comicbooks's topics - tribe.net

"The Walking Dead", well worth the time

chycho — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:10:59 GMT

In a matter of 2 weeks i read through 68 issues. I just couldn't put it down. Well worth the read ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Happy B-day, true believer......

stefographer — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:26:29 GMT

Happy B-Day, Stan Lee....

And for all the 10's of thousands of $ u've sapped from my wallet over the years... Ur welcome.

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

So wait.....

stefographer — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:38:09 GMT

....NEW Krypton? Really?!

Earthlings have banned Kryptonians??

Say what?

posted in comicbooks - 6 replies

And is it just me, or.....

stefographer — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:07:42 GMT

... is Namor getting hotter by the story-arc... ?

(i.e. - Uncanny X-men- or is it Dark X-men? latest cover..... will post it after i scan it..)

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

So......

stefographer — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:56:35 GMT

... who the hell is this Red Hulk anyway...??

posted in comicbooks - 5 replies

sci fi lovers love comic books?

Mojito — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:57:44 GMT

Do you think Science Fiction/Fantasy fans usually like comic books too?

The reason I ask is I would like to sell my comic books and I can't find any comic book clubs in Los Angeles. There is a SF/Fantasy club in L.A. though. Do you think people there would be interested in buying comics?

(I'm probably going to end up selling my comics on e-bay, but first I would like to try selling them to people in person).

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

The Copper Age Webcomic

Brynneth — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:06:59 GMT

I've already posted this on a couple of other groups here - please to excuse! Days like today are not likely to happen very often for me.

Today a new gothic webcomic launches - one I've been involved in creating (mostly doing the words). It's bit unconventional, but the art is fab (Tom Brown http://www.copperage.deviantart.com also responsible for my tentacled avatar pic!)

Please do drop by and have a look - http://www.itisacircle.com and if you like it, you can sign up to get it by email, and we have a newsletter - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/copperage Anyone who joins said over the weekend gets a free pdf story.

We're up for links swaps, and I also interview comics people for the blog - www.itisacircle.com/blog so if you're interested in any of that, leave me a message.

cheers,
Bryn.

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

What are you reading right now?

littleredhairedgirl — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:12:52 GMT

Just wondering what everyone is into right now.

By the way, where else besides tribe.net do you go to talk about comics?

posted in comicbooks - 8 replies

Disney buys Marvel

stefographer — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:57:41 GMT

I'm just sad....
Rilllly bad feeling about this

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Some Q&A's about Big Apple Con

Big Apple Convention — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:42:03 GMT

There have been big several questions going around about the Big Apple Convention. Here are some simple answers:

Q: Is there a comic convention in New York in October?
Y: Yes. The Big Apple Comic-Con is running on October 16-18 at Pier 94, 55th Street & 12th Ave.

Q: Who owns the Big Apple Convention?
A: Wizard World acquired Big Apple Con in 2009.

A: Is Mike Carbonaro still involved?
A: Yes

More detailed information will appear here, or go to http://www.bigapplecon.com

Captain Zorikh

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

The SON also rises - a lil' too much lately.....

stefographer — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:38:24 GMT

So we have son of Wayne, Damien as the 'new' Robin...

On the other side we have Daken, son of Logan, as the Dark Wolverine....

Damien's turning out to be an interesting twist with Dick Grayson as the restrained Batman, to Damien's ruthless Robin...
It's become quite cool to bash Morrison/Quitely.., but they're still two of the most interesting creators around in my opinion...

However- i have no idea who Daken is- is his mother that Japanese chick that they're always making Logan flash back to...?
I've never found Wolvey to be much more than a monotonous bore, so not surprised i'm bored by his son too....

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"Utopia"

stefographer — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:30:01 GMT

Looking good too....

Anybody else reading it...?

("Hello? ello llo lo o .....")

posted in comicbooks - 4 replies

"Blackest Night"

stefographer — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:37:03 GMT

I don't even read Green Latern... but i'm totally digging the 1st issue so far....

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

So wait........

stefographer — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:22:50 GMT

Where the fuck is Batman.....???

last i saw he was being brain-washed/ coccooned by somebody, to think he was dead or something......

Battle for the Cowl, eh...??

Like the IDEA......

posted in comicbooks - 5 replies

Three Batman Books bite the dust

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:49:34 GMT

Comics
Robin, Nightwing, Birds of Prey to End in February
By Matt Brady

While fans are still up in the air about whether or not Batman will actually die at the end of Grant Morrison’s “Batman: R.I.P.” arc, DC has confirmed three casualties for Newsarama.

According to the publisher, the February-shipping issues of Robin, Nightwing and Birds of Prey will be the final issues of the respective series.

As well as being the final issues, Robin #183, Nightwing #153 and Birds of Prey #127 will end eras for Batman-related titles, as each stretches back at least nine years.

Birds of Prey (which debuted in 1999) is currently written by Tony Bedard and follows the adventures of Barbra Gordon, the former Batgirl (now “Oracle”), Black canary and a rotating cast of DC’s female heroes; Nightwing (which debuted in 1996) is written by Peter Tomasi, and Robin (which debuted in 1994) is currently written by Fabian Nicieza.

The three series – coincidentally all originally written by Chuck Dixon, fleshed out the world of Batman in the comics, showcasing the original Robin, Dick Grayson, as Nightwing, Tim Drake as Robin and Barbra Gordon in Birds of Prey.

The three titles were roughly in the middle of DC’s lineup, sales-wise, with Nightwing seeing sales of over 50,000 copies to comic shops for September, while Robin and Birds of Prey saw sales of 32,000 and 21,000 copies, respectively.

DC declined to say if the series’ cancellations were due to sales, or if the three titles would be replaced by three new titles in 2009.

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Word Baloons - 11/4/08

DevastatorJr — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:02:21 GMT

Word Balloons
November 4, 2008

1985 #6
Millar, Edwards
Marvel
Growing up with comic books is one of the quintessential experiences of the American childhood. For millions of young people, these dime-store morality plays are the first, clumsy, technicolor forays into the worlds of art, literature, mythology and philosophy – Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk. While boys and girls spend golden summers dreaming in the immensity of it, real life slowly encroaches, inch by inch until one day we wake up and…we’re grown ups. This is the final issue of the mini-series about a boy who loved comics so much his imagination literally brought them to life, written by Mark Millar and drawn in alternately photorealistic and cartoony styles by the versatile Tommy Lee Edwards. I highly recommend it for fans of Ray Bradbury or Harlan Ellison, and others who travel through similar twilight zones of nostalgia.

The Amazing Spider-Man #575
Kelly, Bachalo, Townsend, Mendoa
Marvel
Chris Bachelo’s fantastic manga style art is the star here, in this hyper-active gangster story featuring an all-new, suped up Hammerhead and the sinister Purple Man.

Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes #1
Ellis, Davis, Granov
Marvel
I’ve always been a little conflicted about Warren Ellis. I love his self-created projects, like The Authority and Planetary, but he often seems to stumble when working with traditional superheroes, as if trying to jam them into shapes he’s comfortable with, (a notable exception being the hilarious NextWave series.) Here he treads familiar ground with a tale of alternate worlds and alternate X-Men. Fan-favorite Alan Davis does his usual, tidy job, and newcomer Adi Granov is fantastic. But aside from the art, enjoyment of this book relies almost entirely on your familiarity with current X-Men continuity. I’d say it’s for fans only. Great bonus in this issue, a sneak peak inside the creative process - a copy of Warren Ellis' script!

The Incredible Hercules #122
Pak, Van Lente, Henry, Espin
Marvel
Greek god Hercules and boy-genius Amadeus Cho are mixed up in some sort of wacky arranged marriage family feud between deadly Amazon warriors and fearsome Atlantean mermaids. Greg Pak made a big splash with last year’s World War Hulk storyline, (back when this book was titled The Incredible ‘Hulk’,) but this is turning into the roadtrip that never ends. If something doesn’t happen soon, I’m probably going to drop it.

Hellboy: In The Chapel of Moloch
Mike Mignola
Dark Horse
Nobody does creepy humor like Mike Mignola. This one-shot follows Hellboy to Southern Portugal to investigate the odd behavior of a painter working in a mysterious chapel with roots that go back to the Crusades. I love the little historical footnotes he uses, I wonder how much of that stuff is true.

That's it for this week.

Excelsior!

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Sacramento comic creators make it to TOP 10 in Worldwide Competition!

ECV Press — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 21:40:19 GMT

Hi, all. This is Ben Schwartz, a Sacramento comic store owner and small press comic publisher with ECV Press. I am also a co-writer with Hai-Na-Nu Saulque on our new project Hank Houston. We entered a worldwide competition to find the best new comic for Platinum Studios to produce and we have made it to the TOP 10.

From this point forward the winner will be determined by your votes. We need your support and help to spread the word! Please take a look at our website where you will find, concept sketches, alien designs, pin-ups, daily webcomics and a link to give us your vote! Give us a vote and tell your friends.

www.hankhouston.com

Thank you in advance for all of your support and help in taking Hank Houston to the TOP!

Ben Schwartz

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Excellent break down...... (D&D fans... check out.....)

stefographer — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:59:20 GMT

http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2008/06/09/from-the-slushpile/

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

The Dark Knight

elfie — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:14:18 GMT

Go see The Dark Knight right freakin' now. I'm not kidding. I don't care what you're doing. Stop it, find a theater, and go see it. Holy shit. Wow.

posted in comicbooks - 3 replies

FREE Watchmen 'motion comic' episode download on iTunes!!!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:39:21 GMT

A murder takes place in New York City.
"The Comedian", a former costumed crime fighter, was thrown out the window of a skyscraper.
This event triggers an investigation that rounds up many of the Comedian's former superhero allies,
who are now banned from carrying out any acts of "justice".
Chapter 1 is the first in a 12-chapter saga that examins the nature of modern vigilantism, crime,
and the decay of many norms in society. WATCHMEN is considered an instant classic,
and a standard-bearer in the world of comics and graphic novels.

DOWNLOAD this 25min episode on iTunes FOR FREE!!!
Just type in "watchmen" at the iTunes shop, and you're ready to go.

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

He's back!

Max — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:25:32 GMT

Deadpool #1 hits the stands in September. I almost creamed my jeans over this one. Any one know anything about it?

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Bernie Wrightson, Gene Ha, Jasone Mews, Richard Dreyfus, Ninja Turtles guys, more at June Big Apple Con NYC!

Big Apple Convention — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:09:36 GMT

The Big Apple Convention Summer Sizzler just keeps getting hotter!

Richard Dreyfus, Oscar-winning actor, star of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws American Graffitti, The Goodbye Girl, What About Bob, Mr. Hollands Opus, and many, many more, will be a guest of honor at the June 7-8 Big Apple Convention.

But that's not all! Jason Mews (Jay of the Jay and Silent Bob series of movies) and Johnny Brennan, creator of the Jerky Boys and the voice of Mort Goldman from “The Family Guy.” So, who among you wants to so see a Q&A panel with these two guys? Snd in your comments to thebigapplecon@yahoo.com

Our Star Trek roster (previously consisting only of McDowell from “Star Trek: Generations”) has been increased by the lovely addition of Chase Masterson, who played Leeta in “Star Trek: Deep Space 9.”

David Zen Mansley, the voice of Agent Bishop and Darius Dunn on the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles TV cartoon, has been with us the past two conventions and rejoins us. This time he heads up a Turtles contingent that will include Wayne Grayson, the voice of Michaelangelo as well as Joey from Yu-Gi-Oh, last seen at Big Apple in 2005, and Adrian, character designer for the TV cartoon who also has his own rock band. There is a possibility of even more Turtles-connected folks appearing, so stay tuned.

Dark Shadows fans will be pleased to know that Kathryn Leigh Scott, who played Maggie Evans, will be with us. She also adds to our Star Trek lineup, thanks to her role as Nuria in “Start Trek: The Next Generation.”

Other returning guests include Jasmin St. Claire, model, actress, pro wrestler, and host of the DVDzine “Metal's Darkside,” and Monique Dupree, singer and actress known as the first African-American scream queen.

We are building our list of programming and panel discussions now, so lert us know what you want to see. A panel about Friday the 13th? Jason vs,. Mike Meyers? Heroes on the half-shell? Star Trek? Let us know by sending a message to thebigapplecon@yahoo.com

Got Dice?
NerdNYC.com and the Gotham Gaming Guild will be hosting the biggest day of gaming at the Big Apple Con yet! With over a dozen different games scheduled so far, Sunday June 7 will be jam-packed with more role-playing and boardgame action than you can throw a double zero on a percentile die at! With no modifiers!

Film Festival News!
After the success of the films screened at last year's National Expo, Big Apple has gone out and found some new and exciting independent films , many of which will seen on the big screen right here for the very first time. The films are:

Features
Drawn by Pain (Saturday)
Methodic (Saturday)
Tomb Raider: Ascension (Fan film; Sunday)

Shorts
A Short Film About Jedi
Back Issues
I Want to be Famous (Saturday)
Pirates Vs. Ninjas (Sunday)

The complete film schedule is not set yet, so check the website in the coming weeks to find the final screening times and latesst additions, and check it right now to find out more about these films.

Costumes, anyone?
I saw a lot of wonderful costumes at I-Con and NY Comic Con, and I would love to see them all at Captain Zorikh's Costume Contest. The contest at the National Expo was the largest and most spectacular ever, and easily overflowed the space in which it was taking place. This time we have a much bigger space in which to hold our contest, and we are working on certain categories in which to reward our contestants.

So those of you who like to dress up, start planning now!

You can see pictures of past costume contestants at http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w155/thebigapplecon/ and http://ww.myspace.com/bigapplenyc

Volunteers Needed!
As you can see we've got a heck of a show coming up, but we can't get it done all alone. We need folks who can help us spread the word through flyering and other promotional activities and we will need lots of folks to help us pull off this convention on June 7-8. If you think you have what it takes to volunteer to help us, send us an e-mail at bacvolunteers@yahoo.com. Your service will grant you admission to the convention as well as invites to occasional movie screenings and other great bonuses...and our undying gratitude!

Join the Big Apple Movie Club to tell us what you think. It's Free!
That's it for now. I'm off to the Chiller Theater Convention this weekend, so I'm not going to get a chance to see the new Iron Man movie. But if any of you folks do, why not go to the Big Apple c Convention's Movie Club (http://www.bigapplemovieclub.com/), register for the forum, and start telling us what you thought of it? It's the newest interactive community website from the Big Apple, and it is one that will be powered by YOUR participation. New York has some of the smartest filmgoers in the world, especially when it comes to films based on comic book characters, so let's hear what you have to say!

