2010 May
The Fifth Color – Iron Man for the Masses
Yes, that awesome.
Iron Man 2 was Awesome.
What. Did you expect more? Did you expect a negative review from a certifiable Marvel fangirl who thought the first movie was a cinematic breakthrough? I saw the latest Marvel movie, and I thought it was awesome. Headline! If you didn’t like it however (and there’s always someone out there who didn’t, or won’t see it, or takes reviews to heart and accepts it as their own point of view before seeing it themselves), please keep reading. People who saw it and don’t understand why the guy next to him turned up his nose? Keep reading, too. Hopefully some complaints can be laid to rest.
It is a crying shame that Jon Favreau is not going to be directing the Avengers movie. Nothing against Joss Whedon, but after seeing Iron Man 2 at a midnight showing and walking out with the target demographic of teenagers, college kids and fanboys, I have to admit that all of them had something positive to say. Sure, teenagers won’t have a clue about some references, college guys will think some parts of it were slow and fanboys will always nitpick, but there was something in Iron Man 2 for everyone in the audience.
The interesting thing was that not everyone would have the same something.
WARNING: No Spoilers. It was hard because so much awesomeness should be shared with the public but not everyone’s seen the movie yet. There’s nothing more in here than what you could get on IMDB. Well, maybe some little hint. Read on!
- May 7, 2010 @ 03:44 PM by Carla Hoffman
Straight for the art | Jeff Smith’s ‘Read’ poster for ALA
Jeff Smith's poster for the American Library Association's "Read" campaign
The American Library Association asked Bone creator Jeff Smith to participate in its “Read” campaign, which promotes the joy of reading. The result is this original art of Smiley Bone, available from the ALA website as a poster or a bookmark.
- May 7, 2010 @ 02:25 PM by Kevin Melrose
Is Tony Stark still a dickhead?
By Joshua S Hill
The way things pile up is probably not a new conundrum for comic book fans, especially those who have a hard time a) saying no and/or b) saying goodbye. The proverbial “stack” has become much less proverbial and more … verbial? Whether the stack is compromised of issues, TPB’s or a mixture of both with a healthy helping of prose books thrown in, the problem is the same each time:
Where oh where is the time to read it all?
Well, I finally found some time stuffed down behind the couch-cushions and decided to read through Invincible Iron Man volume 5, including the storylines “The Five Nightmares,” “World’s Most Wanted,” and “Stark: Disassembled.”
I really enjoy reading through a whole story, that’s why waiting for Patrick Rothfuss to finish ‘A Wise Man’s Fear’ is slowly killing me inside and why I refuse to read Invincible and Captain America in anything but the great big hardcover omnibus size (and let’s not mention the fact that I only just found out that there was an Invincible Iron Man omnibus from Marvel). So it’s no surprise that I really enjoyed reading through the first 24 issues of Invincible Iron Man.
And let’s be honest with ourselves. I could get distracted and talk about how in issue 25 Pepper Potts seemingly forgets that she was getting frustrated being Tony’s “girl-Friday” and I could mention the weird Hammer twins who are actually mother and daughter which just make it even freakier.
But I won’t.
Because those things detract from what I felt was a really fantastic story, and one that led me to asking one simple question: is Tony Stark still a dickhead?
- May 7, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
Editing is thinking: An interview with David Ball
The Comics of Chris Ware: Drawing Is A Way of Thinking
I first met David Ball a few years ago, while working on a story for my employer, The Patriot-News, about how comics were being used in high school and college classrooms. Luckily for me, Ball just happened to be teaching a class on the subject at the nearby Dickinson College. Ball was kind enough to return the favor and invite me to speak to his comics class when he taught it again a few semesters later.
Fast forward to today, where Ball is co-editor, along with Martha Kuhlman, of the new book from the University of Mississippi Press, The Comics of Chris Ware: Drawing Is A Way of Thinking, a collection of essays by noted comics scholars like Jeet Heer about the seminal Acme cartoonist.
Knowing Ball lived and worked next door (relatively speaking), it seemed silly for me not to get in touch with him and see if he was up for an interview. Thankfully, he was eager to talk about the book.
Why Ware? What is it about him and his comics that you feel justify a book of this nature?
Unlike many of our contributors in the collected volume, I came to Ware’s work very late and not as a dedicated reader of comics but rather as a scholar of American literature. I had known that fascinating things were going on in contemporary comics for a while, but reading Jimmy Corrigan knocked the wind out of me. The book seemed so versed in the American literary genealogy of Melville and Faulkner and Nabokov with which I was familiar, but was using techniques, referring to other comics, and stretching my brain in ways that were wholly new to me. I knew that I would need to educate myself rapidly to catch up — a still ongoing process — and that colleagues in history, art history, and comparative literature, as well as comics commentators and enthusiasts could help me better understand what I was reading. Ware quickly became a discovery I could share with others and a way I could talk to, and learn from, scholars and readers whose interests were different than mine. That kind of intellectual dialogue is what this book of essays is about, and I hope that readers of the volume will similarly find ideas that are new to them, and share in that sense of discovery. Every time I reread one of Ware’s comics, or get my hands on a new fragment of “Rusty Brown” or “Building Stories,” I find something new and unexpected. That sense of discovery is a rare thing in any art form, and I’m convinced it’s why we’ll still be reading Ware fifty years from now.
