2009 December
Geoff Johns reveals first post-Blackest Night Green Lantern storyline
The DCU could use some New Guardians
MILD SPOILER WARNING
One of our first (quasi-)official glimpses of the DC Universe after Blackest Night emerged this past holiday weekend from an increasingly common source for this sort of thing: a Twitter feed.
Responding to reader praise for the most recent issue of Green Lantern, Blackest Night writer Geoff Johns teased the shape of things to come:
- December 28, 2009 @ 07:30 AM by Sean T. Collins
A roundup of best-of-the-year pieces
Captain Britain and MI13, Vol. 3
• The Oregonian’s Steve Duin names his Top 10 comics of 2009, including Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza, Jeff Lemire’s Sweet Tooth, and Adam Rapp and George O’Connor’s Ball Peen Hammer.
• Joe Gross of the Austin American-Statesman lists his Top 13 comics of the year, including The Incredible Hercules, by Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak and others, and Wasteland: The Apocalyptic Edition, Vol. 1, by Antony Johnston and Christopher J. Mitten.
• Jerome Maida of the Philadelphia Daily News rolls out a curious, and DC Comics-dominated best-of list whose categories range from writer of the year to heroine of the year. DC/Vertigo’s Scalped gets top series honors.
• Greg Hatcher at sibling blog Comics Should Be Good! looks at the best reprint collections of 2009.
• David Allen Jones, aka Johnny Bacardi, names his favorite comics of 2009, including Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson’s Beasts of Burden, Adam Warren’s Empowered and Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe.
• At the Forbidden Planet International blog, writer Mike Carey and cartoonist David Baillie chat about comics (and other entertainment) of 2009.
• Dave Ferraro names the best superhero comics of the year, from Captain Britain and MI13 to Agents of Atlas to Batman and Robin.
• Tom Spurgeon continues his holiday interviews with writers discussing comics that are emblematic of the decade: Chris Allen on Powers; David Welsh on MW; and Robert Clough on ACME Novelty Library #19.
• Jason Yadao of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin looks back at the year in manga, and spotlights the growth of free online manga and Twitter.
- December 28, 2009 @ 06:48 AM by Kevin Melrose
Happy 87th birthday, Stan Lee!
"God Save Stan Lee" T-shirt
Stan Lee, writer, editor, Marvel Universe co-founder, actor and Twitter superstar, was born on this day in 1922 in New York City. ‘Nuff said!
(The above Sex Pistols-inspired T-shirt is still available from Secret Headquarters in Los Angeles.)
- December 28, 2009 @ 05:16 AM by Kevin Melrose
More images from the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths DVD
The Jester
Warner Home Video sent out a pre-holiday treat last week — four new images from the upcoming animated release Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, which comes out in February. The direct-to-DVD release pits the Justice League against their evil counterparts, the Crime Syndicate. Up above is the Jester, a heroic version of the Joker from the Crime Syndicate’s world. After the jump you’ll find a really angry Jimmy Olsen, the Flash and a Crime Syndicate group shot.
If you haven’t checked out the latest trailer, you can find it here.
- December 27, 2009 @ 08:09 AM by JK Parkin
‘This is for Doctor Girlfriend, so really sing it from the heart’
Christmas with the Moppets
We’re supposed to have the day off, but I’d feel guilty if I didn’t point out that Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer continue their holiday tradition this morning with a Venture Bros. Christmas song.
This year it’s The Monarch conducting the Murderous Moppets and Henchman 21 in a rendition of “The Chipmunk Song” as a gift for Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. My favorites are still 2005′s “Hard Candy Christmas” and 2006′s “Venture Aid 2006,” but this one’s still pretty good (they’re all available for listening at the link).
- December 25, 2009 @ 05:48 AM by Kevin Melrose
Happy holidays from Robot 6
by Kevin Colden
We’re winding down for a long winter’s … weekend here at Robot 6. With the Christmas holiday upon us, the team will be taking a well-deserved break for a few days as we spend time with our other offline family and friends. We’ll be back next week, of course, where in addition to our regular blogging shenanigans, you can expect to see a few special year-end features and other fun stuff as we begin the countdown to our big one-year anniversary.
Before heading off to stuff our faces with eggnog and Christmas cookies, though, you’ll find a collection of holiday-themed links after the jump. Think of it as a special Christmas Eve version of Comics A.M.
So on behalf of all of Robot 6, have a great holiday and stay safe. We’ll see you next week.
(Artwork above: I Rule the Night artist Kevin Colden shares happy holiday wishes).
- December 24, 2009 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Justice League Unlimited: The toyline that refuses to die
The Doom Patrol
Even though the Justice League Unlimited cartoon wrapped up a few years ago, the action figure line from Mattel has still trucking along. Although the toys are a Target exclusive here in the United States, they still seem to have enough interest that Mattel is planning to continue the line into 2010, according to a post on Facebook:
And as stated above, JLU will still be at Target stores in 2010. We have some great singles, 3 packs and 6 packs in store including many more fan demanded character, a return to Apokolips and a few out of the blue surprises we think JLU fans are going to love!
