Well, crap.
Comments Off | Posted: May 24th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Overopinionated? Yes, most likely.
Comments Off | Posted: May 24th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedNo, I didn’t read Countdown this week because I canceled it last week. Paul Dini, it’s not that I don’t understand how the series works; I just think the series is, so far, remarkably stupid.
Was I the only person a little disappointed in The Spirit this week? I mean, yeah, it was really pretty and had an interesting hook, but the musical aspects were just enough off to yank me out of a story. (Sort of how I imagine Dr. Scott getting distracted by an improperly-placed IV. I’d also say it’s probably the same for real journalism geeks having to deal with The Daily Planet.)
The lack of “backmatter” in the Fell collection bothers me less than I thought, perhaps because I’ve already read the issues and don’t feel the need to go over the nasty, true stories that fuels the fiction again or re-read the letters from fans.
Speaking of Ellis, I was talking to Kitty, and we came up with ten different Ellis series that featured either a female protagonist or a woman leading a team: The Authority, Down, Mek, Nextwave,Reload, Global Frequency, Tokyo Storm Warning, Ocean, DV8, and Two-Step. Throw in his strong portrayal of Sue Storm in Ultimate Fantastic Four, and Quit City‘s female lead and I think you’ve got a strong case for proving Ellis is one of the most casually feminist writers in comics.
Yes, I spend some portion of my time talking to women about Warren Ellis. What do you do with the ladies?
Chip Zdarsky offers bad advice. It’s frequently very, very funny.
The Avengers and Squadron Supreme to Womenfolk: Surrender, Shut Up, Possibly Make Us A Sandwich.
Comments Off | Posted: May 24th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedThe following panels are from the first 8 pages of Avengers #148.
This issue is currently in print in the Essential Avengers series as well as Avengers: The Serpent Crown.
(If you’re as outraged as you should be by the way Steve Englehart has his characters speaking to women, Here’s Marvel’s contact information.)
Today’s Musical Obsession: Marsheaux
Comments Off | Posted: May 23rd, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedThis is Marsheaux. They are a Greek electropop duo. They like to cover records I like as well as make their own records, which I also like.
“Hanging On,” the first single from Peek A Boo
Covering The Lightning Seeds song “Pure”
Covering the synthpop classic “Popcorn” by Hot Butter
Make Marsheaux your MySpace friend, or just check out the songs they’ve put up. (Their cover of “The Promise” is really, really, really good.)
They’ve also go their own website at http://marsheaux.com
You can pick up their first album, E-Bay Queen, on eMusic. You can download the duo’s version of The Human League’s “Empire State Human” from Electronically Yours (look in the left sidebar.)
If you’re not a member of eMusic yet and would like 25 free high-quality MP3 downloads, click here.
Shameless Self Promotion: The Rack has Staff Picks!
Comments Off | Posted: May 23rd, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Look, you know the routine, I know the routine, but humor me: go check out a fictional comic book shop’s staff picks for this week. Some of them are actually pretty decent.
Sweetness, I was only joking when I said I’d like to smash every tooth in your head. (Multiple subjects, ahoy!)
Comments Off | Posted: May 22nd, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Dafna and Kid Chris have gone and joined the comics blogger internet with The Bispectacult, a site and attendant podcast that is sure to shake the pillars of the medium. The first episode is a bit rough, a bit long, and sounds a bit dodgy, but you know what? They’ve got a great rapport and their enthusiasm is so infectious that I’m seriously looking forward to hearing more, despite Dafna being completely wrong about the genius of All-Star Batman And Robin The Boy Wonder. Not content with creating a show that’s a lot of fun while covering a great deal of territory, D+C (as I call them) are giving away the new Blade trade paperback and a copy of The Professor’s Daughter to ensure you pay attention to them. Cravenly attention-seeking, smart, and funny: these are my kind of folk.
If you’re really lazy and don’t want to read the blog (which is young, but like the podcast, shows a lot of promise), you can just subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or whatever other retrieval program you use. You won’t regret it.
Morrissey turned 48 today and the usual people made the usual jokes about depression. BWE, I love the blog, but this is lazier than the Paris Hilton jokes in the weekly broadcast and woefully out-of-touch.
Does this man seem depressed to you? Seriously. He may suffer delusions of Rock Godhood, sure, but if you don’t hear the wink in lines like “…And you have never been in love, until you have seen the dawn rise, behind the Home for the Blind,” you probably are due for a calibration of some kind.
(Mind you, I’m a bit suicidal at the idea that Moz is 48, Neil Tennant is the other side of 50, and Bernard Sumner could sign up for AARP in a heartbeat. Those numbers make it look like I’m three to five years away from being like those sad Jimmy Buffet fans who gather in parking lots and talk about how great their visit to Margaritaville was the last time they hit Vegas.)
The new Ivan Brunetti collection, Misery Loves Comedy, is the perfect gift for dads and grads in this season. A stark, minimal design belies the sick, harrowing, and frequently quite hilarious contents that pipe the interior of the auteur’s brain directly into your own.
“Don’t make fun of daddy’s voice, you know he can’t help it. When he was a teenage boy, something got stuck in his throat.”
Sometimes, I like to post music videos.
Comments Off | Posted: May 22nd, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedReally, They Should Let Me Run Both Companies
Comments Off | Posted: May 22nd, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Blame Sugar Bear and Sims, my favorite 70s
cop-show duo.
