Posts Tagged ‘comics’

The latest in DC's new "We totally respect women, you bet" line of comics, "Helen Keller: Unleashed" is both inspirational and wicked hot!

Remember, a beautiful and confident woman shouldn't have to be ashamed of how she dresses, or chooses to splash about, or carries on all her conversations with Anne Sullivan while one or both of them is dressing or undressing. Don't be a prude or a hater. And don't miss the pivotal 12-page water pump scene!

Next month: "The Diary of Anne Frank."

Ever since DC announced their upcoming massive do-over, where all their books will stop and start over at #1. 52 books coming out altogether, and there will be changes aplenty.

Superman is losing his red trunks and his wife — because making Spider-Man's marriage go away made so many fans happy over at Marvel — and he'll almost certainly get a new origin, again. Anyone who's ever been a (male) Robin will be out there somewhere in one of the dozen-odd Batman books. Wonder Woman will become… I don't actually know what she is now, come to think of it. Many heroes will change, or be teamed up differently. Everyone gets new uniforms created by Jim Lee, so they'll all be shiny, even the fabric ones. Possibly the most shocking change, Barbara Gordon will become Batgirl again after 20-something years of being the handicapped (and cool) Oracle. And forums and comics shops and Twitter have been on fire with arguments and accusations and praise and proclamations of doom.

My position: Hey, don't look at me. They lost my loyalty years ago the last few times this was tried. Or, rather, they displaced it.

I understand the need for reboots. When you write characters for decades, you get a lot of backstory. You get new writers who want to try different things, even though they violate continuity. You get a drop off of new readers because there's just too much history to understand before the new books make any sense.  But if you start over…

"Crisis on Infinite Earths" was DC's first attempt at full-scale restructuring, and it worked reasonably well, until writers kept sneaking back to use plotlines and characters from before and muddying the whole thing up again. And a few years later they tried again, and again… Both companies also fell in love with the huge summer crossover event, because fans will buy more comics if their favorite characters are pulled into a huge, complicated story arc, right? And sometimes those big events accompanied reboots.

And they lost me. Not completely, I still read comics. But the multiple-reset of characters and story arcs, the regular wiping of histories and the wholesale changes to comic lineups kicked me into a different appreciation of the art. Gradually, I stopped following the characters, and started following the writers.

I used to buy every Spider-Man book there was. After he got complicated and reset a few times and I had to keep track of which of my favorite Spidey stories now actually happened in whatever current reality he was in, I realized what I really liked was not any story about a web-slinging wiseass, but a good story about a web-slinging wiseass.  Ditto Hulk, ditto Batman, ditto all the zillions of other comics I read. And the range of good writers is much, much smaller than the number of books I used to buy. Why waste my time reading a mediocre book just because I like the hero? I'm not missing anything; any major plot points will be retconned away in a few years anyway. But I know if I pick up a book by Peter David or Mark Waid or Warren Ellis or a dozen others I know I'll enjoy it no matter who's on the cover.

I've also found myself, over the last decade, preferring creator-owned comics or comics with defined story arcs with endings (Terry Moore's "Echo," Brian K. Vaughn's "Y the Last Man," etc) because I get a complete story with a single vision and an ending.

Which sounds like a good attitude, but it doesn't help DC because now that I follow writers, I follow them everywhere. And sometimes they write for other companies…

So keep playing with your universe, DC (and Marvel). I hope it works for you, I have nothing against reboots — they worked wonders for Doctor Who and Star Trek — but I'll just follow Gail Simone to whatever book she's on now and give most of the rest a miss. Have fun! See ya next reboot!

I've loved Spider-Man for over 40 years, but nothing in all that run entertained me as much as the "Ultimate Spider-Man" series by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley.

A reinvented Spider-Man, with all the humor and relationships and twisty plots that I loved from my childhood but with relevance to today, an incredible ear for teenage language, and a fresh new look at the same old characters. Through all of the occasionally questionable decisions Marvel has made with their major books the last few years, "Ultimate Spider-man" has remained my always-buy favorite. This is a great way to get started with this amazing series.

Here are the first 5 hardcover collections, pulling together issues #1 – 59, plus extras, interviews, sketches and more. All of them are first printing and in excellent condition. Bought, read once, shelved.

