel gag strips to pass them by!
Data |
| Which Eternals will fans ship the most? Posted: 04 Nov 2021 01:15 PM PDT [MILD SPOILERS FOR ETERNALS BELOW] Eternals is set to be the most divisive movie yet in the MCU. Critics yawned, entire countries have banned, and fans are just beginning to weigh in. Will they like what they see? Having seen Eternals already, I think there’s a lot more to love for fans here than you may have heard. And here’s a guide to the most likely candidates for Eternals fanfic – with some supporting evidence from the cat and crew themselves. In a way, the Eternals are essentially vampires without the icky parts – nearly immortal, beautiful, attached to mortals, but drifting in and out of their lives. It's a theme often spoken of in the myths of many lands – myths that Eternals' multi-cultural cast intentionally echoes.  But will fans get caught up in the storyline and want to ship these often-stand-offish beings? Dune, based on a venerable SF classic, has definitely caught on with the AO3 crowd. Will the tasteful, distant, naturally lit Eternals? One thing in the film's favor: there is actual on screen sex and romance, something long missing from the MCU. (By my count the last time there was an MCU sex scene was the Edward Norton Hulk and Liv Tyler, which went horribly wrong. No wonder they haven't tried since.) Although in MCU films cameras lovingly linger on some of the world's most swoon worthy stars, all the actual sparks have been left to Tumblr and AO3.  But in Eternals, affairs of the heart are front and center. The love triangle between Sersi (Gemma Chan), Ikaris (Richard Madden) and human (or is he?) Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington) forms the emotional core of the film. Attachments – sometimes spoken, but more often unspoken – propel most of the characters. Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) is the MCU's first openly gay character, and devoted to his human husband, Ben (Haaz Sleiman) and their son. Another character's unspoken love of Ikaris drives some of the plots most shocking twists. And just what is going on between Druig (Barry Keoghan) and Maccari (Lauren Ridloff)? A lot of this has to do with MCU head Kevin Feige's desire to chart a new course for Phase Four of the MCU. Like a chef experimenting with some new flavors in the kitchen, Feige and producer Nate Moore (who is credited with a lot of the hands-on work of the film and its innovations) tried a lot of new things with Eternals. As Feige has said, the whole idea with the film was to expand the MCU. "In a post-Infinity Saga world, we wanted to make a bold new step and say you don’t know everything about the universe yet and that there are these 10 spectacular heroes who you haven’t met who’ve been here the whole time," he said at a press event for the film.  Moore had a driving vision for what Eternal could be – and director Chloé Zhao's pitch for the film took it even further. She "took these very general ideas and obviously the Jack Kirby spectacular source material, and it felt like a very new, special step for us," Feige continued. Zhao brought her unique vision for what Eternals could be. Known for her lowkey films featuring natural lighting and subtle explorations of personal freedom, Zhao's pitch involved photos of sand and a poem by William Blake – probably "Auguries of Innocence" which does speak directly to the theme of the Eternals. To see a World in a Grain of Sand "Blake was trying to convey that you can see the endless beauty and the meanings of the cosmos within the smallest things you can find on earth," Zhao told reporters. "The vision of the film was to set up, to capture that scale – something as large as the creation of the sun and as intimate as whispers of lovers." Ah, whispering lovers! Now we're talking. So let's get back to those ship possibilities. Of course, there's Sersi/Ikaris and Sersi/Dane. All the actors involved were well into the emotionally driven plotline of the film. "Sersi is a superhero, but her powers are not the most obvious or flashiest," said Chan. "She's not the best fighter. What she does have is empathy, and a real affinity for humankind and the earth. She’s a free spirit. That was one of the enjoyable things about the film, going on that journey with that character. It’s kind of her coming-of-age, even though she’s probably thousands of years old. But she learns to trust herself and to grow into her own power." Madden's Ikaris was also caught up in the emotion. Although he often plays dreamboat romantic leads, this time it's a soldier – who struggles with throwing away duty for love. "I’m used to characters who are very focused on their love. And with Ikaris, it’s the opposite of that. He’s kind of trying to bury that love because it gets in the way of his duty and [he's] constantly wrestling the two." That's what made the character interesting for him. "You’re trying to stick to duty, but your feelings get in the way." Fanfic fodder for sure! But what about Harrington's Dane Whitman, who will most likely become The Black Knight at some point in time?  "He's a nice guy," said Harrington, uttering a deadly put down about his very own character. But there's more to him than just a nice guy. "I did feel [that] it’s me and Phastos’ husband and kid who are representing humanity, and I felt that from the beginning, I had to represent something that was worth saving, maybe. And I hope that Dane comes across as a nice, standup guy. And one thing I really respect him for is that a man flies out of the sky and shoots lasers out of his eyes and steals his girlfriend, and he’s kind of cool with it." HELL YEAH. Eternals Fanfic Threat Level: High!  Brian Tyree Henry also saw the love in his character, Phastos, a tinkerer who ends up creating the tools for humanity to destroy one another and ends up settling down with a nice boy. "What I really love the most about Phastos is that through all of that, him being eternal, him never being able to die, he still chose love," Henry told the press. "He still decided to have a family even though he may have to watch them perish. He still tried to find a way to bring heart and love to everything he did, even though his genius was used against him. And it just really resonated with me." Eternals Fanfic Threat Level: Very Good  But wait there is more! One of the big surprises of the film was the chemistry between Maccari and Druig – it was even a surprise to director Zhao who says the first time Keoghan and Ridloff met "the two of you started just riffing, you started to improvise. And I go, what-what-wait, what’s happening? Sparks everywhere. Initially, that was not intention. I think really it was from you guys meeting that we saw that, and said, 'Maybe we should let play into it.' Ridloff confirms that there was nothing in the script that led to it. "But Chloé, under her brilliant direction, wanted us to imply that there was a lot more to Druig and Makkari. And I feel like that what actually brought them together is that they’re both very impatient they both have a lot of power." Did you read that? SPARKS EVERYWHERE. Eternals Fanfic Threat Level: OFF THE CHARTS  Finally, there's yet another unexpected team-up in the film, all-time all-star strongman Gilgamesh, played by Korean action megastar Don Lee (Ma Dong-Seok); and Thena goddess of war, portrayed by Angelina Jolie. Talk about a highly combustible relationship! Throw in Gilgamesh’s baking skills (a plot device that is practically a shippers delight) and you’ve got all the ingredients. Lee is well known in Korea for starring in more than 100 action films (including Train to Busan and hopefully more here in the US because he's dyn-o-mite) and he's a classic tough guy even off screen. But Jolie was more than a match for him. "We worked together a lot," said Lee of his famed co-star. "’cause we’re looking out for each other." Even though both were industry veterans, it was the first time they had met, and they were under pressure to film with little time for rehearsal. "We had to just shoot right away, actually but it was so comfortable. It was like we were old friends who finally got to work together." Jolie is no stranger to action scenes, and her Thena bursts on the screen as one of the biggest badasses in the galaxy. But this was also part of Zhao's magic, she says. "That’s one of the special things that Chloé is known for, bringing reality to a film, to somebody’s true self. So, a lot of us were cast to bring out something from our own lives, something within ourselves, that maybe we weren’t even aware of. And then let it grow within the film." And that Thena spirit within Jolie – it's the real deal. "She is maybe the most fantastic I’ve ever played in a superhero. And yet, my children said she thought it was the most like me." You can see why even a tough guy like Don Lee might have a hard time keeping up with that. Eternals Fanfic Threat Level: TK – maybe too much star power!  . ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved. And we haven’t even talked about swole Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Interview with a Vampire’s Sprite (Lia McHugh), or mother figure Ajak (Salma Hayek). The possibilities are endless. In the end, the Eternals is really about humanity and connecting with one another, Henry said. "I think that that is the one thing that I hope everyone takes away from this movie, is that the heart of humanity is still worth saving, and we can still bind and mend and do everything we need to through love." And fanficcers are known to respond to these kinds of emotions, so we shall see! Or as William Blake himself put it in the wind-up to his poem: God Appears & God is Light 
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| EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: The search continues in Jeff Lemire’s MAZEBOOK #3 Posted: 04 Nov 2021 01:00 PM PDT Next week Dark Horse Comics will release Mazebook #3, the next issue in the new five-part miniseries from writer/artist Jeff Lemire. Today The Beat is proud to present an exclusive first look at the issue, which finds Will diving further into the mystery of his daughter’s return.
