cyrus.mortazavi

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Synopsis. When Batman and Superman first meet, they don’t like each other so much that they have a fight.

Tagline. When Batman and Superman first meet, they don’t like each other so much that they have a fight.

Trivia

• Ben Affleck wanted the role of Batman so badly that he asked director Zack Snyder to kill his parents. “I knew then that I had my Batman,” said Snyder, who had killed Affleck’s parents hours before for reasons unrelated to the movie.
• To prepare for the project, Snyder had an elective lobotomy which removed all memories of the characters Superman and Batman, then had them described to him by a 12-year-old diehard Marvel fan.
• While promoting the movie, Henry Cavill walked around Times Square wearing a Superman t-shirt. When no one seemed to recognize him, he offered this as proof that Clark Kent’s glasses would be enough of a disguise, even though the simpler explanation is that no one cares about Cavill as Superman.
• Director’s trademark: A woman spitting into a man’s mouth to indicate intimacy or trust.
• Six scale models of the Batmobile were built for practical effects shots. The models were 10:1, weighing 50,000 pounds each. A team of tractors was used to open the Batmobile’s 48-foot-tall door. A CGI Ben Affleck was then added to the shot.
• Director’s trademark: A character’s fist angrily striking a tabletop, crushing the fully dressed hot dog they were holding.
• BvS:DoJ marks the first time in DC Comics history that Superman uses the c-word. It is the first line of dialogue.

Mistakes

• Lois Lane does not have a HUD.
• The names “Perry White,” “J. Jonah Jameson,” “Daily Bugle” and “Daily Planet” are used interchangeably.
• In the scene where Superman searches the waterfront, Metropolis is visible across the bay from Metropolis.
• Perhaps in an attempt to update the characters for a modern audience, Batman mentions the “utility apps on [his] dashboard,” which is clearly just his utility belt.
• Superman is often referred to as a boat, apparent in the scene where Batman throws radioactive shards, and Superman “sustains minor hull damage.”
• Characters continually deliver lines and follow them with “and I’m talking to you, not them,” pointing at the character they are addressing. However, it is already commonly accepted that the audience is not being directly addressed by the people in a movie.
• Though the light from Krypton exploding would eventually reach Earth, Batman would not be able to see the death of Superman’s parents on the planet’s surface with the naked eye.
• It seems too convenient that Superman knew he could distract Batman during the climactic fight by pointing at Krypton and shouting “Look, more parents dying.”
• Wonder Woman’s “WW” chest symbol is upside-down.

Memorable Quotes

Clark Kent. So this is Metropolis, the city I just moved to. And this must be the Daily Planet, where I’ll be working with Lois Lane.
Lois Lane. Say, you’re handsome for a new reporter. I’ll be giving you a handjob in the break room.
Clark Kent. (classic Christopher Reeve wink to camera, as a respectful nod to his legacy)

Batman. As long as vigilantes with abilities beyond those of normal people are allowed to operate in secrecy, there can never be a dawn of justice.

Lex Luthor. Poo poo coo coo. Bobo mo mo mo mo.
Superman. An extraordinary foe. 

Bruce Wayne. So you must be the new reporter for the Metropolis newspaper. I’m from Gotham City but I had a building here that fell down.
Clark Kent. So that’s why you’re here and not there.
Bruce Wayne. I don’t like your attitude, Kent.
Clark Kent. Prepare to be murdered by Superman.

Wonder Woman. I’m here.
Superman. I kill for fun but think we should make some kind of a, you know. A league of adjudicators.
Batman. For justice. A league, you say?
Superman. Yeah, I like the sound of that… a Justice L —
Wonder Woman. (interrupting, looking into camera) To be continued.

Read more Saw It For You entries

Wentworth Miller became a star when Fox’s Prison Break became a hit. Miller started opposite Dominic Purcell as brother’s trying to escape from jail. The show ran for four seasons. He returned to television last year as Captain Cold / Leonard Snart on The Flash which led to one of the starring roles in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. But the years between the two series were difficult as Miller suffers from depression. Yesterday, Miller took to his Facebook page to talk about a body shaming meme that went viral.

Today I found myself the subject of an Internet meme. Not for the first time.

This one, however, stands out from the rest.

In 2010, semi-retired from acting, I was keeping a low-profile for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, I was suicidal.

This is a subject I’ve since written about, spoken about, shared about.

But at the time I suffered in silence. As so many do. The extent of my struggle known to very, very few.

Ashamed and in pain, I considered myself damaged goods. And the voices in my head urged me down the path to self-destruction. Not for the first time.

I’ve struggled with depression since childhood. It’s a battle that’s cost me time, opportunities, relationships, and a thousand sleepless nights.

