http://blog.newsarama.com Newsarama contributors share what’s on their minds. Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:15:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This summer I ♥ Comics returns to Blog@Newsarama. Each week comics creators, bloggers and fans discuss the things they love about the medium. Fred Van Lente writes comic books for a living, including the irreverent-but-indispensible history of our medium, COMIC BOOK COMICS, INCREDIBLE HERCULES (with Greg Pak), and the October-debuting MARVEL ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/i-%e2%99%a5-my-lcs/ [image:8425:c] Matthias Wivel finds himself troubled by the casual, wholesale slaughter of Skrulls in Marvel's Secret Invasion: Apparently, the shape-changing little green men just don’t rate as Life Worth Preserving to any of these heroes. ... Presumably writer Brian Bendis and editorial have chosen to go about the story this way for ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/faster-spider-man-kill-kill/ [image:35:r]Last week, Funnybook Babylon had a good post about solicitations' spoilerrific nature. It inspired me greatly, but I still have some thinkin' to do before sharing any more. In the meantime, pull up a link to DC's November solicitations -- which, yes, contain spoilers -- and read on! * * *THE ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/vote-with-your-wallet-dc-comics-solicitations-for-november-2008/ New Fullmetal Alchemist anime series is in the works [thumb:8424:r]Despite earlier suggestions to the contrary, studio Bones will announce tomorrow that a new Fullmetal Alchemist anime series is in the works. The official word will come via the wraparound jacket band for the 20th volume of Hiromu Arakawa's hit manga, due out ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/screen-bites-86/ [thumb:6111:r]I first heard the words "Chumble Spuzz" at the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, during the SLG panel. "I like anything that makes me laugh," SLG publisher Dan Vado said about the book, which at the time was being serialized on their EyeMelt website before the collection came out. He ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/blog-qa-ethan-nicolle/ [image:8423:c] The Legion of Super-Heroes, with its reboots, threeboots and sprawling cast, can be a little confusing -- even for longtime fans. So, how can a new reader expect to untangle all the characters and references in Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds? Don't worry, Timothy Callahan has you covered. Callahan, editor ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/three-worlds-and-a-legion-of-notes/ [thumb:7759:r]Critic David Bordwell takes a lengthy, smart and fascinating look at why superheroes movies are all the rage these days: Shock and awe in presentation. The rise of the multiplex meant not only an upgrade in comfort (my back appreciates the tilting seats) but also a demand for big pictures and ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/zeitgeist-schmeitgeist/ [image:8413:c]Speaking of obscure strips, Barnacle Press presents a run of this great, wonderfully bizarre work by one W.O. Wilson. (hat tip: Dirk) http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/cool-things-to-look-at-madge-the-magicians-daughter/ Editor's note: Newsarama contributor and Olympics fan Seth Robison joins Blog@ to highlight "tangentially Olympic-related" comics and pop culture moments. You can read more from Seth on the Olympics at his blog Off The Podium. By Seth Robison [thumb:8419:r]When a show’s been on as long as The Simpsons -- since 1989, or ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/seth-robisons-pop-culture-olympics-the-simpsons-go-olympic/ [thumb:6659:r]Just when it looked like the Watchmen "trailer effect" was subsiding, the collection of the 1986 miniseries jumped five spots to No. 13 on USA Today's bestseller list -- which may be the highest-ever position held by a graphic novel. Two weeks ago the trade paperback reached No. 15 on the ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/watchmen-reaches-no-13-on-book-list/ [image:8412:c]Here's an odd, obscure, frontier-based comic strip by one Norman Marsh. http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/cool-things-to-look-at-danny-hale/ [image:8411:c]Fortress of Fortitude posts some great Basil Wolverton strips. http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/cool-things-to-look-at-culture-corner/ [thumb:8420:r]-- Joëlle Jones draws some X-Women. -- An entire blog devoted to Ronald Searle? I'm so there. -- Eric Bogosian to recite Art Spiegleman. There's a pairing I never expected to see. -- PBS Newshour does a profile on Jeff Smith. -- Pantheon will publish Dash Shaw's Bodyworld. -- Scatalogical Hulk joke alert! -- Ryan Kelly ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/the-lightning-round-thursday/ THE END IS NIGH! Look ahead folks and let's see the finish line as the month of November means the very last book in the Secret Invasion saga!  