Tagged: Superman

Generic Respect, by Dennis O’Neil

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  • March 11, 2008

reeve-dreams-4-3273602Don’t bother putting on airs, Messrs. Man (Super and Bat); you’re nothing special, not any more. These days, you’re just two more members of a rather large club that includes cowboys, cops, private eyes, combat soldiers and guys who fly space ships to other planets and solar systems and galaxies. Serial killers who slice and dice sexy teenagers are in the club, too. And critters that are normally harmless but mutate into gigantic sociopaths.

While you weren’t looking, you’ve become a genre.
 
Of course, if we want to get sniffy about definitions, you always were, in comic books. Almost from the beginning, here were cowboy comics and detective (or Detective) comics, and monsters and spaceship jockeys were early joiners, too. And you guys, the superheroes. You were the most popular and emblematic, of the comic book good guys, but you had peers.
 
Movies were another matter. Oh, you guys showed up on what was called The Silver Screen pretty early in the form of serials or, if we want to get fancy, chapter plays intended for the Saturday matinees, which were populated by kids who, in my memory, made a hell of a lot of racket. Even there, you were a bit of an aberration, outnumbered by the gumshoes and gunfighters, and not deserving, apparently, of cinematic and dramatic niceties. And, while there were cowboys and sleuths aplenty in the movies made for after-dark showings to the kids’ moms and dads, no superheroes ever made the leap to, ahem, serious entertainments.
 

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On This Day: Rick Burchett

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  • March 9, 2008

Comic book artist Rick Burchett was born in 1952. He originally worked in advertising in St. Louis, Missouri but was always a comic book fan. In the early 1980s he switched to comics professionally and worked for several smaller comic book publishers before joining DC.

His first DC title was Blackhawk, but that was quickly followed by Batman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and others. Burchett has won two Eisner Awards, for his art on The Batman and Robin Adventures and Batman: The Gotham Adventure.

His most recent work has been on Marvel’s She-Hulk.

 

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for March 6, 2008

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  • March 6, 2008

Welcome to the inaugural Weekly Haul, a collection of reviews of this week’s comic book issues brought to you by none other than ComicMix. It was a big week for floppies, with four new series worth giving a read and several old standbys seeing new developments. Without further ado, let’s get to the reviews.

atom-8126234Book of the Week: The All-New Atom #21 — Anyone wondering whether this title would keep being a must-read after Gail Simone stepped aside as writer and Rick Remender took the reins can go ahead and relax. The All-New Atom is better than ever in this issue, which takes the classic archetypal conflict of man vs. himself and gives it one heck of a twist.

While trying to figure out if Ray Palmer’s experiments were responsible for Ivy Town’s craziness, the new Atom, Ryan, shrinks down to explore a sample of his own blood (sounds weird, but it makes sense). Remender makes that effort alone a pulse-pounder, but then Ryan finds some terrible infestation in his blood and all hell breaks loose.

While still a bit text heavy, the series remains just as zany as under Simone’s watch and is a bit more focused. Good stuff all the way around.

Runners Up:

Logan #1 — Brian K. Vaughan and Eduardo Risso taking on the most famous mutant is pretty well guaranteed to be a quality read. And while this issue is far from mind-blowing, it’s a far superior story of Wolverine getting his memory back than anything we’ve seen in Wolverine: Origins. The downside is Marvel once again arbitrarily slapping a $3.99 price tag on a book for no good reason.

Northlanders #4 — This is the classic "from bad to worse" part of the story, but Brian Wood pulls it off well. The best quality of this vikings series is how Wood gives depth to his characters and doesn’t let any of them fall too far into stereotypical roles of heroes and villains. Life is complicated, especially for blood-hungry Scandinavians.

Omega the Unknown #6 — For the most touching tribute yet to the recently deceased Steve Gerber, this issue merits a purchase. It’s also another darn fine bit of comics by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple. After all the action of the past few issues, this one serves as a bit of set up to the coming battle with the robots before culminating with a well done metatextual flourish.

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‘Justice League: The New Frontier’ Tops Xbox LIVE Videos

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  • March 5, 2008

Justice League: The New Frontier, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation’s direct-to-DVD adaptation of Darwyn Cooke’s critically praised miniseries, was the top movie rental last week on Xbox LIVE’s Video Marketplace. The film, which imagines the DC superteam in the midst of the Cold War, took the top spot on most days since its release on on February 26.

Scott Nocas, a Marketing Manager for LIVE’s Video Store said, "With the great success of Superman: Doomsday on Xbox LIVE just after last year’s Comic-Con, Warner Bros. and Xbox were excited to bring another DC Universe animated movie to our consumers. We continue to see great engagement with the movie, and other DC Comics content on Xbox Marketplace."

Currently available at no charge on the service is a bonus feature that includes interviews with comic luminaries Jim Krueger, Mark Waid, Marv Wolfman, Rich Fogel and Darwyn Cooke himself.

