I also was a bit undecided if I should do another HELLBOY post ( although I wrote more about wrestling and not so much about HELLBOY in the post ) or finish the COMICBABE BATTLE theme. Since I have 4 posts on my blog all the time and I try to keep some variety as to the nature of my posts so I thought it was a bit too early for more COMICBABE BATTLE.
I have delved into the TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN treasure cove to come up with a topic so it´s time for another batch of comic news that are so outdated that you have probably already read the comics I´m going to mention.....which has become a staple of my comic news section. For this installment BLOG WITHOUT SUPERHEROES is suspended or as the month it was supposed to take place in has already gone it´s more like it´s time has passed. Which in short means : superheroes, superheroes and more superheroes. And a bit of non superhero comic news.
The assortment includes all kinds of stuff that I deemed important, weird or just outright funny. As I still have to read most of the links myself there might be spoilers involved. Just be careful.
AND NOW FOR A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME
First up is the preview of Carlos Pacheco´s first issue of ULTIMATE COMICS THOR , which may not come as a total surprise if you are an avid reader of this blog and you already know what a big Pacheco nut I am. As someone who religiously follows Carlos on most books I surely can´t miss this one.
THOR has always been larger - than - life, blockbuster, end - of - the - world - opera. It just needs the kind of kinetic art paired with a graphic composition inspired by some of the world´s greatest artists that Carlos Pacheco brings to the table. He´s just perfect for this title. He already did a great run on the last Captain America centric Ultimates story and it seems he´s happy in the Ultimate Universe.
Now I have to say I never read ULTIMATUM and after reading the reviews I´m really anxious to read this canniballistic slugfest. At first the idea of slushing everything down the toilet that MARVEL had build in the Ultimate Universe sounded like a stupid idea. And maybe it was. But I have to say with the line of new books that offer such high caliber artists like Frank Cho on NEW ULTIMATES, Arthur Adams on ULTIMATE X and now Carlos Pacheco on ULTIMATE THOR I can´t argue with the results.
Especially ULTIMATE X has surprised me with it´s resurrection of the singles stories format.
Now I only hope they get a good inker for Carlos and that he stays for the whole book not like with the last ULTIMATES mini he did.
Meanwhile in the regular Marvel universe the Avengers franchise is going strong. AVENGERS PRIME is as good as expected as you can see by this preview of issue 3 . Now how difficult was it to put Alan Davis on a high profile Avengers book ?
AVENGERS : THE CHILDREN`S CRUSADE delivers two things comic readers were clamoring for. 1. - Alan Heinberg and Jim Cheung back on a YOUNG AVENGERS book and 2. - the answer if the Scarlet Witch was really the villain in AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED or just Bendis´scapegoat ( Avengers Childrens Crusade 2 preview / unlettered ).
As for AVENGERS ACADEMY......I know it´s kind of the follow up title to the great AVENGERS : THE INITIATIVE but with my tight comic budget starting new series is difficult. This one is already on the wait - for - the - trade - list.
Oh, and there is news of the return of a certain founding member of the Avengers second superhero identity ( how´s that for not spoiling it while at the same time almost spelling it out ? ) so if you want to be surprised in that regard don´t read the interview with Christos Gage about his future plans for AVENGERS ACADEMY .
Staying on the subject of AVENGERS here´s a Chaos War preview , although I have to say I´m not up to day on my HERKULES reading. I managed to keep track till the two part story with the funeral but it seems after that it´s just one mini series after the other. It´s almost as if Marvel doesn´t believe in the books power ( no pun intended ) even after great reviews and a hardcore fanbase.
I know, the whole Herkuthor fiasko is something we´ll all need years of therapy for, but aside from that it was an enjoyable read about one of Marvel´s most underrated and underappreciated characters. But keeping up with the constant restarts and miniseries is just too hard for an old fart like me. This is a young boy´s game.