In 2010, at the lowest point in my adult life, I was looking everywhere for relief/comfort/distraction. And I turned to food. It could have been anything. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. But eating became the one thing I could look forward to. Count on to get me through. There were stretches when the highlight of my week was a favorite meal and a new episode of TOP CHEF. Sometimes that was enough. Had to be.

And I put on weight. Big f–king deal.

One day, out for a hike in Los Angeles with a friend, we crossed paths with a film crew shooting a reality show. Unbeknownst to me, paparazzi were circling. They took my picture, and the photos were published alongside images of me from another time in my career. “Hunk To Chunk.” “Fit To Flab.” Etc.

My mother has one of those “friends” who’s always the first to bring you bad news. They clipped one of these articles from a popular national magazine and mailed it to her. She called me, concerned.

In 2010, fighting for my mental health, it was the last thing I needed.

Long story short, I survived.

So do those pictures.

I’m glad.

Now, when I see that image of me in my red t-shirt, a rare smile on my face, I am reminded of my struggle. My endurance and my perseverance in the face of all kinds of demons. Some within. Some without.

Like a dandelion up through the pavement, I persist.

Anyway. Still. Despite.

The first time I saw this meme pop up in my social media feed, I have to admit, it hurt to breathe. But as with everything in life, I get to assign meaning. And the meaning I assign to this/my image is Strength. Healing. Forgiveness.

Of myself and others.

If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Reach out. Text. Send an email. Pick up the phone. Someone cares. They’re waiting to hear from you. Much love. – W.M. ‪#‎koalas‬ ‪#‎inneractivist‬ ‪#‎prisonbroken‬

www.afsp.org
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
www.activeminds.org
www.thetrevorproject.org
www.iasp.info

www.facebook.com/notes/wentworth-miller/flour-or-wheat/1653559881523614

Wentworth Miller Talks About Depression, Suicide And A Body Shaming Meme

At the DC Comics co-publisher “Sunday Conversation” panel at WonderCon today, Dan DiDio shared a story with Jimmy Palmiotti and Scott Snyder about advice he received from legendary DC Comics editor, the late Julie Schwartz. That “every ten years, you gotta give the universe an enema.”

Longtime colleague and Harley Quinn writer Jimmy Palmiotti asked why they didn’t go with that title instead of “Rebirth”. Though he ould be doing an “Afterbirth” cover for Harley Quinn, giving birth to someting rather spoilery…

DiDio admitted that DC Comics had lost touch with their readers with some of their title of late, but stated the Batman and Harley Quinn titles, written by the co-panellists were exceptions.

Handy that.

Julie Schwartz Told Dan DiDio That Every 10 Years, DC Comics Needs An Enema

We heard the word that, after Civil War II, Brian Bendis would be returning to Jessica Jones.

Well, he’s not alone.

At Wondercon, as told to us by Bleeding Cool alumni Aaron Hale, Brian Bendis jut announced a new Jessica Jones ongoing monthly comic book with her other co-creator, Michael Gaydos

We are to expect Marvel to formally announce the new series in a few months. Though I wouldn’t expect it to be called Alias.

In time for Netflix Season Two?

New Jessica Jones Comic From Brian Bendis And Michael Gaydos To Be Announced Later This Year

… More and more here.  “Who can say no to Diana?” Greg Rucka.

“Wonder Woman The Lies” in the odd number issues with Liam Sharp,

“Wonder Woman: Year One” in the even number issues with Nicola Scott

#DCRebirth – Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp And Nicola Scott On Wonder Woman

One tick for the checklist…

#DCRebirth – Tom King And David Finch Are The New Team On Batman

It’s funny how when we first got the Tim Burton Batman film back in 1989, comic fans were so excited to see a Batman that wasn’t campy that they ignored a lot of the problems with the film. Now fans have had so many films that they nitpick the hell out of them. Here the folks at CinemaSins have gone through the Michael Keaton film finding the flaws… and there are a lot of them.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Everything Wrong With Batman 1989

Today sees the final issue of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo‘s five year fifty issue run. It’s a tale of stepping up, of derring-do, of self examination, of self realisation and of punching things really, really hard.

We have the new Batsuit.

With a Dark Knight grey and black look, but with outlines in bright orange. Embracing the grim’n’gritty and light’n’brighty simultaneously. It’s dark and brooding – but fun and silly and probably rather cool, simultaneously.

As well as a new Batsuit, there is also the indication of a new Robin – Duke Mighten.

 Although they have been teasing this for years…. But in this final showdown between Batman and Mr Bloom (or is it), there’s also a showdown between Scott Snyder and the reader. And one specific monologue where Jim Gordon challenges the reader’s most sacred beliefs. Because this is not Batman V Superman, this is Batfan V Snyder.

But it starts with a confession.

