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The Weekly Haul: Reviews for April 24, 2008

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  • April 24, 2008

This week in comics was all over the map, a schizophrenic jumble of thrills, idiocy, fun and pulp. The good books were great, and the bad ones were terrible. At the very least, it was entertaining from start to finish.

micetemplar-1-7644301Book of the Week: The Mice Templar #4 — After the third issue of this series came out a couple months back, I wrote that while it was a good read, I was still waiting for the story to diverge from the rote fantasy plot. Writer Bryan J.L. Glass sent me a note saying just wait for issue #4, when things take a big turn.

Sure enough, the latest issue marks the point when The Mice Templar went from good to great. This isn’t just a fantasy tale featuring mice, it’s an intricately detailed epic and one of the best stories on comics shelves today.

In issue #4, Karic and Pilot continue their journey, with Karic showing both his potential as a great Templar and his youthful uncertainty. As they go along, Glass draws readers deeper into the massive mythos he has created, a back story that is mysterious but not confused. The issue ends with a too-good-to-spoil moment of "nothing will ever be the same." My only complaint is having to wait two months for the next issue.

Lastly, Mike Oeming’s art on this series improves with every issue, and it started out strong. He manages to make scenes of fighting mice into tense, dramatic moments, and his watercolor work in the concluding pages expands on the perceptions of what comic book art can be.

The Runners Up:

The Mighty Avengers #12 — Those of us who bailed out on the end of the horrifically delayed Secret War finally have an answer to the question of "Where the hell did Nick Fury go?" In this potboiler of an issue, Brian Michael Bendis diverges from the boring Mighty team to trace Fury’s movements while in exile, starting with the one-eyed wonder finding out about the Skrull infiltration.

From there, a paranoid Fury pushes forward as covertly as possible, investigating anyone and everyone to determine who the Skrulls are. The issue ends with an exhausted and uncertain Fury standing before a wall of photos of heroes, some marked as Skrulls. The issue follows in tone the great Gene Hackman thriller The Conversation, and is perhaps the best Secret Invasion lead-in yet.

Fall of Cthulhu #11 — This Lovecraftian tale from BOOM! Studios has been up and down over the first storylines, but the latest (The Gray Man) starts off like a perfect blend of Lovecraft’s stories and an old issue from EC Comics. A mysterious girl — you know trouble’s brewing when her nickname is Lucifer — is pulled into a sheriff’s office, and the authorities struggle to figure out how she’s connected to all the recent trouble in Arkham.

Michael Alan Nelson’s script work because he perfectly sets up the sheriff and his deputies in the role of the unknowing everymen who’ve stumbled into some ugliness far beyond their comprehension. This is a genuinely creepy book.

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ComicMix Six: The Worst Superhero Names in Comics

whizzer31-9999669You know you’ve talked about it with your friends. "Mr. Fantastic? He’s got, like, 17 doctorates… Shouldn’t he be ‘Doctor Fantastic’ by now?" And let’s not forget "Captain Marvel, Junior." Captain Marvel’s not his father. What gives? And what’s the deal with that Golden Age aquatic hero who called himself "The Fin?"

No matter how much we love comics, there are some superhero aliases we just can’t get behind. So we did our best to compile some of the worst superhero names in existence.

By the way, members of the Legion of Super-Heroes have been omitted from the list, because… well, it’s just too easy to pick on Matter-Eater Lad and Bouncing Boy.

 

6. KID MIRACLEMAN: In the U.K., he was originally called "Kid Marvelman." That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a lame name. Why?

KID MiracleMAN.

You can use the word "kid" in your name or you can use the word "man," but you can’t use both! With the power of contradiction comes great responsibility!

