Hugo Awards: Neil Gaiman, Phil Foglio, Howard Tayler and Captain Britain
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
I love awards, although it’s just an honor to be nominated, right? The Hugo Awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories. They are science fiction’s most celebrated award and are sponsored by the World Science Fiction Society, who hands them out at each year’s Worldcon. They’ve been around since 1955, and the new 2010 nominees have just been announced.
The good news for funnybook fanatics is that the Hugos have a comic book category and this year’s nominees (under the heading of “Best Graphic Story”) offer a pretty wide-ranging bunch.
In alphabetical order, they are:
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Written by Neil Gaiman; Pencilled by Andy Kubert; Inked by Scott Williams (DC Comics)
Click to continue reading Hugo Awards: Neil Gaiman, Phil Foglio, Howard Tayler and Captain Britain
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Weekend Reading: James Bama, Alex De Campi, Kids and Guns!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
Before going any further, let’s just pause for a minute (which is like a week in internet-time) and send some good thoughts out to Eduardo Barreto, the great comic artist who currently draws the Judge Parker comic strip. He’s ailing with Meningitis and has had to push himself away from the drawing board while he recovers. Aside from being a good guy, he’s a terrific artist and Parker is one of the best-drawn comics currently on the page. We at Comix 411 wish him a speedy recovery. Eduardo’s pal and frequent collaborator, Beau Smith, has an excellent appreciaton as well as an update over at Busted Knuckles.
Kids And Guns: One thing I’ve learned is that kids from the 1950s and 1960s loved their guns, and companies were only too happy to fill their hands with iron, okay, well, plastic and metal parts, but still. Over at Cyclops Central they’ve got an excellent post to prove that point with ads from comics books and television.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: James Bama, Alex De Campi, Kids and Guns!
Review: DC Comics Batman and Robin #8
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: *** 1/2*
The past two issues of Grant Morrison‘s Batman and Robin have left me scratching my head - but in a good way. We discovered that Dick Grayson the current Batman has been keeping the body of the former Batman Bruce Wayne hidden in a sarcophagus in the Wayne Foundation building. His mission is to resurrect his former mentor by using a newly discovered Lazarus pit. Our last issue ended with Dick, Batwoman, and Kinght and Squire witnessing the supposed resurrection of Bruce Wayne from the Lazarus pit. Is this how Bruce Wayne returns to the land of the living? Thankfully, no.
It seems that the body that Dick Grayson has is one of the replicas created by Darkseid during the Final Crisis. All of them had been destroyed except one as Darkseid stated he could use the deceased body of the cloned Batman for some future use. This is a bit confusing as how could Darkseid have known that he was going to kill Batman and that he could use this clone body for evil purposes? Am I missing something here? Whatever the case the Batman that comes out of the Lazarus pit is a raving lunatic and begins attacking everyone in the room.
The clone Batman is able to escape thanks to a cave in and uses a Bat-copter to escape and head back to the Wayne Foundation. There he beats up Alfred and confronts a wheel chair bound Damian who thinks his father has returned to him. And we end there.
Click to continue reading Review: DC Comics Batman and Robin #8
Weekend Reading: Julie Newmar, Doctor Spektor and Popeye
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
A lot has happened internetally while I took my afternoon nap, and there’s good stuff from old-school fan favorite Catwoman Julie Newmar, Tom Richmond talking about caricatures and Jesse Santos’ Doctor Spektor. Dig in:
Catwoman: No getting around it, to men of a certain age, Julie Newmar was the Blake Lively of her day. Now she’d like you to talk dirty to her. She’s putting together a book of confessions from men proudly unashamed to admit that she created a stirring in their Batman underpants when everybody was much younger. Says Newmar to the Globe and Mail: “Suddenly, walking straight to me was the grandfather, his voice and eye seductively nailed to me. ‘Miss Newmar. You were my first turn-on.’ For the father, it would be improper, and the boy hadn’t reached the age where it was of interest to him.” No doubt Diana Rigg, Yvonne Craig, Joey Heatherton and Nancy Sinatra have similar stories. Although you probably stood a chance with Heatherton. The interview is a lot of fun, and Newmar is looking for stories just like yours. There’s an email address at the link for you to participate.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Julie Newmar, Doctor Spektor and Popeye
Comic Book Jobs: Who’s Hiring? DC Comics
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
If you’ve ever dreamed of working in comics without actually writing them or drawing them, DC Comics might have a place for you (please make up your own joke for this space). As we roll into 2010, they have openings in two “non-creative” business-related departments, although as anyone can tell you, the business departments of major corporations can be very creative.
First off, the home of Batman and Superman (even after they’re killed off) needs a Staff Accountant to help track money.
You’ll be working for DC’s Finance & Accounting department doing superheroic and necessary tasks like coding invoices, reconciling art and editorial inventory, journal entries (the financial kind, not the “Dear Diary” kind), account analysis and so on.
As always, you’ll need that precious Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting or Finance and they’d love it if you had some publishing industry experience. And here’s the kicker: you’ll need to communicate effectively and tactfully with managers and other levels of personnel, so save your snark and trolling for the internets.
Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Who’s Hiring? DC Comics
The Twelve Days of Comics
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
[Sung to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas]
On The 12 Days of Comics My True Love Gave To Me:
12 Prices Increased
11 Books Rescheduled
10 Tweets from Tyrese
9 Failed Relaunches
8 Websites Bitching
7 Variant Covers
6 Lame Crossovers
5 Separate Earths
4 Big Events
3 Lawsuits
2 OGN’s
And some movie deals for books I don’t read!
