RIP Del Connell
Mark Evanier reports the death of Del Connell, the sadly obscure creator of a kajillion comic book stories, including Super Goof and Space Family Robinson. Connell recently won the Finger Award at San Diego but was too ill to attend the ceremony:
Continue ReadingGetaway special: The day Spider-Man taught the Beyonder how to use the bathroom
Great moments in comics history, via Jim Shooter, Al Milgrom, Steve Leialoha and Christie Scheele from Secret Wars II issue #2. As referenced on Twitter by Brian Reed and shamelessly ganked by us. Surprising that Peter Parker did not supply the Beyonder with a magazine to occupy his thoughts. Yet another reason why SECRET WARS were the best wars. Secret POOPIN' Wars!
Continue Reading50 Years ago today the Marvel Age began
Based on what we know of publishing data, August 8th, 1961 was the day FANTASTIC FOUR #1 arrived on newsstands. Tom Brevoort sent out a birthday tweet. Although there's talk of boycotts and justified anger over Marvel's shoddy treatment of some of its greatest talent over the years, we should still mark this day. Pairing the protean storytelling of Ditko and Kirby with the breezy populism of Stan Lee created some of the greatest adventure comics that have ever been, and we suspect they'll be read for another 50 years.
Continue ReadingWilliam Shatner and Adam West — together for one glorious moment
We've suggested here several times that if someone wants to make some easy money, get Adam West and William Shatner together in a movie as retired detectives who just wander around saying things. Admit it! You would listen to West's mahogany stylings and Shatner's stentorian cadences non-stop!
Continue ReadingSDCC11 Videos: 50 Years of Comic Book Fandom Panel
The Comics Journal is posting video tapes of several Comic-Con panels -- so avoiding those crowds was the right way to go after all! Here's one that we much desired to see 50 Years of Comic Book Fandom with Mark Evanier, Jean Bails, Paul Levitz, Dick and Pat Lupoff, Richard Kyle, Bill Schelly, Roy Thomas, and Maggie Thompson. This is where it all began, people.
Continue ReadingTime Machine: San Diego Comic Con 1988
This year's show with its lines, security, street teams and skywriting to much for you? Return to the simpler days of San Diego Comic Con 1988 via Ironic Sans and their scans of the program book:
Continue ReadingGREAT art: Spiegelman, Ware and Panter talk Feininger
For those of you happily staying home in NYC instead of braving nerd prom, you are being rewarded by an amazing event: The Fine Art of Comics, with Gary Panter, Art Spiegelman, and Chris Ware at the Whitney Museum on July 20th. Held in conjunction with a show on Lyonel Feininger, this trio of masters will talk about comics and fine art.
Continue ReadingSDCC11: First Comics returns with four previews
First Comics is coming back in a relaunch led by co-founder Ken Levin and Larry Young.
Continue ReadingLaika: The alternate endings
To help them celebrate their 25th Anniversary, metro Washington DC-based comics shop chain Big Planet commissioned cartoonist Nick Abadzis to create “The Alternative Endings to Laika Show” . As you may recall. Abadzis's graphic novel LAIKA concerns the true like story of the Russian pooch who was shot into space in 1957...never to return, making her the space race version of Old Yeller. However in these comics there is ...a different outcome. Click for MORE!
Continue ReadingThe week in preview
It's been a furious few weeks of action here at Stately Beat Manor and around the comics intertubes as everyone scrambles to cover the DC Relaunch and What It Means. I've been as obsessed as anyone, although some of the fruits of my labor have yet to be posted. And of course, San Diego Comic-Con is just around the corner (less than four weeks) so things are about to get even busier and even crazier is such a thing is possible. And it is.
Continue ReadingThe Legal View: The Once and Future Superman
DC has cited its changes and additions to the Super-verse as grounds for reducing the Siegel heirs’s share of Superman material produced since 1999. A recent Variety article takes this even further, reporting thatNeil Gaiman’s success in winning co-ownership of Medieval Spawn provides legal precedent for giving DC complete ownership of the contemporary Superman, limiting the Siegels’ interest to the far less lucrative 1938 version of the character. Does DC have strong legal grounds for splitting Superman between The Man of Tomorrow and The Man of Yesterday? Click below to see if Gaiman v. McFarlane is legal kryptonite for creators' rights--or whether that's just another misconceived retcon.
Continue ReadingBrian Chippendale’s comics reviews are back and going mutant
When alt-comix superstar Brian Chippendale reviews mainstream comics, the result illuminates us all this episode he examines the X-men, the new UNCANNY #1, and fanboy style, suggests that consecutive numbering didn't hurt X-MEN #94:
Continue ReadingRIP Lew Sayre Schwartz (1926-2011)
Golden Age artist Lew Sayre Schwartz, best known as one of Bob Kane's ghosts of the Batman comic, died over the weekend of complications from a fall, according to his son Andrew. A memorial service is planned for July.
Continue ReadingHaney and Connell to receive Finger Award
Bob Haney and Del Connell are the writers selected to received this year's Finger Award. The Finger Award is presented each year to writers, one living, one dead, who for whatever reason, have not received the recognition they should have for their creative efforts. It's named for Bill Finger, who created much of the Batman mythos we see today while Bob Kane got the credit.
Continue ReadingAmazing MAD photo gallery at LIFE.com
Wow, we've linked to some amazing LIFE Magazine photo galleries before, but here is a doozy:MAD Magazine: A Semi-Secret History with photos of MAD founder Bill Gaines from the files of current editor John Ficarra. LIFE made a few images available, but each is accompanied by Ficarra's commentary on the site with even more history and insight.
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