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Weekend Reading: The Avengers, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dave Berg
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Independent, Marvel Comics
Now, how many times have you already seen The Avengers? Doesn't it just kick movie butt? And what movie do you think we'll be talking about all summer? Avengers or The Dark Knight Rises?
Avengers Assemble...in line! Former Malibu Comics publisher and co-founder Dave Olbrich (now a manager at Space Goat Productions) and for Malibu Comics Editor-In-Chief Chris Ulm (now the head guy at Appy Entertainment), show up at the :20 mark in this report from AMC theaters in southern California.
Longbox Graveyard goes Marathoning and Assembling for Avengers and other Marvel-based movies. “Five of my favorite superhero movies, in a day-long sitting, followed by a midnight debut of The Avengers! Seventeen hours in a movie theater, ninety minutes in the car each way getting there, a day off work to do it and another day off to recover. Great for a twelve-year-old, not-so-great if you’re half a century old. So I found a couple twelve-year-olds and went anyway.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: The Avengers, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dave Berg
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Weekend Reading: Avengers, Overload, Don Bluth and John Cleese
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Independent, Marvel Comics
So how many times are we all seeing The Avengers this weekend? And in how many ways is it the movie of the summer?
In honor of the new Avengers movie, Longbox Graveyard looks at the Kree/Skrull War, from Avengers #89-97. “Nearing the end of his iconic six-year stint on Avengers, Roy Thomas — along with artists Neal Adams and Sal & John Buscema — delivered what was up to then arguably the longest and most complex continuing story in superhero comics, as Earth became a battleground between the warring Skrull and Kree star empires.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Avengers, Overload, Don Bluth and John Cleese
Weekend Reading: Avengers, Alan Moore, Before Watchmen, and Don McGregor
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
I once met Alan Moore, had dinner with him in fact. A dinner that included Stephen Bissette and John Totleben.
I must stress that they did not have dinner with me at my invitation - I was at the table as a guest of Gary Groth and Kim Thompson from Fantagraphics. Also in attendance was Dave Olbrich. The creative trio - currently on DC’s Swamp Thing - was on their way to NY and had stopped in at the Fantagraphics offices to meet with Gary and Kim and head for Chinese food. And I got to tag along.
I spent a couple of hours listening to Moore and his companions regale the group with story after story. At no point did I ever think of Alan Moore as crazy. In fact, I thought he was one of the smartest guys I’d ever met. He was also not like anyone I’d met either before or since. He was different, alright. But crazy? No. Weird? Hardly.
Which brings me to this:
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Avengers, Alan Moore, Before Watchmen, and Don McGregor
Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Arnold Drake, James Bond and Star Wars
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Video Games, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics
Last weekend in January, last weekend before the Super Bowl, which means there’s really nothing on TV this weekend. Fortunately, the internets provide:
Neal Adams is gunning for Marvel on behalf of Jack Kirby.
The Comic Book Insider is the new podcast from comic book writer and former DC Comics editor Brian Augustyn.
James Bond vs. Batman: Now there’s a team-up I’d really like to see. The HMSS blog looks at how both heroes have had to adapt to changing times.
One of my favorite movie blogs, Flick Attack, looks at an old film written by veteran DC writer Arnold Drake (Deadman; The Doom Patrol): The Flesh Eaters.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Arnold Drake, James Bond and Star Wars
Weekend Reading: John Carter, Captain Underpants & Stieg Larsson
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Interviews, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
Greetings, Weekenders! Still up in arms about DC’s new logo? The wrongness of SOPA/PIPA? Forget it. Let’s just enjoy the internets while they’re still free:
The John Carter Files poses some questions about the upcoming John Carter movie.
Two new Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey are coming in 2012.
Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is getting the graphic novel treatment via DC Comics (and their Vertigo imprint). Denise Mina - no slouch as a mystery novelist - is writing with Leonardo Manco, art is by Andrea Mutti, but just check out the kick-ass cover by Lee Bermejo. Omnimystery has all the deets.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: John Carter, Captain Underpants & Stieg Larsson
Congratulations to Norm Feuti on Gil!
