Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Speed Racer and The Incredible Hulk
The Wachowskis' body of film work is hit and miss as far as their plots and scripts go, but one thing that can always be counted on is amazing visuals. Speed Racer is no exception. While the plot is a little wonky and some of the humor falls flat, the movie is very cool to look at. The set and costume design, coupled with the wildly inventive racing sequences make for a film that looks like no other, and on that level it is worth checking out.
Labels:
Marvel Comics,
Mike Zeck,
Speed Racer,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up,
The Hulk
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Plastic Man and The Irredeemable Ant-Man
Stories of redemption can be very powerful, and it's always interesting when a character tries to make the transition from bad to good. Eel O'Brien and Eric O'Grady are two such characters. They also both have an offbeat sense of humor that give their adventures a fun spin. It would be cool to see these two interact, given their similarities.
Monday, April 15, 2013
The Shadow and Spider-Man
My first memory of The Shadow was listening some old radio dramas that he was featured in. Seeing him pop up in a Batman comic was great, one of the first crossovers I ever saw. The Shadow has found a new home recently with Dynamite Entertainment, and it's cool to me that one of pulp fiction's greatest characters is being presented in new adventures. Even cooler is that he is starring alongside The Green Hornet, Zorro, The Spider and more pulp heroes in Masks, an 8-issue mini series. That sounds right up my alley and I plan to check it out in trade.
Labels:
Marvel Comics,
Spider-Man,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up,
The Shadow
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Animal Man Vs. Kraven The Hunter
It's good to see that Animal Man finding an audience again in the New 52. I loved the earlier series as written by Grant Morrison, but after he left the title, DC didn't seem to know what to do with Buddy Baker. I can't say that I am a huge fan of Animal Man's new costume design, but I am glad he is back in his own comic.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Challengers of the Unknown Vs. Fin Fang Foom
The Challengers were known to go up against lots of giant creatures, so it's only fitting that they should cross paths with comicdom's greatest dragon! Dragons wearing speedos are just the kind of unknown that the team would be drawn to, and you know the ensuing battle would be epic.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Amethyst and Xena
It's cool to see that DC is giving Amethyst another shot these days, between her appearances in the comics and as part of the DCU animated Shorts. She is just the type of character that has been sitting around for years with unfulfilled potential. Hopefully she can strike a chord with audiences and continue to build her fan base.
Whenever I read an article about how hard it is to come up with a movie or TV show based on Wonder Woman, I have to scratch my head. Didn't these people ever watch Xena: Warrior Princess? With a few adjustments, that showed that a live action WW could easily work!
Labels:
Amethyst,
DC Comics,
Richard Case,
Scott Sava,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up,
Xena
Thursday, April 11, 2013
The Demon and The X-Men
The X-Men as a franchise has grown more and more convoluted over the years. It was really a revelation for me to go back and read the original run again. Those stories are a blast to read since they lack the weight of decades of continuity. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby laid down a great foundation that is still being built upon today. I haven't read any of the latest X-Men series, where they original first class members have been brought to the present day, but it sounds like a cool idea. Hopefully, writer Brian Michael Bendis is able to capture some of the magic from the early days of the title.
Labels:
cyclops,
DC Comics,
Iceman,
Jack Kirby,
Jean Grey,
Marvel Comics,
Marvel Girl,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up,
The Angel,
The Demon,
X-Men
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Metal Men and Iron Man
I loved the first Iron Man film but was a bit underwhelmed by the sequel, which seemed to cover a lot of the same ground as far as character arcs and action scenes. The trailer for Iron Man 3 looks fantastic though, and I am back on board. I of course love the bit at the end where Tony Stark calls in his "boys" and we see multiple Iron Man suits speeding to the rescue. I paused the screen to see which armors I could recognize and it looks to be an amazing scene. My one quibble was the lack of any armor that resembled the classic look that Tony sported for decades - red & gold with hip-disks and a widow's peak. For a whole generation of fans, that is the Iron Man Suit and it deserves an appearance!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Doc Savage and the Winter Soldier
What a crazy five years or so it has been for Bucky Barnes. He went from being one of the few Marvel Characters to stay dead, to being found alive as The Winter Soldier. Shortly after, Captain America was killed off and he assumed the title. When Cap returned (he got better), Bucky was killed again at the climax of a line-wide event (he got better, too). Now he is in his own self-titled series and his saga will be the basis for the next Captain America film, which just began shooting. Not bad for a character that was pushing daisies just a few years back!
Monday, April 8, 2013
Black Lightning and Storm
Cully Hamner's interpretation of Black Lightning is the best the character has ever looked, in my opinion. I was hoping they would have stayed closer to his design when Jefferson Pierce was reintroduced into the New 52, but that was not meant to be. Still, with characters like Power Girl and Zatanna returining to more classic outfits, maybe there is hope. Storm has recently changed back to an old style with the return of the mohawk that she first sported in the 80's. Her appearance works for me both ways, so it's nice to have a little change of pace for a while.
