Weekend Reading: Kirby, Argo, Overstreet And Palooka

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

For those of us who are not already at the NYCC this weekend, here’s how the internets can keep us occupied:

Why did the Judge Dredd 3D movie flop? Here are five reasons from What Culture.

Paul O’Connor at Longbox Graveyard finds much to love about Sean Howe’s new book, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.

Scoop interviews Robert M. Overstreet, creator of the ubiquitous and essential Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. “One of my favorite comics was Fox And The Crow. I would have Kix cereal in the morning and I would read my Fox & The Crow comics eating Kix.” I love that.

Jeff Mariotte writes about the problems of freelancing, his own writing career and a great comic strip called Cow And Boy by Mark Leiknes.

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Kirby, Argo, Overstreet And Palooka

Comic Book Jobs: Checking Out Craigslist

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics, Independent,

As many of you already know, I love the Craigslist as the perfect opportunity to find the oddest of comic book jobs.

And here’s one now: in Philadelphia, the comic book publisher Zenescope is looking for an actress to portray Alice in Wonderland.

Manga translators are needed in San Francisco.

A “multimedia company” wants to share a booth with you at Comic Con International this year.

A “comic book style film” needs female actresses for $100 a day.

Remember Nick Cuti’s Moonchild character? Someone’s acquired the audio rights and is looking for a model who looks as much like her as humanly possible.

MackVision Entertainment needs an intern for their new Motion Comics series.

Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Checking Out Craigslist

Review: DC Comics Adventure Comics #6

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

  Rating ****
Wow! That’s all I have to say about Geoff Johns’ final issue of Adventure Comics. It’s too bad Geoff is leaving this book because in the short time he was been on this title, I’ve really come to like the character of Superboy. There is a genuineness to the character of Superboy aka Conner Kent aka Kon-El. Johns really writes this character as a teenage boy who like all teen boys can be insecure, have girl troubles, go to school, and have trouble with their families. Now none of us have the trouble he’s going through, but no matter how old you are, you can definitely relate and feel for this kid. However, I think this issue is really more about the character of Lex Luthor than it is about Conner.

I think if I met someone who were new to comic books and wanted to know something about the character of Lex Luthor, I wouldn’t send them to Wikipedia to read up on who Lex Luthor is - I would hand them this issue instead. In this issue alone, Johns shows you who Luthor really is and just how evil of man he is. The story picks up where we left off in the last issue where Superboy rescued a girl named Lori and brought her back home only to be find out that she is the niece of Lex Luthor, the man who cloned him from Superman and his greatest enemy. Luthor is here to recover his property (Superboy), but the revelation of who Lori and her mother are gets in the way of things.

Click to continue reading Review: DC Comics Adventure Comics #6

DC Comics Review: Superman: Secret Origin #2

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

Rating: ****

Wow! Fantastic! For someone who didn’t grow up reading the Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes stories, I have nothing to compare this issue to. However, I must say that this is a great story that I think longtime fans of those stories will agree that it can stand alongside those classic tales. If you didn’t read issue one, first off, go now to your comic store and get it; second, this issue can stand alone as a great story with some amazing art work. The creative team once again is Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. They introduced us to a teenage Clark Kent living in Smallville adjusting to his super powers and discovering where they came from. We’re also introduced to a teenage Lex Luthor who has an abusive, alcoholic father whom Luthor tries kill in the beginning of our second issue.

The issue opens with Lionel Luthor driving down a highway. There is rubble on the road and he tries to swerve and hit the breaks - unfortunately the breaks are out thanks to Lex. Lionel’s car goes over the side of the highway and is about to plunge into the water when Superboy saves the day. A beautifully drawn scene by Frank, but my one complaint is that I think Superboy looks more like a 10 year-old than a teenager in that scene. Lionel survives, but not for long as Luthor is successful in murdering his father at the end of the issue.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Superman: Secret Origin #2

DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Superman #3

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

Rating: *** 1/2*

Blackest Night comes to end for Superman this week - at least for now. Issue three of Blackest Night: Superman is a lot of fun - this whole series has been fun. As I mentioned in a previous issue, sometimes the most simple plots can be the most fun. All you need to know is that the Black Lanterns are resurrecting the dead in the DC Universe, and they are attacking the living. It’s Night of the Living Dead meets the world of superheroes - what more can you ask for?

Writer James Robinson did a very good job with this one. Behind the story of the Black Lanterns attacking Smallville and New Krypton is the story of a family - the Superman family. I like the dynamic between Martha Kent and her sons Superman and Superboy (and of course the family dog Krypto); on the flip side, we see the difficult family relationship between Supergirl and her mother as they tackle their father/husband who has been resurrected as a Black Lantern. Great drama.

