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The Courage to Reinvent Oz
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 27, 2010 in Comic Books
I think one of the more interesting comic book series I’ve been following has been The Wizard of Oz which is illustrated by Skottie Young. This is the cover for the Oz Primer which will be released in March, 2011 by Marvel Comics. I really love how Skottie has liberated his artwork from the 1936 MGM film and reinvented the characters to make them his own. Taiwanese Animators Mock Spiderman on Broadway
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 23, 2010 in Animation, Comic Books
I hate to admit this as a long time anime fanboy, but the computer animators from Taiwan are doing some very timely funny work on a shoestring budget! Their latest epic is a recreation of the Spiderman disaster on Broadway — and the best thing about this clip is that it includes an appearance by Bono. The last time I’ve seen an animated show react this fast to events in the news is when South park was at the high point of their game. Read more… Spider-Man Reboot Shoots This Week, But Do We Really Need One?
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Dec 8, 2010 in Cinema, Comic Books
The film that would have been Spider-Man 4 has officially started shooting this week. I know some of you have mixed feelings about the prospect of rebooting the Spider-Man franchise, especially after three wildly successful outings featuring a cast we’ve grown familiar with. However, after the latest film failed to impress critics and fans alike, it probably came as no surprise when Sony decided to drop the proverbial axe. The director, Sam Raimi, had already left the project citing an inability to complete the film on schedule for May of 2011, but rather than simply replacing him, they figured it’d be easier to start from square one. Personally, I don’t mind rebooting the series but I’m starting to wonder if rebooting in general has become a little too prevalent in recent years. How Would Could You Ruin the Original Tron? Make a Quick Comic Book!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 1, 2010 in Comic Books
How can you tell that Disney expect the upcoming Tron film to be huge? Because Marvel plans to cash in with a poorly done comic book based on the original film (Tron: Original Movie Adaptation #1) which will be released this week. Clearly the thinking is that fanboys will be nostalgic for the original and will buy almost anything with a Tron logo on it. Sadly a more creative team might have had fun with a creative interpretation of the original and done an amazing graphic novel — instead this preview reveals a bad tracing and coloring job: Read more… Will Comic Book Stop Printing in the Near Future?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 24, 2010 in Comic Books
Not so long ago New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger admitted that the New York Times may stop publishing a printed version in the near future. Of course the newspaper of record is an exception to the rule, so one should expect other publication formats to follow suite — and that very much will include comic books. My gut feeling tells me that while coffee table collector editions will be here for eons that the bread-and-butter comic book that you see published by Marvel and DC won’t be around in a few years. Read more… X-Force: The X is for Extra Good
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 8, 2010 in Comic Books
The second issue of X-Force: Sex and Violence will be out this Wednesday and I have to say that the artwork by Gabrielle Del’otto is some of the best work that Marvel is producing lately. Gabrielle has broken away from the pen-and-ink outline tradition of comics and every panel of this book is an action packed painting. The added realism also breaks up the absurd look of superheroes prancing around in their tights which makes so many Marvel and DC titles look laughable. In additional to that Gabrielle has taken the Japanese manga layout of pane placement to heart making each page a treat to look at: Read more… Marvel’s Thor Trailer Gets Leaked
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 29, 2010 in Cinema, Comic Books
Nobody seems to know how Marvel will react to this, however a number of weblogs have posted a leaked trailer for the upcoming Thor film set to release next May. The 5 minute trailer premiered at San Diego Comic-Con International last week, but it wasn’t long before someone managed to leak it to the net and it’s since spread like wildfire. While I’m not about to join everyone else in posting the trailer, I’d gladly point you all in the right direction. My suggestion? Watch it before the cease and desist letters are sent out, because it’s bound to happen. As for the trailer itself, Chris Hemsworth, and Natalie Portman look promising. It’ll be interesting to see how they transition from Asgard to Earth and vice-versa. At least we can expect plenty of action. Click here to see the trailer while it’s still on the net. Marvel’s Iron Man Anime Gets an Official Teaser
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 27, 2010 in Animation, Comic Books
