Weekend Reading: Spacehawk, The Dandy, Kirby and Howard Cruse

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

I'm stuffed with the turkey of Thanksgiving, but there's always time to unstuff some of the internets. Let's take a look at things to read between naps.

This has gotten a lot of play, but it’s too funny to not link to: Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has compiled his list of the 10 Least Powerful People In Comics. Number five made me laugh out loud.

And Spurgeon does it again: I think Howard Cruse is one of the great cartoonists to have emerged from the Underground Comix movement. Spurgeon’s interview with him is an excellent read.

The Dandy, the long-running British comic book for kids, is getting cancelled in December and the line-up for the last issue is spectacular - 75 stories in a 100 page issue. I want one. Oh yes I do! Lew Stringer shares some details.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Spacehawk, The Dandy, Kirby and Howard Cruse

Weekend Reading: Marvel Comics, Combat Jacks, Rob Liefeld & Star Trek

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

First off, smart thoughts on the state of various elements of the comics industry - retail, Marvel, 24 Hour Comics Day - from Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter.

Bleeding Cool has the story announcing Rob Liefeld’s latest retirement from comics. And then moments later says he’s back.

Here’s a nice review of Mark McKenna’s new indy comic, Combat Jacks. “While McKenna might be known as a great inker, he is certainly a surprisingly good writer too. The story and dialogue of Combat Jacks is quite enjoyable, making me wish there were more comics like this sadly rare done-in-one sci-fi/horror story.”

Who was the mysterious Marvel Comics creator known as Kevin Banks?

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Weekend Reading: Star Wars, Star Trek, Scooby Doo and Joe Kubert

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Interviews, Reviews, IDW Publishing,

Welcome to the weekend on the internet. Let’s get it started with Mr. Joe Kubert.

I had the pleasure of working for a company that published one of Mr. Kubert’s books (Abraham Stone) and got to hang out with him a little at Comic Con International one year. Just a great, great guy, as well as a fantastic artist. Marty Pedler at Bookslut has a new interview with him, and if you haven’t read it yet, get over there. Here’s a little snip: “I still feel that if it’s not a children’s medium, it’s at least a young person’s medium—despite the fact that the average person who reads comic books is now, I’m told, probably in their early twenties. Maybe it’s because I’m an old fogey, I don’t know, but I still feel a little strange and awkward when I see stuff that’s so blatantly sexual.”

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Q&A: Jim Beard, Batman & Gotham City 14 Miles

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Interviews, Television, DC Comics,

If you’re a fan of the 1960s Batman TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward, then you already know what that phrase means. It’s the sign you see denoting the distance from the Batcave to Gotham City. Wayne Manor was way out in the 1960s suburbs! Gotham City 14 Miles is much more than that, however. It’s also the title of a new book edited by Jim Beard whose full title is Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays On Why The 1960s Batman TV Series Matters. Essayists include Beard, comics historians Peter Sanderson and Robert Greenberger, and a host of people whose names are being revealed one at a time.

The book will be published by the Sequart Research & Literacy Organization a “non-profit devoted solely to the study and promotion of the artistic and literary medium alternately known as comics, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, manga, sequential art, and sequart.”

Beard says Gotham City 14 Miles is the first book on the old Batman TV series in over 10 years, and I say it’s about time. The book will examine the 1966-68 TV series and “quantify its worth and weight in current pop culture. It also intends to shoot down many of the cliches, falsehoods and outright misinformation about the show and illuminate its strengths and, yes, its weaknesses.”

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Weekend Reading: Iron Man, Geek Chic, Chip and Dale and I Love Lucey

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

Lots of good stuff going on as we slide into the weekend. We’ve got Iron Man, Archie Comics, Douglas Adams’ Monty Python connection, Chip and Dale and tons more.

Let’s start with my pal Bob Greenberger, the noted comic book writer, novelist, tie-in writer, and a guy who actually knows how to make a physical comic book/graphic novel (all that production/printing/binding/press run/distribution stuff). He has a new book out. Iron Man: Femme Fatales has just been published by Del Rey and it should keep fans happy post-Iron Man I movie and pre-Iron Man II movie. Bob happily blogs about it at his website where he reposts this nice review. I haven’t read the book yet, but I snapped up a copy off the rack at Wal-Mart to feed a little royalty money Bob’s way. I also reshelved the remaining copies to give Bob a better display. That’s how I roll, people.

Harry Lucey: The animator John Kricfalusi has a nice gallery of great Lucey covers from assorted Archie titles at his blog. The covers are absolutely stunning in their simplicity. There’s a “Get Off My Lawn!” part of my brain that wishes the books still looked like this.

Geek Chic Daily: Nikki Finke has a few details about the Hollywood playas lining up behind Gareb Shamus’ new online presence.

George Tuska: Marvel and DC artist George Tuska, so prominent in the comics of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s has passed away at 93. Mark Evanier has a nice look at Tuska’s career. Here’s a real nice original art page by Tuska—no superheroes, just guns, gangsters, street scenes and a hot girl in a bikini. He was from the generation of comic artists who all knew how to draw people, horses, cars, the folds of clothing, and characters in hats who could still make a guy in an iron suit seem believable.

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WEEKEND READING: Will Eisner, Clown Funerals, Don Heck and Moon Nazis!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

Welcome to the weekend reading portion of the blog. Lots of great stuff found on the internets this week, from Will Eisner and Clown Funerals to Nazi Moonbases, there’s enough stuff to make everyone happy, and that’s always the ultimate goal, isn’t it?

WILL EISNER’S WONDER MAN: This is an oldie, but still good. Eisner was hired by Victor Fox to create Wonder Man to be his company’s Superman. When Wonder Comics #1 debuted in 1939, Fox then proceeded to get the crap sued out of him by the owners of the real thing. Eisner was even called to the stand. You can read about that over at the Wikipedia. But over at Golden Age Heroes, you can read the complete first Wonder Man story.

WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN? Fredric Wertham did, and so did the U.S. Government. But did you know that England also had its share of hysteria over comics? It seems that Jolly Old E was very concerned about children who read comic books and then commit horrible badness, which must then be traced back to those horrible comic books. Britain’s National Archives has a great podcast about how the vulgar American comic books were insinuating themselves into Britain’s cakes-and-ale culture and corrupting the sweet-faced youth of our mother country. Fortunately, the host does bring up the fact that Britain had something of a comics industry long before we showed up. Oh, snap! The podcast is called “Kapow! Fifties Britain Vs. The Comics Menace,” and the link is courtesy of Elizabeth Foxwell over at The Bunburyist (and that’s a reference to Oscar Wilde, you lit-slackers).

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Starlog Logs Off

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

The magazine Starlog came along when fans of sci-fi movies and TV shows were split into two camps: those still trying to figure out whether or not Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was actually any good, and Star Trek fans still waiting for Paramount to revive what was not yet “the franchise.” Star Wars was just about to hit and bust open the genre’s wallet.

If you’ve been living on Io for the past few days, you might not have heard that the print version of Starlog is no more. Like so many other magazines, it has ceased to be and is moving to the internets, temporarily they say, though permanently is more like it. It’s a tough climate for print, though I hear trees have never been happier.

I have long-standing connections to the Starlog Universe and I’ll miss it mightily. Editor Dave McDonnell and I have been acquainted with one another since college –

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