Since we were in the mood for reminiscing in our last Extra Sequential podcast, I thought I’d direct your attention to this short, but flashback worthy article at Newsarama about the awesome Super Powers figures based on a heap of DC Comics characters in the mid ’80s. I loved these toys as a kid, and they helped form my awareness of comics (as they had mini-comics inside). Ah, good times.
Go here for a site I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that talks about the unproduced fourth wave and more, with enticing pics.
This photo is set to be plastered all over the geekosphere, as Brit actor Henry Cavill has just officially been cast as Superman in the latest reboot. Non-American actors are doing well in superhero roles these days. Brit Andrew Garfield is Spider-Man, Brit Christian Bale is Batman and Aussie Chris Hemsworth is Thor.
Cavill is known primarily for his role in TV’s The Tudors, and the 6’1″ actor certainly looks like he could portray the Man of Steel on screen and as he’s only 27 he could play the part for a sequel or two (and maybe even the Justice League film!).
Director Zack Snyder’s (300, Watchmen) film is set for a December 2012 release.
I just finished watching all 3 awesome seasons of Arrested Development, and I ran across this great pic online that reimagines the cast as characters from Peanuts. See more of artist Bill Mudron’s work here.
A while ago I reviewed Australian artist Tim Gaze’s book, noology, after seeing his work in the wonderful Abstract Comics: The Anthology collection from Fantagraphics. Now Gaze has a new book out called 100 Scenes, which is best described below.
His latest work 100 Scenes is a contemporary resurrection of the Surrealist form known as “decalcomania”as pioneered in the 1930s by Oscar Dominguez and often used by Max Ernst. A resident of the Adelaide Hills town of Mt. Barker, Gaze is a prolific “visual poet” and inventor of his own brand of “glitch poetry”, a form of visual poetry with a similar sensibility to glitch music. In addition to making sound poetry and free form electronic music, Gaze has contributed to a number of small press poetry and art publications, and was recently included in an exhibition of asemic writing in Russia.
100 Scenes is a 106 page comic and can be bought as aPDF right here, with a print publisher/distributor currently in the works.
Working with architects does have its advantages, I must say. In the myriad links I get sent daily, sometimes something blog worthy like this will crop up. It’s an article about a proposed museum dedicated to comics and cartoons in a huge space in Manhattan. It looks great, and is not to be confused with the current MoCCA in New York. I hope it gets made. Here’s the original article.
Comic or rather”graphic novel” fanatics will soon get to share their love with liked minded fellows and no I don’t mean Comic-Con. The proposed Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art MoCCA will sited on a 14000sq ft lot in Manhattan’s lower east side near the Williamsburg Bridge from Brooklyn and seeks to be a hub for the most comprehensive comic and cartoon art collection. The design proposal lists spaces for gallery, classrooms, café, retail, theater, lecture hall, IT/computer lab, offices, archives, workshops, library, conference and convention center and the idea to have a fully immersive environment. The project has been conceptualized by architects Reid Nystrom and Alessandro Ortiz and I can’t wait to see it take shape.
A prequel comic to the new True Grit film from the Coen Brothers starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon can be read for free at comiXology right now. It’s black and white and not a bad way to promote the film. There’s no credits in the Paramount commissioned comic itself but according to Bleeding Cool, it’s written by Dan Light and Ben Read with art by Christian Wildgoose. It’s also available in 7 languages.
69 mins. It’s our 25th podcast and we celebrate the occasion by looking at the 25th anniversary of the year 1986, and what a year it was. We talk about the comics of the time plus power ballads, being born, multiple Sheens, the popularity of the high-five, and the shock of seeing Transformers dying.
Death of the Comics Code and the upcoming doco about it, death of the powerful comics magazine Wizard and Shaun Tan’s Oscar nomination.
11:22 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING
Arrested Development, and the whacky shenanigans of Axe Cop Vol. 1 TPB.
