Dan Brereton Interview – Presented by Empire’s Comics Vault!
Dan Brereton fans will want to check out the interview below.
15 Mature Comic Book TV Shows We Need To See Next
Michael Edward Taylor and ScreenRant present 15 Mature Comic Book TV Shows We Need To See Next. Using just their choices here are my top three plus a few that didn’t make their list…
11. HUMAN TARGET
Please try to wipe that lame 2010 Fox series of the same name from your memory, because it was the second worst adaptation of the DC/Vertigo title of the same name featuring detective/bodyguard Christopher Chance. (For what it’s worth, the top honor goes to a short-lived 1992 series starring Rick Springfield.)
The key to the character’s appeal is taking on the appearance and persona of the clients he’s sworn to protect in order to take down assassins and other nefarious entities who stalk them, and the effect his unusual profession has on his psyche. This is ripe for a mature television adaptation that delves into his complicated psychology and dangerous line of work. Sure, the character made an appearance on the 5th season of Arrow, but he deserves to be front and center with his own series with no content restrictions.
2. WATCHMEN
Ever since Terry Gilliam’s aborted 1980s adaptation, there has been a growing consensus that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s groundbreaking classic Watchmen would work better as a television miniseries than a feature film.
And even with Zack Snyder’s 2009 movie still fresh in our minds, a big-budget premium cable adaptation should still happen. Why? Because Moore’s densely plotted 12-issue series simply can’t be completely covered in a movie, no matter the length.
It would take 12 episodes (or more) to fully explore every major plot reveal and characterization. Just a few years ago, Snyder was in contact with HBO to pitch a series, and while that idea seemed to dissolve, Damon Lindelof (The Leftovers, Lost) appears to be picking up where he left off. This may still happen yet. Will it be live-action or animated? Will it add new storyline elements (a risky proposition), or stick close to the source material (…giant psychic squid, another risky proposition)? We’ll have to see if it comes to fruition first.
1. 100 BULLETS
There have been rumors of a 100 Bullets movie or television series in the works for years, and to be honest, it’s kinda maddening that the Brian Azzarello Vertigo series created in 1999 still hasn’t made it onto the small screen. It’s probably the one adult comic series that would make the easiest transition to the medium.
The premise revolves around a shadowy organization that equips victims with the ability to take revenge. They’re told the guns they use have untraceable bullets, letting them get away with murder. But while that may be true, they eventually get coerced into a world of contract killing and political intrigue.
A crime drama full of murky anti-heroes, sex, violence, and unpredictable plot twists would be a perfect match in the modern television landscape where all great characters exist in shades of gray. It’s beyond time for 100 Bullets to blast through the television screen and into our hearts.
+++++
Here are other comics that would make great transitions to tv shows.
9 Things You May Not Know About the Declaration of Independence
Elizabeth Harrison and History.com present 9 Things You May Not Know About the Declaration of Independence. Here are three of my favorites…
1. The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776.
On July 1, 1776, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and on the following day 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of Richard Henry Lee’s motion for independence. The delegates then spent the next two days debating and revising the language of a statement drafted by Thomas Jefferson. On July 4, Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, and as a result the date is celebrated as Independence Day. Nearly a month would go by, however, before the actual signing of the document took place. First, New York’s delegates didn’t officially give their support until July 9 because their home assembly hadn’t yet authorized them to vote in favor of independence. Next, it took two weeks for the Declaration to be “engrossed”—written on parchment in a clear hand. Most of the delegates signed on August 2, but several—Elbridge Gerry, Oliver Wolcott, Lewis Morris, Thomas McKean and Matthew Thornton—signed on a later date. (Two others, John Dickinson and Robert R. Livingston, never signed at all.) The signed parchment copy now resides at the National Archives in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, alongside the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
8. The Declaration of Independence spent World War II in Fort Knox.
On December 23, 1941, just over two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the signed Declaration, together with the Constitution, was removed from public display and prepared for evacuation out of Washington, D.C. Under the supervision of armed guards, the founding document was packed in a specially designed container, latched with padlocks, sealed with lead and placed in a larger box. All told, 150 pounds of protective gear surrounded the parchment. On December 26 and 27, accompanied by Secret Service agents, it traveled by train to Louisville, Kentucky, where a cavalry troop of the 13th Armored Division escorted it to Fort Knox. The Declaration was returned to Washington, D.C., in 1944.
