On this day in 1929 artist Elzie Crisler Segar added a new character to his Thimble Theatre comic strip named Popeye the Sailor Man. It’s hard to believe but Thimble Theatre was running for ten years before the sailor was introduced to American readers — Popeye would go on to take over the strip which was followed by quite a few animated films and television shows. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 10, 2010 in Comic Books
I usually make the mistake over overlooking mainstream Marvel titles because they can be so repetitive to me — but by missing the first issue of Spider-Man & The Secret Wars I clearly made a mistake! So with issue #2 (which is due out on January 13th) I won’t repeat that: From what I’m seeing with this book illustrator Patrick Scherberger is doing an A+ job of bringing Spidey to life. Read more…
Back in the day science fiction book covers always looked realistic while comic book covers looked like — well comic books! However the last few years that has faded away and comic book covers remind me more and more of the good old days of paperbacks: Except unlike paperbacks the format is even larger. So I was blown away with the quality of this cover by art by Sean Cooke for Star Wars Legacy #47. Read more…
Not so long ago I started to notice a few comics were incorporating either Twitter or IM interface elements into their page layout in an attempt to be hip. Well Forgetless #2 takes this trend a step further by having three pages that are done as a faux YouTube video. Just to make sure they’re hitting the right demographics the story features the exploits of a failed t-shirt maker — now if it had been me, I’d have an Etsy craft nerd in the lead role: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 5, 2010 in Comic Books
Above: I’m sorry son, you’ll have to move to the back because these fierce fangurls now own comic book fandom. Photo by Christian Liendo.
I just read the article Trends in 00s from Comic Book Resources was blown away when coming across the following mislabled “trend”:
The Rise and Fall of MangaGeorge Tramountanas: At the beginning of this decade, manga was on the rise. Everyone was reading the little “backwards books” and publishers were trying to figure out how to hop on this zeitgeist. Since then, several American manga publishers have either had to reduce their output or have gone out of business. I guess I wouldn’t actually say that manga has “fallen,” but it’s definitely not as prominent as it was in the early ’00s. As for reasons behind this – I have no idea. I don’t know if it was an overabundance of material, or if fans are getting their manga digitally now (I understand lots of Japanese kids are reading manga in a digital format). In any case, it’s something I’ll keep watching – and reading!Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 30, 2009 in Comic Books
The United States Postal Service has announced their stamps for 2010 and I’m pleased to see that they’re honoring Bill Mauldin, who is perhaps the one cartoonist above all that I associate with World War II. What’s cool about the stamp is that while it shows his famous characters Willie and Joe, the stamp really features Bill (which is a nice honor). Also featured this year is an Archie Comics stamp: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 23, 2009 in Comic Books
Issue #7 of Chew just came out today and I really love how this book is is evolving over time. What’s great about Rob Guillory’s work is that he does a nice job of having a cartoony look with a fast paced action focused story that keeps you going. The setting of this issue reminds me of Pulp Fiction — down to including a Samuel L. Jackson character: Read more…
The amazing thing about Peanuts is that it represented the life’s work of Charles Schulz, and as such the character designs changed over time. As a side note while his character designs were very graphic, they’re incredible hard to draw — Schulz’s draftsmanship was brilliant. Next year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the comic strip and to celebrate Dark Horse will be releasing Peanuts Then and Now Figure Sets showing the characters as they first looked in 1950 and then as they looked later in the series. Here’s good old Charlie Brown as he appeared in 1950: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 22, 2009 in Comic Books
In January of 1966 artist Jim Mooney and writer Dave Wood introduced a new concept for the existing comic book series House of Mystery. They came up with a teenage boy Robert “Robby” Reed who uses an old fashioned telephone dial to become one of many superheroes. This classic kitsch series became known as Dial H for Hero and ran until 1968, but was picked up again by DC Comics in the 80s and just a few years ago in 2003. Well the good news is that it looks like DC will be re-issuing the series as a book in April of next year. Read more…
Just knowing that you’ve got a film with Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow is cool. But add Mickey Rourke who’s an amazing actor as the heavy and you’ve the potential for a very entertaining film. In fact Rourke as the evil character Whiplash looks like he’s going to be the star of this film. Iron Man 2 is due out in May of 2010…
Actually the JLA Trophy Room Batman Modern Utility Belt Prop Replica isn’t designed for vintage cosplay fanatics; at a price tag of $280 this replica is designed for display in your bat trophy cabinet. The design of this belt is somewhat based upon what Adam West wore in the 60s television series shown here: Read more…
Shown above is a trailer for the film Solanin (ソラニン) which is based upon the manga by the same name which was serialized in Young Sunday. The music meets romance themed film features Japanese actress Aoi Miyazaki in the leading role and is due out in 2010 with a soundtrack from Asian Kung Fu Generation. Here’s a panel from the original manga: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 10, 2009 in Comic Books
A while ago that when I read they were gearing up for an Emily the Strange I have to admit that I feared for the worse in terms of quality — as part of a push for the film Dark Horse would be publishing an art book and a comic book. But I have to admit that while I’m still unsure about a film that Dark Horse seems to be off to a good start with our old creepy friend Emily. Shown above is the cover for The Art of Emily the Strange which doesn’t look too bad form the previews — it’s not brilliant, but it’s respectable as you can see: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 3, 2009 in Comic Books
