200906030153§ In movie news, Kickstart, the producers of WANTED, have optioned DEAR DRACULA, a children’s comics published by Shadowline’s Silver Books/Image:

“Dear Dracula” rounds out a more kid-friendly niche in Kickstart’s current lineup of properties, according to a report on ICv2. The 48-page graphic novel, written by Joshua Williamson and illustrated by Vincente “Vinny” Navarrete, tells the story of a boy whose love for horror movies drives him to write a letter to Dracula on Halloween in same the way children write to Santa Claus at Christmas.

Other comic book properties currently housed at Kickstart include Garth Ennis‘ classic, extremely mature Vertigo series “Preacher,” as well as his current Dynamite series “The Boys.” They also have the rights to “The Red Star,” “Monster Attack Network,” and “The Couriers.”

§ Warren Ellis’s new column at Bleeding Cool has debuted, Do Anything.

The head of Jack Kirby only grudgingly tolerates me because I give him proper Cuban cigars and because I work in a way he recognises.


§ Guillermo Del Toro’s “No Geek Left Behind” Policy

§ Lanky ginger comic Conan O’Brien boned up for his historic debut on the Tonight Show the other night by praising the comics of Michael Kupperman in the pages of EW, saying Kupperman has “one of the best comedy brains on the planet.”

§ Canada.com explains why Doug Wright’s classic cartoons matter, and the new D&Q collection is good:

Nipper was an imp – a small, hairless boy continually running around getting himself into all sorts of mischief. In the 1950s, Doug Wright and his wife, Phyllis, began raising a family in a modest, brand-new suburban home on 54th Ave. in Lachine. The neighbourhood could have been in any suburb, really, partly explaining the comic strip’s popularity. Apparently, all Doug Wright had to do to get inspiration for Nipper was to watch the shenanigans of the local kids through his front window.

Drawn & Quarterly has published a lavish tribute to Wright that has been lovingly assembled by celebrated illustrator and cartoonist Gregory Gallant (a.k.a. Seth) and Ottawa-based journalist Brad MacKay. The text is not only an interesting record of Wright’s life and experiences as a professional cartoonist, but also a record of the thriving Montreal publishing industry in the 1940s and 1950s, when Wright worked here.

§ Tobey Maguirehopes to star in a film about the glamour- and romance-soaked life of the graphic novelist, with Anne Hathaway as the girl! The film is called TOKYO SUCKERPUNCH.

The story revolves around Billy Chake (Maguire) who is an author of his own graphic novels that set himself in Tokyo.

Writer Ed Solomon (“Men in Black”, “Charlie’s Angels”) explains “He goes there with his editor, to be played by Anne Hathaway, and it ends up it’s a love story about him and Anne, basically, and it’s really about a guy figuring out what matters to him.”

1 COMMENT

  1. I sat next to Vinny Navarrete at SDCC a few years back and he was the nicest guy. Congrats to Dear Dracula getting picked up!

  2. I am still dissecting Dear Dracula. This is one of the all-ages book with funny characters. Young kids will love the story of horror. Lets begin our journey into comics.