And feel free to befriend us, join us, etc at the social networking site of your choice to get the latest news, discussion, pictures, and info about the Big Apple Convention:

MySpace http://ww.myspace.com/bigapplenyc
Yahoo Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bigapplecon/
Going http://www.going.com/bigapplecon
Tribe http://tribes.tribe.net/bigapplecon
MSN Group http://groups.msn.com/BigAppleCon

And of course, you can contact me anytime at thebigapplecon@yahoo.com

Captain Zorikh
http://www.bigapplecon.com
http://www.captainzorikh.com
http://bigapplemedia.blogspot.com/

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Hi

Rianna — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:40:16 GMT

This is the first of my entries on this site, So here it goes, My name is Rianna Vilaire, I am an indie comic artist based out of Glendale, AZ with an issue to be self published later this year. I am looking for networking and tips, suggestions and moral support from other indie artists... So...check out my stuff, My Company is Teabag Comics, and the comic I am producing is "Sobear (pronounced sober), A Teddybears journey through Life in a bottle" I also do commission work, singular art pieces, and splash pages. See http://teabagcomics.deviantart.com

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Malcolm McDowell at Big Apple Convention NYC 7-8

Big Apple Convention — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:29:53 GMT

Malcolm McDowell at Big Apple Convention NYC 7-8

Malcolm McDowell, who has been in everything from “A Clockwork Orange” to “If...” to “Tank Girl” to ”Superman: The Animated Series” to “The Princess of Thieves” to “Star Trek: Generations” to “Heroes” to “Doomsday,” will be at the Big Apple Convention June 7-8 at the Penn Plaza Pavilion in New York City.

He will be joining Ice-T, Coco, Doug Jones, Tony Moran, Katherine Leigh Scott, David Zen Mansley, and the Friday the 13th Part 3 reunion as the star-studded lineup of celebrities continues to grow.

Be sure to check the website http://www.bigapplecon.com for more details, http://www.myspace.com/bigapplenyc for the latest updates and pictures, and join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bigapplecon/ for discussion and more pictures

Captain Zorikh

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Bay Area Comic Book Artist for Storyboards

DeeJay — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:34:18 GMT

Hey There,

We have a tiny all volunteer non-profit in the Bay Area and are looking for someone who'd work with us on producing storyboards week by week. Assignments on Mondays, deadlines on Fridays. We offer a 4-color ad on our website & screen credit.

If you are looking to expand your portfolio and build relationships with other artists please make contact at info@griotsoulfilms.org

Thanks.

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

women in the fridge???!!!???

joelreed415 — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:05:35 GMT

has anyone heard of this...???...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wome...rigerators

www.unheardtaunts.com/wir/

i'm a big fan of los bros & don't read much in the superhero world besides batman trade papaerbacks...child of dreams, dark harvest, etc...

anyway, what does the rest of the world think about this???

j

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

How do you Feed your Comics?

wutzke_michael — Sat, 26 May 2007 12:45:05 GMT

Over at the other tribe we talked about RSS feeds. Does anyone here use RSS to browse what's happening in Comics?

What feeds are good?
I have Comic Collector Live's Top 10
http://www.comiccollectorlive.com/Widgets/Top10WantedIssuesRSS.aspx
That I use on my Tribe Profile Page and at
http://partnerpage.google.com/entertaining-arts.com

Any more?

orginally posted at
http://collectingcomics.tribe.net/thread/3d32c3a6-2273-4a98-a233-423610676583

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Top 23 Comic Book Storylines from ‘The Age of Freedom’: Part 1

chycho — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:34:15 GMT

I just wrote this article (part 1) and posted it on my blog

thought some here would like…

best

chycho
www.chycho.com

ps. I’m cross posting this on a couple of other tribes as well … would love to hear what people think

Top 23 Comic Book Storylines from ‘The Age of Freedom’: Part 1
http://www.chycho.com/?q=node/1378

To help better understand the choices made in The List, below is a brief introduction to the world of Comic Books.

The Beginning:

One of the most important contributions the United States of America has made to modern civilization is the creation and the popularization of the comic book genre. It is widely accepted that the present form of the comic book, in which word balloons are used, began in New York in 1896 with ‘The Yellow Kid’. This simple comic about a “snaggle-toothed child with a goofy grin” was the genesis of what has become a multi billion-dollar sector of commerce known as the Comic Book Industry.

In the early years free artistic expression was encouraged, resulting in growth and prospering. Initially it was humor, horror, mystery, adventure, and science fiction stories that dominated the medium, nurturing the imagination of millions of people around the world. Entrepreneurial artists with creative minds who wanted to share their perspective on reality formed small companies producing some of the greatest visual and literary works of the 20th century. Unfortunately however, the conservative minds that dominated the political spectrum of the United States at the time regarded most of the content morally unacceptable. As a result the Comics Code Authority (CCA) was created in 1954 to censor undesirable elements from the American conscience.

Creatures such as vampires, werewolves and zombies and words such as ‘crime’, ‘horror’ and ‘terror’ were forbidden to appear in print. The result of the suppression of this freedom of expression was the termination of some of the greatest stories ever told.

One of the worst tragedies occurred when EC comics, which was one of the most imaginative companies to have emerged from the American empire, was forced to only concentrate on its humor magazine, ‘Mad’, and cancelled all of its crime, horror, satire, military and science fiction comics. This lost opportunity for creating an extensive library of materials based on these forbidden genres is unimaginable. As Diane Di Prima once stated, “The only war that matters is the war against the imagination”, and the restrictions in intellectual and social development imposed by the CCA was a devastating blow for humanity.

With the censorship of comics that delved into the deeper and darker side of human nature, Superhero comics flourished. Certain underground comics that refused to abide by the CCA obtained a cult following, however, in general, it was the companies that abided with the government regulators, hence giving them a wider distribution, that gained in popularity.

The Rebellion:

For the next few decades after 1954 there were minor skirmishes between artists and the CCA. Over time these confrontations resulted in the softening of some restrictions, such as the ban on referring to homosexuality in 1989. This allowed the first mainstream character to be to be outed in 1992 with ‘Northstar’ from the ‘Alpha Flight’ series. This event was heralded as a major breakthrough and embraced by comic book enthusiasts, but it was condemned by certain religious and conservative organizations.

The independent comic book companies however were ahead of their time and were more innovative then the large corporations that self-censored their artists to maintain their good standing with the government regulators. Before Northstar was outed, Kitchen Sink Enterprises had already introduced gay characters in 1980 with the first issue of ‘Gay Comix’. After Northstar’s minor claim to fame and the cancellation of the series in 1994, it was the independent comic book companies that challenged the status quo. The same year that ‘Alpha Flight’ was cancelled, ‘Go-Go Boy’ was released through select comic book retailers as the first openly gay, lesbian and transgender monthly superhero comic book dealing with such important issues as AIDS, gay-bashing, personal identity and family, as well as evil corporations that wanted to rule the world.

Even though during the 1980’s and 90’s the mainstream companies maintained their dominance of the industry, Alternative Comics gained in popularity. This forced the large corporations to take an aggressive stance staving off the coming onslaught from the independent creators while trying to retain their market share. Marvel Comics tried to reduce exposure of comic fans to the independent publishers by flooding the market, hence retail shelf space, with poorly developed stories and shallow characters. In 1994, they even went as far as acquiring Heroes World distributors to exclusively distribute their comics. This started what is referred to as the “exclusivity wars”, the end result of which was that most distributors went out of business by 1997, and 90% of the Direct Market share went to Diamond Comic Distributors. This futile attempt to stifle creative evolution also almost bankrupted Marvel Comics.

The Triumph:

During this time of strife, many of the top artists in the industry broke away from the major companies and formed co-ops in which they published their books under umbrella-corporations. The main benefit obtained from these alliances was that artists were able to retain the rights and the creative development for their characters. Once creative confines were removed, the caliber of comics drastically improved, shifting the mindset of readers into demanding more intellectually changeling material. As a result there was an explosion of creativity reminiscent of the early years before the CCA’s censorship. This era is referred to as the beginning of the Modern Age of Comics, and was the setting for the real life Corporate Comic Wars.

During this period, amidst this unsuitability, some of the most successful comic books in history were developed. The emergence of these Alternative Comics was a rebirth for the industry the impact of which can still be felt today. It is as a direct result of the commoditization of the Worlds created through these comics that the film and television, textile and toy, and the gaming industries have prospered to the extent that they have. Licensing agreements with publishers and creators have produced what is now one of the major business growth sectors within the United States.

The Implications:

During the 2006 Comic-Con, Deepak Chopra made the following statement about comic books:

"Comics engage both your left brain, because they are linguistically structured and there's language, and at the same time they engage your right brain because of the images. In fact, ... I’m sure ... brain waves would show coherence between the right and left brains, which is the prelude to creativity.

“Art has a function because it not only reflects what’s happening in the collective psyche and collective consciousness, but it also in many ways mirrors of the evolution of our collective consciousness. If you track the evolution of these comics… from the 1930s right up to this moment, you’ll see that they actually mirror human evolution and particularly, the evolution of human consciousness.”

By finally reducing the constraints set by the CCA from the development process of comic books, we have been ushered into a new era of imagination brought about by unrestrained creativity. The effects of this newfound freedom are still in its infancy, which means that we must continue to nurture its growth, providing a medium for artists to create without government censorship.

At a time when conservatives minds are trying to tightened their stranglehold on the American conscience, it has become crucial for us to remember what has been accomplished up to this point, and the long hard battle that has been waged to gain these freedom. For our society to flourish, government and corporate censorship must be removed in all its forms.

The List:

The period known as the Model Age of Comics is probably the most important era since the dawn of the Comic Book Industry. The shakeup that occurred in the 1980’s and 90’s resulted in a surge of creativity that tested the boundaries set by our society. I have dubbed this period ‘The Age of Freedom’ since it gave birth to Alternative Comics and marks the beginning of the dismantling of the CCA and the censorship of human thought from comic books. Below are 8 out of the top 23 of the most important comic book storylines from this period. Some were a brilliant desperate attempts by the major companies to retain market share, others a mastery of imagination and freedom of expression. In no particular order the list is as follows:

1. Cerebus: This series was started in 1977 by Dave Sim and ended in 2004. It is one continuous tale, spanning 300 issues and 6,000 pages, making it the longest running storyline in comic book history. With Cerebus, Sim demonstrated that an independent creator could obtain a core fan base and grow to be a formidable force in the industry. This inspired a whole generation of artists to create and distribute their own comics. As for what this comic is about, you could say it’s about everything: from morality to brutality, from sorcery to spiritually, from drunken debauchery to strategic warfare: Cerebus is an epic that has it all.

2. Love and Rockets: The first issue of this collection was released in 1981 making it one of the first self-published comics from the “alternative comics revolution of the 1980s”. L&R is not about a specific story line, but an assortment of intricate characters, primarily chicano, that interact and grow over time from the late 70’s to the present.

3. Frank Miller’s Batman: Miller has produced two of the most important comics in history. First is ‘The Dark Knight Returns’, a fictional tale set 20 years in the future where Batman is forced out of retirement to deal with a crime ridden Gotham. This series reintroduced a darker Batman to a whole new generation of comic fans and helped usher in a new era of tougher and grittier superheroes. The second book is ‘Year One’. This time Miller recounted the origin of Batman in the same humanistic form as before. This storyline turned out to be just as popular as the DKR and galvanized Batman’s fan base created a year earlier. Miller was able to use the recognition he obtained from this work, and his work with ‘Daredevil’, to kick off his independent carrier which introduced the now classic ‘Sin City’ published through Dark Horse Comics.

4. Lobo: The Last Czarnian: Lobo is one of the most controversial characters in comic book history and this is the series that kicked it off. Before this four part mini-series, Lobo was a secondary character introduced in ‘Omega Men’ and maintained in the DC universe. The Last Czarnian was a quirky tale of a bounty hunter bound by honor to carry out a mission which involved his fourth-grade teacher, a murderous gang of groupies, a vengeful truck driving Elvis look alike, ruthless paramilitary grannies, a pan-galactic demolition dance company, a planetary S.W.A.T. team, a Spelling Bee to the death, and a few secondary themes to boot. In 1990 it was surprising to see a major company like DC comics release a book which was based on pure violence and sadistically masochistic humor, which explains why it was completely sold out in the first few days. As if this wasn’t enough, DC comics followed the success of this series with Lobo being hired by a drunken Eastern Bunny to kill a “cross-dressing” sweatshop running evil Santa Clause, in the ‘Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special’.

DC’s final act of defiance through Lobo occurred with the release of ‘Infanticide’, a carnage ridden tale in which the bastard children of Lobo try to kill their father. As a reviewer noted, “if you enjoy dark, twisted humour and love those B-rated Brian Yuzna gore fests, this book should be right up your alley.”

5. Death of superman: The initial reaction from the comic book community to the ‘Doomsday’ storyline was lukewarm at best, however by the time the final battle took place the North American populace was in a frenzy. The mainstream media disseminated the news about the demise of Superman and people desperate to get their copy began to rush into comic book stores, to find out that there were no copies to be found. At the time this storyline was released, Superman fans were in decline and most comic book stores had not predicated the demand from the general populace. Regular customers who had pre-ordered their copy were selling their books to people on the streets for outrageous amounts. Rumors were circulating that the bagged issue of Superman #75 was selling for as high $200 on the day of its release. The importance of this series was not that Superman was dead, because everyone in the Industry knew that he would be revamped, it was the fact that the story generated so much interest. It proved to fans, artists, and companies that there was a huge market yet untapped. Considering that right now hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to create movies based on comic books, we can assume that the Industry was able to capitalize on this market.

6. Batman: Bane and Venom: One of the most important sagas in the DC universe began with Batman becoming a drug addict in Legends of the Dark Knight #16-20. This story introduced the drug Venom, a “strength-enhancing super-steroid” which was later used by Bane to break Batman's back in the ‘Knightfall’ epic. The result of this saga sent the Batman books into a tale spin with guest appearences by almost every major Batman villain and the introduction of Jean-Paul Valley as the new Batman, who later gained his own series with ‘Azrael’. This was DC’s way of shaking up the Batman universe in the same manner as ‘Death of Superman’, and resulted in two other mega-sagas in ‘Knightquest’ and ‘KnightsEnd’. The success of this storyline was compatible to the death of Robin in ‘Death in the Family’, a series where, for the first time in history, fans decided the outcome to a story by casting their votes for a possible ending.

7. Watchman: This series by Alan Moore, the creator of ‘V for Vendetta’, ‘From Hell’, and numerous other books, is considered by many to be the greatest comic book ever created. Moore accomplished more for the Industry, from 1986 to 87 in twelve issues, then had ever been done by any artist in the past. He and Dave Gibbons created a science fiction story that was regarded as a literary masterpiece and awarded the prestigious Hugo Award in 1988. The only graphic novel to ever receive this praise. The story “is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.” In this not-so-fictional reality we are introduced to super heroes without super powers and serious personal issues. It is a masterpiece and if I was to have provided a ranking to this list based on a must read criteria then ‘The Watchman’ would be sitting near the top.

8. Spawn: Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, gained fame within the Industry through his work with Spiderman. McFarlane worked on numerous projects for both Marvel and DC comics before venturing off to form Image Comics in 1992 with six other “high-profile illustrators”. Spawn, a netherworld character, was at best a cross between ‘Batman’ and ‘Spiderman’ and at worst a blatant rip-off. It is not because of the story that Spawn has become one of the most important comics from this period; it is because of what McFarlane was able to accomplish with the book. In the early 1990’s, I recall seeing an interview in which McFarlane was asked what he wanted to do with his art, and his reply was (paraphrasing) ‘I want to develop a unique style, and make millions of dollars’, and this is exactly what he did. By creating a character which pushed the boundaries of what was morally acceptable by the regulators he proved that by creating something beyond the constraints set by government censors, he could fill a gap within the industry. McFarlane set an example for other artists who wanted to break away from their shackles by showing them that monetary success was attainable outside of the corporate structure.

to be continued ...

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

WOWIO - anyone else on it?

