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1.13.09 - Tuesday Preview
Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
Welcome to what I hope will be a series of Tuesday previews to let you know what to look forward to on comic day.
Tomorrow, Amazing Spider-Man 583 comes out with a variant cover and a five-page Obama back-up story. The variant cover is a one of fifty so, as usual, I didn’t get any. And, as usual, I have people coming out of the woodwork to buy it. Luckily Marvel is coming to my rescue by issuing a second printing variant next week and I will have plenty. Of course what this does to the resale value of the original variant is anyone’s guess.
X-men Manifest Destiny should be here tomorrow to make up for the screw up of last week. Those miscover books were up immediately on E-Bay, but they tell me the real book will be free to me to make up for it, but as they are not on my invoice I won’t know until they get here. Destiny?
Also appearing is Adam, Legend of the Blue Marvel 3 and the first two have been pretty good.
On the other hand, there is Death Defying Devil which is part of Project Super Powers. They could call it Hard to Read Devil because the entire series makes it difficult to follow this storyline, but we’ll give it another try.
Final Crisis 6. What can I say? When Final Bar Mitzvah comes out I will comment.
And last but not least is Mad Magazine. I know everyone thinks I am old and senile (Thanks Dennis; ED: No problem, buddy. Hahaha.), but compared to the past Mad this is horrible and not funny. Pick up a few Mad trades if you don’t believe me.
And to cap everything off we have Obama trading cards. Now I once asked a distributor why cards don’t come out before the movie opens? It would be great to sell cards before an anticipated hit (Iron Man) or bomb (The Spirit) comes out, but I was informed that movie cards contain scenes from the movie so they don’t want to give away spoilers. But folks only buy the cards for the inserts anyway. Bikini swatches and kiss cards from Benchwarmers and costume cards and autographs from Iron Man are big hits. They say there are inserts in these cards and I am wondering what they are.
That’s all for this preview. Tune in next Tuesday for our hopefully second installment.
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Heads up, monkey lovers! Uber-Apes fan and writer Rich Handley has put his stinking paws on the history of one of the most beloved and maddening sci-fi franchises ever: Planet of the Apes. The origin of the species that began with Pierre Boulle’s novel, Monkey Planet, has encompassed movies, television shows, comic books, animated cartoons and so much more. Who can forget their Planet of the Apes lunchbox or their Mego action figure? Creators as varied as Rod Serling, Tim Burton, Paul Dehn, Doug Moench, Ian Edginton, Mike Ploog, Dale Keown, Gary Chaloner and Lowell Cunningham have been drawn into its orbit.
Now Rich has deftly organized all of the projects, spin-offs, and remakes and created Timeline Of The Planet of the Apes: The Definitive Chronology, a massive reference book suitable for the Monkey shelf of your bookcase. Rich chronologically organizes every recorded event of Planet of the Apes history starting from before Caesar’s birth and going way beyond [spoiler alert] Earth’s destruction. Rich says, “This book covers every film, television episode, cartoon, novel, comic book, short story and audio-tale produced under the Planet of the Apes banner over the past four decades.” He even includes a number of rejected and unpublished tales previously unavailable to fans.
Originally produced for a publisher that went belly-up, Rich pulled back his completed manuscript and is self-publishing through his own Hasslein Books imprint. Packed with 350 cover images, a recommended viewing/reading order, time travel trivia, a title/creator index of published fiction and a wealth of POTA inconsistencies and discontinuities, make the book a must-have item for any true fanboy.
Someday, the apes will rule us all, and it’s nice to see how they plan to do it.
[Full Disclosure: I used to edit the Planet of the Apes comic books for Malibu Comics and many of the folks who worked on them are represented in Rich’s book.]
Last night Heath Ledger won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role of The Joker in “The Dark Knight”. Like many comic book fans, I am very happy that a comic book film has finally been recognized and has achieved an award of this caliber. It’s of course bitter sweet with the death of Heath Ledger occurring before the film was even released. Would he have been nominated or even won if he were still alive? We’ll never know, but I would like to think so.
