The Superman-Tim Club Card: Membership Has Its Rewards
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 22, 2009 in Comic Books
Superman-Tim Club Pin
Nell Brinkley: A Proper Tribute to the Queen of Comics
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 15, 2009 in Comic Books
The minute I viewed the above video preview of the Frantagraphics book The Brinkley Girls
American McGee’s Grimm: A Marvelously Gregarious Adaptation
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 15, 2009 in Comic Books, Videogames
American McGee is a legendary game designer whose now has an episode game running at GameTap called Grimm which is set in a twisted fairy tale universe. Normally I hate comic book adaptions of videogames, but what makes this book interesting is that they went the extra step and are having fun with a superheroes universe which is a clever twist. The artwork for this book is by Grant Bond and you can tell that he’s having a good time with the subject matter — this detail from the front cover is a good example: Read more…
Emily the Strange Sells Out
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 10, 2009 in Comic Books
Yes I’d love to pretend that there was an era when Emily the Strange wasn’t just about the merchandising, but that would be a lie. I first ran into Emily at Virgin Mega Store (sad to think that they’ll be gone) and her image adorned t-shirts, notebooks and other knickknacks — yet it was the sort of brand that was always slightly under the radar, which I think to me was the appeal. If you gave an Emily item as a gift she’d stand out as just a bit different in a Hallmark world. Well sadly that’s coming to an end and above is the first step where Emily goes mainstream — that sad bit of artwork above is the cover of a limited comic book series. Read more…
Taking Oz to a New Place: Skottie Young
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 5, 2009 in Comic Books
Marvel has has released a series of comics based upon classic books which have been unimpressive on every level, but a wonderful exception to this has been the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which features illustrations by Skottie Young. It’s hard to reinvent the universe of Oz because the visual style of the story has been so defined by the 1939 film — but Young manages to reinvent this world while staying true to the story. Issue #5 in the series comes out this Wednesday, above is a detail of the cover art and it just looks great. I also love the powerful palette of colors by Jean-Francois Beaulieu who brings Skottie’s drawings to life. Below is another wonderful panel: Read more…
Guts, Gore and a Gag from Rob Guillory
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2009 in Comic Books
Shown above is a nice gory detail from a cover illustration by Rob Guillory for the comic book Chew #1 which will be released on June by Image. But what makes this cover work so well for me is the sense of humor, which you only notice when your eye moves off this scene of carnage: Read more…
Latest X-Men Origins Wolverine Trailer: Ooh! It’s Shiny…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2009 in Comic Books
It’s going to be hard to top Watchmen for movies based on comic books this year, but that said X-Men Origins: Wolverine isn’t looking too shabby. The film hits theaters on May 1st and if you’d like to decorate your desktop in anticipation here’s some wallpaper to get you started: Read more…
Parody Preview: Daredevil vs. Depression 2.0
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 20, 2009 in Comic Books
Looking at this grim cover of Daredevil #117 (which hits the street next week) my thoughts that the economy is more of a threat to the world than any super villain! This cover is by Marko Djurdjevic who usually does some amazing work, but like the stock market this isn’t his highest point. By the way for you purists, here’s the unblemished cover: Read more…
Who Watches the Plot Holes in the Watchmen? Fanboys of Course!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 14, 2009 in Comic Books
I think it’s safe to assume that by now most fanboys are going to their second showings of Watchmen or waiting on the DVD at this point. The one thing I’m noticing is that as time goes on I start to notice more and more plot holes and mistakes in the film. So without further ado here’s my laundry list (warning: this list will contain some plot spoilers, so if you still haven’t seen the film please don’t read ahead): Read more…
Watchmen: My Fanboy Hangover
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 8, 2009 in Comic Books
From the moment I read Watchmen all of those years ago I always wanted to see it as a film — and I guess the lesson here is is that you should be careful what you wish for because you may just get it. After seeing the film I was left with a vey flat empty feeling, yes on a superficial level the director got almost every frame right but there was something lacking: the soul of the comic book. Read more…
If Watchmen Was a Saturday Morning TV Show…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 6, 2009 in Comic Books
This Watchmen parody is a perfect tribute to bad 80s Saturday morning cartoons. My favorite reference is to Jem and the Holograms…
Manga Guides for Geek Topics
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 6, 2009 in Comic Books
Back in the day the gold standard of computer programming books were the O’Reilly books which featured distinctive woodcuts of various animals on the covers — well look out O’Reilly because a publisher in Japan has introduced a series of of mangas on an entire range of geek topics! If you don’t speak Japanese No Starch Press is starting to translate this line of mangas into English. The first title in the series which is already out is The Manga Guide to Databases
“Princess Ruruna is stressed out. With the king and queen away, she has to manage the Kingdom of Kod’s humongous fruit-selling empire. Overseas departments, scads of inventory, conflicting prices, and so many customers! It’s all such a confusing mess. But a mysterious book and a helpful fairy promise to solve her organizational problems—with the practical magic of databases.”
