Comic of the Week

There were so many comics running for Comic of the week, But Thor 12 took the title. JMS is one of my favourite writers and one of the few reasons that I am still with Marvel. Yes i know that cover is from the American Thor 12 but it is a nice cover. Now to the meat of it, why is this comic of the week. Well for one reason and one reason only. Thor was one of Captain America’s closest friends, Thor goes to Cap’s grave and using Mjolnir envokes Steve’s vow, that nothing not even death shall seperate us if the call is answered, and with a mighty roar of “Avengers Assemble” the shade of Cap is brought from the lands of the dead. Thor asks Cap does he want revenge and if so Thor will be the instrument of his revenge. Cap tells Thor no and explains what the fight was about, it was never about Steve Rogers or Captain America it was about what America meant and the errosion of that meaning. And that Steve/ Cap just wanted peace. So in one of the most touching moments in comics, Thor gives him his moments peace and short circuits all electrical devices capable of transmission, TV,Radio,Internet for exactly 60 seconds. It was a true dust moment I can tell ya

Will Smith as Captain America

Crossing the boards and being a massive Captain America fan I stumbled upon that title on Newsarama. As a fan of Will Smith he’d certainly be a good character in the story but lets look at the factors.

1. The coloured soldiers that were injected with a flawed version of the super soldier serum, all ended up crippled or dead (granted for some it took longer to take hold)

2. They were never given the title Captain America.

3. Captain America or Steve Rogers is a legacy character and as Marvel are bringing out the films as legacy characters then I can’t see this working.

4. Marvel have already stated that this is the Marvel War film, In WW2 sad as it is Coloured soldiers were not a accepted part of the Military, They were used for menial tasks.

5. Part of what Captain America after the Super Soldier Serum was the fact that here was a man who if he was German was a poster boy for Nazism, and that’s what scared the Nazi’s, why couldn’t they do the same. If it was a coloured soldier it would have radicalised both the American army and the allies. Sad Fact but true.

Iron Man 2 Plot Details

First up, as thoroughly hinted at in the first instalment, Col. James ‘Rhodey” Rhodes (Terrence Howard) will get a chance to don armour and become War Machine for the film, in news that will surprise no one but please everyone Secondly, while Favreau sees the Mandarin as the overarching villain behind the series (he’s thinking three as well as two), he doesn’t know how to do him onscreen, what with the arcane powers and racial stereotyping that don’t fit that well into Iron Man’s world. But since he talked about his fascination with the new Cold War that seems to be brewing, we might see a villain like Crimson Dynamo, of whom there have been twelve comic incarnations but who would at least fit in Iron Man’s world, being another man in a suit, but this tme one who can use electricity to devastating effect.

Interview with Harry Markos of Markosia Entertainment

For those of you who have never met Harry I’d suggest tracking him down at the next con and pumping him. I mean for information, the guy speaks so passionately and doesn’t speak down to you. He is really enthusiastic about the industry and also comics. It’s a pity I have to transcribe this rather than putting the conversation up on the net as the enthusiasm comes across.

Interview with Harry Markos Bristol Comic Convention

CB: We’re here with Harry Markos of Markosia Entertainment, We’re going to have a little chat about Markosia, what he’s noticed this weekend and any forthcoming events and new titles coming out, Thanks for taking the time out this morning Harry I know that Markosia is busy this morning going through portfolio’s with people. Your stall’s been pretty busy this morning. What have you thought of the con in general this weekend?

Harry: Well it’s a bit busier than last year, Yesterday was incredible and they were locking people out it was so busy.

CB: I didn’t know that, I just thought that it was full again

Harry: They did, twice in fact, something to do with fire regulations and it being too busy in there. And as a side effect we were very busy yesterday which was great, todays a little quieter but still quite busy. We decided to do the portfolio sessions today as it’s a little quieter but we have still had 25 artists come today with portfolios. We’ve already worked through eight

CB: Already this morning?

