They have totally changed the opening to the Walking Dead.
Now, hit the break for lots more foolishness, including the latest on the “real” Batman movie, the status of the Deadpool flick, Green Arrow’s TV show, new Garth Ennis work, and the latest on The Walking Dead. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Captain America, Deadpool, Filthy Muties, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Thor, Zombies
In with the old, out with the new…Let’s start this year with a look back.
2011 was a year in which many Marvel mainstays had relaunches/reboots (Daredevil and Moon Knight being the most successful, “Power Man” less so), and every DC character was reborn. It was a year in which there were at least 52 more #1s than usual. But 2011 also saw indie books rising in popularity due to successful TV shows like AMC’s The Walking Dead and pour-over from last year’s high-profile Scott Pilgrim film.
According to Diamond—the official distributor of the comic book medium—Justice League #1 was the best-selling issue of the year. DC actually beat Marvel for a couple months, but sales from September to November gradually slowed, and by December Marvel was back at #1—albeit barely so. Marvel sold 39% of all comics sold in December, while DC fell from 39% to 38%. So, it looks like 2012 will be a return to normalcy.
But there’s no denying DC’s short term success: Not only did they have the three best-selling comics of 2011, but they’re also probably three of the top sellers of the past 10 years. Justice League #1 topped 361K sold, and Batman and Superman both topped 250K. Marvel’s best seller of the year was The Death of Spider-Man (Ultimate Spider-Man #160), which sold a comparatively small 159K. It’s best-selling book of the past 10 years, however, was the Obama issue of Amazing Spider-Man, which told 530K. And that was just on a sucky back-up feature. Marvel should make The President as ubiquitous as Wolverine. They’ll sell tons!
So what else is new? Muppet Thor for one thing!
Hit the break and read on…
Tags: Comic books, Superman, The Caped Crusader, Thor
At the break, you can read my thoughts about the best of the new 52 and what I think of Starfire’s boobs. But the headline has to be the new Avengers trailer, and related news…
First off, the trailer is awesome. Why is it awesome? Cap uses a gun! Avengers Tower! Updated costumes (except, strangely, for Iron Man)! We get to see Loki versus the U.S. Army, and of course they’re ineffective, so Nick Fury and Agent Coulson summon the team. The trailer then shows a fairly traditional “assemble” scene, with each of the heroes getting ready to answer the call, but then we flash ahead to Loki in custody. At least the heroes don’t all fight each other. (But Cap and Thor do, later in the trailer.) It makes me wonder how much screentime the heroes will actually share…But it’s extremely geek-out cool anyway. Next, we see Fury addressing the team. They’re getting ready for something; presumably, either Loki escaped or the rumors of a Skrull invasion were true and we get to see a little sub-story. I certainly hope there’s more than one major battle. No, I don’t hope it. I expect it. The trailer closes with the inevitable Hulk transformation, which looks pretty good as CGI. I wonder if there will be only one Hulk appearance? Frankly, one is probably enough. With so many interesting characters in the film, I don’t think you need more than one big Hulk scene.
Of course, there’s already controversy with several folks alleging that the preview used existing footage from Iron Man. Michael Bay recently recycled a sequence from his godawful “The Island” picture in his somewhat less godawful Tranformers 3, so movie nerds are on the watch for this stuff. I’m not all that worried—I wouldn’t expect Whedon to have a lot of completed FX shots available for a trailer for a movie that isn’t set to come out for over 6 months. It’s frankly too soon for a trailer, but in these days of instant rewards, I guess the studios feel like they have to keep the hype going. It’s kind of like holding a primary for a national election in January—too soon, and leaves too much time for doubt and negativity to damage the actual release date.
Bleeding Cool has a side-by-side comparison, if you’re curious.
Watch the trailer here:
Meanwhile, Hasbro previewed the toy tie-ins at NYCC, showing both 3- and 6-inch action figures of the main characters. You can find pix of all of them on the internet; Hawkeye has the most remarkable resemblance to the actor (Jeremy Renner), but of course he looks nothing like the actual comic character he’s based on. Black Widow, unfortunately, looks like a cheap sex doll. In the actual film trailer she looks completely different: Like an expensive sex doll. Iron Man is the coolest—but he’s got the circular unibeam, while the trailer shows the more modern one.
Now, hit the break for more comic news.
