New WEBComic Idea...

I think I'm going to do a webcomic that is an inter-dimensional teen romance strip about a space-hero who loses his car & has to go on a cross-dimensional journey to find it, only to fall in love with a teenage girl & go to prom with her. It will be called Zooot!!.

Link
Link

The Brave & The Bold: Deepak Chopra & Grant Morrison

There are videos of Deepak Chopra & Grant Morrison's Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes panel from the San Diego Comicon at the Virgin Comics Myspace Profile & on Google Video. Here is a short snippet of the panel:



Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Steampunk rayguns

Steampunk rayguns: "Cory Doctorow: Wetanz makes three models of these stupendous steampunk pistols, which they'll be offering for sale within the next year. They look like they'd cost a fortune -- and be worth every penny. Link (Thanks, Stephen!)


"

"Tales of the Black Freighter: Marooned" reconstructed

Steven Johnson, a Watchmen fan, has reconstructed all of the "piratey bits" used as a juxtaposed narrative device from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's classic Watchmen series to see if the story told within the story works on its own. It's a fun exercise and read, so check it out here.

Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always Work!!

Joel Johnson just won an open bid on an original copy of the mythical "Wally Wood's 22 Panesl that Always Work!!" - a series of short-cut diagram panels to make talking heads scenes more interesting to look at & read in comics - & is now generously offering brand new scans at various resolutions for you to download, look at, & print out. Do it. If your an aspiring cartoonist or writer, it's definately worth a look. Here's one version...






Linked via Neil Gaiman's blog.

Comic Book Review 16 August 2006

I'm sick right now, so you'll have to excuse me if today's reviews are especially short and beligerant, fuckers. Also, no images for right now. My editor at Sequart just reminded me that piece of shit I submitted as a "column" earlier today requires a ton more work. So let's start with the "crap":

Robin #153 Ok, those of you who know me know how much emotional investment I have in the character of Tim Drake. And you know that I will pretty much defend anybody's run on this book until the run has been completed for at least 3 months so that I have the opportunity to sit and read the whole thing as one complete work. But seriously, how many stories do we need about Tim Drake's reaffirmations? I hate to say it, but I do not recall a super stellar run on this book since Dixon left it, and those of you who I have been obnoxiously defending the Robin book to know how dirty I feel in my underwear any time I admit that Chuck Dixon is secretly one of my all-time favorite comic book writers... That being said, I am broke and I don't have the time or money to be wasting on pap when I could just be downloading it instead. A maybe download if you are a very dedicated fan of the Tim Drake character, or for some reason, Captain Boomerang II.

Nightwing #123 Bruce Jones is another one of those writers whose DC run I am constantly having to defend. My only problem with his Vigilante miniseries was the lack of resolution due to a very compressed ending. I appreciate that he is one of those writers who is not afraid to explore a singular idea or theme w/in the realm of superhero comics. Very few people are still willing to do that with any degree of subtlety or finese, and Jones is one of them. His books are all so weird and bizarre, and I think that is one of the reasons the last issue of Nightwing was such a satisfactory wrap up to the Jason Todd story-arc. That being said, even that arc seemed a little off in its take-off, so I'm hoping that the mildly lack-luster feeling I was left with after finishing this issue does not last more than two months on this book. Admittedly, while I deeply appreciate the more ambitious approach of new artist Robert Teranishi's panel design, it does detract from the flow of the story from time to time, but I will wait until the story is actually complete to make a final decision. Buy if your a big fan of the previous arc, download if you've already read the previous arc.

Now for the really great stuff:

Deadman #1 More Jones love. This book is great. The colors and inks on the cover can be a bit offputting at first, but trust me, John Watkiss' interior art is stellar. He's amazing at drawing a good explosion or demon, but what I particularly love, and this in any other context could be considered a bad thing, is the stiffness of his characters. Given the mood of the book, the scenes it appears most prevalent in make it work so damn well. There are also times when the figure just seem to float, or appear especially languid. I think Vertigo is a much better fit of Jones' quirky sensibilities and more adventurous story-telling ambitions. Read it. Definate download, buy if you feel lucky.

Phonogram #1 It's fun. It's british. It's got snobbish pop music references with a glossary in the back of the book. Paying $3.50 for a 22 page B&W story seems a bit steep, but it may be worth it for you. This book takes a very particular kind of personality type to really fall in love with it. Not for everybody.