Shunk! Blam! Whudd! Kroom! Fwump! Don’t tell me the story, show me the story is a truism that is given to film scriptwriters, but it also applies to comic books — and X-Force Annual #1 illustrates this concept with glee. Carlo Barberi and Jason Pearson have done a great job with the artwork in this book which keeps you turning from page-to-page with good old fashioned fisticuffs: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 3, 2009 in Comic Books
When I first came across X-Babies I have to admit I was drawn in by the ever so cute covers by Skottie Young, but with X-Babies #3 I’m realizing that the best part of the book is actually the interior art by Jacob Chabot. Chabot’s work reminds me a great deal of the chibi style that you see all the time with manga, yet he’s managed to make the style his own and it works very well with the Marvel characters — yet it’s never so cute that you get the Muppet Babies effect: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 3, 2009 in Comic Books
Somehow I overlooked the first issue of Who is Stephen Strange? but the second issue is due out this Thursday and is worth a look. As a manga fan I always dread how Marvel is still married to always having superheroes prance around in capes — well Strange is a refreshing departure from this cliché. For starters our protagonist is a young lady who’s not flying through the air in tights — instead she wears normal clothing and uses her superpowers with discretion. I’m very impressed with the story that Mark Waid has come up with, and Emma Rios has done an ace job bringing these characters to life in the interiors of the book: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 2, 2009 in Comic Books
Greg Broadmore is a conceptual designer at the Weta Workshop the New Zealand effects studio that did some amazing work on Lord of the Rings. In his book Dr. Grordbort Presents: Victory Broadmore goes steampunk and has an Edwardian military officer giving a lush tour of a world filled with enemy robots and space aliens. The result reminds me of a cross between old pulp fiction covers and old patent medicine adverts: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 1, 2009 in Comic Books
Above: A reality TV show isn’t the way to fix Superman…
Sadly the Superman franchise is on hold as Hollywood waits for the legal chaos to clear up. But the larger issue facing our superhero a creative one: The seventy year-old franchise is in desperate need of a makeover.
The first problem that you notice with Superman is that he always performs better on the small screen than in theaters. If you look back at the 50s TV show with George Reeves they had time to have fun with the characters; and if you look at Smallville today the series has been running since 2001 and is well loved. This gives a vital clue: The danger of Superman is that within the limits of a few hours the man-of-steel runs the danger of becoming a flat character devoid of any substance. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 1, 2009 in Comic Books
I just love the power of the draftsmanship of Adam Warren, there’s something so strong and yet silly about his pencil sketching which reminds me of the golden age of Mad magazine. This Thursday his latest effort Empowered Special: The Wench With a Million Sighs will be released by Dark Horse and it looks amazing. The cover isn’t that spectacular but the interior of the book more than makes up for that: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2009 in Comic Books
Happy Thanksgiving from Fanboy.com! To celebrate we’ve put together a gallery of turkey themed comic books for your entertainment. The one thing you’ll notice is that most of the holiday humor is aimed at younger comic book readers — an audience that both Marvel and DC are rediscovering once again. Shown above is the cover from Superboy #36 which was published in 1954 — the pencils are by Curt Swan and the inks are by Stan Kaye. Read more…
A very old school approach to wallpaper was to take paste up newspapers, this Marvel Comic Book Chair Rail Prepasted Wall Mural gives a post-modern fanboy take on this time honored decoration technique. The instant wall mural is six feet high by ten feet wide and includes covers from Spider Man, X-Men, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, Thor, and Captain America: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2009 in Comic Books
I think comics are a great way to reach an audience of kids who might not otherwise pick up a book — in fact a little know secret is that librarians across the nation are now putting graphic novels and manga on he book shelves to bring in young tweens and teens through the doors. The result? Not only do these kids read the comics, but they go on to read other books on related topics. That’s why this trailer for the film Comic Book Literacy got my attention — it’s drawing more attention to a powerful idea that works. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 18, 2009 in Comic Books
The subject matter of Phonogram reminds me a great deal of the romance genre of comics from the 50s and 60s — except that it has a much harder realistic edge to it. Written by Kieron Gillen this plot of Phonogram 2: Singles Club #5 reminds me a great deal of The Smiths song How Soon is Now? as it opens with our hero visiting a night club and watching everyone else have a great time. And then when you add the Jamie McKelvie’s somber visual style of storytelling you get a very dark vision that you don’t see in most comic books: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 18, 2009 in Comic Books
There’s a warm quality to both the writing a visual style of Chris Giarrusso’s work that reminds me of a humerous fanzine strip shared between good friends. Part of what makes G-Man: Cape Crisis #4 work so well is that while most comic books split the writing and art responsibilities, in the great tradition of New Yorker cartoons Giarrusso is wearing both hats — so the drawing acts as a natural extention to the writing. Also because the drawing style is rough and scratchy you get a silly look which reminds me of an American version of a chan-styled manga: Read more…
Sadly the Superman franchise is on hold as Hollywood waits for the legal chaos to clear up. 