Another preview this time for DC´s issue 9 of Brightest Day . Now this is one book I had no intention on following ( after DC´s catastrophic crash and burn of COUNTDOWN I never wanted to read another weekly title from DC ) but it surprised me and somehow I ended up collecting it. Like John Byrne´s DOOM PATROL book. The art by Ivan Reis is one big draw and I´m not sure if I´m really THAT interested in the whole mystery aspect or just want to know how it all ends.
In any case the book stays on my pull list as long as it manages to keep the 2.99 price tag. There are not enough of those out there as it is.
The last preview is for Joseph Michael Linsner´s new Dawn - Not to touch the earth series. I have to admit I never tried this series although I like Jo´s art. My problem with the book is I have no idea what´s it all about. I have read a lot of stuff about it but it seems to be one of these books that everybody else is reading so nobody feels inclined to explain what´s it all about. The other problem is that since it´s one long line of miniseries after miniseries I have no idea where to start.
COMIC CREATOR´S NEWS
Since I mentioned THE AVENGERS above here´s an interview with John Romita Jr on Avengers and Kickass courtesy of DEN OF GEEK´s Seb Patrick. Also from DEN OF GEEK, this time by James Hunt are these interviews with Mark Millar on Avengers and Kickass and on Kickass and the sequel . Am I the only one or do comic creators get more interviews if their comics are turned into movies ? And finally another interview with Mark Millar by ComicBook Resources on Kickass 2. I think one of the interviews with Mark Millar is a repost but maybe some of my readers haven´t read it yet.
I really liked the KICKASS movie because at first I was reluctant to see another " realistic " superhero movie as they are most often only thinly veiled excuses to show their producers disregard of superhero comics ( say why hasn´t Garth Ennis done one yet ? He´s predestined to do one. ). But it was a really good movie with great, believable characters ( although in the comic he doesn´t get the girl - which was much more realistic ) and a lot of humor. One of these days I´ve got to get me the comic. I mean it´s drawn by John " freaking " Romita Jr. I guess I was just put off by the constant delays in production.
Here are three episodes of fanboy radio featuring John Romita Jr and Mark Millar.
Speaking of production problems George Perez confirms the delay of the upcoming TEEN TITANS - GAMES original graphic novel. That´s right, this is a real graphic novel which means this is brandnew content that hasn´t been published before anywhere else in any shape, size or form. Not those graphic novels that are just trades but get called graphic novels to sell better.
Aw, what am I complaining ? I don´t care what they call it as long as people are buying it. And if people can ignore their prejudices towards the comic art form this way they can call the floppies graphic novels for all I care.
Back to Teen Titans the graphic novel has been delayed again, because of George Perez´ recent medical procedures ( becuase of his worsening eyesight ) and scheduling conflicts ( with his issues of LEGACIES ). Since GAMES is a oneshot and LEGACIES part of an ongoing series it was decided to put GAMES on the backburner. After finishing both assingments George will probably work primarily as an inker for the following year.
Now my thoughts on that are that for my part George Perez can take as long as he wants as long as he keeps his health. I mean, come on. How long have we been waiting for this Teen Titans graphic novel ? 25 years ? What´s one or two more years in the long run ? I mean this way I still have something to look forward to. And George Perez is one of those artists that only come around once in a comic reader´s lifetime.
So whatever it takes I´m okay with it as long as George keeps doing comics as long as possible. In the meantime I have the LEGACIES issues to read and I´m sure that when GAMES finally comes out it will be worth the wait.
Ethan Van Sciver talks about his new Wildstorm books and Cyberfrog series , Gary Frank talks about the World´s Finest as he has finished his SUPERMAN - SECRET ORIGINS series and is preparing for the EARTH ONE - BATMAN project. I just wish he had done more storyarcs on ACTION COMICS. And I still can´t get over the fact that Superboy´s first meeting with the Legion of Super - Heroes was redone for SECRET ORIGIN to make Superboy even younger. And that only a few months after the scene was shown in ACTION COMICS. Me, I would have just used the old sequence being the lazy bum I am.
