The Four Color Media Monitor

Here's an interview on the Gothamist website with MAD magazine contributor Al Jaffee, who recently had a biography published.

Labels: good artists

This article in the Utah Valley Daily Herald talks about some comics collectors who are into the hobby for more than just monetary value. I'm glad to know there are some today who do believe that collecting comics should be for more than just money.

I discovered a poster on Spider-Man Crawl Space asking a question that's actually quite worthy: just how Marxist is Marvel's horrible crossover, Civil War? I always realized it was ultra-leftist in its approach, but until now, I don't think I'd ever considered wondering whether it was Marxist, surely the strongest accusation you could make against Mark Millar and Joe Quesada's useless junk. The poster says:

Civil War was a New Marxist, scramble-brained allegorical slam against the Bush Administration. None of the characters made any sense, jammed as they were into that iron mold. The MU public blamed the superheroes for Stanford instead of the supervillians (cementing their collective reputation as a population dumber than rocks), Osborn despite being a mentally deranged supervillain was hired by the U.S. government & became a stereotyped jingoistic flag-waver, Tony Stark suddenly turned into an amoral fascist, Steve Rogers immediately launched armed resistance instead of the 203 other peaceful options open to him, and came close to beheading Tony, Franklin Richards turned a toy gun into a real gun and fired it into Osborn's arm, Ben Grimm ran off to hide in France, Reed Richards built a gulag and unintentionally killed Black Goliath by proxy, MJ and Aunt May advocated Peter's unmasking for irrational reasons, Peter unmasked for the sanme irrational reasons....and then the entire thing culminated in One More Day!

I don't see the people writing these stories as all that good at it, with a few exceptions. Sure, they know how to run the basics beats on a 22-page visual format, but I don't see these last ten years as providing timeless classics -- partly because I don't see the stories as having heart. Civil War had no heart.

Almost nothing produced this past decade had any heart. There's little to no character drama featuring supporting cast members - certainly none who were introduced plausibly - and crossovers have shoved personality for superheroes out the window. If that's all today's editors can focus on, of course there's no heart. There's only hate for their own properties. No wonder Civil War could be as Marxist as it is leftist.

Labels: crossoverloading, dreadful writers, marvel comics, politics

This press article from PR Mac announces that there's a new program for the iPad called Manga Blade, for reading internet manga pages.

Labels: manga and anime, technology

The Tearoom of Despair writes about how the X-franchise, when under the helm of Chris Claremont, was comprehensible enough, mainly because the 3 titles they had at the time were usually kept stand-alone so that their casts could be handled well within a manageable boundary. It's after they left and hacks like Scott Lobdell took over - and more numerous cast members were stuffed in - that it fell apart drastically, as the cast count went over 40 plus, and there were only so many characters weakly written that you couldn't care about them.

I'd note though that Louise Simonson wasn't the only other writer who was allowed to work on X-books: Peter David, who'd been new to the scene at the time, worked on X-Factor, and that too was usually kept stand-alone, which is why is worked well enough during the first half of its run.

Labels: marvel comics, X-Men

Here's an article on the Torontoist about the history of Canada's own comics publications, mainly during the Golden Age.

Their latest joke is called Chaos War, intended as something to allegedly bring back dead characters of their own. And seeing that Louise Simonson is involved in this, I think she's really losing it now. Chris Claremont, who's also taking part, already has.

I recently saw a writer online say that Marvel has officially moved away from crossovers. Not so. If Chaos War is any sign, they're going to run themselves into the ground with this disastrous recipe.

Labels: crossoverloading, marvel comics, msm propaganda, X-Men

I'm not sure about Marvel, but DC hasn't abandoned crossovers by a longshot. Now, DC is going to flood their Green Lantern titles with this awful nonsense:

“From Rebirth to Sinestro Corps to Blackest Night, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner have stood by each other and fought together to save our universe,” said Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns. “After all that, what could possibly tear them apart? We’ll find out in War of the Green Lanterns starting in March’s War of the Green Lanterns #1 and throughout the Green Lantern titles in March, April and May. Every Green Lantern is about to be tested — and tested against one another.”

