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In the world of comics, Arie Kaplan has written for MAD Magazine, Tales From The Crypt (Papercutz), Cartoon Network Action Pack (DC Comics) and Speed Racer (IDW). For TV, he’s also written for MTV, Cartoon Network and PBS Kids. His book, Masters Of The Comic Book Universe Revealed! is still available from Chicago Review Press. His latest book From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books is an oral history that tracks how Jews created the modern comic book industry. It was published in 2008 by The Jewish Publication Society.
TOM MASON: How did the book From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books come about?
ARIE KAPLAN: Around 2001 or 2002, I was approached by one of my freelance writing clients, Reform Judaism Magazine, with an offer to write a series of articles on the history of Jews in comics. The editors of Reform Judaism figured that I’d be a good fit for this assignment since I’d been writing for MAD Magazine for a couple of years. And they were right. I immersed myself in research, and worked very hard on the series, which was called “Kings of Comics,” and which came out in 2002-2003 (Reform Judaism is a quarterly).
TOM: How was that received?
Click to continue reading Arie Kaplan: From Krakow to Krypton
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I’ve always had a soft spot for the goofy Doom Patrol series from DC Comics. Originally created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Bruno Premiani, it debuted in My Greatest Adventure #80 in 1963, the same year that Stan and Jack debuted X-Men #1. A lot of fans argue that there are similarities between the Fantastic Four (which debuted before Doom Patrol) and the DP (both teams have four members with the same type of characters: a bitter non-human character, two men - one a scientific genius and the other who can burst into flames/energy - and a woman; in DP the woman – Elasti-Girl - can increase and decrease her size, a power somewhat similar to Mr. Fantastic’s stretchable skin). Others argue that there are similarities between DP and the X-Men (DP debuted three months before X-Men #1). Both teams are led by older guys in wheelchairs who love to boss mutants around, although Professor X clearly has the cooler, higher-tech chair thanks to Mr. Jack Kirby’s design sensibilities. Seriously, if I was a chair-based comic book character, I’d shop at “Chairs by Kirby.”
The original Doom Patrol has that typical 1960s DC Universe appeal and that early run reads like a dinner theater version of X-Men/Fantastic Four with somebody like Sterling Hayden playing Niles Caulder as Monte Wooley. (Forgive the Golden Age of Movies reference point, but I recently saw The Man Who Came To Dinner on Turner Classic Movies, and the first thing I thought of, because I’m a geek, is “That’s Niles.”) While Stan and Jack and company were creating an interconnected universe of recurring villains and cosmic storylines for their DP-similar books with multi-faceted villains like Doctor Doom and Galactus, DC had the Doom Patrol fighting the equivalent of space worms and monsters made from cuts of meat. So it doesn’t really matter if the Doom Patrol looks similar to either the Fantastic Four or the X-Men because it’s not the idea, or the make-up of the team, it’s what you do with them.
Click to continue reading Doom Patrol #1: Keith Giffen and Matthew Clark
Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Wally Wood, and James Cameron’s Avatar!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
It’s back again, internets – the Weekend Read is here with a quick browse as the digital landscape turns up a few fun things to occupy your time when you could be out with your friends or drunk - texting your exes.
JACK KIRBY I: In honor of Jack Kirby’s 92nd birthday, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has a breathtaking array of Kirby images on display. Words can’t even do it justice, so Tom doesn’t try. It’s just fantastic pictures and reminds us all how great Kirby really was.
JACK KIRBY II: If you do want some words to go with the pictures, Mark Evanier has quite a few of the nicer ones.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Wally Wood, and James Cameron’s Avatar!
Mayhem #1: Tyrese Gibson & Tone Rodriguez
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Image Comics,
I think of the comic book industry like a quirky town, and I love it when the new people show up. I love it when the big money types walk in - the Teknos people and the Virgins and the Crossgens. Come on in, boys and girls - bring your cash and hire my friends.
I think it’s great when book people show up - either authors (like Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem) who long to write a few comics or executives who are curious about leaving the musty book world for a dip in the superhero pool. And I really love it when actors pop up, and either lend their name to a comic or take a more active role.