I wasn’t happy when he was cast in the role of the Joker. Even when I saw him in the make up, I was thinking that this was going to suck. As I watched the film for the first time, a smile slowly began to form on my face. As the Joker exited the room after his meeting with the mobsters in the beginning of the film, I was sold.
What Heath did with that role was nothing short of amazing. He has set the bar high for any actor who wants to take on the role of a Batman villain in any future Batman film. In my opinion, Heath Ledger became the Joker. When Jack Nicholson played the Joker in “Batman,” he was playing himself. Even when it was released in 1989, I wasn’t that impressed with Jack as the Joker. I think Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer were much better in their roles as The Penguin and Catwoman in “Batman Returns”. Heath was unrecognizable as the Joker role and it wasn’t just because of the make up.
I hope he gets the Oscar. According to Yahoo, the Oscar nominations will be announced January 22 - the one year anniversary of Heath’s death.
Good luck, Heath and rest in peace.
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| Yahoo
Ah, The Boys. The comic book DC didn’t want, the comic book only Garth Ennis could write. The place that further crosses the line of decency of the South Park classic “Lemmywinks”. And issue 26 is no exception.
The fourth part of “We Gotta Go Now” sees the CIA-backed Superhero Watchdogs send their newest member Wee Hughie to infiltrate the G-Men (think the X-Men crossed with Animal House) when a teammate is murdered. During his infiltration, Hughie makes a startling discovery, the G-Men (despite being superheroes) are actually nice guys and wants to make sure they don’t turn into jerks like the other superteams in the world.
Compared to other issues of The Boys, issue 26 is tame. The only absurdity that happens is an incident with a dog and an annoying cat, and Hughie and his girlfriend Starlight (A Midwest Christian version Supergirl who is constantly having her dreams shattered) engaging in sexual relations in a park. Tame, compared to the books previous moments, but still entertaining with a fun dose of commentary on the state of superheroes. Not for the weak at heart and certainly not the children, but certainly the most absurd book on the racks every month. Oh….and one of the most fun.
Q: First off: Do you yourself have any super powers?
A: Not unless booking counts as a super power, no. I got the job through Craigslist.
—John Scalzi, “Denise Jones, Super Booker”
Want something free today? Something that’ll make you laugh out loud? John Scalzi has that something for you. It’s a short story of his called “Denise Jones, Super Booker” and the folks at Subterranean Press have posted it at their website. And best of all, it’s yours for the reading, free of charge, no strings attached. To say anything about the plot would spoil the jokes, so I’ll just say that Denise books personal appearances for superheroes and let it go at that.
Scalzi is the Heinlein-enhanced writer of many science fiction books like “Old Man’s War” and “The Ghost Brigades,” both set in the same universe. He also wrote “The Android’s Dream,” which is a laugh-out-loud funny novel in a Douglas Adams sort of way. If you like the short story, I highly recommend his other books, and if you’re a member of the World Science Fiction Society you have the chance to nominate “Denise Jones, Super Booker” for a Hugo Award in the Best Short Story category. Regardless, read the story and tell a few friends. It’s a couple of minutes very well spent.
And if someone out there at Marvel or DC is still poking around book publishing to find some big-name writers to tackle a comic book mini-series…hey, look over there, it’s John Scalzi!
Q&A: Dean Mullaney on Noel Sickles, Milton Caniff and Eclipse Comics
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Interviews, IDW Publishing,
Dean Mullaney is one of the true pioneers of comic book publishing and, I confess, an old friend. He launched Eclipse Comics, one of the first comic book companies that specialized in not only giving creators a refuge from the corporate underwear heroes at DC and Marvel, but also in giving them ownership of their creations. Eclipse folded back in the early ‘90s and Dean disappeared into non-comics pursuits (as everyone in comics knows, once you leave the industry for something else, you disappear).
Now Dean’s back at the helm of the Library of American Comics, a series of classy comic strip reprint hardcovers he’s designing and editing for IDW. In his first year back, he won the Eisner Award for “Best Archival Collection” for his collection of Milton Caniff’s Terry And the Pirates. I caught up with him at the end of last year and asked him to spill about my favorite book of his, “Scorchy Smith And The Art of Noel Sickles.” Naturally, I strayed off-topic, too.
