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Weekend Reading: Borders, Barnes & Noble, Batman & Thor
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
Borders Books is finding no takers in its quest for a buyer, so unless a miracle happens, they’re probably toast.
So it’s a good thing they paid all those retention bonuses to people who can’t make anything happen for them.
Their main brick-and-mortar competition, Barnes & Noble, is currently looking like the smartest girl in class. They’ve gotten a $1 billion (with a “b”) offer from Liberty Media.
They probably aren’t interested in the books or the stores, but since Liberty has a lot of old school media holdings, the one thing they lack for modern-day exploitation is Nook technology.
Let’s go elsewhere for good reading:
Batman: Want to know a cool digital-only comic you could be reading for just 99¢? DC’s got one: Batman: Arkham City #1 by Paul Dini & Derek Fridolfs and artist Dustin Nguyen.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Borders, Barnes & Noble, Batman & Thor
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Steve Englehart: The Plain Man
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
Summer's coming up and you know who's got a new book coming out? My old Ultraverse pal Steve Englehart, who's perhaps best known in comics for acclaimed runs on Batman, The Avengers, Captain America and dozens of other titles.
Years ago, he wrote a book called The Point Man. It was reprinted in 2010 by Tor Books and quickly followed by the sequel later that year called The Long Man.
He's got a new one coming out called The Plain Man – and the growing line is now called the Timeless Series - and it ships next month, June 21. There's a follow-up book already in the hopper called The Arena Man, so there appear to be plenty of stories left to tell.
Bonus for comic book fans, in The Plain Man Steve's bringing in some of his creator-owned characters, Coyote and Scorpio Rose to name just two, to join in the action. And they won't be the only ones popping up either.
Click to continue reading Steve Englehart: The Plain Man
Comic Book Colorist Moose Baumann Could Use A Hand
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
Years ago, I worked in the same office at comic book colorist Moose Baumann.
I used to watch him color Malibu Comics' Ultraverse titles the old-fashioned way before computers took over.
He was a great colorist then and he's kicked it up a notch or four in the years since.
Like many freelancers recently, he's run afoul of the health care system and could use a helping hand related to medical bills from his wife's recent illness.
Moose is selling off some nifty prints and such to stay afloat. Blog @ Newsarama has the details.
If you can help out, please do, and if you want to buy some cool coloring for yourself or as a gift, do that too.
[Artwork: Green Lantern #177, with its innards colored by Moose and © DC Comics]
Want to know a comic you could be reading for just 99¢?
DC’s got one: Batman: Arkham City #1 by Paul Dini & Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen.
The first chapter in this multi-chapter storyline pits Batman against Hugo Strange who's pitching Arkham City as "Gotham's ultimate solution to crime."
Click to continue reading DC’s 99¢ Batman: Arkham City #1
We’ve all heard the news now: David E. Kelley’s proposed Wonder Woman TV pilot did not get the greenlight from NBC.
But what we haven’t heard are the real reasons behind the cancellation. Here then, are the Top Ten Reasons Why The New Wonder Woman Series failed:
10. Typical David E. Kelley: Too much “Wondering Woman,” not enough actual Wonder Woman
9. Etta Candy played by Calista Flockhart
8. To be trendy, Amazon homeland changed to Amazon.com
7. William Shatner and James Spader as dueling Steve Trevors
Click to continue reading Wonder Woman Fail: TV Series DOA
Weekend Reading: Gottfredson, Satan, Starlin and Comic Book Guy
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Collecting, Editorials, Reviews, DC Comics, Independent,
I hope you enjoyed your free comics on Free Comic Book Day!
I don't know how successful the event is at growing the industry, but I do like getting a lot of free comics to sample - it's like opening up a birthday present and finding Christmas inside.
Let's see what else is free:
Comics: Lance Mannion visits the local comic book shop, on the streets of New York City.
Cowboys: At Western Fictioneers, Troy Smith lays out his favorite Western comic books of all time. Bonus: Son of Tomahawk!
