Tagged: Batman

ComicMix at New York Comic Con

  • News
  • April 17, 2008

Yeah, so there’s this comic convention "thing" going on in Manhattan this weekend… or so we’re told.

Here’s where you can find the ComicMix crew throughout the weekend (when we’re not cavorting at the three-day party in our official "ComicMix HQ" conference room, of course):

The weekend kicks off with ComicMix Managing Editor Rick Marshall (who also likes to refer to himself in third-person while writing roundups) engaging in a thoughtful (only if he doesn’t open his mouth) discussion with a cadre of other InterWebs-based comics journalists at Friday’s "Choosing the News: The Changing Face of Online Journalism" panel:

It’s a fact – journalism has changed. With more outlets than ever, more demands from news sources, and comics increasingly covered by the mainstream, how do comics news sites navigate the uncharted waters? Join Matt Brady (Newsarama), Richard George (IGN), Rick Marshall (ComicMix), Brian Heater (Daily Cross Hatch) and others for this engaging discussion, moderated by The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald.

Friday, 2:00 -3:00 PM : Room 1E09

Later that day, ComicMix Editor-in-Chief Mike Gold and columnist Michael Davis will be among the panelists at this year’s "Black Panel – NYCC Style" discussion:

Witness true black power—the power of black content in the entertainment marketplace. This lively panel will look at how black content is influencing entertainment and discuss how to increase its output in the mainstream.

Friday, 7:30-8:30 PM : Room 1E12-13-14

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ComicMix Radio: Uncle Sam Says Pay Up Or Else!

It’s Tax Day – like no one else has reminded you of that. After the pain of filing, drown your sorrows with an amazing stack of new comics and DVDs, which we preview, then get set to go with us to The Big Apple for the New York Comic Con – all weekend and all FREE here at ComicMix, plus:

— Adams draws Ali – but it isn’t Neal

— Tori Amos picks her comic favorites

— Batman:Gotham Knight to premiere at Wizard World Chicago

—  It’s your LAST chance to win  an exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant  by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com …then great ready for our GRAND PRIZE drawing this week!

Just like filing online –  Press The Button and your pop culture refund comes right back at you!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-4404397 or RSS!

‘Batman: Gotham Knight’ Trailer Posted

  • News
  • April 15, 2008

A trailer just came online for this summer’s Batman: Gotham Knight, the animated DVD accompanying the Dark Knight release. It’ll be released on July 8.

In short, it looks amazing, with some intense action and very slick animation. But don’t take my word for it, watch for yourself.

(via Blog@)

The Shadow’s Web, by Dennis O’Neil

  • News
  • April 15, 2008

With the kind permission of Anthony Tollin and Mike Gold, this week’s column is an adaptation and condensation of an introduction I’m writing for a forthcoming edition of Mr. Tollin’s repackaging of the original Shadow novels. No formal recommended reading this time, but the volume in which the much longer version of what’s below will appear – Shadow #19 – will be on sale in the latter half of June.

Let us, for just a little while, indulge our wish that the great mythic and fictional heroes did and do exist. We are told – and remember, we’re in believer mode – that a diligent historian named Maxwell Grant was privy to the life and thoughts of a mystery man who, though he was probably born Kent Allard often assumed the identity of Lamont Cranston, one of those gentlemen of wealth and leisure who seemed to proliferate in the 30s, the years of the Great Depression, and become almost extinct after World War Two. We are assured that many years ago, while traveling in the Orient, that he acquired certain extraordinary skills – they might even be termed “powers” – and that these aided him in the activities of another of his personae, the relentless and dreaded nemesis of crime known only as The Shadow.

Now, let us entertain a hypothesis. It’s possible, perhaps even probable, that our eastern sojourner, during his investigations, came across reference to Indra’s Net, perhaps while thumbing through a yellowing old volume he found in a bookshop located in a winding Calcutta alleyway. (Would the book have been written in Hindi? Likely. Would Mr. Allard have mastered enough of that language to read it? Again, likely.) Being the ever-curious investigator he had to have been in his salad days, Mr. Allard would have made further inquiries regarding this “Indra’s Net.”

