The Next Generation of heroes

The Hollywood Reporter posted a series of photos depicting actors who have portrayed some of our most well-known screen icons, and the new generation of stars that are poised to take over those roles. Makes for interesting reading.

Starting with:

Andrew GarfieldThe British actor was cast July 2, 2010 as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Columbia’s The Amazing Spider-Man, to be released in 3D on July 3, 2012. Directed by (500) Days of Summer helmer Marc Webb and co-starring Emma Stone as Peter’s first love Gwen Stacy, Andrew Garfield has some big shoes to fill, taking over web-slinging duties from Tobey Maguire.

 The rest are here.

Dawning of a new age for Indie Comics

I remember at the beginning of the ‘80s how there was a literal explosion of Indie publications that made me excited to read comics again. Well, not sure what happened to all those Indie publishers (many went under), but it seems to me that there is a resurgence in Indie comics these days. To anyone who has any doubts about this, you should check out  MoCCA Fest and see what I mean.

Well I just picked up this new comic anthology called (of all things), Indie Comics Magazine, and the magazine delivers 64 pages (eight separate stories) of top-flight reading. The tales rang the gamut from horror to samurais, to humor, to superhero, to sci-fi, and none of the stories disappoint.

Helmed by Editor Gary Scott Beatty who’s first produced comic was on his high school’s ditto machine, after hours, and without permission. His story in this issue is entitled Jazz: Cool Birth, is a murder mystery set in a 1957 jazz club with art and typography based on ‘50s album cover design. The story helped earn him a Xeric Foundation Grant. Multi-talented, Beatty writes, colors, letters, and produces comic books and magazines for a diverse range of companies and has written for the Comic Buyer's Guide.

I highly recommend this comic, and suggest that you head to your local independent comic book shop and have them order it for you from Diamond.

Spider-Mike, Mayor of New Dork!

According to a published article in the New York Post, The Big Apple’s mayor Bloomberg, followed up his comicbook debut with a stint mocking Broadway’s longest running non-play, Spider-Man Turn off the dark at a charity dinner sketch that, unfortunately, went awry:


New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg descended upon the stage at the annual Inner Circle charity dinner in Manhattan on Saturday dressed as Spider-Man. The Inner Circle is a gaggle of past and present City Hall reporters who roast the mayor each year, kindly allowing him a comedic comeback. In a nod to the musical that is currently bombing on Broadway, the mayor stopped halfway through the Spider-Man skit “due to technical difficulties,” according to the New York Daily News. 
Well, we were certainly entertained:

Yeah, I could vote for this guy!

Rogue Comics

So, like most funnybook-buying folks I tend to (mostly) frequent the same couple of shops for my weekly “fix” there is one shop in my town (Heroes Cards & Comics) and another just a couple of towns over (A Timeless Journey), well, just recently I discovered yet another worthwhile shop to add to my frequency list.

Located in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport (on the Fairfield line). The shop’s name is Rogue Comics.

The shop is under new management, and the new owner has made an amazing recovery of the site from what it used to be (including changing the store’s name).

The shop is well-lit, roomy, and fully stocked with current comics, toys, games, and trading cards. On top of that, the new owner, Mike, is very friendly and knowledgeable of the field. So if you live in Fairfield or Bridgeport, and are looking for a place to buy your comics. There’s a new store in town!

Rogue Comics 

3002 Fairfield Avenue • Bridgeport, CT 06605 •

• (203) 334-5566 •

Hours: Mon-Fri: 11-5:15/5:45-7 • Sat: 11-7 • Sun: 12-5

email: RogueComicsCT@gmail.com
Find them on Facebook 

Official Index to the Marvel Universe, Avengers, Cap America & Thor

Yep it is out, issue #11 and (apparently) I’m a contributor (cool, eh?).

Well, what's even cooler is that the writing staff (of which I am a part) has just been informed that we are beginning on Vol #3 of this series, and, yep, I'll be contributing once again to the series.

This time around we will be covering Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and The Punisher. As it stands now, I'll probably be concentrating on the Punisher entries.

More as it develops.

Captain America Trailer

OK, OK, I’m sure you’ve all seen this already, but what the heck, I figured we’d post it as well.