Last year, Marvel Animation discussed their upcoming forays into the realm of Japanese animation by debuting several concept trailers featuring two of their most popular characters, Wolverine and Iron Man. I had enjoyed the trailers, but we were left wanting more, and there had been no updates regarding either series — that was, until last weekend. We have yet to hear more regarding Wolverine, but Marvel debuted the first official teaser trailer for their upcoming Iron Man anime, which will debut on G4HD next year. In it, we briefly see a mid-air battle between Iron Man and his government owned counterpart War Machine. There are still no details regarding the plot of the series, but I imagine we’ll learn more in the months to come. Read more… X-Force: Sex and Violence: I Wish Marvel Would Make Every Book Look This Good
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 12, 2010 in Comic Books
With X-Force: Sex and Violence #1 illustrator Gabrielle Del’otto has done a great job of making an everyday Marvel comic book feel like a graphic novel. What makes the artwork look so good is that Gabrielle has abandoned the traditional ink lines that have defined comics since their inception and has instead made every panel look like a painting. Usually Marvel might do this with a cover, but not the entire book — and I’d wish that they’d do this more often looking at the results: Read more… Captain America: A Fanboy Forth of July Salute to Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 3, 2010 in Comic Books
Superman and Batman were both born in the Great Depression and focused on subjects that were popular in that era like fighting crime — however Captain America came about as a direction reaction to World War II by writer Joe Simon and illustrator Jack Kirby. And what’s interesting is that the first issue actually hit the newsstands in December of 1940 which was a full year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor when America entered the war. So it’s fair to say that Captain America was actually a political cartoon above all else, in fact the character was created as a reaction to the opponents of the war who were quite organized at the time. Read more… Pizzazz: A Long Lost Marvel Youth Culture Mag from the 70s
The late 70s wasn’t the best of time for the comic book biz so Marvel took a look at Dynamite magazine and Starlog magazine and created their own youth culture magazine called Pizzazz. The magazine was an amazing mirror of pop culture during the disco era of 1977 until 1979 and lasted a total of 16 issues. The inside of the publication featured articles on popular films, a Star Wars comic and even a one pager by Harvey Kurtzman. Read more… A Macabre Michael Jackson Guest Appearance in Deadpool
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 28, 2010 in Comic Books
In the upcoming issue of Deadpool: Wade Wilson’s War #2 which comes out this Wednesday will feature a scene with the King of Pop — or rather a character wearing a Michael Jackson mask as seen above. There’s something a bit morbid about the reference, although I think it’s that offbeat sense of humor that always made me admire Deadpool above other Marvel Comics. I should add that Jason Pearson does a nice job of keeping the action going from page-to-page: Read more… Proof That Marvel Just Doesn’t Understand the Ladies…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 4, 2010 in Comic Books
I can just see the meeting where the demography folks break out their PowerPoint and announce that “if we want to gain a female readership we gotta have vampires!” And to be fair women love vampires — so how can you go wrong? Well looking at the above cover of the Marvel one shot Death of Dracula you can drive a stake through its heart. Clearly what the art director didn’t get is that vampires are really all about romance, yet what you’ve got here looks like a bad parody of a 50s pulp magazine. But wait it gets worse, here are the character designs by the talented Marko Djurdjevic who seems to be channeling the worse elements of Elfquest and DEVO: Read more… Custom Iron Man Shoes That Only Tony Stark Could Afford
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jun 3, 2010 in Comic Books, Fandom
Well, Tony Stark and anyone else who happens to have at least $400 to spend on designer shoes. That’s right, these incredible custom sneakers are currently being auctioned on ebay by Diversitile, a company that just so happens to specialize in, you guessed it, designer footware. The shoes apparently come with built-in arc reactor lights that mimic the designs of the Iron Man and War Machine armor featured in Iron Man 2. Don’t get me wrong, this shoes look absolutely stunning but considering the price, I think I probably buy a pair of Bapes, and have some cash left over and at least I know those would be comfortable. If you’re interested, check out the ebay listings here, or head over to their official blog for more information. Read more… The Iron Man 2 Scenes You WON’T See in Theaters
Posted by Gia Manry on May 10, 2010 in Cinema, Comic Books
Paramount sold us a bill of goods! Like good little geeks, we’ve all been drooling over the Iron Man 2 trailers as they’ve been released. And we’ve seen USA’s “sneak peek” at least six thousand times between NCIS reruns (is it still a sneak peek if the movie’s out now?). And of course, we have now seen the ultimate trailer (for the Avengers movie), Iron Man 2. But something was missing. Read more… If Only Robert Downey Jr. Could Fit in a Lobster Suit
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 6, 2010 in Comic Books, Hobbies and Collections