Here’s how Dark Horse describes Mazebook #3:
Lemire’s latest book is an intense examination of grief in the face of unimaginable loss. In an interview with The Beat earlier this year Lemire acknowledged the weight of the book’s subject matter as being what drew him to the story:
Check out the exclusive four-page preview for Mazebook #3, as well as a variant cover for the issue by Lemire’s Sentient collaborator Gabriel Hernandez Walta, below. The middle chapter of the series arrives in stores and digitally next Wednesday, November 10th.
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| Whoa! Taika Waititi Signs on for The Incal Movie Posted: 04 Nov 2021 10:15 AM PDT
Waititi recently wrapped Thor: Love and Thunder and is one of Hollywood’s most sought after (and quirkiest) filmmakers, so this is a big get for The Incal – and a big task for Waititi and crew as this is some of the most weird and spectacular comics material ever adapted for the screen. The Incal is a trippy space opera about an intergalactic detective John Difool who gets involved with a magical MacGuffin called The Incal. With some of the French comics giant Moebius’s most iconic and influential art, it also spawned into a whole series of sequels called The Jodoverse, including The Metabarons and it’s attendant spin-offs. The Incal is published by Humanoids, and is cited as a huge influence on films like Blade Runner, The Fifth Element and The Matrix. According to THR, Humanoids is waiting for a script before getting a studio on board.
Also according to THR, Waititi sought the blessing of the 92-year-old Jodorowsky over Zoom.
Some more Moebius goodness:
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| INTERVIEW: Rob Paulsen & Maurice LaMarche reflect on their friendship voicing Pinky and the Brain Posted: 04 Nov 2021 09:30 AM PDT Since appearing as recurring segment on the Animaniacs cartoon and their own eventual spin-off show, the sophisticated wit and charm of genetically altered lab mice Pinky and the Brain have captured the hearts of viewers around the world. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the characters have earned their place among the echelon of other comedy duos such as Abbot and Costello or Laurel and Hardy. The same can be said for the voice actors themselves, Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche respectively. With the Animaniacs revival on Hulu, Pinky and the Brain have returned as well to resume their twilight campaign and prove their mousy worth by taking over the world. However, this reboot almost never came to be. Around the time serious discussions about reviving Animaniacs took place a few years, Paulsen revealed to his friends and colleagues that he was battling throat cancer. Since then Paulsen has made a full recovery but for a time there remained a very real possibility that his career may have come at an end. In which case, LaMarche and the rest of the original cast would have refused to reprise their roles without Paulsen. We spoke with Paulsen and LaMarche about how their real life friendship transcended a mere working relationship voicing Pinky and the Brain. Watch our exclusive interview below! Animaniacs Season 2 premieres this Friday, November 5th on Hulu.
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| INTERVIEW: Voice director Andrea Romano reflects on SUPERMAN: TAS and the voiceover industry Posted: 04 Nov 2021 08:00 AM PDT If you watched any cartoon in the last few decades, there’s a very good chance that legendary voice director Andrea Romano was involved. Since beginning her career in the animation industry at Hanna-Barbera Productions in the ’80s, Romano has earned a reputation as the best in the business, garnering eight Daytime Emmy Awards (yes, eight), a Peabody Award, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from State University of NY. Now retired, Romano’s legacy in the voiceover industry still casts a long shadow. Among fans of the world of DC Comics, Romano is perhaps known for her work in the acclaimed DC Animated Universe. After Batman: The Animated Series, considered by many as the definitive depiction of the character, Romano followed it with Superman: The Animated Series. In the 25 years since Superman: TAS premiered, the series is likewise regarded as a quintessential interpretation of the Man of Steel. With the release of Superman: Complete The Animated Series on Blu-ray, The Beat had the fortune to chat with the living legend as Andrea Romano as she looked back on her time working on Superman: The Animated Series. During our discussion, Romano revealed what she was looking for in casting the voice for the Man of Steel, the relationships she developed with the actors, as well as her thoughts on the current state of the voiceover industry.
