After seeing the movie last Friday, I checked the community to see if there was any discussion on it. After noticing that over the weekend no posts were made on the movie, I felt that this had to be corrected. After all, it is perhaps the biggest comic book movie of this year, with only Iron Man 3 giving it a run for the money, and are we not a comic book community. So below the cut are my somewhat random musings on the movie beneath the cut.

( There be massive spoilers hereCollapse )

They helped redesign and redecorate a children's cancer ward in Brazil

Kudos to all involved

I asked this over on Tumblr in response to this post on Starling's departure from BoP at DC Women Kicking Ass: Other than Starling, has the DCnU created any successful new characters?

Is Talon considered a success? I don't really follow the Lanterns, anybody new over there that's a fan fav? There's Bunker over in Teen Titans. I don't think any of the new kids in Ravagers really gained any traction, ditto the new Legionnaires. But we've seen plenty of (relatively) successful revivals of old characters - Amethyst, Frankenstein, the Unknown Soldier, Jonah Hex. Is that really what the DCnU is all about, despite their claims that the reboot would be a great opportunity to introduce new characters?

Kin Newell has a nice column, dedicated to John Ostrander and his colleague, collaborator and wife Kim Yale, over on comicmix following her discovery that the Suicide Squad introduction of Oracle made it into the top 25 superheroes of all time in the current Entertainment Weekly.

Hello all! I don't know who recalls at this point, but when the s_d kerfluffle occurred all those many years ago and the mods dropped the page count from 1/2 to 1/3rd I pretty much had to stop writing about comics, because 1/3rd of the pages is not enough for any sort of serious critique.

But then I realized that I don't have to stop, I just have to write them for other blogs and learn to live without the amazing community that we used to have for this sort of thing.

On the other hand, now I can post every single page.

http://www.urbanskep.com/the-metastasization-of-the-superhero-a-short-cultural-history-of-the-terminally-immature-in-the-1970s/

http://www.urbanskep.com/the-metastasization-of-the-superhero-a-short-cultural-history-of-the-terminally-immature-in-the-1970s-part-two-2/

http://www.urbanskep.com/the-metastasization-of-the-superhero-a-short-cultural-history-of-the-terminally-immature-in-the-1970s-part-three/

http://www.urbanskep.com/the-metastasization-of-the-superhero-a-short-cultural-history-of-the-terminally-immature-in-the-1970s-part-four/

http://www.urbanskep.com/the-metastasization-of-the-superhero-a-short-cultural-history-of-the-terminally-immature-in-the-1970s-part-five/

http://www.urbanskep.com/the-metastasization-of-the-superhero-a-short-cultural-history-of-the-terminally-immature-in-the-1970s-part-six-the-last-and-final-part/

Probably around 9,000 words for the whole thing. I just like writing about comics. I'll understand if you don't have time to read the whole thing.

In the comments to this post, you can get as off topic as you like. This is your chance to talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and chat amongst yourselves. In terms of topic, anything goes, but remember that the other community rules do still apply.

The series finale for Doctor Who this past Saturday was enjoyable, but I also felt that it fell a bit short on the actual build-up that led to the revelation of Clara Oswald's mystery.

( Doctor Who Series 7 SpoilersCollapse )

Apparently the first live action appearances of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff on the big screen will be in the Avengers sequel rather than an X-Men movie. They will also be appearing as villains, not as a heroes. Details from the Examiner:

A few days ago, it was confirmed that the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver will be among the cast in The Avengers 2. However, what some may not have expected is that the two characters will be villains for the film. Apparently, director Joss Whedon said as much in the announcement of the two characters.

“You know, they had a rough beginning,” Whedon said of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. “They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with The Avengers. So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier.”

Not sure how this is going to turn out, but I honestly can't complain about having Wanda and Natasha together in the same movie. I especially can't wait to see how these two characters will look on screen.

Now the question is, who's going to play Wanda and Pietro?

In the comments to this post, you can get as off topic as you like. This is your chance to talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and chat amongst yourselves. In terms of topic, anything goes, but remember that the other community rules do still apply.

( Once Upon A Time Finale Spoilers and SpeculationCollapse )

DC released a free Superman comic last week with Free Comic Day. It was actually a reprint. It features mentions of Clark and Lois' marriage, his parents being alive and it was the intro of Chris Kent.

Why release a book that is pretty much the opposite of current continuity if you're trying to bring people in? Was this explained anywhere?

In the comments to this post, you can get as off topic as you like. This is your chance to talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and chat amongst yourselves. In terms of topic, anything goes, but remember that the other community rules do still apply.

There are a lot of action-packed movies coming out this summer, some of which are comic book movies. Which movies are you guys looking forward to seeing the most?

So free comic book day was yesterday. What did everybody get? Did anyone go to multiple stores? How much money (if any) did you end up spending?