Alterna Comics — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 21:33:51 GMT

Hi everyone - I was wondering if you've all heard of WOWIO.com. It's a site that has all kinds of ebooks that you can download for free. They've even got hundreds of independent comics, even from some famous names like Clive Barker, Dwight MacPherson, Arcana Studio, Avatar Press, and more!

We (Alterna Comics) signed up for it about two weeks ago and we've already had almost 1,000 downloads! It's a great place to read some great material and it's starting to become a premier virtual library! It's free to sign up and takes about 5 minutes so if you're interested, please join!

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

A new Digital Draw-Off site has been born

Caine — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 06:57:22 GMT

Attention:
Like to draw?
Why not compete?
@Sketchers Strife we host weekly Draw-Offs

Featuring the web’s simplest image upload procedure, tutorials, drawing videos, A shout box for the members and more. Come and check us out, we’re not your average digital draw-off…
http://sketchstrife.wikidot.com/

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

World Premiere of movie based on Cartoonist Jesse Reklaw

yahn soon — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:53:47 GMT

Hi,
I have a film making its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival. It's called "Compound Eye" and it centers around an East Bay cartoonist who draws a controversial comic strip depicting the World Trade Center rebuilt as an IHOP with two stacks of pancakes rising high into the sky, and how it affects his roommate who is trying to quietly run a pirate radio station out of his basement. The movie stars Fausto Caceres (from the radio show, Shirley and Spinoza) and Jesse Reklaw (the cartoon, "Slow Wave"), and uses their real lives and weaves them into a fictional story.

Go to www.compoundeyemovie.com for info and a trailer.

The screenings are:
Sunday, Oct. 7 at 5:30pm at the CineArts@Sequoia theater in Mill Valley
Sat. Oct. 13 at 2:45pm at the Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.

Tickets can be purchased at www.mvff.com (search "Compound Eye")
Please support local filmmaking!

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Hey everyone! If you've got a minute, check out our comics!

Alterna Comics — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 03:13:44 GMT

Hey guys! We're new to this board and we'd like to invite you to check out our site, www.alternacomics.com. We've got a lot of great titles (and i'm not just saying that because i'm the publisher!) and we really do have something for everyone. We'd like your feedback on what you think about our lineup so hopefully you like what you see!

take care and thanks!
Peter Simeti
Publisher
Alterna Comics

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Crisis2Crisis

elfie — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 23:48:47 GMT

http://www.sylvanelf.com/Crisis2Crisis/

Above is my best attempt at creating a list of important tie-ins to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis. The goal is to give readers a list and order of books to read that will give them the whole story and still fit on one shelf. I don't want every major event in DC history that happened between the Crises, just those that somehow tie in to the Crises themselves.

I tried to group these logically while still keeping them in the correct reading order. Bolded items would be considered required while all others would be considered strongly suggested. I'd consider adding an "also suggested" category which would be less important books that still tie-in and would possibly drive the list to two shelves. Items in italics would probably fall into that category. Feel free to ignore the asterisks, which indicate books that I do not yet own.

Naturally since Infinite Crisis has not yet concluded, it is not yet on the list, nor are the upcoming events of 52. Also since Infinite Crisis has not yet concluded, it might turn out that there are other books that tie in that we don't know about yet or that some of the books listed here actually have nothing to do with it even though we were lead to believe they did.

Most importantly though, I want your opinion. I don't pretend to be an authority on DC history, just a fan, one who has only been reading since about the time that Superman was killed by Doomsday. I need your help to get this right. So please, give me your feedback about anything that you think might need to be added, removed, or reordered and why.

posted in comicbooks - 37 replies

FREE Creature Fan Comic

tonyakay — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 03:13:39 GMT

You've seen her as Creature in SCIFI's "Who Wants To Be A Superhero", spinning fire on NBC's "America's Got Talent", touring with the hit band Panic At The Disco as well as making music in the Off-Broadway STOMP...

Now you can follow the rise to stardom of a superhero who really is changing the world with this limited edition fire spinning comic pin up.

Promoting the release of this autmn's full-length comic with Blam Ventures, only 150 copies of the Tonya Kay Comic Pre-Release Package will ever be printed, numbered and autographed - making it a true collector's item.

Printed on 100% recycled paper, this fire spinning comic centerfold is breath takingly drawn by the comic industry's top artists (Spiderman, Transformers, Hulk).

The package also includes a free character rendering of Tonya Kay as REALITI in this autumn's full-length comic release, a free CREATURE postcard (as seen on the SCIFI channel) and two FREE 16 page Creature Fan Comics. No kidding. This is your way to follow Tonya Kay's superhero career from the very beginning.

Celebrate the heroism that has been inspired in you.

Available exclusively at http://kayosmarket.com

posted in comicbooks - 10 replies

Y the Last Man

Painglass — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 02:18:49 GMT

Anyone else as excited as i am for the next book to come out May 2?! I've been following this series since the first issue and can't wait to see where the story line is going!

posted in comicbooks - 8 replies

Collaboration!

DevastatorJr — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:36:06 GMT

Hi guys,

I'm working on producing some comics and was wondering if anyone out there knows anyone with a very specific skill-set I could collaborate with. I'm looking for a Writer who also enjoys creating with Photoshop, Illustrator or Flash.

Basically, I want to do a comic "The Marvel Way" -- I have a general plot, characters, theme, but I need a writer to help flesh out the details and provide snazzy dialogue. I'll do the main art in pen and ink, then my collaborator will embellish and lay it out digitally.

I've been trying to do it all myself, but it's just an uphill battle, and hey, two heads are better than one. I live in NYC, so preferably this person is on the East Coast, but in this new digital wonderland, location may not be a factor.

So, come on guys, do me a favor and get the word out!

Excelsior!

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Tony Stark MUST be stopped........

stefographer — Tue, 08 May 2007 23:22:03 GMT

Okay, so due to a VERY anemic wallet - i've had to avoid my favorite comic stores for the past few months..., as i've had to realized that once insid any of them..., i have NO self control... i've had to just avoid them.....

So i had a relapse..., and found my Marvelverse to have become a dark place indeed.....

Stark has gotten WAY too damn powerful...... I wouldn't be surprised if he had MORE to do withSteve Rogers being shot.....

So who are we gonna get to stop him....???!!!

posted in comicbooks - 13 replies

Hawthorne High School Comic Book Convention

Big Apple Convention — Tue, 08 May 2007 20:57:29 GMT

The Hawthorne High School Comic Convention
arrives this Saturday with many new comic creators
added to the guest list!

The Hawthorne High School Comic Convention arrives this Saturday May
12th from 10am â€“ 4pm. With a guest line up all but the biggest comic
conventions would be envious of, the school looks forward to its
greatest convention ever.

Here are some of the most recent additions to the guest list:

Mike Oeming (Powers, Cross Bronx)
Mark Texiera (Black Panther)
Ivan Brandon (NYC Mech, Cross Bronx)
Andy MacDonald (NYC Mech)
Rags Morales (Identity Crisis)
Tom Raney (Civil War, Uncanny X Men)
Rich Buckler Sr. (almost every character at DC & Marvel!!!)
Dennis Calero (X Factor)
Bob Smith (Batman)
Mercy Van Vlack (Richie Rich, Evolution Comics)
Ken Gale (Creepy, Good Guys, Nuff Said)
Chris Moreno (Sidekick, WW Hulk: Frontline)
M. Sean McManus
Rob Granito
Louis Small Jr. (Vamparella)
Bob Hardin (Sgt. Rock)
Buddy Scalera (7 Days to Fame)

This is in addition to the amazing guests we already booked:

Gene Colan (Dracula, Daredevil, Batman)
Jim Salicrup (Editor Papercutz, Marvel)
Danny Fingeroth (Editor Marvel, Write Now)
Mark Schultz (Cadillacâ€™s & Dinosaurs, Prince Valiant)
Joe Sinnott (Fantastic Four, Spiderman)
Ian Dorian (painter, penciller, sculptor)
Guy Dorian (painter, penciller)
Scott Roberts (Pattycake, Nickelodeon, Prince Valiant)
Tania Del Rio (Sabrina)
Joe Giella (Tent.) (Batman, Green Lantern, Flash and Americaâ€™s
sweetheart Mary Worth)
Rudy Nebres (Vamperilla, Creepy, Eerie)
Doug Baron (penciller, Kubert School teacher)
Tommy Castillo (Batman, Toe Tags, duCret School teacher)
Paulo Rivera (painter Marvel)
Daniel Reed (Retro Dead)
Mark Romanowski (painter, duCret School instuctor)
Mark Sparacio (painter, Miss Liberty)
John Workman (Heavy Metal, letterer extraordinary!)
Bob Wiacek (inker Marvel, DC)
Paul Banono (penciller)
Dave DeVries (painter, creator of Monster Engine)
Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art
Students from the Joe Kubert School
Melissa Goldberg (independent creator)
Caitlyn Flynn (independent creator)

The guests are not the only activity at the convention. Ken Gale will
be moderating a panel at 3pm featuring comic creators from every era of
comics. The panel will include comics great Gene Colan and be held in
Room 111.

We will have our yearly auction featuring original artwork, books and
prints from some of the attending artists and items generously donated
by Fantagraphics Books (a limited edition signed book by Neil Gaiman)
and Eva Ink Publishing (items from Arthur Suydam and Michael Golden).
Winnerâ€™s names will be drawn at 2:30 pm at the auction booth. You must
be present at the time of the drawing to win!

Here is the schedule of art lessons being offered at the show. Art
supplies will be supplied by the school, except for painting supplies
(you must bring your own).

ART LESSONS held in Room 122:

10:30am ANATOMY taught by Kubert School instructor Ian Dorian

11:30am CREATING COMICS FROM A â€“ Z taught by editors Danny Fingeroth
(Write Now and Marvel) and Jim Salicrup (Papercutz, Marvel and Topps)

12:30 pm DRAWING MANGA taught by Sabrina the Teenage Witch artist Tania
Del Rio

1:30pm PAINTING COMIC ART taught by duCret School instructor Mark
Romanowski

There are a few dealer tables still available.

Here is all the info you will need to get to the convention:

Hawthorne High School Comic Convention
Saturday May 12th, 2007
10am â€“ 4 pm
Hawthorne High School
160 Parmelee Avenue
Hawthorne, NJ 07506

Admission is only $3!

If youâ€™re driving MAPQUEST is great for directions. You can get to
convention from NYC by taking NJ Transit from Penn Station, just a
30-minute ride from midtown.

Wonderful food is available within walking distance in Hawthorne and
with so much going on plan to stay for the day.

This will be a very special day for the school and students, for the
comic creators and for you the fans. For more information, or dealer
tables contact Allan Rosenberg at: alllal@aol.com.

Our web page is at the Big Apple Conventions website: bigapplecon.com.

We send our get well wishes to our best friend Irwin Hasen!!!!!!!!!!

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

batman665

hughmanatee — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 05:57:07 GMT

posted in another tribe but I wanna find who replies

the truth behind what happened in 52-- the story of what bruce went through in the cave in isolation. . . what happened?

It's revealed in 665 but I dont trust Morrison, I know he had a direct hand in this as he writes both Batman and 52 but I dislike the direction he's going in.

Anyone else feel the same way or am I alone?

I think Bats is better left alone and not broken down. Morrison is going into the Joe Cool shit and that is ridiculous. . . or maybe I'm wrong. . . . .

D.C.U. has gotten so clean that Bats should just find his place and stay== stop sending him into space and elsewhere he belongs in gotham. If JLA needs Tactical info, course of action etc. that's one thing but c'mon. He's my fav character but dont stretch it . . . I love and hate Grant Morrison's run.
posted by:

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Back issue help

Adrian — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:27:16 GMT

Does anyone of any good and free bit torrents where i can catch on the litiny of comics i'm behind on. Most the x-books and the good indie books from verdigo.

I tried demonoid and got a few but i hate signing up for site cause of the spam.

Help!!!

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

First Batch of Artists for Big Apple Con June 23-24 Confirmed!

Big Apple Convention — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 09:00:37 GMT

Hey, folks, we've got the first batch of artists confirmed for the Big Apple Convention June 23-24! In no particular order, they are...

Mitchell Breitweiser
Michael Lark
James Rodriguez
Irwin Hasen
Khary Randolph
Rudy Nebres
Guy Dorian
Ian Dorian
Tommy Castillo
Melvin Yaglan
Mark Sparacio
Ray Felix
Mark Mazz
Ed Tranquino
Mike Mazerko

...And you can be sure we will be adding to that list soon!

Captain Zorikh
http://www.bigapplecon.com
http://www.captainzorikh.com

Be sure to join the group of your choice for the latest updates, discussion, and pictures from the Big Apple Convention:

Tribe:
http://tribes.tribe.net/bigapplecon
Yahoo:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bigapplecon/
MSN:
http://groups.msn.com/BigAppleCon/
MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/bigapplenyc

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Gigslist - ShowBiz News, jobs, auditions, tips, resumes and resources.

deborahpaulino — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:07:30 GMT

Gigslist - ShowBiz News, jobs, auditions, tips, resumes and resources.

