Thursday, September 30th, 2010
Apparently a few (two so far) copies of the book have repeated/missing pages around the p117–122 mark. If you got one of these, E-MAIL ME. It’s definitely not in all of the books, or even 1% of them; it’s a misprint. I try to flip through all the books to make sure they’re clean, but these things slip through sometimes.
I can get credited for them by my printer, and I will happily send you a new book — but I do need some sort of photographic/scanned evidence.
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
This interview was originally published on May 24, 2006.
In 2005 and 2006, I wrote for Bookslut and Comic Book Galaxy on occasion. In that time, I interviewed Jon Scieszka, Hope Larson, Ivan Brunetti, and Big Time Attic, and also Bryan Lee O’Malley. But due to a few snafus, I ended up having to post this one myself at my own website instead of CBG, where it was intended.
I’ll be redoing my portfolio website in the near future, so for lack of a better place to put this (very) old interview, I’m posting it here at Deleted Scenes.
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
Black Dynamite
Spoofs are a tough thing to pull off. Even when they manage to be funny, they’re rarely funny for more than half an hour, and usually so overloaded with padding as to render them a waste of time overall. Even more frustrating is when spoofs write themselves into a corner so badly that they end up turning into straight-faced, crappy version of the movies they’re supposedly parodying.
So it was with some trepidation that my friend Pete and I tossed in Black Dynamite one evening… and almost immediately loved it. Not only does Black Dynamite work shockingly well as a comedy — never wearing out its welcome for the full, brisk 84 minutes — it’s also a pretty effective action movie, thanks to its co-writer and star Michael Jai White.
The premise is a cliché as they come — Black Dynamite avenges his brother’s death (a.k.a. Revenge Plot #3) — but this sort of movie isn’t about plot; it’s about execution, and Black Dynamite is at once a terrific action movie, a painfully funny comedy, and a spot-on parody of the blaxploitation genre, both the relatively down-to-earth movies like the first Shaft and, over the course of the film, the increasingly ludicrous stuff from the tail end of the wave.
For me (and, I think, many film buffs), the best laughs were from the many so-dumb-they’re-brilliant touches peppered throughout the movie: a boom mike dipping into view, straight into Black Dynamite’s impressive afro; “I threw that shit before I walked in the room!â€; and the lyrics at one point in Adrian Younge’s fantastically funky score giving a literal play-by-play of the on-screen proceedings.
Sadly, the film sank like a stone in theaters, only screening in 70 theaters for two whole weeks. But that’s what home video is for, isn’t it?
Black Dynamite is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and Netflix (via disc and streaming).
Recommended Reading: If you loved Black Dynamite, check out Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg’s similar, yet also brilliant Afrodisiac.
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
CONTACT: Gordon McAlpin
(773) 710-6632
gordon@multiplexcomic.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show Ushers in a New Breed of Movie Geek Humor
Chicago, Illinois (September 22, 2010) — Chase Sequence is thrilled to announce the release of its first book collection of the hit movie-themed comic strip Multiplex. Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show (224 pages, TPB, $19.95) collects the first 102 strips from the Multiplex archives, over 30 bonus comics, character bios, selected guest strips, and features an all-new, exclusive 12-page prequel story set on opening night of Star Wars: Episode III — The Revenge of the Sith. The book is now available directly from the publisher. Retailers can order the book from its distributor, Small Press United (a division of IPG) at IPGbook.com.
Multiplex combines a unique blend of comedy, drama, and real-world film commentary and criticism, centering on the cynical movie snob Jason and his schlock-loving BFF Kurt, two employees at the Multiplex 10 Cinemas. Together, they’re a Film Studies class that was dropped on its head as a baby. As Newsarama’s Chris Arrant put it, “Think Clerks in a movie theatre.”
Having run continuously for five years, Multiplex has evolved considerably since it launched. The strip has matured, dragging the characters reluctantly into something sort of like adulthood, if you cock your head and squint at it a little. By revisiting these early years with bonus comics to flesh out the story, sort of like an extended director’s cut, Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show is not only a great treasury for existing fans, but the perfect introduction to Multiplex for new readers, as well.
About the Author
Gordon McAlpin lives in Chicago with his cat Punk. In his twenties, he watched over a dozen movies a week. Gordon has written movie reviews, co-hosted a movie podcast, and edited a movie news blog, but now he just writes and draws Multiplex. While he has never worked at a movie theater, he has had several equally terrible jobs.
About Multiplex
Multiplex is an online comic strip published by Chase Sequence Co. about the movie-loving and customer-weary staff of the Multiplex 10 Cinemas, as they try to survive each work day. Multiplex has run continuously since July 2005 and currently reaches more than 55,000 unique readers per month, making it the most popular movie-themed webcomic. Multiplex updates twice a week at www.multiplexcomic.com.
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The cover art for Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show is available for download via this link. A high-res author photo (by Charlene Epple) can be downloaded here. Additional artwork, review copies, and interviews are available upon request.
You can also download a PDF version of this release.