- May 7, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Chris Mautner
Get your Black Widow makeover at Nordstrom
Bracelets and tights not included
If you’re in the greater L.A. area and want to sport a new look when seeing Iron Man 2 today, head on over to one of seven Nordstrom stores for your Black Widow makeover. Every makeover includes a free Iron Man 2 gift — and a license to kill ninjas, heads of state and related bad guys.
- May 7, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Alamo Drafthouse Iron Man 2 posters
Iron Man 2 poster
When the first Iron Man film came out, the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin was selling a really awesome poster created by Jesse Phillips to commemorate the film. They’ve done it again with Iron Man 2, as Mike Saputo (above) and Tyler Stout have created some posters for the film. You can buy Mike’s poster here. Stout’s have sold out.
- May 7, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
This obsession with movie Easter eggs has finally gone too far
The first clue to Wright's plans, from February 2009
This morning on Twitter, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World director Edgar Wright revealed the real reason the production is returning to Toronto for reshoots:
New scene…INT. TIM HORTONS. DAY. Scott Pilgrim walks in to get coffee. In the middle of the floor he is shocked to see Thor’s Hammer. END.
The adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Oni Press series opens on Aug. 13, most likely without the Mjolnir cameo.
- May 7, 2010 @ 09:25 AM by Kevin Melrose
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Piracy
Digital piracy | Although some have credited, or blamed, Rich Johnston for bringing pirate website HTMLcomics.com to the attention of publishers, Harlan Ellison has stepped forward to gleefully suggest he may have had something to do with its exposure: “Several months ago, if you recall, we were advised of an internet pirate who was posting — along with about 30,000 other pages — DC, Marvel, Archie, Dark Horse, and on and on — my stories from HARLAN ELLISON’S DREAM CORRIDOR. When we advised him to cease and desist, he essentially told me to go fuck myself, and urged me to sue him. Just like every one of them, all the way back to my AOL suit, he told me he couldn’t be found, he was impregnable, I could go fuck myself. … I warned him. … I asked four members of The Flying Blue Monkey Squad to help me. They found him in one day, unsnarled all his shunting devices, tracked his footprint back to his main server, we got his name, his location in Tampa, Florida, and sent that data on to, well, friends of friends.”
Johanna Draper Carlson, Alan Kistler, Gia Manry, Simon Jones, Jaime Weinman and Douglas Wolk have additional commentary. [Robot 6]
- May 7, 2010 @ 08:46 AM by Kevin Melrose
Vertigo to publish sequel to The Little Endless Storybook
The Little Endless Storybook
DC’s Vertigo imprint announced on their blog today that Jill Thompson will write and paint a sequel to The Little Endless Storybook.
Delirium’s Party: A Little Endless Storybook, reunites all the Endless siblings “in an effort to break Despair of her unhappiness.”
“I’m so pleased to be able to play in the Sandman playground again,” Thompson told Graphic Content’s Pamela Mullin. “I love the Endless and I really enjoy being able to tell quirky and cute stories with them in their ‘Little Endless’ form! They are such a fan favorite that I always want to create something that lives up to everyone’s expectations, mine included-because first and foremost, I am a fan of these characters! I think Delirium’s Party will be a nice follow up to the first Little Endless storybook! Despair is the best ’straight man’ for comedy ever! Well, after Neil and Sandman, of course…!”
The original book was published back in 2001 as a prestige-sized one-shot, and was later repackaged as a hardcover. The plot involved Barnabas, Destruction’s dog, trying to find a lost Delirium.
The sequel is due out next year.
- May 7, 2010 @ 07:44 AM by JK Parkin
Grumpy Old Fan | What do the simple folk do?
Superman #296
Since War of the Supermen is the final arc in the sprawling “New Krypton” saga, we readers are that much closer to a more familiar Superman status quo. I’m hoping this means more Clark Kent, because Clark tends to get shafted in these big Superman events.
In fact, the secret identity used to be a pretty reliable story springboard. Lois Lane was always trying to uncover Superman’s secret identity. Super-criminals searched endlessly for the location of the Batcave. Barry Allen didn’t tell his wife he was the Flash until after they got married, and then it was a moot point because he’d already blabbed the news in his sleep. These days, though, it doesn’t seem like a secret identity is that big a deal. Such an attitude is understandable, since most readers probably follow superhero comics primarily for the costumed action. One might even say that “New Krypton” was all about “Clark” — in the sense that “Clark” represents Superman’s true persona, unfiltered by either glasses or costume.