Everybody give yourselves a hand for making it this far and know that in three months's time, this will all be behind us. But ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/21/the-fifth-color-a-look-ahead-at-marvel-in-november-2008/ [image:8397:c] Midway announced four additional characters for the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. the DC Universe video game at the Leipzig Games Convention press conference -- Wonder Woman and Deathstroke the Terminator from the DCU, and Raiden and Kano from previous Mortal Kombat games. Screenshots and renderings for other characters (like ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/wonder-woman-deathstroke-join-mortal-kombat-vs-dcu/ [thumb:8010:r]Hollywood Insider discovers what most of us already know: Fanboys are in revolt over 20th Century Fox's legal brawl with Warner Bros. over the movie rights to Watchmen. Some are even threatening to boycott Fox films like The Day the Earth Stood Still and, yes, even X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Of course, ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/fanboys-choose-sides-in-watchmen-fight/ [image:8396:c] Blogger Kirk Warren counts down "10 of the Biggest Comic Book Retcons," from "One More Day" to the return of Bucky Barnes to Crisis on Infinite Earths. http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/i-nominate-all-star-squadron-all-of-it/ [thumb:8392:r]Rob Hanes Adventures #11 Written and Illustrated by Randy Reynaldo Rob Hanes Adventures is an infrequent comic, but it’s one that I look forward to. Like Jeff Smith’s Bone, I cut Randy Reynaldo a lot of slack on his release schedule because I know he’s doing it a) as a labor of ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/fringe-benefits-rob-hanes-adventures-11/ MGM wants to bring Jonas Moore comic to TV [thumb:8395:r]MGM Domestic Television Distribution has optioned the U.K.-based multimedia online comic The Many Worlds of Jonas Moore for development as a series. The comic, created by Howard Webster, blends photography, music, live-action footage and comics art to tell the story of Jonas Moore ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/screen-bites-85/ [thumb:7748:r]Stephanie Mangold looks at DC's all-ages line, with a heavy focus on the new Shazam and Tiny Titans books: Mike Kunkel’s Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam was released in early July. The book focuses on Billy Batson as a child, and his experiences with the magical word “Shazam.” Kunkel, ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/hey-kids-dc-comics/ That's the question posed by Dick Hyacinth: My general impression is that it was a pretty terrible decade for superhero books, even (especially?) after the worst of the Image excesses had passed. It was a pretty great decade for alternative and non-superhero independent comics, though. He then lists a few titles that ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/so-were-there-any-good-superhero-comics-from-the-1990s/ Laura Hudson looks at all the different ways comics are being delivered digitally these days: The diversity of initiatives is dizzying: Marvel Comics, Boom! Studios and Viz Media have made select back issues available in digital form; DC Comics and Top Shelf Productions now curate Web sites of comics developed ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/well-you-gotta-do-something-with-your-iphone/ Editor's note: Newsarama contributor and Olympics fan Seth Robison joins Blog@ to highlight "tangentially Olympic-related" comics and pop culture moments. You can read more from Seth on the Olympics at his blog Off The Podium. By Seth Robison [thumb:8394:r]“They” say that us Americans are self-centered. That we, the people, are prone ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/seth-robisons-pop-culture-olympics-asterix/ [thumb:4524:r]It's relatively common knowledge that in 1934 Jerry Siegel approached other artists besides Joe Shuster to be his collaborator on Superman. One of these artists was Russell Keaton, who had been ghosting the Buck Rogers Sunday pages. Siegel and Keaton maintained a brief correspondence over the character, with Keaton eventually ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/russell-keaton-supermans-fifth-beatle/ [thumb:8187:r]-- Wil Moss talks to the Apocalipstix team. -- Good news: IDW is going to alter the format of the Dick Tracy books in order to allow the Sunday pages to be printed at a larger size. -- Brigid Alverson talks to Templar, Arizona creator Charlie Trotman. -- The Daily Cross Hatch chats ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/20/the-lightning-round-77/ [thumb:182:r]Although the two big summer-event miniseries take a breather this week, Wednesday sees the debut of DC's much-anticipated tie-in Legion of Three Worlds -- which could end up faring better than Final Crisis itself. For Marvel it's all about collections: Mighty Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Punisher: War Journal Classic, Spider-Man Loves Mary ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/19/cant-wait-for-wednesday-105/ Isn't she the cutest? More pics after the jump ... [image:8382:c] [image:8377:c] [image:8378:c] [image:8379:c] [image:8380:c] Batgirl joins Batman, Poison Ivy, Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, Robin and a host of other characters in the upcoming LEGO Batman game. http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/19/lego-batgirl/ [thumb:8174:r]For those who want to check out the original source material, here are the the Fox complaint, Warner Brothers' response, the disputed legal documents and the judge's order. Arguably the most explosive sentence in the order: "It is particularly noteworthy that nothing on the face of the complaint or the documents ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/19/watchmen-lawsuit-source-materials/ [image:8371:c]Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca make a comic for New York's Fashion section. http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/19/cool-things-to-look-at-loveless/ [thumb:8376:r]Tom Cruise and Sam Raimi are setting up an adaptation of DC/Wildstorm's Sleeper at Warner Bros. Cruise is "loosely attached" to star; Raimi will produce. Sleeper, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, ran for two 12-issue "seasons" from 2003 to 2005. It centers on Holden Carver, a covert operative who fused with ... http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/08/19/cruise-and-raimi-wake-sleeper/