Because yes, that’s Scott Snyder speaking, saying Jim Gordon as Batman was a mistake, the dumbest idea. It’s incredibly self deprecatory, it speaks of Scott Snyder aware of his own limitations, as a writer, as a person, as a father. And the dangers of relying on fantasy, specifically Batman because “he’s not real.”

And then we get metaphysical.

But then it’s in praise of stupid ideas, looking at the value they can have, creating a self delusion that can be self sustaining, lifting us up by our bootstraps. If we believe the lie, it can become the truth and save us. Or rather, we save ourselves through our own delusional constructs.

Within the story it justifies the question asked repeatedly during this run. Why would anyone who lives in Gotham, in a city run by a court of Owls, terrorised by the Joker and brought to its knees by the Riddler, stay there? Because they believe the lie and the lie can make things better.

Fiction saves lives. Fiction makes lives. Fiction makes lives better. And Batman does that really really well.

So, yes, Batman is an imaginary story. Aren’t they all?

Batman #50 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Yanick Paquette is published today by DC Comics.

“Batman Is Not Real” – When Scott Snyder Talks To The Batman #50 Readers Through Jim Gordon (Spoilers)

From the Women of Marvel panel at C2E2 we’ve learned that Jessica Jones will be meeting Patsy Walker for the first time. This new story arc will kick off in Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat #7 by Kate Leth and Brittany Williams.

Now for those of you who are saying… wait, “Jessica Jones grew up with Trish Walker”, you’d be right, in the MCU not the comic universe. The two have never met until now.

Jessica Jones will be guest-starring in Patsy Walker, Hellcat in June! #WomenOfMarvel #MarvelC2E2

— Ryan Penagos (@AgentM) March 19, 2016

Jessica Jones To Meet Patsy Walker – From WoM C2E2

As picked up by Bleeding Coo writer Pastor Juarez at C2E2 today from Frank Cho, a Batman/TMNT sketch cover by Frank Cho featuring Batman, a Turtle and his Spide-Gwen character, Outrage…

Frank is Asian American everyone. So that makes it okay…

They’re all the rage…

Frank Cho’s C2E2 Outrage With Batman, A Turtle And Spider-Gwen

Netflix has released a brief teaser of Luke Cage, the third of their Marvel series. Star Mike Colter, as Cage, enters a gym and faces down gunmen. It goes as well for them as you might expect.

As spotted by Entertainment Weekly, the tease is available only to subscribers at the moment, but we’ll add video as soon as possible.

Luke Cage debuts September 30th on Netflix.

Luke Cage Asks Gunmen If They Know Him In New Teaser

Superman kills. Especially Zod, he seems to always kill him. In the comics, in the films (including Superman II, that’s totally a death throw-and-fall to any unpowered mortal). But it was a Forbes article that kicked it off this time, defending criticism of Man of Steel with the writer pointing out that Superman has killed a number of times in the comics throughout his history up until the modern day, citing the work of Siegel & Schuster, Alan Moore, John Byrne, Dan Jurgens and more. So those who argue that Superman never kills are only arguing that their specific version of him doesn’t kill.

Mark Waid began the assault.

@markhughesfilms @Forbes I can't believe a company like Forbes gave you a forum to whine about how you lost a Twitter argument. Get lost.

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

Very little amuses me more than being told I "fundamentally misunderstand" Superman. (Though this is NOT an invite.)

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

"Superman should champion internment camps because he did in a story in 1943." See how dumb that sounds?

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

"Superman should remind us to 'Slap a Jap' because he did it LOTS during WW Two."

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

"Superman should put women over his knee and spank them for annoying him because he did it TONS in the '60s, I can show you!!!!" Ghuuh.

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

@LindenIves Blocked.

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

"Anyone who says Batman shouldn't be shown kissing a goat fundamentally misunderstands Batman!!!" https://t.co/opB0ihwjjd

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

I genuinely don't understand the appetite for watching Superman fail to do the impossible.

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

@JohnByrneSays John is quite literally the last human alive or dead who gets to argue from that side.

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 17, 2016

Then the writer of the article got involved.

Remember, you don't have to agree it's ok for #Superman to kill, you just need to accept it's valid for others to think so &/or write it.

— Mark Hughes (@markhughesfilms) March 17, 2016

I'm not arguing against a no-kill Superman. I'm merely saying it's not totally invalid for some writers to have him kill in special cases.

— Mark Hughes (@markhughesfilms) March 17, 2016

Wow, @MarkWaid blocked me b/c he was rude to me & I told him he's wrong. This is a/b respecting other writers' interpretations. Grow up.

— Mark Hughes (@markhughesfilms) March 17, 2016

@dceufacts @markhughesfilms FINE. FOR FUCK’S SAKE, HE’S UNBLOCKED. ARE WE ALL HAPPY NOW?