Harry: Yeah, so I got plenty more to do. Some are also going to be sent in via email, as some of the artists couldn’t make it today. Markosia are always on the lookout for bright young talent, particularly from the UK, we want to encourage that talent as I know there’s a lot out there. We’re still using European and global talent as well but I want to introduce more British talent. We’ve been quite successful recently with the success of Paul Green who this time last year at Bristol, he came along and was introduced to me, his art blew me away. I asked him to do some concept art, which he did and it was amazing. Within a couple of weeks I’d offered him a four issue mini-series on Starship Troopers, which he was absolutely amazing on. He’s now been signed up to do Flash Gordon and is being looked at by everyone.

CB: This is the Flash Gordon that’s being shown at the convention.

Harry: Yeah, Actually I am quite fortunate, I made a bet with him, and I said that within a month of the first Starship Troopers coming out, if he wasn’t signed up by someone else, I would run down my road naked. So it was quite fortunate that in week three, he’d called me to say that he’d been signed up to do Flash Gordon. He’s got an amazing future ahead of him. I’m hoping that we’ll have some big players if the next few months pan out. He’s the kind of talent that I want to meet and I want to publish because there’s a lot of talent out there and I want to introduce them to the world as we feel we have a good platform to be able to do that.

CB: Going off the back of what you are saying there Harry, You’ve got the Big two Dc and Marvel obviously and then just underneath that you’ve got your Image your Dark Horse, which I personally don’t put down myself as I collect a lot of indie titles and Indie titles is where I started and where I will also show a lot of loyalty to. What’s Markosia’s main principle on the marketplace? DC and Marvel are all about the big bang the big buck. Some great writers and some great artists but it is the big product.

Harry: It is, it’s a really tough brutal market out there at the moment. And it’s only really the top five publishers that are actually achieving anything in my opinion. There’s a lot of controversy regarding the comic format itself, is it going to last? Is it going to be replaced? I personally think that it will always be there. Though I do think that it will be in a limited form and probably only those that can afford to do it will be able to do it in the future. As you know it’s not a cheap business. We’ve been going for four years now which is a miracle in itself. We were told by Diamond that 75% of new publishers don’t last five months. So four years is a big achievement for us and particularly for a British publisher as well. There are lots of small one title publishers about and they are doing a great job but unfortunately because of the way the market is at the moment they are not getting the recognition or the exposure that they deserve that they would have got 20-30 years ago when it was a different market. When there were millions of copies being sold around the world. It’s completely changed now, the internet has made a lot of inroads into the way the industry is being presented in the future, which we are going to be a part of, and we’ve got some talent lined up to do that. Mainly as a publisher and we’ve published Starship Troopers and Kong a couple of licensed properties, we moved into novels and when we started no other publisher was doing it. Now everyone seems to be doing it now but when we announced it people thought we were crazy as no one else would contemplate it. But back then we thought it would be big and we’ve been proved right. Where I am very keen to explore is new concepts new property’s new creators as well as established creators who want their own creations to be published, we enter into a partnership with them, where we take the risk on the publishing and marketing side and pitching it out there to the Hollywood’s and the European markets. We’re very well placed with that now and we see that for us that is the way forward. Acquiring these partnerships and new property’s because there’s a need for it, a need for new fresh blood, which is becoming more and more difficult for people to get into and what people don’t realize is that despite the success of Marvel and DC and maybe a couple of others the market is tightening up in terms of creator owned stuff, In terms of artists getting well paid jobs with the publishers, it’s getting harder and harder there’s more and more talent and less and less work paid work that is. And it’s stifling the market a bit, with all the problems with distribution and low sales more and more company’s are being forced out. What people don’t realize is that when the small press guys go and then the indie company’s go the rest of the industry will collapse as well. Most of the big guys at Marvel, DC, Dark Horse etc all started at the bottom of the ladder.

CB: Of course in the indie market.

Harry: Yes, so you take that away and they are going to suffer quite badly as well. I realize that every business has to evolve I think that at the moment we’re going through a transitional period where no one seems to know which way to turn other than internet related. Digital stuff. It’s very unclear where it’s going to go, so we’re determined that we’re going to be around for many years anyway. We’ve got a very good business plan laid out and we know where we are headed. We’ll struggle through it because we need to keep ourselves in the mind of people. Everyone needs the exposure and awareness out there. And when eventually the market sorts itself out with whatever direction it’s chosen we’ll be well placed to take advantage of that. I am very confident that within a year or two we’ll be very well placed.