Did you catch Sgt. Fury, Dum Dum, and the Howling Commandos? How about Tony Stark’s dad? Pretty cool, eh? We thought so! For more, go here.

Three More from Young Justice

As stated the other day, DC Comics, The Cartoon Network, & McDonald’s have issued a set of young Justice Action figures with Micky D’s Happy Meals, the first group were featured in our original post, here are the remaining three characters:

(The rest of) Young Justice

Kid Flash

Captain Cold

Black Manta

Young Justice is @ McDonald’s

So today is St. Pat’s Day, and I got it in my head that I hadn’t had a Micky D’s Shamrock Shake in quite a time, so I figured I’d stop in and get one. Needless to say when I got there I realized that the DC Comics toys  (Young Justice) were there and I scored . Five out of the eight toys:

Aqualad

Robin

Superboy

Superman

Batman

Batman (cape extended)

(most of) Young Justice

McD’s YJ Happy Meal Box

I'm hoping to get the last reaming three (Kid Flash, Cap. Cold, Black Manta) tomorrow.

6 Eerily Specific World Events Predicted by Comics

OK, I'll be honest, this is simply a re-post of an article I read on Cracked.com, but it was very entertaining (and kind of spooky), plus I’m beat and wanted to post something on my blog today (rough day). So here it is. 

Quite a bit of stuff happens in comic books, and as well as in real life as well, so every once in a while they're bound to coincide, right? (Hence the expression “Life imitates art”)

That still doesn't explain some of the freaky stuff comics have gotten right. Like... the following.

Read, and enjoy...

War of the Independents is in the finals for the Eagle Awards!

The final round of voting for this years Eagle Awards is open and I'm up for 3 so PLEASE go vote for me and the War of the Independents! Thanks, I appreciate it!!!! 

http://www.eagleawards.co.uk/

Q5: Favourite Artist: Pencils: Dave Ryan
Q16: Favourite New Comicbook: War of the Independents by Dave Ryan (Red Anvil Comics)
Q22: Favourite 2010 Cover: War of the Independents by Dave Ryan

I just happened across this Indie film and had to share it with you all.

An everyday guy (Wilson) transforms himself into wannabe superhero the Crimson Bolt after his wife leaves him for Jacques (Bacon), a suave drug-dealer. Joined by teen-sidekick Libby (Page), the duo engage in war against crime and look to take down Jacques and his empire.

I so totally want to see this film!

It stars Ellen Page, James Gunn, Gregg Henry, Rainn Wilson, Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Linda Cardellini, Nathan Fillion, Andre Royo, Kevin Bacon, Lloyd Kaufman. Near as I can tell  it came out in 2010, and is now headed for the Independent Film Channel. 

Hello Ladies...

Yes, kids, that is in fact, Isiah Mustafa, the Old Spice Guy,  in the Marvel Universe, and yes, he is dressed up as Luke Cage of the Avengers. That’s all I can really say about this, except that you HAVE to watch!




Oh the humanity!

If DC published Marvel Comics

OK, now THIS is seriously funny!

Spidey Man the B'way show?

So, it turns out that the Village Voice ran a Spidey cartoon poking fun at the Broadway show in today’s paper.

As we’ve now learned that the opening for the play has been pushed back ‘til June as the show’s producers have asked Director Julie Tranor to step aside and for some extensive re-writes to fix the show.

Julie Taymor has stepped down as director of Broadway's beleaguered Spider-Man musical, according to a report.

The Across The Universe filmmaker has faced numerous problems as she fought to bring Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark to the New York stage, including crippling delays and a string of accidents which have left several castmembers injured.

 How cool is this?

I could be a millionaire!

No really, I could be, and I’m not talking about that Publisher's Clearing House junk mail nonsense, I’m talking about this...

Spider-Man Shocker: Highest Graded Copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 Goes For $1.1 Million

The vintage comics scene is in shock this afternoon with the news that the CGC 9.6 copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, has sold in a private transaction for $1.1 million. This is far and away the highest price paid for a Silver Age comic book, and is indicative of just how strong the SA Marvel market is right now as we enter a huge year for Marvel properties with a full movie slate.

How does this affect me? I own a copy.

You all can call me MR. Millionaire :)

Fast Food Marvel heroes

I just recently acquired (at a very reasonable cost, mind you), a pair of very old (1990) Marvel heroes that were part of a Hardee’s promotion. I’m very excited.