3. When news of the Declaration of Independence reached New York City, it started a riot.
By July 9, 1776, a copy of the Declaration of Independence had reached New York City. With hundreds of British naval ships occupying New York Harbor, revolutionary spirit and military tensions were running high. George Washington, commander of the Continental forces in New York, read the document aloud in front of City Hall. A raucous crowd cheered the inspiring words, and later that day tore down a nearby statue of George III. The statue was subsequently melted down and shaped into more than 42,000 musket balls for the fledgling American army.
Baby Driver (2017)
Baby Driver (2017)
Director: Edgar Wright
Screenplay: Edgar Wright
Stars: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Lily James, Kevin Spacey and CJ Jones.
The Pitch: “Hey, Edgar Wright has this cool idea for a crime love story wrapped around a killer soundtrack!”
Tagline: All you need is one killer track.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Baby is a young getaway driver working off a debt to a crime boss. Baby has one more heist to drive and he’s out debt-free. Then Baby meets the girl of his dreams and things get complicated, not because of her but because preparation for the job goes sideways. People die and Baby finds himself on the run from his team and the cops.
Edgar Wright has created a cool, action-packed love story wrapped around bigger than life characters all moving through life to their own internal soundtrack. The more I think about Baby Driver the more I like it. Wright’s story is a fable or yarn that has all of the characters you’d want, played by people you’d cast. Yeah, Baby Driver deserves an “A”.
Rating:
He Walked by Night (1948)
He Walked by Night (1948)
Director: Alfred L. Werker (as Alfred Werker), Anthony Mann (uncredited)
Screenplay: Crane Wilbur and John C. Higgins with additional dialogue by Harry Essex
Stars: Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell and Jack Webb
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s do a crime docu-drama”
Tagline: From the Homicide Files of the Los Angeles Police.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
When an off-duty cop stumbles onto a robbery, the thief, an intelligent cold-blooded killer (Basehart) guns him down. With no real leads, LA police Sgt. Marty Brennan (Brady) leads a unit to catch the killer. Told in a psuedo-documentary style.
Rating: 3 of 5 stars.
Joshua Greathouse Gets Carter!
This amazing watercolor was created by Joshua Greathouse. When I saw that Greathouse was taking pre-show commissions for HeroesCon, I contacted him about a Get Carter piece. Man, did he nail it!
The funny thing is, when I picked up the art, Greathouse told me it was the second piece he’d ever done for me. I was sure it was the first. Greathouse went on to say he’d done a Rocky sketch for me at another show several years ago. That night I checked my online posted art and there was nothing by Greathouse. Of course I have many pieces that have not been scanned and posted yet. When I returned home I found the piece Greathouse was talking about. You won’t believe his growth as an artist. I’ll post the Rocky piece soon.
In the meantime, if you’re a sketch collector, check out Greathouse on the web. You can find him here and here.
Kill Me Three Times (2014)
Kill Me Three Times (2014)
Director: Kriv Stenders
Screenplay: James McFarland
Stars: Simon Pegg, Teresa Palmer, Alice Braga, Luke Hemsworth and Bryan Brown
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s do a crime comedy!”
Tagline: Once is never enough
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
When hitman Charlie Wolf (Pegg) fails to kill his target, he finds himself drawn into three interwoven cases of infidelity, revenge, blackmail and murders!
Rating:
‘Dracula’: 7 Things A Series About the World’s Most Famous Vampire Should Have
A new tv series based on Dracula is in the work. Seems there has been a lot of grumbling from fans worried about the potential success of a new series based on the infamous Count…
…these concerns aren’t unjustified — Dracula-centered television shows are notoriously short-lived, and while there are a multitude of shows centered around the supernatural, there aren’t that many dedicated to the main vamp himself. NBC took a stab at it in 2013 with “Dracula,” a British-American horror drama… Though promising, the series only lasted one season.
