Marvel’s Monkey Business

No seriously, what where they thinking? There is a lot to be said for premise based writing - pitching a concept or gimmick and running with it, fleshing out the story and plot as you go. Many comic projects begin with the premise - Captain America fights so and so, etc. But this premise?

Marvel Apes is clearly following the success of the alternate universe stories of Marvel Zombies. But the stark difference between these series is not the cheap gimmick - the heroes as X. No, the main difference is that Marvel Zombies was done, dare I say, more artfully? Read the rest of this entry »

Marvel’s big secret has been unveiled - I think. The black-and-white image I previously posted will deal with Marvel’s upcoming Dark Reign branding stories. Basically, titles will have “Dark Reign” printed on the cover and they will deal with this new phase of the Marvel Universe.

Personally, this isn’t as exciting an announcement as I thought it’d be. We don’t really know what Dark Reign is, and the other two mysterious ads in comics recently were not linked to this event. I think the biggest news was Bendis’ stating he’s finished with Mighty Avengers after issue 20.

Regardless, I hope Dark Reign or whatever the conclusion of Secret Invasion is called will bring some slower pace to the Marvel Universe and allow stories to be told for awhile without being hijacked for crossovers.

For the past few months Marvel has been running black and white ads of mysterious characters holding guns in several of their titles. There are no words or indication as to what this campaign is marketing, and the internet has been begging for answers. However, tonight we may find out what’s going on.

Marvel released a press release and image today:

“What is this mysterious image? Learn the answers to this and many more exciting 2009 plans as Marvel makes their jaw-dropping presentation at the Diamond Retailer Summit tonight. And check Tuesday for in-depth interviews on all of the major announcements being made!”

So far there have been little actual hints as to what this project might be, or who the characters involved are. I could be these are new characters, or new interpretations of old characters. The ads give a noir feel to this mystery, so it’s possible we are looking at a super human crime thriller? Your guess is as good as mine, at least until tonight.

Cold Makes A Mascot Out Of Himself Part 2

Monday was Labor Day so there wasn’t a strip, and Tuesday’s was meant to refresh your minds if you had forgotten Cold’s attempt to become the new U of I mascot. This is the second part of Cold’s struggle, ending with his legacy forever a part of campus history.

Hot & Cold © Matt Knicl 2008

Magic: The Gathering has posted a few cards from their upcoming set, Shards of Alara, on their website.

These cards show new planeswalkers (including a multicolor one), the new mythic rare card type, artifacts that cost colored mana to play, and generally sweet cards that will redefine the game. Tri-color drafts will be a must, it appears, and minimages will most likely be a really fast, powerful game.

Keep reading as I plan to cover Magic more in depth, including interviews, deck ideas, and card news.

used with permission

For those of you who are connoisseurs of the Daily Illini’s comics strips, Dragon & Goat is no stranger to you. Written by Adam Fotos, Dragon & Goat is one of the papers longest running strips, and funniest (at least, funnier than mine).

Adam announced this weekend that his newest anthology of Dragon & Goat is available on lulu.com, the published-on-demand website where his other works are available. And the added bonus for these books is that Fotos has colorized his strips, no longer shackling them to a gray-scale newspaper existence. Defiantly spend the measly few dollars to get a copy of these guys’ antics. It’s well worth it!