Fans can exist not just in the United States, but just about anywhere in the world. Take for instance this week’s blogger interview with Lissa Pattillo, our neighbor up north in friendly Canada! Okay corny geography jokes aside, Lissa runs a very nice guide to manga news and reviews via Kuriosity. She is involved in way more websites than Kuriosity, and I will leave it for you to read under the cut. So I have notice/lurked her site from her interaction with the defunct Boys on Boys on Film website. She provides the fact that irregardless of geography, reading and love for manga has no boarders! Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jun 4, 2011 in Comic Books
Webcomicker Kate Beaton is known for her hilarious takes on historical figures, but she’s no stranger to superheroes either. She’s done riffs on Superman and Wonder Woman before, and she even did a Spider-Man piece for Marvel’s 2010 Strange Talesanthology (wherein Kraven needed a prom date). This time, she’s imagined what would happen if Peter Parker was bitten by a slightly different spider: specifically, the bothersome brown recluse.
Posted by Michael Sacco on Jun 3, 2011 in Comic Books
DC’s impending relaunch of 52 monthlies — a significant portion of their comic line — may be the ballsiest move yet made in comics, or it may be nothing more than a publicity stunt. It’s hard to say until we’ve seen the products of the relaunch. But to show that they mean business, DC announced a handful of the creative teams working on the new titles. Wonder Woman’s new team looks pretty interesting, with 100 Bullets‘ Brian Azzarello writing and Cliff Chiang on art duty, but then you have some stuff that looks considerably less compelling. Like, say, Firestorm, which looks … let’s just say “a little silly.” DC hasn’t revealed all of the teams quite yet, so we haven’t heard about heavy hitters like Batman or Superman, but maybe they’re saving the best for last. Maybe a Morrison Superman run? Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on May 29, 2011 in Comic Books
Yes, it looks like Deadpool’s efforts to break the fourth wall actually succeeded in destroying the damn thing altogether — he’s now patrolling the streets of Wanatchee, WA. Okay, so maybe it’s not quite the real Deadpool (Wade Wilson is a little more muscular, I think), but a mystery man is using Deadpool’s outfit and name and going around helping those in need. You can even email him if you have a situation that you think would merit the help of a psychopathic mercenary. Whether or not this particular Deadpool is mentally ill still remains to be seen, though, admittedly, when you’re dealing with Deadpool, sanity is relative. Read more…
There were several reasons to worry about the latest entry into the X-Men film franchise, X-Men: First Class. You could worry about the film being fast-tracked and barely having its filming done in time for release. You could worry about it being set in a time period removed from our own. You could, especially, worry about it being the latest entry into the X-Men film franchise. But it looks like Marvel made a wise choice in director Brian Vaughn (Kick Ass) — early reviews are overwhelmingly positive, stating the film’s script and stars do a great job in reviving the series and shedding new light on familiar characters. It even gets a favorable James Bond comparison in Michael Fassbender’s Magneto. Sounds good to me. We’ll know for sure as more reviews come out in the next few days, in time for First Class’ June 3rd release. Read more…
With the many blogs that I have encounter searching for great graphic novel recommendations, one of them is Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic. To my knowledge she had became a fan of graphic novels as an adult, and therefore provides a pretty interesting perspective from her reviews. She provides insightful responses from her email interview, to which I am quite pleased to include under the cut. Read more…
Posted by Linda Yau on May 23, 2011 in Comic Books
Aside from the ocean, the outer space is considered to be one of the last frontiers to be explored. Neil Armstrong was quoted when he stepped on the moon: “This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” The outer space is still a hope of many to be explored, and this is a theme for the series of Twin Spica. Read more…
You may recall The Dark Knight’s long, involved alternate-reality game, which had followers doing everything from decoding messages hidden in street addresses to taking pictures of themselves in clown makeup to attending fake Harvey Dent campaign events. Even though the film’s release is over a full year away, the marketing campaign for the third film in the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, is heating up. Literally. Today, Warner Bros. released a sound clip on the DKR website that, when viewed in a sound editing program, contained the phrase “#thefirerises”. Posting on Twitter with that in your message would add your icon to the page, which eventually filled up, revealing the above photo of Tom Hardy as Bane (click for a high-res version). If that sounds complicated, well, it is! And it’s only going to get more complicated from here. Also, Bane looks pretty imposing, doesn’t he? Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on May 20, 2011 in Comic Books
