A Death in the FF: There are a lot of stories about one of the four members of the Fantastic Four seeming to die in this week’s issue, in the comics media, the mainstream media and all over the comics blogosphere and the Twit-scape. I could probably fill this column with nothing but links to various reactions to and stories about that death, but I assume that if I get bored collecting such links, you would probably get bored reading them, dear reader. So instead, I’ll simply link to this nice little round-up that Heidi MacDonald did over at The Beat, which includes such salient angles as Stan Lee’s reaction. Also, it may behoove you to check out Bully, The Little Stuffed Bull’s latest post on the subject of how very often one of the four members of the Fantastic Four get killed (Get it? Behoove? That’s a cow joke!). Aside from the funny commentary the million or so panels Bully posts provide, it’s a fun thing to scroll through simply to see how much the members of the FF and their costumes and hair styles and what have you have changed over the decades. Like that crazy get-up Sue is wearing above—I still maintain that the live-action Fantastic Four movies would have been much bigger hits had Jessica Alba wore that version of the comic (By the way, I forget—why was Ben Grimm wearing a bucket on his head at that point?) Finally, David Brothers posts the panels in which the one who bites it seems to bite it—I’ve heard nothing but good things about writer Hickman’s run on the title so far, but boy, that art style sure isn’t one I enjoy looking at.
Say, wait a minute…: Didn’t Ed Brubaker wear that very hat when talking about the Death of Captain America? Is that Marvel’s designated talking-about-the-death-of-a-character style of hat?
Can naked ladies sell comics?: The Suicide Girls website/media empire has long had a healthy interface with the comics medium, from running interviews with creators there to having that gal from Hack/Slash pose on their site. Now, the next logical step—IDW is publishing a four-issue Suicide Girls comic book series. Laugh if you like, but it’s being drawn by David Hahn and will feature covers by Cameron Stewart, two immense talents whose work is always worthy of your eyeballs. The press release quotes editor Mariah Huehner as saying, “I’m sure everyone will have a pre-conceived idea of what this series will be all about. And hey, it WILL have nudity and pretty girls and tattoo’s.” (Hey, I see a typo! There’ s an apostrophe where there shouldn’t be one! Can I have a lucrative job proof-reading press releases, IDW?). I’m glad to hear there will be nudity, and hopefully they’ll throw in some photo pin-ups too. I have long been utterly perplexed by things like Sarah Palin pin-ups in books like Steam Palin and the near-nudity in all those Zenescope books—if the market supports that sort of thing, then surely there’s room for actual pin-up girls, actual nudity and high-quality artwork depicting ‘em in the market.
Speaking of Palin comics: The Atlantic asks, “Why Are Comic Books Obsessed with Sarah Palin?” Good question. More important one? Why is the news media obsessed with Sarah Palin?
If he’s not doing Thor or The Muppet Show, what is Roger Langridge doing?: Well, he’ll tell you.
OMG Sara from Tegan and Sara and I have something in common!!!: Check out this video of her talking up Jeff Lemire’s wonderful Essex County. The only thing better would be if she sang a song about how much she liked Essex County.
This again: At E! online, someone asks, “Does Hollywood hate women?” in the context of Anne Hathaway being cast as Catwoman, while there’s no news of a Wonder Woman film yet. The answers remain the same: When Hollywood has made films starring comic book superheroines, they usually tank (and are usually spectacularly poorly made films, not that those two things necessarily have anything to do with one another). You know the laundry list by now: Supergirl, Barb Wire, Tank Girl, Elektra, Catwoman. It no doubt complicates things that the list of feamle Superman and Batman level of characters is limited to Supergirl, Batgirl, Catwoman and Wonder Woman, who was conceived fused to a set of past historical circumstances that make her a less fluid character than the other two points of DC’s trinity. As for Marvel they’ve got, um…hm. Yeah, I can’t really see any films starring any of Marvel’s superheroine headliners (Like, if Hulk movies can’t get enough momentum to launch a sequel, it’s hard to imagine a She-Hulk movie, you know?)
January 26th, 2011 at 11:15 am
I believe Ben was wearing that helmet because Wolverine had clawed up his face and he didn’t want people seeing him like that. Because, you know, his whole schtick of being the big ugly rock guy was suddenly ruined by a couple of scars.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Before you ask for that lucrative job proof reading press releases, you may want to make sure that your request isn’t in the same post in which you ask “Didn’t Ed Brubaker where that very hat”. Just a suggestion.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Initially Ben wore the helmet to protect his injuries from getting any worse, but since he refused to take it off he wound up even more disfigured before finally permitting himself to be treated.
January 26th, 2011 at 11:51 am
Nat, I have no idea what you’re talking about. It clearly says “wear,” not “where.” At the moment.
January 26th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
When I saw Bully’s FF post, my first thought was “J. Caleb Mozzocco is going to be linking to this today.” Thank you for being predictable. (I love Bully, too, and I think he deserves every bit of attention he gets, so I am absolutely not making fun of you for that.)
I have no problem with the Suicide Girls comic existing — and honestly, it looks much better than it could’ve been and actually, pretty good. But as others have pointed out elsewhere, it does strike me as being about 10 years too late. In fact, I was kind of surprised that SG was still around. But then, I am not the target audience for the site.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Ben also wore that same type of helmet in an early issue of the FF, so it’s something of a throwback.
“…but boy, that art style sure isn’t one I enjoy looking at.”
You couldn’t just say you’re not a fan of Steve Epting’s art? Why not give the man credit?