2009 November
Archie Comics releases Betty & Veronica Christmas Spectacular exclusively on iTunes
Betty & Veronica Christmas Spectacular
Archie Comics announced this week that they’ve released Betty & Veronica Christmas Spectacular exclusively on iTunes. The $1.99 application is available now.
Both Johanna Draper Carlson and Brigid Alverson offer commentary; Draper Carlson wonders why they’d limit it to the iPhone and iPod Touch, versus releasing it for other digital platforms. Considering Archie launched a web-based online comics initiative earlier this year, it seems like they’ve got a natural venue to make it available to iPhone-less folks as well (and maybe they will, soon).
Speaking of which, that site is currently selling pre-paid holiday gift cards, good for a one-year subscription to the site. They can be set as an e-card or as a full-color Christmas card that could be stuffed in somebody’s stocking.
- November 28, 2009 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
The scene from Smallville you’ve been waiting for: Hawkman vs. Green Arrow
Hawkman and Green Arrow, together again
Entertainment Weekly has a couple of new shots from the upcoming Smallville episode Absolute Justice, including the one above of Hawkman laying the smackdown on Green Arrow. What, tension between those two?
Click on over to EW’s site to see the other new photo of Dr. Fate and Stargirl, who actually look like the comic versions of Dr. Fate and Stargirl.
- November 27, 2009 @ 05:30 PM by JK Parkin
The Fifth Color – Together We Are Mighty
Happy post-Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope we all find ourselves a little fat and happy today as some will be enjoying a four-day weekend and others will be battling the hordes in the shopping megaplexes for the best deals and bargains for this now official holiday season. Before we begin here, I just wanted to note that my shop, Metro Entertainment has never reported any sort of ‘record sales’ on Black Friday, so please don’t forget to visit your local comic shop while you’re out shopping today! Drop by, say Hi, pick up a trade and don’t forget about the tiny shops in your big shopping adventures. Might I interest you in one of our reasonably displayed Lantern power rings?
Anyhow, Thanksgiving has come and gone and hopefully instilled we celebrators with a sense of family, community and unity. Whether you spent it with the family, your football watching buddies or at a local shelter making sure people had a hot meal on a holiday, Thanksgiving is not just about the thanks, but the giving. Mix the two and suddenly you got yourself a season! This of course, makes me think of the Avengers. Most things make me think of the Avengers, but let’s not dwell on that.
In any case, the original continuity created for Thanksgiving (before the retcons and corrected histories) was that some Pilgrims couldn’t farm, some Native Americans could, they got together and shared and then had a big old dinner to celebrate. I know! It’s like Stan and Jack cribbed notes for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Incredible. These days, what with every flavor of five or so guys standing together calling themselves ‘Avengers’, it might be hard to see this. Plus, the general nature of the super-hero rarely allows for such simple ideas of community. What if the Pilgrims and Indians had to slog through a three-issue misunderstanding fight before they combined their efforts against their true enemy, corn? Add to this the never-ending villainy that our heroes battle, the in0fighting that naturally occurs when people of strong personalities get together in one room, court-martials, break-ups, Disassembling…
This year, I’m thankful for Dan Slott. Mr. Slott has taken the Mighty Avengers and really made them Marvel’s premiere team book in my humble opinion (I know! Bendis even stuffed the ballot!). He acknowledges all of the above problems (maybe not the corn threat) and yet, for all the difficulty there is in assembling, we are still given a united front of heroes, bound together to stop a titanic threat to the Earth, who will succeed through perseverance, teamwork, intelligence and maybe a little luck for kicks.
Continue Reading »
- November 27, 2009 @ 03:30 PM by Carla Hoffman
Superman movie franchise reportedly on hold until legal dramas end
Despite speculation that Warner Bros. might pick up the pace on another Superman film to meet a judge’s 2011 deadline, a sequel reportedly has been put on hold until the property emerges from “legal limbo.”
Anne Thompson reports that the studio is waiting to resolve its dispute with the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel, who in 2008 reclaimed part of the copyright to the superhero, and the estate of Joe Shuster, which in 2013 will become eligible for its share.
