2010 May
Grumpy Old Fan | Death, diversity, “definitives”
Justice League of America #173
It’s taken me a couple of weeks to sort out my feelings about Ryan Choi’s death. It should go without saying that all of these feelings are negative. Ryan and his All-New Atom supporting cast were the core of a very fun comic book; and I thought Ryan made a good successor to Ray Palmer (who was missing in action for most of ANA’s run).
Accordingly, I started off angry at DC for its callous attitude towards the character, and honestly, I’m still a little angry. Regardless, that anger and frustration has developed into lingering disappointment. Specifically, I’m disappointed that DC continues to use death as a storytelling crutch. (John Seavey says it better here.)
However, I’m also disappointed in DC’s apparent unwillingness to let its superhero line develop naturally. There was nothing wrong with the Ryan Choi Atom. If anything, he was too superficially similar to Ray Palmer’s Atom: powers, costume, hometown, even occupation. Heck, they knew each other! I can see how this would make Ryan redundant once Ray decided to start superheroing full-time, but it’s not like Ryan didn’t have a day job. If you want to sideline someone like that, you let him go back to civilian life — you don’t kill him.
- May 27, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by Tom Bondurant
Your video of the day | Iron Baby suits up
Are the Young Avengers still hiring? If so, they should talk to Patrick Boivin‘s baby girl, who suits up into some famous armor and tackles a handful of scary bunnies in this really awesome parody video. The young hero even gets an endorsement from Iron Man director Jon Favreau.
- May 27, 2010 @ 01:00 PM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | Sho Murase’s Elektra/Daredevil pin-up art
As seen by Sho Murase
Sho Murase, best known for her Nancy Drew graphic novels and also the creator of the sadly underrated me2, shows off the Elektra/Daredevil pinup she’s doing for Marvel Girl Comics #3.
- May 27, 2010 @ 12:30 PM by Brigid Alverson
Black like Lois: Dean Haspiel’s favorite cover
Lois as you have never seen her before
Dean Haspiel posts his favorite DC Comics cover of all time, a crack-tastic Lois Lane comic from 1970 (with echoes not only of Black Like Me but also I Am Curious (Yellow)). Bonus: If the cover has you curious, you can read a detailed summary of the entire story arc, starting here, at Comic Books Revisited.
- May 27, 2010 @ 12:00 PM by Brigid Alverson
This weekend, it’s Phoenix Comicon
Art from the Phoenix Comicon programming guide, by Tony Parker
The Arizona Republic and Phoenix New Times preview Phoenix Comicon, which kicks off this afternoon in its new home at the Phoenix Convention Center & Hyatt Regency.
The event, which continues through Sunday, features a lineup of comics guests that includes Tim Bradstreet, Mike Carlin, Peter Gross, Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle, Georges Jeanty, JJ Kirby, John Layman, Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane, B. Clay Moore, Todd Nauck, Whilce Portacio, Brian Pulido, Ethan Van Sciver and Philip Tan.
Media guests include LeVar Burton, Felicia Day, Aaron Douglas, Jonathan Frakes, James Marsters and Wil Wheaton.
- May 27, 2010 @ 11:30 AM by Kevin Melrose
Straight for the shopping | PictureBox fundraiser
Cold Heat print by Jim Rugg
Want to exchange your money for rad things? Jim Rugg, Dash Shaw, Johnny Ryan and Frank Santoro are but a few of the cartoonists who are willing to take you up on that offer right now on behalf of a fundraiser for Comics Comics, the fine magazine-cum-blog of comics and criticism. Edited by Dan Nadel, Tim Hodler, and Frank Santoro and published by Nadel’s PictureBox Inc., the mag’s in the red, and it needs your help.
You can check out their eBay listings for original art from Rugg, Shaw, Santoro, and even Gasoline Alley‘s Frank King, or drop them a line and commission a portrait of yourself being “erotically violated” by Johnny Ryan. (The portrait’s by Johnny Ryan, not the erotic violation. Not necessarily, I mean.)
