Happy Thanksgiving 2011!
Have a great Thanksgiving! Whether you are spending the day with family, friends or otherwise, I hope your day is wonderful and that you have time to reflect on things for which to be thankful.
Most people have some thoughts of turkey on Thanksgiving, so to see some more turkey-themed comics, check out this gallery at fanboy.com.
- Matt Price
Zombie, space adventure featured in comic-book challenge catch-up post
Getting caught up on several comics read this year that never made it into a full blog post.
Living with the Dead 1-3 (2007, Dark Horse): Sort of “The Walking Dead” by way of a comedic buddy movie with a dash of romantic comedy. Worth checking out for zombie or “Zombieland” fans.
Incredible Hulk 601 (2009, Marvel): Greg Pak writes as Banner begins trying to train the Hulk’s son, Skaar.
Warlock 1-4 (2004, Marvel): Greg Pak writes a different version of the Adam Warlock character with a focus on philosophy.
Vision Machine 1-3 (2010, Pak Man Productions): Greg Pak and RB Silva provide a meditation on consumerism and technology in a smart, innovative sci-fi story. You can get the story for free at visionmachine.net.
Amazing Spider-Man #34 (1966, Marvel) Spidey faces Kraven the Hunter in a classic Stan Lee-Steve Ditko story.
Avenging Spider-Man #1 (2011, Marvel) A modern version of Marvel Team Up by Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira. Spidey teams up with the Red Hulk in issue 1.
Archie and Friends Cartoon Life # 1: (2009, Archie) Chuck Clayton teaches a cartooning class.
Scavengers 0: (Triumphant, 1993): After years protecting the Realm, Captain Ximos discovers a dark secret that leads him to become a renegade. This was better than what I had expected from the long-defunct publisher.
Secret Avengers 16, 17 (2011, Marvel): Good superhero espionage-type stories from Warren Ellis.
Doctor Who annual 2010. (2010, IDW) The 4-page Tony Lee teaser is the best story of the bunch, but these are OK for fans of the recent David Tennant-starring series.
- Matt Price
Comics read in 2011: 1,743. Still to go: 268.
DVD review: Captain America/Captain America II: Death Too Soon
Long-suffering “Captain America” fans finally got an A-list, top-notch film version of their favorite character when “Captain America: The First Avenger” came out earlier this year. But some disappointed Redbox patrons may instead find they’ve rented the TV movies “Captain America” and “Captain America II: Death Too Soon,” both originally shown on TV in 1979, and now out on DVD.
The movie takes a ton of liberties from the comics story. Reb Brown stars in both TV films as Steve Rogers. Dr. Simon Mills (Len Birman) wants Steve to take the FLAG formula, a sort of “super-steroid” that was developed by Rogers’ late father. Because his father experimented using his own DNA, the formula is only likely to work on someone in his family. Rogers refuses, but when he’s nearly killed investigating the death of a friend, Mills decides to use the FLAG formula on him without his permission, giving him peak human strength and other abilities. Unfortunately, all this origin means it’s over an hour into the film before Steve gets into Captain America gear, and when he does, he looks more like Evel Knievel than Captain America. His motorcycle, judging by the screen time it gets, is also a very important part of the film.
The first film must have been successful enough, despite making not too much sense, as most of the cast returned later that year for “Death Too Soon.” Connie Selleca (“The Greatest American Hero”) replaced Heather Menzies (“Piranha”) as Dr. Wendy Day.
The terrorist Miguel (Christopher Lee, slumming it) has stolen a rapid aging formula that he will use on a major American city if his demands are not met. (Thus causing — “Death Too Soon.”)
Steve tracks Miguel down to a small town, where he falls in love with a local woman, tussles with local roughnecks, and eventually tracks down the bad guys. Compared to the first film, this one’s semi-watchable, and Lee chews up the scenery with vigor. Hungarian-born Heidi Fleiss ex-boyfriend Ivan Nagy directs, and Captain America’s costume is closer to something that looks like the comics’ Captain America. It’s still pretty much a mess, but, prior to this year, “Death too Soon” was arguably the live-action Captain America to watch.
The Shout Factory Double Feature of “Captain America” and “Captain America II” has no special features to speak of, unfortunately. I’d love to have heard commentary from the directors or star about how these films were made.
— Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Patrick Gleason, Kevin Maguire, Freddie Williams to appear at Wizard World’s Austin Comic Con panel
Justice League #1 from 1987, drawn by Kevin Maguire.