Regardless, that’s not really what we mean by “secret identity.” Because the classic concept involves two distinct modes of behavior, it is both protective and problematic. I think that’s why it tends to be downplayed. We can take for granted that a secret identity does what it’s supposed to do: providing cover, concealing friends and family, etc. That leaves writers free to concentrate on more pressing aspects of the story at hand. As for the aforementioned problems, I haven’t done exhaustive research, but I suspect that the circle of people “in the know” has been expanded to a more comfortable extent. For example, Lois has known for almost twenty (real-time) years; and when it got awkward between Bruce Wayne and bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux, she found out. If there are no stories about the secret being pierced, then a big part of the secret’s dramatic utility goes away; and what’s left are briefer interludes in, say, the Daily Planet bullpen or Wayne Enterprises’ boardrooms.
- May 6, 2010 @ 03:06 PM by Tom Bondurant
Critic (and superhero fan) to superhero movies: DROP DEAD
from Wilson by Daniel Clowes
“Superheroes suck!” So blares the headline for the excellent film critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s provocative Salon.com article on the movie genre that will once again conquer the world this weekend in the form of Iron Man 2. I know, I know, a lot of you are either rolling your eyes or breaking out the torches and pitchforks. But Seitz is a far cry from your usual Ebert-ian dismissal of an entire subgenre on some sort of moral or aesthetic high ground. No, he loves superheroes — and it’s because he thinks so few movies do them justice that he’s sick of their cinematic incarnations.
After first citing his lifelong love of superheroes and a trio of memorable images from recent superhero movies — the Joker sticking his head out the car window in The Dark Knight, Superman hoisting the Daily Planet’s globe in Superman Returns, Peter Parker walking down the street to “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” in Spider-Man 2 — Seitz makes his case:
- May 6, 2010 @ 02:36 PM by Sean T. Collins
Iron Man 2 worked
Editor’s note: Today we kick off a series of guest posts by writer Joshua S. Hill, who you may remember from his recent Shelf Porn entry.
By Joshua S Hill
Iron Man 2
Hands up who thinks that comic book movies are a way to get people into comics? No? Really? You think that comic book movies are just another way for movie executives to ensure that they keep making multi-million dollar movies? That’s a bit pessimistic isn’t it?
Sadly though, it’s the reality of it, isn’t it? Comic book movies are, for all intents and purposes, the same as making adaptations of the A-Team and Charlie’s Angels: just a cheap and easy way of making a movie without all the hassle of coming up with a concept.
Nevertheless there is a part of me that hopes dearly that there are a percentage of people, even if it’s a small percentage, coming out of these movies and buying the comics that spawned the movie they just saw. I hope that people came out of Watchmen, X-Men, The Losers and Kick-Ass and immediately headed into Borders and bought themselves a trade.
Now I’m already a comic fan. I like comics. How else would I have heard about CBR, right? I’m already invested in this medium. So the fact that I headed out to find myself some Iron Man comics this past weekend only increases my hope that there are other non¬-comic fans doing the same.
- May 6, 2010 @ 01:59 PM by JK Parkin
Telltale announces Annable’s Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent for June
Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent
Telltale Games has officially announced a new game from comics creator Graham Annable — Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, which comes out in June.
After reading the description, I’d like to see Tethers team up with Jason Shiga’s Bookhunter at some point:
Special Agent Nelson Tethers, the sole member of the FBI’s Puzzle Research division, is on his way to the icy heart of the Midwestern United States to investigate the apparent stoppage of all production at the Scoggins Erasers Company–the exclusive eraser provider for the White House. No one is really sure why the citizens of this sleepy, snow-covered town have become almost paralyzed while attempting to accomplish simple day-to-day tasks; it’s up to Special Agent Tethers to unravel the source of this madness, and get the factory pumping out its much-needed erasers.
You can find more information on the game at the minisite they’ve created for it, and they’ve also got it available for pre-order for $9.95.
- May 6, 2010 @ 01:12 PM by JK Parkin
What’s John Byrne’s next project for IDW?
Chris Ryall, IDW Publishing’s editor-in-chief, teases on his blog a new project by John Byrne. “It’s not STAR TREK- or ANGEL-related, but it is something you’ll recognize when it’s announced (and no, not NEXT MEN… yet…!),” he says. So what do you think?
- May 6, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by JK Parkin
‘X-Men vs. vampires’ storyline has a name: ‘The Curse of the Mutants’
X-Men: The Curse of the Mutants
The much-discussed “X-Men vs. vampires” storyline that briefly sent writer Mark Millar into a tailspin now has a name befitting a ’50s horror movie (with a font to match): “The Curse of the X-Men”!
Confirmed last month at C2E2, the storyline will launch a new, “adjective-less” X-Men title in July by novelist Victor Gischler and artist Paco Medina. You can see the full updated teaser image, and read Marvel’s description for “The Curse of the Mutants,” after the break.
- May 6, 2010 @ 11:19 AM by Kevin Melrose