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Weekend Reading: SOPA, DC, Toth and Redshirts
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Reviews, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics,
Welcome to the weekend! Let's see what the internets hold for us!
Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter speaks out against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. It really is a terrible bill that does more harm than good and Tom makes a strong case to do everything you can to stop it from being passed.
Mark Evanier doesn’t like the proposed law either.
If you’re an aspiring fantasy/sci-fi writer, the Clarion Workshop is accepting applications, according to Boing Boing. You can find a list of Clarion alumni here.
And award-winning sf writer John Scalzi provides even more details and words of encouragement about Clarion.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: SOPA, DC, Toth and Redshirts
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After a few months in the #2 slot, Marvel regained its long-standing #1 position, by a tiny margin. It pushed out DC Comics, which had been #1 since it's big reboot and launch of 52 #1's.
Now DC’s New 52 is changing.
Heidi at Comics Beat reports that the New 52 is about to become the "Recent 46 and the New 6" with the cancellation of 6 titles with issue #8, and 6 others coming in off the bench.
Plus the return of Earth 2 and crossovers.
If you had 8 months in the office pool, you're the winner. I had 10, so I have to cough it up.
Happy new year!
[Artwork: Men Of War #7, the penultimate, © DC Entertainment]
Writer and editor Danny Fingeroth will be appearing at Comics Dungeon in Seattle, WA on January 5th.
Here are the Facts on Fingeroth: "Danny is well known for his extensive editorial runs at Marvel Comics, overseeing titles such as Spider-Man, Marvel Team-Up, and more.
"His writing credits include Darkhawk, Dazzler, The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man, and numerous issues of The Avengers, Iron Man, Daredevil, and more!
"Fingeroth is also the creator of Write Now! Magazine for TwoMorrows Publishing and is also well known for his books Superman On The Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us About Ourselves and Society as well as Disguised As Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero."
Click to continue reading Danny Fingeroth in Seattle
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It’s Stan Lee’s birthday this week. He turns 89 and he seems busier now than he was at 49 1/2.
My only Stan Lee story is from the one time that I met him. It was social. It was political. It was dinner.
That’s right. This wasn’t some convention fly-by “how are you?” We actually had dinner together. Though he would certainly not remember it as I was but one of many dining companions that evening.
Back in 1994, Marvel Comics had just purchased Malibu Comics out from under a stunned DC Comics and a quick “executive back-slapping” dinner was organized at Chinois in Santa Monica.
Chinois is one of those places that you don’t really go to unless you’re on a really terrific date or someone else is picking up the tab. In this case, someone else was picking up the tab.
All the Marvel higher-ups of the day, like Terry Stewart, were there and so was the Malibu gang – Scott Rosenberg, Dave Olbrich, me and Chris Ulm. As we were ushered to our table, I found myself standing next to a very jovial Stan.
Click to continue reading Happy Birthday, Stan Lee!
Weekend Reading: Sherlock Holmes, Conan, and Spider-Man
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Marvel Comics,
For starters, let’s all wish writer Tom Spurgeon a speedy recovery. He took a blogging break earlier this year for health reasons and his essay about his health, his love of comics and his work is even more essential than his already-essential blog. If you read nothing else today, make it this.
Now let’s see what else is going on across the internets:
Sherlock: Oh, that lovable curmudgeon Sherlock Holmes is causing trouble for the uneducated, easily threatened, fragile book burners of America. Apparently, A Study In Scarlet, a classic Holmes adventure, features an insensitive remark about Mormons. Imagine, a fictional character - not Holmes or Watson - from Victorian England having an unprogressive attitude. Forgive me while I clutch my pearls and head for the fainting couch. Galleycat has more on the story, including links to downloading the public domain book for free.
Don McGregor: The writer of Killraven and Black Panther (to name but two) has some thoughts about his wife Marsha on her birthday.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Sherlock Holmes, Conan, and Spider-Man
Weekend Reading: Apes, Captain America and Spongebob Squarepants
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics,
If you’ve been following the post Comic Con International discussion about female creators and DC Comics, you should run over to Fleen and read Gary Tyrrell’s take on the matter.
Apes: My pal Rich Handley gets himself interviewed at Newsday about Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.
Fan: My funny book acquaintance David Seidman was profiled recently in Jewish Journal. All I can say is that the interviewer would probably be overwhelmed by the San Diego con.
Actors: Chad Michael Murray of One Tree Hill has written a graphic novel that Archaia will publish.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Apes, Captain America and Spongebob Squarepants
"Heirs earn from inherited real estate, patents, companies, stocks, bonds, etc.; this isn’t rocket science.
"The argument that heirs shouldn’t earn from the labors of parent creators is completely and offensively nonsensical [BS] - fortunes, and earnings from ongoing revenue streams, are passed on every day, everywhere. Arguing that real revenue-creating and generating properties like comic book characters/titles/concepts aren’t the same turf is more defeatist horse[expletive]."
Steve Bissette explains in greater detail his position on Jack Kirby V. Marvel.
Check out our other Quote Of The Day quotes here.
[Artwork: Journey Into Mystery by Jack Kirby, © Marvel Comics, swiped from Mondo Marvel]
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| Steve Bissette On Kirby
Most of you already know that a federal judge ruled in favor of Disney/Marvel and against the estate of Jack Kirby in their claim for copyright termination for 45 characters Kirby either created or co-created.
Naturally, there has been some reaction to this as we all await what the next step will be in what one can only assume is an ongoing, sad, and unnecessary struggle.
Here are some links if you want to follow along:
Michael Dean at The Comics Journal - which has a history with Kirby and was instrumental in helping Jack get what was left of his art back from Marvel in the 1980s and exposing how Marvel was extorting his signature - does the heavy lifting on the ruling.
Dean also wrote a summing up of Kirby’s 1980s-era battle with Marvel over the return of his original art.
Click to continue reading Jack Kirby And Marvel Comics
I've written before about my history with writer Don McGregor (Killraven, Black Panther, Detectives, Inc. and so much more).
Now, Clifford Meth, who in the past has helped out Dave Cockrum's widow and Gene Colan, is reporting that Don could use a little help.
Clifford is organizing a worthwhile effort to help Don meet some unexpected and sad expenses. So get over to his blog and see what you can do to help out.
If you're not familiar with Don or his work, here's a Mile High interview with him that covers a lot of ground.
[Artwork: Amazing Adventures #29 featuring Killraven © Marvel Comics]
Weekend Reading: Kirby, Ditko, Cowboys & Aliens And Marvel Comics
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Movies, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics,
I’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
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