Comments on: Zappa, Katleman, Beranek and Disney team for graphic novels

by: John Philip

Sat, 31 May 2008 03:23:10 +0000

RE: Alex Cox

At least they weren’t described as a “mainstream” powerhouse. Beranek is a great guy and editor, he is also a talented writer and now, it appears, a film producer. With Disney’s resources backing him now perhaps he can finally cut loose and break out of those “indie” confines.

I, for one, wish him the best.

by: Bill Cunningham

Fri, 30 May 2008 15:50:52 +0000

FLUBBER and SON OF FLUBBER - a whacky scientist “hero” who teaches kids about science as they go on amazing adventures (but not in a magic schoolbus). Perfect thing to get into schools to get kids to A) read something and B) actually learn some real science.

Win - win.

(And Dexter Reilly would be one of the supporting characters)

by: alex cox

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:34:22 +0000

David-

I’m sure he’s a great guy and a terrific editor and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business.

But seeing Silent Devil described as an “indie powerhouse” struck me as funny. Surely it’s evident why.

by: david

Thu, 29 May 2008 18:43:29 +0000

Re: alex cox’s comment.

I can’t think of many other people who have been busier or worked harder in the past twelve years than Christian Beranek. That dude is freakin’ everywhere. I’ve worked with him on several projects. He’s the kind of guy you want in your corner. Great editor. He deserves some serious credit for his efforts.

by: Joe Lawler

Thu, 29 May 2008 15:06:22 +0000

That was brought up in the Newsarama story, this doesn’t affect the SLG deal. This is for new content, not existing properties.

by: dave roman

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:42:04 +0000

Also, should we assume this means they will no longer be doing similar projects with SLG Publishing? I thought they did a great job with the Disney properties they made comics for. Especially their Alice in Wonderland series.

by: dave roman

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:38:28 +0000

I can get behind the idea of Disney producing lots of original graphic novels if the focus was just on telling great stories in the tradition of the original Disney films. But hedging all your bets upfront that these comics will get turned into future films seems silly.

by: Tag

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:33:25 +0000

I know we’re all supposed to be snarky, jaded connossieurs, and I actually converted from The Church of The Mouse to Agcomic around age 20, but the combination of the two greatest loves of my life is a one-two cocktail (a mickey?) that’s really potent. So much so that I’m trying to figure out now how I can get hired by them in one capacity or another.

by: Christopher Moonlight @ Moo and Mer Magazine

Thu, 29 May 2008 05:11:38 +0000

I’ve met Ahmet Zappa a few times at cons. His style of writing has never been to my taste, but I have to say that I’ve never met a nicer person then he. I hope things go well for him.

by: alex cox

Thu, 29 May 2008 01:35:02 +0000

“An accomplished writer and editor, Christian Beranek formed his own publishing company, Silent Devil, in 1996, and turned it into an indie powerhouse,”

That’s twelve years of Indie Powerhousing I completely missed!

Was it in North America? Maybe they were an Indie Powerhouse in Guam. i admit that I know little of Guam.

by: Eric Reynolds

Wed, 28 May 2008 23:50:37 +0000

Spurge beat me to the punch.

by: Tracy Edmunds

Wed, 28 May 2008 23:40:07 +0000

I’d love to see them bring back Abadazad in it’s original format.

As for older Disney properties, how about The Gnomemobile?

by: Tracy Edmunds

Wed, 28 May 2008 23:39:45 +0000

I’d love to see them bring back Abadazad in it’s original format.

As for older Disney properties, how about The Gnomemobile?

by: Torsten Adair

Wed, 28 May 2008 21:36:58 +0000

Three words: “Walt Disney Showcase”

Three words: “Alex Toth Zorro”

And there’s the CrossGen properties… (Lady Sin meets Dr. Synn?)

Not too surprising. W.I.T.C.H. is a recent example of a cartoon/comic presented as a book. And Ehapa Verlag has been printing thick Disney digests in Germany for the past … forty years?

If Disney is REALLY smart, they would license children’s comics from overseas, like they did with cartoons like Marsupilami and Asterix, and become one of the biggest fish in the small pond of juvenile graphic novels.

As far as producing graphic novels, Disney has published quite a few. There are the aforementioned W.I.T.C.H. volumes. Hyperion has the CCS biographies, Artemis Fowl, and Jellaby. They even published one of the best titles from the 1990s: The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom.

It also allows Disney to protect copyrights and trademarks at low cost.

heh… Blackbeard’s Ghost Meets Jack Sparrow?

by: larrymarder

Wed, 28 May 2008 21:32:39 +0000

Way back in the mid-90s while I was Executive Director of Image Comics, I worked with Ahmet Zappa, trying to get a comic book project of his onboard at Image Central.
It didn’t happen, but I can say this –Ahmet knows his comic books. He understands the medium, he is fluent in the the history of the industry, and and he has a genuine passion for wanting to creat comic book stories.
This could be quite interesting.

by: Primate

Wed, 28 May 2008 21:12:24 +0000

I’m holding my breath for “Darby O’Gill and the Little People”

by: Sphinx Magoo

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:02:31 +0000

Bret Blevins worked on a Dr. Synn alias the Scarecrow series in Disney Adventures before its demise. It was pretty cool and I think (memory fails me again) there was a crossover with some of the characters from “Pirates of the Caribbean” to help connect it with something kids today might know.

by: Jimmie Robinson

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:02:29 +0000

I’m not surprised to see something like this kick in.
Studios have been scraping the comic book barrel for years, but instead of gambling on finding some diamond in the rough at San Diego why not make your own graphic novel house and grow the content from there?

Perhaps they got wind that it actually takes a while to actually *make* graphic novels. This is just getting in on the basement floor and control the content - plus, give it a god push out the door once it’s out.

by: Tom Spurgeon

Wed, 28 May 2008 18:56:48 +0000

This sounds awful.

by: Mark Kardwell

Wed, 28 May 2008 18:50:17 +0000

At least they’re honest and upfront about it: “let’s make comics, ‘cus comics get made into movies”.

I heard Disney is remaking THAT DARN CAT with Samuel L Jackson in the lead role. It’s going to be called THAT MOTHERF*CKING CAT.