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First for First Class: James McAvoy is Charles Xavier

There is a new mutant in town, and it's James McAvoy. Multiple sources have confirmed McAvoy has signed on to play telepath and X-men founder Charles (Professor X) Xavier in Matthew Vaughn's upcoming X-men: First Class.

First Class will be a prequel, looking at the lives of Charles and Erik (or...um...Max) before they were Professor X and Magneto. With the news of this casting, it makes me wonder how far back they're going.

Patrick Stewart, who previously played Xavier made an appearance at the end of X-men Origins: Wolverine, shuttling rescued children (including Cyclops) out of harm's way. Will they pick up there? Will they completely ignore it? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Brian Singer (director or X-men 1 & 2) will be producing along with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg.

Both McAvoy and Director Matthew Vaughn are no strangers to comic book movies. Vaughn was briefly attached to direct X-men: The Last Stand. He also directed the recently released Kick-Ass, while McAvoy starred in Wanted, both based on comics by Mark Millar.

Comic Book Bootcamp: A Little Out of Joint

I can't seem to get over this mental block. For the bast 4 weeks we've been drawing boxes and tubes, and circles in perspective. I just can't visualize looking up at an object. My eyes go crossed and by brain starts to weep. It's insane and I don't know how to fix it (yes, yes practice, practice practice). It's always been like this. I need to go in and reprogram the matrix and try to get past this becuase it's really very annoying.



Ty has worked up through knees, elbows and wrists, and I think I finally understand how the arm works. His shortcuts to anatomy are wonderous. Once I figure out my left and my right I should be good to go. It's funny how a simple rotation of the wrist or sland of the hand can add so much to your drawing.

Why Idol Sucks this Season

I watch it every week. I cringe and complain but I keep watching. It's a sickness and an addiction and I'd quit if I could, but trying to quit a bad tv show is tough. Sometimes you can go gold turkey. Sometimes it takes work, and you relapse (cough-Heroes_cough) and just like quitting smoking you have to find a way to put down that cigarette for good (and stop watching the train wreck which is Heroes). I haven't gotten to that point with idol yet. I keep hoping it gets better. But it doesn't. Nobody steps up. Nothing is surprising and it's the same mediocrity every week. Sure Crystal is a great 70s southern hippie rock throw back. Lee could be in a Nickleback-esque band and might sell some albums, but it's not exciting. Where are the moments from past seasons? Adam Lambert strutting around the stage, Bo Bice singing alone with just his voice and a spotlight, both Carrie and Alison's mastery of Heart: SOMETHING.

Season after season, the judges stress being current and most importantly, song choice. We heard that at the beginning of this season too, but slowly it faded away. Instead of saying "That was the wrong song choice," they say "That wasn't your best performance," or the lack lustre "it wasn't right for you," or "you chose the right song but it didn't work for me, dawg."

Being current has always been code for being good and making the song your own, but the poor constants got so confused this season it was almost laughable. Be current, but sing Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Frank Sinatra. Oh, and with Sinatra don't forget about changing the song to fit your style. We're going to arrange it for you. Does that seem right? To me, it doesn't. These are icons in music. If you change it up too much people get angry. If you don't change it enough the judges cry Karaoke. It's no win. There were bad themes other years too, don't get me wrong, which brings me to the point of my rant. The reason this season sucks is...

http://blogs.ajc.com/american-idol-blog/2010/05/10/the-movie-song-list-for-tomorrow/?cxntfid=blogs_american_idol_blog

This is the approved song list for tomorrow night. Look through it. Sure, there are some jewels but most of it is sappy, melodramatic fluff. It works for a movie. Can you feel the love tonight, Beauty and the Beast-These songs make my childhood. But do I want to hear them on idol, sang by Lee, Crystal, or Casey (who are more each more southern rock than Celine Dion)? No. Let's be honest. Everything big mike sings sounds like it could play during the credits of a late 80s, early 90s movie anyway, so this week should be a breeze for him. Does that make the week interesting? Not so much.

By the number of Duets on the list I looks like we'll be looking to last season for inspiration, but I doubt it'll live up to Adam and Alison's epic rendition of Foghat's Slowride. There's Ballad after ballad on that list. Are two of the guy's going to serenade each other? At least half of the songs on the list are done by icons who have been proven idol downfalls. No one should try Celine, Whitney, or Barbara. Three out of four of our finalists aren't belters so half the list us useless. The amount of repeats on the list is annoying too. Not only have they been done before, but the same artists show up again and again.

Celine Dion-2
Bryan Adams-2
Phil Collins-2
Kenny Loggins-3 (THREE!!!)