Happy Holidays!
[Artwork: Cover to Batman #27, yanked from Tomztoyz.]
Return of Bruce Wayne
Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorials, DC Comics,
It was announced a few days ago that Bruce Wayne would finally be coming back as Batman beginning in April 2010. The event will take place in a min-series entitled Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne and it will be written by Grant Morrison. I’m very happy that Bruce Wayne will be returning, but I’m curious as to why both he and Captain America are through the exact chain of events in their lives right now. Both characters saw their side kicks resurrected (Jason Todd and Buck); both were “killed off”; both characters saw side kicks take over the mantle for them (Dick Grayson and Bucky); both are stuck in the past; and both are now trying to make their ways back to the present. What gives? Who’s copying who?
Well the idea of resurrecting Jason Todd began during the Hush storyline in 2002, but we didn’t see Jason return until 2005. The return of Bucky began around the same time in 2005 as well. Steve was killed in early 2007 and Bruce was killed in late 2008. It was revealed a few months ago that Steve was stuck in time, but Bruce was revealed to be stuck in the past at the end of Final Crisis at the beginning of the year. Since we are fans, we are not privy to which company came up with which idea first, but if it were me, I would try to do something a bit different with my company’s character. Also, what good is it for the fans? They will buy it nonetheless, but is it really that interesting to have the same exact thing happen to two iconic characters? What happens when they return?
Click to continue reading Return of Bruce Wayne
Batman Unseen: Doug Moench and Kelley Jones Score
Batman is dead, you see, but when you’re DC Comics, the publisher of Batman, and you have a lot of companies that have paid $$$ to put his licensed image on toys and cups and action figures, you still have to publish some Batman comics with the Dark Knight Detective actually in them.
Hence, Batman: Unseen, by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones, which is sub-titled “A Lost Tale of Bruce Wayne as Batman.” That way, we all know that the story took place, but not while Batman was supposedly dead. Moench and Jones have previously collaborated on Batman And Dracula: Red Rain and Batman: Haunted Gotham and several other Batman-related products and it’s great to see them return.
The Unseen part of the title refers to Batman’s new nemesis, a variant on The Invisible Man named Nigel Glass who’s succeeded in creating a liquid that renders him, well, invisible. His transformation by Jones is horrifically beautiful. The uber-villain (the leader of the newly revived Black Mask Gang) who financed Glass’s invention wants this formula for himself, Batman wants to stop Glass, and Glass is out for vengeance against all those who harshed his crazy. One other small story detail: it appears that Bats is worried he’s losing his ability to strike fear into the hearts of men (and with good reason).
Click to continue reading Batman Unseen: Doug Moench and Kelley Jones Score
Weekend Reading: Webcomics, Fritz The Cat, E-Man and Batman!
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,
Back again with more cool stuff from around the internet. Whether your tastes run to Ralph Bakshi’s version of Robert Crumb’s Fritz The Cat, webcomics, E-Man or inappropriately sexual licensed Batman products, the internet proved a bounty of great stuff this week. Let’s take a look.
Webcomics: I love webcomics - and some day we’ll all just call them comics, right? - and I love the sites that cover them. Which means I love Floating Light Bulb. In addition to coverage of webcomics, there are lots of great insights into using them as a business, plus stuff on Google, Twitter, and more. Also, this person is smarter than me. A highly recommended site to bookmark.
Here’s a taste from a recent post. This past week featured an interview with Kez who does the webcomic War of Winds. The interview’s focus is all about webcomic creators attending conventions, hand-selling, meeting fans and making fans. It’s about the “creator as small businessperson” model. Kez also breaks down how much money can be made via her website v. conventions. “I completed one short 54-page comic as a printed side-story, which has sold well. While I didn’t start out with that story from a business stand-point, I ended that way. Out of the 50 copies I had printed, I have sold 42, gave away 2, have 3 left to sell, and 3 that were mis-printed. I bought each for about 7 dollars, sold them for $10 each, and made a profit of over $100. I will be printing more books shortly, as books sell the best at conventions.” It’s great to see someone talking hard numbers like this, instead of theory. Much, much more at the link.
Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Webcomics, Fritz The Cat, E-Man and Batman!
DC Comics Review: Batman and Robin #6
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,
Rating: ****
Another amazing issue that will have everyone’s jaw drop by the time people reach the end. Sometimes the conclusion to a comic book story does not live up to the way it started - that is not the case here. Grant Morrison hits a big home run with the conclusion to his Red Hood story arc. The only drawback for me once again is Philip Tan’s artwork. Some of the artwork in the panels seemed rushed and murky, but Morrison saves the day for me with this amazing story. I read the preview that was released and I couldn’t wait to read this issue. After reading this issue, I’m now salivating for more.
Eduardo Flamingo proves to be a very dangerous character. When we last left off in the story, Flamingo had taken a shot at the Red Hood. The shot doesn’t kill him, which causes Flamingo to try harder to finish the job by shooting the side of Jason’s face off. He also tries to pull the mask off of Scarlet’s face (if you’ve been reading the title you know her face is attached to the mask).
Batman and Robin escape from the trap that the Red Hood put them in and they try to assist Hood and Scarlet in taking down Flamingo. Morrison writes a great line for Robin when they confront Flamingo, “I was expecting scary, not gay.” Very funny. The character appears to die at the hands of the Red Hood, but this is the comic book world, and we know that he probably isn’t dead.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Batman and Robin #6
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