Tags: Captain America, Comic books, Superheroes, Superman, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Thor, Zombies
The above-the-cut news has to be that THE D.C. CRISES ON INFINITE EARTH FINALS NEVER HAPPENED! Kinda.
DC Comics publisher Dan Didio Facebooked on Tweeter or Tweeted on Facebook or something that “there have been no Crisis events in the New DCU.” Some fanboys are all pissed off because, like, those were such big events, and, hey, they’re still on my shelf so they must have happened! Me, I say: The Crises pretty much all sucked, so good riddance. My only question: Batman is supposed to have his whole Grant Morrison history intact, and he died during a Crisis, so…Riddle me that, Danny boy. Then he clarified later that there “have been ‘crisis’ in our characters lives, but they aren’t exactly the Crisis you read before.” Which basically means we can expect DC’s next summer event to be a new Crisis. Sigh. So much for the new 52. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Tags: Comic books, Iron Man, Superheroes, Superman, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Thor, Zombies
I know I just did one, but with the release of new Justice League pictures, and information about the Batman reboot and upcoming sequels to GI Joe and R.E.D., I couldn’t wait for a regular bi-weekly update . . . Also, I want to say that the critics who said Transformers 3 was good and better than the first . . . Were wrong.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Comic books, Filthy Muties, Flash, Green Lantern, Movies, Spider-Man, Superman, The Caped Crusader, Thor
I’m not one to break my old loosies out of mylar and mothballs. Too often, I’ve got a backlogged stack of trade paperbacks waiting for my eyes, and it’s too risky to bring a collectible outside with me on errands anyway. So it’s been a long, long time since I read Walter Simonson’s epic, 4-year run on the golden haired Avenger. But when Amazon offered me a copy of the Omnibus: 1,192 pages for $77 bucks and free shipping, I couldn’t say no.
So, was it worth the money? Hit the break!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Comics review, Thor
- Comics Alliance‘s weekly review of great art includes Wolverine and Thor pics by Bill Sienkewicz, Mike Deodato’s portrait of Joker, a Nightwing kissing booth(!), and much, much more. One of my favorite weekly articles.
- The archive has a new Drive-By Truckers show, with a great cover Mavis Staples’ Respect Yourself. Check out the whole show here.
- Go here for the Heart Shaped Tron mashup. I’m guessing just based on the title you’ll be checking it out.
-People are still remixing Siqo????
-CD’s write up of Fuel Box is pretty damn funny.
-Illroots has the new Chiddy Bang mixtape, titled “Peanut Butter and Swelly.“ I haven’t heard the whole thing yet, but these dudes tend to be damn good. Start off with this one:
When You’ve Got Music (feat. The Knocks)
- I love this. It’s genius. Genius! HATE MACHINE.
-AD has a Neil Young boot from 2008.
-And last but certainly not least, Paper Bag Records has (another!) free compilation available for the price of an e-mail address. Go here. Here’s the terrific track list:
CFCF – How Bizarre (OMC cover)
Winter Gloves – Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana cover)
Woodhands – Electric Avenue (Eddy Grant cover)
Sally Shapiro – Dying in Africa (Nicolas Makelberge cover)
You Say Party! We Say Die! – Falling Out (Rikk Agnew cover)
Josh Reichmann – Daniel (Bat For Lashes cover)
Laura Barrett – Gamma Ray (Beck cover)
Rock Plaza Central – I Want You (Bob Dylan cover)
The Acorn – Strange Animal (Gowan cover)
Little Girls – Heinz (Artery cover)
Slim Twig – Behold A Lady (Outkast cover)
Under Byen – Du er min øjesten (Peter Malberg cover)
Tags: Bootleg, Covers, Go away, Hip Hop, Mash Ups, Mixtape, Thor
I figured, instead of breaking it up by media type, as I usually do in this column, I’ll do a Kasey Kasem reverse countdown. ‘Cause, I mean, everybody loves a list, right?
Hit the break for news about Thor 2,
But first, as per our new effort to boost trade sales and improve your reading skills, our end-of-the-month feature returns:
(Month of May 2011):
5. The Stuff of Legend Vol. 2: The Jungle. Simply fantastic. If you think it’s a kiddie book, or if you’re on the fence, jump in. It’s nothing you’d expect, brilliantly written, beautifully illustrated, and simply one of the best indie books around.