Retail sales numbers for New Frontier have not been released yet but the film is expected to have done well. In fact, some retailers are actually having a difficult time keeping the film in stock, making the Xbox LIVE film an even more attractive option.

Wombat, a gamer from the popular CAGcast podcast, recently recounted his own experience trying to buy the Blu-Ray version of the film at a Circuit City in Union Square, NYC. "Naw, man. I bought the last one yesterday, sucka," an employee told him.

Owch.

If you’re still waiting on your copy, feel free to spend some time reading the ComicMix review of Justice League: New Frontier, checking out photos of the Series 2 line of "New Frontier" toys, or just watching the trailer for the film posted after the jump: (more…)

Interview: Fabian Nicieza Talks New ‘Captain Action’ Comic

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  • March 3, 2008

Writer Fabian Nicieza’s career spans over twenty years with stints at Marvel, DC and Darkhorse Comics. During that time he’s plotted, edited and written some of the most popular comic books around including Thunderbolts, Cable and Deadpool and Uncanny X-Men.

Recently, Nicieza competed against many other accomplished writers for the chance to bring one of the most beloved heroes from the ‘60s, Captain Action, back to the pages of a brand-new comic book series set to hit stores later this year. His pitch was selected and he’s now hard at work bringing Captain Action back to life.

ComicMix caught up with Nicieza to ask him a few questions about the Captain Action comic, his earlier work, his future and if a hero created and deeply-rooted in the ‘60s has a place in today’s comics culture.

COMICMIX: For people who might not know, can you give us a bit of info on your background? How did you get started writing comics? What were your favorites growing up?

FABIAN NICIEZA: I grew up reading comics. Out of college, I interviewed at both Marvel and DC, eventually landing a job at Marvel in 1985. After a couple years of learning the ropes, I started selling some stories to editors. I kept writing and working on staff, eventually, reluctantly, becoming a full-time writer.

I grew up reading Batman and Superman, then gravitated towards Marvel — Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Avengers. Then "offbeat" series like Conan and Captain Marvel. Offbeat for an 11 year old, I guess.

I also got lots of Superman, Justice League, the Engelhart/Rogers Detective run. I bought both Marvel and DC through the early ’80s, until I got the job at Marvel, then I got everything for free for a while.

CMix: Free is nice. How much did you know about Captain Action before you started 
writing the comic? Did you ever read the original?

FN: I read the original DC comic, but only because the toy was my favorite as a kid. I had the figures and lots of the costumes. (more…)

Human Giant Blood+, by Ric Meyers

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  • March 2, 2008
 
blood-6632034Eight years ago an anime appeared that has stood, and even reverberated, the test of time. Blood: The Last Vampire was a groundbreaking and engrossing effort that clearly left virtually everyone who saw it wanting more. Clocking in at a breathless, seemingly unfinished, forty-eight minutes (just enough to fill a network TV hour slot), it showcased a pretty, young high school co-ed who swung a mean samurai sword against vampires at a Vietnam-era military base.
 
It was so well done and memorable that the sequel clamor has rung loud and steady to this day. Now, finally, a box set of the first twenty-five episodes of the follow-up television series, cleverly titled Blood+, is ready to slice into U.S. stores. For all those readers who are cringing at the thought of a TV continuation, you obviously don’t know Japanimation. Although there have been a few near misses, generally the small screen adaptations of major action anime have been well inside the strike zone (Ninja Scroll, R.O.D. [Read or Die], and especially Ghost in the Shell have all nimbly survived the transition).
 
Blood+ may head that list, since the skeletal original has been nicely filled out with a backstory and mythology which deepens and broadens the story — aided and abetted by a design and animation style that can’t match the cgi-ness of the original, but more than makes up for it with blood-splatteringly good direction, editing, and an exceptional soundtrack produced by Hans Zimmer. It’s just a shame for me, personally, that the box set was seemingly created to delight the more superficial anime fan and not the movie lover.
 
The big box contains three slim cases for the six discs, an even slimmer twelve page preview of the Dark Horse comic book version of the translated manga, and a black t-shirt (size: L) boasting the series logo. Once the apparel is removed, the rest rattles a bit. Five of the discs contain twenty-five half-hour episodes. The sixth contains something they’re calling “Inside Blood+” – which is interviews with a whole bunch of the original voice actors.
 

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The 100 Best Reviewed Comics of 2007

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  • February 29, 2008

I like lists. Lists often make things easier to understand and easier to digest. Which is why, in a previous post, I brought you the list of Eight Comic Books to Read Before You Die. Apparently, writer Dick Hyacinth also like lists because over at his site, he’s done a lot of research and compiled a list of the ‘100 Best Reviewed Comics of 2007.’

His list, which he referrs to as a "meta-list compiling critical reactions from the Internet and print publications" covers a huge cross-section of comics, manga and other writings and highlights some very popular work and some other work perhaps more unknown to mainstream comics fans. 

When compiling the list, Hyacinth discovered several interesting bits of information he wasn’t aware of including that he "vastly underestimated the popularity of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I mean VASTLY underestimated", he also realized he "had no idea Captain America, Fables, or Y: The Last Man would pull down such huge numbers" and that "there’s a big gap between what made the lists on comics-oriented sites and what made the lists of the more mainstream-ish papers."

