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Weekend Reading: James Bond, Peanuts, Bolland and Shang-Chi

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Marvel Comics,

Twinkie The Kid and Fruit Pie The MagicianI'm still reeling from the loss of Twinkies and Ding Dongs, the meth of bloggers. So bear with me.

Tainted Archive points us in the direction of James Bond - all of the novels (including those not written by Ian Fleming) are being put online courtesy of Ian Fleming Publications.

I barely understand the world of high-finance, but apparently, Snoopy is going to be issuing bonds. Iconix, the owners of Peanuts, will use the money to go on a spending spree and acquire at least one more company for their portfolio.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: James Bond, Peanuts, Bolland and Shang-Chi


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Weekend Reading: Spider-Man, Steve Gerber, John Scalzi and Dr. Goyle

Dr. GoyleIf you’re at C2E2 this weekend, I hope you’re having a great time. And if you’re not at C2E2, what’s your problem, buddy?

This is the weekend that I close out a lot of tabs and polish off some links that have been in my inbox for a couple of weeks. But if you haven't caught these stories yet, that makes them new, right?

Daniel Best has been on fire lately with his posts on Gary Friedrich and the Archie Comics lawsuits. He’s got another good one up now - a look at the behind-the-scenes backstabbery and finger-pointing surrounding the Spider-Man musical.

I like this political cartoon by Monte Wolverton.

Creator/writer/artist Howard Tayler (Schlock Mercenary) talks about writing, especially sub-plots, and he illustrates his points with comic strips.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Spider-Man, Steve Gerber, John Scalzi and Dr. Goyle


Weekend Reading: Watchmen, Ploog, Gibbons, and Gary Friedrich

Before Watchmen RohrshachIt's the weekend time again and since we're between the end of football season and baseball season, at least in the U.S., it must be comic book season. Let's take a look.

Author Joe Konrath is a very smart man on the subjects of book publishing, Amazon, and the future of the written word business. He makes a great case in a post called Amazon Will Destroy You.

Tom McLean at Bags And Boards looks at both sides of the Before Watchmen argument and comes up with some smart thoughts worthy of attention.

J. M. DeMatteis runs a very nice appreciation of his sometime collaborator Mike Ploog.

Cartoonist Lew Stringer uncovers an old Dave Gibbons strip you might not be familiar with.

This is an old link, but it’s a nice profile of gag cartoonist Bob Vojtko.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Watchmen, Ploog, Gibbons, and Gary Friedrich


Weekend Reading: The Damned, Apes, Simpsons and Tex Avery

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Television, Independent,

The Sixth GunHurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, power outages. It's been a wild couple of climate change-enhanced weeks. Let's play catch-up across the internets:

Cullen Bunn is having a career year and let’s hope it’s the first of many. The creator of The Sixth Gun got his Oni Press series, The Damned, picked up by Showtime for a series. He’s already gotten The Sixth Gun optioned to SyFy for a series. If they both make it to air, Bunn will have two more shows on the air than DC Comics.

Apes: Rich Handley reviews the fourth issue of Darryl Gregory and Carlos Magno’s Planet Of The Apes, from Boom! “BOOM!’s Apes run stands on a pinnacle, one sure to end badly for humanity.” But all good for readers and fans.

Republicans: My pal Doug Molitor from Funny Or Die looks at 12 Republican super-heroes. My favorite? The Human Torturer!

Jack: Man, that’s a lot of nice Jack Davis work that Michael Sporn posted. I really love those western covers, too.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: The Damned, Apes, Simpsons and Tex Avery


Weekend Reading: Kirby, Ditko, Cowboys & Aliens And Marvel Comics

Captain America Jack KirbyI’m sure you’ve heard by now that the Kirby family lost its claim in court to the copyright to characters Jack Kirby created. As usual, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has the best analysis.

Now let’s see what else is out there.

Cowboys: Deadline continues to do the number-crunching on this week’s comic book-inspired film, Cowboys & Aliens. The early results show an under-performer.

Blood: And over at Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston looks at the long journey getting Cowboys & Aliens from concept to screen.