CB: So going back to last night, The Butcher understands that Markosia was nominated for several awards at the eagles. Is that correct?

Harry: (smiling) I think it was seven yeah, it was originally more than that but it got whittled down to seven.

CB: Not being a fan of any awards as I find them very open to nepotism and I tend to smell a rat, were there any controversies at the awards last night

Harry: Hmmm there may have been, In fact there was yes. In fact the controversy started many weeks ago with some rumors spreading about some potential vote rigging and cheating, which was very unpleasant at the time. We kept well out of that as a company, we refused to have anything to do with that and were not involved. The creators who were involved were given an apology last night which was very good to hear and very big of the person who gave the apology. That was it as far as we were concerned we were actually nominated as far as I was aware. We made it into the top five as best publisher.

CB: Nice achievement.

Harry: Then we were removed, and were replaced by vertigo apparently. Which is quite interesting as DC were one of the five as well, it was interesting to see how that worked. But you know we’re not bothered about things like that, we keep out of it, and we get on with our own business. For us Bristol is a very important show it’s one of our home town shows and it keeps us flying the flag as it were. Which I think we’re doing reasonably well.

CB: It’s certainly a good stand this year, and in such a prime spot.

Harry: Thank you, we try our best, and there’s a good collection of work there to see as well, Over the last four years we’ve built up approximately 25 titles which is quite an achievement. We’re just experimenting with something and we went online and live on Thursday night before Bristol, We put three web comics up. Completely different formats and property’s than we’ve ever published before including a manga web comic which we’re quite excited about. We’ve got a lot of different avenues that we are pursuing.

CB: You’ve mentioned your big titles being Kong and Starship Troopers, here’s your chance to give us the lowdown on your other titles and guys

Harry: Oh most definitely, we’re very excited we’ve got some gorgeous new property’s coming out this year. One is at the printer this week Lazarus Immortal Coils by Joseph Gauthier who is based in SanFrancisco. The Man is amazing  his story coupled with the amazing artworkworks brilliantly he does so much work. It has Lazarus as the good guy and fighting demons. In July we have another completely different direction in a new series called N-Guard by Canadian Creator John Bryans,it’s an anthromorporthic all ages adventure that is in four parts that we’re very excited about and it’s just been given a staff pick in Previews which is quite an achievement for us. Also later on this year we have The Magpye, which  I understand that you know a bit about and the boys behind it

CB: Sure do, and have been pimping it well for you.

Harry (laughs) Yep, the Magpye is a much darker tale. Then December time we have a five-issue mini called Serpent Wars. It’s set in the 19th Century and is about a young apprentice, He Stows away on a British Lord’s ship to prove the existence of sea serpents. We’re really behind this title as we’ve pitched it to Hollywood and they are quite excited about it. Also we signed Mr. Regie Rigby’s Sunset, which Paul green is currently illustrating. And Paul is busy next year with another title Contagion which is written by Chris Jones.

CB: So going back to what you were saying earlier, has anyone taken the Harry seal of approval.

Harry: Yes, there’s been a couple actually. I’ll be holding further talks with them later. The two I met yesterday are both British Lads and some Spanish lads today. So we’ll see how it pans out but I am sure we’ll be seeing them under the Markosia label in the coming months. Our guys seem to do so well and move on to bigger things, we had Ryan Stegman who worked on Midnight Kiss. Now he’s drawing Spider man for Marvel. And that makes us proud to know that we helped those guys on the way. They are like part of the family and we stay close to them. That’s they way I like to work where it’s small contained like a small family unit and I believe that works.

CB: Anything you’d like to say to the fans?

Harry: Thank you very much for your support and we couldn’t do it without you, it’d be great if you continued your support and spread the word that we’re a young ambitious enterprising British company. We want to succeed, we need to succeed. We’re always open to comments if you want to get in touch, get in touch with me personally I will always respond. Markosia couldn’t have done it without you, thank you

CB: The Question from Stu.Art is what is your favorite cheese and why?