Gabrielle Kiss and IndieWire came up with ‘Dracula’: 7 Things A Series About the World’s Most Famous Vampire Should Have. Here are the three that I think are most important…
5. Make Dracula a Bit Ruthless
Rumor has it that Dracula was based off of Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, better known as Vlad the Impaler. It’s said that Vlad Dracula (meaning son of the dragon, or son of the devil) would dip chunks of bread into buckets of blood drained from the people he killed, usually after he invited them to a feast and then immediately impaled them at the dinner table (he always finished his dinner afterwards, bodies and all, in case you were wondering). So it would be nice if that same sense of ruthlessness could be brought to the new adaptation of “Dracula.” There’s no rule that states you can’t be suave and merciless (just ask Klaus Mikaelson of “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals”). (I agree. Dracula didn’t become King of the Vampires and live as long as he did without being ruthless. He’s a vampire!)
6. Give Him a Sense of Humor
Speaking of “The Originals,” let’s bring in some of that dark humor and wit that makes characters like Klaus Mikaelson a baddie that we love to hate (but just can’t). That same natural charisma and use of offhanded sardonic remarks should be applied to our newest Dracula, because that’s what the audience connects to. It’s also what keeps people coming back for more, everyone needs a tension breaker once in awhile. (His sense of humor should arise from the fact that he’s amusing himself. Saying things and making jokes not for others but his own amusement. He believes himself to be above mere humans. So it will be very interesting when a human catches his innuendo and responds. Dracula will know he’s perhaps met his match.)
3. Tell the Original Story
While a lot of vampire stories have spawned from the original “Dracula,” there haven’t been nearly as many that actually tell Dracula’s story. Bring back characters like Jonathan Harker and Van Helsing! They don’t have to share the spotlight with Dracula, but they’re relatively new characters to the younger generation, and they would help inspire interesting plot points for the new show (something the previous “Dracula” series lacked). (While I go back on forth on the era – modern or 1890’s, I do believe that the original story, even if slightly modified should be the basis for the series.)
They Live by Night (1948)
They Live by Night (1948)
Director: John Boorman
Screenplay: Charles Schnee and Nicholas Ray based on the novel by Edward Anderson
Stars: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger and Howard Da Silva
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s do a crime love story about a young couple in a doomed relationship!”
Tagline: “We’re in a Jam!”
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
A young escaped convict who hopes to prove his innocence falls in love with a woman helping to hide and nurse him back to health. Persuaded to assist in a couple of robberies by the cons who helped him escape only draws more heat to catch them. When the young couple attempt to get away and start a new life, they find the cops closing in.
Rating:
Breakfast to Honor Jim Ivey!
What a fun morning! About every six months I try to pull together a group of folks to get with our buddy Jim Ivey for a marathon breakfast session. This time we belatedly celebrated Jim’s 92nd birthday! That’s Jim Ivey to the far right, me, Mike Sikes, Bill Black, John Beatty, Cliff Weikal and Jim (missed his last name). Taking the photo was Steven Martinez.
Jim Ivey is one of my oldest [as in been a friend the longest], oldest [as in age] and dearest friends. I first met Jim in the mid 1970’s when he was running The Cartoon Museum in Orlando, Florida. At the same time Jim was working as a syndicated cartoonist [The Thoughts of Man], a political cartoonist [The Orlando Sentinel], a publisher [CartooNews], teacher [UCF cartooning class] and even a comic book convention organizer [OrlandoCon]. I was just graduating high school and into collecting comic books and later original art. Jim’s shop was like heaven.
Going to The Cartoon Museum became a weekly trip [almost always accompanied by my best friend, John Beatty]. When I moved to Orlando to attend UCF, my trips to Jim’s Cartoon Museum became even more frequent. We’d spend the day shooting the breeze and playing cards [blackjack, gin, hearts, poker] and would occasionally stop for lunch or Jim to make a sale. Jim hated it when business got in the way of fun!
