Limited Edition “Uncle Cthulhu I Want You” Poster
Boom! Studios has redefined H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos with their series Fall of Cthulhu. Now these same minds bring you a parody of the classic Uncle Sam “I Want You” recruitment posters. Join Cthulhu’s army or be devoured by the Old Ones!
The comic publishers send their product descriptions to Diamond Comic Distributors, the comic book supplier to most comic book stores for North America three months in advance.
This March there are dozens of great titles to preorder. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve already expressed how I felt about a new Captain America in The Buzz.
Replacing Captain America (Steve Rogers) with a pretender to the throne diminishes Captain America’s legacy. Captain America is not about Captain America - it is about Steve Rogers being a puny boy during WWII, becoming a super soldier, and punching Hitler in the face.
Regardless, Marvel is going ahead with this marketing ploy.
Captain America will either be Iron Man, U.S. Agent, Bucky the Winter Soldier, Union Jack, Hawkeye, or Red Skull!? Read the rest of this entry »
Spidey Swings Into Broadway… And Into Our Hearts
Credit: Marvel
According to Playbill, Bono of U2 will be contributing music to an upcoming Spider-man musical. What story from Spidey’s life - origin, death of Gwen Stacy, etc - will be the focus of the musical is not yet known. Oddly, the Spider-man musical is not the only super hero musical in production.
David Bowie is also rumored to be developing a rock opera based on Alan Moore’s classic Watchmen series.
With musicals reemerging in the collective consciousness, on film and on stage, it makes sense that this corner of popular culture would be ransacked. Hopefully the musicals will strike a chord with new and old fans alike.
I Pity The Fool
Marvel Comic’s MAX imprint is a more violent label. Recently, they began to publish Foolkiller, a 5 issue miniseries by crime writer Gregg Hurwitz. An older character reinvented, Foolkiller is an underworld avenger, killing criminals in fitting and poetic ways. The images and implications created by Foolkiller may turn church ladies away, but I found that Foolkiller is a rich character with a fascinating back story. The death and violence is justified in the way Hurwitz treats the subject.
I was fortunate enough to speak with Mr. Hurwitz about Foolkiller. Read the rest of this entry »
Credit: Warner Bros.
No.
Okay, now that I’ve got that out of the way…
I think comic fans need to realize that the movie adaptations have nothing really to do with the comic books. I mean, sure the basic ideas are there, but they are so influenced by the entertainment industry comic book movies are separate from comics.
The trailer for The Dark Knight is on the web and we get a first look at the 2008 film, where Christian Bale reprises his role as Batman and Heath Ledger plays the Joker.
The Joker in this film is reminiscent of Jack Nicholson’s portrayal in the 1989 movie. The legacy of this new Batman franchise that started with Batman Begins is meant to reflect the Batman of the 90s movies.
Batman of the comics is not like the popular conception of the utilitarian avenger, the dark and brooding man that will take justice into his own hands, even if he has to get blood on them.
Yes, comic Batman is dark and brooding, but he’s also a boy scout. In preparation for the movies, I’m sure some tourists picked up Frank Miller’s Dark Knight series and saw the grim portrayal indicative of the 80s comic world. What people forget is this was an Elseworld, a re-imagining of the character not considered canon. Read the rest of this entry »
Credit: Marvel
We were duped, but in all fairness, so were the bad guys.
Last week’s New Avengers #37 was the follow up from issue #36, where the New Avengers were about to raid The Hood’s super criminal mafia headquarters.
Parker Robison, The Hood, decided in the wake of Civil War to become the new Kingpin of Super Crime. His underworld community of hack villains was becoming an empire and in the face of alien invasion, the New Avengers don’t have time to deal with other problems like him.
The New Avengers were aided by Hercules, the Silver Surfer, the X-Men and their rival Mighty Avengers. Not only that, but my favorite mallard Howard the Duck was seen with the group. Read the rest of this entry »
In this week’s column for The Buzz I will talk about several Marvel titles, so this week my top 5 pick will be focused on DC!
The Brave and the Bold #9 - “The Book of Destiny’s been opened, but look who’s come spilling out…the Metal Men! The Blackhawks! The Newsboy Legion! And the new Atom and Hawkman team! ” Countdown Presents The Search For Ray Palmer: Superwoman/Batwoman
Silence Is Golden
I was fortunate enough to interview the minds behind Archaia Studios Press’ Hybrid Bastards! after writing about the publisher in my column for The Buzz.
I was able to speak with another comic writer/artist for the sci-fi/art project Misericordia.
Rebekah Brem’s 11-issue series kicked-off this week. The first issue was presented without speech and the story was told with its art. Readers were introduced to a world where humans live underground and robots rule the surface. Read the rest of this entry »
It is inadvertent that comic book characters will begin to parody and homage themselves. Powers will repeat and names will be reused, sometimes intentional and other times on purpose.
But sometimes these cross-company trait thefts are more apparent than most. Read the rest of this entry »
My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.