comics

As far as Hollywood movie stars go, there are two outspoken comic book geeks -- Nicolas Cage (who named his own son Kal-El) and Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson's fandom was honored by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch when they chose to model Marvel's "Ultimate" version of Nick Fury after the actor. As luck would have it, when Marvel Studios started putting together their own films, it cleared the way for Jackson to actually play the character that was based on himself.

I wonder if that kind of thinking was behind Jackson's first foray into comics as a creator -- basing the likeness on himself so that he'd be the most likely candidate for the eventual film. He's collaborating with his Afro Samurai co-creator Eric Calderon to bring Cold Space, a four-issue sci-fi/action comic book mini-series, to Boom! Studios.

The series focuses on an opportunist who crash lands on a planet in the midst of a civil war, discovering a way to play both factions against each other for his own personal gain. Jackson and Calderon will handle scripting duties for artist Jeremy Rock, with covers by Dave Johnson and Jeffrey Spokes.

The first issue will hit the stands Spring 2010, according to Newsarama.

Less than a year ago it was made known that a new adaptation of the ongoing dystopian action comic Judge Dredd was in the works, which I think is fair to say came as a surprise to most everyone. Not that the comic property became a poisoned well to return to after Dredd's first trip to the big screen, the bulky 1995 critical and commercial flop starring Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider in arguably his most annoying role ever. But you gotta admit it takes cojones to willingly associate millions upon millions of dollars with a title that is most often remembered in jest. Yet comic owner Rebellion and the production company DNA Films exhibited no signs of embarrassment in making the announcement last December that they were bringing the lawgiver back.

Now, thanks to the planet's newest and most reliable source of unimpeachable news, Twitter, we know just why those two British studios are comfortable wrestling Dredd's film credibility away from the lampooning panelists of an I Love the '90s VH1 special. Comic artist Mark "Jock" Simpson laid out the good news quite simply in a tweet, "working through script visuals for JUDGE DREDD movie. Alex Garland writes a great script."

Sure, it's just a tweet, but it's still bellied with information. One, it implies the script is not only great but completed. Two, the film is in active pre-production/pre-visualization, which is farther along that most thought. Three, with The Beach, 28 Days Later and Sunshine screenwriter (and DNA Films co-founder) Alex Garland on writing duties, there is a high chance that Danny Boyle (another DNA founder) will be the director bringing the police-state vision of Judge Dredd back to life. Four, with Garland involved there's an even higher chance that, if there is an annoying Rob Schneider sidekick character, they most likely will die an agonizing death.

We already told you about Marvel's plan to unveil its new anime superhero TV project at Comic-Con. Now comes word that the comics giant will offer a first-look at its Iron Man and Wolverine anime shows at Friday' Marvel Animation panel.

Writer and god among nerds, Warren Ellis, is scripting Marvel's anime projects and will appear at the panel to unveil never-before seen teaser trailers for both shows and discuss writing the heroes' anime adventures.

Marvel is expected to produce two more anime series starring two of its most popular heroes. I'm thinking Spider-Man and Hulk (but I'm hoping for Warlock!) The anime series are being produced for the Japanese market and will air on Japan's Animax channel starting spring 2010. The series will most likely make their way to the U.S. shortly after. Sony's new production/distribution subsidiary has inked a deal with Marvel anime producers Madhouse to distribute the series worldwide, says Variety.

Universal is reportedly developing the Dark Horse sci-fi adventure comic Fear Agent for the big screen. The Risky Biz Blog tells us the studio is close to picking up a spec script for the project by Air Force One producer Jonathan Shestack. If you've ever read the comic, then you know this could turn out to be one batsh*t crazy film.

Fear Agent is no Star Trek, meaning it's not a space opera about professional and rational space explorers battling evil alien threats. It's an action-packed adventure book with tons of violence and crazy plot twists. The book's main character, Heath Huston, is a borderline alcoholic redneck astronaut. He's the kind of guy who would call Jim Kirk a "candy ass" right after breaking his nose for the millionth time and drinking him under the table. Rick Remender's comic follows Huston as he fights bizarre aliens (Space spiders! GIant octopoids!) as the last of Earth's fear agents, a dwindling breed of hardcore spacemen bent on protecting human life and kicking the ass of everything else.

Last week, we heard some rumblings about the possible film adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan's brilliant comic, Y: The Last Man. The news mostly centered on whether or not Shia LaBeouf would star as Yorick, the film's main – and only – man. LaBeouf told Collider that he and director D.J. Caruso are in no hurry to make the film and that the script is "not ready to be shot." LaBeouf did assure fans that he still wants to make the movie, and that creator Vaughan would probably wait until he and Caruso are free to move ahead with the project. So when can we expect to see Y hit the big screen? Caruso is currently working on Jack and the Giant Killer, and it looks like LeBeouf will be busy acting in other films through 2010. If all goes to plan, I figure the first publicity shots for the film should hit the Web around summer 2011. If we're lucky.

I'm really looking forward to this flick. Y is an amazing comic full of rich characters, great humor and action. Plus it has a pretty clever sci-fi concept: What if every male mammal on Earth, except for one man and his monkey, died on the same day? The Web site Bleeding Cool claims to have gotten a hold of Vaughan's early script for the film. They say it's a very early draft that has likely already gone through a number of changes, but their script review might still be worth a read.

Michael Jackson, the king of pop, whose music left an indelible mark on the popular music landscape, died yesterday at the age of 50. It seemed there was little about Jackson's life that didn't make the news or tabloids throughout his long career, with the possible exception of his love of science fiction and comic books.

Jackson was a huge comic book fan, and even considered buying Marvel Comics in the 1990s. MTV Splashpage looks at Jackson's history with comics, and notes that the pop star owned a giant collection of superhero books, costumes and statues that recently went up for auction. Comics Alliance has a rundown on Jackson's 5 greatest moments in comics, including his last public trip to a comic shop and the fate of his Moonwalker comic.

Io9 remembers Jackson's "science fictional life," with a look back at Jackson's contributions to sci-fi, like the 3-D Disneyland movie Captain EO and the sci-fi-themed video "Scream" he made with his sister Janet that features anime clips and spaceships. Check out the trailer for Captain EO, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, after the jump (as well as his brilliant video for "Scream") and remember a time when Jackson was a charming, visionary, sf-loving nerd.