Comics
The iTunes of comics... / 23.06.09
Whoever copyrights that phrase first is going to make a packet, eh?
So, Longbox, then. Could comics finally be about to get their own, proper, mass-market, cross-publisher internet distribution model?
Best. Fan trailer. Ever. / 25.05.09
Er, yeah. Can we please have this movie right now please?
Jump Leads Vol 1: Tales from the Flurry / 04.05.09
Ben Paddon, often of this parish, has gone and written a rather amusing sci-fi comic called Jump Leads, which first appeared online, but is now on proper paper with a nice cover and everything. Have a look at it here, then if you like what you see, buy a hard copy here. I would.
Batman and Robin! No, not the Schumacher one! Come back! / 21.03.09
Grant Morrison talks about his and Frank Quitely’s new upcoming series Batman and Robin. Oh holy god yes.
It was all-but-confirmed that Morrison would be returning to the character after Battle from the Cowl, but this is the first official word. Lots of lovely info in the interview, too - he stops short of saying that Robin is Damian (although we know it clearly is), and there’s little in the way of hints about who Batman will be (although it’s almost certainly Dick Grayson). It’s nice to see an admission that there’s never been any pretence that Bruce Wayne will be gone for good :
The Amazing Spider-Boy / 19.03.09
Apologies for the plug, but I couldn’t really let this one go by without dropping a quick post on here : I’ve got a comic out today! I plotted the eleven-page strip in the current issue of Panini’s UK newsstand title The Spectacular Spider-Man, and it’s in shops for the next three weeks. I’m rather pleased with the way it’s come out, and it’d be swell if some of you decided to go and buy it and tell me what you think. More info over on my workblog!
Saturday Morning Watchmen! / 05.03.09
Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s on Newgrounds - it’s bloody excellent. I’d still kind of like to see Watchmen Babies in : “V For Vacation!”, mind.
Scott Pilgrim and the Rest of the Cast / 20.01.09
We already had Scott (Michael Cera) and Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and rumours of Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells, but Scott Pilgrim author Bryan Lee O’Malley has now confirmed on his LiveJournal that the bulk of the main cast for Edgar Wright’s adaptation is in place (or, rather, has been in place for a while, but can now be officially announced).
Watchmen To Be Watched After All / 16.01.09
Time to breathe a sigh (of either relief or disappointment, depending on what you thought of the last trailer), as it’s being reported that Warners and Fox have settled the rights dispute that had been hanging over the planned March release of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen movie.
Of course, this was always going to happen. Fox were never going to try and stop the film being released - it simply wasn’t in their interests to do that rather than simply sit back and hoover up a healthy chunk of the grosses of an already-finished and highly-anticipated movie. The worst that might have happened would have been a delay to the release - but it would appear that things have been settled quickly enough to prevent even that.
Now, the question of whether the movie’s going to be any good or not - that’s another matter…
Batman Actually RIP This Time / 15.01.09
It’s funny how comics’ relationship with the news media works. A short while back, the newspapers were falling over themselves to announce “THE DEATH OF BATMAN!!!!111” without actually paying attention to anything that was actually happening in writer Grant Morrison’s run on the comic - and of course, nobody bothered to print a correction when Morrison made it explicit in issue #683 (as opposed to implicit and requiring more than a superficial glance at the much-hyped issue #681) that Bruce Wayne had survived the events of “Batman RIP” - although, to be fair, he should have known what he was letting himself in for when he called the story that.
Thoughts On / Images From the Upcoming Muppet Show Comic Book / 07.12.08
With all of the promised and then canceled Muppet projects over the past few years, fans are rightfully excited about the actually happening Muppet Show comic book. It looks like it’ll be a four-issue arc revisiting the Muppets at the peak of the televisual fame. This is a good thing. But some art has been leaked/released/whatever recently, and I have a few concerns.
I’ll share them after the jump.
"The Dark Knight Returns" poster / 15.08.08
I wouldn’t normally post fanart, but this is completely excellent. Very in keeping with TDK’s marketing campaign (although you’d expect something completely different next time out, naturally), and absolutely beautifully put together - I can’t tell which bits are photographed and which are simply photoshopped.
And as it happens, I’m with those who think the Riddler is really the only viable existing villain left that can (a) convincingly carry an entire movie, and (b) fit convincingly into the world that the Nolans have created, so if a third film does ever come our way, I’d say he’s a decent bet for villain duties. But I’d strongly doubt that any future Bat-flick would be called The Dark Knight Returns unless it was a direct adaptation of Miller’s book. The Dark Knight Strikes Back or Again might work, though (the latter, of course, is also a Miller book - but a rather less celebrated and, hence, not as “untouchable”).
Picture after the jump, anyway.
Joker concepts / 09.08.08
Cor! Those samples are certainly very different to what we ended up with (and the top two are also far more horrific) but then I reckon we got something MUCH better than this in the finished product. I can’t say I can totally blame the model, who is clearly and hilariously NOT The Joker, because the hair and suit shown in those pictures just don’t look right at all, either, despite being quite faithful to the comic look. Anyway, that aside, I am TOTALLY getting this book.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe / 03.08.08
I’ve been, tragically, stuck (mostly) internetless in Ireland for the weekend/week during which all manner of exciting comics and movie news and tidbits have come out of the annual San Diego Comic-Con… but upon my return, something I was eager to pounce upon immediately was the anticipated unveiling of the title and cover art for book five of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s masterpiece Scott Pilgrim…
Concerned in Oblivion / 26.07.08
There are a great deal of very talented people out there on the 'net, and a great deal of them turn to popular computer games as a means to show us that talent, be it through web comics, machinima or just plain old blogging. Today I'll be pointing you towards one of my favourite talented people, Chris Livingston. A working knowledge of the Half-Life and Elder Scrolls games is desirable to fully enjoy his work, but I'd be interested in how outsiders view his work regardless, so do read on.
