Posts Tagged ‘28 Weeks Later’
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I don’t know exactly how to explain today’s comic except there is this weird lull in theaters this weekend between Spider-Man 3 coming out last week and Shrek the Third coming out next week. The only new high-profile release is 28 Weeks Later. Since I’m all about drawing Tom in the Spider-Man mask as much as possible, I decided on this weird little mash-up.
At least I know for some of you it will be weird. The comic book faithful knows there is already a precedence for a zombie Spider-Man and that would be in Marvel Comics popular maxi-series Marvel Zombies from early last year. Robert Kirkman – who is one of my favorite comic book writers – did a really excellent job with it and it has a really black sense of humor. As you can see, I’ve posted the cover to the second printing of the first issue so you could see where I picked up the visual reference.
Right now there is a very interesting Army of Darkness vs. Marvel Zombies crossover going on right now. So if you’re a fan of the Evil Dead movies (somewhat timely considering Sam Raimi’s involvement in that franchise as well as the Spider-Man franchise), you might want to stop by your local comic book store and pick it up.
As far as the comic goes. I’m happy with it. It gave me an opportunity to do some dramatic up-lighting, which I always enjoy. Plus, you got two full comics this week instead of one while I was on vacation. Can’t complain about that! Well, that is unless you’re one of the people who took my Spider-Man 3 review personally and vowed never to visit my site again. Because – let’s face it – you’re just looking for stuff to complain about!
Some of you with less serious opinions about comic book movies will be glad to know that I’m through covering Spider-Man 3. After today’s comic, we’re moving forward. I wish I had more to say about 28 Weeks Later, but I’m not sure where I stand on it.
The first movie was amazing. To take zombies and make them faster and more aggressive than a linebacker was such a simple move that worked out so well. It finally made zombies really, REALLY scary to me. And before anyone writes in and tries to correct me that “they weren’t zombies! It was a virus!” I know that. But let’s not kid ourselves. It was a zombie movie, okay. At any rate – excellent execution (no pun).
I never really understood the appeal of zombie movies before that. Shuffling around, and whatnot. Why are they a threat? I guess it was the thrill of taking one’s head off with a shotgun that people liked to see. Of course, the social commentary between zombies and mall culture in Dawn of the Dead was cool. But beyond that, what was cool or menacing about zombies? Their numbers? Their relentlessness? I’ve never been a big horror fan, so if anyone wants to take a stab (again, no pun) at explaining the appeal in the comments, I’m all ears.
As much as I liked the original 28 Days Later, I wonder if the sequel can live up to it’s predecessor. The rumor is that the producers threw a bunch of money at Cillian Murphy to reprise his role and (I think) have him come back as a zombie. Is that right? No dice, though because he turned them down.
I don’t really think that Murphy’s involvement is a requirement to make 28 Weeks Later a success. After all, there were no real big name actors in the first movie, so this one will probably do just fine. It just makes me wonder if that would have been an insurance policy of sorts for the producers or if it’s a sign that they don’t have faith in what they have script-wise.
For me it’ll be wait-and-see. I saw the first 28 Days Later on DVD. It’ll probably be the same for 28 Weeks Later. I’m too much of a wuss. I need to pause the movie and get a soda sometimes. I can’t do that in the theater. Oh, well.
Anyone out there planning on seeing it? What’s the agenda for the weekend? Leave your comments below and I’ll see you on Monday!
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Studios attempting to steer clear of the Spider-Man 3 juggernaut (which dropped 60% in it’s second week, but was the fifth film in history to cross the $200 million mark in 9 days) didn’t release many new films of interest this weekend, but of the new offerings, 28 Weeks Later came in second with $10 million. Not to bad. It’s been getting good reviews to boot.
I was kind of at a loss for the sketch I should do for today’s post. At first I tried my hand at drawing a crazed person diseased with the rage virus running at you. It didn’t turn out too well. Then I remembered the excellent marketing campaign 28 Weeks Later came up with in advance of the movie. Those great posters about “maintaining the quarantine” that they slapped up to make your local googleplex look like a totalitarian state. Excellent, eye-catching design. Almost like propaganda. Anyway, I remembered those and decided to try my hand at drawing some dude in a gas mask.
I’ve always found gas masks scary. Obviously they imply an unsafe environment where the air is unclean. That by itself is pretty frightening. But then you get those cloudy lenses, the protruding breathing apparatus and then deep, shallow gasps of filtered air. You think about those elements and it was no wonder Darth Vader scared the crap out of people before he was Hayden Christensen.
Kind of at a loss for words today, so I’ll wrap things up early. Two bits of news, though. The contest for Dreamgirls and Diggers is currently over with. I received my give away copies in the mail last week and sent them out on Saturday. So hopefully the winners will be receiving those soon. No new contests in the immediate future, but hopefully that turns around soon. Keep your eyes and ears peeled.
Oh, and speaking of keeping your ears peeled, be sure to tune into The Triple Feature talkcast tonight over at Talkshoe at 9:00 PM CST. Tonight it’ll be just me and Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex. Joe Dunn from Joe Loves Crappy Movies won’t be able to make it. We’ll probably be talking about 28 Weeks Later, but since I didn’t see it, a lot of tonight’s show is on Gordon’s shoulders. If you want to make our job easier by calling in and participating, that would be great!
One last thing before I forget. This one is for the local fans. Well, local if you’re from Iowa.
I will be at the I-Con Comic Book Convention at the 4-H Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds this Saturday, May 19 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. This will be my first convention appearance of the year and I’m really looking forward to it. I went to I-Con for the first time last year and the event organizers really put on a good show. From what I’ve heard, it’ll be even bigger this year. So I hope to see you there!
Going to conventions gets me psyched and it’ll be interesting to see how many people locally will recognize me now that my comic has been regionally syndicated in Juice. I’m willing to bet it’ll be up to four people as opposed to three people last year. I made a slew of free buttons for the show, but I still need to print up fliers that I can give to people and entice them to check out the site. Now that I know what you guys think are some of the best strips, I have a good sample to choose from.
Wizard World Chicago in August will be my next convention and my hope is to have Theater Hopper: Year Three available by then. I’ve started doing the layout and I’ll probably have that done this week. After that, it’s writing and proofing. It’s always a lot of work, but a lot of fun.
I’m kind of holding my breath, though. I don’t know if I’ll actually end up producing the book this year and if I do, it’ll be a small print run. To be perfectly honest, I still have a bunch of copies of Year One and Year Two that I want to get out of the door before going to Chicago. They’re $15 a piece, in full-color and loaded down with content. Almost 200 pages each. If you guys want to help me move a little inventory, that would be great. Buy both books together and save five bucks. Bundle a book with a shirt and save, too. Or, help me think bigger. Does anyone have suggestions as to who I could sell a large quantity of books to? I’ve sold a few to local comic shops, but sending the books through Diamond Distribution to get them into stores outside of Iowa wouldn’t be profitable for me. I need to make some one-on-one sales.
Any suggestions?
Talk to you soon!
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