WHY?!? I know you have to pay for songs, get them cleared, and all that, but this is American Money-Making-Machine Idol. Try a little harder! I like theme weeks. I think it's good for the idols to take songs from genres they're not too familiar with and twist them into their style, but there has to be something worth choosing.

That being said, here are my predictions for this week

Big Mike- Kiss from a Rose or Can You Feel the Love Tonight (If he doesn't sing one of these songs I'll eat my hat)

Lee- (Everything I do) I do it for You or Iris (other than Mike, I think Lee has the best chance as re-working a song this week)

Casey- Eye of the Tiger (not a good idea) or Ghostbusters (since its a vague rip-off of Huey Lewis' New Drug) or Live and Let Die (which could get goatish again)

My actual hope for Casey is that he goes off list and gets clearance for Against the Wind by Bob Seger because he needs to sing Bob Seger.

Crystal- Summertime (Janis Joplin version, and then get crucified by Simon for not being Fantasia) or Can't Fight the Moonlight (As an experiment) or Into the West (Because Annie Lennox rocks)

Duets

Crystal/Lee -Up Where We Belong~ Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes
Mike/Casey - um...damned if I know...Bohemian Rhapsody?

Good Luck tomorrow. They're going to need it.

Karma Chameleon: Return to the Boot Camp (You come and go, you come and go)

Previously on Ty Templeton's Comic Book Boot camp...
*we were introduced to story types
*circles, rectangles, cones and tubes can create anything in the world
*people can be broken into heads
*talent is a myth
*this class has no problem staying past 9:30

This week we entered the world of Karma. No, we didn't pass around a joint and contemplate the universe. Karma is a set of simple expectations. When a character is good and does good, we expect him/her to receive good in return. If the character is an evil bastard we expect him/her to lose out in the end. Sure, this isn't always how things go (in real life and in fiction) but understanding these expectations means we can turn them on their head later if we need to. I was skeptical. By reading this blog you can tell I'm a huge George RR Martin fan. In his books good things happen to bad people, good people get trampled on (or beheaded) and I love the story for it. The difference I think is that GRRM skews the balance of Karma deliberately. When SPOILER...Ned dies...SPOILER we're supposed to be left feeling clueless and upset. We're supposed to be outraged because it's not right.

(Didn't hear your wicked words every day)
Our assignment was to choose one of two scenarios
1. Cleopatra attempts to murder her son
2. Jack Space...something (I've misplaced my notes...) an intergalactic Space captain attempts genocide of an alien race

Create 3 different motivations
Pure: Family, duty, honour, or humanity
Selfish: Greed, power, or glory
Emotional: Revenge, or madness

Create an ending where the motivation balances

If Cleopatra kills her son for the good of the nation we expect the nation to survive and flourish by her actions BUT she does something terrible and needs to be punished for it.

If she kills him out of greed she does something horrible with a horrible motivation so we want something worse to happen to her. If she doesn't succeed in killing him she still needs to be punished for her intentions.

Emotional motivations aren't inherently good or evil, they just have to balance our in the end.

It was interesting to go around the class and bitch our ideas. The reaction was instant. If the Karma didn't work we could tell. We might not have known exactly why it didn't work (and Ty would explain it) but something was off. Something didn't sit right. Next time you read a book or watch a film and at the ending makes you tilt your head and squint your eyes, check the Karma of the story. People don't like to admit it but formula even in art makes us happy. If a character is treated badly we notice. If a character doesn't get the punishment they deserve, we notice.

(I'm a man without conviction, I'm a man who doesn't know, How to sell a contradiction, You come and go you come and go)

Art Lessons
*Tube and a ruler, a box with a roof and a rule = knees
*Middle panel tells information backwards and should drag the eye right to left
*Tall hats are funny

*Drawing attempts will be added when my scanner stops hating me...

Cheers...and now more Culture Club

Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon
You come and go, You come and go
Loving would be easy if your colours were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red gold and green.

;)

Bootcamp Breakdown: Class 1

No, I'm not talking about the marching and shouting, drill sergeant type of bootcamp. This is the Ty Templeton's Comic Book Bootcamp, from the people that brought you Ty Templeton's Writing for Comics and 4 perspectives on Inking, The Toronto Cartoonist Workshop.

I meant to write up my trials and missteps after the end of each class but between life and trying to find a job so I can continue life, I've fallen a little behind. Today I bring you class 1 (and hopefully by tomorrow class 2), for your enjoyment, and perhaps to my embarrassment.