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NYCC: Rebooting ‘ReBoot’ with Gavin Blair and Dan DiDio

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  • April 24, 2008

471px-reboot_season-iv_poster-1743990There was no shortage of confused, then surprised, faces in the long line for Sunday’s "ReBoot Panel with Gavin Blair and Dan DiDio" at New York Comic Con. Attendees were at first incredulous that the line was so long, then happy to discover so many fellow fans of the late-’90s animated television series.

Even the creators of the series were surprised.

"Oh, my god! Can you believe this?" exclaimed Dan DiDio as he approached his fellow ReBoot creator Gavin Blair.

"I am blown away by the turnout," explained Blair. "I recognize a quarter of these people from coming by the booth. But the rest is like, ‘Oh my god, where did you come from?’ What’s blowing me away about this con and the Toronto con I was at in August is the age range of the people coming up to me."

"I got little kids, their parents and I got their grandparents coming up to me about how much they love the show," continued Blair. "We wrote the bright, colorful, wacky graphics for the kids and we put the grown-up jokes for the adults. Now the kids are grown-up saying ‘Hey, now I get those jokes.’"

Booked in one of the smaller panel rooms, the event filled to capacity with people sitting in the aisles. The panel was organized to promote The Art of ReBoot hardcover book and the initiative to re-launch the series as a theatrical movie. Panelists included supervising animator Gavin Blair, story editor Dan DiDio (now Executive Editor at DC Comics), character modeler (and producer of the hardcover) Jim Su and Paul Gertz of Rainmaker Entertainment.

Blair and DiDio quickly became the focus of the panel as they reminisced about the groundbreaking CGI animated series that imagined what electronic life was like inside a computer. In the series, Bob the Guardian and his friends defended the system from viruses, hackers and troublesome games. Since the show is no longer on the air, the tone was unrestrained and the panelists were frank about their memories of the series.

As DiDio explained, he wasn’t originally one of the creators of the series. He was the series liason for the ABC network.

"The first show I was assigned was ReBoot," said DiDio. "You’re looking at the first computer-animated television series ever. Nobody knows what’s going on. Nobody knows how it’s being done."

Blair then explained that, as they showed DiDio around the Mainframe Entertainment production studios, they had the same staffers sit in different rooms so he would think the operation was bigger than it actually was.

"I completely fell for it all," laughed DiDio.

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59, by John Ostrander

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  • April 24, 2008

Numbers represent. They don’t really mean.

Any meaning associated with numbers – or words for that matter – are what we assign to them. My social security number identifies me to the government but it’s not who I am. It has importance, yes, and if unscrupulous people get a hold of it, it can have a terrible impact on my life. It is not, however, my life. The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. The road map is not itself the road.

I turned 59 last Sunday and I’ve asked myself “What does that mean? Am I different in any essential way than I was on Saturday?” No. “Do birthdays have meanings?” If we give them some – yes. I like to celebrate the birthdays of those close to me more than I like to celebrate my own. I celebrate the fact that they were born, that they entered this world, and I get to be a part of their lives. I don’t dislike my birthday; I don’t have a problem with having one. I am thankful for the thoughts and good wishes expressed and any excuse to have a double chocolate cake is a good one.

The real use to me of my birthday these days is a bit more meditative. The number 59 has meaning in context with numbers 1 to 58. They are mileposts in my journey thus far. Milepost thirty-three – my first published comic book work. I remember that because I was pleased to be a rookie at anything at 33. Milepost thirty-eight – I married Kim Yale. Talk about being a rookie! Milepost forty-seven – Kim died and the world collapsed only to begin again a few mileposts later with Mary Mitchell. Life goes on. Death gives way to new life. (more…)

Happy Birthday: Myron Waldman

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  • April 24, 2008

Born in 1908 in Brooklyn, NY, Myron Waldman always loved to draw. He went to Pratt Institute and majored in Art, graduating in 1930.

Shortly after that, Waldman got a job with Max Fleisher Studios. He started as an inker, but by 1934 was one of Fleisher’s lead animators, working on Betty Boop, Popeye, Raggedy Ann, and even Superman. When war broke out, Waldman joined the Army, and served for three years—upon his return he went to work for Paramount’s Famous Studios, handling Casper the Friendly Ghost.