And if you’ve never checked out Comics Comics before, you can’t go wrong with the $10 three-issue Comics Comics Fun Pack. Where else can you find serious, stimulating writing on topics like Steve Gerber, Paper Rad, Guy Davis, Dick Ayers, Berserk and the Masters of American Comics exhibit, by everyone from top-notch critics like Tim Hodler, Joe McCulloch, and Jeet Heer to cartoonist-critics like Santoro and Shaw to guest stars like Peter Bagge, Kim Deitch, Brian Chippendale, and Mark Newgarden?
You can also purchase a hand-selected pack of five books from Santoro’s infamous back-issue bin, featuring some of the best indie and mainstream hidden gems of the ’80s, or snag a pair of deluxe art books from Led Zeppelin/Pink Floyd album artists Hipgnosis and the ’70s-tastic West Coast airbrush art scene for $25 total. I’m telling you, it’s tough to go wrong here. But act quickly, because a lot of these offers end within hours!
- May 27, 2010 @ 11:00 AM by Sean T. Collins
BOOM! and Busiek bring Dracula to the boardroom
Dracula: The Company Of Monsters
Astro City writer Kurt Busiek and novelist Daryl Gregory are teaming up on a new Dracula title, Dracula: The Company Of Monsters — coming from BOOM! Studios in August.
“So. I’m creating and co-writing a new series about a very, very old character, thrust into a modern world unfamiliar to him in a lot of surface ways, but very familiar underneath,” Busiek wrote on his blog this morning.
The book features art by Scott Godlewski and will “take you through the dark corridors of the corporate American boardroom and show you vampires aren’t the only kinds of bloodsuckers!” according to the press release.
“Dracula’s a character who’s always fascinated me,” Busiek said, “and getting a chance to build something firmly rooted in Dracula’s real-world (and Stoker-novel) history, but with a very modern edge, is the kind of creative challenge I love. It’s the world’s greatest vampire against the corporate world — and there’s no easy way to tell who’s the real villain, and who’s the hero. I’m thrilled to be working with Daryl, Scott and BOOM! on this. Putting it together feels like the early days of working on Conan, and I think the results are going to be a real treat for readers.”
Busiek has written everything from Avengers to Thunderbolts to Conan to DC’s Trinity series, as well as the creator-owned Astro City and an upcoming series from Wildstorm that used to be called American Gothic.
- May 27, 2010 @ 10:30 AM by JK Parkin
First images from animated ‘Jonah Hex’ animated short hit the web
Jonah Hex
Warner Bros. sent out the first three images from the Jonah Hex animated short that can be found on the upcoming Batman: Under the Red Hood DVD.
This is the second DC Showcase animated short, following the Spectre one that appeared on the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths DVD earlier this year. “Jonah Hex “is scripted by author Joe Lansdale and features the voices of Thomas Jane, Linda Hamilton, Michelle Trachtenberg and Michael Rooker.
According to the press release, “In the DC Showcase story, the tough-as-nails bounty hunter Jonah Hex
always gets his man – until someone else gets to him first – in this case a murderous madam who wants to steal more than just her bounty from Jonah Hex.”
Batman: Under the Red Hood arrives in stores July 27. Check out a couple more images after the jump.
- May 27, 2010 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Jason Little’s Motel Art Improvement Service coming in November
Motel Art Improvement Service
Dark Horse Comics will publish Jason Little’s next webcomics collection, Motel Art Improvement Service, in November. The book collects the continuing adventures of Bee, the main character of 2002′s Shutterbug Follies. The first book took the trifecta of winning two Ignatz Awards, a Harvey Award and being banned from a high school in Texas.
- May 27, 2010 @ 09:30 AM by JK Parkin
Straight for the art | New takes on Wolverine: Netsuke
Rich Pellegrino's cover for Wolverine: Netsuke
Super Punch presents some alternate covers for Wolverine: Netsuke, as reimagined by Jon Foster’s art class. Bonus post: If you liked this, check out these imaginary paintings of Wolverine as depicted by various artists.