Harry: Dutch Edam, I have always loved that cheese, It’s the first cheese I remember as a kid and it’s just stayed with me, gorgeous tasting.

CB: And on that note thank you Harry .

Comics pick of the week

This week there were some good comics and some bad comics. But the pick of the bunch were the following

Greg Pak continues his meteoric rise with this follow on from Planet Hulk. If Marvel had more writers like him and Dan Abnett then they wouldn’t get so much bad press. For a first issue this is paced nicely, The artwork follows in the same vein as Planet Hulk and the first issue is a good story.

Trinity 2. Apart from the second string story being moved into the mainstream story, this is a strong second issue. Really intrigued to see where this goes. DC has a 50/50 with weekly comics and I for one hope that with the talent on this title that they put this firmly in the hit.

Now that brings me to something I don’t like to do. I appreciate that every ones comic pounds are hard earned (or dollars) But I am going to recommend a Trade (as long as DC brings it out) GET Gotham Underground. Frank Tieri has proved once again that he can hold the big titles, keep a story flowing and make you feel something for the characters. There is one scene in the last issue where you read with heart in your mouth, thinking OMG Is he gonna……

Trust me this is a definite plus for anyones collection.

Which almost brings me to a close. Apart from one of my favourite characters and also my biggest gripes with any comic house. Firstly to the gripe. Don’t have a title where a) the characters name is in it and said character isn’t b) kill of an iconic character in the very first issue. I loved Wisdom and am a long time fan of Captain Britain. All I can hope is that Marvel haven’t decided to shaft us Brits yet again. This is a good comic, it could have been a exceptional read apart from No Captain Britain. I only got this title to read Captain Britain (rant over)

Comic Related news supplied By Lord Ruthven

The First Avenger: Captain America” set in WW2, ending with his fall into the sea (oops, . sorry for that spoiler) Released 2011.

“The Avengers” movie released 2011, two months after the Captain America movie – both films being shot back to back.

Interestingly, Mathew Vaughn (sic) has walked away from the Thor movie, thus no longer directing it.

He did exactly the same with the X-Men 3 movie, that due to a clash with the studio about the script. Seems he has no faith in the plans Marvel/Paramount have for Thor…

Comics Week in Review part two

Ok, the first part was the ones I read yesterday and recommend, these are the ones I read today and give a big thumbs up to.

Now some of you know that apart from a certain few titles I find Marvel very humdrum, very much of a muchness. That may be about to change as a) my favourite artist Barry Kitson is on this title. b) that the scripting is snappy and spideys jokes are popping quite nicely, thanks to Bob Gale for this.

Trinity: Another weekly comic from DC I sighed. Then realised that Kurt Busiek and Mark Bagley were gonna be picking up the ball. This has two stories in it, The first is about the first trio of hero’s and plays out nicely, The second story is very …… Whats happening here?

Don’t want to diss a good book but First half amazing second half should be a marvel title.

And Finally

Mark Millar & Tommy Lee Edwards 1985. I tried so hard to dislike this, After all after the civil war and ultimates endings I thought Millar had sold out. 1985 is actually a damn good read, Can Millar keep it up, maybe, but if i hear a iron man speech about how many ways he could have won this then you won’t see my arse for dust

Comics week in review

The title is a bit of a misnomer as I didn’t pick my comics up last week so two weeks will be amalgamated into one.

This comic keeps getting better and better,Garth Writing is totally respectful of the Dan Dare Legacy and Garry Erskine’s art is truelly a joy to look at. This is like a boys own adventure with something for everyone that checks all the boxes. Long may it continue.

Teen Titans 59, This book just goes from strength to strength, Ties in nicely with the final crisis series and I really Enjoy Sean McKeevers writing. The art from Eddy Barrows is strong and crisp. Can’t wait for the next part.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ok I was starting to go off this series. But like a true buffy episode there were laugh moments and also sad moment. Highlights were Draculas speech to the new blood and Dawn taking on Dawnzilla the mech (trust me you have to see it)

This is the fight that I was waiting for, It kinda worked, but as with most things marvel these days I felt let down. My pull list gets smaller and smaller with Marvel. And I think I see a fat zero coming up in the future. Which when you think about the talent on this comic is criminal. Alex Ross & Jim Krueger. This should have had the Invaders cleaning clock but strangely no. Tony and his team of nazi’s ( and cap calls them that) layeth the smack down. There was one genuine good bit ” And Ironman has been axed” I wish.

