Mark your calendars

Anime News Network | My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa, Porco Rosso Release Announcement
Walt Disney Home Entertainment and Studio Ghibli proudly present three animated masterpieces from Hayao Miyazaki, the genius filmmaker of “Spirited Away,” the Academy Award? winner for the Best Animated Feature Film of 2002. MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND and PORCO ROSSO will each be available for the first time on a 2-disc DVD on August 31. These remarkable films each include a brand-new, stellar English language voice cast and on DVD also feature the original Japanese language track; complete storyboards; featurettes that go behind the microphone and more, presented in a pristine digital picture for the best possible viewing experience. With a unique blend of entertaining storytelling, imagination, compelling characters and stunning artistry, each of these magical and mystical worlds will enchant and delight audiences of all ages.

Porco Rosso is the one that will blow you away.

The press release lists some of the cast, but not who's reading what. IMDB to the rescue. Michael Keaton is Porco Rosso, the Italian aviator who has "resigned from the human race" and become, literally, a pig. (Jean Reno did the French-language release: If only they'd got him for this one.) Susan Egan (Megara in Disney's "Hercules", Lin in "Spirited Away") is Gina, the woman who loves Porco, if he'd only let her. Cary Elwes ("The Princess Bride", "Robin Hood: Men in Tights", "Liar Liar") is Curtis, the rival American pilot who also has eyes for Gina. David Ogden Stiers is Grandpa Piccolo, who owns the shop where Porco's plane is repaired after his first run-in with Curtis.

But then, the disc will also include the original Japanese with English subtitles, so if you don't like this cast you don't have to listen to them. You'll want to see this either way.

Which is not to say...

That the Jack Schiff-edited sci-fi Batman was without merit. "Robin Dies at Dawn" (Batman #156, surprisingly psychological for a comic book) and "Prisoners of Three Worlds" (Batman #153, a rare Batwoman/Bat-Girl book-length epic) were definitely keepers.

Julius Schwartz, 1915-2004

One of the founding fathers of science fiction fandom and comics fandom, and a longtime editor for DC Comics, Julius Schwartz, passed away early Sunday morning. If you have no idea who he is, Mark Evanier can tell you.

At great length.

For me, the following is the transition that defined what separated Schwartz's comics from anybody else's.



To the left is Detective #326, the last issue edited by Jack Schiff. It was Batman's 300th appearance in Detective Comics, though no mention of this landmark is made. It is fairly typical of the run over the preceding ten years: Situations that wouldn't have been out of place in the Superman comics of the time, and some of the wonkiest aliens you could hope to see. If memory serves me, illustrated by Sheldon Moldoff (whose own rarely-seen style, when he wasn't ghosting Bob Kane, wasn't half bad).

To the right is Detective #327, the next month's issue, and the first edited by Julius Schwartz. As you can see, about the only thing that stayed the same was the presence of Batman and Robin. Illustrated by Carmine Infantino, making no attempt to imitate Kane.

Opus returns

It was only a matter of time before this "not available online" comic strip was available online. (Thank Waxy.)

I hate to rain on the parade, but not only is it not particularly funny, but it isn't even the first time he's used essentially this same joke. Not a great beginning for the strip being hyped like the Second Coming. Message for the newspapers that paid big bucks for the priviledge of cancelling three Sunday strips to make room for this mistake: Cut your losses. Run Prince Valiant instead.

A superhero named Ralph

Whatever happened to the Elongated Man? It's about time DC issued a trade-paperback collection of the Gardner Fox / Carmine Infantino run that started in Detective Comics #327.