Gaiman vs Dean continues with more threats, cuts and cartoons
The contretemps over Neil Gaiman's $45,000 speaking fee and the Minnesota House majority leader who called him a "pencil-necked weasel" has continued, in the way that all matters of life and death have. Alex Pareene / at Salon has one side of it:
Continue ReadingReview: The World of Thorcraft
It's very obvious that Marvel Studios movies have developed a style and look that's quite consistent, from the type of villain to the type of love interest to the Stan Lee cameo. On the spectrum of Marvel movies, THOR falls a little bit south of the first IRON MAN in terms of sheer enjoyability, but north of just about everything else. The good parts of the formula as developed by Avi Arad and perfected by Kevin Feige are just common sense: a reliable, solid director; respected, award-nominated actors in the villain, father figure, troublesome government figure and love interest roles; and a charismatic hero who looks good in a wife-beater. In the typical Marvel movie, science is both the hero's friend and enemy -- he (and it is always a he) uses science to better his own powers, but the forces of evil are always trying to duplicate and better that research, with the resulting showdown between the forces of order and the forces of chaos at about the 1:45 mark.
Continue ReadingCan you be a hot girl AND a nerd?
Now that Nerd Culture is just regular Culture, thanks to the Internet, you'd think everything would have been settled, but there are still some skirmishes going on. And only this week a new mini-ruckus erupted and oddly enough, it was among the girls. Now, one of the GOOD things about the internet is that it has allowed girl geeks to be just as proud and out as boy geeks and to, indeed, show that they like geek stuff, something that was doubted for a long time. Speaking as a lifelong nerd myself, I can testify that back in the neolithic age of nerditry, if you had girls genes you were not taken seriously as a comics fan, wrestling fan, Star Wars fan, or anything else that boys thought was just for them. Oh, the looks I got when I said I had read Robert E. Howard. For a long time, I felt like I was the only one. In fact while I was at WonderCon, I was chatting to Sergio Aragones about the olden days and he said, "Remember when you were the only girl?" and I could only laugh in agreement.
Continue ReadingThe Hero Initiative reunites original SANDMAN team
HERO COMICS 2011 is a benefit comic for the Hero Initiative, the highly worthy charity which helps down and out creators get back on their feet. Editor Scott Dunbier has a special treat planned for the issue: a reunion of the SANDMAN #1 team of Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg for an all new story. However, Kieth has already started work on a 9-page "making of" story (above) that he calls "a little allegorical."
Continue ReadingNew CONAN THE BARBARIAN trailer features swordplay, violence
If you've been enjoying Jason Momoa's portrayel of Khai Drogo, the Dothraki warlord whose fierce nature is tamed only by a knowledge of new sexual positions on Game of Thrones, you will enjoy this first full-length trailer for the new CONAN movie which is action packed, full of lovin' and killin' and Hyborean era fashion. And also someone who looks kinda like Lord Voldemort about 45 seconds in.
Continue ReadingGaiman vs Dean round 2 involves mom-decreed apology
You may recall that yesterday Minnesota House Majority Leader Matt Dean got his website crashed after he called Neil Gaiman "a pencil-necked weasel" and a hated thief over a reported $45,000 speaking see at a library. Gaiman, naturally, fired the next round at his blog:
Continue ReadingAre we losing our precious webcomics history?
Is a Bill Blackbeard for Webcomics necessary since so much that is on the web is entirely ephemeral and can disappear in the blink of an eye? We'd argue: yes. The Wayback Nachine isn't enough. Look at Tokyopop's website -- a couple of no-follows and you're lost forever.
Continue ReadingNice art: Jack Kirby’s Three Thors
Before he designed the Thunder God whose movie opens tomorrow, Jack Kirby had designed two previous characters named Thor, and over at the Kirby Museum they look back at the Sandman version and the Tales of the Unexpected version. We've seen THOR btw and will have a full review tomorrow. Short version: entertaining but 3D sucks.
Continue ReadingKibbles ‘n’ Bits: other things
Only the biggest topics of the day: Facebook, Osama bin Laden, mini comics
Continue ReadingKibbles ‘n’ Bits – 5/5/11 Chester Brown Edition
A while back we predicted Chester Brown's I-was-a-john memoir, PAYING FOR IT, would be one of the most talked about graphic novels of the years. Surprise! We called it! The Star looks at the book in light of Brown's run for Parliament on the Libertarian ticket
Continue ReadingNew Green Lantern trailer tells the whole story of the movie
Well, now we can't say we don't know what this movie is about!
Continue ReadingMinnesota pol calls Neil Gaiman a “pencil-necked little weasel”
A Minnesota budget battle has expanded into an attack on Neil Gaiman, as one fiscally-minded politician called the Newbery Award winning writer, whom he "hates," a "pencil-necked little weasel who stole $45,000 from the state of Minnesota."
Continue ReadingCelebrate Star Wars Day with new Lego prequel recap video, new Blu-ray set
It's billed as "The Fastest and Funniest LEGO Star Wars story ever told...The Prequel!" and it shows that when you have access to ALL the Lego sets you can make a pretty bitchin' lego toon . May 4th is celebrated around the galaxy as Star Wars Day not because it's when the original STAR WARS opened (that would be May 25, 1977) but because it's a pun on "May the Fourth Be With You." It is celebrated by gradually replacing humans with droids and disappointing expectations.
Continue ReadingDie, Bugs Bunny, Die
Last night the newest reboot of the Looney Tunes, The Looney Tunes Show aired on the Cartoon Network and I didn't watch it, but there are a bunch of clips floating about such as the above. The show is billed as a new concept for the venerable characters -- Bugs and Daffy have moved to the suburbs and are roommates and have wacky neighbors. YOU know...a sitcom. You should probably give this clip it a watch before you read the following, because I wouldn't want to prejudice anyone. Rebooting the Looney Tunes is one of the most thankless tasks on earth, and the general level of wretchedness of the various efforts over the years testifies to how pointless it is.
Continue ReadingPreview: Jim Woodring’s Congress of the Animals
NOT inked with a giant pen but incredible nonetheless, 10 pages of Jim Woodring's first ever Frank graphic novel, CONGRESS OF THE ANIMALS. For those unfamiliar with Woodring's work, it is set in a strange world of hope and cruelty, where strange creatures enact tales as deep as time, not even needing words. Few artists of any kind have ever limned the subconscious with such terrifying accuracy and beauty.
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