Archive for June, 2007
If this is what I think it is from Jeff Smith, this is going to be a hoot. I recall the skinny from this the same night I heard about a lame Frank Miller Batman vs Bin Laden pitch three years ago. This was the better of the two. Six page teaser at San Diego.
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Per Paul Pope’s blog, the new THB from Adhouse contains all new material and is off to press. Pinky swear. It’ll be ready for San Diego and available after at Adhouse’s site. Initially I thought the print run was limited for a San Diego and not available thru Diamond. Hmmmmm. I have them bookmarked. Will it make sence in the HR Watson storyline? Is Pope ever going to finish that thing?? So promising and so irritating at the same time.
Bringing Sal Buscema month to a close with: Marvel Team-Up #36
Sometimes that whole nostalgia thing doesn’t work out.
This was one of the coolest books in the world when I was five years old; Spider-Man meets Frankenstein? How could that not be excellent? Sometimes a team-up book is nothing more than an excuse to get readers of first-tier characters to sample characters from the publisher’s back bench, hence some of the odder and more nonsensical pairings in some issues. This concept that was so compelling to me back in kindergarten just doesn’t hold up reading it in the present, but the outright goofiness of the endeavor lets me retain a fondness for it.
In addition to writing my all-time favorite storyline for my all-time favorite character (the Gwen Stacy clone series that spawned a monster in the dark days of the 1990’s), Gerry Conway was also handling the script chores for Marvel Team-Up. Perhaps this story is the result of one of the nights the younger members of the Marvel bullpen spent dropping acid at Gerber’s place (at least, that’s what I like to imagine was going on), or perhaps an incredulous Conway was told by an editor that he needed to shoehorn Marvel’s version of Mary Shelly’s creation into a Spider-man story. Either way, the results are strangely absurd.
The story opens with Spider-Man attempting to foil a robbery, only to be zapped from behind by an unseen assailant with a ray gun. He wakes up minutes later in the Balkans, strapped to a table next to Frankenstein’s monster. Not only does Conway not reveal how he was transported, he actually has the villain taunt the protagonists by saying he won’t tell how it was done. The arch-fiend is Doctor Ludwig Von Shtupf (I swear I’m not making any of this up), otherwise known as the Monster Maker. (Okay, he hasn’t actually made any monsters yet, but he’s getting to it…) Spider-Man decides the situation is simply too absurd to deal with and busts himself and Frank out without nabbing the bad guys, nor even asking any questions—and neither should the reader.
Our heroes hide in the snowy forest as Von Shtupf’s henchmen pursue them on skis, Bond-villain style. We are then treated to a flashback showing the secret origin of Frankenstein, in case, y’know, anyone reading the comic hadn’t heard the story. As the tale ends, a scream draws the pair to the defense of a female skiing the slopes who the bad guys have decided to harass purely out of their own evil nature. After the good guys take care of the henchmen, she gets the drop on them with some handy sleep gas.
Turns out she’s a SHIELD agent sent after Von Shtupf in what can only be considered some form of hazing for new agents. She teams up with the two heroes (?) to sneak back into the castle, where they discover the Doctor has also managed to kidnap the Man-Wolf.
We’re actually heading into issue #37 at this point, but this is really important stuff, so keep reading.
Von Shtupf’s master plan is to dissect Spider-Man, Frank, and the Man-Wolf in order to create a hybrid Spider-powered, Frankenstein-strong, Man-Wolf scary army of supermonsters with which to conquer the world. Apparently, the Doctor’s college coursework was light on literature; anyone who’s sat through a couple lit classes could probably tell him what he’d find dissecting Frank.
Deciding he’s had enough with the character, Conway writes Von Shtupf out of the story in a riveting non-confrontation before sending Spider-Man off the fight the Man-Wolf, who has slipped off his leash and kidnapped the lady SHIELD agent. At the conclusion of the issue, Spider-Man unwittingly says some insensitive things to Frank to underline the tragic nature of the character before hopping onto a helicopter with the spy, Man-Wolf and Von Shtupf tied up in the back.
Still, I really like that Sal Buscema art.They’ve been playing those funny radio ads again lately, which reminded me of when I wrote this, which got me thinking about a new installment. Enjoy.
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Bud Light presents Real Men of Genius. (Real Men of ge-nius!)
Today we salute you, Mr. Superhero-less Superhero Comic Writer Man.
(Mr. Superhero-less Superhero Comic Writer Man!)
Building upon the proud tradition of a uniquely American genre, you write male adolescent power fantasies about musclebound heroes and villains in bright, skin-tight costumes battling each other in exotic locales…except without the musclebound heroes and villains in bright, skin-tight costumes battling each other in exotic locales.
(Clark Kent reads the paper then hails a Taxi!)