OoooooooooooooooooO
Listings are from Gigslist.org Main Board from the past 7 Days.
Ooooooo

Greenbelt, MD - Crew and Auditions, April 9-10 FreeJobs
OutOftheBlackBox Theatre Company (O2B2) will hold auditions for "Volpone," a new adaptation by Bill Jones of the play by Ben Jonson http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=696

Arts Resources Wanted for Industry Directory
Submit your arts site, group, tribe, mailing list, publication to the Arts Job Bible for free and Free membership to Gigslist.org and free listing. http://www.gigslist.org

Touring - Guitar Tech for the Wallflowers Paid Jobs
Seeking touring Guitar Tech for the Wallflowers.
http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=700

The Arts Job Bible 831 places to find jobs, casting calls, crew, talent, funding, networking, and industry contacts in Acting, Music, Music Industry, Theatre, Backstage, Film, TV, and Video. Regularly updated with new listings. Only $6.95 at http://www.gigslist.org

Beverly Hills, CA - Administrative Assistant Paid Jobs
Music/Special Events Management Agency (3-4 person office) seeking a Full-Time Administrative Assistant http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=699

Gigslist Reel Idol - Reel Submissions Wanted
Register a Free Account to Submit your Reel and Vote on other Reels Click here… http://www.gigslist.org/user.php?op=register&module=NewUser

Rock music needed for upcoming film FreeJobs http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=698

Entertainment Contract Library
Know what is in a contract ahead of time so you know what you are signing. Digital files that you can use again and again, save thousands on lawyers fees. 100% Money Back Guarantee. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=3&page=1

SF Bay Area - Event Photographers Needed Paid Jobs
Event photography firm looking for freelance photographers to work during May and June at graduations. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=697

San Francisco CA - Storyboard Artist Paid Jobs
Moviehead Pictures is hiring a Storyboard Artist Needed For Romantic Thriller, http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=695

Los Angeles CA - Carpenters Paid Jobs
Looking for day player carpenters with tools and experience pay is $200 per day. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=694

Hollywood, CA - Receptionist/Vault Librarian Paid Jobs
PlasterCITY Digital seeking a friendly energetic individual to answer phones and manage our tape library. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=693

Aliso Viejo, CA - Stunt Coordinator/Stuntman Paid Jobs
We are looking for a stunt coordinator/stuntman for an upcoming short film/trailer production. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=692

New York - Casting PSA Paid Jobs
Looking to cast two roles, one of a Doctor and one of a patient who will be in his underwear being examined on a New York city street. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=691

New York City - Casting Web/Interactive Paid Jobs
SEEKING ACTORS FOR a KOREAN/JAPANESE WEB-DRAMA. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=690

Chicago, IL - Feature Film Cast and Crew Call Paid Jobs
Film company seeking cast and crew for indy film. Seeking all ages, genders and ethnicity's. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=689

Lakewood NJ - Female Variety Dancer Performer Paid Jobs
woman, under 30, who can tap dance and/or perform a specialty number such as juggling, balloon twisting, magic, hula hoops, etc. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=688

Anywhere - Game Animators Paid Jobs
Mocap Latte, a motion capture studio, is looking for freelance Max and Maya animators. for upcoming game and film work. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=687

Washington DC - Supervising Editor, Impact of War Paid Jobs
National Public Radio The Supervising Editor provides editorial and production guidance to Bureau Chief and NPR member station staff
http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=686

Washington DC - Broadcast/Recording Technician Paid Jobs
National Public Radio has several immediate openings for Broadcast/Recording Technicians. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=685

4/7 New Jersey - Pitch Session at Fairleigh Dickinson Unversity Events
Seating Limited!! Pitch to Oscar Winner Larry Meistrich (Sling Blade, You Can Count on Me, Belly) and execs from the newly formed NEHST Creations. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=684

Philippines - Asian Stallions / Collaboration /Support Classifieds
We are Indiefilmaker in the Philippines who will collaborate/support with projects who has budgets ranging from $35,000.00 to $600,000. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=683

Culver City, CA - Models for music video. Paid Jobs
We need fabulous babes for a rap video next Tuesday all day in Culver City with possible shoots also Weds night, Thursday night.
Note: Members only listing, Gigslist.org membership is free. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=682

Santa Monica, CA - Part Time Receptionist Paid Jobs
Small commercial post-production facility in Santa Monica looking to fill facility receptionist/concierge position. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=681

San Francisco - Casting Short Film - Multiple Roles Paid Jobs
Graduate Film Directors seeking actors for their next project. Duration: 6 Hours spread over 3 days, starts April 5 - Non-Union artist contracts http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=680

Baltimore/ Washington - Casting Menopause The Musical Paid Jobs
Equity Principle and understudy positions Seeking: Actresses who can sing and move well. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=679

Los Angeles - Casting for Daily Show Paid Jobs
Established production company casting for female lead for a unique and witty daily show. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=678

New York City - Casting for Korean / Japanese Web Drama Paid Jobs
Casting qactors for Korean / Japanese Web Drama . Duration: 13 days (Not Everyday) , starts March 25th. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=677

Sonoma CA - Location Scout Paid Jobs
Need location scouting for outdoor dance music video and dance art piece. Need about 5-6 locations in Northern CA. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=676

New Jersey - Part Time Photographer Paid Jobs
In this position, you must be friendly and have desire to work weekends. A car, internet and email are a must!! http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=675

Atlanta GA - Art Director/Senior Designer Paid Jobs
Seeking Art Director/Senior Designer, award-winning design and animation studio, high-end 2D / 3D design for television and advertising. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=674

New York - Administrative Employee Paid Jobs
New York Film Academy seeking an Administrative Employee whose main function will be establishing and maintaining contact with student candidates. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=673

Seattle WA - AV Tech Paid Jobs
National event staffing agency is looking for a basic Trade Show AV Tech http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=672

Manhattan NY - Freelance 3D Artist/Compositors Paid Jobs
Interviewing the following:3D Artists –Must know XSI, Maya and 3D Studio Max. Compositors - Must know Shake, Fusion and After Effects. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=671

LA, Miami, NYC - TV Crew Paid Jobs
New weekly national TV Magazine in Hebrew seeks local crews in multiple cities for 1-2 days of work per week for ongoing work starting in May. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=670

Nor Cal - MARCH 16,17,18,31 & 4/1 Female Model Jobs Paid Jobs
Affinity Models has Female Model Jobs in Northern California http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=669

Seeks position in the entertainment production sector Resumes
Objective:Secure a position in Entertainment Productionwhere I can utilize my professional skills to help bring creative projects to fruition. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=668

San Francisco, CA - Auditions/Short Narratives FreeJobs
Don't miss this amazing opportunity to audition for upwards of 20 short films - all LEADING ROLES. One easy on-camera casting session. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=667

Palo Alto, CA - Video Editor/HTML Paid Jobs
FriendFinder, Inc. seeking motivated individual with extensive experience in digital video editing and file preparation for web delivery. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=666

San Francisco, CA - Get Paid To Talk About Books Paid Jobs
We have found that people are interested what other people have to say about books; especially as it relates to you. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=665

Telecommute - Motion Graphics Designer/Animator Paid Jobs
Motion Graphics Designer: 2D or 3D AnimatorSan Jose, CA Portland, OR Seattle, WA http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=664

New Jersey - Directors, Musical Directors, and Choreographers Paid Jobs
The Theater Company at DeBaun Auditorium, located on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, is seeking http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=663

Thursday, March 15, 2007 Read full article: 'New Jersey - Directors, Musical Directors, and Choreographers'

New York, NY - Guitarists who Sing Paid Jobs
The New York Kids Club, with four Manhattan locations, is seeking Guitarists who Sing to perform during classes and class transitions.
http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=662

NYC - Female Dancers Paid Jobs
NYC's Dance Makers, Inc., non profit Dance Company seeking dancers of all ethnicities for upcoming performances at Theatre Three http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=661

Sarasota, FL - Intern Pianist Paid Jobs
Florida Studio Theatre, a professional Equity regional theatre, is seeking an intern pianist for the Theatre’s active Children’s program http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=660

Los Angeles CA - On Camera Assistant Paid Jobs
Prestigious On Camera division of major commercial agency seeks an assistant to three agents. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=659

Chicago IL - New Media coordinator Paid Jobs
Candidate would have extensive experience working with band websites, marketing, fan clubs, myspace, etc. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=658

Search is on for Happy Little Vegemites News
Kraft closer to identifying original Happy Little Vegemites after national call for the children who appeared in the iconic 1950s advertisement. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=657

Los Angeles CA - Actors for independent film Paid Jobs
The independent low-budget thriller Next To Die is shooting in June and July of this year. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=656

Nor Cal - Receptionist Paid Jobs
America's Premiere acting and modeling academy, John Robert Powers San Ramon is seeking an energetic and professional receptionist. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=655

Boyton Beach, FL - Light Board Op, Flyman, Deck Electrician, Stagehand Paid Jobs
New Vista Theatre Company seeking to fill out its crew for the final production in its premiere season. Also looking for load in help. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=654

Manheim, PA - Assistant Costumer Paid Jobs
Design Opportunity Possible - Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire is looking for someone to step up to the challenge. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=653

NYC - Stage Manager, Sound Person, Stage Hand FreeJobs
This is a Lesbian Comedy Variety Show.One show only on Saturday May 12. Would need a few rehearsals to learn cues. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=652

LA - Production Assistant/Driver Paid Jobs
HD, NYC-based series looking for LA Production Assistant to PA for 1-3 days for interviews March 19-21. Note: Members Only Listing - Gigslist.org membership is free http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=651

James Miller: Delays, Delays at REDCAT, Los Angeles, March 20th Events
James Miller Man and machine carry out a techno pas de deux performing delightfully inventive "short stories" for trombone and digital signal processor. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=650

SF Bay Area - Radio Reporters and Producers Needed Paid Jobs
Self contained magazine features reporting would be required - the series of 8-10 episodes would have a theme to link them. KQED/NPR and BBC http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=649

San Francisco CA - Production Coordinator for feature film Paid Jobs
Center for Asian American Media seeking Post Production Supervisor for SF-based independent digital feature by established Director. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=648

San Diego CA - Plus Models & Alternate Sizes FreeJobs
Seeking 3-5 Plus size and alternate models for fashion shoot for plus size and alternate sizes for a portfolio for several events this year http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=647

Lavallette NJ - Casting Summer Vaudeville & Children’s Story Time Paid Jobs
The Music Man is a unique family-style ice cream Shoppe where the cast/waiters (guys and gals) sing, dance and improv with the audience. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=646

Los Angeles CA - Multi-Media Producer - CBS Interactive Paid Jobs
Needed to edit and post clips on daily basis; shoot and edit special projects; confirm specification and legal clearance of all video materials. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=645

St. Louis MO - Motion Graphics Designer/Animator Paid Jobs
Technisonic, a broadcast production company, is seeking a motion graphics designer/animator for TV commercials. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=644

Studio City CA - Writer/Producer Paid Jobs
Write, produce and direct documentary on Outer Space.Must have documentary experience and be able to start immediately. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=643

New York NY - Supervising Producer for Reality Competition Paid Jobs
Creative and organized NY based Supervising Producer needed for two reality competition food/cooking pilots for popular cable TV networks. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=642

Rohan de Saram at REDCAT, Los Angeles, March 16th at 8:30 p.m. Events
Rohan de Saram plays Carter, Xenakis, Berio, Reynolds, and Schubert "Rohan de Saram is a cello phenomenon, one of the greatest of our time." Kölnische Rundshau http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=641
Englewood, NJ - Costumed Characters for Benefit Paid Jobs
2 actors to be in rabbit costumes for March Madness Benefit for the Boarder Babies and Adoption programs for Children's Aid and Family Services. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=640

Bellport, NY - Associate Casting/Artistic Director Paid Jobs
Seeking talented individual to provide support to the Artistic Office and assist Gateway Playhouse Artistic Director in all creative endeavors. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=639

Irving TX - Traffic Assistant - Fox Networks Paid Jobs
The Traffic Assistant is responsible for inputting orders for national and local commercial material. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=638

Telecommute - 3d Animator Paid Jobs
We are Handling 3D Animation projects (Television Series) for Various International clients. We are in lookout for 3d Animators and 3d Artistes. http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=637

Phoenix AZ - Reality TV Writer/Producer Paid Jobs
Looking for writer/producer for major cable network reality show. Demonstrated creative storytelling and ability to direct and supervise http://www.gigslist.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=636

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posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

PR: Unscrewed! Continues to set records going into it's 3rd week of auctions!

Danny — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 03:48:50 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Unscrewed Auctions Continue To Climb!

Unscrewed! (www.unscrewedcomic.com), the collection of creators, publishers,
retailers, and fans which banded together at the beginning of the year to
take on an immoral and unethical publisher/convention promoter and provide
financial assistance to those victimized by his company, ended its second
week of auctions, bringing the total raised in both auction rounds to about
$1800.

Unscrewed! is also pleased to announce that their first act has been to
provide financial aid to an individual that is moving forward with to
collect damages awarded in a successful lawsuit against the publisher for
nonpayment. Unscrewed! proudly opened its checkbook to help make sure
justice is served.

The third week of UNSCREWED's auctions has begun and there are a slew of new
items on tap to assist more victimized freelance creators.

"The first two weeks have been phenomenal!" Media representative Danny
Donovan says. "This week we have even more one-of-a-kind pieces, one of
which is the rarest of the rare: a blank piece of paper. That might not
sound like a big thing but you have to know who the blank piece of paper
belongs to."

Artist James A. Owen is donating his services to draw whatever the winner of
the auction desires. Those interested in learning how wide-ranging Owen's
talents are should visit:

http://www.coppervaleinternational.com/
http://coppervale.livejournal.com/
http://www.heretherebedragons.net

"It's almost unprecedented!" Donovan explains of Owen's donations. "To say
that James rarely does commissions would be the mother of all
understatements, and the fact that this will be up to the imagination of the
winning bidder makes it even more of a treat. Dying to see his
interpretation of the battle of Minas Tirith? Or maybe your favorite JSAer
or Marvel Super-Hero? Your call!"

This week's collection also features work by Rummblestrips creator Joanne
Ellen Munch, who is offering up an original "Death" drawing from the cast of
Neil Gaiman's Sandman along with signed editions of her Rummblestrips comic
book.

52 writer Mark Waid donates a signed edition of the Superman: Birthright
hardcover complete with autographed script to Birthright #1. Birds of Prey
artist Nicola Scott delves into the Whedonverse, to offer a host of Angel
(the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off) merchandise.

"You get two great pieces of art from the Angel: Spotlight - Illyria book."
Donovan says. "The package also includes the book they appeared in, signed
by Nicola!"

Also up for auction is critically acclaimed and award winning Drawn &
Quarterly graphic novel The Golem's Mighty Swing, signed by the author,
James Sturm.

"We thank everyone who has bid on the past two weeks of auctions." Donovan
concludes. "And we thank everyone who has donated and CONTINUES to donate.
Rest assured the auctions will continue for as long as there is stuff to
auction off. So if you do want to contribute there is always time... And if
you haven't been able to snag anything yet don't be discouraged, there is
ample opportunity to get something incredible from Unscrewed! Please be sure
to check the website http://www.unscrewedcomic.com for auction totals and
up-to-date information on the upcoming anthology."

###

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Big Apple Convention Tribe!

Big Apple Convention — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 14:59:37 GMT

ANNOUNCING BIG APPLE CONVENTION TRIBE

The longest-running comic book/sci-fi/fantasy/horror/pop culture convention in New York now has its own Tribe! The Big Apple Convention invites you to join this tribe and share pictures and discussion. Updates on the coming conventions will be posted there. Feel free to comment on your experience at the convention and let us know what you would like to see there!

Captain Zorikh
http://www.captainzorikh.com
http://www.bigapplecon.com

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Looking for...

JamaicanSteve — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:40:38 GMT

Anyone heard of a comic called “Bop Robot” or “Pop Robot” (not sure which)? It was recommended by a friend of mine and I’d like to check it out. I guess it is based on a cat with a robot for a bodyguard... something to do with a band and time travel... Any of this sounding familiar to anyone?

Cheers’
Jamaican Steve

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Big Apple Con June 23-24

Big Apple Convention — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 20:26:47 GMT

Hey, folks, just a quick note from Captain Zorikh to remind you all that the next great Big Apple Convention is on June 23rd & 24th. Guests, panels, and events to be announced. An official announcement will be made in 30 days.

And be sure to visit the Big Apple Con booth in the dealer’s room at the New York Comic Con this weekend, and visit the Watch This Space booth in the celebrity signing room for the latest from Captain Zorikh and the Doom Maidens!

Captain Zorikh
http://www.bigapplecon.com
http://www.captainzorikh.com

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

New to the world of comics...

JamaicanSteve — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 05:22:36 GMT

I just recently have become highly interested in comics and have spent the last couple of months seeking out a serise to start with. After spending hours browsing the rack I've finally found something that suits me... Shaolin Cowboy. What an amazing piece of literature! The art is fantastic and the story line is right up my ally. Now that I've found a great comic I keep thinking there must be more like this out there. Can anyone recommend a comic with similar flair in regard to quality of artwork? One of the other series I started reading was Fell and I've also been digging Zombies Vs. Robots by IDW Publising...

Cheers'
Jamaican Steve

posted in comicbooks - 5 replies

Not so gory comics?

valleyvampiress — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 23:16:23 GMT

Can anyone recommend some low-gore comics to read? I am new to the comic world and am not really into major gore.

posted in comicbooks - 10 replies

OM-fucking-G !!!!! Coolest shyt EVER......!!!!! (maybe...)

stefographer — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 01:52:27 GMT

Had NO idea this was coming out THIS year.....!!!!!