Taimur Dar: Something I didn't know until I interviewed Tim Daly was that he learned about the casting for the Superman animated series through one of the writers for Wings whose wife worked with you and mentioned you were having trouble finding the right voice. It dawned upon me pretty quickly that it may have been TV writer Christopher Lloyd who is married to Arleen Sorkin, the voice of Harley Quinn. So I'm really curious if you can recall if that weird indirect connection to Wings is what led to casting Tim Daly but what the Superman voice casting process was like in general? Andrea Romano: You just gave me a whole bunch of information that I didn't have! I was trying to remember how we got Tim Daly in the room and who suggested him. I couldn't remember if it was an agent or whoever. I do remember it was near the end of the casting period. It wasn't that we were getting desperate because we did have a couple of actors that we liked but we wanted to make sure we had done a thorough job seeing everyone who was appropriate. We weren't saying that we needed to have a recognizable on-camera actor play the role but it certainly doesn't ever hurt for publicity. So it was like, "Why not read him? He's a good actor and he might have an idea for this role that we haven't heard yet." And in fact, he did. What I think he did so well was he made the boy scout aspect of Clark Kent and Superman be attractive. It wasn't something that could be mocked. This was a character you could convincingly believe would always make the right decision. As opposed to Batman who is a human with foibles could screw up and it makes him an interesting character too. But Superman or Clark Kent would pretty much always make the good, right, proper decisions that would give us the most positive outcome. Tim was able to voice that in a way that was really subtle and not cartoony or fakey. And that was crucial. I think you're right about the writer. It doesn't matter to me where the ideas come from. If they're good ideas they should be explored. Whoever did that out there in the world, thank you! Dar: Speaking of casting, as a kid I had no idea the voices of the Kents, Mike Farrell and Shelley Fabares, were an actual married couple. I'm really curious how that casting brilliance came about and if they recorded together? Romano: They did indeed record together. I believe they auditioned individually. I don't think anybody ever told us they were married. I don't think they were represented by the same agent. I think we just auditioned both these talented actors to play these roles. I could be remembering this inaccurately but when the decision came down to who we were going to cast for those roles, they were the two top people. Then I remember going, "They're a married couple!" And then thinking, "How perfect is that! We're casting a married couple to play a married couple!" Because there's a comfort that two actors who know each other so well have playing kind of themselves. They were just so naturally good and I have to attribute some of that to the fact that they are actually married and comfortable with each other.
Dar: Something I've heard you talk about before is making sure the projects you work on appeal to a wide audience. The best example for me right now is Ted Lasso. I have no interest whatsoever in soccer but I've fallen in love with the characters and story. Romano: It's fantastic isn't it? I love it too! I haven't watched the new season yet. Dar: You've got to watch it as soon as you can! For Superman, how did go about making a show that appealed beyond the typical male comic book reader audience? Romano: Very good question! I think it had a built-in fanboy audience because Superman is just such a wonderful character for young boys to read about and try to emulate in certain ways. But I wanted to make a show both for the Batman series and Superman series that would appeal to women as well. So there was a feminine viewpoint that wasn't disregarded. Lois was a great vehicle to do that. She was smart and successful and she didn't put up with male garbage. That helped. I also wanted it to be a show that kids could watch with their parents. Let's say 25 years ago somebody is sitting down with their 5-year old kid and says, "The first time I ever saw Superman was…," then a huge circle of knowledge in the DC world continues. That's very pleasant that I'm a little part of that. A tiny cog in that wheel that helps it move around so that kids, teenagers, parents, and grandparents watch it. I remember many years ago when I first doing the series, one of my sisters who works in publishing sent me an article in the New Yorker. They were interviewing inmates at Rikers Island and asking them what their favorite viewing was. They talked about soap operas. They loved the soap operas. Then they had to go back to their cells for headcount. Then they would rush to the rec room to watch the next hour and half of programming which included Batman, Superman, and Pinky and the Brain. And those were all three of my shows! I had no idea that this was a demographic I was reaching. But I thought it was so cool that this was an entertainment for an extremely wide audience. Dar: Now that's a really fascinating thing I'm learning for the first time! Romano: Isn't it! I still have that article somewhere amongst my most prized possessions. I had a big fanbase at Rikers Island at one time.
