Archive for April, 2008
I’ve been a fan of John Byrne since I was in the fourth grade, stumbling on his X-Men while it was still an obscure book that had just gone monthly. I’ve followed his work all the way up to the present day, despite missteps like Spider-Man: Chapter One and Doom Patrol. I’ve dismissed anecdotes about his irascible personality as irrelevant to his actual comic work, and enjoyed series’ such as Lab Rats (which was cancelled before issue #1 even hit the stands) and Superman/Batman: Generations (which I considered to be as good as his FF run). I’ve even forgiven him phoning in the art on IDW’s FX since it has the potential to be the kind of goofy retro-superhero book I miss.
I was walking past the magazine rack at work the other night when I noticed the new WWE Kids magazine– a wrestling mag for 8-year olds, as if all the other wrestling mags weren’t for 8-year olds. The magazine comes with a few pages of comics, and I noticed a disturbingly familiar art style on the front. Yep, John Byrne is contributing a serialized, one page color comic, “The Hardys in Space.”
Georgetown, baby!
(click image to say no to CRACK)
(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, 6/25/2007, 7/2/2007, 7/9/2007, 7/16/2007, 7/23/2007, 7/30/2007, 8/6/2007, 8/13/2007, 8/20/2007, 8/27/2007, 9/3/2007, 9/10/2007, 9/17/2007, 9/24/2007, 10/1/2007, 10/8/2007, 10/15/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/29/2007, 11/5/2007, 11/12/2007, 11/19/2007, 11/26/2007, 12/3/2007, 12/10/2007, 12/17/2007, 12/24/2007, 12/31/2007, 1/7/2008, 1/14/2008, 1/21/2008, 1/28/2008, 2/4/2008, 2/11/2008, 2/18/2008, 2/25/2008, 3/3/2008, 3/10/2008, 3/17/2008, 3/24/2008, 3/31/2008, 4/7/2008, 4/14/2008, 4/21/2008)
Haspiel made my weekend with this *link.
not work friendly and no, Dean’s not shirtless in this.
Fear my Dear is back on a newly minted Act-I-Vate site. The ease of navigation blew my mind and kicks Zuda in the teeth.
*edit: the link from youtube went down. the myspace profile’s better anyway.
So around late spring of last year, I contacted several of my favorite comics creators to let them know about my webcomic Lifelike, and that it was going to be collected and published as a graphic novel. I was looking for comments, critiques, and advice on promoting my book. I also asked them politely if they read and enjoyed the comic, would they be interested in providing a positive review quote I could use on the back of the book.
A couple of days ago, I received this card in the mail from Neil Gaiman!
Needless to say, it totally made my day.
So I got an e-mail today from Sergio Charro Melo, which from his e-mail address looks to be writing me from Brazil. One Babelfish translation later, I get this:
“Good afternoon, I call Sergio and am part of a cultural group Treble call. We create and give a force for who we make amateur art, any amateur art. We have some scripts of quadrinhos for presentation, we also have people that they draw that they could be presented the vocês. Our bigger work is a RPG book that we finish to write in the passed year, work this that started in 2002. This book is part of a universe all, that it can generate many other titulos, and is certain that it would please the RPG players, therefore the research and devotion for its creation was very hard and laborious. It would like to know as we can present these works the vocês and who knows, to be able to work together. I am in I wait it of a return. Grateful”
Ferret Press is so big, people all over the world want to work with me!
I hate to be the guy who bitches about comic book movies before they even come out, but this here does not look right to me. It’s the teaser trailer to Frank Miller’s Spirit movie.
Dressed all in black? Tons of cats? “This city is my mother. This city is my lover. And I am her spirit.” The Spirit isn’t supposed to be pretentious.
The movements look right, though, and the Spirit does wear boxers.
He’s the fastest man alive…who will be able to guess the artist the fastest?