How awesome does SilSurfr LOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/fantasticfourriseofthesilversurfer/large.html

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

All You Need is Don!

BarryKeller — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 21:00:01 GMT

As a few of you know, I run a website called The Art of Don Newton (www.donnewton.com). Don was a comic book artist, first as a fan in the 1960s and early 1970s and then as a professional from 1975 through 1985. Don died in 1984 and my site is a tribute to the man and his art.

It's hard to get people interested in Don these days, since he has been dead for over 20 years now, but those who do remember Don remember him more than fondly. Over the years of doing my site I have become the de facto Don Newton expert and when someone wants to do something on Don I usually get an email.

This happened about seven months ago. I got a message from Michael Eury, the editor of BACK ISSUE magazine. He wanted to do a Newton article and he wanted to know if I was interested. I got a paycheck, comp copies of the magazine and, more importantly, I got to spread the gospel of Don Newton to a whole new cast of comic fans.

The magazine came out this week. I'm pretty damn proud of the effort.

In his editorial Michael Eury says...

Those of you who have been reading this magazine for a while know that BACK ISSUE traditionally does not feature career-spanning retrospectives of writer or artists... I've rejected several proposals from writers who wanted to do a "Fill-in-the-Blank-Name-of-a-Famous-Artist Issue" of this magazine--that's simply not our purview.

But then there's Don Newton.

Don Newton's name has popped up in letters and emails from BI readers more so than any other creator's. Many of our readers fondly remember Newton's work, and have asked for it to be covered in these pages.

And then there is this...

From this week's Scoop e-newsletter:

Back Issue #19
Off the Presses, Scoop, Friday, November 17, 2006

TwoMorrows Publishing; $6.95

Probably the best issue of the publication to date, Back Issue #19 features an amazing and insightful cover story on the art and the life of the late Don Newton. In addition, Michael Eury gives readers the “Backstage Pass” to Geppi's Entertainment Museum in the form of a photo tour of the attraction. And if that was not enough, find out about the CBS Justice League-based pilot that never was in an Unlimited Powers feature and delve in the history of The Defenders and The Champions as Back Issue flashes back in time,

A lot of work, but well worth it to me if it makes even one new Don Newton fan. My only gripes are that they didn't mention my website and there are a couple of edits that read wrong. Oh, and a piece of art is mislabeled as being inked by Dan Adkins when it is clearly signed by Frank McLaughlin.

But hey, I got the cover, the background image on the Table-of-Contents, a four-page gallery, a sixteen-page article by me and a two-page "Memories of Don Newton" by Don's good friend Jay Willson. That's twenty-four pages of Don!

Not too shabby! Spread the word!

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

House of M

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:30:11 GMT

Okay so I just finished reading the House of M graphic and was wondering what follows that? Is it out in graphic or individual form. Thanks!

posted in comicbooks - 3 replies

Dumping the lot...

Steamboat_Ed — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 20:57:55 GMT

Ayup, gotta make room for more stuff so I'm hoping to sell my entire collection of maybe 3,000 comics; mostly Marvels from the '70s, '80s. Any advice on how to go about it appreciated; i.e. should I do it by the box on ebay, or is there a better strategy?

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

MAXIM and Civil War

SkyeSidhe — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 00:14:45 GMT

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=91273
yup..they think its one of the Awesomest things of 2006.
this makes me sad..and this is why:
one of the posters says basically that no publicity can be bad publicity, that if mainstream media is saying comics are cool that can't be a bad thing...but here's where I have a beef with that...
honestly, if you are giving mainstream publicity to a -bad- comic, it only makes you look like more of a goob. I think that whole no publicity is bad publicity thing is such shite. I want to be looked at as someone who reads well made things (whether they are comics, books, short stories, etc) by the mainstream (or anyone caring to have an opinion), as someone who has taste..and by holding that up as an example of what is the best comics have to offer...its just making us all look like we have no taste, cause if that's the best..what does the rest of it look like?
No offense meant if you like Civil War..but honestly, I don't think its a good miniseries, on any level...part of me was ready to become a newsarama member just so I could post this here..but sadly you will have to deal with my soap-box-toting rather than them..

posted in comicbooks - 8 replies

Say it an't so...

comicbreed — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:45:01 GMT

Read the first issue free! While your at it comic lovers read the second issue four page preview!

link link www.beckrosestudios.net

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Alan Moore news

RAB — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 03:26:57 GMT

I can say with all honesty I never saw THIS coming:

http://www.northantsnews.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=317&ArticleID=1865011

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Grant Morrison and the Wildstorm Relaunch

DevastatorJr — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 12:40:30 GMT

...No response in the other tribe, so I'll post here too...

Everybody's favorite psychedelic cue-ball, Grant Morrison is going hogwild for Wildstorm, he's going to be writing several books for the imprint.

Yesterday I picked up issue #1 The Authority but haven't had a chance to read it yet. I actually skipped on WildC.A.T.s, since I never really got into the concept from the beginning.

He's doing some other books but I forget what.

I guess the whole Wildstorm universe is being relaunched, did anybody read those books before, will you be reading the new versions?

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse

thoughtleader — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 06:46:59 GMT

I'm into the third installment of the mini-series. the art is fantastic and the story is fun. any fans?

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

something so silly...

kimyang13 — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:16:36 GMT

it's still silly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVdgmkc-xJA

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

300 trailer ,,,,,

DavidBrowne — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:45:03 GMT

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/300/

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

New Fantastic Four skit

DJ_JOE_INC — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 23:30:50 GMT

the new Norm McDonald CD has a funny skit about the Fantastic Four- not news I guess
it also has a funny Superman skit also

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes

ninjafari — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 16:54:14 GMT

Deepak Chopra and Grant Morrison explore the social subconscious.

Thursday at the San Diego Comic-Con brought an intriguing collaboration. Grant Morrison and Deepak Chopra, having met for the first time the previous night, had a discussion about the role superheroes play in the social fabric.

A superhero is "symbolic expression of the social subconscious," according to Chopra. "The superhero is a mythological being" who exists "beyond outerspace and innerspace, creating a new idea of being."

Even deconstructing superheroes, a '90s movement fronted by the likes of Morrison, "comes from fear," according to the comics writer. "People are scared to be hopeful." And though writers and society pummeled Superman, he persevered and the core character survived for the new era of comics just now emerging.

Chopra suggested that the seven spiritual laws could mirror the seven chakras. "A Chakra is a junction point between consciousness and reality," Chopra explained before leading the audience through all seven.

"First chakra - Stability. Infinite centered awareness and dynamism.
Second chakra - Transformation. An absolute allegiance to transformation. Willingness not to have a permanent identity
Third - Power. Not in the sense of muscle, but in intention.
Fourth -- Love and compassion. Nothing better it is integrated with the rest of the Chakras.
Fifth - Creativity. Always creative solutions.
Sixth - Intuition.
Seventh - Transcendence."

The seven chakras can also be linked to the idea of seven gods, a theme that clearly parallels the seven main characters of the JLA.

"Look at the JLA," Morrison said. "They all map on the chakras. Batman is a human being of ultimate power [and intention.] Flash is communication. Superman is about giving selflessly He represents the sun. He is that thing that loves us unconditionally."

He added later that "Batman is like Christ harrowing Hell, because only he can withstand it. He endures everything for us. Batman is a character who was almost brought to the brink of his destruction," but who persevered. Batman is our shadow and "we have to look at the shadow and integrate the shadow [into our consciousness]."

And "yeah," Morrison admitted, Seven soldiers is an allegory to seven gods. "Mr. Miracle is the transcendent character," the seventh Chakra.

Superheroes are our new mythology. They are not so different from the Greek Gods, who were not as deeply seeded in religion as some may think. But what is mythology on a deeper level?

As Deepak Chopra asserts, a mythology "must address the collective consciousness in a certain archetypal way. It must offer an idealist vision to aspire [towards]." He added that, "a good story should never end and good guys should never win."

"There are six plots that people retell," Morrison said. "These stories are told again and again."

Myth is related to the word mother. As Chopra called it, "the womb of creation." Myth is not just hokey stories that explain why the sun rises and falls. That's a very simplistic view. To put it poetically, myths are where "we express our deepest longing and aspirations of collective being." Myth is a social experience beyond genetic codes or organized religions.

"The human story is about a quest, falling down, but getting up again," Chopra said. "Death and rebirth. It's about redeeming yourself and then redeeming others."

Our existence is still young in the eyes of the universe. "In many ways," Chopra said, "we are reaching puberty. There's a lot of curiosity, mistakes, risk-taking. But it is an exciting time." One full of possibilities, though there are certain to be some growing pains.

Chopra proposed that our current destructive nature may not mean the end of human existence. In fact, it could be part of the natural order of evolution. "The are no fossil records of the evolutionary transition between lizard and bird." It happened, but we have no true proof, just as we cannot find the missing link between ape and man. Chopra suggested that it is possible a species can experience a "creative quantum leap."

Think of a caterpillar. "A caterpillar consumes more than it needs to eat until it reaches a point where its body begins to decay and die. Imaginal cells cluster. The send communications to each other. The caterpillar is imagining a new entity. [The imaginal cells] use the dying carcass of the caterpillar to feed. A dormant gene awakens and the dying caterpillar becomes a butterfly, a completely new creature."

Now consider that "cloning, tinkering with the intelligence of the universe," are "ideas that existed in ancient mythologies." Yesterday's mythologies are today's science.

So think of our modern myths. Think of the superhero. "Look at destruction of environment," Morrison said. Look at what has become of our world and our society. "We are the imaginal cells."

Chopra put it plainly. "Superheroes may be a prelude to an actual leap in our evolution," as our social conscious has the knowledge of the possibility of flight and other incredible, superhuman feats.

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Squirl: a site for collectors

kristy — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 15:55:28 GMT

A new website for collectors of all interests just launched a couple of weeks ago. The site, Squirl, lets collectors organize and share their collections online and meet other collectors. You can upload images of your collection, add descriptions, comment on other peoples' collections, and keep track of collections you like with RSS. Definitely a great site if you've got a comic book collection you want to show off!

check it out:

http://squirl.info

kristy

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Conan the Barbarian Comics, complete set pricing

jerriannwayahowl — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 11:02:38 GMT

Has anyone got a general idea what a complete set of Conan the Barbarian comic books would sell for. My brother has a set that he and I have collected from when they first came out, all 278 issues. Just curious about what that might be worth.If anyone knows please share that info and thanks. Jerriann

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

What the Hell Happened to Seven Soldiers?

elfie — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:11:40 GMT

Anyone have any idea whatever happened to the last issue of Seven Soldiers?

We got issue 0, we got all four issues of all 7 mini-series, and then we were SUPPOSED to get issue 1 at about the time that Infinite Crisis wrapped up.... but so far... nothing. Hell, the fourth collected trade was supposed to be out in July, but has been delayed cause the last issue still hasn't made it to shelves.

My ONLY theory is that Grant Morrison got pissed that the characters were used in IC, essentially giving away the "Which Soldier Will Die?" I won't give you the answer, but if you look through the last chapter (or two?) of IC, you can do a checklist yourself. So maybe when that happened, he decided to try to come up with a new ending that would still be a surpries, but wouldn't contradict IC... It's a goofy theory, but it's all I come up with unless DC just completely forgot they were supposed to be publishing this thing.

Anyone have any actual info or other strange theories?

posted in comicbooks - 4 replies

manifest eternity!!

chlorophil — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 07:19:11 GMT

anyone reading this series looks great , just havent gone out and got it yet!!

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Comics Lull

DevastatorJr — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 16:58:29 GMT

Is it just me, or are comics in a rutt right now? Sure, you can always find something good, but in general, there doesn't seem to be anything bold, new and exciting out there at the moment, no big movement. I don't mean content wise, like what's happening with any particular book or company but creatively, like the Brit Writers wave of a few years ago when Ennis, Morrison and Ellis became all the rage or the Image style art hayday.

What's the next big thing?

posted in comicbooks - 3 replies

my current favorite podcast...

kimyang13 — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:42:25 GMT

http://www.ifanboy.com/

:)

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Postal Mail Comic Subscription?

elfie — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 17:24:38 GMT

So has anyone... EVER... subscribed to a mainstream comic book directly from the publisher rather than a comic shop? I've always found this to be an appealing idea, especially now that there are only a couple books I actually get on a monthly (or weekly) basis, because it would save me a trip to the comic shop. But I always dreaded the thought of the mailman folding the comic in half or the publisher sticking a mailing label right on the cover. Are these valid concerns or do they actually ship individual comics with some sort of sturdy backing/packing?

posted in comicbooks - 5 replies

Spiderman 3 trailer

DavidBrowne — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 20:49:26 GMT

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/spider-man_3/

posted in comicbooks - 10 replies

Quiet?

BasinahSaahira — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 10:02:14 GMT

Hey guys, I'm just curious - why is it to quiet here?

I just ask cause with such big things going on with the Big Two, between the Civil War and One Year Later, not to even mention indies like Aspen, IDW and Image putting out fantastic stuff, I'd figured there'd be more comments.

Not a criticism (I'm only here like once a week if that anyway), just honest curiosity. Thanks!

posted in comicbooks - 5 replies

The crow

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 13:27:07 GMT

Hi everybody !
I've a question for you and like that Basinah will be happy :o)
I would like to know if it's possible to find the comic book The Crow in the books shop again ? Because I'm french and I would like to have the version US before I'll come back to France.
Thanks

posted in comicbooks - 5 replies

Hero

jmathew — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 03:43:57 GMT

Here's a little tribute I created honoring all the heroes I grew up reading about:

http://www.spinningblade.com/video/hero.html

posted in comicbooks - 4 replies

Tim Hildebrant passes away

Les — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:36:41 GMT

http://www.comicartfans.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1131

Dang. him and his brother Greg did a bunch of artwork for the X-Men cards from the 90's that I liked.

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Mocking Civil War

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 15:35:33 GMT

http://www.dieselsweeties.com/archive.php?s=1511

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

what is it about brians?

kolyang — Tue, 23 May 2006 22:22:52 GMT

Is it just the new hip name for people writing good comics these days? When you make it, do you change your name to Brian? It seems like 50% of the comics I read regularly are written by Brians.

Brian Azzarello
100 Bullets
Brian Michael Bendis
everything marvel in sight, but most importantly, Powers
Brian K. Vaughn
Ex Machina
Y The Last Man
Runaways
Brian Wood
DMZ
Supermarket
Local

OK, I just took a gander through my current reading, and that's not nearly 50% of the series I pick up, but it's got to be 50% of the authors that I really think are good, and from whom I would pick up a new comic just because they wrote it. That Robert Kirkman guy - he should change his name to Brian. And Brian Brubaker, then it would be a clean sweep.

