Tagged: comics

Webslinger

  • News
  • February 12, 2007

webslinger200-2033756Books about comic books and comic book characters have grown in volume over the past few years. While some, such as Bob Handelman’s biography of Will Eisner, have received mainstream notice, many others fly under the radar.

Texas-based publisher BenBella Books has begun including comic book characters in their SmartPop series of essay collections. They dipped into the world of four-color heroes last year with collections pondering the X-Men and Superman.

Just out, in plenty of time for May 3’s release of Spider-Man 3, is their latest volume Webslinger: Unauthorized Essays on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Essayists include comic professionals, science fiction authors and other pop culture mavens. Guest editing is television writer and former DC and Marvel Comics editor Gerry Conway, who wrote a long, celebrated run of Amazing Spider-Man and provides some personal insights into the character in his introduction. The other writers are Darren Hudson Hick, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Robert B. Taylor, Lou Anders, Richard Hanley, Matthew Pustz, Michael A. Burstein, Joseph McCabe, Keith DeCandido, Robert Greenberger, Brett Chandler Patterson, J.R. Fettinger, Adam-Troy Castro, Paul Lytle, David Hopkins, Robert Burke Richardson, and Michael Marano.

SmartPop will also devote volumes to Wonder Woman and Batman, although neither are scheduled.

The Dark Tower: interview with Peter David

  • News
  • February 12, 2007

dt001_cvr_quesada-200-3567913Peter David, writer of stuff, was able to take a few minutes between bowling, barfing babies, and boarding a plane to Maine to explain what’s germaine and urbane (and other words in the same vein) about the new Dark Tower series, going on sale tonight at midnight. Oddly, even though I’ve known Peter for over two decades and have been his webmaster for almost five years, this is the first time I’ve ever interviewed him…

Q. Assume I know nothing (always a fair assumption) about The Dark Tower. For those folks out there who’ve never read The Dark Tower or any other works by Stephen King, or just know his works from the movies, can you sum up what the heck’s going on here? What things do I need to know about the story that will make it accessible to me? Or will the comic be fully accessible to those who know nothing about The Dark Tower or even Stephen King?

A. You don’t really need to know anything about the series (well, aside from how to read) than anyone required when the very first Gunslinger novel was published. Basically, Dark Tower is a blend of fantasy and iconic western heroes, detailing the life’s story of Roland, the last of the Gunslingers of a long-ago city called Gilead, and the circumstances that forged him into the hero he eventually became.

Q. So this is more of a true dark fantasy than King’s usual horror?

(more…)

Comics companies gear up for Toy Fair

  • News
  • February 11, 2007

Prior to becoming the center of the comic book world with the New York Comic Con, the Javits Center plays host to the 2007 American International Toy Fair this week (from February 11-14), and companies with comic-book tie-in toys are gearing up for their presentations. Hasbro has various Marvel-related offerings, Diamond and Dark Horse have exhibiting booths, but curiously the Toy Fair website makes no mention of McFarlane’s vast array of merchandise.

Could Todd & co. be a no-show? 

The Beat has Day 1 pictures.

Stardust reappears

  • News
  • February 9, 2007

Catch it whilst you can! Neil Gaiman reports that the more-or-less authorized Stardust movie website is back up. Stardust, of course, ties into Stardust the graphic novel by Neil and artist Charles Vess. Neil has also announced that Paramount has moved up the official release date of the Stardust movie to August 10 of this year. Considering the San Diego Comic-Con International is on July 26-29, I should think a debut showing there isn’t entirely out of the question.

And speaking of works by Neil, IESB’s Robert Sanchez asked director Joel Schumacher yesterday which comic book character he’d most love to tackle. “The response – Neil Gaiman’s Sandman!”

UVC Launches for U, the Viewer

  • News
  • February 9, 2007

Rich Watson has announced the launch of a new comics magazine called UVC, which he describes as "Wizard meets Vibe." Rich and co-editor Ron will be at the NY Comic-Con handing out free copies of the first bimonthly issue, which will feature articles, news, reviews, interviews and so forth about the comics world and people of color.

Rich asks people wishing to work on this magazine to contact him, and assures readers the magazine will be distributed locally at first then going national, and an accompanying website is in the works.

Jeff Smith takes Captain Marvel fun seriously

  • News
  • February 9, 2007

Over at his blog, Jeff Smith advises Captain Marvel/Shazam fans to "visit DC Comic’s website to find the Monster Society Secret Decoder. On Friday, February 9th, I’ll hide a Monster Egg in my blog and you’ll need the decoder to find it… You will also need to know the code for a couple of lines in the comic book."

He further challenges "every member of the comics blogosphere, blog writers and readers, to do this: if you liked Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, pick up one extra copy this week or next and give it to a kid you know who likes Harry Potter, Eregon, A Series of Unfortunate Events, manga or just plain loves reading. Promise them that if they like it, you’ll buy them every issue. And ask them to read it and tell you what they think. Do they want to read the next issue? And if they do, you have gotten them interested in comics. And, although it’s a baby step to a massive world, superhero comics."

Dark Tower – Googling the Mainstream

  • News
  • February 9, 2007

Has the Dark Tower launch event made it past the usual insular comics fan circles? Let’s take a look:

Four pages via Google News, including articles from Maine Today, the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier, the Kansas City Star, the Newark Star-Ledger, the San Jose Mercury News, the Toledo Free Press and Cleveland Plain Dealer (of course, the latter is Mike Sangiacomo so that’s a bit of a ringer), the Pike County Courier, the Elmira Star-Gazette, the Kane County Chronicle, the Capital Times, and a few other subscription-only papers. That’s a nice cross-section of coverage around the country!

Stan Lee on Heroes: Geek Factor Upped

  • News
  • February 9, 2007

The TV series Heroes is bound and determined to rope in not only the mainstream audience garnered by its intricate serial plotline(s), but the comics cognoscenti and related fan hobbyists whence its genre fiction originates. First Christopher Eccleston ("Dr. Who"), then George Takei ("Star Trek"), and now Stan Lee ("The Man") will make a cameo on the show, in a scene with character Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka, easily the best reason to watch the show for those of us who don’t particularly care for it).

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