In one small paragraph, I have already broken rule #1 of what I like to call Ty Templeton's laws of creating comics.

Do not be self deprecating.

If you start your idea pitch with "It's not that good but..." or "I don't really like it however..." Ty Templeton will call you out on it. Everyone is creative and everyone has good ideas. If you don't believe in your own pitches, why should anyone else? Good question.

After a short introduction to the history of comics (and cave paintings), we were introduced to law #2.

There is no such thing as talent

What does this mean? PRACTICE! Everyone can learn the tools to be a good writer or a decent artist. Ty thinks artistic skills are like an alphabet--When you learn the basics, they can be put together to make pretty much anything.

But don't take my word for it. Here's a clip of a similar lecture from Ty.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iEqencK8j8


For many of us, this is our first plunge into the world of creating comics, so Ty starts with the basics. We enter the WORLD OF THREES

The Unified Field Theory of Writing
1. What is Normal?
2. What Changes Normal?
3. What Results from Changing Normal?

3 Kinds of Drawings
1. Close-up
2. Action (medium shot)
3. Establishing shot (wide shot)

3 Reasons
1. Entertainment
2. Emotions
3. Information

3 Kinds of Stories
1. Plot
2. Tale
3. Character Study

We were introduced to the building blocks of all things artistic: the cube, the sphere, the rectangle, and the cone. This was only the beginning. In the next 2 hours we tried our one hand at traveling through space by jumping the gutter, reading panels left-right and top to bottom, and drawing cracker boxes in perspective. Walking out of class 1, there was no doubt you'd be getting your money's worth. The class is so packed with information that I could probably write 3 or 4 more post on just this first class. Instead I hope you'll all come back to read Part 2, in which we learn about joints, Ty and I argue about the political correctness of the word midget, and we find out how to carry a reader's eye across multiple panels. Excelsior...and such.

Scottish Vikings Train Dragons!

Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson
What: Outcast viking befriends a dragon and saves the day.
Rating: B+

What would you do if you grew up in land where dragon attacks were a daily occurrence, loosing a limp was common place, and the village chief was not only a gruff warrior, but also your father? This is the world of Hiccup, an awkward and inept viking teenager, voiced by Jay Baruchel and he does what most would do in his place-he tries to appease his dear old dad. The best way? Bring down the most feared dragon of them all, the illusive 'Night Fury.' While dragons carry away sheep and burn down the town (it's a very old village with a lot of new houses) Hiccup sneaks away with his latest invention. His canon fires ropes, and with a strike of luck he manages to hit the invisible menace. Of course no one believes him and he seeks out his fallen foe. Like all good children's movies, Hiccup befriends his enemy and teaches his village a little something about tolerance.

It's fairly formulaic and you generally know what's going to happen, but that doesn't take away much from the actual movie. It's cute and it's funny. The dialogue is clever and there's enough in it that parents are going to enjoy themselves too (in a touching moment Stoic gives his son a viking helmet...made out of half of Hiccup's mother's breastplate). Gerard Bulter channels his role in 300 to play the overbearing dad, and Jay Baruchel does awkward and quirky better than anyone(...well...except maybe Michael Cera...) Tv's Craig Ferguson voices Gobber, the blacksmith/Hiccup's dragon killing coach. From top to bottom the voice acting is great.

Like Box-office toppers Alice in Wonderland, and Clash of the Titans, How to Train Your Dragon was in 3D. Some critics have even compared it to Avatar. I enjoyed the visual of the film. It was lively and detailed. The 3D didn't seem out of place or distract from the movie in anyway, but I'm getting sick of it. I don't think this movie needed it. It would still be as enjoyable if it was in 2D.

I had one tiny, nit-picky problem with the movie, one clever reference that they didn't use. While Hiccup is feeding Toothless (the Dragon) he finds out that he don't like eels. More than that, he's afraid of eels. Hiccup uses this in his training battles to force other dragons into their cage. It's not just Toothless, all dragons are afraid of eels. Then, we find out that the dragons are actually SPOILER subservient to some gigantic cave dwelling creature that is--wait for it--NOT AN EEL. It would have been perfect. It would have made so much sense. It didn't have to be actually an ell, maybe just a huge dragon that really really looked like an eel, an eel with wings, a dragon that controlled eels. But no, it wasn't a eel dragon. Instead we get the T-rex/Godzilla monster/dragon that has been in a dozen other films (including clash of the Titans, stay tuned). I'm not saying that it was bad, I'm just saying one little change would have tied back in a throw away joke from the beginning of the movie. It would have been clever.

Favourite Line: Hiccup (to Toothless the Dragon) Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!