At least I finally managed to finish my COMICBABE BATTLE post about the FIGHTING FEMMES of videogames. As it´s going to be a few weeks till I can do the next installment I´m open to readers requests.
Now the reason for this post is on one side to bridge the time between the COMICBABE BATTLE post and the KANE post. And there are a few things I don´t want to add to the old posts because I don´t want them to be overlooked by my readers. So it´s the usual collection of random coolness that you have grown accustumed to at this blog.
GET YOUR GEEK ON
Over at ComicGeekSpeak there are some new interesting shows online. If you are a regular listener you probably check them out through the link in my blogroll but if like me, you go months without checking in on them you might miss out on a few interesting episodes. I wanted to burn the new episodes on a CD till I remembered that I had already used up all of them to get more free space on the computer. Then I tried to put them on my USB stick but I pulled out the mouse from the USB slot and because I thought there was a computer malfunction I restarted the computer. Which is the reason I had to start this post from scratch. Anyway, somehow I remembered that I could just upload them on my mp3 player which I then did. So here´s my selection of episodes :
First up - and most important - is the new interview with Bob Layton inker, artist, writer, editor, etc. I mean is there anything the man hasn´t done ? He´s like the Forrest Gump of comics. Not only did he work for DC and Marvel, where he was part of THE most influential IRON MAN story of them all. His runs on the character are counted to the definite stories of IRON MAN and Bob Layton as the definite IRON MAN artist.
I know that he was in most good stories I read like the very first spanish ones I had. Aside from that he was one of the founders of VALIANT and later on FUTURE COMICS. FUTURE COMICS had to fold but I got a few issues of them. VALIANT also has met it´s demise but after a very long publishing career giving us such unparallelled classics like X - O WANOWAR ( the better IRON MAN comic at that time ) or QUANTUM & WOODY. From that excerpt alone you should know that this is one guy who has a lot to tell.
For more details about his impressive career check out his wiki page and for everything else go to the official website
Another of comics greats is Jeff Smith who joins the geekspeakers for the Book of the Month review of BONE Volume 1. I had the distinctive pleasure to meet Jeff at a signing in Erlangen and I have to say he´s much mor modest and nice as you would expect from such a superstar.
Another inker on the show is Mark McKenna who´s been in the business for 24 years. You can also get more info on his website. And you should get a kick out of 1000 Comic Books You Must Read with Tony Isabella, the spotlight on the Punisher , spotlight on Hawkman and Hawkgirl and spotlight on Aquaman .
Halloween is soon coming up and as I don´t know if I´m going to be able to post an adequate topic till then here are a few things to get you in the mood. One of the Book of the Month reviews is Kraven´s Last Hunt one of THE best Spider - Man stories ever written that fits right in with the ghastly Halloween mood. Lots of spiders, the ratlike Vermin, the black costume, a psychopatic Kraven and one of the best buried - alive scenes of comics. If you haven´t read this comic - get it for Halloween. You should be able to get a cheap copy from your local comicshop.
Other shows that tie in with the Halloween theme are a conversation with Abnett and Lanning who wrote the really creepy RESURRECTION MAN for DC, the list of the Top Five comic monsters , a conversation with HACK / SLASH´s Tim Seeley and BRPD´s Guy Davis . I hope the HULK is included in the Top Five comic monsters list, if not here´s an episode about everything HULK . It´s weird how the title has gone from one of the best to what it is Today. On Monday I was flipping through Walter Simonson´s Thor where the story with Odin´s floating eye was mentioned. So I thought of rereading my old BIBLIOTEKA MARVEL issues of THOR with that storyline.
To get them out I had to pull out the HULK issues which I began to filp through and then read a bit here and there. The issues had such great art by SalBuscema and Ernie Chan ( much of the stuff was never printed in Germany ) and was written so good and poetic that an hour went by before I realized it. When I finally got the THOR issues out they were rather boring compared to the HULK stuff - so I decided to re - read the HULK issues instead.
Comics really were different back then, much more like literature. And more stuff happend in one issue. If you don´t believe me just read issue 217 THE CIRCUS OF LOST SOULS. All the things that happen in this issue would take up at least three issues if if was published now. And what a great finale :
After these words the brute and the siren are engulfed by a voracious wave that brusquely rips Meriam from the arms of Hulk. And with the groundswell Hulk is once again alone.
He stays a while contemplating the ocean. Later he turns and walks on the beach, leaving only his wet footprints behind him which are swept away in no time at all.
In the end only the sea is eternal.
Again website links for Tim Seeley on Deviantart and the official Guy Davis website .
CONVOLUTED COMICS HISTORY
Comics can sometimes be complicated for outsiders, a fact that I´m always aware of whenever I talk comics with my sister who´s not such an avid comic reader. There are cases where the changing roster of writers trying to out - retcon themselves can lead to contradictory results. And even such " problem solvers " like CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS or ZERO HOUR can be the proverbial cures that are worse than the illness in itself.