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 18, 2016

@dceufacts i felt belittled and mocked by the article. Sorry I’ve disappointed you.

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 18, 2016

@markhughesfilms Hey! Congrats! If you’re reading this, your army of bullies won their shame assault! Signed, Fundamentally Misunderstanding

— Mark Waid C2E2 V12 (@MarkWaid) March 18, 2016

Here's the difference: I'm not mad or insulting people for their preference. Since, ya know, I don't really disagree w/it.

— Mark Hughes (@markhughesfilms) March 17, 2016

But hey, they're free to act badly if they wish. I stand by my article's the idea that demanding single interpretation is mistaken. Cheers!

— Mark Hughes (@markhughesfilms) March 17, 2016

And others were just eating popcorn.

Following the “Superman has killed before” argument across twitter. He has. It’s undeniably part of his publishing history.

— robertliefeld (@robertliefeld) March 17, 2016

But there was another interesting twist. Because Zack Snyder had talked about his next project being a adaptation of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead.

And if Snyder does have Randian sympathies, then a few other things fall into place. His appreciation of the work of Frank Miller and 300. His increasing the audience engagement with Rorschach in Watchmen. And, for Man Of Steel...

Not once does Jonathan Kent teach Clark about the value of public service or helping people. And Superman in the end is only really acting in his own self interest.

Physically he certainly fits the model of the Randian hero, as do his morals. Stephen Newman compared the Randian hero to the concept of Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Superman” saying that “the Randian hero is really Nietzsche’s superman in the guise of the entrepreneur”.

Is this the Superman we have now? An Ayn Rand Superman? In that case why is he going up against free market businessman Bruce Wayne in the new film…?

So many questions. Does Mark Millar have the answer, from Jupiter’s Circle?

Superman Shrugged? Man Of Steel Re-Examined By The Internet

And the last domino of the big VR headsets has fallen. Sony have just announced at GDC that the PlayStation VR will launch in an unspecified October 2016 date. It will undersell both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive too, by being priced at $399/£350.

The really interesting bit of news comes with the announcement of a VR Star Wars: Battlefront game. Not much is known about it yet, apart from it being made by EA and being set in the game’s universe. (Note: it is not a VR version of the current version of the game as best as we can tell.)

This is all interesting indeed. Personally, I think PlayStation VR has the biggest mountain to climb, especially in the long term compared to the Vive and Oculus, but that price point and the promise of support is promising.

PlayStation VR Will Launch In October For $399 With Star Wars: Battlefront Experience

From The Dollar Bin. we have an interview with Marc Alessi. The multi-millionaire IT man behind Crossgen. A comic book publisher created at the end of the twentieth century that spent a lot of money publishing comics, getting some the best of the comic creators together, moving them out to Tampa, Florida as hired staff and publishing a fully cohesive comic book universe with the aim of making movies alongside the burgeoning Marvel and DC slate – but eventually the money started to run out, people stopped getting paid and the whole thing collapsed. Disney bought the company, principally for the rights to JM DeMatteis and artist Mike Ploog‘s Abadazad. Marvel tried to revive some of the properties a few years ago, but after soliciting them, a number didn’t even make publication.

I was responsible for some of the word about CrossGen no longer paying its creators breaking out into the rest of the media, but plenty of people have kept up the pressure since. Mark Waid has been especially vociferous about his time there, with repeated references to the publisher, and CrossGen owner Marc Alessi.

@FilipSablik @jessiawesome @melcaylo @Jennifer_deG @chrissypedia @DafnaDOOM Don't do it. That's how I ended up at CrossGen.

— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) January 14, 2015

@andrew_kind Like the rest of the CrossGen staff, being screamed at by my boss to get back to work.

— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) September 11, 2014

That story also got expounded upon,

@philhester I remember telling @MarkWaid that story and him nearly exploding. He also told us what Mark Alessi told the CG studio that day.

— Jai Nitz (@JAINITZ1) September 12, 2014

@TheBurnham @philhester @MarkWaid "It's terrible and all, but, nothing we can do. So get back to making comics in your cubes."

— Jai Nitz (@JAINITZ1) September 12, 2014

@JAINITZ1 @TheBurnham @philhester Also because one of the office workers had a sister in one tower and was hysterical. Never been angrier.

— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) September 12, 2014

And telling Aint It Cool News in a now-deleted article,

“Alessi was a spoiled eight-year-old with a checkbook, and he was the biggest bully I’ve ever met in my life–and, coming from a lifelong comic book geek, that’s one hell of an indictment. I could make a fortune charging his employees for Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome therapy. He would, and I’m not joking, make (admittedly spineless) grown men stand in the corner when they displeased him… He’d punish guys who drew perfectly well without his help by focusing on some detail or another on one of 22 pages–some face that somehow wasn’t exactly what he saw in his head, whatever the hell that was–by berating them at the top of his lungs and then sending them home for the day, ‘and don’t come back until you can draw it right!’”