21:30 1986-THE YEAR THAT WAS
We kick off with the year’s Top Ten grossing films, talk about dying Transformers, Steve Guttenberg, and then get to comics of the time.
John Byrne’s Superman: Man of Steel that revamped and streamlined Clark and co.
Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, that showed an aged Bruce Wayne putting on the cowl once more in a mad future that put Batman back into the darkness, where he belongs.
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
The British Invasion that saw English creators (such as Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman) getting huge success in America, particularly DC Comics.
The rise of the independent publisher such as Dark Horse Comics and Slave Labor Graphics.
Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning Maus.
The formation of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
A few long running characters debuted including Booster Gold, Kilowog, Sodam Yat, Apocalypse and Eddie Brock (Venom).
For non-superheroes, 1986 saw the debut of Dylan Dog, Tintin and Alph-Art, Golgo 13, Area 88, Lone Wolf and Cub, Crying Freeman and Spirit of Wonder.
I’ve known about the sheer delightful insanity of webcomic Axe Cop for a while now, but only recently read the Dark Horse TPB collecting the first few dozen episodes in a wonderful 120 page collection. I yakked about it gleefully in our most recent Extra Sequential podcast (which will be up soon), but seeing as the series just celebrated its 1 year anniversary, it’s worthing mentioning and recommending.
As it’s written by 5 year old Malachai and drawn by his 29 year old brother Ethan (Chumble Spuzz) you know it’s going to be chock full of wild, rambling adventure, and it sure is. The Axe Cop TPB is the funniest comic I have ever read, bar none and beyond the zany stories, it’s filled with the delightful Ask Axe Cop features and intros from Ethan about how he works with his brother and just how crazy the huge success of the series is.
If you’re familiar with Axe Cop (if not, you should be!) then you’ll get a kick out of this great short, Australian made fan film. It’s amusing how it reminds me of Sin City with the earnest narration, but obviously with a much greater sense of fun. How awesome it would be to see a live action or cartoon Axe Cop on the small screen.
There’s also an interview at Newsarama, primarily with Ethan about March’s upcoming Axe Cop mini-series, Bad Guy Earth, but younger Malachai chimes in at the start:
Malachai: That’s all! Answer is never, never, never, never, never!
Since this week’s death in FF the team have been in the news, and will continue to be on fans’ minds, with the release of next month’s final issue. Teaser for said issue below, but don’t worry, Marvel’s First Family will return in the new FF series by Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting on March 23. If you don’t want to know which member of the FF died, don’t scroll down – whatever you do!
FANTASTIC FOUR #588 – The Final Issue!
FANTASTIC FOUR #588 (DEC100592)
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Penciled by NICK DRAGOTTA
Cover by ALAN DAVIS
Rated A …$3.99
FOC – 1/31/11, On Sale 2/23/11
Your First Look at the FINAL ISSUE OF FANTASTIC FOUR!
The end of the Fantastic Four is here! Huge choices that dramatically impact the Marvel Universe are made this February in Fantastic Four #588, from the superstar creative team of Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta and Mark Brooks! Following up on the sold-out hit Fantastic Four #587, Marvel is pleased to present your first look at the FINAL issue of the long-standing series, guest starring all your favorite Marvel heroes! But the story isn’t over yet because where one door closes, another opens. It’s now up to Reed, Sue, and Ben to make life-changing decisions of their own volition that set them on a course destined to change the Marvel Universe in Johnny’s honor!
“The reaction from fans and retailers to Fantastic Four #587 was overwhelming and we’re excited to show fans, who have been chomping at the bit, to see what’s next!” exclaims SVP of Sales, David Gabriel. “It may be the end of the series, but it’s the beginning of something much bigger.”
Say your final farewells to the Fantastic Four, this February in Fantastic Four #588!
If you’re a U.S resident, you have until Jan 31 to enter the sweepstakes for an iPad, customised with an original Batman sketch from Jim Lee. Go here to enter.