You revel in the minutiae of the Marvel and DC comic book universes, know the middle names of B-list villains, and dig up obscure continuity threads for your stories, but actually showing a superhero in your superhero book is beneath you.
(Those costumes are so gay!)
A 6-issue storyline featuring Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s quest for reasonable renter’s insurance? Some may find it boring and trite, but you know better, O’ Literary Lion of the Leaflet.
(It’s a metaphor for life, you ignorant bitches!)
So crack open an ice cold Bud Light, Mr. Superhero-less Superhero Comic Writer Man, for when it comes to writing 22 straight pages of Bruce Banner and Reed Richards shooting the shit while drinking beers at a bar, you’re our superhero.
(Bud Light Beer, Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri)
http://tmcclurg.livejournal.com/ Tim McClurg NOVA
http://crowntriple.livejournal.com/ Steven Russell Black NOVA
Tim finished his half of the draw off so I thought i’d throw it up again to see the different approaches. I always like to see everyones different take on the characters. It would be cool to see some more if any one wants to play at home and post along, send us the links. CAP MARVEL is up next.
Acquaintances spotted: 19
That guy from/That girl from: 8
Topless women spotted: 32*
Ex-girlfriends spotted: 1**
Guys in kilts: 7
Guys in hot pants: 2
Inquiries about actual ferrets: 1
Conspiracy theories: 3
Bands seen: 2 (plus I joined in at a Tai Chi demonstration)
Midgets: 3
Corn dogs eaten: 1
Funnel cakes eaten: 0 (frown)
Guys with snakes: 5
Sketches done: 6
Sketches I’m happy with: 1
Rained on: three times
Inhalations of second-hand pot smoke: innumerable.
* Some of these are certainly repeats, but this is the tally I have in my notebook.
** All in all, a pretty good result.
Sorry for the delay, I’m still recovering from Comfest. Anyway, here’s this week’s page::
(click image to FIGHT!)
(previous weeks: 9/12/2005, 9/19/2005, 9/26/2005, 10/3/2005, 10/10/2005, 10/17/2005, 10/24/2005, 10/31/2005, 11/1/2005, 11/2/2005, 11/3/2005, 11/4/2005, 11/5/2005, 11/6/2005, 11/7/2005, 11/14/2005, 11/21/2005, 11/28/2005, 12/5/2005, 12/12/2005, 12/19/2005, 12/26/2005, 1/2/2006, 1/9/2006, 1/16/2006, 1/23/2006, 1/30/2006, 2/06/2006, 2/13/2006, 2/20/2006, 2/27/2006, 3/6/2006, 3/13/2006, 3/20/2006, 3/27/2006, 4/3/2006, 4/4/2006, 4/5/2006, 4/6/2006, 4/7/2006, 4/8/2006, 4/9/2006, 4/10/2006, 4/17/2006, 4/23/2006, 5/1/2006, 5/8/2006, 5/15/2006, 5/22/2006, 5/29/2006, 6/5/2006, 6/12/2006, 6/19/2006, 6/26/2006, 7/3/2006, 7/10/2006, 7/17/2006, 7/24/2006, 7/31/2006, 8/7/2006, 8/13/2006, 8/21/2006, 8/28/2006, 9/4/2006, 9/11/2006, 9/18/2006, 9/25/2006, 10/2/2006, 10/9/2006, 10/16/2006, 10/23/2006, 10/30/2006, 11/6/2006, 11/13/2006, 11/20/2006, 11/27/2006, 12/4/2006, 12/11/2006, 12/18/2006, 12/25/2006, 1/1/2007, 1/8/2007, 1/15/2007, 1/22/2007, 1/29/2007, 2/5/2007, 2/12/2007, 2/19/2007, 2/26/2007, 3/5/2007, 3/12/2007, 3/19/2007, 3/26/2007, 4/2/2007, 4/5/2007, 4/9/2007, 4/16/2007, 4/23/2007, 4/30/2007, 5/7/2007, 5/14/2007, 5/21/2007, 5/28/2007, 6/4/2007, 6/11/2007, 6/18/2007)
New 2007 list for top censored stories from project censored. Took the wind out of my lunch break.. again. The news keeps making the crazies sound more sane by the day. If you aren’t aware of Project Censored, a panel of esteemed folk vote on the top news stories largely ignored by mainstream media and newspapers. Due to corporate consolidation of media outlets, news slips thru the cracks. Either because it offends sponsors, doesn’t net the ratings like a Paris Hilton story, or the company’s subsidiaries are involved.
Stand outs are the ocean’s in chaos, Cheney’s cashing out on Haliburton stock, net neutrality law, and the flawed physics behind the 9/11 investigation. Everyone must read this if they haven’t already.
One hazard of sitting at a booth at Comfest is that it is an open invitation for crazy people to come up to you and share their conspiracy theories. For example, a few years ago someone came up to us and shared his theory on how America had a station on the moon, but Richard Nixon sabotaged it.