Thompson, formerly of Variety, notes that executives at Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures “are eager to start development on a sequel” to Bryan Singer’s 2006 Superman Returns, which grossed $391 million worldwide but cost a whopping $232 million to produce.
“They want to start over from scratch,” Thompson writes. “While Kick-Ass writer Mark Millar did pitch himself (to scant interest), WB in-house faves the Wachowski brothers and their protege James McTeigue were never approached. (It’s hard to imagine such hard-R types taking on what one blogger described as the ‘Big Blue Boy Scout.’)”
Many previously presumed the studio had one eye on a clock set in July by U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson when he ruled against the Siegel family’s claim that Warner Bros. had received a “sweetheart deal” from subsidiary DC Comics when it licensed the Superman characters for Smallville and Superman Returns.
The judge apparently was swayed, however, by the Siegels’ argument about the absence of a rights-reversion clause in the DC-Warner Bros. deal — a standard feature in such contracts — and said the family could bring action if the studio didn’t begin filming a Superman sequel by 2011.
- November 27, 2009 @ 11:32 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the art | Hey You Guys! charity art auction
by Ryan Savas
Hey You Guys! is a charity movie screening and silent art auction benefiting DonorsChoose.org, a website that allows teachers to post donation requests for school projects. They’ve posted several pieces of art that they plan to start auctioning off online on Monday; go check them out and see if there’s something you like.
(Hat Tip)
- November 27, 2009 @ 10:55 AM by JK Parkin
The clothed cartoonist in the 21st century: An interview with Dash Shaw
The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D.
There’s been a number of noteworthy indie cartoonists who have come to prominence in the past 10 years, but certainly one of the most interesting and significant has got to be Dash Shaw. Having slowly garnered a bit of attention and acclaim with works like Goddess Head and The Mother’s Mouth, he officially declared himself an artist of no small importance with the 2008 release of the doorstop-sized Bottomless Belly Button. He followed that up with the even more impressive Webcomic BodyWorld, which will be collected and published by Pantheon early next year.
In the meantime, he’s got a new book coming out from Fantagraphics, entitled The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century, which collects a number of short stories he did for the the quarterly Mome anthology, as well as some storyboards and drawings for an animation project he did for IFC, which should debut soon as well.
I talked with Shaw over email about the new book, the challenge of moving BodyWorld from Web to print and his influences and upcoming projects. He proved to be as gracious and thoughtful over the Internet as he had been in person and I’d like to thank him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk.
- November 27, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Joey Mason’s Madrox
Madrox by Joey Mason
Gun Fu and The Mighty Offenders creator Joey Mason has some pretty awesome pieces up on his website and on his deviantART site, including this one of X-Factor’s multiplying leader, Madrox. You can find more art on his sketchblog as well.
(Hat Tip)
- November 27, 2009 @ 09:23 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | MODOK vs. luchadores, round two
by Colleen Coover
Colleen Coover shares a recent commission that’s the spiritual brethren to a Jim Rugg piece from last month. Colleen’s features one of the greatest tag teams in comic-dom, Captain America and the Falcon, taking on MODOK in a falls count anywhere match. Place your bets …
- November 27, 2009 @ 09:00 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Dylan Meconis’ Family Man
from Family Man
If you’re looking for something to read today and don’t feel like braving the Black Friday crowds, snuggle up with your monitor and read Dylan Meconis’ webcomic Family Man, which is being hosted on a new site.