Okay, this is just too amazing not to share. Otaku blogger Meimi132 recently took a trip to Cromer, England and stumbled across what appears to be a giant lobster dressed in Tony Stark’s patented Iron Man body armor. Who could have been insane enough to create this unholy medley of claw and steel? Good question, though, you have to give whoever did it credit for originality. According to Meimi132, there are 80 more lobsters spread around the sea-side town, but I doubt any of them are anywhere near as awesome. For more pictures, including a few of an Avatar-inspired counterpart, check out the full entry here. Read more… Iron Man 2 Videogame Trailer: Feels Like a Bad Dreamworks Film
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 29, 2010 in Comic Books, Videogames
This prologue trailer from Sega for the Iron Man 2 videogame looks terrible. It sort of reminds me of everything I hate about bad Dreamworks computer animated films: the voice acting is terrible, the animation is stiff and the humans have this very creepy not quite human feeling to them. My gut tells me that Iron Man 2 will be a great deal of fun, but my guess is that the videogame might be a bit rusty. Tim Gunn Decides Which Superheroes Are In and Which Ones Are Out
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 23, 2010 in Comic Books
I absolutely loved this. In a recent episode of the YouTube video series Crazy Sexy Geeks, fashion consultant Tim Gunn joined comic book historian, Alan Kistler, as they took a look at some of the questionable fashion worn by our favorite superheroes and heroines over the years. While I know that Tim Gunn probably doesn’t frequent his local comic shop, the man has always struck me as having impeccable taste, so I was really interested to hear what he had to say. It may seem a bit short, but this is only part one of what looks to be a three part series so keep an eye out for those in the coming weeks. Read more… The Marvelous Mice of Skottie Young
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 16, 2010 in Comic Books
The Marvelous Land of Oz #5 hits the street next week on Wednesday, April 21st — if you haven’t seen this series do yourself a favor and get your hands on it. I love the fact that Marvel is doing a series that doesn’t involve superheroes — and then add the fact that Skottie Young really has a unique visual style that you don’t get to see anywhere else in comics these days. I wouldn’t be too surprised that given the Disney takeover over Marvel that one day we might be lucky and get to see an animated version of this series. Read more… My Favorite Thing About the New Iron Man Trailer? The Ironettes!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 3, 2010 in Cinema, Comic Books
This latest Iron Man 2 trailer looks like a great deal of fun, I really like the campy feel to the entire clip. The film is going to be out in early May and my gut tells me that it’s going to do very well in terms of box office. Is a Marvel eComic Worth Two Bucks?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 3, 2010 in Comic Books, Tech
On one hand I’m very impressed that Marvel is going ahead and doing an IPad app — but the pricing of $2 per issue seems a bit high to me. My gut tells me that the way Marvel makes their money is by merchandising and films, so the more kids that can grow up with the Marvel universe characters the more money you’ll make over the long term. I get it that you can’t go from charging something to nothing (currently most books are $4 in print), but honestly most comic books are too short to make the two bucks worth while. Imagine if you will if the cost per eComic was $1 per issue like iTunes songs, or if you had an all you can eat subscription model for $20 a month. But in any case my bet is that we’ll see other comic book publishers follow Marvel shortly (that or new publishers will enter the field). X-23 Deserves a Sequel
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 12, 2010 in Comic Books
To be upfront I’ve always have been more of an indie comic book fanboy having grown up on manga and publications like RAW magazine in the 80s — so on the face of it yet another X-Men spinoff comic book doesn’t get me excited. However for X-23 I’ll have to make an exception to that rule. Firstly what I like about this book is that it isn’t trapped too tightly in the typical Marvel style, and then the draftsmanship of the drawing and the cinematic panel layouts are well done. Alina Urusov illustrated this book and her artwork does a great job of telling a story, and I also liked the fact that Marc Hempel who did the colors didn’t overpower the drawings. The only thing that upsets me is that this issue is a one shot: Read more… Sky Doll Space Ship is Ready for an American Lift Off
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 19, 2010 in Comic Books
Sky Doll Space Ship isn’t actually a new series — it was first published in France. And it looks like Marvel is set to release this three part series by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa starting in May. I’d encourage everyone who loves comics to spread the word about this series for two reasons: Firstly I’d love to see more international comics imported into America, and secondly it’s refreshing to see comics escape from the typical superhero clichés that dominate the market. I’m glad that Marvel is getting behind this — it’s also nice to see that they got Pierre-Mony Chan to do a variant cover: Read more… Sense & Sensibility: Without Zombies?!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2010 in Comic Books
 Jane Austen (1775 – 1817) |
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