Saturday, November 13th, 2010
Marvel released this teaser image in a recent issue of their “Previews” magazine for February.
Marvel has yet to comment on the image. To me it makes sense that Peter Parker would die, his life is finally looking up in comics: he got a new girlfriend, a new job, he’s member of the Avengers. Of course Marvel would kill him off now.
I know I’ve brought this up before in another post earlier this semester, but I am getting damn tired of comic book companies using the deaths of characters as marketing gimmicks to get people to read their books. You don’t need to kill off characters to make good stories.
To learn more about what’s going on in Spider-Man’s world, pick Amazing Spider-Man #648 on sale now. It’s great jumping on point for the series.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Apparently there is a comic book based on the cult movie “The Boondock Saints.” Actually not just one, but two. “Boondock Saints: The Head of the Snake,” released today by 12 Gauge Comics, is a sequel to another Saints’ comic series “Boondock Saints: In Nomine Partis.”
The story details what the vigilantes were doing between the first and second film. Here’s a preview of the comic.
I’m a fan of the first movie, but after hearing how terrible the sequel was, I’m wondering if this adaptation is necessary.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
There is only one website (that I know of) that has everything a person needs to know everything that is currently going on in the world of comics: Comic Book Resources.
They truly have it all: interviews with creators, reviews of each week’s comics, analyses of each month’s sales, videos, blogs, a twitter page and a popular message board.
One of my favorite blogs hosted by CBR is “Comics Should Be Good,” which is posted on by a few regular writers, but mostly by it’s creator, Brian Cronin. Cronin rarely reviews individual comics, but writes more about the people who create comics in his “Comic Book Legends Revealed” feature. He often takes a comical approach to his writing and tends to poke fun at comics and it’s creators, an approach that is normally rare from comic book fans that see writers and artists as gods that can do no wrong.
Also one of the best features of the website is its message board. There, fans can argue to no end on what comic book company, series, hero, villain, etc. is better. It’s always fun to read the crazy crap people write.
One of the biggest drawbacks to this site is that they focus mainly on mainstream comics like Marvel and DC, and not some the smaller and independent companies. Which brings me to my first story proposal.
I propose a monthly feature column in which a comic book is highlighted as something good that an independent company is doing, and would be worth buying. This would do better than just a simple review that people tend to pass over indie reviews on their website and this would be given a prominent space.
Second, I would love to see a NCAA bracket type competition where super heroes or villains are matched up against each other, and fans who go to that site would vote to see who would beat the other character in a fight or who is more popular. This is something I’ve seen done on other websites, but never on CBR.
Third, I would also propose a weekly or daily section were they highlight and review an old comic. This would help remind people that comics aren’t just about what’s new, but also what’s old. Plenty of people search for good back issues to buy, and having a feature that highlights older comics would help fans find the best of the back issues.
Other than those ideas, I’m not sure what else I can add to CBR because, like I said, they already do so much and do it well. If you ever want to know what’s going on in the world of comics, go to CBR.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Marvel Comics’s premiere superhero team, The Avengers, is headed to Disney XD next week as an ongoing cartoon series.
For the past month, Marvel Comics has been showing five-minute micro-episodes on their website which have been replaying on Disney XD all week.
The show premieres next Wednesday at 8:30 PM with an hour-long episode.
Marvel has also announced a four-issue miniseries to complement the television show, which is set to be in stores in November.
I assume all this has been done to build excitement for the coming Avengers movie in 2012. Well, that’s a job well-done.
On a personal note, I won an eBay auction last week to have lunch with the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, Joe Quesada, at the New York Comic Con on Friday. Here’s a picture of us the Marvel booth at the convention. Can you say “nerdgasm”?
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Warner Brothers is finally giving Superman another crack at a new movie franchise and they have chosen Zack Synder to direct it. Synder has already done two comic book movie adaptations with Frank Miller’s 300 and Alan Moore’s Watchmen. However, it will be interesting to see how Synder, who is famous for his violent movies, interprets the mythology of Superman.
The new Superman movie is also being produced by The Dark Knight‘s director Christopher Nolan. WB has also expressed interest in seeing Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm as the Man of Steel. However, Hamm has previously expressed that he has no interest in playing the Last Son of Krypton, “he’s invincible, so where’s the drama?”
Either way, I’m excited.
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Anime:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/
http://www.otakuusamagazine.com/Main/Home.aspx
Comics:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/
http://jinxworld.com/
And:
https://twitter.com/
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, September 19th, 2010
Yes, the Washington Post has it’s own comic book reporter. Michael Cavna writes the “Comic Riffs” blog for the Washington Post‘s website. 
It’s not just comic books and cartoons that Cavna writes about. He covers a wide variety of topics from politics to TV and movies, and usually finds a way to tie those into comics.
In fact, I wouldn’t describe Cavna as a critic or reviewer. Rarely, if ever, does he write a single review of a comic book or cartoon. According to the description of his blog, Cavna “celebrate[s],contemplate[s], eviscerate[s], and pontificate[s] on cartoons.”
One of the prime examples of Cavna’s topicality is when he wrote several blog entries defending Comedy Central’s show “South Park” after they were censored for attempting to show the Muslim prophet Muhammed last April.
Cavna’s comic book blog represents the growing trend of geeky things (like comics) going mainstream. Many of his posts revolves around comic book’s moving from the printed page to the big screen. Just after this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, Cavna reported that Marvel had already released a teaser trailer for their upcoming Avengers movie in 2012.
His style of writing about comic books for the general audience is one that I try to emulate anytime I write for this blog or for student publications like Broadside and connect2mason.com. It is the way that comic book reporting should be, and hopefully will further influence people into reading and appreciating comic books as much as Cavna and I do.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
Reborn? I didn't know he died!
Is Marvel setting up the Man Without Fear to die, so they can bring him back? That’s what this latest teaser image seems to imply.
This image comes weeks after Marvel released several other teaser images of various characters being shown to be the new Man Without Fear.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Marvel’s resident blind superhero dies after going off the deep end and turning from good guy to bad guy in the current miniseries, Shadowland.
But to imply that Daredevil needs to be “reborn” before he even dies (if he does get killed off) seems a little over the top.
Comic books need to stop this overused formula of killing characters only to resurrect them a few months later.
Hopefully, this isn’t the case and Marvel has a different meaning in mind when they use the word “reborn.”
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Monday, September 6th, 2010
AMC’s new drama/horror series “The Walking Dead,” based on the popular comic book series, has set their premiere date for 10 p.m. on Oct. 31. Check out the four-minute trailer here and prepare some good ole-fashioned zombie flesh-eating fun!
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
Marvel released this teaser image in a recent issue of their “Previews” magazine for February.