When I got to the shop (Graham Cracker Comics loop location) they hadn't opened yet and there was a long line. There were two employees handing out a Superman comic to help tide over the crowd until they opened. It was a pretty diverse group of people waiting too.

Other than the Superman comic I picked up a Tick and Atomic Robo. I then bought "How to Survive a Robot Uprising" and 16 comics from the 50 cent bin.

Hey, guys; long time no see. I came across this article and found it absolutely compelling reading. It's about, among other things, what it was like to work at a major comics company when that company does something unethical.

http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/2006_11_01_archive.html

Unfortunately it's in blog format so you will need to scroll to the bottom and read up, but it is well worth your time.

It is probably triggering, it is most certainly very frank about difficult topics, some of them sexual. It's also from 2006, so you may have read it already, but it was new to me.

In the comments to this post, you can get as off topic as you like. This is your chance to talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and chat amongst yourselves. In terms of topic, anything goes, but remember that the other community rules do still apply.

I am so swamped with work these days, sometimes I just want to hibernate until the next year comes. Or may be I just need to take a much needed holiday after working my arse off these first four months. Maybe a trip back to Van is back in order? I do want to go to that archery ranch that exists in North Vancouver.

If you could take a holiday anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Long time comic writer John Ostrander has put up an interesting column about the requirements and limitations of fill-in issues over at comicmix

Here’s some things to remember if you’re writing a fill-in issue. It has to fit into the current continuity but not move that continuity forward (that’s the main writer’s job/prerogative). You might be given a few things that current writer wants to advance but don’t presume. You must know what that current continuity is in order to write the character as s/he appears in the book. You probably won’t be able to play with the supporting cast unless they aren’t in the current storyline or you are asked to use them.

Don’t rewrite the origin. Don’t recreate or reinterpret the origin (again, that’s the regular writer’s domain). Don’t kill off characters. The story is complete in that issue; no dangling threads. Don’t play with the regular writer’s dangling threads (so to speak) without permission. Don’t correct any continuity flaws that you may have perceived. Don’t base it on any trivia points that you know.

Did I forget to mention that the story also has to be wonderful? The reader is not getting the usual team on the book; you don’t want then to feel ripped-off. The comic book market is volatile these days and the publisher doesn’t want to give the fans a reason to leave. That said – fill-ins are just about inevitable. The crush and stress of doing a monthly book is tough.

The latest trailer for Man of Steel has just been unveiled.

( Trailer beneath the cutCollapse )
Thoughts?

In the comments to this post, you can get as off topic as you like. This is your chance to talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and chat amongst yourselves. In terms of topic, anything goes, but remember that the other community rules do still apply.

Dear Mass Media,

I have a challenge for you.

I know your sole purpose in life is to tell a story and make money. But lately, your tactic of sensationalising mass killings and terrorist attacks for a ratings boost is getting the message across that if any average Joe or Jane kills many innocent people at random, they're guaranteed to get noticed not just in their local community, but all over the world as well.

The fact that there's been a recurring trend of mass killings taking place in the US alone within close proximity of each other over the last 12 months (Aurora Colorado, Sandy Hook Elementary, the assassination attempt at my university, and more recently the Boston Marathon) is symptomatic of that. And here's the thing: just LAST MONTH I too could've been caught in the crossfire of a gunman who purchased weapons that he kept in his dorm room with the intention of killing students at my university. He would have succeeded if his roommate hadn't spotted him with the gun and called 911, thus forcing the gunman to shoot himself instead.

Luckily, no one was hurt during that failed assassination attempt, but it left many of my fellow students feeling scared for their lives all the same. It even made me realise that my life can end at any moment should I happen to be in the same space as a would-be murderer who wants to get is five minutes of fame by killing me and everyone else around me while carrying out our normal daily routines. It was a very close call, but also an eye opener. And guess who was there to get that story? You lot. That story even went as far across the pond to get reported by the BBC and Britain's tabloid newspaper The Daily Mail.

At this point I am willing to argue you are as much responsible for many of these deaths as the very people who carry them out.

So here's my challenge to you--an experiment if you will: Follow Dr. Park Dietz advice. Really do. And see how many less of these mass killings result as a consequence of no sensationalism. Because at this rate, we can expect to see more acts of senseless violence take place, and you'll only keep endangering innocent lives by making these killings 'The News Story of the Year.'

Sincerely,

This could've been me last month

The Wolverine miniseries from the 1980s, by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller - featuring Logan in Japan fighting Mariko's dad's Yakuza organization, and introducing Yukio - is the Kindle Sci-Fi Deal of the Day and marked down to $1.99. If like me you're a user of that format, this deal is aces.

In the comments to this post, you can get as off topic as you like. This is your chance to talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and chat amongst yourselves. In terms of topic, anything goes, but remember that the other community rules do still apply.

Anyone else having trouble making a post without getting an error message despite no actual errors present? Cause I sure as hell keep getting them.