Watch out, Watchmen! This Film is Fanboy Approved…
Posted by Guest Author on Mar 5, 2009 in Cinema, Comic Books
Editor’s Note: In this column animation critic Joe Strike gives us our first review of the Watchmen film.
They got it right – they didn’t fuck it up too bad.
That only begins to describe my reaction to Zack Snyder’s Watchmen. On the ‘faithful-to-the-source-material-in-terms-of-capturing-its spirit’ scale I give the film 4.95 stars out of five. I credit the film to Snyder because it’s definitely his version of A____ M____ and Dave Gibbons’ ‘unfilmable’ graphic novel. It’s also a paraphrase of what Snyder said back in 2007 when he was starting work on the project: “I hope some rainy afternoon in England A___ M____ will watch the movie and say ‘they didn’t fuck it up too bad.'”
Since you’re reading this on a site called fanboy.com, you know A___ M____ removed his name from the film (and turned down the zillions of $ of booty it will generate, handing it over to Gibbons) because of his distaste for what Hollywood’s done to his books; you also know the book inside-out, the way its themes echo through its huge cast and various subplots, or the counterpoint between the main story and the pirate comic ‘within the comic.’ (I don’t intend to review the movie here, plenty of people are already covering that end of it, but even so, plenty of spoilers ahead – you’ve been warned…) Read more…
Singing Spiderman Swings into a Broadway Musical
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 24, 2009 in Comic Books
On February 2010 we’ll find out what happens when you mix up Spiderman, Bono and a Broadway musical together. The website for Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark has gone live and come June you’ll be able to sign up for tickets for a show that promises a new take on the story of Peter Parker, whose life is turned upside down when he’s bitten by a genetically altered spider. Read more…
New York Comic Con Afterthoughts: It Keeps Getting Bigger and Better!
Posted by Guest Author on Feb 13, 2009 in Comic Books, Fandom
Editor’s Note: In this column animation critic Joe Strike gives us an overview into his adventures running around the New York Comic Con this past weekend.
This damn thing keeps getting bigger and bigger, not that that should be a surprise to anyone. The only surprise is why did it take so long for NYC to get a world-class con of its own. When the New York Comic Con opened for business in ’06, four years ago, its exhibit area was a tiny (for the massive Javits Center) basement space that was overcrowded from almost the instant the con opened its doors. This year the exhibitors took over most of the high-ceilinged main floor, an enormous space that the equally pop-culturey Licensing Show used to fill before moving to Las Vegas. Read more…
The Ghetto of Geeks vs. the Geriatric Wards of Success
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 7, 2009 in Comic Books, Fandom
Editor’s Note: This essay is the result of my walking about the New York Comic Book Convention this year and asking myself the question “What brings you here?”
While escaping the New York Comic Book Convention I came across a series of Watchmen posters in the street, saturated by the orgy of the show I naturally assumed that the posters were aimed at folks entering and exiting the mega gathering of geekdom. However several blocks I realized that I was only kidding myself as I came across the same set of posters again — what was once the realm of fanboys twenty years ago was the mainstream of Hollywood today. In this way Watchmen is no different than Oprah or any frat boy focused reality TV show on MTV that’s a hit. Read more…
Robin as Batman: Travale Turns the Tables on the Dark Knight
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 5, 2009 in Comic Books
In this illustration Ontario based artist Rosemary Travale depicts Nightwing (i.e. Dick Grayson who’s best known as Robin) taking up the role of the Dark Knight. Travale did this illustration for a competition, but in our book she’s already fanboy approved: The two things that I love about what she’s done here is how she brings the spirit of youth into Batman (that special unsure quality about yourself) without being too cute about it — and her gouache technique really allows the texture of the paper to come through which is something that you would just never get in a Photoshop coloring job.
