Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Warner Bros., in a very smart marketing ploy, has posted six new character posters for “Watchmen” on six different sites.
It’s no secret that I love drive-in theaters… and comic books. So does Mike San Giacomo. Mike is a writer who took his passion for drive-ins and comics and created a pretty cool concept for a graphic novel. Mike wrote “26 illustrated stories and six text stories set in a drive-in theater.” The stories take place over a 53-year period. Each story had to accomplish three things: Here’s a link to the website for Tales of the Starlight Drive-In. Here are links to Newsarama’s three part series [Part One; Part Two; Part III] covering Mike’s trips to historic drive-ins to promote his graphic novel. And here’s a link in case you want to order a copy of Tales of the Starlight Drive-In for yourself!
A sequel to 30 Days of Night is gearing up with Ghost House Pictures. While this is good news, the really good news is that Steve Niles, who co-created the graphic novel [with artist Ben Templesmith] and co-wrote the first film is back on board. You can read more about the project here.
Darwyn Cooke recently talked with CBR.com about his work on the upcoming comic adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker novels. It’s great to hear how closely Stark and Cooke are working and how much Cooke loves the project. You can see and hear the interview here.
Here at the ZONE we love a good zombie tale. We are also partial to excellent crime stories. So… you just know we’re going to have to check out Dead Goombas by J. Torres and Andy B. [even if it is a comedy]. You can get a preview by clicking here.
It’s a special time when Hellboy creator, Mike Mignola, returns to write AND draw his creation. The stars and planets must have lined correctly because this week Mignola returns to do just that in the Hellboy one shot “In the Chapel of Moloch.” You can see some preview art and learn more about it here.
I know that many ZONErs are Punisher fans. If you fall into that category, then you’ll probably want to check out Newsarama’s exclusive six page preview of Punisher: Frank Castle #66. It’s written by one of my favorite new authors, Duane Swierczynski with art by Michael Lacombe. Fan favorite, Dave Johnson, provides the cover. 
On Wednesday, SlashFilm.com reported that Warner Bros had acquired the rights to a French 3 issue graphic novel series called “Headshot.” It’s about a hitman and cop who, when their partners are killed, form an uneasy alliance to get revenge on the powers that set them up. You just know this story sounds like something I’d dig. And I the art, by Alexis Nolent, looks to sweeten the deal. I’d love to see an English edition… and plan to keep an eye out on the movie’s progress.
I’m not expecting a classic, but “Punisher: War Zone” continues to look better and better. There’s a new clip at the official web site.
My admiration for Kyle Baker’s talents are well known. He recently posted 
I know a lot of ZONErs like horror. I also know that many ZONErs enjoy westerns. When the genres are combined and the end result is a good as The Wicked West Volume 1 or The Wicked West Volume 2, everybody wins. Dead Irons may take us all back to victory lane!
Over at Zuda comics, they’ve started their October 2008 competition. Evan Bryce [an artist whose praises you’ve heard me sing before] has teamed up with Doug Wagner and Vin-Luan Luu to create a crazy mix of action /adventure / scifi that they call Hammer Sound.
If you’ve got a few minutes, I’d appreciate it if you’d take a look at Hammer Sound. If you like what you see go ahead and rate it. If you really like what you see, then by all means rate it as one of your favorites. [That’s the rating that will help Evan and company the most.] Tell your friends and encourage them to vote. Then take a look around at some of the other comics at Zuda. Who knows? You may find some others that you dig… but not quite as much as Hammer Sound.
Can’t wait for “Watchmen” to reach a theater near you? Then you might want to check out CBR.com’s report on a special “Watchmen” screening complete with a question and answer session with Zack Snyder!
Whoa! Some how I missed the fourth installment of Newsarama’s interview with Tim Bradstreet. Have no fear, you can read it here along with the fifth and concluding segment. 
Wow. Hard to believe after all the, uh, not so great stuff we’ve seen, but this trailer for Frank Miller’s movie adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit actually looks viewable. I still have no illusions that it will be on par with Sin City or 300, but it now looks MUCH better than other trailers and clips have presented it.So, that begs the question: Is this just a well cut trailer hiding a really bad film?
