Virgin Comics Ad Campaign

Newsarama posted the new ad campaign for the debut of Virgin Comics. Seriously, I know it's been said before, but I hope the execs over at Virgin realized the irony of this publishing company's name.

Planetary

Just finished re-reading the entire Planetary series thus-far. My god that is a good comic! Seriously, anyone who hasn't needs to check it out. I would start w/ the first trade. It's not the kind of story you can just jump right into. If yr a little hesitant, check out the Planetary Fan Appreciation Page for a complete listing of issue summaries & analyses (spoilers galore). It'll give you an indication about what's going on, but you'll have to read the actual book to fully experience it.

This book soldifies both the pure genious & madness of Warren Ellis. If your a fan of Transmetropolitan, there's no guarantee that you will like Planetary. Maybe if you liked Orbiter, but that again is no real guarentee. When I first started reading the book I thought it was great because I thought I understood what it was: revisionist/deconstructionist superhero stories tying together the vast history of fantastic fiction/mythology under a single redefined continuity. No. That's not what this is. Planetary is completely different from things like Astro City (which is also great, but in a completely different way). Robert Emmons over at Sequart.com wrote a really wanky column/essay/dissertation on Planetary that got me thinking about it in different terms.

Ellis is really playing w/ some new & interesting ideas here. Information as the "underpinning of the universe"? Universes being 2-D planes w/in a 3-D construct making up the multiverse? Hmm. Seriuosly. I've only begun to fully understand what is really going on in the book. I mean beyond the plot. The issues come out so sporadically that I'll probably have more than enough time to re-read the whole series maybe two more times before issue #26 comes out & I'll probably get something completely new & different as I did from all previous readings.

With this particular reading I mostly got that Scott Patterson would be great at playing Elijah Snow.

Just when you thought it was safe to celebrate the holidays...

THE LOBO PARAMILITARY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!!

I guess this is what he gets for telling Robin to "Stay in the Car"...

Infinite Crisis #7 Covers

Newsarama broke the black & white versions of George Perez's & Jim Lee's alternate covers to the final issue of Infinite Crisis.

Bryan Hitch "Wolvering: Orgins" #2 Cover

See Nuke?

Manga hates Korea

Here is what Asia Times Online had to say:
"Apr 20, 2006 -
A Japanese comic book that puts down Korea will do nothing to ease tensions between the neighbors. The manga authors say that while many Japanese are caught up in all things Korean, the so-called "Korean Wave" has also created a backlash of anti-Korean sentiment that the mainstream media ignore. - Matthew Rusling"

The Wikipedia Entry contains a translated synopsis from the official website:

"Kaname Okiayu was an ordinary high school student that could be found anywhere. She found history difficult, and to put it clearly, she had no interest in it. Not to mention that neither would she have any reason to be interested in South Korea. She merely had the vague assumption that "Japan did bad things to Korea". She was taught that at school, and TV and newspapers also said that. But since the Korea-Japan co-hosted World Cup, she started to feel that "There's something fishy about South Korea"……

As Kaname becomes a college student, she joins the "Far East Asia Research Society" history circle in order to learn more about South Korea. Guided by the seniors she meets there who are utterly absorbed in studying South Korea, she would go on to learn the surprising truth, and the "true" history of South Korea……"

The entry also includes a character list, table of contents, news about the sequel, & a blurb about various responses (spoilers galore).

This is why Josh should not be reading "Sword of Atlantis"

Words of Wisdom from Art History Teachers

Words of Wisdom from Art History Teachers: "Professor A: The use of white in this painting is maginificient, this white here is white as in pure white, like you can feel the warmth coming out of it.. but the white in this part is rather cold and gives a sad feeling.

Professor B: You are completely worthless unless you go out and see real art.

Professor C: And I came back from New York yesterday.. here are some photos that I took. I go there twice or three times every year, but I hadn't gotten a chance to last year. I go to America all the time though. Oh here are new photos from the renewed MoMa and..

Professor D: Seeing modern art is important too, don't reject them just because they're queer. Oh by the way, do not drink in class.

Professor E: Here is an amazing book of Spanish art collection; the photographs are big, the commentaries keen. I highly recommend it. Yes, I wrote it."

