Tagged: DC

Dennis O’Neil’s Moving Words

Sunday afternoon. Two hundred and four days left before he gallops on back to Texas and that consarn brush that always seems to need clearing.

Listen, I want to make an offer… George and Laura, if you need help moving, just give me a call. I can be at the White House in five or six hours and, sure, I’m not as young as I once was, but I can still lift a box or two, and I’ll be more than happy to buy the pizza.

And now for something completely different…

Last week, we mentioned crossovers – specifically, how Marvel’s movie division seems to be getting ready to emulate the comic book division’s old, old ploy and engage in crossovers. The trick, as I’m sure you know, is simple: take a lead character from one series and put said character into another. Comics have, as mentioned in the earlier column, have been doing crossovers for a long time, probably beginning with Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch hassling in the early 40s. I’m not counting DC’s Justice Society title, which assembled a small herd of super doers, because these guys and gal weren’t moving into each other’s magazines, but into a separate venue. (Does anyone know of any crossing over earlier than that of Subby and The Torch?)

It didn’t stop with the comics, even way back then. About once a year, Batman and Robin took over bad-guy-catching chores from the radio version of Superman for a week or two while the Man of Steel was indisposed and the actor who voiced him, Bud Collyer, took a vacation.

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Wizard World Chicago 2008: Photo Gallery – More Costumes

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  • June 29, 2008

c2008-chris-ullrich-14Previously on ComicMix, we featured galleries of photos from Wizard World showcasing the general “flavor” of the show and some cool costumes. And now, because even more fanboys and fangirls made their presence known on Saturday, we’ve got another gallery of costume photos for you.

From Frylock to Blade to C-3PO, these costumes prove that no matter what your favorite character is, if you’re determined to make a costume and show up at a convention as that character, you can. As always, be sure to check back for more photos and other coverage of the event.

And if you’ve missed our previous coverage of the event, here’s a list of our reports thus far:

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Mondo Marvel Panel Report

ComicMix Radio: Direct From Chicago – Marvel Exclusives and Sneak Peeks

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Marvel Ultimates Panel

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Photo Gallery – Part 1

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Day One Report

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Photo Gallery Pt. 2 – Costumes

ComicMix Radio: Wizard World Chicago Day Two – Sadness and Confusion

WWC Interview: Josh Blaylock on ‘Vampire Hunter D’

Wizard World Chicago 2008: Day Two Report

 

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Review: This Week in ‘Trinity’ – Part 4

We’re up to week five of DC’s big weekly event, and I regret to inform you that I’ve already caught myself thinking "same old, same old."

What happened?

The fight with Konvikt continued, with all the heroes getting knocked around, including your Big Three. At least they took the fight away from civilians, but still, so far the main point seems to be that there’s nothing really special about Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. They get their butts kicked by giant, purple aliens just like everyone else.

Quick tangent — I’m not sure if there are any other Weeds fans out there, but I find it impossible to read the name "Konvikt" and not immediately think "Dumb name" in Doug’s snarky voice.

Back to the issue, which was pretty breezy, it ends with Batman doing some detective work to take a new tack with Konvikt (dumb name), and then getting ambushed by another alien, Graak (really dumb name).

Meanwhile, villains Morgaine Le Fey and Enigma (who needs to just come out of the Two Face closet and admit to being  Harvey Dent) watch on their magic crystal ball and offer cryptic commentary.

Whoop-dee-doo.

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The Weekly Haul: Reviews for June 26, 2008

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  • June 26, 2008

Just for the fun of it, here’s one last story from Heroes Con (which I reported on extensively here and here). Nobody’s mentioned this, but simultaneous to the comics convention was another big event titled “Dub,” basically a con for tricked out cars. One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen was a group of P. Diddy look-alikes gaping as a Heroes attendee strolled past in full manga gear (don’t know which character) and did a spinning kick/sword swipe right in front of them. I’m still amazed the weekend ended peacefully.

That aside, let’s turn to the week in comics, which was huge. HUGE. DC trotted out Final Crisis #2, and Marvel counter-punched with an incredible 30-plus issues. Once the smoke cleared, Marvel stood up strong, dominating another go ’round. And DC’s bad month just got worse.

Book of the Week: The Immortal Iron Fist #16 — This is a packed book, starting out with the wind down from the epic battle that just took place in the Seven Cities of Heaven. Danny Rand is a changed man, dismantling his corporation and doing whatever he can to help the world.

You can see the influence of Orson Randall, and it’s nice to see his presence linger on after his death. Danny’s transitioning into a more mature character, asking the big questions. It’s the natural result of the recent ground-shaking, and Matt Fraction’s a smart man for taking things in that direction.

There are lots of extremely well written little personal moments in this issue, between Danny and Misty, Jeryn, Luke Cage and a swarm of pint-sized karate students. But before things get too heart-warming, Fractioin ends with a game-changing reveal that’s shocking in part because of how well it’s set up, in part through brilliant page layouts.

The only question is how well the book will hold up once Fraction moves on.

The Runners Up:

Captain America #39 — There’s lots to see in this issue, as per usual with Ed Brubaker, but the main draw is the fight between Bucky and the former Nomad, both of whom are essentially masquerading as Captain America. Think about that: A revived Bucky with a robotic arm fighting against Nomad.

That sounds like something straight out of the dreadful muck of the ’90s, yet Brubaker pulls it off with ease, crafting another tense and dramatic issue with plenty of action. There’s also the continued subtle developments of Red Skull’s agenda, a nice moment for Sharon Carter and a quality fill-in artist for Steve Epting.

