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Electronic Arts ends relationship with Marvel
2008-01-29 22:27:00
Hmm, it looks like Marvel has just been dealt a business blow: game developer Electronic Arts has cut off their business deal with them. Seeing how Marvel is doing now with the most important part of their business, which is comics, I guess they were asking for this. The first game that came out of this deal to develop games based on their stable of characters, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the
More About: Relationship , Electronic Arts

Taking the wrong direction on marriage
2008-01-29 22:13:00
The Pottsville Republican & Herald talks about how Marvel has dealt with marriage, and feels that they're taking the wrong approach now. They overlook a telling detail, however: I know it’s only a comic book, but I hate the trend of breaking up marriages to make a character “cool” again. Apparently Spidey has to be single for people to relate to him. But what message does that give young readers
More About: Marriage , Wrong , Taking , Direction , Rect

More on the Red Sonja legal battle in Delaware
2008-01-29 22:09:00
The Delaware News-Journal has the latest on the trademark battle being waged over the rights to Red Sonja as a character. It's a court hearing that could go on for several days.
More About: Legal , Battle , Aware

Now Quesada pins the blame on MJ
2008-01-28 20:14:00
From this thread on Spider-Man Crawl Space, I'm now making the discovery that Joe Quesada seems to be making his strategy for justifying the end of the Spider-Marriage to claim that Mary Jane was the one who made the decision. Which doesn't make sense, because it was a joint decision of Peter and MJ to deal with Mephisto. However, now that I think of how this was handled, and that the upcoming
More About: Pins , Blame

The media's going out of their way again to cooperate with Marvel
2008-01-28 10:25:00
In promoting the presentation of the "new" Captain America, as this press release tells. And a Marvel spokesperson said: We asked Marvel spokesperson Jim McCann for comment on the anticipated coverage. He said: "This is a really big story, yes. The mainstream media is still as hungry for Cap news as they were when he died, as seen in the Death of Captain America Vol. 1 HC. It just goes to show

Not that cliche again...
2008-01-27 21:42:00
It looks like with Batman #676 (via Newsarama blog), the rumor of the Masked Manhunter possibly dying has boomeranged back, and they've resorted yet again to the tired cliche: Are you ready for "Batman R.I.P."? Beginning the epic story that will change the legend of the Dark Knight forever! Everything in Grant Morrison's groundbreaking run on Batman has been leading to this story, and nothing

So Sins Past is still in continuity?
2008-01-27 18:41:00
Reading this entry at The Savage Critics, but mainly the comments that came with it, I've gotten some clues that, wouldn't you know it, of all the things JMS did in his 6-year run on ASM, Sins Past still appears to be in continuity! According to this comment: ...this is one of the many reasons why I don't trust Quesada to "fix" Spider-Man (aside from the fact that he helped "break" him in the
More About: Continuity

This makes me feel uncomfortable
2008-01-26 17:06:00
I looked at Wikipedia's entry on Bucky Barnes, and the following information that I've caught up on from the past 2-3 years is very unpleasant: In the present day, the Winter Soldier catches the attention of Captain America when the Soldier seemingly kills the Red Skull and Jack Monroe (Nomad) under orders from former Soviet general Aleksander Lukin (Karpov's former protégé). The Soldier's
More About: Feel

In New Avengers, violence is okay, but profanity is not
2008-01-24 17:24:00
Comics2Film talks about the excruciating violence exhibited in New Avengers #35 against Tigra a couple months ago. Oddly enough though, the word "ass", by contrast, is censored. Hmm, I agree, that does seem very odd, and pretty hypocritical of them. Even I'd feel more confortable seeing the word "ass" among other profane words clearly displayed on the panels than to see Tigra or any other lady
More About: Violence , Profanity

Enough of the Emperor's New Clothes act
2008-01-24 15:04:00
Erik Larsen, who'd once been a Spider-Man contributor, wrote what he thinks about Joe Quesada's forced breakup of the Spider-Marriage. And I'm glad to see that his thoughts coincide with mine - that an Emperor's New Clothes path is not the way to go: So...what should Marvel do now? Hasn’t the dye been cast? Honestly? My first thought was that Marvel should stick with it -- what's done is done.

