Aussie Cosplayers Set New World Record In Honor Of DC Comics 75th Anniversary

Avengers assemble! No, wait...how about, Superhero dragsters and comic-con cosplayers unite! And that they did, too -- in the land Down Under (Underoos?)  over the weekend. According to the Australian, 1,245 people dressed as Superman, the Hulk and plenty of other superheroes gathered in Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, earning their rightful place in Guinness' Book by breaking the  previous UK-held record of 1,091 for the most people wearing superhero costumes in one place.  Of all the costumed attendees,  Superman was the most popular costume, followed closely by Batman, Robin, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman.  Warner Bros sponsored the event in honor DC Comics' 75th Anniversary this year. For an entire online photo gallery from the event, go [here].  

The Early Days of DC ENTERTAINMENT

Awesome Video Tribute To The Superhero Cinema of DC Comics and Vertigo!

Readers of our comicsblog have probably noticed as much as we have that most of today's superhero cinema buzz belongs to Marvel Studios -- and rightly so. They've kept themselves in the spotlight so well that frankly it's hard not to blog about those folks. Not that dabblers of a more 'Superman' persuasion should fear; there's little question that DC Comics' day in the sun will soon rise. 

You Tube member Videoprototype must have noticed DC's dearth like the rest of us, and  true to his name, he put his mad video editing skills to use to do something about it. The result of his most-excellent actions: an eight and a half minute video tribute to the movies of DC and Vertigo Comics. We give 'VP' major props for pulling out all the stops with this mash-up; he's included everything from V for Vendetta to Catwoman, Watchmen to Constantine, and Superman Returns to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. 

The video's a great way to get psyched for next week's new Vertigo Comics movie, The Losers , as well as for DC Comics' next flick, Jonah Hex. We'll have all the info on superhero cinema's two newest gems coming up on the comicsblog,  but for now, we invite you to dabble down and just chill-lax  for Videoprototype's Video Tribute to the Films of DC Comics!

LOGAN'S RUN: Journey...or Destination? PLUS: William F. Nolan Signs in Portland Tomorrow!!

"Sometime in the 23rd century...the survivors of war, overpopulation and pollution are living in a great domed city, sealed away from the forgotten world outside..." 

If those words strangely compel you to slip into a skin-tight black jumpsuit and go for a jog like the one we just got back from, then you're either a fan of Logan's Run or just really, really weird.  Oddly enough, either notion's appropriate, considering that Logan's Run creator William F. Nolan's idea for the 1967 novel he co-wrote came from a presentation he gave for Twilight Zone writer Charles Beaumont's science fiction class at UCLA in 1963.

Nearly fifty years later, Nolan's protagonist Logan is poised for not just a new 'run,' but potentially a marathon.   One leg of this futuristic race will happen just 24 hours from now, when Portland-based comics retailer Things From Another World (TFAW) hosts a special in-store event with Nolan himself.  If you're in the area, abbracadabbling your way over to TFAW's Portland location to meet the legendary science fiction author and geek his signature would be a very worthy way to spend the afternoon, we think.  Get your directions to TFAW and the event's 411 right HERE.

While Nolan and co-author George Clayton Johnson's milestone science fiction novel was published while Star Trek was airing on television,  Logan's Run's influence on science fiction  was most directly felt thanks to the 1976 MGM movie adaptation starring Michael York. The  movie version did alter several facets of the book before it was brought to the big screen, but the essence remained the same.  The story follows the adventures of Logan 3, a “Sandman” charged with hunting those who flee rather than surrender themselves to “sleep.” A jewel embedded in each person's hand at birth changes colors every seven years, marking the stages of life, until it turns black after 21 years -- one's lastday. As Logan himself nears the completion of his allotted years, he begins to hear whispers of a place called Sanctuary where runners can escape the Sandmen and the obligation of Sleep. Logan resolves to use his lastday to find Sanctuary and destroy it... but of course doubts cloud the way.

The movie's popularity also spawned a short-lived Logan's Run television series, an ongoing comic strip published in the United Kingdom, and an equally short-lived comic book series published in 1977 by Marvel Comics here at home.  (Logan's Run was also attempted unsuccessfully a few years later by former publisher Malibu Comics).

But now Nolan and Logan's Run are back in comics - and going strong.  Although Nolan himself was a comic book writer by trade, having worked before his novel years for Whitman Comics, a division of Walt Disney, writing Mickey Mouse stories, he's not the chief scribe behind Logan's latest comic incarnation. Instead, he's licensed his creation to Vancouver, Washington-based Bluewater Productions, who developed the idea for a new the ongoing series, Logan's Run: Lastday, written by Paul J. Salamoff with art by Daniel Gete.