Colorist Moose Baumann, responsible for making some of Marvel’s and DC’s most popular heroes leap off the page, is encountering some financial difficulties. His wife incurred some staggering medical bills during her cancer treatments and it’s been an uphill to keep those bills paid on top of normal expenses (you know, like a mortgage). The couple is in danger of losing their home, and Baumann has resorted to selling high-quality prints of his work to make some emergency money. If you’d like to help Moose and his wife out, you can buy one of his prints by emailing him directly at moosebaumann@mediacombb.net. Prints aside, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a few bucks tossed his way via PayPal either, which is hooked up to that email address. Good luck, Moose! Read more…
Posted by Linda Yau on May 16, 2011 in Comic Books
In a life time, a quarter life is a milestone and put this in the context of Viz Media, who just so happens to be celebrating 25 years of being in business this upcoming year. Does it call for a celebration or what? The American manga industry has been having stormy weather recently, so for manga fans, knowing that Viz Media’s age is actually a positive one. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 9, 2011 in Comic Books
I’ve been following a new web comic by Carolita Johnson named Oscarina. The one panel cartoons feature the precocious young lady who’s on a mission to showcase the hypocrisy of adults with cunning comments on everything from allergies to religion. Over the past few years Carolita Johnson has done some amazing work for New Yorker magazine, but what I really love about this strip is that she’s focusing on a single character who has a very strong voice.
We Found a Hot Springs is the name of a very cool Japanese blog which features an amazing ongoing series of moe looking characters which are based on the flag and flower of each nation in the world. The site reminds me of an anime take on the Disney concept of “It’s a Small World After All!” The artist on the site is going under the pen name Senami_ and can also be found on Pixiv here. Here’s a gallery of some of these charming caricatures: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 4, 2011 in Comic Books
Three weeks ago in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland some selfish thieves stole the plaque honoring the home of Superman. However the creed of “Truth, Justice and the American Way” must have gotten the better of the thieves conscience because mysteriously the plaque has been returned in undamaged condition. Although Tracey Kirksey a local official feels that bad publicity may have helped just a bit to give the criminal collectors a change of heart: Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on May 3, 2011 in Comic Books
For all you true believers out there, Marvel’s launched a brand new online store that you might want to check out. Marvelstore.com is now host to a collection of toys, clothes and collectibles from the Marvel universe for all your fanboy needs. They also have a nifty section dedicated to home decore and accessories. While most of that stuff is geared to a younger audience — Spiderman sheets, and Ironman art supplies for example — the left hand margin allows you to easily sort the site by age group and category, making it easy to find what you’re looking for. Pretty awesome, right?
The path to success for an American manga publishing company is to find the next big thing, license it and attract a readership. And since 2006 Yen Press has been doing this by continuing to experiment and cease the initiate to do innovative work. Now that Tokyopop has passed away, here are a few reasons why I think Yen is one of the leading lights for manga in America: Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on May 1, 2011 in Comic Books
Well, I mean, he’s always been an alien in the colloquial sense, with the whole “being from another planet” thing, but in the latest issue of Action Comics (specifically #900) Superman renounces his U.S. citizenship. Supes, who grew up as the American boy Clark Kent before taking up the Superman mantle, has historically been an American icon, the ultimate immigrant success story, but this issue (written by Batman Begins scribe David Goyer) sees him get fed up with being viewed as an instrument of U.S. policy. It’s a pretty interesting turn even for Superman, and I suppose at this point Superman really belongs to the world more than just the U.S., but he has always represented the best of our national ideals, like some kind of alien Captain America. Hopefully this’ll turn out better than Straczynski’s mopey small-scale Superman story did.