And they were the pick of the crop, others were average, stale, head scratching.

What hit the bin this week

Brit No 6 from Image: All I can Say is no comment

Update

Ok people tomorrow, I will be doing an interview with Chris Lynch and Stu.art about the Magpye, Markosia and cheese. These guys are hot Welsh comic talent and I think it will make for interesting reading. Also there are a shed load of comics to go through so If i get time I will do a review for you guys

Brian K Vaughan to write for Runaways the Movie

Runaways from Marvel may soon be heading to a silver screen near you. Hugely succesful writer Brian K Vaughan has been tipped to write. more as and when this develops

Bristol International Comic Expo 2008

Interviews will follow later.

First I owe an apology to the ever excellent Barry Kitson. Barry I know I said I’d interview you but the mix of a broken coxix, aching feet and jetlag meant I was dying. I am so sorry especially after all the hard work you put into my sketch.

Well Bristol just keeps getting better and better, Touched down from my vacation in China thursday night, had 6 hours sleep and then back on the road for the convention. Courtesy of Cardiff Science Fiction and Fantasy Store(thanks Dave) got to go to the retailer day, where some excellent panels were held. Diamond Introduced themselves, then we moved through the different panels. Some great information from Bob Wayne and Eddie Berganza about future releases and the floor seemed to like the idea that depending on feedback a re-release of the excellent hitman series in trade format may be coming soon. Wildstorm was as ever excellent with some news that really excited me, Deathblow is joining one of the new teams. Vertigo also have a number of new and exciting products coming out and key one that seems really hype is Air. (thanks for getting us excited with this Karen Berger) We then had a quick slot with Dave Gibbons about the new book coming out later this year, Watching the Watchmen filled with never seen imagery a absolute must from titan books for anyone who is a Watchman fan.

We then gathered and had a few drinks and I got to meet YANICK PAQUETTE, who even after we destroyed him throughout the rest of the night is a thouroughly nice bloke and his artwork is second to none, so crisp and clear. For those not mentioned during the rest of friday, I am sorry a mix of both alcohol and jetlag is to blame, yep thats my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Nice to see many old friends and made a few new ones.

On the Saturday thanks to the people who organise this sleeping giant I got my press pass. It really is something to see the greats and people you admire gathering before the public get in there (and no thanks were needed for those that I got food and drink for over the weekend). Got to purchase some more work off

Barry Kitson and had another great sketch, Had further sketches off Joe Jusko, John Burns and did a short interview with the ever excellent Bryan Talbot. Saturday also saw two shut outs as we were completely full. Wow that was a surprise and for those people stuck outside I feel for you as it was absolutely boiling.

Sunday came around so quick and picked up further work from Rodney Ramos and thanks for a great Black Adam, John Macrea. Also did a Interview with Harry Markos, Harry is one of the Industry’s nice guys and he likes keeping the Indie scene vibrant and exciting.Spoke at length with Tommy Castillo and I will get you and Rod beer next year.

Below are original pieces that I picked up last year through to this year

New Hulk Pictures

Thanks to those folks over at Empire magazine for being the great movie news people.

52 or Countdown my 10 cents

Well as Countdown draws rapidly to a close, i’d just like to compare the two. Now remember before deluging me with hate mail this is my opinion and my hard earned cash. 52 when this was announced I remember thinking, What are these guys crazy, a weekly comic will never work. And boy, did they prove me wrong. I was actually rivetted and couldn’t wait for the next issue. Yeah, sure there were a few weak weeks but on the whole It was amazing. So when countdown was announced I was really happy after all DC had proved they could pull the rabbit out of the hat. How wrong could I have been. This started really strongly, then had a real weak middle and only now as the end draws nigh, is it starting to pick up. I feel that DC missed the boat with this.