Click to continue reading Q&A: Dean Mullaney on Noel Sickles, Milton Caniff and Eclipse Comics
Random Thoughts For The Weekend
Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics,
- Some of them are good, some of them are bad, but there sure are a lot of Wolverine one-shots. In fact, it seems that one comes along every week. I wonder when they will put out a trade of Wolverine one-shots.
- Not only did I never think of DC’s Shark’s private parts before, but to have them referred to in Secret Six as “dainty” seems a little freaky.
- Not only did I never think of mechanical creatures having sex before, but Jocasta and Machine Man getting all lubricated in Movie Zombies proves I’m not the only pervert around here.
- Not only did I never think of Jack Russell (the Werewolf by Night) having a private life, but might he have had second thoughts about getting his wife pregnant?
- So after 50 years of continuity, it seems that Solomon Grundy can, all of sudden, revert back to human form periodically. Hmmmm. I am thinking of a large green person over in Marvel that’s been doing that for 45 years or so.
- If you are looking for an odd ball mainstream book to check out, please read Haunted Tank. The idea of Jeb Stuart having a Black descendent is quite cool. But, on the other hand, having the Haunted Tank in the new Sgt Rock mini-series, which professes to be based on a real WWII battle is flat out wrong.
- Without a great editor (that’s you, Dennis) and a few good friends (that’s you, David and Todd) there is no way that someone as computer illiterate as I could even dream of putting together semi-coherent columns such as this. Thanks guys. (ED: Man, is Joel ever right… I am great).
- I have the greatest screw up of 2009 by far. X-Men Manifest Destiny 5 is not X-Men Manifest Destiny 5. It is really X-Men Spiderman 3. They either printed the wrong cover or the wrong book. Stay tuned.
- Does anyone else have the slightest idea what is going in X-men Noir. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? I am so confused.
- Batman 684 is a good continuation of the story line if only I could figure out what story line it is the continuation of? And remember, boys and girls, never end a sentence with a prepostion.
- I have been told I am the biggest perv on the website. If that’s true, what do you have to say about Ultimate Hulk Annual? Hulk and Zarda? Remember that every woman the Hulk has sex with seems to die - Betty, Jarella and what’s her name from Planet Hulk.
- If Katherine Heigl can have sex with dead Denny on Grey’s Anatomy, why can’t Hank Pym have sex with dead Janet in Avenger’s Initiative?
- Sub-Mariner is a beautifully drawn book, but on which planet is the story set? Is it in any continuity? In fact is there any story here?
- After January 20th can we still refer to Black Adam, Black Panther, and Black Lightning? I mean we do have Dark Avengers coming.
- The freebie Marvel is giving away on War of The Kings is a pretty good recap of everything that has led us to where we are. I wonder if we will ever have a War of the Queens? I am collecting jokes now in case it ever happens.
DC Comics Review: Detective Comics #852
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
“Detective Comics” #852 is part one of a two part “Faces of Evil” storyline. Paul Dini returns as the writer for “Detective Comics” with this issue and he will continue with part two in “Batman” #685. Throughout the month of January DC is focusing on the villains of the DC Universe in “Faces of Evil”. The villians will take center stage in the monthly comics of their adversaries as well as some individual special issues. This issue of “Detective Comics” focuses on Hush and takes place right after the “Heart of Hush” storyline. As we know from this storyline, Thomas Elliot aka Hush has surgically altered his face to look like Bruce Wayne. He was attempting to take over Bruce’s life when Batman thwarted his plans.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Detective Comics #852
On a link from the Drudge Report, the website breitbart.com is reporting that in an upcoming issue of “Amazing Spider-man,” President-Elect Obama will be making an appearance. Peter Parker attends the inauguration to take some pictures and while there springs into action as Spider-man and punches out an impostor attempting to pose as Obama. I think it’s The Chameleon from the page posted on the website. This really annoys me!
People are entitled to have their political opinions. If you are a writer or an artist, you are free to incorporate your views into a story if you wish. If you are a liberal, that’s fine. I live in New York, so I have a lot of liberal friends and family members. What pisses me off is that there is no balance when it comes to incorporating politics into comic book stories.
Click to continue reading Liberal Politics and Comics
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