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The World of Steve Ditko

“If you have a certain point of view and reasons that you think are valid, then whether it’s pro or anti, you can only and should only express those views you honestly hold.”

- Steve Ditko in a letter to the fanzine Fanzation #3, 1969

Be sure to check out our other notable quotes!

[Artwork: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell]

Read More | Kleefeld On Comics

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Thanos Quest

"How weird is this? The Thanos Quest, a comic Ron Lim and I did more than two decades ago, is this past month's #1 best selling comic. All it takes is a little film exposure, apparently."

- Jim Starlin, writing on his Facebook Timeline

Be sure to check out our other notable quotes!

[Artwork: The Thanos Quest]


Pearls Before SwineWhat ho, weekenders! And happy Canadian Thanksgiving to our hockeyless neighbors to the north!

Stephen Bissette’s Center For Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, VT has teamed up with the esteemed site Slate (via The Slate Book Review”) to launch the annual Cartoonist Studio Prize, with some real money attached for the winners. This looks like a heckuva good thing and thanks to all involved for putting it together.

Over the years, some of my favorite comics have disappeared from the newspaper as creators retired for various reasons. One of my favorites these days is Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis. Here’s Michael Cavna’s interview with him.


Stan Lee

"If Stan suing Marvel 10 years ago was like Colonel Sanders suing Kentucky Fried Chicken, confronting Stan in 2012 about the injustice done to Jack Kirby by Marvel would be like grilling Mr. Peanut about the business practices of Kraft Foods."

- Alex Pappademas, writing about "The Inquisition of Mr. Marvel: On The (Surprisingly Complicated) Legacy Of Stan Lee"

Be sure to check out our other notable quotes!

[Artwork: Stan Lee]


Marvel Comics The Untold StoryGrantland has put up a two-part excerpt from Sean Howe’s highly-anticipated new book: Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.

If you have any interest in Marvel Comics, especially its inner workings, then this appears to be must-reading. In the excerpt, here’s how various Marvel folks from the 1970s era are described:

Don McGregor: “... diminutive, fast-talking, aspiring filmmaker from Rhode Island.”

Steve Gerber: “...a chain-smoking Camus obsessive from St. Louis.”

Gerry Conway: “...the Brooklyn-born prodigy who'd started writing DC Comics when he was 16.”

Steve Englehart: “...a bearded and bespectacled conscientious objector from Indianapolis.”


Nick Fury #14Joss Whedon has announced some of the SHIELD agents that will be appearing in his adaptation of Marvel's favorite spy comic (created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby).

Kimberly Roots at TV Line has the rundown and it includes: Agent Grant Ward, Agent Althea Rice, Agent Leo Fitz and Agent Jemma Simmons, along with a female character called Skye who's described as "fun, smart, caring and confident" which makes her a TW, Total Whedon.

But now that some of the characters have been made public, there's only one thing left to do: make up your own deadpool.

Which male character will die in the first season, and will it happen in the first episode, or will the sacrifice be made later, like, say, the season-ending cliffhanger?

Your move, Whedon fans. I've already made my chart.

[Artwork: Nick Fury]


Argo

I am shocked - shocked, I tell you - to discover that the movie Argo (about how Jack Kirby’s designs for a screenplay based on a Roger Zelazny novel helped rescue hostages in Iran for the CIA) is playing fast and loose with history.

Michael Sporn has a long post with some nice artwork by Playboy cartoonist Rowland B. Wilson and some rare artwork by Alex Toth.

Down The Tubes interviews Paul Scoones, author of the new Doctor Who book: The Comic Strip Companion: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Doctor Who in Comics: 1964 — 1979.


RobosapienDo you love dogs?

Movie producer Avi Arad, the former chief creative officer of Marvel Comics and founder of Marvel Studios, is now an independent producer on the Sony lot.

And he needs an assistant. And not just any assistant: a First-Assistant.

Read More | First Assistant

Joe KubertYou know how you can tell that Summer's over? There aren't any more big budget super-hero movies coming out. Fortunately, there's all kinds of stuff on the internets to keep us occupied.

Beau Smith writes about the late Joe Kubert.

Tom Spurgeon writes about Harry Harrison.

I would’ve watched the heck out of any Daredevil movie that was done like this trailer:

Comic Strip of the Day talks about Richard Thompson and his decision to retire from Cul de Sac because of illness.


Avengers PosterYeah, my bad. I finally got around to seeing The Avengers on the big screen with my old pal Dave Olbrich (he was seeing it for the third time).

I'll echo what is probably the view of 99% of the super-hero movie audience: (1) I loved it and (2) where was this movie when I was 13?

Afterwards, I had a few thoughts.

I was surprised by the sudden death of what I thought was a fairly major character in the continuity. I know Joss Whedon always likes to kill off someone in his movies – I'm sure the first draft of Toy Story had a sacrifice from Mr. Potato Head – so I should've been better prepared. But I wasn't. Sad to lose the character and sadder that the actor has lost a pretty good gig.

Tom Hiddleston was riveting as Loki, an excellent performance capturing the character's grandiose plans and his petty humanness. Here's hoping he gets as good a role in subsequent years and doesn't end up playing a Russian mobster on Person of Interest, or the put-upon dad in some lame sitcom.

This is my favorite Scarlett Johansson movie. And yes, I've seen more than one. Including that one. And that one too.


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