It’s great to see gallery artist Janet Lee getting more comics work in her unusual layered style, as seen in one of last year’s best OGNs Return of the Dapper Men. Details and perty pics below.
Your First Look At Janet Lee’s Mesmerizing Pages of Emma #1
Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Emma #1 from New York Times best-selling writer Nancy Butler (Sense & Sensibility) and rising star artist Janet K. Lee (Return of the Dapper Men)! This March, delve into the world of nineteenth century courtship courtesy of a Rita Award-winning author and the illustrator whose work Newsarama.com calls “truly breathtaking.” Local matchmaker Emma Woodhouse can make anyone the perfect pair – provided she can stop the men folk from falling for her first! Find out how one upstanding young woman comes to find herself stuck in a love triangle as big as an English village, only in Emma #1!
This was one of my fave cartoons in the wonderful decade known as the ’80s and now it’s returning to the small screen for the first time since 1990. There’s now a new toon in the works for the Cartoon Network, co-produced by Studio 4C in Japan. It’ll be a darker series than the original and follow the rise of future leader Lion-O. Can’t wait! Below you can see the more anime inspired looks of Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro (the blue one) and the female Cheetara.
The Black Panther motion comic has been on DVD here in Australia since the 1st of December last year, but for some reason other countries haven’t had that privilege until now. The 6 episodes briefly premiered on iTunes before disappearing, but now the DVD is out collecting all the episodes based on the Reginald Hudlin/John Romita Jr. comic story. See if it was worth the wait here.
Jen Van Meter is writing a 40 page Red Sonja one-shot for Dynamite that arrives in April. It’s a surprising choice for the writer of Hopeless Savages and Black Lightning: Year One, but it should be worth a purchase, even though the title seems a bit odd.
Written by Jen Van Meter and drawn by Edgar Salazar, the Red Sonja: Break the Skin one-shot is a must-read! In the story hitting comic shops this coming April, it looked like such a simple job: Zepur, a princess of the nomadic Talakma Horsemen, sought Sonja’s sword to defeat an unwelcome suitor and his army. When Sonja discovers she’s led her mercenary band into the middle of a bitter and vicious rivalry for leadership of Zepur’s clan, she’s got to figure out who’s lying to her the least, which promises she can keep, and how to fight the soul-eating avatar of an angry ape god.
“It had been awhile since I’d gotten the opportunity to write a character like Sonja–an unapologetic badass who answers to little outside herself–so I dove into this gleefully,” says writer Jen Van Meter. “Red Sonja: Break the Skin is my effort to really look at her mercenary, sword-for-hire life in a world in which the lies and political machinations that are handled comparatively cleanly in other genres are visceral and passionate and immediate, and in which angry gods are active players who can be manifest, grotesque and cruel. The great thing about Sonja, to me, is that she feels like a lone gunslinger and a wild-eyed pirate captain at the same time; there’s tons of charisma, lusty bravado and brazen ego there, alongside this wonderfully quiet isolation. There aren’t a lot of female characters who have both those modes available to them so readily, so it’s been a real delight to write her.”
Writer Jonathan Hickman talks about the death in this week’s issue of Fantastic Four. I won’t mention who it is, unlike the mainstream press.
Sticking with Marvel super teams, you can see two more full episodes for free of the new Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! cartoon, focusing on Hawkeye, Captain America and Black Widow. I assume it only works if you’re a U.S resident though as it won’t work for me, alas.
It’s been a while since some good fan films have surfaced online. These two new films aren’t bad. What they lack in editing they make up for in production design. Below is Fight the Foot, a darker, more street level approach to the Ninja Turtles, although only a silent Raphael, and April O’Neil are in it, and some kinda Foot looking soldiers.
Entitled The Rat, this 6 minute film is set in Christopher Nolan’s Batfilm world and has two cops talking, before The Riddler (briefly) shows up, and Batman doesn’t. Like the one above, it sure looks good though.
comicbookjesus 