(click image to Flashersize)
(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, 6/25/2007, 7/2/2007, 7/9/2007, 7/16/2007, 7/23/2007, 7/30/2007, 8/6/2007, 8/13/2007, 8/20/2007, 8/27/2007, 9/3/2007, 9/10/2007, 9/17/2007, 9/24/2007, 10/1/2007, 10/8/2007, 10/15/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/29/2007, 11/5/2007, 11/12/2007, 11/19/2007, 11/26/2007, 12/3/2007, 12/10/2007, 12/17/2007, 12/24/2007, 12/31/2007, 1/7/2008, 1/14/2008, 1/21/2008, 1/28/2008, 2/4/2008, 2/11/2008, 2/18/2008, 2/25/2008, 3/3/2008, 3/10/2008, 3/17/2008, 3/24/2008, 3/31/2008, 4/7/2008, 4/14/2008)
On slate.com today is an essay on the new “Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which will go by the happy acronym AFIRM. According to DOD’s news service, AFIRM will “harness stem cell research and technology … to reconstruct new skin, muscles and tendons, and even ears, noses and fingers.’”
The author says that restoring muscle fibers is a possibility, and then possibly augmentation? The military already encourages soldiers to get Lasik. How far are we from genetically augmented super-soldiers?
From Newsweek comes this story of “The 99″, a comic book series by Kuwaiti psychologist and entrepreneur Naif Al-Mutawa. His company, Teshkeel, is the distributor of Marvel and DC comics in the Middle East
The writer of the article says “The 99″ might create new folk heroes for the Islamic world — ones not named bin Laden.
“The essential conflict in the story is an X-Men-like rivalry between Dr. Ramzi, who wants to gather together the Noor Stones and their bearers to do good, and Mughal, who wants to gather them together for, ahem, world domination.
…
But comic books are “likely to be a lot more helpful than our bullets and bombs in attracting young people away from jihadi cool,” says Atran. They might even help convince Washington that “knowledge is the true base of power.” But maybe that’s hoping for too much.”
Sometime around 1992 my brother and I wandered into Stache’s to catch the instrumental band Shadowy Men From a Shadowy Planet, most widely known for the theme from The Kids in the Hall. The Canadian trio was touring as the opening act for a band we’d never before heard of, but we wanted to see them enough that it was deemed safe to pony up our five bucks to catch the show. It turned out to be one of the wisest investments I’ve ever made, because after the Shadowy Men finished up their set, The Fleshtones took the stage and tore the roof off of Dan Dougan’s venerable nightclub with their relentlessly driving garage/punk/1960’s-soul hybrid which they have labeled “Super-Rock.” Before the first song’s final chords had died down I had discovered the favorite live band I would be fanatically following for many years to come.
I saw a lot of bands at Stache’s over the next few years; Buddy Guy, Mojo Nixon, Johnny Copeland, Dick Dale and a gazillion others I can’t remember. The Fleshtones are the band I personally associate with my time spent in the club, as they were frequent visitors, touring relentlessly since forming in the late ‘70’s New York punk scene without ever having the benefit of actually becoming famous. One of my fondest memories is the final Saturday night the club was open before the wrecking ball came, as the ‘Shtones closed their show with a song from their Laboratory of Sound album called We’ll Never Forget. When Dougan folded up his tent and even Little Brothers went away, I was afraid I’d never get the chance to see Peter, Keith, Ken and Bill again.
Lucky for me and a bar full of culture lovers this past Saturday, Café Bourbon Street did us the public service of bringing the Fleshtones back to Columbus.
Back in the day, I would have rolled out of bed around noon, put on my most recently-clean shirt, called off work and grabbed breakfast at Chateau Blanc before showing up at the club in time for the sound check. These days it’s a little more difficult; wrangling a sitter for the kids, working third shift the night before so I could get the night off, then hitting the club at 8:00 for fear of a sellout crowd (having missed Commander Cody a few weeks before) in order to wait for a triple bill show whose first act didn’t hit the stage until 11:00 turned out to be a bit of an endurance test as I close in on my fourth decade. It was well worth it, though, as one of the band members looked about the bar as they were setting up and said the place had “kind of a Stache’s vibe.”
