THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: New Posters For Burton's 'Alice In Wonderland'

If 'Black Friday' was a movie it would have to be done by Tim Burton. The fan-fav director has made a career out of producing mainly family movies with a 'twist of dark'. Now his creative hands are taking hold of one of the most imaginative works in literary fiction; Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland - and as these new teaser posters from Disney show he is definitely the man for the job.

Philip Tan's New Look Outsiders

In dating terms Marvel's Seige, with it's daily teasers, would by now have developed one hell of a reputation. DC's The Outsiders by comparison, still has some modesty left, teasing just enough on the DC Source Blog to whip fans into a frenzy about the upcoming run of writer/Editor-In-Chief Dan Didio and artist Philip Tan.

The latest I'm chucking up here as well because let's face it - it deserves a second look. A sketchpage of Tan's showing a few character studies, including rocking new looks for Katanna and Black Lightning. Check out the changing of the guard for yourself when Outsiders #26 hits stands in January.

40 YEARS OF SESAME ST WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER...

Back in the days where my age was pretty much all I could count up to without running into trouble, I never would've thought Sesame Street would outlast the Electric Company.

Now as Bert, Ernie, Snuffaluffagus and Elmo celebrate 40 years of educating and entertaining young minds, I guess the pop icons have made me eat my crayon-written words.

Instead of adopting the oh-so tempting 'Cookie Monster diet' in recognition of a job well done, I post this image of my favourite part of the show; Super-Grover - is there anything Alex Ross hasn't painted?

Happy Birthday Sesame Street - congrats on turning the big 4-0!

DARK HORSE COMICS: February Cover Shots

February; the month of romance and swapping valentines, but don't expect the books from Dark Horse to be all chocolates and flowers. With these '3 shots' among their Feb solicitation cover illustrations, they have other ways to make your heart skip a beat.

ARTISTS AND TITLES: Jo Chen (Buffy The Vampire Slayer #32), Justin Sweet (Conan The Cimmerian #19), Adi Granov (Mass Effect: Redemption #2 (of 4). To see the full range, visit the folk at CBR.

IT'S TUESDAYS - IT'S THE CRUNCH

Four shots of news to round out the week that was, assembled right here when it comes to THE CRUNCH.

• The 4thletter has a brilliant write-up on Grant Morrison's NEW X-MEN run, and the confusion of Marvel's later decision to hop back on the same old treadmill of X-stories that Grant broke them out of. More...
  
• EMO Films signs a deal to bring the classic EC horror titles like TALES FROM THE CRYPT and TWO-FISTED TALES back to film, TV and even Radio. More...
  
• Joe Kelly returns to the character he should never have left; DEADPOOL, in Amazing Spider-Man #611 (on sale this week) with one of the funniest previews in ages. More...
  
• And while I don't get on the subject of music that often, I have to post a vid up from fellow 'Kiwi' Ladyhawke. The latest CD from the winner of 6 New Zealand music awards has been one of the main things I have written/drawn to, over the last few months, so it's only fair I give her a plug.

ME-OOWW: Alex Ross Creates Purr-fect Piece For Charity Fundraiser

Alex Ross helped save comics from a life of 'grim'n'gritty' and now he's rescuing abused, abandoned and homeless cats and kittens, by auctioning an original piece of art on Ebay. An amazing image, featuring comics number one feline fatale, Catwoman, all money raised by the donation will go directly to The Saved Whiskers Rescue Organization.

From Ross himself;
"Animal rescue is one of my favorite causes. Saved Whiskers does great work to save the lives of animals in need. Doing this painting for them was also a great excuse for me to illustrate a version of a character I love. It is a donation that I'm extremely proud of. For any fans who are animal lovers, please bid as much as you can. If you can't afford to bid, please donate to: http://www.savedwhiskersrescue.com/donations.html or send a donation via paypal at: paypal@savedwhiskersrescue.com or to Saved Whiskers Rescue, PO BOX 1674, Voorhees, NJ 08043. It's a great cause!"