Dar: You're retired now but it's an understatement to say that the VO industry has undergone a tremendous change in the past year, Even though you're not working anymore when you started your career in the ’80s did you ever imagine the technology would evolve to a point where recording from home instead of a studio was possible? Romano: I did. What I wanted to do was be on the north shore of Hawaii directing everybody from wherever they were and still be able to work from long distance. Now it could be done but I'm not working anymore! But I still want to go to Hawaii and live there if I can. I did hope that would happen. The drag about it is I like the human connection of actors walking into a studio and giving me a big hug and telling me how their day has gone and meeting the other actors I brought in for that session and telling stories and laughing and joking and working together and producing a beautiful cartoon. And then saying goodbye to everybody and hugging again. I really like that. I always said that casting was like making the cake and directing was like eating the cake. I like the eating the cake part and I liked being all together in the room because we could enjoy it together. I kind of feel like I retired at the right time in that things changed to the point where, even before the pandemic, it was happening that more and more people were recording from their own facilities. There's a lot of that that makes great sense. You can get people that couldn't normally get because they have a setup in their home and they can do it in 25 minutes in between something else that they're doing. But it's a little bit shall we say prophylactic to have people so cleanly in their stable which I completely get. I think it's perfectly logical. But even to have them on a Zoom call to record them I would miss being with them in-person. The other thing is there's something you can do with an actor when you're all in the room at the same time. You can walk right up to them and just give them a physical example of, "OK, this character is so frustrated that they're clenching their fist like this! And their whole body is so tense!" So the next performance they give they are physically doing that, mirroring what you did, and the voice changes. And I get the performance that I want. It's not that that can't be done over a video screen of some sort but it's way different to do it in-person. Dar: So glad I got to hear the perspective on the current state of the VO industry from legends such as yourself! It's been an immense pleasure chatting with you! Romano: For me as well! The post INTERVIEW: Voice director Andrea Romano reflects on SUPERMAN: TAS and the voiceover industry appeared first on The Beat.  |
| INTERVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN AND HOWARD…and Jeffrey Brown Posted: 04 Nov 2021 07:30 AM PDT Jeffrey Brown first came to prominence in the early 2000s with autobiographical work of a more adult, personal nature. Since the release of Darth Vader and Son in 2012, Brown has charted another career course into all-ages and middle grade reading circles. From the Darth Vader and Son series came Jedi Academy – and his own original kids books with the Lucy & Andy Neanderthal series and Space-Time (the second volume of which debuted in June). His newest middle grade graphic novel, Batman and Robin and Howard is the latest big IP to which Brown has turned his hand. The Beat chatted with the popular author about his newest book, settling into the kids niche, and whether he may return to the more personal work he was producing at the start of his career.
Jeffrey Brown: Not really. I mean, one of the things about Star Wars was that I grew up with Star Wars. I love Star Wars. So for me, it was getting to write fanfiction – it was as fun as much as it was work. And the same thing with Batman. Batman was always one of my favorite superheroes so, for me, it was less intimidating and more an exciting opportunity to get to play with these characters. DS: Did DC approach you about Batman or did you have the opportunity to pitch to them? JB: DC approached me about doing a book. They’ve been really great about doing a lot of books for kids and younger readers the past five, six years. They asked me if I’d be interested in doing something in the middle grade space and I had an idea for a middle grade story that was just kind of sitting in the back of my mind. I thought I could take that story, put Robin as one of the characters that was in the story, and then make it a Batman and Robin story. It all meshed together really nicely. So then I pitched that story to them, and they liked it – so here we are. DS: I noticed that with Damian, your characterization is somewhat different to the way he is depicted in the comics. How did you develop your own take on the son of Batman? JB: I feel one of the things about Damian in the comics is he tends to feel a lot older. He’s maybe impulsive but he always seems pretty emotionally mature. He's kind of almost basically an adult more than a kid and so I kind of wanted to hit the spot of Damian where he’s a lot younger, and he is still more of a kid than we’ve seen. Especially being able to put him in real world situations like finding friends at school and getting homework done and things. I thought that was a really fun way to show this other side of him other than what you usually see which is the more Robin superhero side. DS: Similar to Jedi Academy, Batman and Robin and Howard handles school life. Because it’s been a while since either of us have been at school, how do you manage to keep it natural? JB: Part of it is just maybe I’m still reliving [laughs] my middle school days and regrets of how naïve and silly I was. And then also just looking at my own kids and observing them – not necessarily for specific situations – but you know, just kind of getting a read on how they’re developing friendships and things they might encounter at school and letting that guide how I deal with these characters.