Gee, isn't that just what everybody needs: division. And this is a clue to how Johns' alleged love of GL lore is phony. As was the case with Civil War, instead of character relations like the GLs going out on dates with hot women, for example, and trying to help people in trouble with criminals lurking around the neighborhood, we get the gazillionth example of heroes clashing against each other, and it doesn't matter if they're brainwashed by a force of evil, it still stinks.

With the GL movie set to open next year, I wonder how well this will play out with anyone who might be interested in the current adventures of the Emerald Warriors? Judging by sales even for GL-based titles, I'd say the answer is: not very well, if at all.

Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, dreadful writers, Green Lantern

Marvel's latest planned stunt is to kill off Ultimate Spider-Man, or at least that's what the current news is suggesting:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Has Spider-Man spun his final web?

Marvel Comics said Tuesday it will unveil a story line in Ultimate Spider-Man - a separate imprint from its other comics - with a title that may prove unsettling to the webslinger's fans: "Death of Spider-Man."

The publisher is playing coy about what fate may befall Peter Parker, but the story is likely to be groundbreaking given that the Ultimate Comics line has been less than kind to several characters in the past, killing off Magneto, Wasp, Wolverine and others for good.

Even if this is the Ultimate universe, that doesn't make these acts any less tasteless, and that's one more reason why their blabbery claim this'll be groundbreaking is simply disgusting by now. We're supposed to care about reading this because a character dies any more? It makes me wonder if promoting the stories based upon deaths was ever a good idea to begin with. In the past, this wasn't exclusively the method for how to promote a story. But now, it's becoming the norm. Marriages, for example, are seldom seen as a promotional concept, if at all, and there certainly haven't been any authentic or even tasteful ones taking place in superhero comics with a big wedding ceremony.

As some might be aware, the writers in charge of this latest time-waster from Marvel are none other than the awful Brian Bendis and Mark Millar:

Brian Michael Bendis, who penned the story with Mark Millar, said Tuesday that the story is a "bold endeavor" and will span several issues. But on whether Spider-Man will be killed or not, Bendis and the company were mum.

"As a group and as individuals, we have made a conscious effort to create stories this year that no one has ever seen before," he said in a statement. "I am very, very proud to be a part of this story line and very proud of Marvel for even attempting such a bold endeavor."

As expected, Bendis is still his shameless self. Even if they don't kill Ultimate Spidey, the approach alone is still insulting and no longer has any impact to it.

Fans of Spider-Man need not worry much, though, because the Ultimates imprint is separate from Marvel's bigger universe and whatever fate may befall Ultimate Spider-Man won't count in the pages of the other series, including "Amazing Spider-Man."

If recent sales figures suggest anything, I don't think fans even care anymore. They don't even care what's happening in mainstream Spidey's book, thanks to Quesada's destruction of the Spider-Marriage, along with tons of continuity established in that and other Marvel books over the years.

Mark Paniccia, senior editor at Marvel Entertainment, said the story is part of the Ultimate imprint's mission to keep characters fresh but reinvented, updated and even killed off to advance story lines in the Ultimate universe, which was created 10 years ago and has been a best-seller for Marvel.

"We're excited because this let's us show the world how serious we are about change in the Ultimate universe ... that we can blow up the status quo and turn everything on its ear like no one could've predicted," he said.

The story is set to hit comic store shelves in February.

And nobody need pay their hard-earned money for this silly stunt. Keeping the characters fresh? Ha. All the line actually served for was an excuse for Millar to write disturbingly "adult" material in the pages of Ultimate X-Men and the Ultimates, including a regurgitation of the Hank Pym as wife-beater storyline from the early 1980s, reworked into something even more demonic that it makes that old storyline look quite tame by comparison.

As mentioned before, sales today don't support the idea that the Ultimate line is a best-seller, certainly not in the direct market, and if they were really serious about change, I think they'd look for more creative ways to write a story than to kill off characters, even in the Ultimate universe.