Our story jumps back and forth between the events happening in Smallville to the events on New Krypton. Kara is sad and angry over this thing that she has to fight, this thing that looks and sounds like her father. Meanwhile, Superman and Superboy fight off the Black Lanterns of Earth 2 Superman and the Psycho Pirate. The Psycho Pirate has been able to take over Superboy and make him fight Superman, but Superboy is then able to regain control of his senses use his tactile telekinesis to fight off Earth 2 Superman. Conner wants to be more like Superman, but he hasn’t been using this power because Superman lacks his own. Superman tells Conner that he must use all of his powers and be himself, to not worry about being more like Superman.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Superman #3

DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Superman #2

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

Rating: ***

The Black Night continues its reign of terror in Smallville in this issue of Blackest Night: Superman.  I really enjoyed the first issue of this series, but I felt a bit let down with this second one.  One of the things that I felt hurt the first issue of this series continues here and that’s bad dialogue.  As you know, Earth 2 Superman has risen from the dead as a Black Lantern and is fighting Superman and Superboy.  As they are fighting, Earth 2 Superman taunts Superman with this “amazing” piece of dialogue,“My world was better!  I was better!  Earth 2?  No, it was Earth mine!”  Bad.  Just bad.  I can’t believe that this is the same writer - James Robinson - who wrote one the best comics ever in Starman.  What the hell happened?

The story is still decent enough for me to have been entertained along with the solid artwork by Eddy Barrows.  This guy is great.  I look forward to seeing more of his work, hopefully on bigger projects for DC.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Superman #2

DC Comics Review: Adventure Comics #2

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

Rating: *** 1/2*

Another great issue by Geoff Johns with this month’s issue of Adventure Comics.  Our story opens with the U.S. military being attacked by Brainiac’s ship.  Inside the ship we see Brainiac and Lex Luthor.  Brainiac wants revenge on Superman for their recent altercation and he’s teamed up with Luthor to help him do just that.  In return, Luthor is promised control of the Earth. 

Luthor was in prison and he was under the watchful eye of General Sam Lane, the father of Lois Lane.  General Lane viewed the recent arrival of the Kandor Kryptonians as a threat to Earth and was using Lex to create weapons to defend Earth.  On Brainiac’s ship, we see one of those “weapons” in a human being floating in a tank.  This project is called Project: Alien Farm which Luthor says is a personal one - “it’s a about family,” he says.  Could Lex Luthor possibly be cloning another Superboy?  Is he using Conner’s DNA again or is he using DNA from another Kryptonian?  If it’s another Conner it should make things very interesting. 

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Adventure Comics #2

DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Superman #1

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

Rating: *** 1/2*

The Blackest Night makes its way to Smallville in this first issue of Blackest Night: Superman as Black Lanterns resurrect the deceased Earth 2 Superman and Lois Lane. Our story begins with Pete Ross and some local Smallville townsfolk talking amongst themselves when they notice something flying in the sky. Being a Superman comic, someone is guaranteed to utter the famous “Is that a bird?” quote. Well it’s not a bird of course, but it’s instead the resurrected body of Kal-L, the Superman of Earth 2 as a Black Lantern. He arrives in Smallville and makes his way to the Kent farm where Superman, Superboy, and Krypto are sitting down for coffee with Martha Kent. 

I love that Conner is back and Superman has a “brother” of sorts; I love the little family that DC is developing here. I would have Supergirl start to develop a yearning to become a part of this family and have her mother become jealous—this would cause a big rift between them, resulting in a throw down with Superman and Allura with Supergirl caught in between. Speaking of which, we see Zor-El become a Black Lantern on New Krypton later in the issue. 

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Blackest Night: Superman #1

DC Comics Review: Adventure Comics #1

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

Rating: *** 1/2*

By the end of the mini-series Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds, writer Geoff Johns resurrected two recently deceased super-heroes: Kid Flash and Superboy.  With this issue we see another resurrection as well with the return of the long running DC title Adventure Comics.  The original book ran from 1938 to 1983 and featured numerous adventures of secondary DC super-heroes.  Some of the characters that were featured in the title were stories about Superboy and the Legion of Super Heroes.  With the return of Adventure, we will be seeing new stories featuring both Superboy and the Legion once again. 

The difference here of course is where the original Adventure Comics showcased tales of a young Clark Kent as Superboy, this series will focus on Conner Kent who is a genetically created clone of Superman and Lex Luthor.  In this issue we see Conner return to Smallville to live with Superman’s mom Martha Kent.  Since he’s partially a clone of Superman, he’s also calling her Ma.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Adventure Comics #1

DC Comics Review: Adventure Comics #0

Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics,

I’ve mentioned in past blogs that I’ve been reading comics for about twenty-four years. I began as a big Marvel Zombie and my knowledge of the DC universe was only from old episodes of the “Super Friends”. It’s really only in the past few years that I’ve been reading more DC Comics.

This issue of “Adventure Comics” #0 (at the bargain price of $1) is a preliminary issue for the relaunch of this classic series. In this issue, we have two different stories: one is a reprint of the classic story that introduced the Legion of Super Heroes in the pages of the first Adventure series #247 and the second is an original story that is a part of the “Origins and Omens” series that DC has going through all of their books right now.  The story stars Lex Luthor and Brainiac.

The original “Adventure Comics” which ran from 1935-1983 was a series which focused on second tier DC characters. The book focused on a variety of different heroes over the years such as Superboy, Supergirl, The Spectre, Aquaman, and the Legion of Superheroes. According to DC publisher Dan Dido, the new series begins in June and will be the home of the Legion of Superheroes.

Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Adventure Comics #0