Aquaman Saves The Gulf?!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
Aquaman! Welcome, your highness. Thanks for coming. Ted Belvedere, Department of Surf And Turf. Namor, that saltwater prick, didn’t even return my call. You want a shrimp cocktail before we start? I don’t think it’s anyone you know.
Can I call you Mr. Curry? Great. As you know there’s oil all over the Gulf of Mexico, thanks to BP’s “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” emergency planning. Those gas-huffing boobs make Tea Party candidates look like Rhodes scholars. BP’s latest plan is to shove all the dead ducks into the pipe as a two-fer hail Mary: plug the hole and hide the damage. But the “Lucky Duck” won’t work any better than the Big Hat, the Wishful Thought or the Cork of Destiny.
We need a hero. A professional. We need the fashion-forward green-and-orange of the King Of What’ll Be Left Of The Seven Seas. That’s where you come in, Arthur.
Click to continue reading Aquaman Saves The Gulf?!
Read More 
| The Boston Globe
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Weekend Reading: Vertical, Fantastic Four, Cowboys & Aliens and Lost
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics, Viz Media,
Happy holiday weekend for those of us in the US who love a long weekend, some grilled meat and a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon. And since there’s no football game, you can spend that extra time surfing the internet. Here are some links to fill the game-less void:
Vertical: Given the significant changes at manga publishers Viz (massive layoffs) and CMX (DC shuttered the division), it’s interesting to read about someone with a little different take on events. Rod Lott at Bookgasm has a chat with Ed Chavez at Vertical (publishers of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack, among other things). “While I will always say there is plenty of grade-A material to license from Japan available, access to those properties has become quite limited over the last three to four years. I find it curious that this lack of competition has occurred during the recent decline of the U.S. manga market.”
Steve Perry: The death of the Thundercats and Timespirits writer is just about the saddest way for a comic book creator to go. Johnny Bacardi exchanged correspondence with him recently, but I don’t want to spoil his story, except to say that it’s one you’ll want to read.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Vertical, Fantastic Four, Cowboys & Aliens and Lost
Forgotten Comics: Iron-Wolf by Howard Chaykin
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
The DC comics of the early 1970s were still fairly stodgy, but newcomers like Howard Chaykin, Mike Kaluta, Bernie Wrightson, Walter Simonson and others were starting to shake things up. I’ve made no secret of my love of Howard Chaykin’s work. He’s a creator who continues to challenge the form, push it, break barriers and twist it around while still having interesting things to say. If for some crazy reason, he took over Bazooka Joe, I’d start buying gum by the case.
In 1972, DC published a comic called Weird Worlds that was a Tarzan tie-in title featuring John Carter of Mars and Pellucidar adaptations. By issue #8, they dropped all the Burroughs-related stuff and went with an original, non-DCU character, Iron-Wolf, created by Chaykin. He plotted it, penciled it and inked it, and Denny O’Neil did the script. The beautiful lettering - seriously, it’s awesome - was by Walter Simonson.
The story is action-packed and a good set-up for a series: Lord Iron-Wolf refuses to turn over his planet’s resources to “allies” of the Empress of Empire Galaktika out of fear it will leave his planet open to attack.
Click to continue reading Forgotten Comics: Iron-Wolf by Howard Chaykin
Q&A: Jim Beard, Batman & Gotham City 14 Miles
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Interviews, Television, DC Comics,
If you’re a fan of the 1960s Batman TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward, then you already know what that phrase means. It’s the sign you see denoting the distance from the Batcave to Gotham City. Wayne Manor was way out in the 1960s suburbs! Gotham City 14 Miles is much more than that, however. It’s also the title of a new book edited by Jim Beard whose full title is Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays On Why The 1960s Batman TV Series Matters. Essayists include Beard, comics historians Peter Sanderson and Robert Greenberger, and a host of people whose names are being revealed one at a time.
The book will be published by the Sequart Research & Literacy Organization a “non-profit devoted solely to the study and promotion of the artistic and literary medium alternately known as comics, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, manga, sequential art, and sequart.”
Beard says Gotham City 14 Miles is the first book on the old Batman TV series in over 10 years, and I say it’s about time. The book will examine the 1966-68 TV series and “quantify its worth and weight in current pop culture. It also intends to shoot down many of the cliches, falsehoods and outright misinformation about the show and illuminate its strengths and, yes, its weaknesses.”
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MAD Magazine And Cartoon Network
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
What, me hurry? Here’s how quickly things can turn around. Last year, DC Comics reduced the frequency of MAD Magazine, the perennial humor magazine for snarky kids of all ages, from monthly to quarterly. They cited all the usual reasons.
Most bloggers jumped to the idea that DC had done little to actually brand MAD beyond a couple of spin-off magazines. There was no movie (except for a long-forgotten Animal House wannabe called Up The Academy which licensed only the MAD name, and that was 30 years ago), no animated series, no TV show (except for MADtv, which just licensed the name), and little to no merchandise. Oh, and only the most perfunctory of websites.