Now as a loyal fan of Dc this isn’t me putting a downer on DC, but as anyone who knows me will tell you. Little things can spill from major events. Marvel lost me because of so many major events, so many out of character decisions and also weak storytelling. You can put up with average storytelling if you care about the characters. You can put up with weak art if the story is good. But unfortunately if both are bad then you say hit the road jack.

I hope that this is just a blip on DC’s impeccable credentials. I really do.

Incredible Hulk Poster

Now those of you who are old enough to remember the TV series take a good look at that poster, doesn’t that bring back nostalgic memories.

New Iron Man Shots

Interview with Jimmy Palmiotti

Jimmy Palmiotti

He has extensive inking and writing credits and has often inked the work of his friend and collaborator Joe Quesada, notably on Ash(which they co-created, along with Painkiller Jane) and Daredevil(esp. the ‘Guardian Devil’ arc penned by Kevin Smith). He also worked for Dark Horse Comics, as the inker during the Doug Mahnke run on X. He inked Paul Gulacy on Shang-Shi Master of Kung Fu and Steve Dillon on  Punisher. He’s also inked over brad walker’s pencil’s on the DC Comics mini secret six. His most recent inking credit was on DC’s ,Manhunter , Countdown to Final Crisis, teen titans and The War That Time Forgot.As a writer Palmiotti is known for Deadpool , Punisher, Daughters of the Dragonand  Heroes for Hire for Marvel Comics, Hawkman, Superboyand The Monolith for DC Comics, as well as 21 Down, The Resistance  for their Wildstorm imprint (often in tandem with fellow writer Justin Gray). Palmiotti also co-scripted, with Garth Ennis, the Ghost Rider and punisher video games that tie in with the movies. He has also recently penned Supergirl #12, the Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters miniseries and an arc for Superman Confidential arc. Currently, Palmiotti, along with Gray, are writing the monthly, Jonah Hexand a second Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fightersmini for DC. Palmiotti and Gray are also part of the writing team for DC’s countdown series. Jimmy is also working on the fantastic Dock Whalloper at virgin comics with Ed Burns and has two animated projects with writing partner Justin Gray coming out soon.,  The Speed RacerDVD from Lionsgate and Deadspace, an animated feature written for Starz and E.A. GamesHe has, as well, sold and put into development at one time or another:  Gatecrasher, Tempest, Beautiful killer , The Pro And recently co-wrote with Justin Gray The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning for Fox Atomic Comics.His work on the Painkiller Jane series for the Sci-Fi Channel starring Kristanna Loken has lasted one season which he held the titles writer consultant and creator as well as scripted the 13^thepisode called “The League’ which was about comic book fans gone bad. In the past he has written and storyboarded films for Nike. They featured LeBron James and Vince Carter. Jimmy Palmiotti has been called a Renaissance man of comics, for his great productivity and versatility. He has been active in comics since the EARLY 90’S, co-creating many great titles such as ‘Ash’, ‘Painkiller Jane’, ‘Kid Death and Fluffy’, ‘Gatecrasher’, ’21 Down’, ‘Spygirls’ ‘Beautiful Killer’ ‘New West and ‘The Resistance’. Together with Justin V. Gray and Amanda Conner he founded Paperfilms.  

Jimmy let me start with saying thank you for popping by.

Butcher:What got you started in the industry?

JP:A love for the things that I enjoyed. Comics, movies and games have been a huge part of my life way before I made my first dime. I started drawing as soon as I popped out of my mom and was creating my own horrible little comic books when I was but 10 years old and haven’t stopped . I love everything about creating and living in a separate universe and one of my favorite things as a child and still as an adult is listening to people tell stories. At the end of the day its all about getting the story across to the next guy and comics certainly is a fantastic medium for just that.  

Butcher: What was the first comic you read?

