Tag: Mike Mignola

San Diego’s Comic-Con International remains the biggest pop culture confab in the country, drawing thousands of people to the city’s convention center for four days and five nights of fan-favorite movies, TV, games, memorabilia and, yes, comic books every July. But this year a new, somewhat feistier comics event will set up shop directly across the street. Indie-minded artists, storytellers and comics creators have banded together to form a pop-up space called “Tr!ckster” that will celebrate the spirit of DIY and creator-owned work. Spawned by Pixar story artists-independent cartoonists Scott Morse and Ted Mathot, “Tr!ckster” will feature a combination retail shop-art gallery-event space in the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center that will run for six days, from July 19-24, coinciding with the Con. “We’re celebrating people who make, own and control their own work,” Morse said. “In a world of movies ...

The 2011 Hero Complex Film Festival is underway. Here’s a rundown of the day-by-day schedule. There will also be trivia, prizes and some very interesting surprises throughout the four-day program. THURSDAY DICK TRACY: Fourteen-time Oscar nominee Warren Beatty – the very definition of the Hollywood hyphenate as world-famous leading man, an acclaimed director and an elite producer — will be the opening-night guest for the 2011 Hero Complex Film Festival to celebrate his 1990 hit “Dick Tracy“ and talk about the film future of a square-jawed character who is celebrating his 80th anniversary as an iconic crime fighter in American pop culture. Beatty directed  “Dick Tracy,” which was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won three. He also starred as the title character, leading a stellar cast that included Al Pacino, Madonna, Dustin Hoffman,  Glenne Headly, Charlie Korsmo, Mandy Patinkin, Dick Van Dyke, William Forsythe, Kathy Bates, Charles Durning, James ...

Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy, will be a special guest at the Hero Complex Film Festival and on Saturday he will be signing special limited-edition posters at the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood, the site of the four-day film and pop-culture event. Mignola, one of the signature figures in comics over  the last 25 years, created an exclusive image for this year’s festival and that striking image will be available in two formats. One is the official poster for the event — with the show information and names of featured guests – while the other is a “pure” version of Mignola’s sinewy vision, such as the one shown on the right. Only 100 copies are being made of each version. The high-quality, offset posters are 19″ x 13″ and cost $25. The posters are produced and sold by Every Picture Tells a Story, the landmark Santa Monica ...

It’s Geoff Johns’ universe, we just live in it. That’s how it feels these days for DC fans who find the prolific and passionate creator playing a key role in the feature film (“Green Lantern,” which hits theaters on June 17), on television’s (“Smallville,” which ends it decade-long run on Friday), in cyberspace (DC Universe Online)  and, of course, the comics, where he’s filled entire bookshelves with tales of Flash,  Green Lantern, Superman and many, many others. If you want to meet Johns, here’s the brightest day to do so: Saturday is Free Comic Book Day and the chief creative officer of DC Entertainment will be  appearing at Earth 2 in Los Angeles from noon to 2 p.m. at the Sherman Oaks location (15017 Ventura Blvd.) and from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Northridge location (8967 Reseda Blvd.). He’ll be signing a special edition of “Green Lantern,” ...

THE SIGNATURE SERIES: MIKE MIGNOLA Today we proudly launch a new video archive here at the Hero Complex — we call it The Signature Series and it will take you into the workspace of writers, artists, filmmakers and other creators of the fantastic so you can hear their voice (and only their voice) as they recount the turning points in their career, their influences and insights they’ve gleaned about life and craft. There is no better first subject for this new endeavor than Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy and an industry figure  as much for his wry candor as for prodigious talents. We sat down with him in Redondo Beach studio to talk about Hellboy’s origins, Jack Kirby, Hollywood, “Gotham by Gaslight,” artist anxiety and one profoundly strange night in Prague. We hope you enjoy the Signature Series and would love to hear your suggestions — whose voice do you want to ...

A comic book store can be a vast and wonderful landscape, but sometimes it’s nice to have a compass to help you as you wander those aisles. With that in mind, the Hero Complex and the mighty G4TV.com have teamed up for a new weekly series of video recommendations — Geoff Boucher of the Hero Complex will select and celebrate a new release  from the vivid world of superheroes and more traditonal -minded fare, while the always insightful Blair Butler of G4′s Fresh Ink blog will recommend a worthy new release from the “non-spandex” side of comics, those graphic novels and alternative press titles that use their comics panels in the name of memoir, literary experimentation or underground voice. [Correction: The G4tv.com site was mistakenly labeled G4.com.] RECENT AND RELATED CAPES/NO CAPES: “Earth 1″ & “Acme Library” Charles Burns and “X’ed Out” seeks dark edge Grant Morrison: “Evil is the new black.” Darywn Cooke reloads with ...

Some sights and sounds from the first few hours of Comic-Con International, Day One…   BEST T-SHIRT: “Team Edward” but with a picture of  Edward Scissorhands, Johnny Depp old-school version of a brooding, cinematic heartthrob with blood splatter issues. MOST UNEXPECTED REVELATION: John Stevenson, director of “Kung Fu Panda,” stopped a panel discussion on imagination and creativity to launch into a long ode to Mike Mignola, the creator of “Hellboy,” who looked both flattered and then a bit uncomfortable at the lengthy valentine. Stevenson said his office wall was adorned with “Hellboy” images during the making of “Panda,” each of them a reminder of artistic integrity and attention to craft. At the end of it all, the droll Mignola waited a beat and then muttered, “Well I’m glad the movie wasn’t bad then because I’d feel responsible.” MOST DISAPPOINTED GROUP:Paparazzi who spent ...

  Mike Mignola, the creator of Hellboy, will be a special guest Friday night at Secret Headquarters, the cooler-than-cool comics store and pop-culture gallery in Silver Lake. An exhibit of the Eisner Award-winning artist’s work will be on display, including pages from “The Corpse”  and “The Third Wish” and an assortment of covers, including the striking image from the “Wake the Devil” trade paperback. Mignola is one of my favorite people in the comics industry — not only is he wildly talented but he also has a wry wit and, after a glass or two of red wine, some fantastic tales about his years in the industry. (If you can corner him at the event, ask him about his misadventure involving Frank Miller’s trench coat, but don’t be surprised if he rolls his eyes and walks away.) I’ve been a big fan of Mignola’s work since the days ...

We’re starting a new feature here at the Hero Complex called The Essential Shelf in which we invite some esteemed talents to tell us about their favorite graphic novels. Our first guest is Gerard Way, the lead singer of the rock band My Chemical Romance and the writer of “The Umbrella Academy,” the wonderfully surreal Dark Horse series that (we hear) may be coming to a theater near you in the next few years. Here’s No.’s 8, 9 and 10 on the list of 10 that he e-mailed me, the rest will be posted here over the next few days. “Hellboy: Seed of Destruction,” by Mike MignolaThis book was an inspiration in the format I chose to do ‘The Umbrella Academy’ in, as well as the publisher, Dark Horse. This comic is extremely pure, it is the opposite of pretentious, ...