Labels:
Black Lightning,
Cully Hamner,
DC Comics,
Kevin Nowlan,
Storm,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Superman and Supreme
Superman was the first hero and probably still the most recognizable, so it is no surprise that every comic company seems to want their own analogue of the Man of Steel. It's all in the execution, though, and while some Superman knock-offs come and go, others have been able to star in some memorable stories of their own. Alan Moore's run on Supreme is a great tribute to Superman throughout the ages, just bursting with cool ideas. I also quite liked Kurt Busiek's Samaritan tales, and I am glad that he and the rest of the Astro City gang will be returning via DC's Vertigo imprint.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Martian Manhunter Vs. The Cookie Monster
When J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen took over the reins of Justice League, they gave us a team unlike any league we had seen before. Humor was served in equal doses with superhero action, and it was a refreshing change from the grim and gritty trend that had been dominating the comics scene at the time. One little character bit that they added which I really liked was The Martian Manhunter's love of "Choco" cookies. It was a fun way to inject some humor and personality into a hero that is known to be quiet and stoic. Not everyone could be the wise crackers that Blue Beetle and Mister Miracle were, after all.
Labels:
cookie monster,
DC Comics,
Ivan Reis,
Muppets,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up
Friday, April 5, 2013
Deadman In The Marvel Universe
As crazy as it sounds, there are currently two live action projects in development featuring Deadman. The first is a series for the CW by the creators of Supernatural, but I haven't heard anything on that in quite some time so I don't know if it is still moving forward. There's an even more intriguing movie project by Guillermo Del Toro which would adapt the classic Swamp Thing Heaven and Hell epic by Alan Moore which featured Constantine, The Spectre, The Demon, and yes - Boston Brand himself. Will either of these live-action Deadmen actually come to pass? You never know with Hollywood development Hell, but I hope at least one of them comes to fruition.
Labels:
Al Milgrom,
Deadman,
Marvel Comics,
Neal Adams,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Spider-Man and Darth Vader
it will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that I am a fan of lost tales and untold stories. So the announcement of Dark Horse Comics' upcoming adaptation of The Star Wars, George Lucas' rough-draft original screenplay, has me very intrigued. The story involves Jedi Annaikin Starkiller, a six-foot tall lizard-like alien Han Solo and General Luke Skywalker and is apparently quite different from what we saw up on the screen in 1977. I had heard rumors about this early draft for years and it will be cool to finally see it realized. This 8-issue series was announced on April Fool's day, but apparently it is the real deal (It was also announced at WonderCon the day before).
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The Rocketeer and The Bulleteer
I enjoyed the Seven Soldiers event from DC a few years back. Grant Morrison's series of mini-series which introduced and re-imagined several characters and was filled with interesting concepts and plot twists (and a few dashes of incomprehension - it was by Morrison, after all). One of the titles I liked the most was The Bulleteer, which I thought was a cool update on one of the great classic super-heroes. Some of the Seven Soldiers have found homes on the New 52 DCU, and I hope The Bulleteer will find a place to shine, figuratively and literally. I think she has shown up in the background a couple of times, but what she really needs is a permanent home - Birds of Prey perhaps?
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Mister Miracle and The Black Panther
It looks lik DC is finally re-introducing the Fourth World characters that they had killed off a few years back. First, Orion started showing up in Wonder Woman, and now Mister Miracle and Big Barda look to be making their return in Earth 2, of all places. I will say that the New 52 costume for Scott Free looks great, one of the few new designs that is an improvement over the original (and I am a fan of that one as well). It will be interesting to find out what writer James Robinson has in store for the world's greatest escape artist.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Solar: Man of the Atom and Radioactive Man
Even if you aren't a huge Simpsons fan, it is definitely worth checking out the various Radioactive Man comics from Bongo if you love comic books. The Simpsons has always been a comic friendly show, but the Radioactive Man comics are where the passion for the medium really comes out. They are chock full of references to classic characters, story lines, quotes and artistic styles from the comic books we all grew up loving. They are pretty darn funny as well! It's clear that the creators of these stories are huge fans of the genre.
This issue marks the end of an era for The Lost Issues. This will be the final cover created with MS Paint. Beginning tomorrow, all covers will be created with Photoshop. April 4 will mark the Three Year point for The Lost Issues and with over 850 covers, I am glad that I got the opportunity to show some of what was possible with a relatively simple program like Paint, even if many of the early attempts were pretty rough. It's time to move forward though, and Photoshop has rejuvenated me. I will caution against expecting any immediate leap in quality though - tomorrow's cover was literally created the day I downloaded PS. So please be patient as I go through my growing pains while learning the bells and whistles of this cool new tool.
As always, thanks for following and hopefully the best is yet to come!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Spider-Ham and Pig Iron
Uh oh, I just realized that I am probably going to be having some ham for Easter dinner today. I hope posting this cover isn't bad mojo! At any rate, it would be fun to watch the funny animal heroes of Marvel and DC interact, and Peter Porker crossing paths with Peter Porkchops would be a good place to begin.
Stay tuned tomorrow for an announcement regarding changes for Super-Team: Family: The Lost Issues!
Labels:
Crash Landen,
DC Comics,
Marvel Comics,
Pig Iron,
Spider-Ham,
Super-Team Family,
Team Up,
Zoo Crew
Saturday, March 30, 2013
The Scarecrow and The Scarecrow
It's not really a surprise that there's more than one villain to use the scarecrow motif. They have always been creepy structures and the concept of fear fits right in with an evil agenda. Plus, since they have the ability to affect the minds and perceptions of others, they are characters that really allow the artists to get visually creative, whether it be in a comic book, animation or live action. You just know these two would take Batman and Cap through some twisted dreamscapes before they eventually got the stuffing beat out of them.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Burger Masters
I don't know what I was thinking the day I made this one. I originally was just going to do a Superman/Jughead cover and it kind of grew from there. Hopefully we have finally had our last snowstorm here in Massachusetts and I can start grilling again, looking at this cover again is making me hungry!
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