Jump ahead a year. There’s a change of management at DC. MAD’s frequency is pushed forward so that it’s now going to be bi-monthly.
Click to continue reading MAD Magazine And Cartoon Network
Read More | A.V. Club
Hugo Awards: Neil Gaiman, Phil Foglio, Howard Tayler and Captain Britain
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
I love awards, although it’s just an honor to be nominated, right? The Hugo Awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories. They are science fiction’s most celebrated award and are sponsored by the World Science Fiction Society, who hands them out at each year’s Worldcon. They’ve been around since 1955, and the new 2010 nominees have just been announced.
The good news for funnybook fanatics is that the Hugos have a comic book category and this year’s nominees (under the heading of “Best Graphic Story”) offer a pretty wide-ranging bunch.
In alphabetical order, they are:
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Written by Neil Gaiman; Pencilled by Andy Kubert; Inked by Scott Williams (DC Comics)
Click to continue reading Hugo Awards: Neil Gaiman, Phil Foglio, Howard Tayler and Captain Britain
Read More | John Scalzi
Return of Bruce Wayne
Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
It was announced a few days ago that Bruce Wayne would finally be coming back as Batman beginning in April 2010. The event will take place in a min-series entitled Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne and it will be written by Grant Morrison. I’m very happy that Bruce Wayne will be returning, but I’m curious as to why both he and Captain America are through the exact chain of events in their lives right now. Both characters saw their side kicks resurrected (Jason Todd and Buck); both were “killed off”; both characters saw side kicks take over the mantle for them (Dick Grayson and Bucky); both are stuck in the past; and both are now trying to make their ways back to the present. What gives? Who’s copying who?
Well the idea of resurrecting Jason Todd began during the Hush storyline in 2002, but we didn’t see Jason return until 2005. The return of Bucky began around the same time in 2005 as well. Steve was killed in early 2007 and Bruce was killed in late 2008. It was revealed a few months ago that Steve was stuck in time, but Bruce was revealed to be stuck in the past at the end of Final Crisis at the beginning of the year. Since we are fans, we are not privy to which company came up with which idea first, but if it were me, I would try to do something a bit different with my company’s character. Also, what good is it for the fans? They will buy it nonetheless, but is it really that interesting to have the same exact thing happen to two iconic characters? What happens when they return?
Click to continue reading Return of Bruce Wayne
Warner Bros Freezes Superman
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Movies, DC Comics,
Despite the fact that JJ freaking Abrams is practically handing himself on a plate to Warner Bros. for the next Superman movie, the film giant is putting the Man of Steel on hold.
Sources are saying that the studio has halted any production with the character because of a legal dispute concerning co-creator Jerry Siegel’s heirs. Well, there’s also the fact that Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns didn’t fare as well at the box office as the execs were hoping.
With everyone and their mother (Kevin Smith, the Wachowski brothers, Mark Millar, and McG are all rumored to have thrown their hats into the ring) vying for the coveted script and directing positions, it’s considerably understandable as to why Warner Bros. needs some time to process what they’ll do with the franchise.
I say that while still feeling impatient at the same time—solve the legal problems (as if they don’t have enough money) and pick someone already! Well, as long as it isn’t McG; I fear seeing anyone from The O.C. or Charlie’s Angels casted as Lois.
Read More | io9
Sneak Peek: Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Movies, DC Comics,
We’ve seen Megan Fox fit into a fairly small corset for Jonah Hex; now we’ve got a better look at Josh Brolin getting into the title character’s shoes (and hat).
Deformity? Check. Bad-ass hat? Check. Scary? Check.
Click to continue reading Sneak Peek: Josh Brolin as Jonah Hex
Read More | Rope of Silicon
DC Comics Review: Superman: Secret Origin #2
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ****
Wow! Fantastic! For someone who didn’t grow up reading the Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes stories, I have nothing to compare this issue to. However, I must say that this is a great story that I think longtime fans of those stories will agree that it can stand alongside those classic tales. If you didn’t read issue one, first off, go now to your comic store and get it; second, this issue can stand alone as a great story with some amazing art work. The creative team once again is Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. They introduced us to a teenage Clark Kent living in Smallville adjusting to his super powers and discovering where they came from. We’re also introduced to a teenage Lex Luthor who has an abusive, alcoholic father whom Luthor tries kill in the beginning of our second issue.
The issue opens with Lionel Luthor driving down a highway. There is rubble on the road and he tries to swerve and hit the breaks - unfortunately the breaks are out thanks to Lex. Lionel’s car goes over the side of the highway and is about to plunge into the water when Superboy saves the day. A beautifully drawn scene by Frank, but my one complaint is that I think Superboy looks more like a 10 year-old than a teenager in that scene. Lionel survives, but not for long as Luthor is successful in murdering his father at the end of the issue.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Superman: Secret Origin #2
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