Labels: bad editors, crossoverloading, dreadful writers, golden calf of death, marvel comics, msm propaganda, Spider-Man

Here's an article in the Mainichi Daily News about an Italian translator now living in Japan who's specialized in translating a lot of manga books into Italian and English.

Labels: Europe and Asia, manga and anime

I guess it really was likely to happen even sooner than expected. CBR says that overrated J. Michael Stracynski is leaving his writing task on the Man of Steel and Amazonian princess' series, to work full time on the Earth One graphic novels. That's fine with me, since the info I looked over from his run on both was uninspired, and uninterested in writing a story using the supporting casts of the series. If he couldn't do that with these books or with Spider-Man, I honestly can't see why some would consider him a genius.

The 4th Letter notes how JMS has quite a record of lateness and leaving some of his work unfinished. If he cannot set his schedule straight and doesn't have the strength for it, he should not be taking the assignments to begin with. Period. His political views finding their way into the scripts don't help matters.

He may be done now, but as I realize, his replacements are unlikely to be any improvement. Of course, if they continue to go by what they set in motion with the "continuity" since Identity Crisis, there's almost nothing they can do to heal their current status.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, Superman, Wonder Woman

Reuters reports that a Garfield strip ran on Thursday that many saw as insulting to Armistice/Veterans Day. Jim Davis has at least apologized, and said:

...the cartoon had been written almost a year previously and that Davis, who had a brother who served in Vietnam and a son who served in Afghanistan and Iraq as a Marine, had not known when it was going to appear.

I hope this is correct. If it is, then it suggests the syndicate in charge of distribution (Universal Press? I know he stopped relying upon United Features in 1994) held it back deliberately until now. In that case, maybe the distribution syndicate owes an apology.

Labels: comic strips, politics

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a short interview with veteran Jim Shooter (he's a native of the city), who'd been editor for Marvel and Valiant back in the day.

The Asahi Shimbun reports that on November 26, there's going to be a special panel convention in Tokyo and Yokohama for female anime specialists.

Labels: Europe and Asia, manga and anime

Again, signs of sales crashing, as October passes with no title selling above 100,000 copies. And this includes even titles that are still only 3 dollars, not 4.

And what that can tell us is that, even if prices are lowered back to 3 dollars for those already at 4, it's not going to do much to help. Especially if DC and Marvel's books lose at least 2 pages of story.

Labels: dc comics, marvel comics, sales

This article in the Quinnipiac Chronicle talks about another anime/manga club in their district.

But it also made me think about how clubs for American comics are nowhere near as numerous.

But when the writing quality of US comics plummets as badly as it has all these years, I realize it can't be too surprising.

Labels: manga and anime

E! Online is reporting that for the next Spider-Man movie, Gwen Stacy is going to take the place of Mary Jane (H/T: R.S. McCain):

Our Hero Won't Be Saving Mary Jane Watson (Nov. 5, 2010): After some initial confusion, it was revealed that Emma Stone would not be playing the beloved leading lady. Instead, she'd be playing Gwen Stacy. Of course, this resulted in speculation as to what role she'd be playing in the reboot. The answer: none. It's been revealed that Mary Jane is not and never was featured in writer James Vanderbilt's screenplay. Guess Gwen won't have to worry about any competition.

But the filmmakers - to say nothing of Marvel Studios - may have to worry about loss of interest in the film franchise. From at least a few of the reactions to the reboot news I've seen on a few other sites (Dixonverse, Spider-Man Crawl Space, for example), there's every reason to believe that the reboot plan may prove counterproductive, as people lose interest what they're planning. Not because they don't like Gwen, but rather, because this may be done at Mary Jane's expense, influenced by the disaster the comics have become these past several years, and Gwen was a big victim of that too. Indeed, it makes me wonder: just how much influence does Quesada and company have now on how the movies are thought out?

That aside, the reboot plans reek of such cynicism and obvious cash-greed, it wouldn't surprise me if it fails because they've signaled they're more interested in making a quick buck than in making real crowd-pleasers.