But thanks to writer Curt Franklin and artist Chris Haley of the inimitable superhero webcomic " LET´S BE FRIENDS AGAIN " you can read various difficult examples in entertaining and funny shorthand. First up is the history of Aquaman explained ( since I already posted the link to the ComicGeekSpeak episode ) followed by other brainwreckers like Hawkman, Hank Pym, Rachel Summers and - the worst of them all - Xorn. Enjoy them !
HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE EXTRAVAGANZA
Another way to get into the right Halloween mood is to read POSTMODERNBARNEY´s rundown of horror movies that range from the best to the worst. Really interesting reading, and like Mike Sterling ( on whose wonderful site I found the original link ) I have seen far too many of the bad ones. Although I´m not ashamed to admit it since I prefer a good trashmovie over the newest arthouse midlife - crisis - of - the - month - movie. And yes, I have also seen waay to many of those.
RETURN TO SENDER
I already mentioned that I did a course that has finished this month. During the first month we did a few strange exercises which also included writing a letter to our future self. For most participants this was a strange concept but as an experienced comic reader I tried to do my best. As we were allowed to include anything we wanted I sent myself ten bucks since I knew that I could put it to good comic use in the future.
As the letter talks a bit about what I expected to do comicwise I thought it might be interesting to include it here.
Hello SUBZERO,
I hope you´re still alive. Now that it´s two weeks since GALA ( the name of the course ) ist over the ominous letter finally has arrived. I´m not expecting any miracles so I don´t expect you to have a job. If you do - super.
You probably didn´t go to Barcelona nor Erlangen, and if you went to Erlangen it probably was with the guys from Splashpages. If you really managed to do the interview with Oscar Jimenez - tell me how it was.
I hope you managed to keep up the translations of HORST. Do you have enough to put it on the spanish website ? I hope HORST is conquering the world.
With a bit of luck you are right now enjoying your own room - if not I wish you a lot of fun cleaning it up.....bwahahaha. Since you probably have more time now I hope you are writing regularly on your blog.
Healthwise I hope your shoulder is better. And I hope the vegetable diet has lead to some success. Don´t give up, dude.
It´s always strange to receive a letter from yourself - unless there´s some money included. Now that I mention it.....the ten bucks are for comics. Since half a year has passed Arthur Adams should be still working on ULTIMATE X. If not I´m sure you´ll find some use for it.
This weekend the big fight with XXXXXXX went down so I hope you have told him you´re sorry already. You probably bought ULTIMATES 2 and then kept it yourself. Or you ordered the COMPLETE EDITION. In any case, I hope that did work out.
Before writing this I managed to get a copy of the HEAVY METAL issue with your translation of VODOO DERIVATE. With a bit of luck you have gotten some money for that and the follow up STARCHILD ( or CHILD OF THE STARS depending on which title they decided on ) has seen print. It would be nice you you could get more of that.
Apart from that it´s probably about time to make plans for the COMIC ACTION since you probably haven´t been to Spain this year. I would really like to participate in the SCHWARZER TURM bootcamp again.
Furthermore your brother hasn´t stopped with his plans how you can " make a name for yourself in the german comic scene " if I know him right. Hopefully he´s not too obnoxious.
However life is treating you right now always remember Thor´s motto : I will never surrender or yield to despair.
Greetings from your past self, SUBZERO
P.S.: If you are a podperson, a clone or my evil self from a parallel dimension : I hope you are taking good care of my comics and stuff. Good luck with your plans for world domination - you loser ! Bwahahaha ! And for liquidating me - f - word you !
So how much of what I wrote has come true ?
I´m still alive and I still haven´t gotten a new job. Which is no big surprise. I didn´t go to Barcelona but I managed to go to Erlangen. I did meet up with the guys from Spalshpages to talk about offering my help for the Oscar Jimenez interview but that never came about. But we did manage to waste a lot of time on it.
I had managed to keep the HORST translations up but the last few months the course took up too much of my time and energy. But I have once again started, which is always the most difficult part. I hope I can finish a story till the end of the month so that HORST can conquer the world.
I do have my own room but I seldom have enough time to put everything in order. And I don´t have as much time as I hoped for so the postings on the blog have been rather sporadic although I hope I can improve it in the future. My shoulder is much better although it still hurts if I move it the wrong way and the vegetable diet is struggling. Going but struggling.
I have apologized to XXXXXXX but I still have to get a special present for him. Since I didn´t know that Tomorrow is his birthday ( it seems he also forgot that ) I haven´t been able to get a present but I´ll think of something this Christmas. And like I predicted I bought ULTIMATES 2 and kept it for myself. It wasn´t such a great idea after all since he can´t read english and the comic hasn´t come out in Germany in the hardcover edition. Shame on you german comic publishers. Whenever I want to spend some money on comics I can´t find quality stuff.
As for the HEAVY METAL stuff, so far I don´t know if the second story has been printed yet and there are also no news on the money front. Thank god for the ten bucks ! Ha ! For the COMIC ACTION it was much too late to make plans since I was busy with other stuff. Maybe next year.
Oh, and I hope I´m not a podperson, a clone or an evil duplicate from a parallel dimension. All in all not too bad.
I just hope I can get to the KANE stuff in the next installment. Grrrmbl.
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