Here is what he might have learned:

In Svarga, the realm of the god Indra, there is a network of gems arranged in such a manner that if a person looks at one of them he sees all the others reflected in it.

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DC’s Killing Fields, by Mike Gold

  • News
  • April 14, 2008

chp-9129134How many times can you run a stunt into the ground in one month before you just look like you’re totally bereft of originality? DC Comics’ June, 2008 solicitations, as published in Diamond Distributing’s Previews catalog, offers no less than six phony death and/or resurrection stunts.

Gotham Underground #9 asks the musical question “Will Penguin pay the ultimate price?” Well, who cares? If he’s dead, he’ll get better. Death has no sting in the DC universe.

Batman #678 is the third part of their “Batman R.I.P.” arc. “Is it truly the end for one of the world’s finest heroes?” the solicitation asks.  Forgive me, but how many times have the sundry world’s finest heroes R’ed in P? Hell, I’ll bet if you ask them they would have wanted to stay dead at least a bit longer in order to get some rest in peace. I should add Robin #165 to this list as it ties in to Batman #678 and has Robin holding a dead-looking Batman on the cover. Maybe – probably – the old buzzard isn’t dead. The fact is, it doesn’t matter.

Booster Gold #10: “Someone from his past must live and someone must die!” My wife informs me (happily) that Ted (Blue Beetle the Second) has already been resurrected. The death – if it actually happens – well, again, who cares? If it was somebody important, he/she/it wouldn’t be killed off in Booster Gold. Unless the stunt has grown so lame that DC is willing to bury it in a title such as this.

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Joe Staton Honored With Exhibit

  • News
  • April 13, 2008

joe3dicktracy-7749746Legendary comics ace Joe Staton will be honored with an art exhibit at at the Storefront Artist Project in Pittsfield, Massachusetts from August 2nd through the 31st.

Best known for his work on (please hold your applause until the end) Batman, E-Man, Femme Noir, Green Lantern, Guy Gardner, The Huntress, Jonny Quest, The Justice Society of America, Michael Mauser, Munden’s Bar, Power Girl, Rugrats, Scooby Doo, Superman, the Wild Thornberrys and about twelve thousand other creations, Joe’s most recent effort is the “new-look” Jughead four-parter that debuted in Jughead’s Double Digest #139 last week.

Joe’s online collaboration with writer Christopher Mills, Femme Noir, will be debuting as a pamphlet-form mini-series in June.

A long-time supporter of Manhattan’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, The Art of Joe Staton is being produced by the Storefront Artist Project in cooperation with the Museum. A series of related free workshops and programs is also part of the deal.

In association with the exhibit, Joe will also be conducting a free day-long workshop on August 3 which includes a drawing demonstration, sketch-a-thon, and discussion. For more information contact the Storefront Artist Project at 413-442-7201 or go to their website.

It’s very, very hard to imagine a guy who deserves this more than Joe Staton. Congratulations, ol’ timer!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday: Chuck Dixon

  • News
  • April 13, 2008

Born in 1954 in Philadelphia, Charles “Chuck” Dixon grew up reading comic books. He did his first comic book writing, on Evangeline for Comico, in 1984—his wife (since divorced) Judith Hunt drew the book.

A year later, Marvel editor Larry Hama hired Dixon to write back-up stories for The Savage Sword of Conan. In 1986 Dixon added Eclipse to his list of employers, writing for their Tales of Terror anthology and then for Airboy. The following year he started Alien Legion for Marvel’s Epic line.

In 1990, Dixon caught the eye of DC editor Denny O’Neil, who invited him to write a Robin mini-series. That led to more work within the Batman group, and Dixon wrote Detective Comics #644-738, including several major Batman story arcs.

To this day Dixon is considered one of the most prolific Batman writers in the character’s history.

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for the Week of April 10

  • News
  • April 11, 2008

A good range of comics this week in style, but there wasn’t too much substance, and a surprising dearth of Skrulls, what with Skrullapalooza going on (Thanks for that one, Brian!) Still, some interesting books, so let’s discuss.

lk-3-jp-5100892Book of the Week: Locke & Key #3 — In Hollywood, this century so far has been dominated by horror films, an endless line of creepy or violent flicks that closely imitate either The Ring or Saw. It would be easy to look at a project like Locke & Key, which is published by horror house IDW and written by Stephen King’s son, and think it’s just another creative property hopping on the horror bandwagon.