So with investors in his new company googling his name and getting lots of Mark Waid commentary, Alessi decided that it was time to make a response. To set the record straight.

During which he personally insults people who worked at the company, including Mark Waid, Ron Marz, Josh Middleton, Scot Eaton, Steven Speilberg, Mike Beattie, Mark Atia, Bart Sears and many more, including Steven Spielberg. We;ll bold some of the more entertaining comments as we go through and you should listen to the hour-plus long audio in full for context. And for drinking games.

He basically wants everyone to know, tl:dr, that the bad stories aren’t true, he’s not a bully, everyone is mad, and he had a really big freezer in the Crossgen building and the creators and Spielberg are to blame for everything going wrong.

Alessi talks about how he started with over $30,000,000, but just before CrossGen launched, lost $27,000,000 of it due to the Californian energy crisis that his company Technical Resource Connection, Inc, and its purchaser Perot Systems Corporation got caught up in, which curtailed the initial investment plans in CrossGen and reduced the time in which it had to make money. It says was planned for CrossGen to burn through $15 million before it had to make money, but this was no longer possible.

He talked about how CrossGen paid full healthy salaries to their comic creators rather than a page rate, including sick pay, healthcare and dental. “Most of our employees had never been to the dentist, though they took ample opportunities to go to the dentist under our plan.” But he expected creators to make a page a day under that, but it didn’t work

He talked about how, for 300 books, CrossGen never missed a publishing deadline.  But he expected comic book artists to “get up and go to work” and some of them didn’t.. “They can still bring in their bags of doritos and fast food which they’ve been living of for years”

He talks about CrossGen’s cafeteria “it had a gigantic freezer was filled with hundreds of microwave food, entrees, meals, side dishes, all free, did you know we had a giant refrigerator filled with every drink you could imagine, all free” and a game room for creators. “We paid for all those things and made them consistently available” so that people could arrive late, work late to catch up, and wanted to support them in that effort. “We moved them here, we gave them a full blown salary, sick of not, we gave them medical and dental, paid for travelling and lodging and per diem when they went to conventions, top of the line equipment, Sony Triniton screens when they just came out , we had booze, beverage, game room….”

He talks at length about a story I wasn’t aware of, that there was controversy about CrossGen artist Scot Eaton, for his criticism of a drawing of a nose. “Everyone made this a criminal act. how dare you criticise an artist rendering of the nose?”

Alessi talks about when there was a “reign of terror sickness wise” and he hired a doctor’s office for the company. Where they discovered that “Scot’s blood pressure so high, he was rushed to emergency clinic afraid he was going to die… What’s more important, drawing a nose or saving a life. How many times have you heard that story?.. Would you rather get criticism about a nose or die?”

This fits into an obsession about getting the facts straight, telling all sides of the story, but frankly I’d never head the nose story myself and it doesn’t come up on Google. The only one telling the nose story right now… is Marc Alessi. Also… I don’t think you need to choose between nose art and death.

He talks about discovering Steve McNiven working as an art teacher in Canada

“I paid for two years of his salary and moved him here, eventually got his own book and turned him into a star and what did he do? Went to work for Marvel. He let all the people down… we lose somebody that talented. But he wasn’t very talented for the first two years. We had to have a chat with him and say if you don’t start getting any better, we can’t carry you forever, this is not an education programme.”

“Ron Marz, may he be the most cowardly son of a bitch I’ve ever heard of, because he insulted my wife in a New York convention, 10 years after CrossGen, I can assure you if I’d been standing at the end of the podium, the chance of Ron Marz saying what he did about my wife would be unlikely, actually, I’m sure it would have not have happened because he is by nature both an emotional and convention coward, he gave us advice on a lot of people. Some are good, some were terrible.”

“Bart Sears, tremendous technician, Bart Sears, unbelievably bad manager, spending most of his time, purportedly, purportedly chasing women employees and staying with them while he’s just had a new baby. He averaged a brand new child per company…. He works for a company his wife now runs which he met at our firm.”

But it wasn’t just the bad. He wanted to apologise to people whose talent and skill were underutilised and underappreciated at the company because he listened to the wrong people, naming

James Bretibiel, “smart guy, worked hard”

Ian Feller, “smart as a whip, creator of Code 6 comic, never got enough support and respect from me”,

Barbara Kesel, “she was terrific but because the guys wouldn’t adapt easily to her, I took parts of her role away and diminished her in the process of diminishing myself, when if I had any courage and integrity and I used to have before Crossgen, I would have said the people who don’t like Barbara Kesel in change of writing should not consider employment here”

Tony Bedard and Chuck Dixon “probably the two best writers in the entire stable. Barabra wpuld have been a better manager but they were great managers,

Rick Magyar,” inker, just a study in where can I pitch in where can,”

Mark Pennington,” inker, knowledgeable about everything, great leader, should have been in charge of the art world,”

Don Hillsman “good attitude, good guy”

Mike Perkins, “inker, gifted communicator”

Karl Moline “who I stole from a Joss Whedon book, tremendous talent, wish I could have watched him grow the way he could have and should have”

Scott Pelletier, “terrific, terrific guy, Rob Hunter, you know.”