I thought it was possible: fans of the Multiverse have lost interest
2008-01-23 16:16:00
Several weeks ago, I said that I wouldn't be surprised if DC fans who wished for the return of the Multiverse had since lost interest, if sales results are any indication. Now, the blogmaster of Fortress of Fortitude proves that I was right, that someone is let down by how it's all being handled. And not just because there's too much bloodshed in the DCU these days that spoils everything, but
More About: Lost , Fans , Thought , Interest

CS Indy interviews the Simonsons
2008-01-22 09:49:00
The Colorado Springs Independent interviews Walter and Louise Simonson, veteran couple of the comic book writers. Problem is that even they may be making the mistake of assuming that popularity for comics is seriously booming again: During their 30-plus years in the comic book industry, Walter and Louise "Weezie" Simonson have seen ups and downs. "The popularity of comics goes in waves," Weezie
More About: Interviews , Indy , Mons

A terrible year for superheroes
2008-01-21 17:48:00
Contrary to what the Cleveland Plain Dealer is telling, that villains and heroes had "a super year", it was not that way at all. Certainly not for the heroes. The columnist says: Once more, let's hear it for 2007. The bad guys have gotten smarter. Heroes turned on one another, and shape-shifting aliens have infiltrated society. Iron Man did what all the villains couldn't do: forced many
More About: Year , Superheroes

No "event" involving death should be something big
2008-01-20 22:00:00
The Penn. Express-Times' comics columnist wrote earlier about DC and Marvel's next "big events". But when one of them seems to be hyping itself on death, and the other is just as much a case of overkill, then I don't think I'd call them big events at all. First, DC's Final Crisis: "Batman" writer Grant Morrison and "52" cover artist J.G. Jones take on DC's biggest event with world-changing "
More About: Event , Death

Even the art shouldn't be reason to stick around
2008-01-20 20:13:00
While I know that this is a newspaper columnist in focus here, it still seems a bit odd that the comics columnist for the Pennsylvania Express-Times would stick around on Spider-Man after the debacle of One More Day just for the art: The only really good thing about the first part of "Brand New Day" is Steve McNiven's art. The first book that I ever noticed McNiven's art was in "Civil War." His
More About: Reason , Stick

Darius LaMonica and Sleet's anti-jihad comic
2008-01-19 20:44:00
Darius LaMonica writes to Michelle Malkin to promote his new comic book against Islamic jihad, Matamoros, which he co-wrote with Sleet and is drawn by John Cox of Cox and Forkum cartoons. It's a very bold venture. Update: here's a review from milblogger who recommends it.
More About: Comic , Jihad , Anti

Quebecor's financial problems
2008-01-19 18:06:00
Even a supplier of printing services for comics is having problems these days, that being Canada's Quebecor, which does much of the printing for Marvel and DC. They failed to obtain a bailout plan, and their financial woes are still going. Newsarama says that the impact would be minimal, but given the Newsarama track record of sugarcoating, I wouldn't take what they say at face value. I wonder if
More About: Financial , Problems

AP Wire delivers the worst OMD coverage of all
2008-01-17 15:06:00
There's been some pretty awful coverage of the One More Day controversy, some of which is definitely tilted in Joe Quesada's favor, but I think the Associated Press may qualify for the worst article of all: It was bad enough when Jamie Lynn Spears, the 16-year-old all-American girl, announced she was pregnant. But Spider-Man splitting with Mary Jane, his wife of more than 20 years? We didn't see
More About: Wire , Coverage

Warner Bros. puts Justice League movie on backburner
2008-01-17 09:55:00
Or, they're possibly scrapping it altogether, as I suspect will happen in the end. It was supposed to start filming this spring, but now they've stopped production. Of course, if the screenplay was really going to be similar in any ways to the debacle surrounding Identity/Infinite Crisis, as this older news seems to tell, then maybe that's good news, as any resulting movie could be an
More About: Movie , Justice , Warner , League , Justice League