Writer Joe Hill is crafting a very distinctive story, though, and one that’s made strong by the characters. In each issue so far, Hill has mostly featured one of the three children whose father was murdered by a teenage psychopath. This issue it’s the daughter, Kinsey, and the bulk of the story is a completely convincing look at how she struggles to fit in as "the girl whose dad got killed."

The little side moments then are used to further develop the supernatural mystery of the family’s home – Keyhouse – and to bring the villain back into the picture, as the murderous and insane Lesser makes his bloody escape from lockup. No surprise then that the series has already been optioned for a movie.

Runners Up:

Nova #12 — This series is lightyears ahead of every other outerspace series right now, and every issue can be counted on for epic battle, a thoughtful plot and some cool interstellar weirdness. This time it’s Richard finally besting the Phalanx infection, only to end up in a too-big fight with a Technarc (a giant alien robot from Warlock’s family tree).

A special credit goes to the art team of Paul Letterier and Rick Magyar, who manage to make the robot aliens believable and expressive, no easy task. Now, if only the conclusion to this story was actually in this series, not Annihilation: Conquest.

Batman: Death Mask #1 — I have something of a painful secret to admit. I don’t read manga. I just can’t get into it, no matter what I try. I really hate to admit then that it took a manga version of Batman to hook me. But aside from some introductory pages that rehash Batman’s history (I’m assuming for readers who like manga and not Batman), Yoshinori Natsume’s American comics debut is a strong one.

The questions raised of Batman’s true identity (whether he’s Bruce Wayne or Batman) are nothing new, but the deeper story of Batman’s history in Japan and the mask-wearing, face-cutting-off villain are set up quite well in this first issue.

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Brian Bendis, Warren Ellis and Other Creators Reveal the Comic That ‘Hooked Them’

  • News
  • April 10, 2008

fantastic-four-1-9918333

As a reader of comics, there’s probably one book in particular that got you hooked in the first place and kept you reading. Whether it was Superman, Batman, Fantastic Four or, like it was for me, Captain America, you always remember fondly that first one. Successful comic book creators such as Brian Bendis, Warren Ellis and Jim Lee also have a first one that inspired them and over at Entertainment Weekly, they share which comic book was "The One That Hooked Me!"

Among the comics that inspired these creators are Fantastic Four #1 for Brian Bendis, Tarzan for Jim Lee and Countdown, a british comic series, for Warren Ellis. Some of the other artists and writers who detail their first comic book experiences include Robert Kirkman, who counts Amazing Spider Man #314 as the one that "hooked" him and Matt Fraction, who finds it interesting that his first comic book was Batman #316.

If you do read comic books — and lets’s face it, if you’re here at ComicMix, you probably do — what was the comic book that first "hooked" you?

Happy Birthday: Alfred Pennyworth

alfred_pennyworth-2127237

Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth was born the son of a butler—his father, Jarvis, worked for the wealthy Gotham City family the Waynes.

But the life of a domestic was not for young Alfred, and he fled as soon as he was old enough to strike out on his own. For many years, Alfred made a living as a stage actor, but he engaged in more dangerous occupations as well, working for British Intelligence in occupied France during World War II. He was summoned home by his dying father, however, and Jarvis made Alfred promise to continue the family tradition of serving the Waynes. Jarvis’s own employers, Thomas and Martha Wayne, had been tragically murdered many years before, but their son Bruce was now living in Wayne Manor with his young ward, Dick Grayson.

Though he had no desire to do so, Alfred obeyed his father’s last wish and presented himself at Wayne Manor, where he convinced the pair to take him on as a butler. Alfred’s tasks became far more interesting when he accidentally discovered that his employer was the Batman!

Since then, Alfred has been one of Batman’s most trusted friends and allies, and has served not only as a butler, but also as a medic, a scout, a spy, and a confidante. Not bad for a man hired to serve meals and draw curtains!

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