4. 5 Ronin. Marvel’s attempt to bring the “1602” concept into feudal Japan. I confess, I haven’t read it yet—just borrowed the 5 loosie books from a buddy, but I can’t wait. It sounds awesome, and the covers are terrific. This was a pretty fast release to hardcover. Don’t know if that means anything, though.
3. Mystique by Brian K. Vaughan: Ultimate Collection. Bound in paperback, all of Vaughan’s spy story about everyone’s favorite bad blue lady. This is another one I haven’t read (yet), but it’s already on my Amazon list.
2. Secret Six: The Reptile Brain. I love this book. Won’t miss a single volume. One of the best—if not the number one—DC books out there.
1. The Sensational She-Hulk Vol. 1 by John Byrne. Green pin ups! Seriously, though, this was a ground-breakingly different series for its time. Very influential, and, of course, beautifully drawn. Oh, and there’s a guest shot by Santa Claus.
Honorable mentions: PunisherMAX vol. 2: Bullseye (hardcover) (I’ll wait for the paperback, but I’ll definitely get it); The Trial of Captain America by Ed Brubaker and Daniel Acuña (on the fence: I kind of want to wait for the next “omnibus” volume); Taskmaster: Unthinkable (hilarious!).
Hmmm. Lots of Marvel this week, eh?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Comic books, Filthy Muties, Spider-Man, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Thor, Zombies
This summer there are four—count ‘em: X-Men First Class, Thor, Green Lantern, and Captain America—major comic book movies coming out (not to mention the “minor” ones like Priest), and three of them involve characters created by Stan Lee. So, I say to you: Stan Lee is the most important author of the 20th Century. I mean, who had a greater impact on any written medium? (Other than Al Gore, who created the internet, naturally.) So before you hit the break to read about the upcoming(?) Dr. Strange movie, and how Pushing Daisies has returned as a comic book, take a moment of silence to give mad props to Stan the Man.
…
Okay. Now hit the break!
Tags: Brian Michael Bendis, Comic books, Flash, Spider-Man, The Avengers, The Caped Crusader, Thor
I’ve read a few complaints already about Marvel Comics’ current “event” title, Fear Itself. The comic focuses on Captain America and Thor, with major roles by Iron Man, Hulk, and some major Marvel mutants. The complaints I’ve heard are all pretty much the same: “Gee, ain’t it a coincidence there’s an event about Cap and Thor when they both got movies coming out this summer?” (It’s spoken sarcastically.)
Here’s my response: Duh!
Look, Marvel sells over 65% of the comic books in this country for a reason: They know how to market. They’ve always known how to market. And if I had two major film studios (remember, Disney ain’t behind X-Men: First Class) promoting my characters, you can pretty much bet I’d get as much of them as I could on the stands, stat! It’s a no-brainer. But more to the point: Thank God for Marvel! How many of you got into comic books for the first time reading “Criminal,” or “Sweet Tooth,” or “Morning Glories,” or “Cerebus The Aardvark,” or “Dreadstar?” I’d bet zero. But how many got into comics because of Spider-Man or The Avengers? A lot more, I’d bet. If Marvel ever forgets how to reach new readers, we’re gonna lose the smaller comic shops. We’re gonna lose the indie books that all the indie snobs read while they sniff and snort about how Marvel sucks.
As for the book itself, Fear Itself is two issues in: A prologue and issue #1, and so far it’s mostly set-up. But the foundation is being laid with plenty of action mixed in the concrete. And I’m digging the irony of Sin, Red Skull’s daughter, being possessed by a God who, too, has daddy issues. Plus, you’ve got to hand it to Marvel: If this is a sell-out event just to tie-in to a movie or two (or three), at least they’re using less mainstream characters and fitting it into Marvel’s complex continuity. It’s not like they just plucked the heroes off the street, threw them on a distant planet, and told them to all fight. (Having said that, Marvel Super Hero Secret Wars kicked ass. Face it, it just did: It was the first real “event” book and it rocked the planet.) And so far, the story is self-contained. In fact, the companion book is all but irrelevant. You can read it if you want, but you really don’t have to.
So, if this gets a few new readers out there or generates just a little bit more press than it otherwise would due to the movie hype, I’m all for it. The printed word is dying a slow, painful death, and I’m not ready to see my favorite artistic medium die. Plus, I just dig superheroes.
DC’s doing a similar thing, too, with a new big Green Lantern event coming just when the movie hits. It just makes sense. God bless ‘em.
Tags: Captain America, Comic books, Thor