Daredevil #108 — We’ve finally seemed to pass the “Matt Murdock’s life can’t get any worse” stage that had dragged on for several years. He’s still miserable (and he gets his butt kicked), but he has quite the interesting case to dive into and appears to be responding well to the mental challenge (even if he does resort to  fisticuffs at one point). Also, Dakota North is quickly becoming a favorite character. (more…)

More Characters Confirmed For ‘Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe’ Videogame

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  • June 26, 2008

Comic and videogame fans have long speculated who’s going to be in the Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe videogame coming later this year. The only confirmed superheroes have been Superman and Batman. Now add the Flash to that list, as PlayStation: The Official Magazine subscribers got the news first when the latest issue arrived in their mailboxes.

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Mortal Kombat head honcho Ed Boon followed up with an interview over at Gamespot.com. He discusses fan reactions from the comics and games factions, teases the lineup, and reveals that DC villains will indeed perform the infamous fatalities from the series — but not the heroes. Heroes never kill… except Hal Jordan. He was possesed by the Parallax Fear Anomoly, so what’s Liu Kang’s excuse?

Comic Book Market Farces, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • June 26, 2008

How’s this for a concept of a superhero? A guy who is strong, can leap maybe a mile but doesn’t fly, and only a bursting cannon shell can puncture his skin. He is on the outs with the government, the local representatives of whom may be corrupt. He’s on the side of the “little guy” who otherwise may not have a chance against the Big Interests. He dangles neer-do-wells by one foot high in the air and threatens to drop them unless they co-operate – and he laughs while he’s doing it. The guy may be more than a little crazy.

Like the sound of this guy? Readers during the Depression did when they first started reading Superman. You ever go back and read those initial stories? In one, Superman decides that one slum area of the city needs urban renewal, which, of course, the city is disinclined to do. Superman then provokes the army who tries to drop bombs on him. He rushes in and out of abandoned tenements and the bombs level those buildings instead. The army fails to capture Superman and the tenements are leveled. The city now has to rebuild public housing, given the attention on the area.

That Superman today would be labeled a terrorist.

Or how about Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner over at Marvel when it was called Timely Comics. He was at war with the surface dwellers – us – and, in one story, deliberately flooded the Hudson Tunnel into New York. The tunnel is shown full of cars and there is no doubt in my mind everyone in them drowned. (more…)

Happy Birthday: William Woolfolk

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  • June 25, 2008

Born on Long Island, New York in 1917, William “Bill” Woolfolk once claimed that he didn’t create many comic book characters but he did coin many of their most famous lines.

He was responsible for Captain Marvel’s exclamation of “Holy Moley!”, among other well-known lines.

Woolfolk started writing comic books in the early 1940s after he graduated from New York University. His first jobs were with Will Eisner and Jerry Iger’s company but he also wrote for Police Comics, DC (Superman and Batman), Timely (Sub-Mariner and Captain America), and Fawcett (Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and Bulletman).

When Eisner went off to fight in World War II in 1942, Woolfolk and Manley Wade Wellman took over writing The Spirit. Woolfolk also served as chief scriptwriter for the 1961-65 courtroom drama The Defenders and wrote more than a dozen novels, including the 1968 bestseller The Beautiful Couple.

Woolfolk won many awards over the years, including a Scribner for short-story writing in 1940, two Emmy nominations for The Defenders, and an Inkpot in 2002. He died in 2003.

 

Review: ‘Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War Vol. 2’

sinestro2-7811134This past weekend at Heroes Con, a panel of some of comics’ biggest stars weighed in on collaboration and, eventually, the art of the crossover.

Mostly, that meant griping about the impossible task of tying into a Final Crisis or Secret Invasion. Matt Fraction went so far as to say he opted out of some crossovers because the stress of it would take years off his life. Jimmy Palmiotti essentially acknowledged the failure of DC’s Countdown.

Clearly, it’s not that hard for a big superhero event to careen right off the tracks. Which means we should all pay attention when one works particularly well, as in Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War (Volume 2 is out now in hardcover at $24.99).

The story is simple enough: Sinestro breaks loose and raises the most terrifying army ever seen, including all of DC’s strongest villains except for Darkseid. And the Green Lanterns fight back.

In this second half of the story, we see the classic turning of the tide back in the heroes’ favor, although Geoff Johns and crew add enough wrinkles to make the inevitable victory quite shadowy, if not outright pyrrhic.

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ComicMix Radio: Grab Some Comics and Head West!

Wizard World Chicago begins in just two days and we have almost 100 things to help pass the time – most of which are new comics and DVDs in the stores hours from now, plus:

— Another Supergirl – the Peter David version – is headed back to DC

— Bane joins The Secret Six

— Get ready for The Marvel Super Hero Squad and the “Wacky Adventures of Wolvie”

Don’t forget – we will be broadcasting direct from Wizard World on Friday, Saturday & Sunday (there will be no Thursday ‘cast this week) so you won’t miss a thing. Hurry and  Press the Button – we have to pack!

 
 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-3798715 or RSS!

 

Heroes Con: Elsewhere On The Grid

  • News
  • June 23, 2008

Ah, convention season… when the wind-down from one show overlaps with the preparation for the next.

In case you missed our two-part report on last weekend’s Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, Van Jensen provided ComicMix readers with a great summary of all the important happenings from the the convention, including some interesting thoughts on DC’s dilemma from the publisher’s rumor-plagued Executive Editor, Dan DiDio, as well as the unfortunate overshadowing of the sizeable small-press crowd.

There are some great roundups of the show to be found elsewhere on the ‘Tubes, too. Here are a few links to checkout if you want to read up on the show a bit more:

The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald has a great wrap-up of Heroes Con: Day Two, including a few more quotes related to all of the DiDio madness that has swept the industry press.

DiDio described DC’s audience as a “collector market” but defended DC’s use of character deaths and upheavals at the same time by saying these plot devices always new for some one.

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