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Paradoy of Dial H for Hero

Sat, 20 May 2006 12:17:25 GMT

http://www.dialbforblog.com/

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Diagnosis 2002

abeanstalk — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 18:10:18 GMT

In The Comfy Chair

After an Age ends, there's typically a dark time. In this case, that time was the 1990s. After the regular features, we'll explore the post-Bronze Age era and speculate on the birth of a new Age of comics…

"Cosmic Spider-Man Saga"
Spectacular Spider-Man #158-160, Web of Spider-Man #59-61, Amazing Spider-Man Vol. I #328
Marvel Comics
December 1989-February 1990
Written by Gerry Conway & David Michelinie
Art by Buscema, Saviuk, McFarlane, Larsen, Williams, Esposito & Mushynsky

This was one time where a massive company wide crossover tie-in actually worked. Over in the Avengers titles, Earth's mightiest heroes were dealing with the Acts of Vengeance (a scheme masterminded by Loki, that saw the major super-villains trading foes in an effort to throw their rivals off). Inevitably, Spidey was caught up in this and found himself squaring off against Past-Pot Pete, Titania, the Brothers Grimm, Goliath, T.E.S.S. One, Dragon Man and even the Hulk. What made this arc stand out was the fact that Spidey ended up having a little help along the way. After getting his butt handed to him by Paste-Pot Pete (!?), Peter got caught in an accident at school. Suddenly he began developing new super-powers; flight, supervision, energy blast, the ability to control his web mentally and more. In the end, the reason is relatively simple to figure out (I can't believe at the time that I missed a very obvious clue later in the run), but it makes for a neat twist to everyone's favorite webhead.

Of Note; Take a look at the Cosmic Spidey costume (as well as other "alternate" Spidey suits at http://spiderfan.org/characters/himself/costume/merged/

"The Quick and the Dead"
Flash Vol. II #100
DC Comics
April 1995
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Larrocca, Borjas, Pacheco, Jimenez & Marzan Jr.

The Flash was never one of my favorite heroes, but back in the day, I just couldn't resist the cover. Actually, it wasn't so much the gimmick foil letters that drew me in, rather it was the silhouette of the Flash that caught my eye (little did I know that DC would flog that to death, using a similar layout for Superman, Justice League and Wonder Woman anniversary issues later in the year). As for the story, it does suffer from a few problems (namely the huge number of characters and page after page of pointless cameos). All the Flash family of heroes are tripping over each other, trying to stop Kobra's ludicrous scheme to over throw the world and destroy Keystone City. What really clicked for me though, was Linda Park's story. She serves as the protagonist and narrator, leading the heroes against Kobra. At this point, the Flash appeared to be dead, lost into the speed force. Waid presented some poignant soliquays by Park ("My name is Linda Park and I am dead inside. Only the Flash could have stopped [Kobra], but he's gone now…and with him all my prayers and dreams. It's going to take a miracle to save us all…and I don't believe in miracles"). Here was a character I knew nothing of, and Waid had me feeling her pain on the first page. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying that Flash does return, setting up a superb finale that plays of off Linda's first soliquay perfectly.

Of Note; Flash fans might want to dash on over to http://www.flash-forward.net/flash/index.html , a great Flash resource site (including Silver Age Flash cartoons).

News From The Comfy Chair (Week of December 2nd, 2002)

There's speculation running that Marvel Comics' trademark "Stan-isms" may be on the way out in light of Stan Lee's lawsuit. The new X-Men themed HeroClix release was scheduled to be called "Xcelsior," but the title has been dropped "due to sudden circumstances beyond [WizKids] control"…Marvel's "Ultimate Sweeps" event for December looks to be a rousing success. The heavy promotion on the Ultimate line, coupled with the debut of Ultimate War, resulted in the line taking 6 out of the top 10 positions for the month… Prof X will be guest starring in the upcoming X-Statix storyline, "The Moons of Venus"…DC Comics is looking at the possibility of introducing limited returnability on their titles (hoping to curb the conservative nature of retailer ordering due to non-returnability). A saturation test with volunteer retailers seemed to indicate a 20% increase in sales…DC has announced five new titles to be collected in 2003. Leading the way is the first ever collected edition of the New Teen Titans Volume 2 (#1-5). There will also be JSA: Fair Play (#26-31, plus the lead feature of Secret Files #2), Batman Adventures: Dangerous Dames & Demons (Mad Love, Annuals #1 & 2, Holiday Special #1 and Adventures in the DCU #3), American Century: The Trouble With Harry (#9-16) and Hellblazer: Freezes Over (#157-163)…The folks at Devil's Due mentioned that devilsdue.net will be switching to a dedicated server on Friday, December 6th., which may result in some downtime…Future Comics has come up with an innovative promotion for retailers (RETAILERS - notice that part everybody. It's important). The first step involved compiling a list of the top ten over ordered books of the last decade (Death of Superman, Return of Superman, Turok #1, X-Force #1, X-Men #1, Deathmate, Batman #500, Spawn #12, Youngblood #1, and Heroes Return). Retailers can trade bundles of 10 of these books (all the same) to Future Comics for 1 signed Future Comic variant…

Sources: Comic Buyer's Guide, DC Comics.com, marvel.com, zentertainment.com

View From The Comfy Chair

Golden Age (1938-1954). Silver Age (1961-1971). Bronze Age (1975-1992).

If you're a comic book fan, there's a chance you might have heard these terms thrown around on occasion. They tend to refer to rather vague time periods, loosely connected to the 1930s, 60s and present day respectively. Beyond that, the eras get a little muddled, as everyone has their own opinions as to what falls into when. What I have been doing here over the past few weeks, is examining the various periods, and trying to nail down the Ages in a more solid manner. This week, I'll be looking at the aftermath of the Bronze Age.

The Bronze Age ended in November of 1992 with the Death of Superman. At this point, the comic book industry was beginning to collapse under its own weight. With the late 80s influx of new readers, companies had begun to expand faster than they were realistically able to, and problems developed on several fronts. The first difficulty was a dilution of talent, as the various publishers began spinning off as many characters as possible and creating multiple titles for individual heroes (or anti-heroes). Another contributing factor was the reliance on gimmick covers and variant editions. For an increased cover price readers could own die cut, foil stamped, glow in the dark, multiple editions of a book - which ultimately held the exact same (usually sub-par) story. Yet another problem was the trend towards "event" stories. The Death of Superman was the last of these epics that actually lived up to its billing. Coupling all these factors with an influx of speculators (people trying to make money of off buying and selling comics), ultimately resulted in the entire industry crashing. As the Bronze Age ended, the industry moved into a lull (much like the ones that occurred in 1955-1960 and 1972-1974).

Gimmicks were still big business in 1994. Being as the Death of Superman had been such a huge success, DC decided to adapt the formula to other titles. First up was Batman. The mammoth Bat-saga, Knightfall, was designed as a way to cripple Bruce Wayne and put another man inside the cowl. A mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted Batman faced hordes of escaped Arkham villains who were led by the mysterious Bane (a character who had debuted with little fanfare the year before). Bane ultimately learned Batman's dual identity (he recognized Bruce Wayne as Batman. That's it. Nothing fancy. He just knew) and broke his back. This prompted Bruce to pass the mantle of the Bat to newcomer Jean Paul Valley (aka Azreal), a vigilante with dubious morals. This new darker Batman took over the titles, running through the Knightquest story arc, before being defeated by a recovered Bruce Wayne in Knightsend. DC also applied this format to Green Lantern. Spinning directly out of the events in Reign of the Supermen, Hal Jordan turned on the Green Lantern Corps and abandoned his oath. Green Arrow soon followed suit, as Oliver Queen was killed and replaced by his son. Peter David took a slightly different approach with Aquaman, as the King of the Seven Seas adopted a darker outlook, replaced a lost hand with a harpoon and took a new costume. While some of these events were moderately successful, DC was unable to recapture the same electricity they had the first time.

Marvel also was busy putting their heroes through the wringer. In Wolverine #75 (part of the Fatal Attractions X-Crossover), Wolverine faced Magneto who promptly ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's body. In the aftermath, Wolverine went through several costume and power changes. Iron Man turned traitor and was replaced by his teenaged self. Thor's traditional costume was switched with a more "modern" one - featuring lots of buckles, spikes and a belly shirt. The most reviled event was the return of the now infamous Spider-Clone. The clone was part of a storyline two decades earlier and had apparently perished at the conclusion. Marvel reintroduced the clone (now known as the Scarlet Spider/Ben Reilly), and ultimately went so far as to reveal that he was the "true" Spider-Man (in Spectacular Spider-Man #226). At a time when many collectors were already feeling that Spider-Man was over exposed, the addition of this pretender did not sit well at all. Despite efforts to make the clone more palatable, Marvel announced plans in 1996 to return Peter Parker to his rightful role of Spider-Man. While the move seemed to be promising, it was not without controversy. The clone died, but the late Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin), was revealed as the mastermind behind the entire clone scheme.

Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross are both considered legitimate comic book superstars today, and in 1994 a title called Marvels established their legacies. While the title is essentially a retelling of the origins of the marvel universe, Busiek took the unique approach of showing the events through the eyes of a non-superpowered civilian. This new view, combined with the hyper-realistic painted art by Ross, helped Marvels over come the then daunting $5.95 per issue price tag (remember, this is the age of the gimmick, hence Marvels had an acetate cover) to establish it's place in the canon of comic book history.

1994 saw the beginning of the end for Neil Gaiman's epic, Sandman. In the final chapter of "The Kindly Ones" (issue #69), Dream of the Endless died and Daniel was reborn as the new Dream. The issues that followed tied up the loose ends before the finale (#75) that saw Gaiman re-team with Charles Vess for "The Tempest." While there were fears that the end of Sandman would lead to the collapse of the Vertigo imprint, a new flagship title debuted. Just as Sandman was winding down, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion unleased Preacher, an ultra-violent story about a possessed preacher, his girlfriend and a vampire trying to (literally) find God.

Late in 1994, Marvel Comics announced that they had purchased Malibu Comics Entertainment (who had been the original publisher for Image Comics). At the time, Malibu was the fourth largest comic company, thanks to their modestly successful Ultraverse heroes, their Bravura creator-owned line and several licensed titles (including Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Mortal Kombat). In the second quarter of 1995, Marvel acquired Heroes World, one of the continent's largest distributors. Despite initial claims to the contrary, Marvel eventually revealed that Heroes World would be the exclusive distributor for Marvel Comics (a move that received much criticism from retailers). Mere months later, Marvel purchased Skybox, a trading card manufacturer that rivaled Fleer (which Marvel had earlier purchased). Primary shareholder, Ron Perelman, cited a desire to transform Marvel into a "youth entertainment company" (like Disney or Warner Brothers) as the motivation behind the recent purchases (including toy manufacturer, Toy Biz and sticker company, Pannini). Many people speculated on the viability of Perelman's acquisitions.

Suspicions of Marvel's difficulties grew as 1995 moved forward. The company began restructuring their editorial team, redistributing titles into different lines (such as Spider, Mutant, Edge and Cosmic titles) and dropping literally dozens of others (more than 2 dozen titles in the first 6 months of 1995, including Darkhawk, Morbius, Secret Defenders, Blaze, Punisher, Ravage 2099 and Warlock and the Infinity Watch). Ultimately, all of these events led to the shocking announcement on December 27th, 1996; the #1 comic book company, Marvel Entertainment Group Inc, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Even today, the company is still dealing with the aftershocks of this event.

Many people felt that the announcement of DC Versus Marvel/Marvel Versus DC (1995/96) could be the title that brought the comic industry back to the level of success that had been absent over the past several years. Co-produced by the two companies, this mini-series wasn't the epic story most people were hoping to see (the series essentially became a popularity contest, as fans voted to determine which universe's heroes would win various slugfests), but it did go a long way towards mending fences between the two industry giants. In the aftermath, the two companies "merged" their lines for a month in a new line called "Amalgam Comics." The repercussions are still felt today, as DC and Marvel ready the long delayed JLA/Avengers crossover.

Another must-read comic hit the market in 1996. Once again, Mark Waid and Alex Ross had their hands in it, but this time the focus was the DC universe. Kingdom Come has often been compared to Marvels (as both used the everyman point of view), but whereas that series focused on the past, this one looked to the future. The similarities pretty much end there. While Marvels had a somewhat celebratory tone, KC dealt with an approaching cataclysm. The backstory focused on what makes a hero, as the older generation of heroes and their sidekicks, found themselves being replaced by their children and grandchildren - who very often were much darker and had less regard to the consequences of their actions.

Marvel might have made a huge announcement in 1996. Spinning out of the events of the Onslaught crossover, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America and Avengers were "licensed" out. The men recruited to re-imagine these classic heroes were revealed to be none other than Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The Image founders each ended up taking on two books apiece (although Liefeld was released from his contract 6 issues into a 12 issue contract). Fan and industry reaction to "Heroes Reborn" was decidedly negative. Fans were largely disappointed by the runs (which didn't take place in established continuity), and many Marvel staffers were insulted by the fact that the company felt the need to hire outside talent. While the actual Heroes Reborn experiment was rather unsuccessful, the return of these core characters to regular continuity the next year seemed to indicate a new focus on creative quality.

At the same time, Image was beginning to go through some creative shifts as well. In August 1996, Marc Silvestri and Top Cow Productions announced that they would be leaving Image. At the time, Silvestri would only cite irreconcilable differences with another Image founder as the reason for the departure. Over the next several weeks, it was revealed that the partner in question was Rob Liefeld. Tensions continued to rise at Image, ultimately culminating in the remaining founders (minus Liefeld) calling a meeting to discuss his future with the company. When all was said and done, Liefeld resigned from Image minutes before being expelled by the other founders (for placing his personal interests ahead of that of Image Comics). In the aftermath of that action, Silvestri announced that he would return to Image. In late 1998, Image would again undergo a major shift, as Jim Lee sold his Wildstorm Studios to DC Comics.

DC Comics shook up their universe during the late summer and early fall of 1996. Sales for the Justice League family of titles had sunk to a new low. The major complaints among fans were that the teams were diluted, and tended to be comprised of 2nd and 3rd tier characters. The result was the cancellation of the Justice League America, Extreme Justice and Justice League Task Force. Starting with Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare, DC reunited the "big 7" as part of the League roster - Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter. Following that 3 issue mini series, a new series was launched, now simply title JLA. The major coup was the addition of fan-favorite writer, Grant Morrison, who was credited with revitalizing the concept and returning the JLA to the forefront of the DC Universe.

1997 featured an event that would eventually prove to be a massive change of fortune for Marvel Comics. After barely escaping Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the company recruited Event Comics co-founders Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti to start an incontinuity imprint for Marvel. The imprint (known as Marvel Knights), began with four titles, staring 2nd tier characters (Daredevil, Inhumans, Punisher and Black Panther). While all four titles were successful, it was the Kevin Smith penned Daredevil that was the breakout title.

In 1999, a new approach to superhero comics debuted. It borrowed equally from the deconstructionist concepts of the late 80s and the anti-hero fad of the early 90s. Led by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch's "Authority" this new breed of heroes (depending on your point of view) either tackled real world issues in a hard hitting fashion or relished in excessive violence and shock. Spinning out of the cancelled StormWatch title, the Authority featured a team of superhumans that vowed to protect the Earth no matter the costs. The title continued to gain momentum when Mark Millar and Frank Quietly took over the title, evolving the team into a very pro-active group. An interesting counter-point to the views of the Authority would eventually come in Action Comics #775. Written by Joe Kelly, the story featured Superman taking on a team of Authority inspired superhumans, proving that the traditional morality of heroes was still valid in the 21st century. This style of comic has gradually fallen from grace, especially in the light of the September 11th attacks.