Mickey: Mark Evanier got himself an advance copy of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "Race to Death Valley" (Vol. 1) by Floyd Gottfredson, published by Fantagraphics Books. And there was much rejoicing.
West: I love this poster by Thomas Perkins.
Bongo: Over at Bongo's blog, Comic Book Guy runs down a list of comic book places where he'd like to live.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Gottfredson, Satan, Starlin and Comic Book Guy
The Mighty Thor Scores!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
So, is there some kind of comic book movie out this weekend or what?
Yes, that’s right. Mighty Marvel Comics has unleashed one of its least-likely-to-star-in-a-hit-movie characters into his own hit movie: Thor. Word of mouth seems strong, box office seems stronger than Vin Diesel and by Odin’s beard we’ll probably be looking at Thor II and Son Of Thor before too long.
(In Son Of Thor, Thor’s misunderstood teenaged son swings his mighty, but lesser, hammer in Manhattan around a cast of 90210/Gossip Girl lookalikes while trying to find love with that year’s Kristen Stewart.)
Can Edgar Wright’s long-awaited Ant-Man movie be far behind?
Marvel does a great job with their movies - they have a similar look and style, they churn them out with the punctuality of a European train, and they’re either profitable or wildly profitable.
Click to continue reading The Mighty Thor Scores!
Weekend Reading: Blackbeard, Superman, Toth & Guindon
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Television, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, Marvel Comics,
I was saddened to hear about the recent death of comics historian Bill Blackbeard. Tom Spurgeon had recently written about him and how he deserved a spot in the Eisner’s Hall of Fame this year. That prompted me to (1) agree immediately with Tom and then (2) write about my own dealings with Mr. Blackbeard.
I didn’t know that by then he had already passed. Tom has the best obituary, if such things can be defined by that term.
Fantagraphics’ Gary Groth shares some personal memories plus tributes from others.
Sparkplug has an interview with him from a while ago that’s first rate.
What a heartbreaker. The guy literally and single-handedly saved newspaper comics from the shredder of history.
Let’s see what else is out there:
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Blackbeard, Superman, Toth & Guindon
Brandon Routh Is Dylan Dog: Comic Book Movie
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
So who’s going to win the big summer comic book movie sweepstakes? Will it be Marvel’s Thor? DC’s Green Lantern? Cowboys & Aliens?
You might not know it, but there’s another comic book based movie coming out and it’s opening this Friday, April 29th.
Dylan Dog: Dead Of Night.
It’s based on an Italian comic book series created by writer Tiziano Sclavi back in 1986. The series claims nearly 60 million readers worldwide, though almost none of them are in the U.S. The series was reprinted by Dark Horse in 7 volumes between 1999-2002.
The movie is set in New Orleans where Dylan is an investigator of the undead. Brandon Routh from Superman Returns plays Dylan, and the supporting cast includes Taye Diggs and Peter Stormare (so great in Fargo).
Click to continue reading Brandon Routh Is Dylan Dog: Comic Book Movie
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Weekend Reading: Kirby, Dick Tracy, Godzilla & Jimmy Olsen
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
Everyone but me is at WonderCon this weekend. And I know this because of all the Facebook updates and Tweets that keep showing up in my inbox.
For those of us not walking the con floor and buying comics and debating the future of comics, let’s see if there’s something we can read:
Superman: Nikki Finke prints the letter that the late Joanne Siegel sent to Warner Bros. regarding the Siegel estate’s ongoing legal battle over Superman.
For those in need of some history about the current incarnation of the Warner empire, it begins with Kinney Parking Company which “was a New Jersey parking lot company owned by Manny Kimmel, Sigmund Dornbusch and mob figure Abner Zwillman. Prior to its public listing in 1960, it merged with a funeral home company, Riverside, and then expanded into car-rentals, office cleaning firms and construction companies."
Kinney National Services, Inc. “which was formed in 1966 when the Kinney Parking Company and the National Cleaning Company merged. The new company was headed by Steve Ross."
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Kirby, Dick Tracy, Godzilla & Jimmy Olsen
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