- November 27, 2009 @ 08:30 AM by JK Parkin
If by “river” you mean “vibrational barrier” and by “woods” you mean “transmatter chamber,” then yes
Grumpy Old Fan
Despite the fact that most of them were published in summer, Thanksgiving is always a good time to reminisce about the annual meetings of the Justice League and Justice Society. Back in the day, these meetings were special because, by definition, they were built around the idea of an “alternate” DC history. Readers could compare and contrast two demonstrably different versions of the Flash, Green Lantern, and Atom; and even get a glimpse at what Superman, Batman and/or Robin, and Wonder Woman would look like decades down the road. In the 1970s, when the Justice Society gained a younger generation, characters like Power Girl and the Huntress played well off their Earth-1 “relatives.” This reinforced further the notion that the two teams were branches of the same family tree. Such sentiment is certainly Thanksgiving-y, regardless of the season; and the fact that these stories were annual traditions didn’t hurt either. Still, just as the fourth Thursday afternoon in November can easily find one doped up on poultry and zoned out on football, sometimes simply being with family isn’t enough.
- November 26, 2009 @ 11:45 AM by Tom Bondurant
Oni’s The Sixth Gun Christmas yarn kicks off Tuesday
The Sixth Gun
Oni Press has announced that they’ll be running a “Christmas yarn” this December on their website’s blog. Called Them What Ails Ya: A Christmas Yarn, it’s an illustrated prose story by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt, creators of the upcoming Oni title The Sixth Gun. The story is set in the same world as the supernatural western book, and will feature “medicine shows, magic tonics, outlaws, cannibals and bona fide Christmas miracles.”
Look for the first chapter on Dec. 1. The ongoing Sixth Gun comic series starts in May.
- November 26, 2009 @ 10:04 AM by JK Parkin
Dodgem Logic website launches
Alan Moore
Dodgem Logic, the underground magazine published by comics writer Alan Moore, now has a website. The site includes a video interview with Moore talking about the idea behind the magazine and the contents of the first issue, as well as downloadable desktop wallpapers and MP3′s, an “ask the doctor” feature, a store where you can buy the magazine and other assorted but fun oddities. Be sure to click around on the site, including the “admit one” ticket in the upper left-hand corner.
- November 26, 2009 @ 08:22 AM by JK Parkin
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs: Tumor
Tumor
Tumor
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov; Illustrated by Noel Tuazon
Archaia; $14.95
Tumor isn’t exactly the kind of comic I usually pick to talk about here. The gangsters aren’t monkeys and the cops don’t wear jetpacks. It’s a mystery, but it’s not a murder mystery. It is, however, exciting to read and – though dark at times and touching at others – a great deal of fun. It’s a crime comic – noir in every sense of the word – and the emotional depth that Fialkov and Tuazon give the main character makes it an engrossing experience I didn’t want to finish. So while it may not be a big adventure comic, it is excellent.
It’s the story of an elderly private investigator named Frank Armstrong who’s hired by a crime lord named Gibson to find his missing daughter. Obviously it’s not going to be as simple as that and as Frank begins his investigation he starts to ask questions about Gibson’s motivations for finding the girl. There’s rumors that she ran off with some money. Is Gibson trying to get her out of trouble or planning to kill her? How is Frank’s old cop pal involved? Hell, how are all the cops in LA involved for that matter?
Answering these questions would be hard enough without the brain tumor Frank’s carrying around. He’s in his last days, struggling to stay on his feet, fighting the seizures that are coming more and more frequently, and helpless against the hallucinations and memories that threaten to overtake him. It doesn’t help that the girl he’s looking for looks a lot like Frank’s dead wife. Or that the situation with Gibson’s daughter seems to mirror the events that led to Frank’s wife’s death. With Frank so sick, he’s having a hard time keeping it all straight. Past and present are merging.
- November 25, 2009 @ 07:13 PM by Michael May
Send Us Your Shelf Porn!
Thanksgiving may be only a day away, but we’re not going to head off to our relative’s house without an extra helping of Shelf Porn, no sirree.
Today’s collection comes to us all the way from Ireland, courtesy of one Dave Tobin. Click on the link to see Mr. Tobin’s impressive set of comics. Oh, and pass the stuffing please …
- November 25, 2009 @ 02:00 PM by Chris Mautner
Your other video of the day: 99 Hulk Balloons
In honor of the holiday, the folks at Marvel have put together a very special episode of What The–?! Enjoy.
- November 25, 2009 @ 12:45 PM by Chris Mautner