Ditko: Tom McLean at Bags & Boards doesn’t post as often as he should, but when he does, it’s worth reading. His latest is a review of Blake Bell’s Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko from Fantagraphics. This is a beautiful snip: “Could Ditko be a first-generation fanboy, an 83-year-old whose life was spent obsessing first over comics and later over a juvenile political philosophy that only makes sense within a self-imposed bubble?”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Kirby, Ditko, Cowboys & Aliens And Marvel Comics


Weekend Reading: Batman, Clint, Shooter, Granito And Rozum!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics,

Liberty Unlimited ArtI have an idea for a great drinking game. Surf the internet and every time you come across a link to Bleeding Cool’s expose of Rob Granito, take a drink. You’ll be Lohan’ed before Monday. In the meantime, I await the Bluewater biography of Mr. Swipey McSwipe-swipe.

Let’s see what else is out there:

Batman: The writer Lance Mannion tries to teach his sons about Batman.

Liberty: Writer Martin Powell gets interviewed at Broken Frontier. Subject: his children’s books and The Halloween Legion and Liberty Unlimited, both of which I’m really looking forward to.

Blood: Mark Wheatley, Marc Hempel and Ricky Shanklin’s graphic novel Blood Of The Innocent is marching toward the big screen. Breck Eisner (The Crazies) is attached to direct and Bill Marsilii (Deja Vu) is writing the screenplay. According to Scoop: “The original comic book series set Dracula against Jack the Ripper and was published by Warp in 1985.”

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Batman, Clint, Shooter, Granito And Rozum!


Weekend Reading: Borders, Bruce Jones, Dick Tracy And Alan Moore

Dick TracyCan you believe another weekend is already here? I can't, so I'd better post a few links and then hit the liquor store!

Let's see what's out there on the interwebs for those of us not already enjoying C2E2:

Borders: The bookstore chain just didn’t drop into bankruptcy overnight. Here’s a list of a half-dozen balls they dropped that you’d think they wouldn’t have.
[Link: Making Light]

Bruce: Comic book writer (remember his run on Hulk?) and novelist Bruce Jones ponders the future of fiction.

Return: John Zipperer at Weimar World Service reports that editorial cartoonist Lyle Lahey is back from his sabbatical, and in top form as he makes fun of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Dick: For those of you who don’t already know, there’s a new creative team on the venerable comic strip, Dick Tracy. It’s writer Mike Curtis and artist Joe Staton, and the whole thing is 3 daily panels of awesome. Hogan’s Alley interviews Staton about his new job.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Borders, Bruce Jones, Dick Tracy And Alan Moore


Weekend Reading: Chaykin, Layman, Cunningham & Batman

Dark Horse Presents #1You can’t beat the power of the hammer. There’s a new Thor trailer floating around that feels much more impressive than the earlier Fortress of Solitude one. I’m liking it more and more, even if the big battle in the desert town looks very movie set-ish.

Now let's read some stuff...

Chaykin: Here’s an interview with one of my favorite creators, Howard Chaykin, talking about his upcoming work at Dark Horse.

Chew: Marc-Oliver Frisch at Comics Beat tackles John Layman to the ground and asks him lots of questions about food, comics and work-for-hire.

Smart: I wanted to conduct an interview with Darryl Cunningham, but he’s so smart that it would only serve to point out how not-smart I am. Fortunately, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter is a smarty and he landed an excellent interview with the creator of Psychiatric Tales.

Batman: The Pullbox talks to my old friend, the comics historian Peter Sanderson. Subject: The Batman TV series from 1966.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Chaykin, Layman, Cunningham & Batman


Weekend Reading: Walking Dead, Castle and Wonder Woman

Hagar The HorribleIf you need to take a break from Christmas shopping and sit down in front of a warm computer and fill your body with the sweet, sweet taste of egg nog, here are some nice links to keep you company.

I love Christmas cards from cartoonists, and Hogan’s Alley has posted a whole pile of them from Dik Browne, creator of Hagar The Horrible and one of the greatest cartoonists, ever. As if that weren’t enough, there’s this: “Every year since 1936, the Newspaper Enterprise Association has syndicated a Christmas strip. In 1968, Jack Kent produced a daily-only King Aroo sequence, which we are thrilled to present here!”

Castle: If you like Nathan Fillion’s TV series, you’re not alone. Here’s what one loyal fan created.

Amazons: David E. Kelley talks about his Wonder Woman project. The bottom line: don’t get your hopes up.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Walking Dead, Castle and Wonder Woman


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