- May 27, 2010 @ 09:00 AM by Brigid Alverson
Disney joins Marvel in copyright fight with Kirby family
The X-Men #1
The Walt Disney Co. has waded into the legal battle over many of Marvel’s best-known characters, filing a memo in support of the publisher’s efforts to dismiss copyright claims by the heirs of Jack Kirby.
Marvel sued the Kirby children in January, seeking to invalidate notices sent almost four months earlier to terminate copyrights to such characters as the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, Iron Man and Spider-Man. The Kirby family responded in March by suing Marvel and its new parent company Disney.
In the Disney memo, filed on Monday, the media giant asks the court to delay to delay ordering an accounting of profits from the properties Kirby created or co-created, arguing that the copyright claims of his heirs haven’t been validated. Disney also seeks to dismiss the Kirby family’s claims about unreturned original artwork and lack of credit in The Incredible Hulk and X-Men Origins: Wolverine films.
You can read the full complaint at THR, Esq.
- May 27, 2010 @ 08:03 AM by Kevin Melrose
Check out hi-res screenshots from Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
From "Marvel Vs. Capcom 3"
Capcom has released high-resolution screenshots from Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, the much-anticipated latest installment of the popular fighting game.
The images, which you can see at full size at the Capcom Unity blog, feature Wolverine, Ryu, Hulk, Iron Man, Chris Redfield and, I don’t know, what looks like a massive Spider-Man balloon from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Officially announced in April, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 will be released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in spring 2011.
- May 27, 2010 @ 06:58 AM by Kevin Melrose
Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | What Looks Good for July
Boneyard: Resurrected #1
Time again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool new adventure comics. As always, I’m looking forward to reading your comments about what I missed.
Antarctic
Boneyard: Resurrected #1 – What’s a publisher to do with Boneyard‘s creator taking a break from the series? How about re-release the early issues, but in full color? Sounds like a plan to me. If you haven’t read Boneyard before and have any fondness for classic monsters and laughter, this is your big opportunity to check it out.
Ape Entertainment
The Penguins of Madagascar #1 – Yeah, Madagascar 2 sucked and almost ruined all the fondness for these characters that I had, but as long as I can hear the Skipper’s Heston-esque voice in my head when I read this comic, I’ll be all right.
Berona's War: Field Guide
Archaia
Berona’s War: Field Guide – I’ve grown tired of Superhero Decadence, but Funny Animal Decadence might be just what the doctor ordered. I’ve got to check it out and see.
Automatic Pictures
Hatter M: The Looking Glass Wars, Vol. 3 – The Nature of Wonder – I’m behind on the Looking Glass saga, but I’ve liked enough of what I’ve read so far to expect that I’ll want to keep up with it.
Boom!
The Incredibles, Volume 3: Secrets and Lies – I don’t hear much about this series anymore. Is it still good? It started off awesomely, but I fell behind.
July’s going to be a great month, after the break.
- May 26, 2010 @ 08:54 PM by Michael May
Send us your Shelf Porn!
It’s Shelf Porn time, where we take an intimate look into somebody’s home to see what their books, statues, action figures or even their drawing desk looks like … which is the case with this week’s submission. David Paccia, who works for a financial institution as a Web QA tester, is also an artist and sent in some pictures of his workspace.
We can always use more Shelf Porn, so if you’d like to see your shelves featured here, drop me an email with your write-up and pictures.
And now here’s David …
- May 26, 2010 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
Garfield like you have never seen him before
Garfield in Japan
Square Root of Minus Garfield is a webcomic devoted to mashups of the newspaper strip Garfield with various other things—if you’re looking for Garfield Unix jokes, for instance, go no further. This is a particularly awesome comic, as it combines Garfield and his Japanese cousin, Michael, from the manga What’s Michael? which used to be published by Dark Horse but, sadly, seems to be out of print.
- May 26, 2010 @ 01:30 PM by Brigid Alverson