JP:I really try to think hard to what that was and my brain goes right to superman or to Archie comics. There were so many around the house because I had two older brothers that had them, so I think I was fed a steady diet of superheroes and horror comics daily, with the break of Archie and Ritchie rich here and there. All of them have made an impression on me, especially when I was in high school…things like master of kung fu, swamp thing and killraven changed the way I thought about comics. Funny thing I notice now is they are all genre titles and not classic superheroes. Explains a lot. What was the very first comic you worked on?It was while I was in high school and it was INVADERS #41. I helped ink the backgrounds for chic stone. Someone at the high school came by looking for an artists assistant for an artist he knew and I was recommended by my teacher, Mr. Jefferson. It was a short lived job because chic didn’t like what I did…he told me I ink like I’m trying to create a photo and fired me right away…but he used the work I did.  

BUTCHER:Who are some of your hero’s and who’s the most fun to work with. 

JP:My heroes are, starting at home, my mom and dad, Amanda conner, Justin Gray…then frank frazetta, paul gulacy, darwyn cooke, joe kubert, elmore Leonard,  will Eisner, milo manara, Phil Noto, moeibus, Kevin nowlan, james jean, and so on…the list goes on and on. They are my heroes because they do their own thing and make this business so much richer. Each one has has a specific effect on a part of my life and what I do and how I am able to stay successful in this business. I’m not kidding, this list can go on for pages.  

BUTCHER:What do you think the main difference is between American Comic book fans and British Fans? 

JP:Hmmmm, at times better manners all around and they can hold their drink! I think the fans have so many things in common and if the land mass was connected, it would even be a smaller difference. Now that I am thinking about it, the British fans have a healthier attitude towards embracing genres like war comics, westerns and science fiction. I must have a bit of a brit in me. Comes from hanging out with Garth Ennis too much. Honestly, I have only met the brit fans at shows in the states…I really haven’t been invited to many cons over there…just mostly Spain and Italy.   

BUTCHER: Us Brits really took to secret six, and also Catman, did you like the character.?I found him really intriguing that a villain had such a strong moral compass and that team wouldn’t have been out of place walking on the side of angels? 

JP: Well, the better written the villain is the better the book and showdowns will be, don’t you agree/ they are both interesting studies in people who “ think” they are doing the right thing and by whatever way society is judging things this week, they are looked upon as bad guys. On of my favorite “bad guys” to write is jonah hex. In his brain he is doing a service, but to the rest of the world he is a feared killer. Perceptions. Very important stuff.  

BUTCHER: What do you do for fun?

JP:I hang out with Amanda conner, go out and travel, get drunk, tell tons of stories, break up a fight and fool around. I also have my work, which I find great fun.  

BUTCHER:What have you got coming out in the coming year? 

JP:A lot more Jonah hex books featuring jordi bernet, darwyn cooke, jh Williams, Michael beck and so on. Working on a war that time forgot series with Bruce Jones writing…got a big superman/Supergirl mini series with Phil noto attached,the terra series with Amanda Conner coming as well and a few more books to be announced. On the tv and film side…too many to mention and they wont let me talk about them yet as well.   

BUTCHER:Any tips for budding artists or writers who want to break into the industry apart from don’t starve.? 

JP:Yeah…get published or publish yourself…stop looking at porn and make the internet work for ou…network yourself and talent and have manners with people you meet. Be good to all people.  

BUTCHER:When will us Brits get to see you over here?

JP: Working on that…seriously. Was there for 2 weeks a few years ago…but hid out in pubs with my comic friends and complained about the food mostly.   

BUTCHER:Is there anything you’d like to do in the industry, life? 

JP:Yes, write and direct a film with a character I created, travel more and only do creator owned characters for the rest of my life. Real simple , please make that happen for me…ok?  

BUTCHER:Is there anything you wish you hadn’t done, is there anything you wish the industry hadn’t done?

JP:Weekly comics, alternate covers, more than one title for characters…you know…4 batman books, 9 x-men titles, and so on. It kills the industry and leaves no room for Indy guys to get your money. I wish I hadn’t gotten into advertising for 9 years and I wish I met Amanda Conner when I was 7.  

From Stu.Art from MWM what’s your favourite cheese and beer. 

