GrimJack is in a race to
save Blacjac and Bob from the Manx Cat. The problem is… everyone who falls
asleep becomes an unwilling Night Terrorist in the Manx Cat’s army! Bullets,
blood, bikes, bombastic babes… and the St. John Knives! What more can you want
in a stunning conclusion? Creators John Ostrander and Timothy Truman on script
and art.
Now that 2009 is officially over, we can do a year in review. This is by no means a definitive list of “the best of the year” as we’d never come to a consensus, just think of it as our varied and individual take on what stuck out in the minds of everybody here at the Mix. After all, as the song says, it’s a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world. Onward!
Shortest Death of the Year: Kyle Rayner. Green Lantern Corps #42/43 (DC)
For those who know me well, I was offered quick condolences when I picked up Peter Tomasi’s Green Lantern Corps
#42. Kyle Rayner, my personal favorite ‘Super Hero’ was given a
decidedly trite death; sacrificing himself with an exploding Alpha
Lantern Core in order to blow up a smattering of not-so-easy-to-kill
black lanterns and their Nekron inspired construct. Gaping plot hole be
damned! Sure Mr. Rayner was one of two honor guardsmen, who we’d
‘assume’ knew how to wield the emerald light with a little flair, might
figure that the ring could make a nice bubble to contain the
aforementioned big-bada-boom, and NOT include himself… But it was far
sappier dramatic
for Kyle to tell Natu (his current, non-refrigerator-bound-beau) and
Guy (his best-buddy-with-a-bygone-bowlcut) that he ‘wuved them. And
guess what? Not twenty pages later, Kyle was resurrected by Star
Sapphire Miri Riam, who showed us yet another unknown power from the
crystal spewing pink ring club. It seems that ‘True Love’ allows a Star
Sapphire to combine hearts, and save a dead lover. I guess Miri wished
she could have done that when he husband died, a few issues ago.
Whoopsie! –Marc Alan Fishman
Most overlooked of the year: Final Crisis Aftermath: Run (DC)
It’s easy to hate event books–especially one as polarizing as Final Crisis–but it’s hard to deny that sometimes damn fine things come out of them. Zero Hour gave us James Robinson’s Starman, Secret Wars gave us Spider-Man’s black costume (even if it was retroactive), and now Final Crisis has given us Run, a tale of the Human Flame, the most unrepentant bastard in the DC Universe, on the run from the Justice League following the death of the Martian Manhunter. It’s funny, it’s fast-moving, and it’s smart as a whip, thanks in equal measure to Matt Sturges’ (Blue Beetle, JSA All-Stars) script and the perennially underrated pencils of Freddie E. Williams II (Robin). Besides, it has the Condiment King. Who can say no to the Condiment King? –Matthew Weinberger
Favorite dialogue of the year: from Irredeemable #5 (BOOM!), written by Mark Waid, when the winged Gilgamos meets the black super-hero Volt:
“I know you! You’re Black V—“
“That’s the other guy.”
“From Philadelphia?”
“That’s the other other guy. Look, I am solidly aware that an electromagnetic African-American super is a total cliché. My apologies. I didn’t order this power off the menu, I swear.”
–Howard Margolin
Everybody’s waiting for the tablet computer to see what it could do to the comics industry. Thanks to Time and Sports Illustrated, we have a potential preview:
Boy, wouldn’t it be great if DC Comics were published by Time Warner?
No?
Wouldn’t it be nice to think that DC was thinking about this stuff, at least?
More in this New York Times article.
We close the door on DOCTOR WHO, for awhile anyway. But first, now former Doctor DAVID TENNANT weighs in on his favorite moments and the new guy. Meanwhile, at the Box Office THE DARK KNIGHT gets trounced by those ‘blue guys’.
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Being a Philosopher, I see Philosophy everywhere and talk
about it all the time. But sometimes I am surprised by where I find it and in
what abundance. And rarely do I find in one body of work ideals that cover Aristotle’s
thoughts on friendship and justice (Nicomachean
Ethics), Confucius’ ideas of Right Association (Great Learning), Kant’s Deontological Ethics (law, duty, rules) of
the Categorical Imperative (universal laws without exceptions), and the Rule
Utilitarianism perpetuated by Sidgwick (merciful exceptions in extraordinary
circumstances) and embedded in our seminal national documents via Jefferson and
his cohorts, and even Plato’s The Republic.