Then came the Super-Rock. I referred above to the band “taking the stage,” which is a bit of an oversimplification. The fellas work the entire bar, frequently charging through the crowd with their instruments blazing power chords. Minutes after I was ruminating on the poor sight lines my seat provided, guitarist Keith Streng pushed me out of my chair to stand on our table while bassist Ken Fox towered over us at our neighboring seats and all was remedied. Further into the show while the band performed the song Push Up Man, Streng and singer Peter Zaremba cleared a space in the middle of the barroom floor and forced patrons to, well, do push ups. I was fortunately spared the personal humiliation of being drafted for that event. As the set came to a close (“wound down” would be the wrong term to use; the Fleshtones were driving a train with no brakes right up until closing time) the three band members not held down by a set of drums took another tour of the crowded floor and ran into Dan Dougan himself. Dan was hauled up onto the stage to introduce the encore as I got all misty eyed with nostalgia.
Quote of the evening: Zaremba, observing that the beer of choice at Bourbon Street was PBR: “Not only are you people of good taste, but also wise consumers.”Ok, let’s go back and revisit the Star Trekverse…
(click image to GORNSize)
(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, 6/25/2007, 7/2/2007, 7/9/2007, 7/16/2007, 7/23/2007, 7/30/2007, 8/6/2007, 8/13/2007, 8/20/2007, 8/27/2007, 9/3/2007, 9/10/2007, 9/17/2007, 9/24/2007, 10/1/2007, 10/8/2007, 10/15/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/29/2007, 11/5/2007, 11/12/2007, 11/19/2007, 11/26/2007, 12/3/2007, 12/10/2007, 12/17/2007, 12/24/2007, 12/31/2007, 1/7/2008, 1/14/2008, 1/21/2008, 1/28/2008, 2/4/2008, 2/11/2008, 2/18/2008, 2/25/2008, 3/3/2008, 3/10/2008, 3/17/2008, 3/24/2008, 3/31/2008, 4/7/2008)
I got enough cool stuff at Gem City to keep the WBM going for some time, but I’ve had this one on deck for a while so I’ll first resume my posts with:
Marvel Feature #11
This book blew my mind when I was a kid. That’s the Thing and the Hulk, right? They’re both good guys. But wait… they’re fighting each other in this issue? Holy cow, the good guys are fighting each other in this issue! And that’s the Thing and the Hulk… they’re both really strong guys! I don’t know who would win, but that would be one heck of a fight!
Okay, so time has taught us that the Hulk will beat the stuffing out of the Thing every time they have a fair fight, all the way back to their first tango in FF #25. This appearance was only their third or fourth such meeting, however, and it was a time when there was a significant turnover in the readership from year to year, so it was still something of a novelty to have these two goliaths pummeling each other. As you might gather, it was my first exposure to that wildest of concepts, the superhero battle, so this comic holds a special place in my heart.
This was the Thing’s first ever team-up book; a couple issues like this were successful enough to launch his own title, Marvel Two-In-One, a few months later. Writer Len Wein and artists Starlin & Sinnot did young Craig the following wonderful service back in 1973:
These are the panels wherein I first learned the secret origin of the Fantastic Four. This was the primer for that vital part of my education as I was first getting to know these characters and the strange world they occupied, like the comic book equivalent of a first grade history lesson about George Washington. How important is that in the grand scheme of things? Well, over three decades later I’m writing about comics on this blog, so I guess you might say it ruined my life.
(pardon the erratic image quality while I’m tinkering with a new printer/copier/scanner)
The plot is pretty simple: old FF villain Kurrgo, Master of Planet X, has gotten together with the Leader and placed a bet: each will pick a champion to battle on their behalf and the winner gets all the scientific knowledge of the loser. The thing is transported to a ghost town somewhere out west where the leader briefs him on the situation: he must get past the Hulk in order to deactivate an Ultrex Bomb, or all THREE BILLION souls on Earth will perish. (Has it only been three and ½ decades? My, we’ve been fruitful…)
But who cares about the plot? Here’s what we came for: The Hulk’s appearance here scared the bejeezus out of me when I first saw it.
Oh, god. This is wonderful. Here’s some more:
Starlin does a great job of using the props the ghost town setting has to offer as the battle rages along.
