THE FINAL CUT
‘Razor Sharp’ creators welcome new success and opportunities in Hollywood
By Matt Powell
 Writer/producer Marcus Perry knows how to keep an audience on edge. Months after his short film “Razor Sharp” won “Best In Festival” and “Best Short Drama” at Wizard World Texas in 2006, Perry and longtime friend-producer-editor Brian Pianko are still turning heads with their opus in 2007 as recently as Houston’s Worldfest film festival.
“We were lucky enough to get ‘Razor Sharp’ in it and I just found out that we won a Remi Award,” enthused Perry. “It’s cool and a totally different experience for me.”
The film’s success is definitely a welcomed change of pace considering Perry’s three-year journey to produce it despite limited funds and resources. Through perseverance and dedication, Perry eventually hooked up with comic artist Jeff Henderson (Assassins) to transfer his script to storyboards, and later, through the aid of Panavision Cameras, filmed a motion picture.
An action-packed mix between the cult-hits “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer” and “Alias,” “Razor Sharp” stars a beautiful corporate thief named Veronica Sharp (Cassidy Freeman) on her mission to steal an exotic codebreaker for her underworld boss. Running headlong into missions with the occasional frayed spy-ware, Sharp uses her wits, connections, and witty sense of humor to steal her way into another high-stakes job.
With a solid story in hand, Perry went the extra mile to enlist the help of some high-profile actors to bring his creation to life, including Michael T. Weiss (“The Pretender”) and Skye McCole Bartusiak (“24,” “Boogeyman”). Festivals, actors and awards aside though, Perry’s number one priority has been to give his film the Hollywood treatment any way he can.
“There’s a couple of companies that are seriously considering turning it into a feature right now,” explained Perry. “I’ve got the feature-length script written, and at the same time, we’re actively pursuing it as a TV show, too.”
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Source: Wizarduniverse.com
CHIMP IN SPAAAAAAAACE!
Creator Jim Vining discusses the origins of his award-winning Oni graphic novel First in Space
By Kiel Phegley
Sometimes in the comic business it helps to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…even if it means giving up free money.
 And for Comics creator Jim Vining, honestly turning down cash helped promote his first graphic novel more than he ever could. Earlier this year, Vining was announced as one of the winners of the Xeric Grant—an award that offers money up to aspiring creators to publish their own Comics on a more ambitious scale than hitting Kinko’s at 3 a.m.—for First in Space, the tale of a chimpanzee sent into space by NASA in the 1960s. However, by the time Xeric came a-knocking with check in hand, Vining had already inked a deal for First in Space to be published by indie mainstay Oni Press, and the subsequent passing on the Xeric money (Vining is still honored as a winner) brought a lot of attention to the little monkey comic that could. Vining was no longer a guy who was good enough to win a Xeric—he was a guy who was good enough to make it without one.
Wizard Universe got the whole story from the up-and-coming writer-artist as well as hearing about the crazier aspects of First in Space and Vining’s personal dedication to good nonfiction Comics.
WIZARD: Your book kind of had instant PR before you were even ready to publish. I remember reading when the Xerics were announced earlier this year, and First in Space just had a little nod that said “already picked up by Oni,” which must have been a nice turn of events.
VINING: Yeah. It was a weird couple of weeks for me. I found out from Oni that they were going to pick up the book, and I thought, “Yeah! Great!” And then two weeks later I got an acceptance letter from Xeric, and that I was not expecting because I thought we were already past the cutoff and that they’d made their decision. It was unexpected but very nice.
It seemed you worked on this book for quite a while to go from idea to finished product, right?
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Source:wizarduniverse.com
[PREVIEW] Captain America #27
The soon to be legendary storyline “Death of a Dream” continues in Captain America #27.
Written by ED BRUBAKER
Penciled by STEVE EPTING & MIKE PERKINS
Cover by STEVE EPTING
Rated T+ …$2.99
The soon to be legendary storyline “Death of a Dream” continues in Captain America #27. The Eisner nominated team of Ed Brubaker, artists Steve Epting and Mike Perkins bring readers one step closer to the secrets of Captain America’s death. With Cap’s closest friends already shattered by his sudden death, will they be pushed past the breaking point when this issue ends?
We’ve seen Captain America’s friends mourning…but now it’s time to for some revenge! The Winter Soldier has Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man) in his sights, the Red Skull is mere moments away from completing his malevolent plan and that’s only the tip of the iceberg! Captain America may be dead, but in Captain America #27, his enemies will soon find out that there are soldiers willing and able to continue the fight…to the death!
For more information, click here!