DS: Do you engage with your own children when you’re trying to come up with material? JB: Not so one-to-one, not so explicitly. Maybe once in a while, I’ll have them read something and let them give me feedback. I might say, like, 'What do you think would be a good thing to happen in this situation?' But mostly it’s just trying to absorb everything, more than drawing specifics. DS: The relationships between Damian and his father (Bruce Wayne/Batman), and with Alfred – how did you manage to define those in such an engaging way? JB: The one thing [with] Batman is, I really like the idea of a goofy Batman. [He] is just so super intimidating – but the most intimidating person in the world is still going to have moments where they do something embarrassing. For a teenager, your dad is always embarrassing, no matter what they do, no matter how cool they are to the rest of the world. And so that was kind of how I approached Batman. With Alfred, I had this idea that – instead of either this very stiff and formal kind of butler character or sometimes you see him and he’s actually a crimefighting superhero too – I thought: if it was more realistic, how would that life look like? What would that life look like for them? I thought Alfred would kind of be a grandfather figure. He’s a little more formal with Bruce Wayne because when they first knew each other that was more their relationship, but then with Damian, Alfred is just kind of like the fun grandpa who maybe let's him stay up a little later and have more candy than his dad would. DS: And with his estranged mother, Talia al Ghul? JB: I think it’s an interesting situation. In the real world, moms and dads fight and sometimes they get divorced, and it’s bitter – and if you’re superheroes and you’re fighting, it’s an entirely different level. So, on the one hand, it’s just a simple joke to say 'Yeah, my parents are literally fighting', like they’re battling. But I thought it also gives Damian a much more conflicted human side, because Damian doesn’t want his parents to fight. He doesn’t like it. And it’s something that he kind of deals with. For Bruce Wayne, he maybe doesn’t want to fight, especially for the sake of Damian, but they can’t help but have this animosity between [each other] sometimes. It’s something I didn’t want to get too deep in because you can do a whole book just about the relationship but I definitely wanted to touch it because it’s kind of, in the same way that Batman’s character is in some ways defined by this pivotal moment where his parents are murdered, for Robin there’s this pivotal aspect of his mom and dad being enemies.
DS: On developing Howard – when did the idea for the character occur? Was he there before you started the book? JB: He was always there. My initial idea for the story wasn’t a superhero story. It was just a middle school story about two all-star kids. Where you have the super-popular, great athlete, best student kid at a high school, and then another kid shows up who he thinks he’s gonna show the new kid the ropes, and then the new kid ends up being like even better at everything. That was kind of the initial idea. I took that and I thought, well, what if Robin/Damian Wayne was the new kid and how would that work? And so Howard was always this character. My idea for his story was someone who identifies himself as being a super nice guy, really friendly and then can’t help but feel threatened by this new kid. How does he come back to find who he really is inside and get past the surface feelings of being jealous of this new kid and being who he really is, which is someone who can help Damian. DS: I noticed there’s a lot of soccer in the book. JB: Y'know – originally my idea was going to be American football. Just because that’s the standard American teenage movie story – American football. But personally, I didn’t play football in high school but I play soccer all the time now. If you look at Jedi Academy, they play soccer; there’s some soccer jokes in the Darth Vader books. And I thought, you know, soccer – Damian Wayne has some connections to England. And it just made sense that maybe Bruce Wayne owns a team and if he was gonna own a team, he’s not gonna own a NFL team. He’s gonna own a soccer team, and it seemed like a better fit all around. DS: So you play a lot of soccer yourself these days? JB: Yeah. Not professionally, obviously. But I play pickup soccer. So that’s the exercise I get. And it’s fun to put that into the books. DS: And going to back towards school. I noticed in Star Wars, you've got a lot of aliens and stuff – and so it’s naturally diverse in that sense. But in Batman and Robin and Howard, because it’s more down to earth, I noticed that Damian’s classmates are pretty diverse in terms of backgrounds and ability. Was that how you originally envisioned? Was it easy? Did it come naturally? Or did you have to plan it out? JB: I mean, I guess in some ways it was planned out, but it also came naturally. I knew I wanted it to look like a diverse school. The schools that I went to growing up were varying degrees of diverse depending on what year it was or which school I was at. But I knew that was important. And it was definitely something that DC was totally behind. And we knew it was important to show that diversity. DS: Coming up with the gags. Did you have many before you even started when you were thinking about Batman? JB: Some. I don’t want to spoil anything – but Batman, he’s the world’s greatest detective so he’s going to figure out the secret conspiracy but at the same time he might get locked in a closet. So that idea was one that I had from the beginning. I think other than that, it was more I had the general story and then with each draft of the book I tried to fit in more gags. Sometimes I might need a joke somewhere and I haven’t thought of it, and I kind of tried to keep adding [gags] through each version. DS: They're really funny, and there's neat ways you tried to slide in a lot of DC villain tropes. I quite enjoyed that. JB: Thank you.