Mattel remains very committed to this line. As long as their are fans looking to purchase more JLU figures, we will do all we can to keep them coming. Considering Grodd was slated to be the very last figure, both the fans and dedicated members of the Mattel brand team have fought tooth and nail to keep the line going with a collector focus. We do read the message boards and hear fans requests. While we may not have gotten to every request, if you look back at the last 16 months, look at how many impossible or fan demanded characters we have been able to get to: The Question, Captain Atom, Cheetah, Batman Beyond, Mr. Terrific, Supergirl, Shazam… the list really does go on and on!
- December 24, 2009 @ 12:10 PM by JK Parkin
Night‘s end: DC Entertainment comic-book solicitations for March 2010
Grumpy Old Fan
I go into the March DC solicitations a little sadder, not because my self-esteem is tied to Roy Harper’s, but because I actually think I’m going to miss seeing what’s next every month for Blackest Night. It has been such an over-the-top series, in both good and bad ways, that this batch of solicits feels more hollow without a nominal amount of miniseries and other tie-ins.
Nevertheless, in the wake of the big Green Lantern-centered event are a handful of smaller character-centric storylines, with March showcasing Brainiac’s return and a whole new set of woes for Team Arrow.
All that plus the usual comings, goings, and collections, so let’s get right to it!
Continue Reading »
- December 24, 2009 @ 11:00 AM by Tom Bondurant
Straight for the art | He-Man gets a haircut
And Skeletor gets a root canal, just in time for their appearance at Gallery 88 LA. Artwork by Kiersten Essenpreis.
(Thanks Jashar!)
- December 24, 2009 @ 10:52 AM by JK Parkin
Indy Comic Book Week preview: Dead Man Holiday
Dead Man Holiday
Here’s another preview of a release that’s hitting shops next week in conjunction with Indy Comic Book Week. The third issue of Colin Panetta‘s hand-painted Dead Man Holiday will be available in shops in New York, Texas, Illinois and several other locations (check out the complete list here). And if you’re worried that you’ve missed too much of the story to enjoy the book’s third issue, fear not — the first two issues can be downloaded from the book’s website.
According to the press release for the book:
The series’ plot centers around Thad Planck, a low-rent security guard in a flooded and abandoned neighborhood known as Little Atlantis, where there have been some strange things growing and walking around as of late. The fittingly aloof blurb for the new issue reads: “Little Atlantis is getting weird. So when a straw (in the form of a falcon carrying a dismembered hand) breaks the camel’s (our man Thad Planck’s, that is) back, the camel decides to strike back and show the weirdness who’s in charge. But not before making a sandwich. Can Thad keep Little Atlantis in check? Not without a little help from his friends. Or maybe just not at all.”
Check out five pages of previews after the jump.
If you have a comic book that will be in some shops next Wednesday and would like to send us a few pages as a preview, drop me an email. Be sure to include all the pertinent information, like price, where it’ll be sold and all that good stuff.
- December 24, 2009 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Vatican newspaper praises The Simpsons
The Simpsons got a somewhat unexpected gift under their tree this year … no, not another dog; L’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican, on Tuesday congratulated the show on its 20th anniversary in an article titled “Aristotle’s Virtues and Homer’s Doughnut.”
The article doesn’t appear to be online at the paper’s website, but the Associated Press reports the article praised the show’s “philosophical leanings as well as its stinging and often irreverent take on religion.”
“Religion, from the snore-evoking sermons of the Rev. Lovejoy to Homer’s face-to-face talks with God, appears so frequently on the show that it could be possible to come up with a ‘Simpsonian’ theology,” the article said. No doubt they were talking about segments like this:
- December 24, 2009 @ 09:15 AM by JK Parkin
Your videos of the day: A new Marvel ‘What The’ and more
Marvel wishes you a happy holiday.
- December 24, 2009 @ 08:45 AM by Chris Mautner
Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up
From 'Rhinoceros'
Just a few quick items before the holidays:
• Neil Gaiman reveals that he is going to be the guest editor for the next edition of Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Comics series.
• Jeff Smith has a three-page preview of the sixth issue of RASL up at his site.
• Josh Simmons offers a little glimpse into a new story he’s going to be doing for the Mome anthology with Shaun Partirdge titled The White Rhinoceros.
• Ed Piskor is offering the first two volumes of his ongoing serial Wizzywig as a free download at his site. Merry Christmas!
- December 24, 2009 @ 08:12 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art | Superheroes meet history
I can’t tell if this is really awesome, really funny or really offensive. It might be all three.
- December 24, 2009 @ 07:30 AM by Chris Mautner
Quote of the day
Blackest Night #6
“Some cynics would say that there are folks out there who, despite entering a business agreement with Diamond regarding terms for the street date on these items, despite the repeated reminders about the street dates (on that bright green paper, and on the invoice itself), would put out Blackest Night #6 a week early anyway. And that some enterprising soul would already have scanned and posted said comic to the torrent sites. But those would be dick moves, and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that.”
– retailer Mike Sterling, on DC’s Blackest Night #6,
which shipped this week but is embargoed until Dec. 30
- December 24, 2009 @ 06:45 AM by Kevin Melrose