1953 Mechanix Illustrated: "How Nuclear radiation Can Change Our Race"

1953 Mechanix Illustrated: "How Nuclear radiation Can Change Our Race": "Mark Frauenfelder: Over at Finkbuilt, Steve Lodefink reprints the opening spread from a 1953 Mechanix Illustrated article, 'How Nuclear radiation Can Change Our Race,' that comes with a great illustration by comic book artist Kurt Schaffenberger. “Now hear this Earth! I am Mutant Man, Homo Superior! I have been created by radiation forces out of the loins of you, the human race, after your great terrible Atom War. Yes, I am a step up and beyond you, and I am now your master for better or worse. You created me in your blind, savage, senseless war of atomic radiation. You have only yourselves to blame if I turn out to be your — Frankenstein Monster!” Will this voice someday thunder ominously over the World from a Mutant Man, not a human being, but as far beyond us as we are beyond the ape man? Will a new race, spawned out of the hellish radiation of a World-Wide Atomic War, go on to challenge Man’s supremacy on Earth? Link "

New Tales from Earthsea Trailer

New Tales from Earthsea Trailer: " The Studio Ghibli site is hosting a new longer trailer for their upcoming film, TALES FROM EARTHSEA (out in July). "

New Tales from Earthsea Trailer

New Tales from Earthsea Trailer: " The Studio Ghibli site is hosting a new longer trailer for their upcoming film, TALES FROM EARTHSEA (out in July). "

What's Wrong with Event Books?

Nothing...generally.

There is a very good interview w/ Joe Casey on the wordballoon podcast where they kind of delve into things from a perspective that I, as a reader, appreciated. Yeah, we can all be cynical about the mid-90s, but let's face it, that's when a lot of the readers of my generation started picking up books w/ some regularity (albeit in secret). Casey makes a good point: he's seen it all before. When Joe Quesada, & alternately Dan Didio at DC, came into the Marvel offices as EIC, there was an edict passed down that there were going to be no more big "events" in the Marvel Universe. Several years later, we've been travelling down the road to Civil War for a very long time. But when you listen to the writers involved in masterminding these giant cross-overs, their intent is to trick the untrained reader into thinking that they've had these storylines planned from day one in some grand Moore meets Machiavelli plan. They want you to think they're that good. & you know what? They are. Because they didn't do it that way. But the fact that it could be easily misconstrued that Brian Bendis has been forming a secret coupe w/ Mark Millar to bring about the fall of America's greatest hero, as opposed to the truth, which is that Joe Quesada locked all the "hot" writers in a room together & deprived them of food, water, & internet access until they turned this baby out. Same thing for DC of course. Of course the germs of these stories had been planted long, long ago by the individual writers, but no one knew the exact form & shape that they would take on until the deadline was set. But it sure has been one hell of a ride for the loyal fans of the big 2 hasn't it?

One of the best points Casey brought up came from reading the recently published memos & notes from the "Absolute Crisis" hardcover. Marv Wolfman states, over & over again, because people don't seem to listen the first time, that he conceived the story entirely himself on a train ride to a convention & pitched to the DC editors when he got there. I don't believe for a second that he's lying. But when you look at the work that was put into it, you can see what it takes to pull one of the puppies off. It wasn't conceived as a company-wide revision to make their characters more marketable. It wasn't a way to pull in new readers. It was just a story. Written by one man, who happens to have planned, & planned, & planned, & planned, until he was given the official "death list" by the DC editors. The reason so many of the headaches like "Eclipso" or the "Phalanx Saga" don't work, is because no one bothers to do their homework. Caey read the memos & saw the planning put into Crisis on Infinite Earths & shouted, "Yeah! Now that's how you fucking do it!" Still, he remains on the side-lines watching the Civil War wheels turn, content to not be involved, because he's seen it all before.

I don't understand what the big deal is. Several of my comic book geek friends have remarked to me some level of relief matched w/ equal amounts of uneasiness about the ending of Infinite Crisis. Some have suggested that they may not buy comics anymore. At the New York ComiCon, one audience member of the DC Crsis Counseling panel asked when things were going to calm down. "Calm down! I hope they never calm down!" yelled Dan Didio at the top of his lungs -- which he really didn't need to do, since he was standing right in front of a microphone, which coupled w/ his screaming caused a huge rush of clipping & feedback through the rooms PA that unsettled all of us in the audience even more than the fact that there are no plans to bring back Barry Allen. I personally, don't want things to calm down in the world of comic books. I don't want to go back to the comic book store every Wednesday & look at the shelves realizing that there's nothing for me to buy except zombie comic books, as much as I love them, & maybe the occassional Seth graphic novel. Righ before the Infinite Crisis ball started really rolling I had gotten back into mainstream superhero comics. For years I bought only indie books trying to justify my love of the medium while trying not to acknowledge that my love stemmed from a fascination at an early age w/ a bunch of underwear perverts solving their problems w/ violence on a globally devastating scale. That stopped when I got out of the hospital & realized that I didn't have time to waste on pretending to not love the things I love. & this is what I love. Soap operas in spandex.