DS: Has DC asked you to do more already or is Batman and Robin and Howard a one-off? JB: Theoretically we’ll be doing another book so it’s just a question of figuring out the story. So originally, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do more Batman and Robin and Howard because I thought there’s so many other characters that would be fun to work with – or even coming up with new characters. But after doing this, the more I talk about this book, then I think it would actually be really fun to do another Batman and Robin and Howard story. Especially now we’ve kind of – again, without trying to spoil things – but Robin and Howard are in a different place at the end of the book and so there’s opportunities to tell different kinds of stories with those characters that could be really fun. DS: Thinking back, when I first became familiar with your work, you were doing much more personal indie stuff. In more recent years you’ve been doing, I’d say for just over a decade now, you’ve been doing work for all ages, or kids books. How did you manage to discover your niche? Was it by accident? JB: I don’t know if 'accident' is the right word, but it did kind of just happen organically. Basically I had kids and then started reading kids' books more. and reading with them, and drawing with them. It was just a very natural transition. The first Star Wars book was really meant for adults, but I kind of wrote it to be kid friendly. Kids just basically co-opted it, and that led to the opportunity to do Jedi Academy which was explicitly intended to be for middle grade. So it just kind of happened naturally and it just made sense. DS: You’ve also managed to do your own series as well, you’ve got the Lucy & Andy Neanderthal books, and you’ve got Space-Time. Do you feel quite comfortable now in the kids genre? JB: I do. I mean, one of the things that that made it easy was that the last adult autobiographical book I did was kind of about fatherhood and religion. It was about my dad being a minister. It was a collection of stories and moments that had been sitting with me for a long time that needed to come out and make this book about those subjects. I have other stories, but nothing that’s coalesced into something that has clicked in a way where it’s like 'this is a book, this is something I need to write'. There’s little bits and pieces and sketchbooks that I’ve done but, for now, I don’t want to force myself into going back one way or another. Doing Batman and Robin and Howard for middle grade was great. It was something that was fun and I feel very comfortable in this space, yeah.  DS: Do you miss doing more personal stuff to balance out? JB: I guess. Sometimes I miss the more adult stuff but not like it’s killing me or something. The one thing I miss is when I had more time to just kind of do random, weird stuff that was for no other purpose than, like, just an idea I had that I could sketch out in a day. Whereas now my life is more structured around specific projects and they’re very involved. And the amount of work that goes into them doesn’t leave me as much time for doing just weird, random minicomics. So that’s probably the one thing that I do miss sometimes. DS: So if you’ve got a lot of other projects that you’re working on at the moment, anything that you can tease coming up? JB: Nothing that I’m ready to tease yet. But yeah, there’s a couple projects in the works, possibly another Batman and Robin and Howard story, or it might end up being a different book with DC. So I've got lots of things lined up but it’s one of those times where it’s just too early to talk about because by the time they come out, and I finished drawing, everyone will have forgotten. DS: Out of curiosity, do you have a favourite Batman from when you were growing up? JB: The Dark Knight Returns was huge for me, because I read random Batman comics. I didn’t keep up with the series but I would read random ones. I was mostly a Marvel guy. I love the first Batman film with Michael Keaton. When The Dark Knight Returns came out…I was kind of aware that, like, you have the 1960s TV Batman and Batman can be slightly different from comic to comic, but that was the eye opener. Like, 'Oh, here’s this version of Batman that is totally a different take'. Built on the basic story that everyone knows, but really does its own thing. So as a creator, especially, seeing that as a possibility was really exciting. DS: Is there a certain Batman that you’re drawing upon in Batman and Robin and Howard? JB: Visually, it was the classic blue and grey. Trying