But then onto Mark Waid, brought in as a “name” brought on to write Ruse, “truly extend his writing abilities.”

“He’s a psychopathic megalomaniac in my opinion. Did anyone ever tell you about the fit he threw in the building, we had to ban him from coming in from coming into Crossgen?”

“Sixty witnesses. He got into a pissy fit, which was more the norm than not, went into his office, punched four or five holes in the wall (how could he miss all of the studs), broke all his little toys all over his office from DC and Marvel, and stormed out of the building. “We left the office that way for months and months and month to remind people that this is not tolerable. He had to meet his Ruse team offsite, Butch Guice, Mike Perkins, Laura DePuy… they were really writing the story, Mark was showing up periodically to offer his assistance.”

When CrossGen closed, he sent them a black wreath. “Sixty people, purportedly his friends had just lost their income streams and he sent them a black wreath. It said “What would your wife, Jill, think about you now“. My wife who died two years earlier from a heart attack…”

The Aint It Cool quote above is brought up, Alessi states that Waid was one of the highest paid people at the company – and that Waid insisted upon it. He mentions moving “80 billion tonnes of his comics to Florida. He wasnt bitching then…. If I was truly the bully he said, he would still be in recuperation from the awful beating I would have given him way back in 2002. I confront things directly… artists have temperaments.”

As forbthe dunce cap corner story, where Alessi is alleged to have demanded someone in a meeting sit in a corner wearing one,

“Waid wasn’t there, the person was either Ian Feller or James Bretibiel, both of whom will say it never happened. I’d have been afraid to tell James, you’re talking 6’2′, 220, a near NFL player… it never happened.”

He denies ever ripping up people’s artwork, he says he paid people to draw the work and paid them double if he wanted to keep the page.

“I can tell you sh-tty things I did but I’m not going to.”

Shame. As for CrossGen’s legacy?

“Who cares what CrossGen’s legacy is? We were two months away from tying the uberstory together and branching out with new series. I sold a tonne of personal art to keep Crossgen afloat” This included a seven page story by Frank Frazetta, and the original first full issue of Conan by Barry Windsor Smith.

As to the charge that Crossgen closed bevause it expanded too soon

“The truth is that CrossGen needed to broaden the range of its titles, hence Code 6…. the logical rational of bringing new people into the CG universe who didn’t have to worry whether they’d missed the prior 40 issues, Edge and Forge expanded , they were calculated risks. But now you see Omnibuses from all the other players now… is Imitation the best form of flattery?”

As to the story about freelancers not getting paid, which is where I picked up this story back in the day.

“Did some people independent not get paid towards the tail end? Yes. When you have no money, it’s harder to pay them, I sold most everything I own”. He also blamed the rumours about people not getting paid as stopping people from buying the comics and making it all worse. So it seems I’m to blame for that too.

“Marvel made a dollar more a book than I did, so did DC and their paper sucked. Did you ever see an ad in a CrossGen book?” If Crossgen had done ads from the very beginning he believes it would have been a different story for the publisher.

And now it’s time for the main event. Steven Spielberg,

“I have a bitch with Steven Spielberg. Probably the least considered human being on the face of the earth in my opinion. We sold the rights to Way Of The Rat and Route 666 to Dreamworks. I myself met with Jeffrey Katzenberg. They hired Chuck Russell… who worked with his friend Frank Darabont… and came up with a screenplay that after 33,000 revisions was accepted by Dreamworks. The only thing holding up a green light… was Steven Spielberg who wanted to read the screenplay. He promised to read it and didn’t…. and promised to read it again and didn’t … then he said he was going off to Poconos with his gorgeous wife Kim Kattrell and read it, which he didn’t. And therefore money we expected in from a movie which would have also helped us massively never occurred. Why? Because Spielberg thought people would be more entertained by concentration camp movies than in entertaining movies. Is there a value in concentration movies? Sure. It’s something that should never be forgotten. Ever. Nor should be the millions of Russians who were killed by Stalin, or the hundreds of millions of Chinese killed by Mao Zedong. Do I respect what he did in that regard of course. But if you say you’re going to do something, do it. He could have come back and said the movie’s no good, I don’t like it, we’re releasing the rights, go find someone else. Did he? No. See either he’s a liar, or Michael Uselin, our rep to Hollywood who did all the Batman movies is not telling the truth. My track record with Michael Uselin is I never caught him in an untruth. My track record with Steven Spielberg is I never caught him in a truth. Jeez, you judge. And everyones scared to death of him. When Steven Spielberg breaks wind, buildings shake in Hollywood. Good Steve. Bet you that’ll keep Kim out of your bed for a few minutes.”