Captain America in Marvel Knights quagmire again?
2007-08-20 18:59:00
What's this here? David Morrell, the author who'd created Rambo, is writing some kind of miniseries about Captain America ("The Chosen") as seen through the eyes of a soldier in Afghanistan, and which, yes, does appear to be just a flashback story. But there's at least two reasons to keep expectations on this to minimum: one, because Morrell may be chummy with Max Allan Collins, who if memory serves, supported the anti-American steps taken with Cap a few years ago by writing an introduction to the trade paperback of the Marvel Knights series at the time in which he attacked "jingoism". And two, because this miniseries, just like the Marvel Knights series, seems to put Cap into real life settings in ways that could trivialize the tragedies in real life:Another unique element of Morrell's Captain America story is the story's setting. "My story could have happened anytime after 9-11 because there are a lot of references to 9-11," Morrell said. "There are pictures of the Cole after...
More About: Quagmire

Cannibals with jetpacks are NOT funny
2007-08-19 21:32:00
Let's say that there was a story in which Osama bin Laden were depicted flying around on a jetpack. Would you find that funny or even entertaining in any way? If the answer to that is no, then you'll understand what my problem is with All-New Atom #14.Some people seem to think that All-New Atom #14 is some kind of classic. I don't and here's why.I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later that any favorite writer of mine was going to do something that I'd find offensive, and I'm sorry to say, but Gail Simone now joins that list.On this page here are the pages and panels from All-New Atom #14. The plot involves three heroes going to the afterlife in their search for Ray Palmer (well, so it seems that way). They meet quite a few heroes and villains using jetpacks, and it turns out that Hitler is using a jetpack in the afterlife too as he tries to attack the heroes.Here's my problem with it: It's not that Ryan Choi kicks the shit out of the fuhrer. That's what's appropri...
More About: Funny , Cannibal , Packs

LA Times article about Pierre Dragon
2007-08-19 16:36:00
Here's an interesting article from the LA Times about a comic book from France (or bande dessinee, as they call them there) that stars a police intelligence operative who prowls the shadowy backstreets of Paris in search of terrorists. And it looks like there was even a real life inspiration for the hero as well, a veteran of commando units of Spanish descent who did undercover work in the North African/Islamic underworlds. What American companies are failing to show the guts to tackle, it appears that French companies by contrast are willing to work on.
More About: Article , Pierre , Dragon , Artic

Mark Millar to write the FF. Yawn
2007-08-17 14:57:00
Mark Milla r is slated to write the Fantastic Four, but after all the pretentious writing he did with Civil War, among other books of yore, I really don't care to read whatever he's planning to write here, even if it isn't more politicized nonsense.
More About: Write , Mark , Mark Millar

An earlier case of sexism, circa 1980
2007-08-15 20:03:00
Okay, now that I've completed my smackdown of that mainstream reporter's double-talk, I'm going to provide some criteria on something that he by contrast didn't: a case of sexism that took place in The Brave and the Bold #166 in late 1980, written by Michael Fleisher of Jonah Hex and Warlord fame. For that, here's the letter column from issue #171, February 1981:Sorry if the page I scanned is a bit blurry, but it's difficult for me to get the inner side of the page pressed down well under the cover and get it to go flat along the glass, and I have a policy not fold things over, because that's taking a risk in damaging the goods. But, not to worry, I'm going to copy the second letter featured right onto the good ol' HTML:Dear Paul [Levitz],The latest issue of BRAVE AND BOLD starring Batman and Black Canary was easily the most offensive story published by DC in recent years. That a writer could submit such a sexist story in this day and age is perhaps explainable, but that an...
More About: Case , Sexism , Arli , Lier , Circa