If you have a few grand to spare the Ebay auction is here, or to make a more generally affordable donation, as Alex states above, you can visit here - and be sure to stay tuned to It's A Dan's World for the total amount raised, when the bidding ends on Friday, November 13 2009 (at 11:00 PST).

POETIC LICENCE: Del Toro's 'Hobbit' changes

A mere few hours drive from where I sit typing, at the Wellington based WETA Workshop, film director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson are hard at work on the most eagerly awaited set of fantasy films since Jackson's Lord Of The Rings trilogy: the two Hobbit movies. Recently Del Toro revealed how he hopes a bit of 'poetic licence' on adapting the book by Professor J R R Tolkien will give audiences a more "majestic" experience.

With over three times the design time of Hellboy, and over three times the number of artists used on other films, Del Toro expects the production of drawings and character models, to continue through to the start of filming at the end of the New Zealand summer (March). The bulk of the design time took about a year he says, because of the unique idea he had for the monster he's most proudest of - the dragon Smaug -which will make it different to all the other dragons on film.

Aiming to add a sense of the majestic to other monsters in The Hobbit as well, Del Toro admits that some of the creature designs from LOTR, will be changing, "I wanted the Wargs to have a certain beauty so that you don't have a massively clear definition: what is beautiful is good and what is ugly is not. Some of the monsters are absolutely gorgeous"

As an added Easter Egg for fans of the source material, the director added that while the two films will follow the structure of the novel, they will also fill in a few gaps, such as what the wizard Gandalf was doing, when he was absent from the action in the book. The first of the two Hobbit films will open in 2011.

(Via Total Film Website)

MAKING A MARK THIS WEEK: AMANDA CONNER

Her biggest hits may be VAMPIRELLA and POWER GIRL but Amanda Conner isn't so much a 'cheesecake' artist as she is a specialist in good, fun comics (remember those?). Like artist Kevin Maguire, her clean illustration style has a knack for perfectly capturing facial expressions, and the humour of the moment.

Stunned by her work on the SUPERGIRL strip for WEDNESDAY COMICS, I recently looked into her current gig on Power Girl, for DC Comics -finding one of the best scenes of 09' - one all cat-owners will instantly identify with...(below)

IF I WAS E.I.C SHE'D NEXT APPEAR ON: PLASTIC MAN. Paired with a character who can reshape his body any way imaginable, Amanda's sense of humour would have found it's perfect partner in crime.

LOOKING ICON TO ICON: Why Doc Savage Gets Respect

Trip back to the 1930's and you'll find it's not Wolverine that's the talk of the town, it's Doc Savage. Now the 'righter of wrongs' returns to the modern day home of icons; DC Comics, in the upcoming BATMAN/DOC SAVAGE special. With Brian Azzarello at the pen and Phil Noto at the pencil, the oneshot kick-starts a whole new pulp-inspired universe; 'First Wave'.

Now before the waters lap the shore, here's a quick run down on how the one of the biggest icons of the past relates to and inspired some of the biggest icons of the present - and more importantly why you need to keep an eye out for him and his crew on the shelves this Wednesday.

• SUPERMAN: Both heroes had an artic escape called the Fortress of Solitude, if that and the nicknames dont show how much of an inspiration the 'Man of Bronze' was on the 'Man Of Steel' nothing will.
  
  
• BATMAN: Embodying the pulp ideal of what a man could become through hardwork, scientific training, exercise and owning a fortune in gold, Doc Savage also contained the hero's own exercises - so you too could hone your body to it's peak.
  
  
• WONDER WOMAN: The amazon's next best 'set of assets' were a gift from the Gods of Myth, however renowned Doc Savage author, Lester Dent, described his hero as a mix of the deduction of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan's physical ability, Craig Kennedy's scientific education, and Abraham Lincoln's goodness.
  
  
• GREEN LANTERN: The GL Corps has nothing on the Doc Savage Club, which readers were invited to join, and in doing so received a personalised membership card, along with the official 'oath' of the champion of willpower;
  The Code of Doc Savage: Let me strive, every moment of my life, to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right, and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

For more on Doc Savage and his gang visit The Source Blog.