Patrick Gleason (Batman & Robin; Green Lantern Corps), Kevin Maguire (Justice League; Batman Confidential) and Freddie Williams (JSA All-Stars; Batman) will be the special guests of a “Breaking into Comics” panel at 1 p.m. today at the Austin Comic Con, 500 E. Cesar Chavez in Austin. The trio is expected to give out tips on refining art and pitching publishers. The panel will be held in Room B.
- Matt Price
Update: Patrick Gleason didn’t make it, but Maguire and Williams did. Very informative panel, which I hope to write up in more detail later!
Happy Veterans Day!
Happy Veterans Day to those who have served our country. Your sacrifices are appreciated.
For those who wondering why Nov. 11 is the date for Veterans Day, find out the story behind the date at the Christian Science Monitor.
- Matt Price
Cartoonist David Simpson retires from Urban Tulsa Weekly; Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame retracts honor
Editorial cartoonist David Simpson has retired from the field after allegations of plagiarism surfaced last month. The former Tulsa World cartoonist had been cartooning for Urban Tulsa Weekly, who announced his retirement in the Nov. 3-9 issue.
The Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame, housed at the Toy & Action Figure Museum in Pauls Valley, has removed Simpson from the Hall of Fame.
The museum web site states:
Due to the recent revelation of another apparent incidence of plagiarism on the part of David Simpson, who had been inducted into the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame in 2005, before he had been terminated by the Tulsa World for plagiarizing another cartoonist’s work, the Oklahoma Cartoonists committee now hereby announces the formal retraction of that honor.
- Matt Price
Comics writer Sterling Gates to sign in Norman on Wednesday, Nov. 2
Hawk and Dove #3 (DC Comics)
Comics writer and Oklahoma native Sterling Gates returns to Norman on Wednesday to sign at Speeding Bullet Comics, 614 N Porter Ave. in Norman.
Win lunch with Stan Lee for charity!
Stan Lee (AP)
Charitybuzz is providing comics fans some rare opportunities to meet with the people behind their favorite comics.
A fan can win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy a lunch date with Stan “The Man” Lee along with POW! Entertainment co-founder Gill Champion in LA. The lucky diner will also get to take home two autographed comics.
Bidding is open through October 19 at http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/281204 with proceeds going to Communities in School of Los Angeles.
Lee, former publisher of Marvel Comics, co-created a laundry list of characters including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and the X-Men.
Own a Commemorative Marvel Encyclopedia Signed by Stan Lee
Another way to get a Stan Lee autograph is to bid on a Marvel Encyclopedia offered by Charitybuzz. A copy of the Marvel Encyclopedia, signed by Stan Lee, is up for bid through October 5 at http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/272716. The book contains new artwork, stats and histories for Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine and more. Proceeds benefit the Young Story Tellers Foundation.
Lunch at Archie Comics Headquarters in NY with the CEO
Two Archie Comics fans could meet the CEO of the company in a special Charitybuzz auction.
Nancy Silberkleit, the CEO of Archie Comics, will meet with the auction winners in New York at the comic book company’s headquarters. Bidding goes through October 5 at http://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/283815 with proceeds going to the Plastic Pollution Coalition.
- Matt Price
Click past the cut to find out more about the charities involved.
Batman #1 and other DC Comics’ The New 52 week 4 reviews, plus New Teen Titans: Games
The fourth week of “The New 52″ was fairly Bat-centric for most of the titles. “Batman” and “Nightwing” both re-established their core characters. There was also more sexual content in this week’s books, leading to lots of discussion online and in comic shops about gender relations and the portrayal of women in the DC Universe. Click past the cut for reviews of Week 4 of The New 52.
It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day
It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day!
You can find out more at the official site: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
Here’s what they have to say about the day:
In the … years since Dave Barry mentioned us in his nationally syndicated newspaper column, what once was a goofy idea celebrated by a handful of friends has turned into an international phenomenon that shows no sign of letting up. Maybe you read about us on line.. Maybe you caught one of our radio or TV interviews. Or maybe you just stumbled on to our site while googling around for sites your mother probably wouldn’t approve of. Or perhaps you’re one of the millions of people from South Africa to the South Pole, from New York to the Pacific Northwest, who’ve made it your own personal excuse to party like pirates every September 19th (and sometimes for days before and after)!
You can also join in with the pirates on their official Facebook page.
- Matt Price