He’s not done with the comic creators though. “When I first started Crossgen the first guy I hired after Ian Feller was Brandon Petersen. Brandon Petersen is not the most easy guy to get along with, but Brandon Peterson is absolutely, unquestionably, the most skilled comic book creator in existence. He can ink, pencil, colour, do 3D, write stories, he’s absolutely superb, he is a savant in comics. And if he wasn’t a personality disaster, he probably in my opinion, probably would have been the best known creator ever. his series Solus… was as study in how do you do everything right.”

If he had his time again, he wouldn’t do Crossgen. “You’re talking about changing a culture. It existed long before Alessi. Did Alessi think that people… we didn’t hire kids, we hired senior people, I wanted folks with families and kids and reponsibilities, to who medical and dental care meant something, and it worked for a couple of years but they fell back into bad habits. “I can’t draw right now… I can’t serve that burger right now, I just don’t feel like it, come back tomorrow and I’ll serve you a burger. You’re interested in buying this car, I’m closing up for the day we’ll sell you a car of of these days.. the world doesn’t work that way. My mistake. I thought these people had the character and willpower to say I want to take care of my families. I was wrong, apart from those people I mentioned. If you get their names wrong, I will punish you.”

Oh boy. We’ll do our best.And there’s still more.

“I have an issue with a guy called Mike Atia, who does colouring, he was eminently supportive, the perfect employee, but I put him in a cubicle situation with Josh Middleton, who in my opinion might be the single most deceitful human being, even exceeds Waid, cause he’s more clever and Dexter Vines…. They made a big stink because they wanted to make a character in that book our first black character, make him a villain. I didn’t want our first black character to be a villain. The week after my wife died of a heart attack, they were posting everywhere about what a racist I was, so my 13 year old daughter who had just lost her mom was reading all over the internet about how her dad was a racist.”

And is he a racist?

“I was ecstatic when Tony Bedard made the hero of Negation a black guy, and he had no powers other than intelligence, strength, willpower and leadership. I loved it!… but this guy, between Dexter Vines and Josh Middleton was interviewed everywhere…. I had lots to say, I hoped the noise would go away and let things be, they wouldn’t let things be and now they deserve the public’s acclaim for the destruction of what could have been the best comic book company in history.”

Okay, so it wasn’t me.

He talks about starting ACTOR, now HERO, and how he paid for its legal fees to benefit artists in trouble. “Hero says its Jim McLaughlin, Joe Quesada, Marc Alessi helped a little. I paid its legal bills then, but who gets paid a full salary? Jim McLaughlin, now he gets a full salary and that money could be going to people in need.”

And more. remember Bridges? He’d be upset if you didn’t.

“I hired a school teacher Beth Liberia, Mega Con and product called Bridges, using comics to teach kids how to read, and we were building them for multiple grades, building an audience for future books, helping kids learn to read. We built the entire project, on the verge of implementing it when CrossGen hit its fall. But you don’t hear this stuff do you.”

Because as Alessi is currently discovering, and why he participated in this interview, a month ago he had to deal with “Mark Waid being quoted by a high end investor? Mark Waid’s a moron.”

And he does want the record putting straight.

“For God’s sake put in in Wikipedia.”

I think it’s going to happen. Possibly not the way he expects, but still…

He looks at the money being stolen from him and if that hadn’t happened believes that “CrossGen right now would have been the number one comic publisher in the country” and that if people don’t stop making such claims against him “I will take legal action against them and I will gut them. I would rather it all goes away.”

Is this really he way to do that? One last run around the blame game.

“I think Ron Marz is a coward, repeat it, I think Mark Waid is a nuts, repeat it, I think Josh Middleton is nuts, I think Dexter Vine is a weakling, I think Scot Eaton should take a deep breath and go, wow, thanks Mark, I think my VP of finance Mike Beattie – him and Chris Orr and Bart Sears and Ron Marz had credit cards for the company due to their roles. For two years they went out for breakfast, lunch and dinner together together on the cards we have the records to prove. And all the people flew out to conventions…. all that mileage went to Mike Beattie’s personal mileage account so he got to fly all over the world for free and there’s reason to believe he paid many of his personal bills.”

