It's almost time for Emmys. Will there be #JusticeForWonderman with a win for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II? THR's experts think it will be Matthew Rhys for Widow's Bay, another excellent possibility.
Whatever the vicissitudes of Hollywood — a show we love getting un-renewed, or a great show getting canceled and then going on to win five Emmys — they are quaint to the real tragedies of 25 years ago.
This is an anniversary we would rather do without, as it feels like this year, more than any of the previous 9/11 anniversaries, there is more of a grip on the soul, no doubt to the high impact, emotional stories coming to the fore. Just open any social media app.
THR's Steven Zeitchik has this memory from 20 years ago, the Tribeca premiere of Paul Greengrass' Flight 93, when family members of the victims of that flight got to see their loved ones one last time, dramatized onscreen. "When the movie ended they let out the most heartfelt, soulful, painful cries, each of them with their own rhythm and cadence, all combining into a tragic cacophony that, if I’m being honest, I still hear in my nightmares," Zeitcheck writes. It's a powerful read.
Well. There's no way to segue smoothly out of that one. So let's just get to our regularly scheduled newsletter.—Aaron Couch and Borys Kit.
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TO SOME COLLECTORS, HE'S A SPECULATOR, A MAN WHO ARTIFICIALLY DRIVES UP PRICES ON COMICS AND CARDS.
But venture capitalist AJ Scaramucci, son of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, doesn't see it that way.
Yes, he paid $16.5 million for a rare Pokémon card earlier this year, and as Heat Vision can reveal, he recently followed that up by purchasing a copy of the first appearance of Iron Man for $2 million. (The copy of 1963's Tales of Suspense No. 39 sold for $840,000 just two years ago.)
And Scaramucci has plans for much more, as the founder of a new company, Treasure Trove, which specializes in alternative assets.
Rather than speculating or driving up prices, Scaramucci says what he buys are actually undervalued. In fact, he makes the case why the $16.5 million Pikachu card he purchased could some day be worth $100 million.
In his first interview on the topic, we press the venture collector (can we coin that term?) on his critics as he opens up on his ambitions — including someday owning a copy of The Declaration of Independence or the Emancipation Proclamation.
Mooch! There it is.
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➤ How big are we talking about here?: Disney says domestic pre-sales for Avengers: Doomsday have crossed $50 million...with over three months still to go. The company also says it's seeing a major lift companywide thanks to Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Case in point: Marvel recorded its highest hours in Disney+ history with over 420M hours for the month of August.
➤ This is the last interview Human Centipede director Tom Six says he will ever grant. The transgressive filmmaker opens up about his health struggles and his battles to get his final project seen. Says Six: "These are my final words."
➤ X-Men has found its Angel.
➤ A new, high-end comic book art show is coming to L.A.
➤ Social media horror filmmaker Spencer Lackey is jumping to features, with Neon, Jason Blum, James Wan and Steven Schneider producing.
➤ Trailers: Carrie just wanted to go to school. Godzilla schools and gets school in the exciting Godzilla Minus Zero look.
Catch up on these Heat Vision interviews...
➤ Zach Cregger tells THR’s Brian Davids that the biggest problem with his Resident Evil movie was that test audiences found it too funny. “I stripped out as much of the jokes as possible,” Cregger reveals. “I then found that not only did the audience enjoy the movie more, but I also liked the movie a lot more.”
➤ The Uprising star Andrew Garfield still believes humanity will prevail over AI despite everything he learned from playing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. He also addresses the Jesse Eisenberg-less sequel to The Social Network.
➤ The Uprising director Paul Greengrass believes his Robin Hood-esque movie’s marketing campaign was “unfairly criticized.” He’s also “very happy” to be done with the Bourne franchise.
➤ Adam Wingard explains how Lance Reddick’s tragic passing transformed The Guest 2 into Onslaught, as well as how Dan Stevens’ role in Onslaught factors into the creation of his Guest character.