What's the difference between a single issue of the Brave & the Bold & Crisis on Infinite Earths, save for a few hundred other characters being referenced that you need to Wikipedia per page? All an "event" book is is a massively obnoxious & expensive crossover. Hell yeah I'd pay that amount of money for the first meeting of the two Flashes or the first meeting of the JLA & JSA. Those are great stories! That's where it started. You like Runaways? Well maybe you'd like Young Avengers. Let's put out a mini-series, tying into Civil War to get people to check out both teams & possibly their individual books afterwards. These are great characters. Maybe you don't know it. But writer knows it. That's why he's putting them in a book w/ yr favorite character & that buxom babe you wished you could have lost yr virginity to instead of that other girl. That's the great thing about a cross-over, it's just an excuse to write a new story. I think that the biggest problem w/ the mid-90s period of one cross-over on top of another is that the writers forgot that there are other reasons to write a good story about people in underwear punching each other. It's the kind of logic that only happens in this particular genre. You don't see the zombies from Walking Dead eating the people in Escape of the Living Dead, do you? No. Someone did it first. Gardner Fox. The rest followed suit & for a period of time forgot how to do otherwise. Today, the worst of the mainstream drivel is better than it ever has been in years. I have faith in my writers. I think that they've learned their lesson & that this sudden burst of event-oriented marketing is something that will pass for a period of time until a few more years down the road when it would be appropriate to tell another cross-over, company wide story. You got to keep believing. I mean, that is the reason Superman & Wonder Woman of Earth-1 keep fighting isn't it?

Japan Spring: not just cherry blossoms, but cosplay time

Japan Spring: not just cherry blossoms, but cosplay time: "Xeni Jardin: With springtime in Tokyo comes cherry blossoms both real and fake -- but warmer weather also brings out the cosplayers. Link to photos by Alexandra Roberts. (thanks, Chad Arsenault)

Reader comment: miah says,

This isn't cosplay, most of the people there are EGL (Elegant Gothic Lolita). Cosplay is all about dressing up as Anime characters and I see no cosplay in those pics. Harajuku is a common area for teens to hang out in clothes they've designed themselves or thrown together from thrift shops. See Fruits for more info: and an introduction to Harajuku.

Reader comment: Mizer says,

Miah's comments are incorrect. Cosplay (kosuperu, in Japanese) is a portmanteaux of the English words 'Costume' and 'Play.' It simply means the act of dressing up in costume, whether it be a costume of your own design, or an imitation of an anime character, rock star, tv celebrity, video game character, etc. True, a large number of cosplayers do choose to dress up as anime characters, but the t"

Prism Comics 2006 Guide Hits Stores

Prism Comics 2006 Guide Hits Stores: "Official Press Release

Atlanta, GA -- The 2006 edition of 'Prism Comics: Your LGBT Guide to Comics' becomes available in comic book stores and other specialty book stores this week. This collection is a resource to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender members of the comics community, containing exclusive comics features, articles, columns, and more, topped by a cover by fan-fave Joe Phillips!

The 2006 Guide is 144 pages, including 37 pages of comics (by Justin Hall, Rivkah, Abby Denson, and others), an exclusive 'Queer Eye on Comics' look at Batman and Robin, feature articles and interviews (spotlighting Devin Grayson, Ismael Alvarez, Terry Moore and others), and 42 pages of creator profiles. All for a cover price of only $5.95!

For the first time, Prism Comics also features content from a major publisher: Editor Shaun Manning worked with DC Comics to include an excerpt from the multi-award winning WildStorm comic 'Ex Machina,' by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris and Tom Feister.

'This year's Prism "

Rob Ullman's new microcomic, That's Just Super

Rob Ullman's new microcomic, That's Just Super: "Mark Frauenfelder: Measuring just 4.25 x 3 inches, Rob Ullman's 48-page microcomic, That's Just Super, is a lighthearted homage to '60s Kirby monster comics and the frustration of secret identity supehero romance. Told entirely without dialogue (if you don't count the occasional Yearrgh!, ping!, and Pow! this nifty little book costs just $3 from Wide Awake Press."

Friends of Lulu Starts New Fund @ CAPE

Friends of Lulu Starts New Fund @ CAPE: "Official Press Release

April 7, 2006- Friends of Lulu, the national nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote and encourage female readership and participation in the comic book industry, is launching a new fund and will be jumpstarting it at CAPE this year!

The fund will be for women in the industry who wish to pursue legal action in sexual assault cases, by helping to provide money for representation and also emotional support when needed.

“I think it is only natural to add this to our focus,” said FOL’s National Vice President Ronée Garcia Bourgeois. “In order for us to truly be an organization aiding women, we need to recognize the fact that this IS a problem and work toward education and the elimination of such treatment.”

As the official jumpstart to this fund, Friends of Lulu will be holding a raffle at CAPE on May 6th in Dallas. Gotham City Limits (http://gothamcitylimits.com/) in Jacksonville, Florida, has donated a Sin City Prize pack consisting of a Sin Cit"

Comic Industry Related Sexual Harassment Statement

Read.

[friends of lulu website]

Sweet Dreams, Internet

Sweet Dreams, Internet: "
" [from Warren Ellis]

Teen Avenger Flight

In the great tradition of spoiling all the secrets of adolescence, Rich Johnston has posted some pretty sweet reveals for upcoming Teen Titans & Young Avengers issues on the new Lying in the Gutters. There's also a great post-civil war/Alpha Flight reveal.