Weekend Reading: Batman, Doonesbury, Killraven and Kickstarter

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

So the Olympics are finally over, and that means it's time to talk about real heroes, right? Y'know, the ones in capes!

For most of us, we have the belief that Bill Finger is the true creator of everything that made Batman great. Here’s why.

Jake Hinkson looks at The Dark Knight Rises and the other two parts of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy: “Unlike the set-bound comic-gothic theatrics of Tim Burton's Batman films or the plastic sex-toy quality of Joel Schumacher's films, Batman Begins is a full on epic.”

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Weekend Reading: Jack Kirby, Two-Gun Kid, Jack Davis and Monty Python

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

Here are my picks for Oscar night: Nobody named Oscar will actually win anything.

So let’s see what the internets are yapping about:

You can tell that something’s brewing when creators start to go a bit public with payment problems at publishers. Bleeding Cool reported on two this week.

Cartoonist Lew Stringer finds there’s a lot to like about the new one-shot The Clock Strikes, a noirish adventure set in the 1930s that revives an old comic book character.

Longbox Graveyard tackles the news. Sure, it’s news from blogger Paul O’Connor, but it’s all good news.

Novelist and comic book writer Victor Gischler (The Deputy) hopes you’ll pick up his latest: the X-Men: FF hardcover.

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Weekend Reading: Frank Miller, Star Wars, Ghost Rider, Deathlok

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies,

Everyone enjoying the new year so far? So’s the internet, so let’s see how:

Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter wrapped up two weeks of holiday interviews with a pile of interesting creators. Even if you’re not specifically into their individual works, you should read them all. It’s a fascinating look at lots of creative people in the biz. I especially enjoyed the chats with Kim Thompson, Art Spiegelman, and Todd DePastino on Bill Mauldin.

Is there a worse piece of entertainment than the Star Wars Holiday Special? What about its book tie-in?

If you’ve been interested in the Gary Friedrich/Marvel/Ghost Rider lawsuit, Daniel Best at 20th Century Danny Boy has the judgment paperwork to read.

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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.

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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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Victor Gischler, Deadpool and The Deputy

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Marvel Comics,

Hey, do you like Victor Gischler’s work on Marvel Comics’ Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth and the new Deadpool Corps? I do, because I think they’re both laugh-out-loud funny while still being good “superhero” action. Did you also know that he’s a novelist? I’ve been a fan of his since Gun Monkeys came out and now he’s got a new book that just dropped called The Deputy.

There’s not a superhero in sight, but I think fans of Gischler’s comic book work will find much to enjoy in his prose. The Deputy is the story of a part-time Oklahoma deputy (see what he did there?) who’s called out to babysit a dead body. But when he gets distracted by his 17-year-old girlfriend and the body goes missing, The Deputy’s got his work cut out for him.

Sounds like fun and my copy’s already been ordered.

[Artwork: Cover to Victor Gischler’s The Deputy]

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Victor Gischler & Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth #5

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Marvel Comics,

I’m an idiot. When I first read about this book, I made a mental note to grab it right away. Then I brain-farted it out of my head.

Why did I want Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth? Because I’m a huge fan of writer Victor Gischler, that’s why. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Vampire A Go-Go. That Victor Gischler. I’ve been reading his books ever since I grabbed Gun Monkeys off the rack because it contained this opening line: “I turned the Chrysler onto the Florida Turnpike with Rollo Kramer’s headless body in the trunk, and all the time I’m thinking I should’ve put some plastic down.”

That’s Gischler. And it continues now that he’s writing Deadpool for Marvel Comics. At the start of this series, Deadpool’s been hired by A.I.M. (those guys in the great yellow outfits with the squarish hats) to retrieve a secret bioweapon from the Savage Land. The weapon turns out to be Deadpool’s severed, zombified head from another dimension. Gischler’s got a thing for the headless, but I’m okay with that!

Since I missed the first four issues, I’m coming into the middle of the story which pits A.I.M. against Hydra, with Deadpool in the middle with a hot scientist and lots of firepower. But I picked up the action with ease - Deadpool has the zombie head to deliver to A.I.M. in space but Hydra has other ideas and those ideas mostly involve guns and killing. Gischler’s dialogue is sharp, funny and breezy - and it takes a lot of hard work to make it feel that way and still keep the story on point. Listening to Deadpool discuss Star Wars with a nameless A.I.M. employee made me LOL.

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