From 1958 to 1968 Waldman worked for Hal Seeger Productions, reviving the old Fleisher series Out of the Inkwell and helping to create Milton the Monster. Waldman also drew the 1940s comic strip Happy the Humbug, and wrote Eve: A Pictorial Love Story, one of the earliest American graphic novels.

In 1997, he received the Windsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement in animation. Waldman passed away in 2006 but his influence is still felt by animators and cartoon artists everywhere.

Interview: Joshua Dysart on ‘B.P.R.D.: 1946’

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  • April 23, 2008

bprd5-9590823One of this year’s big additions to the Hellboy universe has been the series BPRD: 1946, which puts the spotlight on Trevor Bruttenholm as he investigates the occult legacy of the Third Reich.

I recently caught up with series co-writer Joshua Dysart to talk about BPRD, working with Mike Mignola and Dysart’s strange journey into comics writing. Dysart also touched on the wealth of other projects he’s working on, including one based on musician Neil Young’s life and music.

COMICMIX: How did you end up working on BPRD: 1946 and being so closely involved with the Hellboy books for Dark Horse? 

JOSHUA DYSART: It was kind of a long and winding road, as these things mostly are. I first met Mignola and [Editor] Scott Allie in Dallas, Texas at the first Wizard World there in 2004. We hung out by the pool table in the bar together and just talked. Our aesthetic was very similar. About six to eight months later, Scott got me the job on the Van Helsing comic. Which, despite its source material, I’m still really proud of. When Mike was moving out to Los Angeles he showed interest in finding a local writer to work with. Scott mentioned my name. Then Mike went out to a local comic book shop and the owner, a close personal friend of mine, recommended me. We set up a luncheon date and I was terribly, terribly nervous. But I did my little song and dance and it worked out. That was late in 2006.

CMix: That has to be a little intimidating to go pitch yourself to somebody like Mignola.

JD: I was late to the meeting as well, by the way. I ride a bicycle everywhere and at the time didn’t have a cellphone. So on top of being terribly intimidated, I was late with no way to contact him. I thought for sure that being without a cellphone and a car was not going to bode well for me as a professional. But it turned out that Mike didn’t have a car or a cellphone either, and I think there was a sense of a shared value system in this — like two Luddites finding each other amongst the Blackberry/BMW wasteland of Santa Monica, CA. But all the way around it was a pretty terrifying thing, the notion of the meeting.

But in the end, it was fine. Mike is so enthusiastic about his creation — and as a reader, so am I — so I was put at ease very quickly. I don’t think he even noticed I was late.

The advice I got from Scott Allie before the meeting was, “Don’t act like such a fucking hippie.” (more…)

ComicMix TV at NYCC: ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ Interviews

Big Red and the whole Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense crew are back this summer, and the cast and crew of Hellboy II: The Golden Army made a trip to the Big Apple for this year’s New York Comic Con. We chatted up actors Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Doug Jones (Abe Sapien) and Selma Blair (Liz Sherman), as well as Hellboy II director Guillermo del Toro about the loves, lessons and lives of monsters in this special ComicMix TV report from the show.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army hits theaters on July 11, 2008.

 

 

 

 

EZ Street: Swords and Sorcery

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  • April 23, 2008

In today’s brand-new episode of EZ Street by Mark Wheatley and Robert Tinnell, you’ve got your magic swords, you’ve got your evil witches, you’ve got your prophesies to be fulfilled.  

And you’ve got your alcoholic police woman, wondering how she fits in. Does she?