Oh good, it's a Watchmen game / 25.07.08
This is probably the most unsurprising news that has ever surprised me, but it seems next March’s Watchmen film is going to come with its own computer game.
One More Day, one more issue... / 05.12.07
You may or may not be following the current One More Day arc over in the Spider-Man comics (a review of part 3 in the 4-part story can be found a few posts down on my new comics review blog, Comics Daily) but needless to say, if you were you'd probably have some strong opinions on it. The short of it is that current Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada is attempting to reset the status quo of the character to deal with what has long been seen as a problem - his marriage to Mary Jane.
BBC Poos (News) / 14.11.07
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7093358.stm
"Customers will not be able to download the comics either, which can only be viewed in a web browser window."
Leaving aside the rather awkward use of the term "web browser window" - IF YOU CAN SEE THE COMIC IN YOUR BROWSER, YOU'VE ALREADY DOWNLOADED IT. I mean, is it really that hard to get this kind of thing right? Saving != Downloading. Come on BBC, sort it out.
Crudely Drawn Naked People / 10.07.07
Around a year ago, I reviewed Jeffrey Brown's latest collected work, I am going to be Small. At the time, it occurred to me that I should go back and cover his earlier work for a series of reviews, which I felt needed some additional attention.
Suburban Glamour / 06.06.07
Friend of NTS Jamie McKelvie has a new comic coming out in September. It's called Suburban Glamour, and it's clearly going to be rather good. He's already gone on about it a fair bit here, but now, through the medium of brilliant-one-page-advert-strips, let Astrid and Dave give you a bit more info...
How Not To Report On A Massive Comics Event / 08.03.07
Well for starters, if you're a major UK newspaper read for free by numerous commuters and left lying around trains and buses everywhere, not putting it as the big story on page three before all the UK-based comic shops have actually had a chance to open their doors and sell the blasted thing might be a help.
Spoilers in the above link and in the rest of this post...
Most optimistic spin ever? / 16.02.07
From this Marvel Press Release, as seen on Newsarama:
This the mysterious first re-appearance of [Spider-Man's] black costume
Interesting way to describe the truth, which is that the comic that explains why Spider-Man is wearing the black costume is incredibly late due to delays plaguing the entire Civil War crossover.
Still, you've got to give them credit for trying.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. III : Century / 02.02.07
*jaw drops*
No, I'm not talking about The Black Dossier. We know about that, that's the weird cross-media experimental one that keeps getting delayed and will be the last one to be published by Wildstorm/DC. No, I'm talking about this (scroll down, just below the From Hell hardcover).
The Rover Returns / 01.02.07
Roy of the Rovers bought for £150 by a group of fans who plan to produce new strips.
Alternate Cover - A Public Service Announcement / 21.12.06
Just in case anyone's actually wondering where it's gone, it seems fair to inform my loyal public that due to the busy nature of this entirely secular holiday season there will be no Alternate Cover reviews this week. However, there will be a special Christmas edition going up on Monday! When no-one will be on the Internet to read it! How's that for planning? Normal weekly service should be resumed towards the end of the month.
The only boy who could ever teach me... / 30.11.06
Alan Moore to appear on the Simpsons / 10.11.06
All I can say is, they'd better not fuck this up.
No more "Brokebat Mountain" jokes, please... / 01.08.06
...seriously, they weren't even funny before the first one was made.
Anyway, as has been pretty widely reported, Warner Bros. have now confirmed that Heath Ledger will be playing the Joker in Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins, which will be quite brilliantly titled simply The Dark Knight (let's just hope they don't wuss out on that one like Sony did with The Amazing Spider-Man).
Wholly Stereotypical Headline, Batman! / 30.05.06
It never ceases to amuse me when I see BBC News stick a piece of comics-related news on the site (last time prior to this was, I think, the Holy Terror, Batman! non-story that the media picked up on), but I can't remember the last time such a thing actually appeared on the front page, Alex Ross concept sketch and all.
Local... a Supernatural Fantasy? / 20.04.06
After having finally discovered Brian Wood's Local (a perennial favourite of fellow NTS writer James) by virtue of my LCS actually having all its first few issues in, and having enjoyed it immensely, I did the usual thing I do when I discover something a little while after everyone else - went back and read some reviews of it.
Alan Moore Knows The Score / 07.03.06
The Culture Show, BBC TWO, Thursday night, 7.00pm and 11.20pm. Alan Moore is being interviewed. Alan Moore never does TV interviews, so this should be something of a rare treat.
Life imitating comics / 20.10.05
United States Secret Super Soldier Program unavailable for comment.
Completely denouncing an entire artform #28364 / 09.10.05
In the latest issue (#1142) of Private Eye, regarding a play:
All-Star Superman / 01.10.05
Newsarama have posted online a preview of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman #1, due out in November. Most of it has already been seen before in Wizard previews, but even so, it's good to see it in better quality.