Much too late, much too easy, and much too watered down
2007-08-15 19:09:00
Scripps-Howard News Service's Captain Comics has suddenly decided to address the issue of sexism in comics. But what he says is too little, too late, and predictably remains on a superficial level. So, here I boldly go into the Negative Zone to do a little tearing apart of yet another pretentious mainstream newspaper article. Let's see what we have here for starters:Are comics sexist? A recent reprint has put that long-standing charge in the spotlight."Showcase Presents: Batgirl" (DC Comics, $16.99) is a B&W trade paperback reprinting in chronological order more than 500 pages of the titian-haired tigress's earliest solo adventures, from her debut in "Detective Comics" No. 359 (cover dated January 1967) through around 1975. The stories are a lot better than they have a right to be, but the cover image has some fans screaming "sexism!"He's referring to an argument that probably first appeared on the internet (here's one related item from Peter Sanderson) that may have been m...
More About: Easy , Late

Sad: Mike Wieringo passed away at 44
2007-08-13 23:14:00
I'd once mentioned Wieringo earlier, his bold argument that DC had done wrong to bump off Barry Allen's grandson Bart, whom he co-created with Mark Waid, and now, I was shocked to discover that he's dead at 44 years old only. That's absolutely terrible. He was a very talented artist, I'd looked at his work on a few DC and Marvel books and was impressed, and now, I have to discover that he's no longer with us.It's sad. I give my condonlences.
More About: Mike , Mike Wieringo , Erin

Comic book stores may be dying
2007-08-12 21:01:00
It's no surprise, really, when you think of all the factors that're leading to the downfall of comic books themselves. Gary Warth, a writer for the North County Times in California, wrote about a couple things wrong with comics today, including how some stores, sadly, have closed over the years:The Con made me think of the days when I used to go in Thrill Book s on First Street in Encinitas at least once a week to load up on new Batmans, Supermans, Green Lanterns and other titles, including non-superheroes from independent publishers.After 17 years in Encinitas, the store closed in 2002. I tried to keep up with my favorites, but it was hard to find another shop I liked, and the rising cost of titles made buying an armful of comics each week a questionable priority."It's discouraging when you have to make choices," former store owner Tom Piper said when I called him to reminisce this week. "There's hardly anything worth reading anymore that's not $2.99. When I started, they were ...
More About: Comic , Dying , Stores , Comic Book

Surprise is nothing compared to guts
2007-08-12 20:28:00
Jonathan Last is a writer I've often found plenty to agree with. However, I think that, in this op-ed he wrote in Opinion Journal on the "death of Captain America" last March, he may have keeled over too much in what's almost like trying to appease the "other side", when towards the end, he says:"Captain America" will probably return. Ed Brubaker, the current writer of the series, won't divulge details, but comments in an interview with the Web site Comic Book Resources, "I've got the next two years of Cap plotted, if that says anything." Fans have already concocted several plausible resurrection scenarios.But before looking toward his next incarnation, it's worth pausing to appreciate that even at this late date, Captain America's death still meant something. Partially, this was due to the simple fact that Marvel was able to keep his murder a surprise--something of a wonder in an age when every other happening comes prehyped and presold. (Mr. Quesada reveals that the editors ...
More About: Compa , Pare

More points to make about "the Lightning Saga", if they haven't been made y
2007-08-10 17:30:00
I think I once gave this whole entry on Comics Should Be Good some mention, but only minor, so I'm going to expand upon what it discusses a bit more, since there's more that can be said about this disastrous crossover between Justice League and Society that brought back Wally West, but beyond that was extremely poor. For example:...Dinah, Clark, John, Bruce, Jay Garrick, Karen, Wally West, and Hal Jordan are never identified by their superhero names. Yes, I realize that we should know who they are, but why is it so important to know their real names when it?s not that important to know their superhero names?What's interesting about this refusal to feature their superhero names is that this already happened in Meltzer's other incredibly overrated "product", Identity Crisis, where almost no one's superhero names were mentioned, if at all. This struck me as a subtle form of dislike for superheroes, so I can't see why anyone would buy into the idea that Meltzer is really a comics ...
More About: Lightning , Made , Make , Points , Been

Another amusing Ink parody
2007-08-09 16:23:00
Here's another of the Ink comic strip's parodies of DC Comics and costumes:
More About: Parody , Amusing