Click to continue reading Mayhem #1: Tyrese Gibson & Tone Rodriguez
DC Comics Review: Detective Comics #856
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ***
A pretty good issue here. Part three of the “Elegy” story arc as Kate Kane the Batwoman continues her fight against the Religion of Crime (ROC). In our last issue we saw the leader of the ROC, Alice, and her followers stand ready to take out Batwoman and her father, but a group of monsters show up. The monsters are there to help Batwoman and they attack the ROC. Their leader is a werewolf and he helps Kate and her dad get to safety. The werewolf changes back to human form and tells Kate’s dad that they are the true believers. I’m assuming these people were apart of the ROC before Alice took over. We learn that the werewolf is man named Abbot who was the “bodyman” for the last High Madame Whisper A’Daire.
What I enjoy most about the character of Kate Kane is not her activities as Batwoman, but more so the person behind the mask. Writer Greg Rucka writes a great scene with Kate and her father and follows it up with a dinner party they attend where Kate meets up with Maggie Sawyer. Sawyer was first introduced in the pages of Superman back in the 80s, but she has since been “transferred” to Gotham City and the Batman universe. Will we see a romance develop here?
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Detective Comics #856
The Lazy Way To “Learn Something New Everyday”
Posted by Kris Madden Categories: Editorials, Reviews,
Everyday we are bombarded with information from our jobs, our families, heck, even our own daydreams vie for our constant attention. And how much of it qualifies as trivial, humorous, intriguing, and factual? If you answered, “not much”...
Click to continue reading The Lazy Way To “Learn Something New Everyday”
Rating: ***
When we were first given information about the Blackest Night min-series, we were told that this story would involve all of the various Ring Corps that exist in the universe. So far, we haven’t seen much of them - only the Black Lantern rings racing across the universe and resurrecting the dead into Black Lanterns. That all changes with this month’s issue of Green Lantern. All of the various ring colors are represented here, but the major feature of this issue is the battle between yellow ring leader Sinestro of the Sinestro Corps and Carol Ferris of the violet colored Star Sapphires Corps.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a long-time Green Lantern reader so I didn’t know until recently that Carol Ferris was at one time a Star Sapphire. So the impact of her as a Star Sapphire again and her fighting Sinestro does have the same impact on me as a long-time reader would have. Still it’s very cool. You don’t normally have the girlfriend/wife of a super-hero becoming a hero herself and then fighting her boyfriend/husband’s archenemy all that often. Have we ever seen Mary Jane get powers and fight the Green Goblin? So this is very cool and it adds a whole dynamic to the relationship of Hal Jordan, Carol, and Sinestro.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Green Lantern #45
A fan of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead has taken it upon himself to pinpoint every major event in the series—talk about dedication!
From the major points like Julie/Chris suicide pack and Rick losing his hand to more subtle events like the “sick” zombie too weak to attack (issue #55), the map seems to have just about everything in the continuing series chronicled. I also enjoy the fact that he noted each and every sex scene—I mean, did anyone really remember or care that Axel and Patricia had sex back in issue #46?
Click on the map above to check it out. Then make sure you mark September 16th on your calendar—issue #65 (part 4 of 5 in the “Fear the Hunters” arc) hits comic book shelves that day!
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| Google Maps via Image Comics Twitter
DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #4
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ***
After almost three months, The Flash: Rebirth series continues. I’ve liked this series so far, but this issue was very confusing. It reminded me of some comic book stories I read in the 90s where the story was very exciting, but I had no idea what was going on. I kind of felt that way here with this issue as I had to go over and re-read certain things to get a better grasp of what was going on - and as of right now, I’m still not 100% sure what’s going on or how to explain it. However confusing the story may be, the action is intense and non-stop in this issue and with the action being presented by artist extraordinaire Ethan Van Sciver, you don’t mind it as page after page showcase some amazing artwork.
In our last issue, the main villain of our story stood revealed and to no surprise it was Eobard Thawne the Reverse Flash, Professor Zoom. Okay. So from what I can understand, Thawne is responsible for infecting Barry with his current affliction of hurting speedsters. According to Thawne, he has created a negative Speed Force. It seems that when Barry was hit by lightning he created the Speed Force at that moment and now Thawne has created the negative Speed Force and it’s the cause of Barry’s disorder.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #4
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