Plus there are the metaphysical ideas such as how does memory define and/or
reveal us (a la Locke, Hume —
respectively) and how do the dead live on? Amazingly enough, it’s all in this cartoon
universe.
The Japanese franchise that is Bleach is vast: 40+ volumes of manga, 2 character books (Souls translated, Vibe not), one art book (All
Colour But the Black), 249+ episodes of anime, 2 OVAs, 3 movies, 4 rock
musicals and 2 Live Bankai shows, many
soundtrack and character CDs, 3+ video games for the Nintendo DS and Sony Wii,
and more merchandise than you can shake a Zanpakutou
at. And it is now a bonafide phenomenon in the US, as well, with 167 dubbed
episodes aired and 109 episodes, up to the first half of season 4: The Bounts,
released in deluxe DVD boxed sets, thanks to the folks at Cartoon Network and
Funimation, with 29 volumes of Tite Kubo’s (story and art) manga in English
from Viz Media and Shonen Jump where
it is serialized and translated, and 2 of the 3 movies now out on DVD here in
the States.
On a holiday break from new episodes since Thanksgiving
between seasons 8 and 9, CN gave the US premiere of the 2nd movie: The Diamond Dust Rebellion (2007) on Adult
Swim on 12/5, and the 2-disc DVD with subbed and dubbed versions and some cute
little extras (including original trailers, behind-the-scenes, and an English
version of the Japanese movie premiere program booklet) was released in
September here in the States. It has not had any screenings in US theatres,
unlike the 1st movie, Memories
of Nobody (2006), which had special NY screenings of the dubbed and subbed
versions 6/11-12/08. The 3rd movie, Fade to Black, I Call Your Name, which premiered in Japan last
December, is not yet available legally in the States, dubbed, subbed, or
otherwise. The story told in DDR takes place after episode 167. The various
anime writers’ attention to detail and continuities in this vast and ever-expanding
universe is amazing. You will see tiny important details from this movie’s
story played out in later episodes that involve these characters. The Soul
Society is a busy place, full of conflict, most of the time being caused by
choices from its past coming back to haunt it.
Man, he won’t even choose on a stamp, will he?
Archie is now part of the 2010 Stamp program from the US Postal Service. The stamps are expected to go on sale in July during the San Diego Comic-Con.
It’s official. Marvel Entertainment stockholders approved the company’s merger with Disney at a special meeting held last Thursday, December 31, 2009. Under the agreement, which is valued at an estimated $4.3 billion, Marvel becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney.
But in addition to acquiring Marvel, Disney also furthered its existing relationship with Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment (Purveyors of Wonder) by taking a 10% equity stake in POW! for $2.5 million. Disney entered into a first look deal with POW! in 2007, and under the new deal includes enhanced rights to the creative output of POW! and certain exclusive consulting services.
The only hitch? Over the weekend, I was talking with a freelancer who was complaining about a recent job he did for a Disney subsidiary which still hadn’t paid him after many months, even after signing multi-page forms and four contracts, for what basically amounted to a lettering job.
One wonders what it’s going to be like for all the freelancers at Marvel who will suddenly find themselves thrust into Disney’s mammoth accounting system for dealing with outside vendors. If anybody has any experiences with the new regime, let us know.
From Rich Johnston at Bleeding Cool:
It’s been a heck of a ride, hasn’t it?
Congratulations, we’re living in the future now.
(Incidentally, now that the old year is officially past, we’ll start doing those end-of-year/end-of-decade wrap ups, because we weren’t going to jump the gun. We have to have some rules around here, don’t we?)
So enjoy, have a happy, and don’t forget to watch 2010 on TCM later tonight.
It really is the year of the nerd, isn’t it?
Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the executive producer of District 9, as well as the upcoming Mortal
Engines,
The Adventures of Tintin, and The Hobbit, has been made a Knight Companion of New Zealand, which entitles him to the honorific “Sir”.
The award was given in recognition of Jackson’s efforts in jumpstarting the New Zealand film industry as well as for his artistic achievements.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
January 20, 2023
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