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iPhone Apps That Sound Like Marvel Characters
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics
Can you imagine if iPhone apps were named after characters from the Marvel Comics Universe? I can...and here they are:
Doctor Bong - A constantly updated map of medical marijuana clinics and how far they are from you right now, man.
Fin Fang Foom - A restaurant locator for sushi bars, steakhouses and White Castles.
Impossible Man - An app for ladies with low self esteem. Automatically uploads photos of wealthy, handsome and available men who just aren’t that into you.
Mr. Fantastic - Lets you enhance photos of your junk before you email them to women you find attractive. Also known as The Favre.
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Howard Chaykin: Magneto #1
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics
Unless there’s an iPhone app for X-Men continuity, there’s no way I can keep track of what’s going on. Who’s dead, who’s alive, who’s good, who’s bad, who’s banished, who’s lost their power or gained new ones. I can’t rattle off the names of the current X-Men or the books they appear in.
That’s not a criticism. Plenty of people know all that and more, and more power to them. As I’ve gotten older, I like the books that pop up on the fringes, usually with apes or zombies or alt cartoonists.
However, I still like the X-Men characters and will still occasionally pick up a title outside of continuity where I don’t have to know a lot going in. (I was like that with my college courses, too.)
Coming in January 2011, Marvel’s got something that fits my interest. Howard Chaykin is writing a one-shot X-Men tie-in book, Magneto.
I’ve made no secret of my fan-crush on Howard Chaykin’s work. I love how he’s able to bounce between his own projects and corporate work with relative ease, as a writer, an artist and sometimes both.
Comic Book Jobs: Comixology
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics
Remember that whole digital thing that’s supposed to knock off the printed comic book? Oh wait, that’s still happening!
If you want to be part of the industry now that we’ve passed “peak comic book,” ComiXology the “digital comics leader” is looking for a couple of new people.
First up is a LAMP Developer, someone with “2+ years of experience with Linux, Apache, mySQL and PHP. Additional experience with AJAX/JavasScript/HTML5 (jQuery), XML, HMTL, XMLRPC, SOAP and other development environments is preferred.”
Weekend Reading: Batman, Tintin, Starlog and Jerry Bingham
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, DC Comics, Independent, Marvel Comics
A big week on the internets, so let’s get right to it.
For me, the big news is that my pal Jerry Bingham is illustrating a 5-part story in Batman Confidential, starting in issue #50 that went on sale this week. If you’re on the fence about it, here’s a multi-page preview of it that’ll make you wish Jerry drew more comics. Fans of Batman: Son of the Demon rejoice!
Batman: Over at Project Child Murdering Robot, Ricky Sprague comments on the upcoming Christopher Nolan Batman movie with some language that might be NSFW but SWR (still worth reading)! Bonus shout out to Batman: Year One: “It was among the first of the modern age comic book character reboots that now seem to occur every other year or so. Mr. Miller's hardboiled writing was at its peak, and Mr. Mazzucchelli is one of the best illustrators ever.”
Biff! Bam! Pow!: Bob Greenberger at ComicMix tackles the eternal question: Is Legends of the Superheroes any good? “You have to love kitsch, bad writing, awful acting, and comic books to enjoy (or endure) these specials.”
Marvel Monster Trucks: With Great Power!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics
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If you're a fan of Marvel Comics, then you know about Marvel's monsters like Fin Fang Foom and Tim Boo Bah. But are you ready for Marvel's Monster Trucks?
Well get ready to rumble, you V-8ers, Red Staters and Import Haters!
Marvel Entertainment, no doubt a division that rests somewhere between Marvel Comics and Disney, has expanded its deal with Feld Motor Sports, the motor sports entertainment company (and owners of the Ringling Bros And Barnum & Bailey Circus, go figure).
Read More 
| Marvel Monster Trucks
Comic Book Jobs: Marvel Comics Digital Media
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics
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The House of Ideas division of the House of Mouse is hiring for their New York Idea House.
Marvel Comics is in the market for a Digital Project Manager for their Digital Media division.
You’ll be expected to “demonstrate exceptional technical expertise, possess superb communications skills, wield sharp collaborative problem-solving skills, and be key” when it comes to keeping your projects on-time and on-budget.
Lots of job responsibilities, including pushing a lot of digital paper from place to place - figuring out new projects, monitoring progress, team leading, managing expectations, tracking milestones, and keeping documentation so that if it all falls apart, fingers know where to point.
Top 10 Things Overheard @ NYCC 2010
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
The New York Comic Con has come and gone for another year. And while you may not have been fortunate enough to attend, the spies who work for Comix 411 were there, watching, listening and recording. Here’s what they overheard.
10: “I wish DC and Marvel would drop their prices again.”
9: “Sold out?! In your face, San Diego!”
8: “I was promoted to VP of unemployment…”
7: “Is this the line for that Spider-Man musical?”
Read More | The Comics Reporter
Stan Lee’s The Traveler
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Interviews, Marvel Comics
I met Stan Lee once. (And I tell this story all the time, so if you’ve heard it before, feel free to move along.)
After Marvel Comics bought Malibu Comics, a big dinner was orchestrated at Chinois, a fancy restaurant in Santa Monica. All the big Marvel New York executives – all now long gone – were there, and so was Stan Lee. Malibu was represented by Scott Rosenberg, Dave Olbrich, Chris Ulm and myself.
Stan came over and introduced himself to me and then said, “I always forget, who bought who? I need to know if I have to kiss your ass or you have to kiss mine!” I could not have loved him more.
Since he left active duty at Marvel Comics and became their elder statesman, a media go-to guy, movie cameo expert and starter of other companies, he’s tried to duplicate his prior success at running Marvel. I think he likes to keep busy, has a ton of ideas floating around in his head, and has the ability to find outlets for them, and no trouble finding people who want to work with him. We should all live such a charmed life.
Weekend Reading: DC Comics And Warner Bros.
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics, Image Comics, Marvel Comics
So did you hear the big news? Marvel’s moving to a new office building in Manhattan!
Not to be outdone, Warner Bros. decided to shake things up with a large scale corporate shift. This interview with Diane Nelson from Comic Book Resources actually sheds very little light on the nuts and bolts of it.
And the lack of real answers has caused Tom Spurgeon to raise some questions he’d like to see answered about the situation forward-going.
Naturally, and because I sometimes can’t keep my mouth shut, I have my own take on the matter.
Warner Bros. Comics & Stories
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Television, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
Well, at least Batman will still be published out of New York!
I’m no pundit and I’m certainly no reporter or journalist, and I’m not even a DC insider, although I should point out that before Paul Levitz bought Wildstorm, he tried to buy the company I co-founded, Malibu Comics.
I was saddened, though not surprised that Warner Bros. was splitting DC Entertainment into two divisions and keeping all their old school business in Manhattan. My sympathies go out to all DC employees who are getting let go and to all freelancers who are getting their books cut out from under them. This is not an easy time, and it’s not going to get easier.
I think lost in all the discussion and rundown of DC’s recent shift is that the biggest piece of the puzzle has yet to be explained or admitted to. Warner Bros. which folded DC Comics into a new company called DC Entertainment just a year ago, now took DC Comics out of that company and moved DC Entertainment – along with all of the money-making portions of the company – to the West Coast.
DC Comics, the comic book division, is now its own stand-alone entity. An island of old-school publishing left without its support network. This has been hailed as a victory for the comic book people.
It isn’t. It’s a wake up call.
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