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BEFORE SUPERMAN USHERED IN THE ERA OF THE AMERICAN COMIC BOOK IN 1938, there were the newspaper comic strips.
Young and old alike read the so-called funny pages daily and, with great anticipation, the weekend editions, which were oversized and in color(!). And before superheroes, before even Flash Gordon, there was Tarzan.
The Tarzan newspaper strip was key to elevating the character to a new level of popularity. Here he was, not in the occasional novel or movie, but in your very home weekly.
And key to that was Hal Foster.
A commercial artist born in Canada, Foster reluctantly took over the strip near its inception and from 1931 to 1937, made it into something to look forward to and behold.
Luxury art publisher Taschen has put out a handsome door-stopper of a tome collecting all of Foster’s Sunday edition newspaper strips plus dozens of the early Tarzan dailies he did a few years prior. A revelatory essay titled “The Reluctant Dad of Adventure Comics” puts his life story into context.
Reading it all is an adventure unto itself. The stories, written by George Carlin and Don Garden, are of their time, no doubt. There are lost civilizations (Vikings…yes, in Africa), white priestesses lording over enslaved people, fighting apes, stomping elephants, dinosaurs, and a handsome white hero in a loincloth.
The reader gets to see Foster, who once said “I didn’t think that comics were that important” at the beginning of the run, grow as an artist over the course of the many Sundays, bringing a spectacle and a verve to a growing medium. You come to understand how he became a major influence on Frank Frazetta, Jack Kirby, Wally Wood and Bernie Wrightson. And you can see why George Lucas would hang some of the original art in the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts.
The generous 392-page tome is wrapped in a beautiful fabric cover with embossed letters. The paper stock, while heavy, does have the feel of the Sunday papers. The coloring, keeping the Ben Day dots and muted blacks, give you feeling like you could be reading the originals on the family room floor.
Hal Foster's Tarzan. The Complete Sunday Comics 1931-1937 is out now and retails for $200.
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DOING MUCH MORE THAN WHATEVER A SPIDER CAN.
One of fall’s biggest comic books just got bigger.
Later this month, Marvel Comics celebrates the 1,000th issue of Amazing Spider-Man – it’s only the third comic to cross that one thousand threshold after DC’s Action Comics and Detective Comics – with a mega issue and an all-star lineup of talent (Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley, Frank Miller, and WWE star Triple H to name a few).
Marvel revealed today that over 440,000 copies of the comic have been sold at the retailer level in its initial print run, a great figure for a comic with a higher price point ($9.99 in this case).
But not only that, Marvel says that first printing is sold out and that it is going back to press for a second printing.
The 104-page comic has a lead story by current Amazing Spider-Man writer Joe Kelly and artist Pepe Larraz, followed by seven anniversary back-up stories, and interviews with key creatives and talent who have contributed to Spider-Man’s legacy, including Destin Daniel Cretton and Tom Holland.
Amazing Spider-Man no. 1,000 goes on sale Sept. 30.
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HOLD ON TO YOUR SAI, TRUE BELIEVERS, BECAUSE HISTORY IS UP FOR GRABS.
Right now, Heritage is offering the original art page that features the very first interior comic appearance of Elektra, one of the most important characters in Daredevil lore and one of the more popular female characters in Marvel’s stable.
Drawn by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson, page four from Daredevil No. 168 sees Elektra appear in the bottom panel of the page, her back turned to the reader. The debut gave little notice that she would go on to usher in an unparalleled era on the title, leaving the trappings of superherodom behind and taking the book on more of a crime comic path in a run that endures and influences even today.
The character would also go on to carry her own movie and become a fixture on the Daredevil TV series.
Because it’s a first appearance, the page is considered one of the grails for any collector of Marvel, Miller or Daredevil art. The live auction doesn’t begin until Sept. 25, but the page is already commanding a price of $156,250. Comic art collectors are watching this one closely, that's for sure.
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