Lastday's first issue hit shelves in late 2009, but what ever additions to the post-apocalyptic world of  Logan's Run the comic may make, it's Daniel Gete's new costume designs for the series - like the new look for the stormtrooper-esque Sandmen - that are of particularly important to Nolan.

Under his arrangement with Bluewater, Nolan has approval of all story and design elements for the new Logan's Run series.  While many creators would want such an agreement to ensure  their visions aren't somehow terribly disfigured by other creators, Nolan's control is of greater significance.

While he hasn't directly stated why the 'look' of his new Logan's Run comic is so important, Nolan did tell Comic Book Resources last summer that part of his reason to get Logan back in the the fan boy public eye was to push Warner Bros along on their much-delayed Logan's Run movie remake.  Warner's optioned Logan's Run twelve years ago, with seven writers and four directors having been attached to the project since. More recently, Joel Silver has been named as the film's producer, but Logan's Run is just one of a dozen-plus films Silver appears to have on his plate for the next several years. Even so, and with Bluewater's help,  Nolan's trying his best to 're-energize' Logan's Run so that the race his character began a half-century ago will finally find a suitable finish line.  

Bluewater Productions has built most of their comics lines around properties like Logan's Run.  Aside from their biographically-slanted titles Female Force and Political Power, their most popular books include Ray Harryhausen Presents, William Shatner Presents, Vincent Price Presents, and Legend Film's Plan 9 From Outer Space.   So, for Logan's Run to find new and deserved life in comic book form - especially at Bluewater Productions - is a fitting realization for an older yet still-resonant science fiction property.

Yet unlike their other creator-licensed titles (with the possible exception of William Shatner's), Nolan's involvement with comic books seems primarily motivated by his feature film aspirations.  To us, this brings up an entirely new matter of debate - namely, comic books not being an end unto themselves, but simply as a potential marketing vehicle that exists only as material for an eventual Hollywood pitch.

It's the hope of any creator - writer or artist - that their work might one day reach today's highest pinnacle of media success and become the next summer blockbuster, but few (Radical Publishing's The Last Days of American Crime being one) have been positioned like Nolan's new Logan's Run series.  Despite the intentions and the comic's purpose for Nolan, a comic book's purpose is to entertain -- and to the extent Salamoff and Gete's Last Day does, we think, should be the sole reason to support the series or judge it by.  Beyond that, our jury's still out, and only two things are certain. (1) You can bet your Nike's that we'll be returning to this topic in a later blog and (2) if there's any good reason to find yourself at Things From Another World's event with William F. Nolan tomorrow, it'd be to address this very question with the author himself.

If we're not on the blog tomorrow, you'll know exactly where we are. 

Our love of science fiction and graphic design's wave of minimalism meant we had to share this fantastically redesigned Logan's Run movie poster by Tom Muller.  Muller included the piece as part of the Now Showing exhibition at London's Cosh Gallery. Although it ain't cheap, Muller's Logan's Run has been made available as a 50 cm x 70 cm Giclée print on Da Vinci Archival Art Paper in a limited edition of 25 , offered by Wear It With Pride on their site HERE.  And you can check out more of Muller's sweet designs on his website, HERE.

Your Graphic Imagination: Marvelous Mouse Magic

"So what if this is a new blog?

"What kind of blog about comics can even call itself a blog about comics when they haven't blogged one word on two of the biggest shake-ups the comics industry has ever seen??? I mean, I was shaken. I was - disturbed. Couldn't even make it to the coffee pot! Disney. Marvel. Disney-Marvel! I feel violated, Max!

"No, stop! Don't make fun of me! (Pause.) It was like that movie, you know? Like my own private Idaho or something was invaded by...by Mouseketeers."

You gotta love Raley, my next door neighbor. She's a comic book fan too, so we get along pretty well. Her boyfriend -- the "Max" of her outburst -- isn't so much. I asked them both to take a look at the blog and tell me straight up what they thought. Max was "down with it," and well, Raley -- I think maybe too much information out of Raley.

But she's got a point, doesn't she? August 31st's news of Disney's planned purchase of Marvel Entertainment, along with the news from Warner Bros of their reorganization of DC Comics less than a week later, are seismic events. I felt just like Raley did. Still do.

Bloggers have to blog about what matters to 'em most, or at least that's what the Google guys told me when they sold me this website. So believe me, dabblers. I've just been biding my time. Where those Bad Boys are concerned, my blogs could be legion. Plenty of pointed, scathing discourse coming your way in the days and weeks ahead.

While we're waiting, I think some really cool comic book art is in order. Something magical and marvelous. After all, this is your graphic imagination.

Courtesy of the KirbyMuseum.org, I hope you get a kick out of this really good-humored dedication to the best of Walt Disney and Marvel Comics, brought together with true Silver Age flair. For a bigger look at Disney Fantasia Fun, run over here.