Credits: Mark Wheatley (Artist), Mark Wheatley (Colorist), Mark Wheatley (Letterer), Mark Wheatley (Writer), Mike Gold (Editor), Robert Tinnell (Writer)

More: EZ Street

 

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NYCC Kids Report: Archie Comics Panel

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  • April 23, 2008

[Editor’s Note: There was a big emphasis on kids at this year’s New York Comic Con, with a sizeable chunk of Sunday’s programming geared toward the youngest of the comics-reader age bracket. While we consider ourselves a pretty young-at-heart crew, we thought it best to go to an actual member of the event’s target audience for this report on Sunday’s kid-savvy "Growing Up With Archie" panel. The author of this report (with a little help from our own Martha Thomases) is Lillian Baker, daughter of popular writer/artist Kyle Baker, and an aspiring artist in her own right. -RM]

We attended Sunday’s presentation by Archie Comics.  The room was nearly full, with lots of girls sitting next to their mothers.  The panel included Archie Comics editor-in-chief Victor Gorelick, publisher Michael Silberkleit, managing editor Mike Pellerito, artist Dan Parent, creators Barbara Slate, Fernando Ruiz, Misako Rox and ComicMix’s own Andrew Pepoy.

After a slide show that presented Archie and his friends through the ages (including a character named Wilbur we had never seen before), Mr. Silberkleit said that parents can trust Archie Comics to always tell good stories.  He let everyone introduce him or herself (Mr. Gorelick has worked at the same company for nearly 50 years!) and talked about some new projects, including a new look for Jughead and a series called Archie’s Freshman Year.  He said there would be stories about the characters applying for college, too.

Since Archie has been around more than 60 years, we asked, "Shouldn’t they be old geezers asking for pills instead of going to college?”  Mr. Silberkleit asked if anyone wanted to read those stories, and only a few people said, “Yes.”

We also asked, “Why do Betty and Veronica like Archie so much?  He’s the nerdiest guy in the school. He drives a crappy car.  He doesn’t have any money.  He doesn’t look great and he has freckles and crosses on his head.”  Dan Parent said all of this gave hope to him when he was a kid.

They talked about a bunch of new series, including Riverdale Jones and the Temple of Food.  The company is also publishing a “Who’s Who” of the MLJ superheroes, such as The Shield, The Fly and The Web.  Andrew Pepoy is doing a new Katy Keene graphic novel that will be out in August. There’s also going to be Archie’s Vault, which will reprint all the old stories, like the DC Archives.

The stories look like they’ll be fun, and you can find them at newsstands everywhere.  You can also find them at places like Wal-Mart.

Our thanks go out to Lillian for providing this special report from the show!

New York Comic Con: The Brain-Dump Roundup

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  • April 23, 2008

Here we are, two days after the beast that is New York Comic Con settled back into hibernation, and all that’s left of the big show are piles of discarded promo cards, comics with dinosaurs fighting tanks, and a bunch of skrull masks missing their rubber-band straps. Welcome to my post-NYCC highlight reel, folks.

All things considered, the convention was a fine time. Sure, the bar was set pretty low when you consider the debacle of the first NYCC show, but even when one adds all of the other recent conventions to the frame of reference, this year’s NYCC fared pretty well. With a few exceptions, it felt like just the right level of crowd — not packed to an uncomfortable San Diego Comic-Con level, but not the empty, depressing little ghost towns of Wizard World Texas and Philadelphia. The creators I spoke with seemed happy about the show, too. They weren’t hustling to cover the cost of their attendance or feeling frazzled by crowds, contradicting policies or inevitable scheduling issues that pop up at these types of events.

Friday was manageable, Saturday was tolerable and Sunday was actually somewhat relaxing. The temperature allowed attendees to dress comfortably — no winter jackets to increase the sweat level once you enter the building, and no oppressive heat outside to raise the humidity levels before you even reach the front door. The big programming dust-up on Saturday, in which a perfect storm of late-running panels and big-name guests prompted the convention staff to close the panel area for a short time, was the only major problem I had with the show — and only because it made me slightly late to the panel I planned to attend. (more…)

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