Vol. 1: Collects #1-13 and Amazing Fantasy #15. Out of print.
Vol. 2: Collects #14-27. Out of print.
Vol. 3: Collects #28-39, plus the hard-to-find Ultimate Spider-Man 1/2. Out of print.
Vol. 4: Collects #40-45, and 47-53.
Vol. 5: Collects Ultimate Spider-Man #46, Ultimate Six #1-7, and Ultimate Spider-Man #54-59.

Auction's over tomorrow night, so don't delay!

The newest and most eagerly awaited Serenity comic is coming November 24, and you can preorder it now for 20% off.

"The Shepherd's Tale" finally opens up the life of Derrial Book. Written by Zack Whedon based on Joss' outline and drawn by Chris Samnee, it'll be 56 pages and published in hardcover.

One of Serenity's greatest mysteries is finally revealed in Shepherd's Tale, filling in the life of one of the show's most beloved characters–Shepherd Book!

Who was Book before meeting Mal and the rest of the Serenity crew, how did he become one of their most trusted allies, and how did he find God in a bowl of soup? Answers to these and more questions about Book's past are uncovered in this original graphic novel by rising stars Zack Whedon (Dr. Horrible, Terminator, Fringe) and Chris Samnee (Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps, Daredevil). A pivotal chapter in the ongoing Serenity saga, Shepherd's Tale is also a rollicking, action-packed epic in its own right!

$14.99 in stores, but TFAW is offering preorders for $11.99. You definitely don't want to miss this one. He don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not. So where does that put you?

When it was time to bring Drusilla into the highly successful Angel comics by IDW, who better to write her than… herself?

Angel issues #24 and 25 were written by Juliet Landau and Brian Lynch with art by Franco Urru, and Drusilla's in rare form. She's also in an asylum, but they don't seem quite up to the task of containing her. Assuming that's the plan, anyway…

Reportedly Landau provided a great deal of input and reference material for the artwork, and it shows. Urru captured her graceful unearthy movements beautifully, which of course makes her all the more horrifying.

And now Juliet Landau is offering autographed versions of both comics, in any of the four variant covers done for each. $30 each, and you can even specify a personalized message (up to 200 characters). Click here to check 'em out.

(If you just want the comics, try TFAW.com)

10 years. 10 years to get out 27 issues of a comic. Taking your time, people?

OK, granted, Planetary creators Warren Ellis, John Cassaday and Laura Martin were interrupted several times by illness and other projects. And OK, out of 26 previous issues every one was a hit. And OK, they never promised a regular schedule and then went back on it, they were always upfront about delays and hiatuses. And OK, I can't exactly bitch since my own webcomic went on two hiatuses in a year…

The thing is, is it worth the wait? 3 years since the last one?

Haven't read it, beyond the preview pages at the Wildstorm blog. But I'll be buying it the day it comes out, and so should you. And if you haven't read the rest of them, go get them. I'll wait.

If you were living in a world full of superpowered people, how would you find out what they've been doing? Especially if they didn't want you to know? You build a group like Planetary; three archeologists uncovering 100 years of secret superhero activity.

The three have their own abilities — Jakita Wagner is strong, fast and tough, The Drummer can detect and manipulate information streams, new recruit Elijah Snow can extract heat from nearby substances at will — and there is a hidden Fourth Man running the show as they search for clues to what really happened in the last century. It's fast, subversive, thought-provoking, and often hilarious (the DC crossover special where they encounter every version of Batman that's been seen, from the original to the Dark Knight to the 70's hero to Adam West must not be missed) and features barely concealed and not-very-flattering references to almost every other iconic hero like Superman, Captain Marvel, Sherlock Holmes, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Nick Fury, Godzilla, the Justice League, the Fantastic Four and the Hulk.

The art by John Cassaday is breathtakingly believable, and Laura Martin's colors ground it even further into reality. Also, Warren Ellis is a sick, sick man.

With any luck the release of this will trigger a new edition of the whole series, but for now we'll make do with the collections. Planetary #27 will be an oversized issue, with a 3-piece wraparound gatefold cover drawn by Cassaday, coming out sometime in October.