JP:Cheese, I like cheddar…and beer…man, you brits are gonna think im nuts…but I like  crap beers…nothing too heavy. All my British friends laugh at me…but I was brought up stealing beer from stores and the cheapest beers were always the ones closest to the door. You get the picture. Oh…and I don’t like Heineken at all.

I have to thank Jimmy for doing this in his Dinner Time. This is one genuine nice guy and I will be more than glad to buy him a ale or six

Iron Monger- Iron Man’s Nemesis

Ioan Gruffudd Valleys Boy to Mr Fantastic

Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in the village of Llwydcoed near the town of Aberdare, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, South Wales. His family later moved to Cardiff. The popular Welsh name “Ioan” is an equivalent of “John”, and “Gruffudd” corresponds to the Anglicized “Griffith”. He has been quoted as saying, “I’m determined not to lose my name. It’s who I am. It has neither aided my progress nor hampered it. It’s just who I am. My character… my make-up. My culture and heritage is a very rich one. So what if it’s difficult for people to pronounce? We all learned how to say Schwarzenegger.”

Gruffudd’s parents, Peter and Gillian Griffiths, were teachers. He has two siblings; a brother, Alun, who is two years younger, and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years younger than he is.

Gruffudd started his acting career at the age of 12 in a Welsh television film called Austin (1986) and then later moved on to the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) from 1987 to 1994. At the age of 18, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. He won his first major English language role a few years later in the 1996 TV remake of Poldark.

After playing Oscar Wildes lover John Gray in 1997’s Wilde he took his first international role as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in the blockbuster film Titanic. He later landed his best-known role as Horatio Hornblower in Hornblower, the Meridian production of the C.S. Forester novels (1998–2003), shown on ITV1 and A&E. Gruffudd has said: “It was quite something for an unknown actor to get the lead. So I will always be grateful to Hornblower. … I would love to play this character through every stage of his life. I think it would be unique to have an actor playing him from the very early days as a midshipman, through till he’s an Admiral. So, I would love to play this character till he perishes.” Since February 20, 2007, Gruffudd has been making plans to obtain rights to the Horatio Hornblower novels in order to produce a film for the big screen.

Gruffudd’s TV work includes playing the character Pip in the BBC TV production of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (1999) and architect Philip Bosinney in ITV’s adaptation of The Forsyte Saga (2002). As regards films, he has starred in 102 Dalmatians (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001) and King Arthur (2004). In 2007 he starred in the historical drama Amazing Grace as William Wilberforce, the British slavery abolitionist, receiving critical acclaim for the role. Gruffudd has also portrayed characters of both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, having appeared as Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) in Marvel’s Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and provided the voice of Mister Miracle in DC’s Justice League Unlimited(2004–2006).

Apart from television and film work, he also starred in the music video of Westlife’s version of “Uptown Girl” (2001) alongside Claudia Schiffer, and on 7 July 2007 he was a presenter at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.

Gruffudd is a native Welsh speaker. He was accepted into the Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain (the Bardic Order of Great Britain) at the highest rank in the National Eisteddfod at Meifod, Mid Wales, in 2003, with the bardic name “Ioan”.

Gruffudd lives with his wife, British actress Alice Evans, in Los Angeles, California. The couple met during the production of 102 Dalmatians. They married on September 14, 2007 in Mexico.

New Iron Man Pictures

Edgar Wright Attached to Ant Man Project

Edgar Wright has been attached to the Upcoming Marvel Ant Man Project.

“It’s written and we’re doing a second draft of it,” said Wright. “It’s going to be less overtly comedic than anything else I’ve ever done. It’s more of a full-on action adventure sci-fi film but with a comedic element – in the same spirit of a lot of escapist fare like that. It’s certainly not a superhero spoof or pastiche and it certainly isn’t a sort of Honey I Shrunk The Kids endeavour at all.”

He’s not got anybody in mind to play comicdom’s tiniest hero just yet, so the big question at the moment is what incarnation will the hero take – the goody-two-shoes scientist Hank Pym originated by comic legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby or Ant Man mark-II, the more roguish Scott Lang?

“Ah well, it could be Scott Lang, it could be Hank Pym, it could be both – okay it is both, now there’s an exclusive for you.”