This year the theories were:
1. Local politicians have mistresses.
2. Republicans were right to have their 2004 convention in NYC, not because it allowed them to take NYC, but because it allowed them to talk about 9-11. Democrats gained no advantage by holding a convention in Boston, because Democrats aren’t as tactically smart.
3. The Bush administration is breaking the law and the Constitution in any number of ways.
4. The 2004 election was stolen in Ohio.
Reality is so strange these days that the conspiracy nuts can’t improve upon it. That’s pretty effed up, kittens.
The Onion covers the scene in Columbus.
(This is pretty accurate, except for the name of the bar. Any bar in Columbus called Wolverine’s would be burnt to the ground.
Columbus’ Comfest is the largest all-volunteer run community festival, and Ferret Press will once again have a booth at this fantastic outdoor music and arts event. Come see us June 22-24 in gorgeous Goodale Park in Columbus, Ohio. 4 stages of music, 200+ bands, vendors, food, beer, art, and activism. And it’s all FREE!
Panel takes their wares to the masses tommorow at the beloved local Community Festival. The lines between man and woman are blurred, second hand cannibus is bound to be inhaled. The music is great. You can throw a stone anywhere and hit a hipster square in the ass. Good times. I love this festival. It’s got all the trappings of a county fair but with better music and no rides. I always hated the rides. Stop by the Ferret Press booth this weekend and say hi!
Sal Buscema month continues:
When I debuted the first issue of The Ineffables at one of Jeff Harper’s shows in 2001 (a few tables down from a couple guys pushing a new book called AKA), an astute observer pointed out that my character of Mason was obviously a rip-off of Jack Kirby’s “Stone Men” from the first appearance of Thor. This scholar was apparently unaware that there are a number of statues somewhere out in the Pacific which predates Journey Into Mystery by several centuries which Jack and I may have both drawn from for inspiration. It is possible, though, that there was one other comic that influenced me far more than I realized when I read it at the age of eleven:
The Incredible Hulk #261
Remember when I said that Herb Trimpe was the only guy to properly draw the Hulk? I take that back; there’s one other. Sal Buscema’s model was the version I grew up with and got to know best. For a number of years, the typical Hulk comic was a self-contained episode featuring the title character dropped into some new bizarre location to battle a creature from a Japanese monster movie; very little examination of Bruce Banner’s tormented psyche or personal anguish, heavy on all kinds of weirdness. My kind of comic, in other words, even if Frank Miller screwed up the Absorbing Man’s leg on that cover.
This issue opens up with the Hulk swimming the Pacific. He’s just battled his girlfriend’s ex-husband to the death in Japan and tried leaping home, but didn’t find any land to travel on. Even the Hulk gets cramps when he’s swimming across an ocean, so when he finally comes to a beach he passes out from exhaustion and changes back to Bruce Banner, without noticing the strange landmarks around him or his observer hidden in the shadows.
It turns out the Absorbing Man has been hiding out on Easter Island. He was recently stomped so badly by the Avengers that he’s been reduced to a paranoid amnesiac, hiding from unknown pursuers. Convinced Banner is one of “them”, he captures the scientist and drags him into the tunnels leading to his subterranean hiding place. Here’s a series of claustrophobic panels as Banner struggles to keep from changing into his oversized alter ego in a narrow tunnel under tons of earth:
Upon arriving in Crusher Creel’s cave, Banner has time to reflect on his surroundings. It seems that writer Bill Mantlo has recently read a book about Easter Island, and gives us a theoretical history of the site through Banner’s recollections. Here’s some educational material to go with your escapist entertainment:
Banner tries to escape, and of course he changes into the Hulk while trapped in the narrow tunnel—not that the Hulk really cares. The slugfest follows, during which the Absorbing Man once again proves his value as a punching bag for whoever he’s fighting– though he’s not as humiliated here as when Thor tricked him into grabbing a cardboard replica of Mjolnir in a toy store.
The guy at that Jeff Harper show wandered off without taking a comic, obviously. I wonder if he told Dara and Steve that AKA was obviously a rip-off of Alias?Cracked.com offers up its ranking of Best Movie Batmans. Batmen. Whatever.
A few months ago I picked up “Batman vs. Man-Bat,” a 1984 reprint collection of Batman’s first encounters with his classic foe/ally/SWF-style stalker. I learned four things from this:
1. Foam-soled shoes are good, but if you want to evade the Batman, it’s a good idea to STFU.
2. If that doesn’t work, try ping pong balls.
3. It’s your wedding day, and you’ve got an embarrassing blemish? Unsightly scars? Bat ears and a snout? Don’t worry! In the DCU, you can hide all that with a convincing rubber mask.
4. Neal Adams can make even the most ridiculous story look good.