More interesting stuff : a retrospective about Joe Quesada ten years as Marvel boss ranging from the departure from the comics code, over the launch of the ULTIMATE UNIVERSE till the BRAND NEW DAY fiasko; a profile on Jim Shooter and his relaunch of classic comic characters like TUROK, MAGNUS and SOLAR at Dark Horse; Mark Waid´s keynote speech at the Harvey Awards on Delivery, Content, and the Gulf Between; Mike Allred about his beginnings in comics and future plans for MADMAN ( finally ! ).
NON SUPERHERO COMICS NEWS
Yes, there´s also a section of comic news that have nothing to do with superhero comics. First up is the news that the worldfamous newspaper comic strip BLONDIE AND DAGWOOD celebrates it´s 80 year anniversary . Another comic strip anniversary is BEETLE BAILEY who celebrates his 60th publishing year. Unlike BLONDIE AND DAGWOOD this strip is still written and drawn by creater Mort Walker, who is now 86 years old and has no plans for retirement .
Staying with the classics Peyo´s first two volumes of the smurfs are now are now reprinted . I think I read most of the smurf comics ( as well as LUCKY LUKE, UMPAH - PAH, ISNOGOOD, TINTIN, YOKO TSUNO and ASTERIX ) from the local library or the library bus. If you are also someone who reads a lot of comics at the library here´s a list of the 50 best mangas for libraries by Deb Aoki.
And speaking about comic books you can find at the library here´s an interesting discussion about Scottie Young and Darwin Cooke on comics for kids . I have to agree that there are not many superhero comics out there targeted at a younger audience. FANTASTIC FOUR under Mike Wieringo, SUPERMAN when drawn by Ed McGuiness and the first dozen of issues of the new HULK series with El Toro Rojo where a good step in that direction. But I find it weird that you have to think twice before giving a kid an issue of SPIDER - MAN or GREEN LANTERN. There might be beheadings, mutilations or cannibalism in it. And I´m not saying stuff like that should not be in comics. But does it have to be full - frontal on - panel ?
COMIC RELATED STUFF
As you can never have enough articles about webcomics ( I mean who really knows them all ? ) Katie Crocker at Daily Gamecock writes about the variety of internet comics . Douglas Wolk at TECHLAND discusses like FANTASTIC FOUR the problems of writing an infinitely ongoing series in light of the new storyline with art by Steve Epting in which a member of Marvel´s first family is supposed to die - although I think his conclusions as to the identity of that person is not sound.
Tom Bondurant over at Grumpy Old Fan reminisceces about Earth Two and the unique stories it offered. Kim Thompson talks about the difficulties of translating Milo Manara ( now known to a wider american audience due to his work on X - WOMEN ) and as someone who´s made his fair share of translations I have to say I have had the same experiences.
Although I try to avoid translations into a language I´m not really fluent in. And Bully the stuffed bull has found out that not every Marvel comic you own is published by Marvel as he has compiled a list of Marvel shell companies .
And two entries to comic art draw challenge : comic character sitcom mash and comic characters in different time periods . Really cool art !
THE GIRL CAN`T HELP IT ( BUT I DON`T MIND )
Now I try to keep this blog free from pictures of hot women ( because of various complaints in the past ) and I try not to put download links on this page but this time I´m making an exception because it´s comic related. This month I have finally managed to see the animated movie CORALINE
which ( as anybody in the comic community knows ) is based on the bestseller written by comic legend Neil Gaiman
with art by P. Craig Russell
now the voice of the main characters mother ( both of them ) was done by none other than the ravashing Teri Hatcher known for her role on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and inside the comic community for playing Superman´s wife Lois on THE ADVENTURES OF LOIS & CLARK. She was on a promo tour for the CORALINE movie and since most of the shows can´t be seen in Germany I made an exception and posted some download links.
One for a clip of Teri Hatcher´s appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show in a breathtaking red dress ( Massita ! ) and one for her appearance on Conan OBrien. Both times talking about CORALINE. The first link though is for an interview on Comicbook Resources.