not to make the ears too tall and pointy. But then, in terms of character, I really just tried to come up with my own take where Batman is kind of a little goofier. Kind of like how Damian would see his dad. DS: Having now done Star Wars and Batman, is there anything else that you would want to have a go at? JB: There is always…It’s a lot of fun. I think one of the things when I’m talking to my students, when I’m teaching during school visits, is fanfiction is a great way to hone your skills – because as a storyteller you can tell the story without having to worry about building the world or get into all the background. A lot of that work's been done for you. There’s lots of superhero characters. I would like to do more with the X Men someday, Lord of the Rings is another one that I’ve always loved. That would be fun. But yeah, there's probably like, a dozen others. Dune. I like Dune. I haven’t seen the new Dune film [yet] but I am a devotee of the David Lynch film. DS: You go into schools. How often do you work with schools or colleges? JB: Yeah, so I teach a class at the School of the Arts Institute, here in Chicago. That’s a college class for creating comics. It’s just a studio, one-day-a-week class. School visits. The last year and a half hasn’t been nearly as many. There’s been some virtual visits. But pretty regularly. It’s always fun. I miss them in-person because it’s an entirely different experience as it’s the one time where, as a cartoonist, you get people cheering for you. So that’s always nice. DS: How have you found the reception of kids to your books? Your kids like the books as well? JB: Yeah, my kids like them, or at least they say they do. [laughs] They seem to enjoy them. Maybe – my oldest is 14 now – so he’s kind of grown out of them and is maybe not as interested. But overall, yeah, kids like them. One of the great things about kids is they can be brutally honest. But you don’t feel bad in a way that you might if you get a brutally honest review from Comics Beat or something. They’re not afraid to tell you: The second Jedi Academy book was not as good as the first one, they really liked the first one more. But the upside is that they’re so sincere in their joy of reading books. When they love something, they really love it. And so it’s really rewarding to know that there’s a kid and that book is their favourite book and they’ve read it multiple times. DS: Thank you for finding the time Jeffrey. JB: Thanks for talking to me. Published by DC Comics, Batman and Robin and Howard arrives in all good comic shops and bookstores next Tuesday, November 9th. The post INTERVIEW: BATMAN AND ROBIN AND HOWARD…and Jeffrey Brown appeared first on The Beat.  |
| Posted: 04 Nov 2021 07:00 AM PDT Next month Fantagraphics Books will release Red Room: Trigger Warnings #1, the beginning of the next four-issue miniseries in cartoonist Ed Piskor‘s indie splatterpunk series. The issue arrives with a quartet of covers, and today The Beat is pleased to reveal the three incentive variant covers that will accompany Piskor’s own main cover for the issue.  Here’s how Fantagraphics describes Red Room: Trigger Warnings #1:
The debut issue of Trigger Warnings will feature incentive variant covers by Piskor, his Cartoonist Kayfabe co-host Jim Rugg, and acclaimed cover artist and Marvel Stormbreaker Peach Momoko.  In an interview earlier this year with The Beat‘s AJ Frost, Piskor described how reading a book on horror by Stephen King inspired the creation of Red Room:
The Red Room series is the latest Fantagraphics project from Piskor, whose previous work with the publisher includes the Eisner-winning Hip Hop Family Tree series. Piskor’s other work includes X-Men: Grand Design for Marvel and Wizzywig from Top Shelf. Check out the covers by Rugg and Momoko for Red Room: Trigger Warnings #1 below. The first issue of the four-part series is due in stores on Wednesday, December 8th. Preorders for the issue and all of its various covers are open until next Monday, November 8th.   The post EXCLUSIVE: Check out variant covers by Peach Momoko and Jim Rugg for Ed Piskor’s RED ROOM: TRIGGER WARNINGS #1 appeared first on The Beat.  |
Wow, this is quite the news: Taiki Waititi has signed on to direct the film version of The Incal, the mind bending masterpiece by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius. As Waititi tweeted, his frequent collaborator Jermaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows) and Peter Warren have also signed on for the adaptation.
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