Labels: marvel comics, Spider-Man

All Cars Electric reports that Nissan's electric-powered Leaf hatchback is going to be featured in a five-part manga book.

I still think gasoline-powered cars are better though.

Labels: manga and anime, technology

The AP Wire reports on how Grant Morrison is only keeping on with the wobbly "new direction" for Batman by telling the press he's been bankrolling the Masked Manhunter:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne, is going public about his role behind the Dark Knight.

After a lifetime spent wearing the cowl - and a scowl that's made him the scourge of Gotham's madmen - the fictional billionaire is taking full responsibility for keeping the caped crusader financed to fight crime.

The admission is unveiled Wednesday in the final pages of "Batman and Robin" No. 16 that marks the last issue in a run by Scottish writer Grant Morrison.

The acknowledgment in the final pages comes as Wayne holds a news conference where he asks those gathered: "Some of you may have wondered ... how does a man like Batman afford to constantly update his crime-fighting technology? Where does his money come from?

"Well, the answer is me."

The confession, Morrison said, is part of a detailed effort that puts into motion a plan for Batman Incorporated, a global network of Batmen from China to Argentina to fight crime worldwide.

Morrison told The Associated Press that the decision was made to protect Wayne's secret identity by deflecting attention away from speculation it was he who wore the cape.

Really, it takes attention away, assuming any was ever given to who's behind the mask? I don't think what works for Iron Man has much effect with Batman. Besides, the main problem now is that, thanks to Morrison's forcing Bruce to do this, he could actually be drawing more unwanted attention to himself and some of his closest allies like Dick Grayson and Alfred Pennyworth: criminals of all shapes and sizes could try to invade Wayne Manor, their businesses and other properties, take hostages, and certainly cause quite a lot of damage that they didn't have many problems with years before. They could even be faced with legal warfare in attempts to unmask whomever wears the cowl.

And setting up a global network of Batmen only belittles the real Masked Manhunter's significance. Under a more responsible writer - and a more welcome atmosphere at DC - Bruce would've simply reassembled the Outsiders. Instead, we've got Morrison and company engaging in the gazillionth publicity stunt.

Labels: Batman, dc comics, dreadful writers, msm propaganda

Artist Jim Lee, who's been vice-president of DC Entertainment for about a year now, is reacting to the criticism of their redesign of Wonder Woman's costume as unpatriotic:

Jim Lee has said that he was surprised that his redesigned costume for Wonder Woman was called "unpatriotic".

The comic book artist told Metro that, while he expected criticism from fans, the nature of the attacks from some Fox News pundits shocked him.

Why do I get the feeling he's just seeking a chance to take a stab at FOX News? And even if the costume redesign wasn't intended as an insult to patriotism, it's still as unimaginative as J. Michael Stracynski's writing, the main problem with the series now, not to mention very awkward:
How can she swing her arms, if at all, without feeling rope-burn? Those straps are just too silly for words, and pointless. Nor is the artwork by Don Kramer very good.

JMS also has a problem of not using a lot of the supporting casts of characters in the books he writes, Spider-Man being one example, and this problem even turns up in his work on WW (is Vanessa Kapatelis in here? Apparently not). That she's downgraded as something close to a mere martial artist doesn't help matters either.

Lee said: "I covered her up and fans of the ample bosom said 'No!'. You can't win... You expect criticism from fans who don't like you changing anything they grew up with but I never thought anyone would come up with that 'unpatriotic' angle.

"Wonder Woman isn't even American, she's an Amazon princess. It teaches you how any media group can really put a spin on anything."

As it so happens, he didn't "cover her up" literally (though one can only wonder, with the way they're going down the drain today, if they'd be willing to do that), he only gave her a pair of pants to wear, so I think that's a little exaggerated, but why is he bringing up her bosom? Is he implying we fans are just a bunch of sex-addicted freaks? Nice going there, invoking the nerds-stuck-in-the-basement stereotype.

