The Addresses That Never Were! A Mystery in Three Parts

Alright, so there actually is no mystery, but there is an explanation. When I was mailing out books today at work, I made a list of addresses we didn't have, and titled it as you see above. I thought that a particular famous cover from 'Journey into Mystery' would be appropriate as well.
Well, first things first. The season finale of Doctor Who was awesome. Nothing I like better than team-ups and overcomplicated plots involving throw away lines scattered throughout the last few seasons. Brilliant!
Now, on to animation! Batman: Gotham Knight came today, but I was lucky enough to see it last Friday. A friend of mine managed to obtain, how can I say, an "advanced screening copy" of the film, and we watched it on his computer. I really, really liked it. DC hasn't missed a note yet with their animated releases. If you don't know, B:GK is similar to the Animatrix. It's made up of 6 short stories, each written by American authors, and directed by different Japanese anime directors. What was really pleasing to know, was that they interlock with each other, so you get a whole storyline that develops throughout all 6. That makes it much more engaging than the Animatrix still collection. And the animation is very good. I give it a 5 out of 6, because the first one is drawn really strangely. Actually, the story in the first one is kind of weird too. So, once you get past that one, things get a lot better. My favorite piece was called "Field Test", though "Deadshot" was excellent as well.
The next DC animated movie is going to be Wonder Woman. Keri Russell will be playing the amazing Amazon, and Nathan Fillion of Firefly fame will be playing a large role as well. Not to mention Alfred Molina as Ares. Oh british accents, you are so evil! I have no doubt that it will at least be good, if not great.
On the Marvel side, their movies don't seem to be getting much better. Their next release looks like poop. Instead of making a good animated Avengers movie, which has failed twice, we'll make one with their children. That's what everyone wants to see. Made up superheroes that are also kids. Boo. I just saw a trailer today for their following release, "Hulk vs. Wolverine". It'd better be an hour and a half of smashing and slashing, or I will be displease. That title does not scream deep plot line to me.
I just finished the Planet Hulk and World War Hulk trades that I picked up a little while ago. They were cool, which is a shame, because it makes the current Hulk storyline even worse. Smashing is important, but hey, so is character development!
I've been trying to figure out how I want to develop my ideas into a script, and I've seen some interesting things. One was a journal that Ed Brubaker is selling. It contains his notes for his Captain America stories. This seems right up my ally. This is a preliminary step, where he simply would list out a basic series of events for each issue. Real simple. I then like the idea of just trying to script some of it from there. Once I have a basic progression, then I can begin to think "Ok, so this event happens now? How do I see it unfolding? Would a spread over 2 pages be too much? I think that we would see them opening the door in the first panel, and then in the second panel, etc. etc." It seems that the more you can break it down the easier it is to build up into a finished script. This is why the art side has "breakdowns". You have to see how all the little elements can fit together to find the big picture. So if you have the big picture, you have to break it down. Neato. Even little things like that that I pick up from work are really helpful. Proofing books really helps me to see when people use certain types of panels, like borderless or spreads.
Eric Handler came up to the big city on Monday and we walked around and ate pastry for most of the afternoon at fancy bakeries! Mmm...pain aux chocolat is so awesome. Also, if he ever asks if you want to play Early American Chrononauts, it's not as intimidating as Fluxx, and lots of fun.
Anyway, if you read all this, you're awesome. Here's a prize!

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