He started the strip as a webcomic, then put it on hiatus to work on other things, then brought it back through King Features. You can read about that process here.
It debuts this week in classic newspaper syndication (you can also find it online).
It’s a great, funny strip and Feuti’s an excellent cartoonist.
I interviewed him awhile ago when he was first starting on Gil and I wish him nothing but success.
Bookmark the strip, write to your local paper to make them aware of it, and read the heck out it.
There’s also the Gil Blog with lots of fun extras to enjoy.
[Artwork: Gil, © Norm Feuti]
Weekend Reading: Ajax, Tintin, Chaykin & Barreto
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, Television
It’s not just the weekend, it’s a long holiday weekend into a whole new year. Have a happy one with a few links to read.
Beau Smith writes a wonderful tribute to his friend and frequent collaborator, Eduardo Barreto.
If you’re tracking the future of digital comics, Appy Entertainment’s Paul O’Connor has an interview with the guy behind Operation Ajax, Daniel Burwen.
The writer Lance Mannion goes to see Tintin. There have been lots of reviews over the internets already, but I’m partial to this one. “In fact, The Adventures of Tintin [is] as good an Indiana Jones movie as Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. In parts, it’s as thrilling and new as Raiders of the Lost Ark. Throughout, it’s much better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and a reminder that as great as the young Harrison Ford was what made the movies was the spirit of adventure that infused them, and that spirit was a boy’s (and girl’s) spirit.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Ajax, Tintin, Chaykin & Barreto
Writer Rich Handley knows more about Planet Of The Apes than any three of you combined.
As the editor/compiler of two massive reference books - Timeline Of The Planet Of The Apes and Lexicon Of The Planet Of The Apes - he’s delved into the nerd minutiae of the movies, comics, TV shows and animated cartoons like Cornelius digging in the Forbidden Zone.
And we are all better people for it - because the only way to prevent the Apes from taking over, is to keep talking about it and disrupt the timeline.
On the occasion of the release of the new Apes extravaganza, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, I went right to the source to ask Rich a few questions about continuity, apes and more.
Note to all: This interview might contain some spoilers (you think?), so you are forewarned.
TOM MASON: So, reboot or prequel?
Click to continue reading Q&A: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
Weekend Reading: Kirby, Ditko, Cowboys & Aliens And Marvel Comics
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics
I’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Kirby family lost its claim in court to the copyright to characters Jack Kirby created. As usual, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has the best analysis.
Now let’s see what else is out there.
Cowboys: Deadline continues to do the number-crunching on this week’s comic book-inspired film, Cowboys & Aliens. The early results show an under-performer.
Blood: And over at Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston looks at the long journey getting Cowboys & Aliens from concept to screen.
Ditko: Tom McLean at Bags & Boards doesn’t post as often as he should, but when he does, it’s worth reading. His latest is a review of Blake Bell’s Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko from Fantagraphics. This is a beautiful snip: “Could Ditko be a first-generation fanboy, an 83-year-old whose life was spent obsessing first over comics and later over a juvenile political philosophy that only makes sense within a self-imposed bubble?”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Kirby, Ditko, Cowboys & Aliens And Marvel Comics
Okay, how many of you went to BEA this past week? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Since you didn’t make it, you might appreciate Torsten’s overview at Comics Beat.
Now, here’s some more nifty stuff:
Toth: Randy Reynaldo reviews Alex Toth, Genius Isolated. Need more be said?
Apes: My pal Rich Handley, no stranger to Planet of the Apes, reviews the first issue of BOOM!’s new Apes series, and likes it.
Apes II: Did you know there’s also a new Planet Of The Apes novel out? That’s right, novel! Scoop has the scoop.
Blackbeard: A terrific piece on comics historian Bill Blackbeard’s efforts to preserve comic strips, in case you were wondering why he’s such an important figure.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Toth, Apes, Jesus and Lichty
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