In late 1999, a new comic publisher appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, seeking new creators. Backed by millionaire Mark Alessai, CrossGen comics set up base in Tamp, Florida, with a new approach to comic books. Focusing on genres other than superheroes, CrossGen also had a different approach to creative aspects (creators were to be exclusive to CrossGen and were housed in a multi-million dollar housing/office complex). Initially comprised of titles Mystic (Ron Marz, Brandon Peterson), Sigil (Marz, Ben and Ray Lai), Meridian (Barbra Kesel) and Scion (Marz again), the new publsiher focused on producing quality, all-ages books and has quickly grown to viable alternative to the traditional big Two. Finally, CrossGen also pioneered some truly original concepts, including their "Comics on the Web" Program and various events featuring returnable comics and guaranteed satisfaction.

There were a few events in 2000 that seemed to indicate a change of fortunes for the comic industry. The collectability of comics gained a new ally as the Comics Guaranty Corporation opened their doors, offering a unique service. Fans sent their books to CGC who had a team professionally grade the titles, and seal them in plastic. X-Men was a box office hit, paving the way for many new films based on comic book properties. In August of 2000, Marvel announced plans to relaunch the Marvel Universe from ground zero. Unlike previous revamps, the new Ultimate line didn't wipe out pre-existing continuity. Instead, Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men provided a separate and fresh beginning for classic Marvel heroes, liberated from 40 years on continuity.

On August 30th, 2000, Marvel announced that Joe Quesada was named Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics (replacing 18 year Marvel veteran, Bob Harras). Selected by than President of Publishing, Bill Jemas, Quesada was given the nod for the success of his Marvel Knights imprint. Quesada immediately took a three-pronged approach to revitalizing the House of Ideas. He made efforts to extend peace offerings to many creators who had been previously slighted by Marvel, recruited hot new talent (the first of which was former DC/Vertigo editor, Axel Alonso) and resurrect the lagging Spider-Man and X-Men titles (resulting in the recruitment of Grant Morrison to New X-men and J. Michael Straczynski to Amazing Spider-Man). Further shocks would come in the fall of 2002 as Marvel ceased submitting their titles to the Comics Code Authority (which by all rights had already long since become antiquated). Another of the new policies met with a less than enthusiastic response, as Marvel announced a no overprint policy - meaning when a book sells out, it's gone.

The current wave of 1980s nostalgia began with the June 2001 announcement that Josh Blaylock and Devil's Due Studio had acquired the right to produce a new G.I. Joe comic book. The next spring, the other major 80s license (Transformers) was acquired by Pat Lee's Dreamwave Studios. Dreamwave shocked even themselves when Transformers topped the sales charts several months in a row, knocking out long-standing champions, the X-Men. In the aftermath, many other 80s properties have been picked up, including Battle of the Planets, Voltron, Thundercats and Masters of the Universe.

The past year has seen many different events that seem to bode well for the industry. Spider-Man has been having a banner year as the comics continue to grow in popularity and the film opened to record box-office numbers. The industry also united to present Free Comic Book Day, which has now become an annual event.

Which brings us to today.

Looking back at the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages, it's my opinion that we are not currently in a new age. But we might be close. 2002 has seen the popularity of comics begin to skyrocket. We've also seen a general increase in quality and diversity. Will 2003 begin a new Age, bringing the industry out of the longest lull yet? As with all things, only time will tell.

Next week, a new Comfy Chair tradition begins as we look back over the past year with the greatest news, stories and comics of 2002! Finally, don't forget you can always reach me on the message boards, or my new e-mail addy, fletchadams@comicskins.com.

Until next week,

Fletch Adams

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Hellblazer Trades

elfie — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 12:47:46 GMT

My http://crisis2crisis.com site actually ended up becoming somewhat popular around various message boards, so I thought I should continue the trend with another DC story that can be a little hard to follow in trade, the life of John Constantine. The Hellblazer trades being unnumbered, combined with the fact that Constantine actually got his start in Swamp Thing rather than his own series, can make it a little confusing to try to follow his story from beginning to present, so... now we have:

http://hellblazertrades.com

I also threw in other books in which John Constantine makes an appearance even if they are not essential to understanding his story, but those are all marked as low priority. Please let me know if you find any mistakes. The story summaries are severely lacking at present. I plan to fix that as soon as I can.

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

aloha

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:13:04 GMT

just another artist looking for attention...please visit my tribe blog as well as http://selffullfillingprophecy.blogspot.com

thanx and peace.
be back for more later

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

original batman .. pow! bif!

christine — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 21:01:49 GMT

anyone a fan or the original Batman w/ Adam West?
i think he's great!!

posted in comicbooks - 4 replies

Anyone going to Wizard World Los Angeles?

adam — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:22:13 GMT

March 17 - 19

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Dark Tower prequel comic is being made

Les — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 04:03:21 GMT

http://illinois.tribe.net/template/pub%2Ctribes%2CViewPhoto.vm?parentid=347d0a1d-2ecf-4a34-9121-09ab8d33b611&page=1&currentoffset=0

I've made it about halfway through the thrid book in King's Dark Tower series, and this looks promising.

posted in comicbooks - 7 replies

Superman: The Journey - huh?

elfie — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 20:56:29 GMT

Okay, I'm confused. Every description I've seen online of Superman: The Journey, including dccomics.com, says of this book, "The events that have turned the DCU upside down are reflected in this collection..." Okay, that means Infinite Crisis realted stories, right? "After his first contact with an OMAC, Superman must contend with the arrivals of Bizarro and Zoom, before dealing once and for all with a souped-up Blackrock!" Yes, yes, yes, and yes. These are all IC-related events. Obviously.

But wait. "...stories from SUPERMAN #117, 121-125 with pages from ACTION COMICS #83." Uhhhhhhh derrrr what? Superman books are well into the two hundreds at this point, and Action Comics is in the EIGHT hundreds. Are these actually very old stories that just happen to share characters involved in recent events? And DC is just making us THINK that this is Infinite Crisis related in order to get us to buy it? Or is every single website getting their information from dccomics.com, who is just WRONG about the issue numbers collected here? I am SO confused. Does anyone have a copy of this who can enlighten me as to what is actually in it?

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

My First Offer

aaronb — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 01:02:17 GMT

I just got this offer from a major publisher, and I wanted to know what everyone thinks. This particular publisher is VERY well known, and distributes both domestic and internationally, for both U.S. and European artists.

"On our end we pay 10% royalty off retail on an advance of about half of 1st print run which is normally about 4000 on a retail price around $10. We might also be able to pre-serialize at $40 a page."

Being that I've never had a publishing deal before, I wanted to know the thoughts of my fellow artists. Thanks everyone!

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

My Booth/Table Location at NY Comic Con

Village_Rachel — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:04:23 GMT

I'm going to be sharing a table with KEITH MURPHY - in artist's alley AA83
In actuality we're going to be the CAG - comic book artist's guild table.
There's going to be a free party near the convention on Sat night that
CAG and Dreamchilde are co-sponsoring.
Keith is the head of CAG -- I'm sorta the CAG special guest.
Check out my website for more links

www.bestfriendsproductions.com

-Rachel

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

Al's Comics Saved in SF

russellh — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 20:26:02 GMT

Wow.

The whole community came out to support Al in various ways, and he's now secured the old Victorian store front at 1803 Market St @ Octavia Blvd. That's the old Limelight Bookstore. Al says that only one family has owned the building, so they're all SF natives (Al was a kid on the Haight in the 1960s) and it was built in 1906.

He's gonna be closed at his Guerrero shop for a few days while he moves over, but plans on being open this Sat. The new store opens Feb. 8th

Phone and em are the same thought ATT/SBC won't get the phone up until later next week.

Al's endebted to his friends and community. He's really appreciated all the support.

Stop by and check out the new place. New things coming down the pike too, b/c Al has more space to grow.

See you there next week.

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

For Comic Book hopefuls

Kidzeus — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 17:29:25 GMT

The following is something I've been asked a few times. I wanted to share this with anyone who is interested but also, feel free to ammend things that you think are needed. This isnt me being an ego maniac and telling people the ONLY way comics should be drawn. Not at all. This is for those folks who desire to learn how to draw comics but dont have the means to go to school, etc. A springboard if you will.

-For those seeking guidance in the drawing and illustration and creation of comic books but can't afford a full time school. A few simple suggestions that don't require tons of money but DOES require a lot of time.

1) DRAW DAILY. Scribble, sketch, doodle; just draw. Do it for ten minutes a day. AT LEAST. Make time for this. Let it grow into more. Comic book artists draw one to two pages a day. A DAY. They have deadlines of a month for (typically) 22 pages. Sometimes the deadlines are longer due to the needs of the inkers, colorists and letterers and editors who have to clean up your mistakes...BUT NOT ALWAYS!!! If a deadline is missed you dont get a poor grade or a slap on the wrist; you eventually get NO MORE WORK.

2) DRAW FROM LIFE. Whenever you can. Sign up for a life drawing course. Most cities have a once a week life drawing class that will cost you no more than 5 bucks for 3 hours of figure drawing. If you can take a community college course with an instructor; DO IT. It's so invaluable. It'll teach you WORLDS. If you can't take a course, drag your ass outside, sit on a bench with your sketch book, pencils and will-to-do and draw people passing by. Don't stress on the details. Get the action down first. Draw the details later.

3) CHECK OUT: "HOW TO DRAW COMICS THE MARVEL WAY". This is a great book that I highly recommend. It'll get your creative juices flowing. It has great art by master artist John Buscema who makes drawing comics look easy. The bastard!!! It has everything you need to know to jump into the field of comics; action poses, drawing real people, acting, perspective, backgrounds, panel layouts, and the tools every comic artist needs to draw a comic page. If you can't find it at Borders or your local bookstore, try the library. Make copies of it there. Take the copies home. Pin 'em to your wall and sleep with 'em under your pillow. ABSORB, ABSORB, ABSORB!!!

Also, if you can get your hands on some copies of Mike Manleys; "DRAW" magazine, you'll be a VERY happy camper. Industry greats litter the pages with knowledge of the field about how they do it and sometimes, how you can do it too. DC comics has put out a number of great books that tackle writing comics, drawing comics, inking comics and coloring and lettering comics. They run about 20 bucks each. Great reads all of them.

4) STUDY THE MASTERS. look at Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Gil Kane and many other great comic artists to see how they set up a shot. Break a comic page down to it's bare essentials. Take page 5 of your favorite comic and write out what happens in each panel. The action, the setting, the characters and what they are saying and HOW they are saying it. Think of comics as acting. Players on a 2-dimensional stage that YOU control. Take that written piece of paper, put the comic AWAY, and draw the page from what you have written (Reference the characters costumes if you need to but do it by looking at a different page they are on. Not the one you just wrote about-this is to excercise YOUR imagination. NOT to COPY what the other guy did). What shot would work best? What would move the story along? What is the best possible way for me to illustrate all this information to the reader in a clear and quick way? Ask yourself these questions while you are drawing. Give yourself a deadline while you are drawing the page also. Be reasonable. Give yourself a full day. You're doing this cuz it's fun, remember? But keep in mind that if you want to draw comics for a living, you're going to have to draw the comic within a given deadline. If you can't work within the deadline, your career is going to be very short indeed. Some artists also ink that same pencilled page in the same day. Think you're up to it? Go for it. Have fun!

FINALLY:
These are some thoughts from one of my teachers at the Joe Kubert School of Illustration and Design that have proven most useful to me.

"Making art is a life. It's NOT a job.""Make Art. Not just pictures.""Think about images and the making of Art all the time."

"DON'T follow a strict formula. Remain open to chance happenings that work. Trust your instincts and abilities but don't let that be an excuse for lousy Art."-(see; "Make Art, not just pictures.")

"Hammer on it but think about what you are doing. Aimless hammering is fruitless. It's your brain more than your hands that do it."

posted in comicbooks - 3 replies

Jae LEE Rules

chlorophil — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 11:36:57 GMT

hes korean too!!

posted in comicbooks - 10 replies

Zatanna

RAB — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 23:13:53 GMT

Seems she's currently performing under the name of her apprentice from the Grant Morrison comic...

http://www.mistylee.com/smoky.htm

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation

RAB — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 23:08:00 GMT

http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1680739,00.html

After planes, trains and mobile phones, Richard Branson is plunging into the world of film production.

The entrepreneur is launching Virgin Animation, a company that will produce animated films from comic book characters developed by another newly-created venture, Virgin Comics. He is teaming up with Elizabeth director Shekhar Kapur and Gotham Chopra, a film producer and the son of new age guru Deepak Chopra.

Virgin Animation will focus primarily on the Asian market and will be based in Bangalore, India's hi-tech centre. "We hope to create content that not only reaches a global audience but also helps start a creative renaissance in India," said the newly-minted CEO of Virgin Animation, Sharad Devarajan.

The first offering from Virgin Comics is scheduled for publication later this year - director John Woo, purveyor of stylish, balletic action films, is creating a comic book series for the company.

"India is an incredibly vibrant market, which Virgin already, through Virgin Atlantic, has the pleasure of working in," Branson said in a statement. "I am delighted that Virgin Comics will not only help to launch the Indian comic market and spin it into the West, but will develop new and exciting talent."

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Do You Follow Creators or Series?

DevastatorJr — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 08:01:58 GMT

It always shocks me when someone talks about some crossover event or another as the reason they don't read Marvel or DC or whatever comics anymore, because it was so bad. Because I myself usually follow the books being done by my favorite creators, rather than a particular series or character. For example I'll read whatever Grant Morrison writes, whether it's Doom Patrol or Invisibles or X-Men or Seven Soldiers. Or the same with artists, I'll read just about anything by Sam Keith or Mike Allred or Cassidy, just to stare at the pretty pictures.

Another good example is creative teams, like Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, when they team up, I'm definitely going to get it. And recently, the 80's Justice League team of Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire brought their Bwa-ha-ha-ha's over to Marvel for the Defenders series, I'm loving it!

But a friend of mine tends to stick to a series, regardless of who's doing it, he's been getting the X-Men for years and has never wavered, even during the shitty Scott Lobdell, Fabien what's his name period.

What do you guys do?

posted in comicbooks - 18 replies

Aeon Flux costume available

CustomMadeExoticWear — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 15:13:43 GMT

http://custommadeexoticwear.com

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Year's Best Comics

DevastatorJr — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 03:28:43 GMT

It's time to recap!

Year's Best Ongoing Series...

Year's Best Limited Series...

Year's Best Artist...

Year's Best Writer...

Favorite New Character...

Favorite New Comic...

Best New Talent...

posted in comicbooks - 3 replies

DC Industry News

FAUST — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 20:08:40 GMT

Copied from a thread in the Gotham Knights tribe.

DC NEWS FROM THE RRP MEETING

Sunday, a select group of comic retailers made their way home from the Great White North as DC’s RRP meeting wrapped up in Montreal. The weekend held a handful of presentations from DC's various imprints and divisions, and while mostly focusing on information for retailers, many editorial announcements regarding upcoming projects were made.

While many of the announcements and talking points re-iterated news from this summer’s convention season, a few new tidbits and announcements were thrown in for spice.

In no particular order:

(edited) As announced at Chicago, Dynamite’s Red Sonja will cross over with (and revive) DC’s Claw character, and the two will be in a four issue miniseries published under the Wildstorm banner. Jim Lee will provide all four covers, with vriant covers by others artists (Alex Ross will provide the alternate cover to issue #1), which will kick off Wildstorm’s sword and sorcery line (to be called "Storm & Sorcery") and a new Claw series.

