comics

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I was telling a friend tonight about where I am with my writing at the moment: the book, getting back into the swing of op-ed writing, what have you.  He asked me why am I writing at all: for fame and fortune or to get a message out that’s burning my bosom up from the inside.

I want a bit of all of that, to be honest.  After half a lifetime of battling demons, I still hope to find a little success as a writer.  It doesn’t have to be an awful lot of fame or acclaim.  That’s never been what this blog is about or anything else I’ve put my hand to for that matter.  I suppose if there is a gauge I’m going by, it’s that I wind up feeling like Dad would be proud of me.  He never gave up on me and I want to do ...

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It’s been fifteen years since Calvin and Hobbes took their sleigh ride off the comics pages and into cartooning history. They haven’t been seen since and now in an extremely rare interview, Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson looks back on it all and reflects on the strip’s enduring charm… as well as his thoughts about ending the cartoon’s run at the height of its popularity.

I’m not gonna hit the “publish” button on this post without saying that in my opinion, Calvin and Hobbes is the all-time greatest comic strip ever. Hard to pin down a favorite “arc” but the one about the snow goons stands out in my mind as classic Calvin 🙂...

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I honestly can not remember the last time I have seen this many people so jazzed about a movie as is happening right now with Star Trek. It’s like a kind of magic that we had taken for granted in summer blockbusters had gotten lost somehow, and now it’s been found again. If you haven’t already you seriously owe it to yourself to see Star Trek the way it’s meant to be viewed: in a crowded theater with a wide variety of people who have no idea what a thrill they are in for.

(By the way, my good friend Phillip Arthur has just served up his own rave review of Star Trek. And here’s the review by Yours Truly 🙂

And if you’ve seen Star Trek and are dying for more of this relaunched saga, then I’ll strongly recommend Star Trek: Countdown, IDW Publishing’s official graphic ...

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Sometimes you come across something on the Internet that is so overwhelmingly kewl just on the basis of the obvious amount of passion and intelligence poured into it, that you can’t wait to praise the effort and share it with others.

That’s what I felt after finding Lockjaw, The World’s Greatest Superhero. It’s a very detailed site that, with great affection and eloquence, argues why Lockjaw of the Inhumans from the Marvel Universe is the best comic book character around. In terms of innocence, nobility, and utter power, this Terrigen Mist-altered bulldog lives a life of romp, play, and the occasional rescuing of the universe on his own terms. Not even Galactus comes close to matching Lockjaw’s unrestrained abilities, the author insists.

Gotta give the props to whoever made this site. And hopefully Lockjaw will be a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, instead of just getting ...

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Ever since the first time I read Watchmen, I’ve thought it would be neat to have an action figure of Rorschach to decorate my shelf or computer desk with.

It’s taken twenty years, but today I finally get my wish…

Found it at Books A Million in Greensboro while out on some business this morning.

Now all we need is for someone to make a big plush Rorschach doll that goes “Hurm” when you pull the string 😛...

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If you’ve never read Watchmen (what’s the matter with you? Go read it now!) then this requires some ‘splainin’. In the graphic novel there’s this kid who’s reading a pirate comic book at a newsstand. The comic book, Tales of the Black Freighter, is shown to us the readers as a “story within a story” and it parallels a lot of what’s going on in the greater scheme of Watchmen. Zack Snyder didn’t have enough time to include it in the feature film adaptation of Watchmen, but it’s important enough that it’s coming to us next month as an animated feature on DVD and Blu-ray! And the word is that months afterward when Watchmen itself is released for home consumption, that an “ultimate edition” will be coming out that splices together the live-action movie and the animated Tales of the Black Freighter.

So with that ...

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Twenty-five years ago this month, in January of 1984, G.I. Joe #21 from Marvel Comics hit the newsstands. The cover promised “The Most Unusual G.I. Joe Story Ever!!”

What an understatement…

Marvel might as well have declared G.I. Joe #21, the now-legendary “Silent Interlude” issue, as being “The Most Unusual COMIC BOOK Story Ever!” and now, a full quarter-century later, there would be very few fans of graphic art literature who would disagree.

“Silent Interlude” was the issue that broke all the rules of what a comic book was supposed to be. And I think it could even be argued that it forever shattered conventional wisdom on what a licensed property tie-in was fully capable of achieving. From the day that G.I. Joe #1 came out in the spring of 1982 onward, the comic book was generally regarded as a glorified advertisement for the popular Hasbro line of action figures....

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…then you really owe it to yourself to go find the back issues, or if you’re patient enough then to wait for the trade paperback and buy that as soon as it comes out. ‘Cuz this seriously might be the greatest story about Wolverine that Marvel Comics has ever published.

I first wrote about the “Old Man Logan” arc back in August when Wolverine #66 hit the stands. The story begins fifty years in the future, long after Logan wandered away and threw himself into self pity following the night that the bad guys finally conquered the country (and maybe the world). In all that time, Logan hasn’t “popped his claws” even once, having relegated himself to the role of a pacifistic farmer, husband and father. During the long odyssey that he and the now-blind Hawkeye have taken across the ruined plains of America, there have been heavy hints that ...

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