And WW may not be American per se, but was created as a heroine who supports both the USA and its best beliefs, including patriotism. And in this current decade, when American patriotism is being slighted, did it ever occur to Lee that this could be why some people are bothered about the costume change?

I suppose the the most annoying problem with this report from a UK website is that Lee cites FOX News as the bane of their problems. What, CNN couldn't have bothered them as well? Please. Maybe he's just upset because the Republicans and the tea party won big on Capitol Hill yesterday.

Labels: dc comics, msm propaganda, politics, Wonder Woman

The severe abuse of famous icons just keeps a-comin'. In this topic on the Dixonverse forum, 3-4 comics are spoken about, and are just as time-wasting as the last times. For example:

Sadly Captain Americas two issues, Captain America #611 and a mini I liked up till now, Captain America Patriot #3 of 4. In Captain America, Steve Rogers is shown explaining to President Obama, about Bucky Barnes past, cut to Barnes fighting 'Neo-Nazis' in Manhattan?? I'm sorry, the last time Nazis of any kind had enough members to hold a massive meeting in Manhattan was about 1940. Totally unrealistic and just another thinly veiled shot at those opposed to this current administration. Lines like 'Red Scares , anarchist bombings and Neo-Nazis have always been on the fringes of America’ really ring hollow, when we still have generally a destroyed WTC in the real NYC by Muslim fanatics. Art is OK, by Acuna, but, his poster of Neo-Nazis stopping Socialists from stealing America Now is another not so veiled shot at the tea party folks and it's really getting beyond annoying, it's disgusting and really invokes a sort of 'Black scare' of Neo-Nazis by left-wing writers. The storyline of Barnes answering for his Soviet past is interesting, but, this other clutter ruined this issue. Add to this the continuing boring 'female' Nomad storyline and this issue of Cap falls flat on it’s face, faster than Neo-Nazis in this issue. Next up is the 3rd of 4 issue series of Captain America -Patriot. Well, this series started off great, but, this issue ends with the comic going all 50's Red Scare ’ set-up which no doubt will be some innocent falsely accused of being a 'red.' These types of storylines are really doing an injustice to what was a real threat in the 40's to the late 80's of the Soviet menace and I really am sick of these clichéd storylines. I expected better by Karl Kesel who started off so good, but, who has now reverted to Cold War was only a 'scare' mode. Sad and pretty damn bad.

I'm not sure if Ed Brubaker is at the helm anymore, but it looks like Karl Kesel has followed up on his terrible insults to the Tea Party. Very, very sad.

Now, we come to the 'Ugly' issues of the week, and they are very ugly…

JSA#44 and Black Widow#7. I don't know if DC and Marvel writers were talking on the phone or e-mails, but, both Marc Guggenheim ’CIA Black sites’ in JSA and Duane Swerczynski who invokes 'CIA black torture sites' in their storylines with JSA in Afghan and Black Widows in Poland, which, it is said the CIA refers to Poland as it's 51st State and a place where Islam is not around. Yes, folks, not only is Muslim terrorism almost non-existent in comics, but, they are the victims of CIA torture and at the mercy of their captors. The JSA issue is a little better, but, some creature who escapes the CIA site in that one from Afghan has yet to be shown as to the reason, a victim who could have been reached through kindness if it wasn’t for those brutal, CIA torturers, what pathos, what sentiment.. what CR@P.. ? I have had it, Black Widow is being dropped from my list as of this issue and JSA is not far behind, although , I'll give it till the end of this storyline or issue #50, whichever comes first. we'll see?

The reader would do well to drop those series immediately, because buying even a story with only a minor reference to an awful matter is all they need to justify their continued use of such horrors. Now, both Natasha Romanova and the JSA are being exploited for some kind of anti-Guantanamo propaganda. Will Nick Fury be the next victim if he hasn't been already? Come to think of it, will the Howling Commandos be next to plummet too?

Labels: Captain America, dc comics, dreadful writers, Justice Society of America, marvel comics, politics, terrorism, women of marvel