Chocolate Cosplay: Sugary Superheroes on the Catwalk
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 30, 2009 in Comic Books, Fandom
This video is from a New York fashion show that showcases models wearing superhero chocolate outfits. The fashion show was part of the New York Chocolate Show last year (I knew I should have gone). I think the most delicious featured frock was Barbarella although the outfits for Wonder Woman and Iron Man were also tasty treats.
The Beatification of Batman by CW Wells
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 28, 2009 in Comic Books
The art student inside of me always takes a certain pleasure when artists take on a pop culture icon — although too many times the result becomes trapped within the techniques of a Andy Warhol silkscreen look or a Roy Lichtenstein graphic approach: Which is why I’m impressed with what artist CW Wells is doing here with his take Batman which is titled mr fancy pants. His multimedia approach has a nice little touch of 80s Memphis with his approach to texture with the dark knight who’s a little bit less dark as a result. For more info on CW Wells you can find his bio here and follow his Flickr feed here.
Late for A Date: The Comics of Chris Eliopoulos Brought to Life
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 23, 2009 in Animation, Comic Books
I’ve been following the work of Chicago based indie comic artist Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos for some time now, so I got a real kick out of seeing his whimsical style brought to life in an animated short. In many ways his illustration work reminds a great deal of Jay Ward cartoons like Bullwinkle, but looking at this short I see a dollop of George Herriman’s Krazy Kat mixed in with just a dash of Godzilla for good measure. Here are two examples of his illustrations that show of his humorous but harmonious sense of chaos: Read more…
Holiday Film Marathon at My Multiplex: The Day the Earth Stood Still, Desperaux, and The Spirit
Editor’s Note: This week we’re lucky to have film critic Joe Strike offers us his insights and first impressions of the films The Day the Earth Stood Still, Desperaux, and The Spirit.
I tell you, the synchronicity around here can really get to you sometimes. The other morning I went to see The Day the Earth Stood Still, or as us folks in a hurry like to call it, TDTESS (which is stupid since they’re all one-syllable words anyway). Weekend morning shows are $6.00 at my just-up-the-street cinema, I thank you from the bottom of my recession, AMC. Read more…
Watchmen: Flung by Fox Case
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 25, 2008 in Comic Books
It’s a Christmas gift to us fanboys from Fox! It seems that their copyright case against Warner Brothers has done the trick and this may cause the film not to open come March:
Fox wins ruling in ‘Watchmen’ case
“A Los Angeles federal judge has ruled that 20th Century Fox owns the distribution rights to “Watchmen,” representing a setback for Warner Bros.’ plans to release the pic in March.
“Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” the ruling said. Judge Gary Allen Feess issued the surprise ruling Wednesday — a week after setting a Jan. 20 trial date for Fox’s suit — and indicated he would issue a more detailed ruling soon.”
Duo Jaun Doe Covers: Spiderman & The Torch in Bahia De Los Muertos!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 17, 2008 in Comic Books
In March of 2009 Marvel will be featuring two versions of the comic Spiderman & The Human Torch in…!Bahia De Los Muertos! — one in English and one Español. What I love about this concept is that each book has a different cover by the talented illustrator Jaun Doe. What I love about his artwork is that instead of a typical muscles bulging superheroes cliched cover, Doe’s style reminds me of a highly stylized art deco film poster. Even his use of color is superb with Doe using a slightly washed out palette instead of the usual over saturated Photoshop look we see so often these days. Read more…
Wolverine: Our Leaked Trailer from Secret Origins
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 14, 2008 in Comic Books
We just stumbled over this leaked trailer of X-Men Origins: Wolverine on the net! I have to say that I had my doubts about this film, but it looks like it’s going to be action packed. Although the bad news is that when you see it in theaters there will be the same idiots who get to their seats late just like you see in this secret trailer!