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Picks of the The Week – May 22, 2013
As we take a moment to keep the victims of the tornadoes that hit Moore, Oklahoma, we also look ahead. We have the holiday weekend before us, and we a new week of comics this Wednesday.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Picks of the Week – May 15, 2013
Unless you have gotten lost in Candy Crush Saga (and let’s face it, who hasn’t), you realize that it’s Wednesday, and a new super candy, er, new comics day.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Picks of the Week – May 8, 2013
We’ve passed Free Comics Day, and hopefully everyone made it to their local shop for some free stuff without being a jerk and taking all of the free books. Now we get to look forward to a new week and some new books.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Picks of the Week – May 1, 2013
It’s the first of the month and a Wednesday, so it’s time for some new books.
And, just a reminder, this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. Be sure to visit your local comic shop to pick up some free stuff, and maybe pick up a few new titles as well.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Picks of the Week – April 24, 2013
It’s been a rough week for me. Still, I did manage to read through some of this week’s releases and come up with a pick or two.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
5 Superman Projects To Check Out
75 years ago this week, Action Comics #1 hit the newsstands, introducing America and the world to Superman. Since that day, the Man of Steel has become one of the most recognizable comic character in the world, if not the most. And with the latest Superman movie set to premiere this summer, it seemed only fitting for me to look back at some of the great Superman projects over the years.
Think of it as a primer.
- The Adventures of Superman – A classic of television shows. I remember watching these in syndication as a child, never knowing the dark history that surrounded George Reeves. The series did not go in for the major villains, but it was still fun watching the Man of Steel break up criminal rings throughout Metropolis. The series is available on DVD.
- Superman cartoons – Heading way back to the era of the matinees, Max Fleischer created a number of Superman shorts that ran in theaters. Unlike the television show, Superman’s foes were more in line with the comics, facing mad scientists and robot monsters. These shorts are available on DVD and Youtube.com
- Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero by Larry Tye – This book covers the history of the Man of Steel, from his humble origins in the minds of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to the legal turmoil that has plagued Superman in recent years. Tye’s book covers everything about the Man of Steel, including the radio shows, the Fleischer cartoons, the television show, and even the movies. Tye does not pull punches in this book as he reveals the behind the scenes drama that has accompanied the Last Son of Krypton over the years.
- Superman: The Movie – Directed by Richard Donner and starring a stellar cast, this was the epic tour de force for the Man of Steel, covering his origins right up to his clash with Lex Luthor.
- The Man of Steel – In 1986, DC Comics had just created a major restructuring of their comics universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths. In its wake, DC started to relaunch their flagship characters, updating them for the modern times. Written by John Byrne, The Man of Steel retold Superman’s origin for the 1980s, but did so much more. Gone were much of what had been created in the Silver Age of comics, making Superman truly the Last Son of Krypton. Even Superman’s long standing cast of supporting characters were revamped, from a modernizing of Lois Lane, to the transformation of Lex Luthor from criminal mastermind to unscrupulous (and untouchable) businessman. Much of what Byrne created in this series stood until later writers began to return many of the classic elements of Superman. But, this mini-series still remains a great read.
Related articles
- Cleveland Declares ‘Superman Day’ To Celebrate The Man Of Steel’s 75th Anniversary (comicsalliance.com)
- Happy birthday, Superman! A look back at 75 powerful years (herocomplex.latimes.com)
- Cleveland mayor declares April 18 ‘Superman Day’ (robot6.comicbookresources.com)
- Superman At 75: Dan Jurgens Reflects On The Man of Steel (comicbookresources.com)
- Superman Turns 75! His Top 5 Screen Appearances (nerdist.com)
- It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a super-septuagenarian! (today.com)
- Happy 75th Birthday Superman And Lois Lane! (splashpage.mtv.com)
- Superman Turns 75! Here’s 7 Things You Didn’t Know About The Man Of Steel (radaronline.com)
Picks of the Week – April 17, 2013
It’s been a rough week for everyone. As we keep Boston in our thoughts and prayers, we can at least have a little bit of a release this week.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Picks of the Week – April 10, 2013
Has it been one of those weeks… again? At least you have some new comics to check out this week.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
If I Were Creating My Own Comic Company
Before I start with tonight’s topic, I took a few moments (okay, hours) to catch up with a few shows, and one half hour I should not have caught up with.
How I Met Your Mother needs to be cancelled now, it is gotten that lame.
And now….
Every comic reader has the dream, to write his or her own comic, create their own character to stand among the Pantheon of the great comic characters like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four (sorry Spider-Man, you’re still on my crap list).
I, however, dreamt a bit bigger. I think it was because I really liked creating characters… lots of them. Enough for an entire universe of comics. With that much under my belt, it would seem only fitting that I would not want to create just one comic, but a comic company around these characters.
Granted, it helps to have a game plan as to what I would publish. Naturally, I would want to start small, but huge.
The Team Book
The flagship book would be my team book. This team would have some set characters, along with a rotating cast of others that come and go as needed. For me, this team book would revolve around the team I used in my fourth NaNoWriMo, and the first story arc would be an adaption of that NaNoWriMo story. Given the nature of the team book, it would be possible to cover citywide crises as well as small time crimes.
If you have ever seen the old 1980s cartoon MASK, it would be similar to that, with superheroes instead of tech heroes.
Anthology Book #1 – Superheroes
While the team book would give an idea of what this comic universe is like in one city, the first anthology book would broaden the scope. Each issue would feature three or four stories, some multi-part, some stand alone, all of which would look at the adventures of heroes beyond the team book. In practice, I would try to keep the main characters of the team book out of this anthology, if only to maintain some degree of continuity.
This book would be like the old bi-weekly Marvel Comics Presents in nature, before it started to feature only popular characters that were already in three other books.
Solo Hero Book
The solo hero book would feature a character outside of the city where the team book was set. This character would be more of a street level hero, one akin to the old pulp heroes that Dynamite Entertainment has been working with as of late.
Anthology Book #2 – The Dark Side
This anthology would feature the darker side of this comic universe. It would feature a headline story based off a government/superhero conspiracy idea that I have been ruminating for quite some time, and would feature a couple of back-up stories of demon hunters, vampire slayers, and werewolf fighters, along with other creatures of the night.
Anthology Book #3 – Galactic Level
Strange worlds, alien creatures, and technologies undreamt of would be the focus of this anthology. One of the characters I would feature has actually appeared on this blog, that of Tempest Solaris, but other stories would relate tales of galactic wars, explorers of forbidden worlds, and strange life on alien worlds.
Anthology Book #4 – History Book
One of the ideas I came up with when I was thinking about my comic universe was the concept that there were other generations of heroes. This anthology would explore the back story of the world I created. A rotating stories of pulp heroes of the 1920s and 1930s, the dark era of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the sporadic appearances of heroes throughout the ages would be featured, all expanding on the history of the world that is the setting for all of these books.
As you can probably gather, I am a big fan of anthologies.
Picks of the Week – April 3, 2013
It’s a new month, and Easter is behind us. Time to check out some new comics.
Starting this month is DC Comics’ WTF month. Each of their New 52 books feature a fold out cover with the special shocking revelation.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
