RICHIE RICH DIGEST Vol 3

Posted by Rob M. Worley on Oct 6, 2011 in About Writing, Misc | 0 comments

Here’s the cover art to Richie Rich Digest Vol. 3. According to the solicitation copy, it includes my short story “Laughter is Not Always The Best Medicine,” which puts Richie’s best friend Dollar Dog in the starring role.

Richie Rich Vol 3

Richie Rich Vol. 3 is available in the current Diamond Comics catalog, for comics going on sale in January. Ask your comics shop and give them the ordering code OCT110789, or use comiXology to add it to your pull list!

I’m Rich! RICHIE Rich!

Posted by Rob M. Worley on Dec 4, 2010 in Featured, Misc | 0 comments

RICHIE RICH - Free Comic Book Day Edition

Well, I’m not actually rich. Nor am I the famous star of funnybooks and film Richie Rich. But I am writing for Kizoic’s upcoming Richie Rich comics. Click the thumbnail for the official promo image.

Here’s the press release…

Part James Bond, Jr., and part Indiana Jones with Donald Trump’s bank account, Richie Rich® is an altruistic adventurer who travels the world helping the less fortunate, and now he has a creative team to back him up.

“Ape Entertainment is extremely pleased with the writers and artists who have come forward to bring Richie Rich back to comics,” states founder and co-publisher David Hedgecock. “We have action. We have adventure. We have humor. And best of all, we have everyone’s favorite characters, from Cadbury to Irona to Dollar.”

Today, Ape Entertainment and Classic Media announced the creative teams on the new Richie Rich series that will reimagine the classic cartoon and comic book character. Artists include Tina Francisco, Jack Lawrence, Armando Zanker, James Silvani, Iwan Nazif, and more! Writers include Tom DeFalco, Bill Williams, Buddy Scalera, Brent E. Erwin, Jason M. Burns, Matt Anderson, Rob Worley, and more!

For fans of the original Harvey Comics series, the creative team of Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon revisit the characters they helped to make famous, returning with two, all-new stories!

Richie Rich #1 will arrive in stores in May 2011.

For more information on Ape Comics, visit www.apecomics.com.

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Are Comic Book Movies Kaput?

Posted by Rob M. Worley on Sep 16, 2010 in Blah blah, Comics Talk, Movie Talk | 0 comments

A few weeks ago Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star rang me up to ask me if it was all over for the comic book movie. Now, I’ve had reporters calling me up with this question ever since my Comics2Film website caught fire in 1998. Trend-spotting in Hollywood is an ongoing game and as soon a trend starts its upward trajectory, somebody starts predicting the inevitable demise.

I have to say, this is the first time in a decade plus of writing Comics2Film where I’ve switched my answer from “nah” to “mmmmmaybe.”

Raju, who is covering the Toronto International Film Festival and it’s superhero entries Super and Griff the Invisible,  was pointing to the weak box office generated by Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World as the latest evidence.

Scott Pilgrim Gets Knocked Out

While I wouldn’t call Kick-Ass a failure of any kind, I’d definitely score Scott Pilgrim in the “bitter disappointment” column. And I mean that only in terms of the lack of reception for what is one of the liveliest, most enjoyable films of the year so far.

But as I told Raju, you can expand the window all the way back to the end of 2008 and what we have is now a fairly long string of comic book movie duds. That’s the time frame when Punisher: War Zone became the third failed attempt by Marvel to launch their film-friendly vigilante.  Hot on the heels of that was Frank Miller’s under-appreciated The Spirit, which was too weird for the average moviegoer and too Frank Miller for fans of Will Eisner’s classic comic.

Then came 2009, and with it: Watchmen. Zack Snyder’s equally gallant  and foolish attempt to bring the ground-breaking graphic novel to the big screen fell far short of the massive hype and anticipation that preceded it. 2009′s other comic book movies? Astro Boy, Whiteout, Dragonball Evolution and Surrogates.

It’s a pretty sad year for the comic book movie when the sole winner is the lackluster X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

This year? Throw  Jonah Hex and The Losers on the compost heap along with the aforementioned indie darlings. Marvel wins again with Iron Man 2, a box-office titan, however unworthy of the original.

So is it the end for comic book movies? Mmmmmaybe, but nah. It’s a slump.

The mysterious shunning of Scott Pilgrim aside, Hollywood might do better to look beyond superhero fare to other comics that are out there. It could be that we’re having our fill of heroic action adventure but I think it’s more about quality than any trends.

If Green Lantern and Thor are great movies, then people will embrace them.

Check out the Toronto Star article for commentary from myself along with Cameron Stewart and Mark Askwith.

Hey! I’m in the Dearborn Press & Guide

Posted by Rob M. Worley on Sep 14, 2010 in About Writing, Scratch9 | 0 comments

I got a nice mention in the Dearborn Press & Guide this week, spotlighting my upcoming appearance at Green Brain Comics supporting Scratch9 and giving a sense of my crooked path into writing comics.

Check it out!

Welcome Dearborn Press & Guide Readers

Posted by Rob M. Worley on Sep 10, 2010 in Scratch9 | 0 comments

A big, “howdy” to readers of Dearborn Press & Guide who may have discovered this site via the swell article that the paper ran on me this weekend.

If you’re interested in the new comic Scratch9, I’d ask you to click onward to Scratch9.com for the most complete and up-to-date info about that comic, including upcoming store appearances and ordering info!

Otherwise, you’ve come to the right place!