You never knew who would come through the store. Sometimes it was other buddies like Bill Black [pictured in the photo above with Jim and I], Mike Kott, Rafael Kayanan, or Robert Smith. Sometimes it was established artists like Mike Zeck, Bob McLeod, Bruce Stark or so many others.
As the years have gone by and we’ve all gone in different directions. Many of us correspond via e-mail, but Jim doesn’t mess with computers. So it’s snail mail correspondence for us. I love getting my letters from Jim. Just like when we’d go to his shop and you’d never know what would be waiting; it’s the same experience opening an envelope from Jim.
Getting back to today’s breakfast…
John Beatty, Cliff and I went in on stogies for Jim — got him some really nice cigars individually rolled ones from a specialty shop. Other gifts included a nice Prince Valiant book, a Bill Black movie, a homemade carrot cake and more. Jim was truly touched that so many old friends made the trip to honor him. Old stories followed faster that our ice tea refills. It was a wonderful time for all. My guess is that our next get-together will be more of the same. How could it not be when old friends make a point to re-connect?
Point Blank (1967)
Point Blank (1967)
Director: John Boorman
Screenplay: Alexander Jacobs and David Newhouse & Rafe Newhouse based on the Donald E. Westlake novel written as Richard Stark
Stars: Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Keenan Wynn, Carroll O’Connor, Lloyd Bochner, John and James B. Sikking
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s get Lee Marvin to star in a crime movie!”
Tagline: There are two kinds of people in his up-tight world: his victims and his women. And sometimes you can’t tell them apart.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Walker (Marvin) is double crossed and left for dead after helping his friend steal money to pay off his friend’s mob debt. Walker recovers and vows to get revenge and his share of the money.
Rating:
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick & Michael Herr & Gustav Hasford from the novel by Gustav Hasford
Stars: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Kevyn Major Howard, Arliss Howard and Ed O’Ross.
The Pitch: “Hey, Kubrick wants to make a war movie!”
Tagline: One rifle, one gun. One for killing, one for fun.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Full Metal Jacket follows a bunch of young, raw recruits from boot camp to war in Viet Nam. One of Kurbrick’s best movies with special props to R. Lee Emey and Vincent D’Onfrio.
Rating:
Jonathon Maberry Interview!
I was stoked to learn that Jonathon Maberry will be a keynote speaker on July 8th at the Orlando Book Festival. Maberry will also be a featured speaker at the graphic novel panel. It is always cool to meet a favorite author!
Here’s a recent interview with Mr. Maberry where he speaks about the Orlando Book Festival, writing and a whole lot more.
Cat People (1942)
Cat People (1942)
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Screenplay: DeWitt Bodeen
Stars: Simone Simon, Tom Conway, Kent Smith
The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a sensual monster movie!”
Tagline: A Kiss Could Change Her Into a Monstrous Fang-and-Claw Killer!
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Kent Smith meets, falls in love and quickly marries Irena Dubrovna only to discover that Irena believes she is cursed to turn into a panther when her passions rise. I kid you not.
As with all reviews, your mileage may vary, but I think that most people will like Cat People better than me. I found it to be slow and silly (but not funny). Meow.
Rating:
55 Things We Learned from “The Rock” Commentary with Michael Bay and Nicolas Cage
Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 55 Things We Learned from The Rock Commentary with Michael Bay and Nicolas Cage. Here are three of my favorites…
20. Sean Connery suggested that Bay “needed to rehearse more and just slow down in the morning,” and the director took the advice.
33. Cage was concerned that he “looked like a little Japanese schoolboy” in his SCUBA gear while the other actors all looked cool. Bay admits to intentionally making him look ridiculous.
39. It took a while for Bay to convince both Cage and Connery to go underwater while flames blasted above the surface at the 1:22:40 mark, but both actors eventually agreed. There are safety divers immediately outside of frame during the sequence. “It was very frightening,” adds Cage. “And Sean wasn’t happy about it.”
