Weekend Reading: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Doctor Strange, Alan Moore and Ward Kimball
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Television, DC Comics, Marvel Comics

It's beginning to look a lot like the holiday season is fast approaching, yet every day is a holiday on the internets.
If you were going to cast the Doctor Strange movie, and want to argue about it, you could do that at Longbox Graveyard where Paul O’Connor, Chris Ulm and I layout a scenario.
JT Lindroos at Bookgasm looks at a chunk of UK graphic novels to add to your holiday shopping list: Tank Girl, Rogue Trooper, and Torpedo.
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Quote Of The Day: Virgin Vampires
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Independent

"Anyone schooled in Hammer — even at an elementary level — can see that the duo has succeeded. Personally, having recently consumed the Blu-rays of the early 1970s’ Vampire Circus and Twins Of Evil, I could see the stamp permeating every page: a heavy cloak of Gothic atmosphere, rich period details, tight corsets to best accentuate the cleavage …”
- Reviewer Rod Lott on Virgin Vampires, the graphic novel created by writer Douglas Brode and artist Joe Orsak
Be sure to check out our other notable quotes!
[Artwork: Virgin Vampires]
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Weekend Reading: Disney, Star Wars, James Bond and MAD
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews
Whoa.
To everyone in the Eastern US affected by Frankenstorm Sandy, my heart goes out to you. Stay safe and I hope normalcy returns as soon as possible. (And don’t forget to vote!)
Show business knew how to take away the game ball from Sandy coverage with the announcement that George Lucas was selling Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion (with a ‘b’). That’s just mind-boggling.
And with that news came the news that new Star Wars films will be forthcoming with Lucas not involved in their production. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Lucas announced his charitable intentions with the $4 billion. What a week. Marvel and DC will have to stage a double-secret-reboot just to get a little press.
Let’s see what else is going on:
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Disney, Star Wars, James Bond and MAD
Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Harlan Ellison & Argo
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Marvel Comics

I am shocked - shocked, I tell you - to discover that the movie Argo (about how Jack Kirby’s designs for a screenplay based on a Roger Zelazny novel helped rescue hostages in Iran for the CIA) is playing fast and loose with history.
Michael Sporn has a long post with some nice artwork by Playboy cartoonist Rowland B. Wilson and some rare artwork by Alex Toth.
Down The Tubes interviews Paul Scoones, author of the new Doctor Who book: The Comic Strip Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who in Comics: 1964 — 1979.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Alex Toth, Harlan Ellison & Argo
Weekend Reading: Batman, Doonesbury, Killraven and Kickstarter
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
So the Olympics are finally over, and that means it's time to talk about real heroes, right? Y'know, the ones in capes!
For most of us, we have the belief that Bill Finger is the true creator of everything that made Batman great. Here’s why.
Jake Hinkson looks at The Dark Knight Rises and the other two parts of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy: “Unlike the set-bound comic-gothic theatrics of Tim Burton's Batman films or the plastic sex-toy quality of Joel Schumacher's films, Batman Begins is a full on epic.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Batman, Doonesbury, Killraven and Kickstarter
Weekend Reading: Avengers, Beau, Gareb And The Ultraverse
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
Everyone is still talking about Joss Whedon's The Avengers.
Emmy-winning writer/producer/director Ken Levine got a kick out of The Avengers, but it’s not his favorite comic book movie.
The Avengers is now the third highest-grossing US movie of all time.
And they're even screening it on the International Space Station
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Avengers, Beau, Gareb And The Ultraverse
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
Weekend Reading: Sherlock Holmes, Conan, and Spider-Man
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Marvel Comics
For starters, let’s all wish writer Tom Spurgeon a speedy recovery. He took a blogging break earlier this year for health reasons and his essay about his health, his love of comics and his work is even more essential than his already-essential blog. If you read nothing else today, make it this.
Now let’s see what else is going on across the internets:
Sherlock: Oh, that lovable curmudgeon Sherlock Holmes is causing trouble for the uneducated, easily threatened, fragile book burners of America. Apparently, A Study In Scarlet, a classic Holmes adventure, features an insensitive remark about Mormons. Imagine, a fictional character - not Holmes or Watson - from Victorian England having an unprogressive attitude. Forgive me while I clutch my pearls and head for the fainting couch. Galleycat has more on the story, including links to downloading the public domain book for free.
Don McGregor: The writer of Killraven and Black Panther (to name but two) has some thoughts about his wife Marsha on her birthday.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Sherlock Holmes, Conan, and Spider-Man
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
Weekend Reading: Dark Horse, Tokyopop, Borders, Glut & Apes
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Dark Horse Comics, TokyoPop
So, not a great week for comic book publishers as Tokyopop finally called it quits. If you have a project over there, it's a good time to get a lawyer to look over your contract and see about rights reversion when the publisher goes away without declaring bankruptcy (yet) or getting sold.
Then Dark Horse laid off a bunch of employees, many of them beloved and had been there a long time.
But at least the US Government is stepping in to try to stop Borders executives from looting the stores they’ve already ruined.
Rise: I love the way the new Planet of the Apes comic book from Boom! is looking. The Scoop has a sneak preview of the first issue, on sale April 27.
Victor: Here’s a great interview with writer Don Glut that’s mostly about Frankensten. “Why don't I do a series of Frankenstein novels that would be based on the movies and all of these other things? In each one I would bring in some other character from fiction or whatever. I would create this whole Frankenstein universe.”
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Dark Horse, Tokyopop, Borders, Glut & Apes
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