Fell #6 Cassanova #3 JUST GO OUT AND BUY THESE BOOKS ALREADY!!! They're only a $1.99 each and they are so worth it. I love the art, and the writing is amazing. Created by some of the smartest and most talenented people making comics right now. Just buy it. Even the "back matter" is a great read.

Cracked Magazine re-launches

Cracked Magazine re-launches: "Cory Doctorow: An Internet-era VC has relaunched Cracked magazine, redesigned to look and feel like Maxim -- short articles, lots of photos. Good writers, too:
Even he wasn't convinced it was a good idea at first when a friend suggested he consider buying Cracked. 'I said 'not interested. It's comics. It's for little kids,'' Sarhan recalls. But the seed had been planted and 'for the first time I stopped thinking about Cracked for what it was and started thinking about Cracked for what it could be and what the potential was.' ...

Sarhan, who is 33, has gathered a stable of contributors that includes writers for 'Saturday Night Live' and Comedy Central's 'Chappelle's Show,' as well as the satirical author Neal Pollack and the actor Michael Ian Black, co-star of the former NBC comedy 'Ed' and snarky commentator on VH1's 'I Love The...' series.
Link

"

Wolverine-claw temporary piercings

Wolverine-claw temporary piercings: "Cory Doctorow: Freakboy had these temporary 'Wolverine' piercings done at a shop in Brazil; I'm guessing that they're a little impractical around the house and on the toilet, but they're probably good conversation-starters at church and such. Link (via Warren Ellis)


"

As with liquids, TSA bans motherfucking snakes from planes

As with liquids, TSA bans motherfucking snakes from planes: "Xeni Jardin: 'NO SNAKES OF ANY KIND WILL BE PERMITTED ON A PLANE. SNAKES ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED IN CHECKED BAGGAGE. This includes all pythons, boas, rattlesnakes, vipers, mambas, adders, and other known species of snakes.

Exception: some limited amounts of snakes may be allowed if Samuel L. Jackson is traveling; licensed snake charmers are allowed to have snakes in their check in baggage only if the name on the snake charming license matches the one passenger’s ticket; people who'se name is Snake will be allowed on board but only after full body cavity search

* Snakes purchased in the sterile area must be consumed before boarding because they will not be permitted onboard the aircraft.
* Passengers traveling from the U.K. to the U.S. will be subject to a more extensive screening process. Some measures will not be visible to the public. In light of the elevated threat level, the Federal Snake Marshals Service (FSMS) will provide expanded mission coverage for flights from the United Kingdom to "

BAT-MARATHON

Amy Pane, to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, has watched the entire first season in one sitting. Augie De Blieck talks about it being either a "brain-frying" experience, or the "ultimate geek" experience (is that the name of Bendis' new Ultimate Universe project?). I don't think it's that special. I have, at one time or another, watched the entire series in one sitting, taking breaks to only pee & order chinese food. No big thing. I also rememeber that before I watched the entire second series the day I got it in the mail, I made sure to rewatch the first season directly before so I was sure to not miss any beats. God I love this show. I might force my girlfriend to do this with me just like Amy did. Amy, you may be my new hero for actually admitting to doing this.

Rocketbelt convention 2006

Rocketbelt convention 2006: "
The Rocketbelt convention 2006 is September 23 - 24 @ the Niagara Aerospace Museum, New York and looks to be an incredible event! I have a thing for rocket belts, it's a Maker doing what we all dream about - flight. Most of the rocket belt efforts seem to be a labor of love and have a deep rooted Maker spirit - if you plan to attend this, let us know-- [via] - Article & link.

Some of the confirmed attendants / speakers:



Harold 'Hal' Graham, first ever rocketbelt pilot, piloted the 'JFK' and 'Pentagon' flights.
Peter L. Kedziersky, the second Bell rocketbelt pilot.
William 'Bill' Suitor Bell rocketbelt pilot, 007 Thunderball pilot, Olympic rocketman, 1200+ flights.
John Spencer Bell's Chief Test Pilot at Bell Aerospace from 1969 thru 1972 he flew the rocket belt in several configurations both tethered and free.
Ky Michaelson with his rocketbelt, AND rocketchair.
Stuart Ross First European rocketbelt pilot. Will lecture on what it takes to build a rocketbelt...
Erik Bengtsson hydrogen"

The Fix: "Weeds" marketers launch aromatic P.R. push. Jackson's people unearth "one of the biggest conspiracies in entertainment history." Plus: Gibso