And as for Joe Quesada, who Alessi seemed to have a beef with at a time, “my going after Quesada meant that the no 31 size company was being mentioned in every press release from the no 1 company” because every time he was asked a question “they’d say that Alessi said this… It took Joe about two years before he worked out what we were doing, then wouldn’t respond to anything. Good for him.”  Even the sumo wrestling offer he made, “I would have tossed Quesda around like a fat lemon.”

Mike asked if there was any other rumour to counter but the guys didn’t offer any others. Shame, I had several, including that 9/11 commentary from the top. But Alessi is saying there are no rebuttal interviews.

Tell me if you change your mind, Alessi…

One last one for Spielberg, “a miserable, myopic, dismal negative individual… I know a bunch of people who can prove that’s correct.”

You never know, it might even come to that. Is it me, listening to that audio, or does Marc Alessi come across in the manner and style of another successful American businessman? One running for office right now?

Maybe if CrossGen had succeeded as he wished, Alessi may have continued in a similar fashion to be a very different President…

I expect this story to receive a number of updates.

UPDATE 1: From Mike Perkins, “Yeah, Steve [McNiven] was still working for CrossGen right up until they failed to pay him and THEN he worked for Marvel.” As to writing Ruse, he does seemingly edge towards some kind of confirmation, saying “It was a group effort.”

Would You Rather Be Criticised About Drawing A Nose, Or Die? CrossGen’s Mark Alessi Attacks Spielberg, Mark Waid, Steve McNiven, Bart Sears And Films About Concentration Camps

Yahoo! debuted this new X-Men: Apocalypse poster featuring the title character and his horseman: Angel, Psylocke, Storm and Magneto.

Ben Hardy, Olivia Munn, Alexandra Shipp and Michael Fassbender play the horsemen to Oscar Issac‘s Apocalypse. The film continues the timeline established in X-Men: Days of Future Past as the team faces the legendary mutant in the 1980s.

X-Men: Apocalypse opens on May 27th.

Apocalypse And His Horseman Take Focus In New X-Men Apocalypse Poster

I have it from a pretty reliable source that Fox’s X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer is currently developing an R-rated TV series based on Red Sonja. Now by saying R-rated that narrows down the places the series could run to something like HBO / Showtime or a streaming service like Netflix / Amazon.

Of course Luke Lieberman is involved seeing as he owns the property and will be executive producing along with Jason Taylor via Singer’s production company Bad Hat Harry. Singer will be directing and producing it along with Stephen L’Heureux and his Solipsist Films. And the money is coming from TWC/Dimension.

Red Sonja was adapted for live-action with Brigette Nielson and Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 1985. The character made her comic debut in Conan the Barbarian #23 back in 1975 from writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith. She was loosely based on the Robert E. Howard character Red Sonya of Rogatino who first appeared in the Conan short story The Shadow of the Vulture in 1934. Currently the character has an on-going comic series published by Dynamite Entertainment and had a four-issue crossover with Conan last year.

Bryan Singer Developing R-Rated Red Sonja Series For Television

The HTC Vive went up for pre-order yesterday, for a cool $799. The big question was how many would stump up the cash to get in on the premium VR experience early.

Well, we have some numbers. Thanks to HTC employee, Shen Ye, it’s been revealed that 15k of the devices were sold in the first 10 minutes of the device going live. He tweeted:

Woah, more than 15k units in less than 10min :o

— Shen Ye (@shen) February 29, 2016

Important to note, none of these headsets are ‘sold’ yet. The pre-orders don’t actually take your money until the devices are ready to ship, so all kinds of shenanigans could happen to any number of these orders.

Still. It’s pretty impressive number for a device so expensive, that is no doubt.

The HTC Vive ‘Sold’ 15,000 Units In Less Than 10 Minutes

So I asked a few comic book creators who had been pitching for the DC Comics Rebirth relaunch who have been starting to hear whether they were successful or not.

Oh yes, the big reason DC didn’t announce creator names along with all the titles at ComicsPRO the other week? Many of them were not yet decided.

Anyway, DC also launched the video above, featuring Geoff Johns talking about what Rebirth meant – keeping the best of the new, bringing back the best of the old. And, as he tweeted, it’s not a reboot… and it never was.

Which was a surprise to many of the creators who had been pitching. Because they hadn’t been told any of this. They’d been told to pitch anything – reboot – relaunch – refresh – whatever they felt like.

I was told that certain creators might have pitched something very different if they’d known what was expected of DC Rebirth….

But could it be that the “It’s not a reboot… and it never was” refers to what we have seen in Titans Hunt recently, of memories returning? Is that, as we have speculated, how a Justice Society Of America will return? Everyone suddenly remembers again? And is that how certain aspects of the New 52 reboot will be done away with, in that people will remember the truth?

With Hal Jordan meeting a previous Hal Jordan, and Superman meeting a previous Superman, is everything starting to fall apart?

It’s Not A Reboot And It Never Was – Shame No One Told The Creators