We’ve known that the upcoming Green Lantern movie is going full-blown crazy in its display of alien Lanterns, as evidenced by its recent WonderCon footage, but the latest poster really exhibits the almost Lucasian variety of alien life. Just offhand, you’ve got yourself a Boodikka, Stel, Abin Sur, Kilowog, Tomar Re, Sinestro, and that looks like R’amey Holl with the butterfly wings. And that isn’t even all of them in this poster! Being a Green Lantern must be like living in the Mos Eisley Cantina every day, you know? Let’s hope all these neat races get their due in the film, which comes out in about a month and a half. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Apr 29, 2011 in Comic Books
Zack Snyder’s upcoming Superman film, The Man of Steel, is already featuring one familiar villain by way of Michael Shannon’s General Zod, but it looks like another one is waiting in the wings: Variety reports that German actress Antje Traue will be playing Kryptonian brawler Faora. The man-hating martial artist had a number of appearances in Superman canon, including stints in classic Action Comics (where a stymied Superman was forced to flee their first encounter) and even showed up on Smallville, so it’ll be interesting to see how they tie her into the movie’s web of villainy along with Zod. Read more…
Of all of Marvel’s film projects, Thor has stood out as the wildcard. Iron Man grounded itself very firmly in reality (with a dash of science fiction, of course), The Hulk was more a psychodrama than a comic book movie, and Captain America is surrounded by something we can all dig — killing Nazis. Thor, on the other hand, represents the more Jack Kirby side of the Marvel universe; the powerful cosmic forces that exist unbeknownst to the general Earth public. It would’ve been easy to go full cheese mode for this one (hi, Green Lantern), but it looks like director Kenneth Branagh centered the film around the very Shakespearean politics of the god of thunder and his relatives instead. And, according to its 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes after its Australian premiere, it looks like it worked. You’re up, Cap.
With San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner, plenty of retailers are starting to ready their exclusives for this years show. Last week, Sideshow Collectibles unveiled their exclusives for the event, some of which look mighty fine. There’s a G.I Joe 12 inch Cobra Ninja Viper figure, AvP Predator replica mask set featuring three three separate sculpts from the series, a Star Wars Clone Commander 12 inch figure, and finally an Iron Man 2 bust set that feature replicas of the helmets used in the recent film.
Posted by Linda Yau on Apr 18, 2011 in Comic Books
In a time before the iPad, or the streaming wonders of the internet and back in the late 90’s, there was Mixxzine later to be known as Tokyopop. At the end of last week, news broke out regarding about Tokyopop closing shop on American soil. This probably is a shock to many fans, and there are still questions about what would inevitably happen to their unfinished licenses. Things have not been looking great for Tokoyopop this year, so take this closure with a grain of salt. Consider the good and the influence that this company had generated for the field of manga and graphic novels. Read more…
As you can see from all of the nin-dogs surrounding Kakashi, dogs are known as “man’s best friend” — and as such they’re very well represented in anime and manga from Japan. Here’s a list of some of our all time favorites: Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Apr 17, 2011 in Comic Books
I love charts. Specifically, I love charts about stuff so nerdy that I feel the urge to buy them in poster form. This is one such chart, “The Illustrious Omnibus of Superpowers,” created by Pop Chart Labs. Contained therein you’ll find handy taxonomy for all types of superhero powers, from projecting glue to affecting probability. 200 superheroes and villains are on the chart, a considerable effort, and it’s certainly nice to look at it. If you don’t want to use the site’s magnifier to look at small portions of it, you can always buy it in poster form and hang it on your wall for those moments when you can’t remember who that one guy was who could emit a beam that only melts metal. Read more…
Like many of you, I had some fond memories of the X-Men animated series which aired on Fox during the mid-’90s. It wasn’t nearly as good as Batman: the Animated Series, but at the time there really wasn’t much on the air in the way of comic-based cartoons. With the announcement of the upcoming X-Men anime which will be airing in Japan, I made the mistake of watching a few of these “classic” episodes. Read more…