The Fix: "Weeds" marketers launch aromatic P.R. push. Jackson's people unearth "one of the biggest conspiracies in entertainment history." Plus: Gibson's kids, little demons?: "Morning Briefing:
Just saying no to 'Weeds' campaign: The marketing campaign for Showtime's 'Weeds,' which launches a new season next week, includes marketers passing out 'Weeds'-branded brownies at mass transit hubs, a traveling 'munchie mobile' and scent strips emitting a certain herbal aroma in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone. The Showtime marketing people may be pleased with their P.R. push, but the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy is decidedly displeased. 'Unless they're going for the over-50 demographic, it sounds like their marketing department might be a little out of touch,' said Tom Riley, the agency's director of public affairs. 'Maybe some baby boomers still find this kind of thing edgy, but young people don't.' As TV Week writes: 'That's right, because nobody knows what's cool better than the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.' (TV Week)

..."

Fwd: Five Fists of Science review

Check http://Sequart.com for the newest Tenement Stories column
featuring Matt Fraction and Steven Sander's OGN "The Five Fists of
Science".

The following is the e-mail Steven Sanders sent me after reading the column.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steven Sanders <stevensanders@gmail.com>
Date: Aug 7, 2006 1:48 PM
Subject: Five Fists of Science review
To: f.ram000@gmail.com

Tonio,

I just now read your review of Five Fists of Science, and I wanted to
thank you for writing an excellent, well-considered review. I think
you put more thought into reviewing it than Matt and I put into making
it. :)

Also, I wanted to say "Congratulations" to be the first reviewer to
notice (Or at least mention noticing) the cameo of Clark Kent and
Jimmy Olsen. I threw that in on a whim, and kept waiting for people to
notice it. If I had a prize for it, I'd give it to you. :)

Best,

Steven Sanders

--
My Moon-based death ray
Panics the people of earth
Mock my theories now!

http://www.studiosputnik.com

Post Crisis Post

A recent Newsarama story revealed a HUGE spoiler for the Crisis Aftermath: Battle for Bludhaven mini-series -- Captain Atom dons Monarch's armor!!! That probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but for me, someone who started coming of age as a comics reader during the big 90s boom (regrettably), I was privy to all the Armagaedon: 2001 references 'cos I was there reading that shit back in '91, dog. If yr confused by this, read the aforementioned Newsarama article or check out Julian Darius' write-up on the DCU crossover at Sequart.com (while yr at the site checking out my column anyway). But this kind of brings me to my big point...

Infinite Crisis has been a damn entertaining read. As a complete & whole work? Well, it's not supposed to work on that level. The beauty of the serialized comic is that it's serialized. You can read that month's installment for 10-15 minutes at a time on the train ride home. But it doesn't work as one of the great standalone comic works of all time. But then again it's not supposed to. It's supposed to supplementing a larger ongoing mythology, that as far as DC & Warner Bros. are hoping, will never end. You really have to look at it in that light in order for it to seem good. I love me a good crossover, but it's got to be a good story. I'm not 9 years old anymore & turning Hawk into a villain doesn't do it for me. But if you live up to the promise you set up 15 years ago & have a big plot point like the one in Battle for Bludhaven, then maybe yr crossover was worth it.

I'm actually in the process of re-reading all my Infinite Crisis books, starting w/ Identity Crisis and Green Lantern: Rebirth. Those are both really good solid stories on their own, and following that up w/ Countdown, OMAC Project, and Sacrifice kind of makes the work as a whole suffer. If you tie too many things in, the lackluster facet makes the really good facets seem bad. Even if the lackluster facets are still good stories, they don't compare to the better parts. W/ a story this huge in scope, it's hard to attain that kind of consistency. Even among the mini-crossovers like Sacrifice, the change in personel made the story suffer, as good as the other creators were, they didn't gel w/ Rucka & Saiz the way I was hoping they would. But that, again, is the nice thing about crossover events. When people are initially dropping money for this stuff, they are not reading it the way I was last night - in one sitting. They are reading it in sections, & if one issue stands as satisfying or even good, & compels you do feel one way or another, then that should be good enough. I didn't pick up all the comics tied into Arm2001, but I did pick up what I could, & judging from that when I was 9, it was an awesome comics story & I doubt few others will live up to it exactly. I guess that's just the fanboy in me.