Source:wizarduniverse.com
ON THE RISE: C.B. CEBULSKI
The former Marvel editor talks breaking out with Mystic Arcana, Spider-Man: Fairy Tales and Wonderlost
By Kiel Phegley
Over the past few years, C.B. Cebulski has been moving from behind the scenes and into the spotlight. A former Marvel editor of titles like Runaways, Cebulski has shifted to freelance writer of a variety of Comics including this spring’s Loners, Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm and Spider-Man: Fairy Tales (a follow-up to his well-received X-Men: Fairy Tales) for Marvel as well as creator-owned books for Image including the autobiographical Wonderlost.
Wizard Universe nabbed the up-and-coming scribe for a peek into how the other half lives and the inspiration he pulls into his fantastic and real-world Comics.
WIZARD: Between Loners and Mystic Arcana, you’ve come full circle from being editor on Runaways to a writer of those characters. What’s it like to work on such a unique property as boss man and freelancer?
CEBULSKI: It does strike me as kind of weird. I feel like I’m unintentionally following in Brian K. Vaughan’s footsteps, and that’s not a place I want to be. [Laughs] Don’t get me wrong: I love Brian, and those are characters I fell in love with, but they’ll always be Brian’s characters. Being able to write them is a joy, but when I sit there and write them, it’s like I have Brian K. Vaughan looking over my shoulder. I’ve got to separate that editorial voice, because when he’d turn in scripts they were almost flawless, but you’d still say, how about we try this or that? When I’m writing them, I can see myself injecting that editorial voice, and I just wish Brian would come back and be my editor. And he kind of was on Loners because he was very helpful in crafting and fine-tuning the original six issues.
None of the Mystic Arcana books takes place in the present, so when and where does the Sister Grimm one-shot happen?
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Source:wizarduniverse.com
TEEN TITANS TO RECEIVE BIG-SCREEN TREATMENT
Mark Verheiden brought on to script Warner Bros. live-action 'Teen Titans' film From The Hollywood Reporter:
DC Comics' superteam Teen Titans is getting the big-screen treatment courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.
The live-action adaptation is being produced by Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster through their Weed Road banner, while Mark Verheiden has been brought on board to write the script.
The Teen Titans first appeared in 1964 as a sort of junior Justice League, comprising Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Wonder Girl and Speedy, the respective sidekicks of A-list heroes Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow.
The comic series reached X-Men-style success in the 1980s, when the team was relaunched in a new comic with the characters no longer kids but college-age adults and the stories explored more mature themes. The series also saw the addition of Cyborg, Starfire and Raven, original characters who weren't sidekicks, while the character of Robin matured into one called Nightwing.
Most recently, the comic was adapted to the television screen with a Cartoon Network series that ran from 2003-06 that used many of the '80s Comics' heroes and story lines.
It is not known which heroes will be used, but Nightwing is said to be in the mix.
Goldsman said the tone will be consistent with such recent Warners' comic book fare as "Batman Begins," "Superman Returns" and the upcoming "Watchmen."
Jessica Goodman and Jesse Ehrman are overseeing for Warners.
Gregory Noveck is overseeing for DC Comics.
Verheiden, repped by CAA and Untitled, was a writer-producer on "Smallville," the TV series that revolved around the adventures of a young Clark Kent/Superman, and is a writer-producer on "Battlestar Galactica." Verheiden also is a comic writer and creator, penning "Timecop" and "The Mask," both of which were adapted to the big screen in the early 1990s.
Goldsman and Weed Road have several comic book movies in development, including "Doom Patrol" and "The Losers." He is in preproduction on the superhero-themed "Tonight He Comes," starring Will Smith.
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Source:wizarduniverse.com
FLASH’S UNLUCKY #13
Series scribe Marc Guggenheim talks about DC’s shocking teaser image
By Kiel Phegley
 Will the Flash die?
That’s the question fans of the DC superhero speedster have been asking since yesterday, when the publisher released a teaser image for The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13 featuring the hero seemingly vanquished by the members of his famed Rogues Gallery. And while superhero deaths and eventual rebirths in the comic business are as commonplace as making a right turn on red, the Flash has had a longstanding tradition of seeing one iteration of the character die only to have his legacy picked up by another speedster. The latest of these changes came a little over a year ago in DC’s Infinite Crisis miniseries, which saw Bart Allen, the teen hero known as Kid Flash, age rapidly and take up the scarlet cowl after then-Flash Wally West disappeared in a wave of extra-dimensional energy. Allen’s subsequent run as the Flash has had a rough go of it in the Comics marketplace, despite the recent positive response to the series’ new creative team of writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Tony Daniel.
Wizard Universe contacted Guggenheim last night shortly after DC’s teaser image appeared to pick the scribe’s brain on what the picture means, fans’ reaction to the possible death of yet another Flash and how the current “Full Throttle” storyline ties into DC’s massive weekly series Countdown.
WIZARD: So, the image DC just released shows a pretty beaten-down Flash at the mercy of his Rogues and stone letters conveniently covering the word “alive” in the title. What do you think fans are going to take from that?
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Source: wizarduniverse.com
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