While he’s he’ll be meeting many heroes of the Wildstorm Universe throughout the Captain Atom: Armageddon miniseries, his meeting with The Authority in issue #5 will lead to a “big event.” The returning Wildstorm titles were again mentioned: Wildcats by Grant Morrison and Jim Lee; Gen13 by Gail Simone and Talent Caldwell; and Wetworks by Mike Carey and Whilce Portacio. No specific dates for the three series’ launches were mentioned.

What appears to be the final Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neil League of Extraordinary Gentlemen project to come from Wildstorm, The Black Dossier will be a hardcover which will include many formats, including a 3D segment.

Chris Sprouse will step in for a two issue fill-in on Ex Machina, spelling off regular series artist Tony Harris sometime after issue #20.

Each issue of 52* will contain 20 pages of stories with back-ups. Issues #2-#11 will feature a 10-part “History of the DCU” story. As mentioned before, the weekly series will tie-into seasons and holidays and will see six stories running throughout the run.

The maximum cover price the weekly series will be is $2.99. It will launch in the second week of May, and will be the chance for some minor characters to shine.

Hawkman changes its title to Hawkgirl with issue #50 as a part of the publisher’s “One Year Later…” event. The series will also be getting a creative team change, with Walt Simonson coming on board as writer and Howard Chaykin joining as penciler (marking the first return of both to mainstream, ongoing DCU work in years – and the first time in years that the two former studio mates will be working together).

Asked how edgy the series would be, it was stated that the Hawkgirl series may be stronger than some of the softer DCU titles, but will be a part of the DC Universe.

Absolute Sandman starts in 2006; there was no announcement of price or extras yet, but DC will be recoloring the early issues of the Sandman series to match the higher production values of the later issues, as well as touching up the lettering in some issues where reversed lettering dropped out a bit. This is part of a plan to do every Sandman story in the Absolute format. Concurrent with the publication of Absolute Sandman, DC will not be keeping the current hardcovers edition collections of the series in print.

February will see the next of DC’s progression in its revival of IPC characters (Albion), with Thunderbolt Jaxon by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins. Garth Ennis is reportedly to follow in the IPC line with a miniseries, though the character Ennis will be handling was not named.

Though not slated to be announced, DC representatives, noting that the DC solicts had leaked out over the weekend on the Silver Bullet Comic Books website (since taken down and not to be confused with retailer and Newsarama sponsor silverbulletcomics.com), confirmed that the current Wonder Woman series will be ending that month, as will Gotham Central and Gotham Knights. Flash ends in January with the already-solicited issue.

June and July: there will be one new major series launch each week; and in July – one new major high-profile creative team launch.

June & Juiy: one new major series launch every week in June, one new major high-profile creative team launch every week in July.

Batman/Spirit will ship in June, with the new ongoing Darwyn Cooke Spirit series starting in June.

In DC Direct news, an upcoming Silver Age Superman set will include Superman (with robot machineworks behind the s-shield), Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Lex, and Beppo the Super-Monkey.

There will be a recall on the Crisis on Infinite Earths action figures from DC Direct, due to line-wide problems with paints, assembly, and looks. Consumers will be able to return figures they bought as well. The production problems with the CoIE line was pointed to as the cause of the shipping date changes for other DC Direct lines.

Upcoming Infinite Crisis figures will include Power Girl, Alex Luthor, OMAC, and Superboy Prime with his new costume design.

There will also be a line of figures based on Darwyn Cooke’s versions of the characters from DC: New Frontier.

The next Elseworlds series will include a Spectre/Norm McCay two figure set at a single-figure price, in a box designed to match the look of the original Kingdom Come boxes. The subline will also include more Red Son figures and Gotham by Gaslight figures.

The coming JSA line will include four modern JSA member figures, and one classic--the Atom--which will feature two complete figures in one box, one with the hood costume and one with the cowl revealing the lower face.

posted in comicbooks - 3 replies

WonderCon SF 2006

Kidzeus — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 06:31:13 GMT

Anyone goin to this? I'm headed out with a friend or two and wondered what the area was like and how the show is. I went to the site and it looks great. I know San Diego is the big con, but I couldnt get to that one last yr.

posted in comicbooks - 4 replies

Save Al's Comics (SF, CA)

russellh — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 22:03:11 GMT

Donate or help Al find a new shop in the Mission:
http://savealscomics.com/

When I moved to San Francisco in 1997, one of the top priorities of my transition was to find a local comic store to patronize. This may humor those of you who do not collect or read graphic novels (comics), but I liken it to the drinker who finds a local bar to call home. I have read, collected, and bought comics for most of my life, and at the time read several titles that had 10 to 30 year story lines (Cerebus and Bone). Finding a local store, setting up a subscription bag, and bugging the owner provides me with quality living through culture and community.

Go to my blog for the whole post:
http://happyfeettravels.org/index.php/thoughts/save-als-comics/

posted in comicbooks - 1 reply

Mahfood and Crosland at STAPLE!

Chris — Mon, 05 Dec 2005 17:42:43 GMT

STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo is proud to
announce those very Silky Bureaucrats themselves, Jim
Mahfood and Dave Crosland! Jim (www.40ozcomics.com)
and Dave (www.hiredmeat.com) will be bringing their
own unique brand of artistic madness to STAPLE! Come
see the Bureaucrats at the show on March 4, 2006 in
Austin, Texas, and then check out one of their now
famous Live Art performances later that evening
(location TBA)!

More Quick Questions!

The newest installment of Quick Questions at the
STAPLE! website – www.staple-austin.org features Tom
Beland (www.tombeland.com) creator of True Story,
Swear to God. Tom talks inspiration, digital tools,
and life experience in our second Quick Questions
interview.

Tables running out!

Only about 15 spots left! Tables are $55 for an 8’
full table and $30 for a half table. In order to
appear in the official program your registration must
be received by December 31st, 2005. Download a
registration form at www.staple-austin.org/register.

STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo is Texas’ first and
only convention for independently produced comics,
zines and graphic arts. The second annual expo will be
held Saturday March 4th, 2006 in Austin, Texas. For
more information go to www.staple-austin.org or email
info@staple-austin.org

posted in comicbooks - 0 replies

Postal Service Unveils 2006 DC Comics Stamps

RAB — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 06:15:16 GMT

http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=36;t=004488

Some of the choices in this set are REALLY good.

posted in comicbooks - 5 replies

The Book I Read

DevastatorJr — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 08:22:48 GMT

Well it's late, but I can't fall asleep, so here's the rundown on what I've picked up lately at the friendly neighborhood comic shop...

First the DC Books

Justice #2, Jim Krueger/Alex Ross
Is anybody else reading this? There's an odd lack of hullaballoo about this book even though it's fully painted by Alex Ross. Great stuff, solid Justice League superheroics by the team that brought us Earth X a few years ago. I really like their brand grand mellowdrama, they're able to convey these earth shattering events without making it seem silly, with lots of good characterization like the twinkle in Green Arrow's beard. I can't help but feel this is what Infinite Crisis should be, and actually, I think that's Ross's idea. Grade-- B+ Which leads us to--

Infinite Crisis #2, Geoff Johns/ Phil Jimenez
Okay, I know this is supposed to be such a monumentous big deal, but god help me if it doesn't bore me to tears. So they're going to screw around with continuity somehow and there'll be a big fisticuffs and at least one major character will die, (hint hint, her initials are W.W.), but it's so complicated and stiff that I really find myself not caring, just wake me up when it's over and let me know what happened, will ya? So why did I buy it? Well, I do call myself fanboy, and don't like to be out of the loop, and Jimenez does the best George Perez inpersonation since, well, George Perez, heck, in some ways he's even better. So I guess I'll go along for the ride, I just hope it's worth it in the end. And don't kill Power Girl! Grade -- C

Green Lantern Corps #2, Dave Gibbons, Geoff Johns/Patrick Gleason
As silly as Silver Age Hal Jordan's resurrection may have been, I'm still glad they did it, and they brought back the whole Green Lantern Corps to boot, score! One of the things I've always liked about the GL mythos was the fact that there were all these other alien GL's out there, patrolling their various sectors of space. This comic delivers with the aliens, in a story concerning the fallout of the Rann/Thanagar War and also features my favorite GL, Guy Gardner, back acting like the jerk he's supposed to be. The art is clean if uninspired, and also brings back another favorite GL, Mojo. I hope they get away from using the title as exposition for other DC books and get into exploring some uncharted territory, but that doesn't seem likely. I'll stick around to see though. Grade -- C+

Michael Allred: Solo, Michael and Laura Allred
Mike Allred's one of my all-time favorite artists. His flat, 1950's retro style has a mysterious depth and warmth to it that few others can match. He does more with a few, well placed lines than the average Wildstorm comic does with a billion. As a writer, he's got a really quirky sense of humor more common to indie-comics like Eightball or Acme Novelty Library. Check out the first collection of his self-published Madman series, great stuff. Anyway, this comic is the lastest in DC's excellent "Solo" series, each spotlighting a particular talent with an over-sized issue of new material. How does Allred stack up next to previously Solo'd greats like Howard Chaykin and Richard Corbin? Charmingly. His nuts and bolts storytelling works wonders for a day in the life of Hourman story. The Classic Teen Titans house party is pure fun. The centerpiece of the issue, a story featuring the 1960's tv show version of Batman is at once madcap and thoughtful, as displayed in the conversation between butler Alfred and a cynical young woman as he asks "Why is it the good things are never 'real life', only the bad?" Indeed. Allred's able to tweak the cliched superhero conventions without breaking them, you can see the affection in the care he takes in his artwork. Well, if you haven't already grabbed a copy, they're probably gone from the shelves, but see if you can get one on ebay or something, it's a real treat. Grade A+

Seven Soldiers --
Frankenstein #1, Grant Morrison/Doug Mahnke
Zatanna #4, Morrison/Rayn Sook
Seven Soldiers is a year long project by everybodys second favorite occult comics nutjob (after Alan Moore of course,) Grant Morrison, where he takes seven obscure DC characters and gives them his own wacky twist. And true to Morrison form, they're all fantastic.

Frankenstein, featuring the perfectly suited gruesome art of Mahnke is the hilarious story of an evil nerd and the titular undead avenger returned from the grave to set things right. Grade-- A

And if there was ever a mainstream character, (besides the X-Men) Morrison was meant to write, it's Zatanna, the backwards talking witch. Ryan Sook's ultra clean yet surreal artwork's never looked better. It's too bad this is the last book in series, he leaves you wanting more. Grade-- A

All-Star Superman. Morrison/Frank Quitely
And if there was ever a character I never expected to see this team work on, it's Superman, but you know what, that bald Scotts writer can do no wrong. I know a lot of people aren't fans of Quitely's idiosyncratic art, I'm sure it's not what the average Superman reader is used to, but here, with it's intricate detail, cinematic scope and disturbing tactility, I think it's a perfect match for Morrison's sci-fi thriller. What can I say, I'm a big fan of the Morrison/Quitely team, I might be just about the only one who thought their X-Men run was just about the best ever, so I'm a little biased. But if you like your Superman comics filled with dark sci-fi, wry humor and freaky art, you can't go wrong with this book. Grade -- A+

Well true believers, it's now officially late as hell, tomorrow, I'll talk about any Marvel or Indie books I grabbed. 'Til then--

Excelsior!

posted in comicbooks - 2 replies

House of M Conclusion spoilers

Les — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 21:45:10 GMT

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The entire last issue (#8) was pretty much the epilogue for the series. There's several plot threads that have been created as a result.

1. The world's mutant population took a nosedive. Emma Frost goes to check Cerebro, and finds that just about every mutant on earth...doesn't register. She says they're still alive, but the mutant gene has been shut off. The X-Men are assessing who does and doesn't have powers, and by what I can gather is that Iceman and Magneto have lost their powers. The end of the issue brings about an interesting question about where all that energy that these mutants had, which was just abruptly stopped, would go...

2. Wolverine remembers his past. Nightcrawler goes looking for him, fearing that his adamantium may be killing him if he's lost his powers as well (near as I can tell, he still has them). 'Crawler finds Wolvy passed out, and he gets up and says "I remember. My whole life...I remember all of it". I thought he remembered after the Assault on Weapon Plus story, but I guess not.

3. MISSING: Charles Francis Xavier , Pietro & Wanda Maximoff. No one has any idea about their whereabouts, but we see Scarlet Witch in a small town in Europe. The X-Men go to pay Magneto a visit, and he doesn't have any information to give. Not even Dr. Strange has any way of finding them.

4. Hawkeye...? I've been calling this from the get-go. Someone is at the remains of the Avengers Mansion, and some of the past & present Avengers go to investigate. What they find is Hawkeye's costume pinned up by two arrows and his his bow and arrow...pouch-thing (I can't remember what that's called). Cap looks at an article pinned to the wall by another arrow, and the article is from when Hawkeye was pronounced dead (interesting thing about this: the picture with the article is of Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch--all of whom their whereabouts are in question--just thought I'd point that out). While Carol Danvers wonder what it means, Cap smiles.

5. Spider-Man remembers...unfortunately. Spidey wakes up in bed, and Mary Jane has no recollection of anything to do with House of M. Peter is visably upset, goes to an Avengers meeting and demolishes one of Iron Man's tables. Spidey asks Dr. Strange to make him forget, and Strange tells him he can't (I'm betting Strange may have lost his powers or something). Spidey flips out for a second, and then Cap calms him down.

6. So where did all that power go? Here's some snippets of an interview with Hank Pym at the end of the issue. I typed certain parts in caps because they seemed to be the most interesting:

"Because not only has the mutant population been devastated...and my heart breaks for all my mutant brothers and sisters...

"BUT THINK OF HOW THIS EFFECTS OUR ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM! The natural order of our evolution as a species has been altered. The entire way our planet reacts to our existence has now changed. OUR PLANET MAY NOT BE HANDLE THE SUDDEN CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN PUT UPON US AND IT.

And think about this...How many are we talking about? Tens of thousands of mutants? Hundreds of thousands of mutants? AND OF ALL THOSE MUTANTS, HOW MANY ACTUALLY CONTROLLED ENERGY? OR ENTIRE ENERGY FIELDS? OR PRODUCED ENERGY SOURCES? OR WIELDED ANY NUMBER OF ELEMENTS THAT AFFECTED OUR ATMOSPHERE OR MAGNETIC FIELDS THAT HOLD OUR PLANET'S WEATHER SYSTEMS IN PLACE? And this is just off the top of my head.

ALL THIS ENERGY...THE ENERGY OF THOUSANDS OF MUTANTS...IT DIDN'T JUST DISAPPEAR. I'M ASKING--WHERE DID IT GO? IT'S SIR ISAAC NEWTON'S THIRD LAW OF PHYSICS...EVERYONE KNOWS IT: 'FOR EVERY ACTION, THERE IS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE REACTION.' SO, I'M ASKING. WHAT WILL BE THE REACTION?

The last page has a picture of earth, with part of it possibly eclipsed and the far right side has what looks like some kind of energy burst. I don't know if I'm reading into things, but the eclipse may just be an eclipse or something foreboding--I want input for that.

posted in comicbooks - 18 replies