Here’s the Top 10 "Best Reviewed Comics" and their popularity rankings, according to Hyacinth. For the rest of the list, check out his site.

 
This time around, I’ve read fewer of these than I did from the previous list of eight. Guess I need to get reading.
 

Other People’s Sandboxes, by John Ostrander

  • News
  • February 28, 2008
 
This column has its roots in Mike Gold’s column this week. While it’s not necessary to read Uncle Whizzy’s Wazoo this week,  it is recommended – as it is every week. Loves my UWW on Monday!
 
I’ve spent a lot of my writing career in other people’s sandboxes and, in general, have had a great time. Sometimes I wonder if I haven’t spent a little too much time in those sandboxes. My career might have been better served with a few more original creations such as GrimJack (and I’m working on some that will appear here on ComicMix eventually) but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Hindsight also often sounds as if one is looking out one’s butt – which certainly explains many of the utterings we hear from political pundits these days. However, that’s a different topic for another time.
 
Brother Gold’s column this week was about whether or not a strip or a character or a series should continue after its creator’s death (or their choice to discontinue work on said property). His point was that in many cases we would not have some very fine stories using those properties were that not the case. Nor would we have had some very notable careers. For example, Frank Miller first made his name taking over the very moribund Daredevil book at Marvel and making it the most talked about book in the industry. Alan Moore was known to those us who could get their hands on 2000 AD and/or Warrior (and thus first saw Miracleman, a Captain Marvel rip-off character that he performed surgery on and made into something very new) but his first big American title was when he took over Swamp Thing and re-invented not only the character but its whole mythology.
 

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Five Fistfuls of Justice, by Ric Meyers

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  • February 24, 2008
 
justiceleague-3464763I hope you’ve already read Matt Raub’s advance review of Justice League: The New Frontier  — DC Universe’s Animated Original Movie — which was posted days ago. Naturally, since it’s coming out in stores this coming Tuesday, it’s time, keeping with the comic source material, for my variant review. Matt critiqued the film itself. I, of course, am reviewing the Two Disc Special Edition’s extras.
 
This baby more than makes up for what I felt last week’s He-Man Volume One DVDs lacked: right on the first disc they have a near-full-length (nearly 45 minutes) doc called “Super Heroes United!: The Complete Justice League Story.” It tracks the comic from its inception back in the 1940s ‘til today, using images, clips, and just the talking heads of most of the major comic creators of the era. The information from the likes of Roy Thomas, our own Denny O’Neil, and even Stan Lee was so comprehensive that the doc doesn’t even require a narrator or narration. It does benefit mightily, as do all the featurettes, from the soundtrack music of Kevin Manthei.
 
Then the first disc alone more than makes up for what I thought the Resident Evil: Extinction DVD lacked: their doc sneak-peek of the upcoming animated Animatrix-like Batman: Gotham Knights D2 (“direct to”) DVD shows the lame, cheat sneak peek of Resident Evil: Degeneration how it’s done. There’s plenty of making-of stuff, talking heads, and exciting glimpses of the finished product as opposed to Resident Evil’s peek-a-boo tease. The first disc of Justice League wraps with two audio commentaries – the first a gang approach, with six participants from the production and DC Comics (though not a single person from the pic’s impressive voice cast), and the second with the writer/artist of the source graphic novel, Darwyn Cooke.
 
The second disc kicks off with a slightly shorter but just as interesting history of “The Legion of Doom: Pathology of the Super Villain.” While it contains many of the same talking heads as the “Super Heroes United” doc (Michael Uslan, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, etc.), it also benefits from a Malcolm McDowell narration. Then, perhaps as compensation for the film’s inability to recreate the delightful style of the original graphic novel (understandably opting for the previously established designs of DC’s  recent Kids-WB Superman and Batman animated TV series), there’s the “Comic Book Commentary: Homage to The New Frontier” featurette, which goes into detail with and on Darwyn Cooke’s original. 
 

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Mattel Debuts New ‘Justice League Unlimited’ Figures

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  • February 21, 2008

Mattel announced a new line of "Justice League Unlimited" figures today and provided images of several figures from the line.

The first wave of the new "Collector’s Line" will be unveiled at New York Comic-Con in April, while the second wave will be announced at San Diego’s Comic-Con International in July.

According to Mattel:

16 brand new figures along with collector requested repaints and reissues will be available in singles, 3-packs and 6 packs. Figures will be out in two waves. Each wave will consist of two 6-packs, two 3 packs and five single carded figures, some with brand new accessories. This line will be sold exclusively at Target stores starting Aug 1, 2008. At this time the line will be an in store exclusive only.

The company has released preliminary images of the first 6-pack set from Wave 1, "Attack from Apokolips", featuring Superman, Darkseid, Mr. Miracle, Lashina, Mantis and Forager.

Large images of each figure are posted after the jump.

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