Weekend Reading: Die Hard, Avengers, Stan Lee and Frank Robbins

Happy Halloween! You won’t find any Halloween-themed stuff down below because thousands of other people are already way ahead of me on that. What you will find is some very nifty reading (and looking) on folks like Howard Chaykin, Frank Robbins, indie cartoonist J.R. Williams, Stan Lee, and Blackest Night. Start the ball rolling downhill…

Incognegro: Galleycat gives a shout-out to the new graphic novel by Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece, making it their Featured Book of Color. This Vertigo book has “movie” written all over it, and I’m sure Diane Nelson has noticed that.

Die Hard: Those We Left Behind enjoys the new Howard Chaykin/Stephen Thompson Die Hard prequel, Die Hard: Year One, from Boom! Says TWLB of the just-released second issue: “The series is really capturing the spirit of the McClane character, with his quick wit and regular-guy attitude.”

The Avengers: James Reasoner reviews Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers Volume 1 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. “It’s also interesting to see the introduction of storylines that would resonate through the Marvel Universe for years, and in some cases, decades afterwards.” But there’s a “but” coming that you’ll have to click and discover for yourself.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Die Hard, Avengers, Stan Lee and Frank Robbins

HOWARD CHAYKIN: DIE HARD: YEAR ONE from BOOM! Studios

BOOM! goes the dynamite!

Howard Chaykin is one of my favorite writer/artists. Doesn’t matter if he’s working on his own stuff (like American Flagg!, Barnum!, or American Century,), or reconfiguring existing characters (like The Shadow, Challengers of the Unknown, Blackhawk). I’m all in.

And then there’s DIE HARD, one of my favorite action movies ever, thanks in large part to Bruce Willis. At a time when no one was making any kind of Batman movie (Tim Burton’s Batman was a year away), DIE HARD filled the void. Watch it again and think of John McClane as Bruce Wayne. It’s all there. Die Hard is a Batman movie without the cape, the fancy Hot Wheels car and the nipple-suit.

Now BOOM! Studios – which has already scored with licensed properties like Farscape and The Incredibles - has hit the mark again. Chaykin and artist Stephen Thompson (who did Buckaroo Banzai for Moonstone Books) are uniting to bring the pre-Die Hard adventures of McClane to the comic book page.

DIE HARD: YEAR ONE #1 is set in New York City during the 1976 Bicentennial celebration, with McClane as a rookie cop. Chaykin grew up in New York, and is well-familiar with the time and place, so I’m expecting a tough, gritty crime thriller, packed with action and the wry Chaykin humor. The series promises to be well worth reading. The first issue is scheduled for an August release.

And you know how a blog post like this has to end, don’t you? Yippy-ki-yay…

[Artwork: Promotional art from Die Hard: Year One]