Now I have to admit that I still haven´t read the comic but I can´t recommend the CORALINE movie high enough. It´s a movie for kids as well as grown ups and for comicfreaks of all ages. I haven´t seen the 3D version but even without it it´s a damn fine movie. I know what I´m going to give away as Christmas presents this year.
BECAUSE YOUR KISS IS ON MY LIST
Of course we can´t end the comic news without the usual top ten list - which is this case are top five lists. Over at Comicbook Resources it´s TOP 5 MONTH and so here are my favorite top 5 lists of the batch. Naturally the top 5 Walt Simonson THOR covers as he´s one of my favorite artists and especially good when it comes to comic covers.
The top 5 Mike Zeck G I JOE covers falls into the same category. Mike´s one of my all - time favorite artist who is pretty underappreciated by Today´s comic audience and I would really love to see more work by him. Compiling the list must have been especially difficult since it´s almost impossible to find a bad G I JOE cover by Mr. Zeck.
Other cool lists are top 5 300 issues , on point comic characters real names , jlu members who should be in the jla and top 5 bloodlines characters . From the top of my hat I only recalled the most successful one : Thommy Monaghan a.k.a. Hitman but I had totally forgotten about Argus and Loose Cannon. I think I even bought some of the latter one´s issues drawn by a young Adam Pollina.
You can find the top 5 lists list right here
ONE HOUR WASTED ( IN A GOOD WAY )
In closing I wanted to post something that I may have already posted but I´m not really too sure. And I´m too lazy to go back and check all my over 270 posts so I´m accepting the risk of reposting it. The TEARS TALES TRUST is an animated story done by Björn Hammel ( story and concept ), Harald Lieske ( art ), Michael Hoffmann ( screenplay ) and Leif Rumbke ( music ).
It´s really an experience which will make you go to all the emotions of the human spectrum and really something else. But I have to warn you : it takes a full hour to watch and should not be interrupted. So only start it if you know you have an hour and make sure you won´t be disturbed.
If you are ready I can only say : have a nice trip.
And that´s all for Today. I hope there were some interesting links for you in my selection and next time we will continue with more horror comics.....or fighting femmes COMICBABE BATTLE. We´ll see.
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5 comments:
Hi. Ithink that Pacheco,one of my favourite modern artists working on Thor is great. Pity its an Ultimates and not Marvel Universe Thor.
Sadly,comics are just too expensive to buy like I used to! Ultimates I always shied away from but New Ultimates is great work by Cho.
Did you see the Manara and X Women! An absolutely LOUSY story I got bored with by page ten. Just worth looking at because of the art.
Here's hoping you can post some more -take care!
Hi,
I have to agree on both points.
Comics should be not as expensive and Pacheco and Cho should be working on the REAL Marvel universe.
As for the MANARA X WOMEN book I have to agree. Chris Claremont´s story doesn´t read like he invested a lot of time and leaves the reader kind of - " Meh. "
I mean we never get much background on the villain of the story and the bad pirates seem more reluctant freedom fighters. But I think most people bought it for the art.
I have both versions of the book ( the cheap american colour version and the expensive european black and white hardcorer ) so I have to say it´s quite a difference.
Maybe I´ll write a bit about it since I also wrote the first announcement of it here in Germany.
I also hope I can find the time to post more - or at least finish this post - and as for your comments about expensive comics : I´m buying more and more stuff via amazon.de. My latest coup was getting the DARK REIGN HAWKEYE trade for less than half price.
Genial brief and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you as your information.
Sorry for my bad english. Thank you so much for your good post. Your post helped me in my college assignment, If you can provide me more details please email me.
Okay,
what kind of college assignments do you have that this post could help you with ? Weird.
In any case, it´s difficult for me to post more information if I don´t know to which part of the post you´re referring.
And also, if you want an answer per e - mail you should give me your e - mail address. You can find mine in the " about me " info box.
Likewise if you want to be included into the blogroll the least I need is the name ( or better url ) of your blog. That always helps.
And now back to our regular program.
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