Just for fun (and because I also own this toy), I’m going to include the image of another Hardee’s comicbook figure driving a car. None other than Mr. Archie Andrews himself.

How cool is that, eh?

A Contract with God

As many of you already know, A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories is a graphic novel that was written and illustrated by Will Eisner back in 1978, making it the very first Graphic Novel. It was originally published by Baronet Books in both hardcover and trade paperback editions. In the intervening years it has not only remained in print and translated into numerous languages, it was — in 2001 — acquired by DC Comics, marking the first time it was published by a major publisher. As this month we are celebrating Will’s birthday, we thought that it would be time that we actually purchased this seminal tome, and, well actually read it.

Thus, while we were at MoCCA the other day (at the kick-off of their four-month-long Eisner Exhibit) we picked up a copy of the book, and then read it on the train ride back to CT.

As can be expected, it is so not like what we call a graphic novel today (which is to be expected, as Eisner was exploring new ground with this volume). The first thing that I noticed was that instead of several panels per page as in most modern-day graphic novels and comics, each page was essentially a single panel, and yet, not so much a panel as an illustration accompanied by text (sometimes in word balloons but just as often, not). Second, as its title indicates, it is not so much one story, but four inter-related tales linked by a single theme, all occurring around a specific (if fictional) tenement building in the Bronx.

According to Wikipedia:

The work consists of four short stories — A Contract With God, The Super, The Street Singer, and Cookalein — all set in a Bronx tenementin the 1930s, with the last story (Cookalein) also taking place at a summer getaway for Jews. The stories are semi-autobiographical, with Eisner drawing heavily on his own childhood experiences as well as those of his contemporaries. Utilizing his talents for expressive lettering and cartoonish figures, he links the narratives by the common setting and the common theme of immigrant and first-generation experiences, across cultures.

From my own perspective, reading the book gave me a wonderful look back into the beginnings of this, my preferred form of entertainment. The writing and illustrations display the very building blocks of this industry (much of which seems to have been lost if one were to look at most of what passes for comics these days). Still, beyond the beauty of the illustrations and the poetry of the words themselves, the stories themselves harkens back to a time of both neighborhood, and a piece of Americana that doesn’t seem to exist anymore.

In a world full of pre-apocalyptic, overly-muscled, testosterone-enhanced, spandex-wearing neo-fascist, crypto-thugs (all calling themselves “Heroes”), the pure simplicity of Eisner's tales is like manna from heaven. If you have not read this book, or if you have read it and it is somewhere on a shelf in your den, you truly owe it to yourself to buy it today (or pull it off the shelf), and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of Eisner’s New York City.

Happy Birthday, Will Eisner!

Today, March 6^th, 20011 is Will Eisner’s 94^th Birthday. This is important to know, because Will is one of those guys who help invent the comicbook, the graphic novel, and is revered by virtually everyone in the industry today (so much so that the comic book industry's “Oscar” is call the Eisner). No really. He was an amazing guy and if you read comics, and live in the NY Metro area, you really owe it to yourself to go to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA), and check out their amazing exhibit that is currently on display over there.

The exhibit runs from March 1– June 30, 2011. The Museum is located at 594 Broadway, Suite 401
(btwn. Houston and Prince), New York, NY 10012 (Tel. 212-254-3511 Fax 212-254-3590). Admission $5 and Free for MoCCA Members.

To honor Eisner, and his numerous contributions to sequential arts (a term he himself coined), Google has altered it's logo to display Eisner’s most renown character, The Spirit.

Batman has a Muslim sidekick

Yes, you heard that right, Batman has a Muslim sidekick, and according to Aasif Mandvi from the Daily Show, it is the end of the world as we know it!

The Daily Show - Batman's Muslim Sidekick
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

This could be it for all of us sports fans, First Spidey makes a deal with the devil to end his marriage to a a super model, and now Bats is siding with the Jihadistists. Next thing you know there will be a team of Islamic Teen superheroes...

Uh-oh!

Ghost Rider gets his taxes done by Jackson Hewitt

Just saw this as a post on my Facebook page, and it is hilarious!




Ya just gotta love commercials with a sense of humor.