November 28th, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
Rants & Raves |
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One of comics’ great unsung heroes passed away on Sunday. Dave Cockrum had been unwell for many years, suffering from diabetes and related illnesses.
Dave’s first professional comics work was on Vampirella for Warren Publishing in 1971. Later that same year he did his first work for one of the big guns, working as inker on DC Comics’ Superman title. He soon progressed to penciling a memorable run on Legion of Superheroes.
A couple of years later he moved to Marvel, once again starting out with an inking job, this time on The Avengers. But bigger things were just around the corner…
When Cockrum and Len Wein created the new X-Men in 1975 the team was hardly the top seller it is today. In fact it had been on hiatus for several months and for months prior to that had been surviving on reprints.
Giant Size X-Men 1 changed all that. Building on the mutant team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963 they added new heroes who would become staples of the title for years to come. Several would even make the leap to celluloid in the three hugely successful X-Men movies.
Colossus, Storm, Mystique, and Phoenix are just a few who owe their look to Dave Cockrum. But his greatest creation must surely be Nighcrawler, a character he’d created years before and even offered to DC for their Legion of Superheroes.
November 19th, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
Monthly Comics Update |
3 comments
Forthcoming titles:
My recommendations for your comic shopping list.
Criminal Macabre: Two Red Eyes continues the adventures of Steve Niles’ hard-boiled detective Cal McDonald. This time he’s up against Nosferatu. Kyle Hotz provides the pictures. Available December from Dark Horse. Anticipation factor: 7
Batman Confidential is the latest title for everyone’s favourite Dark Knight. From the couple of pages I’ve seen this is looking dark and violent and that’s just how I like my Batman. Story by Andy Diggle and art from Whilce Portacio. On sale December. Anticipation factor: 8
The Helmet of Fate: Ibis The Invincible is a very clunky title but hopefully top fantasy author Tad Williams’ script won’t be. This five issue series leads in the new Dr Fate 1 and is due late January. Phil Winslade provides the artwork. Anticipation factor: 6
Scalped has a unique combination of modern Native American life and mob violence. Jason Aaron and R.M. Guéra combine talents to bring this one to life. This is due early January from Vertigo. Anticipation factor: 7
Spawn/Batman: Inner Demons is a 56-page one-shot coming in time for Christmas. Written and illustrated by Todd McFarlane, this has the two heroes fighting each other’s greatest villains. Anticipation factor: 7
‘68 combines zombies and the Viet Nam War. Expect buckets of blood from Mark Kidwell and Nat Jones in early January. Anticipation factor: 7
November 16th, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
Film & TV News |
one comment
A new James Bond is always something to get excited about but with Daniel Craig in the part I was much less excited than normal. I’d seen Craig in Tomb Raider, Road to Perdition and his starring role in Layer Cake and was extremely under whelmed. For me he had the same problem as another actor whose name was bandied about for the part - Clive Owen, said problem being a severe lack of personality. Both men seemed to have had charisma bypass surgery. This had the making of another On Her Majesty’s secret Service i.e. a perfectly good Bond film ruined by the man playing 007.
I wasn’t completely without hope though. Martin Campbell was the man calling the shots behind the camera and he’d got Mr Brosnan off to a great start with Goldeneye. At the very least the film promised some good action scenes…
It’s clear right from the start that this isn’t a Bond film, at least not the kind of Bond film we’ve grown used to over the last 40 odd years. Filmed in black and white, the pre credits sequence shows how Bond got his 00 rating. He’s a cold emotionless killer and he’s not afraid to get his hands bloody to get the job done. We’ve seen James kill before but never like this.
November 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
Film & TV News |
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The Marvel Comics superhero Moon Knight is coming to television. The character has been around since the ’70s and is currently experiencing an upsurge in popularity thanks to the top creative team working on the book. Acclaimed novelist Charlie Huston is the writer of the ongoing comic with fan favourite David Finch handling the art.
No doubt attracted by the popularity of the comic, production company No Equal Entertainment has made a deal with Marvel Studios to produce an ongoing series. As the ink is still wet on the agreement, no cast or production personnel have been decided yet.
Moon Knight is a hero in a similar vein to DC Comics’ Batman; he spends the night hours looking for evildoers and bringing them to justice. His secret identity is Marc Spector, an ex-mercenary forever changed by an encounter with the Egyptian god Konshu. Unlike Batman there is often a supernatural nature to his foes.
Television seems an ideal home for comic heroes, with the ongoing storylines more easily translated to a weekly TV format than a two hour motion picture. If this venture is successful it could lead to more of Marvel’s less well known heroes making the transition.
Hopefully the TV show will keep the dark and macabre atmosphere that has been a constant throughout the characters existence, never more so than in the current incarnation.
November 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
Film & TV News |
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In an unprecedented move, Marvel Comics has teamed up with Procter & Gamble Productions – the producers of long running daytime soap opera Guiding Light – in an attempt to attract new readers to the comics and new viewers to the show.
A new superhero is introduced on the Guiding Light episode airing November 1, 2006. This new costumed vigilante, along with other characters from the soap, made their first comic appearance in Civil War: Choosing Sides and will appear as a backup story in a further twelve titles.
This isn’t the first time the show has had a Marvel connection. A few months back, the series’ costume designer Shawn Dudley created the X-Men’s Storm’s wedding dress for an issue of the monthly comic, Black Panther.
While there has always been a soap opera nature to many comics, one has to question the logic of associating some of Marvel’s most famous creations (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, and Wolverine all interact with the residents of Springfield in the comic) with probably the lowest form of American TV drama.
With Spider-Man and Wolverine already having made several highly successful movie appearances and Iron Man coming sometime next year, can this venture really reach a potential audience who would otherwise be unaware of them? Is Marvel trying to attract the housewives of America to comics? And will comic readers really be interested in the goings on of the little community of Springfield? I personally have my doubts.
November 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Ian W |
TV Reviews |
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After the conclusion of last week’s episode, Hiro is more certain than ever that it’s his destiny to become a superhero. Using his powers and the comic book he brought back from the future, he convinces his friend Ando of this and the intrepid pair head to the US. Hiro still provides most of the laughs, but after the apocalyptic climax of the previous episode there’s also a desperate urgency about him. After all, he only has five weeks to save New York.
This week Peter Petrelli also provides a lighter moment as his attempts to fly result in not only a bruised body, but a bruised ego as well. On a more serious note, there’s a rift between him and his brother after Nathan informs the press that Peter’s jump off the building was a suicide attempt brought on by depression. All of this improves Peter’s character to no end. He’s getting much more interesting, and even punches Nathan out. I didn’t think he had it in him. He also hooks up with Simone after she breaks up with junkie precog artist Isaac when he refuses to get treatment for his addiction.