If There Was A Kind And Just God…
Comments Off | Posted: May 22nd, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized…Jeff Lemire would draw an insane Silver Age JLA story that would spring from my head, fully-formed. Man alive, I love his work.
Alternately, I’d be really happy being able to do a Barry Allen / Flash story with Jeff. I love the way he’s drawn Barry’s face here: his expression half-bemused at the prospect of getting to run really freakin’ fast.
Pre-Reviews And Hasty Judgment Calls For Comics Debuting The Week of May 23, 2007
Comments Off | Posted: May 21st, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedDC
Encyclopedia Of Comicbook Heroes Vol 1: Batman – I’ve got the original version of this from the 70s and can’t recommend it highly enough. While it does suffer from being terribly out of date, there’s a lot of lunacy contained within, thanks to straight-faced explanations of Silver Age stories that will boggle those who were raised in the post O’Neil era.Justice League Of America Vol 2 #1 (4th Ptg) – Really? Four printings? Golly, you’d think everybody that wanted it would have it by now, but maybe I’m being naive and assuming people really don’t need four copies of the same comic…
(I’m kidding. God, you people.)
Superman/Batman Vs Alien / Predator – Pages I’ve seen from this make it look completely bugfuck and something I’ll look forward to getting at a severe discount.
Image
Casanova Volume 1: Luxuria – I’m looking forward to reading this as a proper collection. Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba’s sampledelic ode to comics, sci-fi, and pulp was one of the purest (if frequently baffling, in a good way) pleasures related to the media I’ve had in the past year or so.Fell Volume 1: Feral City – Ellis’s challenge to himself and the conventions of modern comics storytelling is fascinating. Even the issues I liked a bit less than others were still interesting for me to look at from a “writerly” angle.
Marvel
Doctor Strange: The Oath – I liked the first issue; will I like the series?Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Volume 3: My Secret Life – It’s my favorite Spider-Man comic. The end.
Boom
Yes, already. Please buy it.
(A special note for locals who haven’t picked it up yet:
Comicazi in Davis Square will have more copies of #1 soon.
Call them at 617-666-2664 to reserve a copy, if you’d like.
I also spied copies of #1 at Comicopia in Kenmore Square.)
Fantagraphics
Arf Forum – Always worth a look, and this volume includes some classic Captain Marvel action.Percy Gloom – Spurgeon reviewed this a while back and sold it to me with the phrase “I can’t imagine we’ll see a more assured and surprising debut this year.” High praise from someone whose opinion I value highly.
NETCOMICS
Let’s Be Perverts Volume 3 – Yes, let’s.
Shameless Self Promotion: The Rack Goes Deluxe-Sized
Comments Off | Posted: May 21st, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedAs promised, a deluxe-sized Monday installment of The Rack kicks off a storyline that’s sure to shake the pillars of webcomicdom. (Or provide a nice diversion on your Monday.)
It’s important to actually read this one, as Birdie and I seem to have both quaffed from the same bottle of subtlety. Frightening. I hope he wiped the lip off.
Kirby Saturday: Tomazooma Redux!
Comments Off | Posted: May 19th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
(Rerun from September, 2006)
Friday Night Fights: Rope-A-Dope.
Comments Off | Posted: May 18th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Click to Super-Size and see this page
from Super Boxers by Ron Wilson
(As always, blame Bahlactus for being awesome.)
Relentless Self-Promotion: The Rack
Comments Off | Posted: May 18th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedIn order to present a Super-Sized Edition of The Rack that kicks off a multi-part saga of epic proportions on Monday, we’re taking this Friday off.
In the meantime, read this past Wednesday’s Penny Arcade, which comes suspiciously close to every conversation I’ve had about superhero comics in the last year or so.
Some Notes Concerning An Out-Of-Context Panel From A Silver- Age Flash Comic Book
Comments Off | Posted: May 17th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
From Flash #106, written by John Broome.
Art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.
Reprinted in Showcase Presents: The Flash Volume One
- I’m pretty sure we’ve all had days that are eerily mirrored by this panel’s contents.
- Seriously, a play about a gorilla can run for three years in Central City? They’ve never heard of Mamet or Ibsen or Miller1, have they?
- I bet that costume gets absolutely unbearable under stage lights.
- Do you think this guy gets groupies? Groupies that tell him to leave the mask on? Contemplate that for a moment, won’t you?
- That “something terrible” is probably “completely torpedoing your career,” dude.
1Arthur, not Frank. That said, I’d totally check out a Frank Miller version of The Crucible. “Little Abigail Williams. Always willing to point her finger where it doesn’t belong…for a price. Sweet chunks.”
Thank you, Frank Miller and Jim Lee.
Comments Off | Posted: May 16th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
How To Ensure Your Movie Is Tailored For Your Demo
Comments Off | Posted: May 16th, 2007 | Filed under: UncategorizedThis is how the meeting must have been:
Exec: So, Lee. Greg. Tell me about this screenplay you guys have got.
Lee Smith: Jet Li.
Greg Bradley: Jason Statham.
Lee Smith: They fight a lot.
Greg Bradley: Shit blows up.
Exec: SOLD.
Here’s A Terrifically-Written-And-Drawn EC War Comic.
Comments Off | Posted: May 16th, 2007 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Click to read “Corpse On The Imjin,”,
written and drawn by Harvey Kurtzman and
originally presented in Two Fisted Tales #25
(I’d rank page five of this story among the top ten pages in American comics.)
