Posts Tagged ‘comics’

If you're not following @drhorrible on Twitter, you're missing some good stuff and sneaky updates like this one. Just sayin'.

Tomorrow is Joss' birthday, and there's lots of ways to celebrate! Many of us will be gathering at various Can't Stop the Serenity events around the world (check here for the list and schedule), some of us will be holding quiet ceremonies in front of our home Joss shrines, and some of us can boost the economy in his name. Which is now easier, because TFAW.com is holding a Joss' Birthday Sale!

This means you'll save 30% off cool stuff like Buffy Season 8, Serenity apparel, Angel variants, and even Joss' runs on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. This is the perfect time for you to proclaim your allegiance to all things Whedon and complete your collection. Feels more like your birthday, doesn't it?

Our Happy Birthday Joss Whedon Sale starts now and ends at 11:59 p.m. on June 23, 2009, so make sure to visit our Joss Whedon Theme Page now to take advantage of some excellent deals. But be quick–your fellow Whedon fans are already there!

That was pretty much my reaction just now. Even though I write about geek issues I don't read all the trades, and somehow I completely failed to find out ahead of time that Ultimate Spider-Man #133 was the last one in the series, to be followed by two one-shot comics this summer and then a new relaunch into Ultimate Comics Spider-Man.

Usually, avoiding spoilers works in my favor. I can be surprised, the dramatic and comedic beats hit as they're supposed to without any anticipation from me so their impact is all the harder. In this case, it was a loud "WTF?!?" followed by some frantic Googling to discover what, indeed, was the F.

Major spoilers coming. If you'd rather skip that, here's the short version: I was disappointed in every way imaginable, and I have to assume that Brian Michael Bendis had a gun held to his head.

Read the rest of this entry »

If the DVDs and  soundtrack isn't enough – and it isn't – go check out the free Dr. Horrible comics at Dark Horse Presents. First up is "Captain Hammer: Be Like Me," written by Zack Whedon, drawn by Eric Canete and colored by Dave Stewart. Excellent look at Captain Hammer's life before the events of the show, and hilarious all by itself. Read it here.

Then there's "Moist: Humidity Rising," Dr. Horrible's sidekick's awesome origin! Well, kind of awesome. Well, not really. I wasn't as impressed with this one, even though Zack penned it as well (art by Farel Dalrymple and Dan Jackson). It hits all the points – got his powers, met Billy, dreamed henchmen dreams – without any memorable lines or interesting twists or much plot at all. It's just… there. Which, come to think of it, also describes Moist, so maybe it works after all. Read it here.

And out this week, "Penny: Keep Your Head Up," by Zack Whedon and Jim Rugg, a sweet tale of her activist beginnings.

Or at least he is in this amazing fan-made movie trailer that's sweeping across the interwebs. Hollywood? There's not a lot coming out this summer that looks as interesting as this does. Might want to do something about that…

Well, relatively cheap. Way cheaper than you'll find on eBay, certainly.

258 Authentic is having a blowout sale and selling Serenity comics signed by Adam Baldwin, Ron Glass and Morena Baccarin. I've bought several of these from him before, they're just as promised with a certificate of authenticity included. This is an excellent price for an autograph alone, and you get the comic as well! (Read it carefully)

I'm expanding my pimping from Serenity to other interests, so this is Adam Baldwin from Chuck, Alan Tudyk from Dollhouse, and Morena Baccain from V. Ahem.

Thanks to whedonesque for the heads up.

TFAW.com has added another great deal for Whedon fans: the Whedonverse Grab Bag.

We've got a bunch of great Whedon-inspired back issue comic books from publishers like Dark Horse and IDW, and now you can bring 'em home. We've put together 10 different Whedon comics for each bundle–that's only $.50 apiece!

When ordering Grab Bag comics we cannot take requests for specific titles or series. Besides, half the fun is the mystery of what you're going to get! Some of these comics may be warehouse finds, and may have minor dings, scratches, etc.

Want to get a friend hooked on your favorite Whedon-based comics? Or maybe you just like grab bags…

Just head here for more details.

You may not recognize Len Wein's name, but you may recognize some of the things he's done. He co-created Swamp Thing, Wolverine and some other X-Men like Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus. He was the editor on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons'
epic story Watchmen. He wrote for just about every major character in mainstream comics: Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc. And he lost his house.

OK, you might not know that last part, but it's true. On April 6 he lost his home, belongings and beloved dog to a house fire. Now friends and admirers are working to help him rebuild his comic collection. Not the ones he owned, but the ones he worked on. And you can help.

Go to the Len Wein Project and check out the latest list of needed comics to see if you have any you can provide. Then e-mail comix4len@povonline.com to let them know, and you'll get instructions on what to do next.

Len has provided many of us with many happy memories over the years. Let's give a few back.

The fanosphere is aghast with the news from the Wall Street Journal today that Warner Bros. is considering a reboot of the Superman franchise, possibly one that sort of ignores "Superman Returns." And I'm OK with that, since I also sort of ignore "Superman Returns."

But the kryptonite in the woodpile is this quote from Warner Bros. Pictures Group President Jeff Robinov:

Like the recent Batman sequel — which has become the highest-grossing film of the year thus far — Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as "The Dark Knight." Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.' DC properties. "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it," he says. That goes for the company's Superman franchise as well.

Oh, for…

This is so obvious I am amazed it needs to be said. "The Dark Knight" did not succeed because it was dark. It succeeded because of several things, all of which can be boiled down to "make a movie that is true to the character." And Batman, done properly, is dark. Superman is not.

The superhero movies that work are the ones that speak to the fans' love of what makes the character great. The massively successful Spider-Man movies were true to his character. Except, of course, for the third one, when he went… um, dark.  The massively successful Iron Man movie did not try to make him gritty, it made him Iron Man.

WB, pay attention to someone who knows (i.e. the moviegoer). Get a director who loves the character and will fight to protect the core of him or her. Make sure that director has no driving urge to "say something" with the character unless that something makes sense (Singer's outcast neuroses worked great with X-Men, not so well wth Supes). Then back that director to the hilt.

Or just hire Jon Peters to do it and write off superhero movies entirely. Maybe something with a giant spider.

OK, this kinda came out of the blue… This month's "Dark Horse Presents" over at MySpace has an 8-page stand-alone Serenity story in it called "Serenity: The Other Half," with art by WIll Conrad. It's written by Jim Krueger, the man who (according to Joss) will be writing the Book miniseries coming out next.