New World War Hulks series, major Hulk character to die, yadda yadda. New Dethlok series, new Spider-Man webcomics, new Lizard series, maybe a new Alpha Flight series, yadda yadda.

Marvel bought the rights to "Miracleman."

Yadd.. wait, what?

Fans of the original "Marvelman" series by Alan Moore and its continuation by Neil Gaiman (known as "Miracleman" on this side of the pond) were stonkered by the announcement made at the San Diego Comic-Con's "Cup o' Joe" panel. This series,  a seminal work that takes the existence of superheroes to its extremes long before it became vogue (and frankly still stands head and shoulders above most subsequent attempts; it still has the most chilling images yet of what happens when someone with Superman-level powers goes on a rampage) has been in legal dispute for decades and fans assumed it would stay there. Apparently not:

(Marvel publisher Dan) Buckley stated that Marvel was talking with several creators who did Marvelman stories in the ’80s and ’90s. Both Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman are among those creators, but nothing has been announced beyond the acquisition.

So, no idea if the existing comics will be reprinted or remastered, or if previous characters will show up again, or if this means a movie deal is coming that Alan Moore will have to quickly distance himself from. But I'm excited to see what happens.

Terry Moore has signed a deal with "Watchmen" producer Lloyd Levin to make an "Echo" movie.

This doesn't mean there'll be one, of course. Movie deals are delicate, frail things that fall apart for all sorts of reasons. But I'm really hoping to see it (assuming it's done right) and I'm glad to see Moore,  getting the recognition (and the six-figure option amount).

Of course, I'd rather see a well-done "Strangers in Paradise" movie…

"Echo" tells the story of a photographer who is preoccupied with her personal problems until she gets doused by liquid metal from a military experiment gone awry. She discovers she can now harness the power of a nuclear bomb, and soon the military wants its walking weapon.

If you're not reading it, you really should be. Check out the first collection, "Moon Lake", at Amazon.

Good news: Strangers in Paradise, the long-running, award-winning comic by Terry Moore, is finally being collected in one massive , two-book hardcover collection.

Better news: there's also a third book to the set, containing the artwork for all the covers.

Even better news: Moore has tweaked the stories so that everything runs in unbroken order, typos have been fixed, words have been uncensored, and the artwork has been checked page by page. This is the finest edition of these stories available.

Way cool news: The Omnibus is on sale now, although it will debut at the San Diego Comic-Con. You can pre-order it from the Strangers in Paradise site and pick it up at the con (in a cool Omnibus canvas bag to haul it around) or have it shipped afterward.

Limited edition news: Only 1250 of these will be printed; after that the 1st two books (but not the covers book) will come out in paperback. Copies are available through your local comic store, but don't dawdle to preorder, they're going fast.

Extremely limited edition news: a lettered edition, only 26 copies, has been created to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. This is the rarest Strangers in Paradise collectible imaginable and it comes with an original drawing by Terry Moore and a bottle of "Parker Lily," a fragrance based on Terry Moore's beloved epic created by Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, strictly limited to 26 bottles. And right now the CBLDF is offering the rarest SiP item of all on eBay — Letter A of this limited edition set, plus a bottle each of the two prototypes of Parker Lily, the same ones sent to Terry Moore for approval. Short of auctioning off Terry Moore himself, it doesn't get better than this.

Read the rest of this entry »

OK, I really need to stop browsing the Prop Store of London, because I keep finding things I have no chance of affording but desperately need nonetheless even though I didn't know it was possible to buy them seconds previously. Like this.

Freakin' Tank Girl's costume.

This is Tank Girl's Costume from the 1995 movie Tank Girl which was Based on the British cult comic-strip. Tank Girl (Lori Petty)our heroine fights a mega-corporation, which controls the world's water supply and this costume is featured in the final battle scenes. The outfit is comprised of two sock elbow pads, chaps, custom vest, bulls-eye t-shirt, choker, and red shorts. All of the items are tailored to fit the petite 5'8"(173cm) actress. The pieces are all in good condition.

Huge fan of this comic, the movie, and Lori Petty. The only thing better would be a costume with two big missle-head bra cones on it, but one must be prepared to settle for what's available.

Which is freakin' Tank Girl's costume. Tank (presumably) not included.