x-men

COMICS IN FOCUS: CHRIS CLAREMONT’S X-MEN (REVIEW) AT FORCES OF GEEK

 

 

“To me, it’s all one story. Because life is a single story” 


— Chris Claremont



To prepare for the cross-time caper that is Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, we were treated to a preview of Comics in Focus: Chris Claremont’s X-Men. The documentary produced by Patrick Meaney forRespect! Films and the Sequart Research & Literacy Organization includes  interviews with Chris Claremont, and other instrumental professionals involved in the Claremont Era of X-Men including Len Wein, Louise Simonson, Ann Nocenti and Jim Shooter. 

After Stan and Jack’s X-Men run, Roy Thomas and Neal Adams attempted to revive the book before it devolved into reprints and remained a essentially a third tier book.  May 1975’s Giant Size X-Men #1 was the shot in the arm the series needed to continue to prosper.

Written by Len Wein and drawn by Dave Cockrum, the success of the book prompted a renewal of sorts with former Marvel intern Chris Claremont starting writing chores on the book in August of 1975.

The new international team of mutants would have their life stories told by Claremont, Cockrum, John Byrne and Terry Austin for years to come. 

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

 

 

Find All-New Marvel Now at TFAW.com!

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for May 7, 2014

 



COMICS


With all the hub-bub about Peter coming back we almost forgot about the other Spider-Man, Miles Morales! Luckily Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man #1 reminds us with a new #1, putting Miles back in the suit and against one of Spidey’s big villains! …Mike Carey and Salvador Larocca (Invincible Iron Man) follow up the events of Battle of the Atom with Marvel’s first Original Graphic Novel in a long time, X-Men: No More Humans! … Can rival X-Men come together to find out why all the humans have disappeared? … Your favorite ride at Disney gets a backstory! No lines for this, but there should be, with Brian Q. Miller (Batgirl) and Kelley Jones (Batman) giving you the story of Space Mountain finally! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

 

Find All-New Marvel Now at TFAW.com!

Triple Shot With a Digital Chaser: AMAZING X-MEN #1, G.I. JOE COBRA FILES #8, DAREDEVIL DARK NIGHTS #6 plus WHAT WOULD DRACULA DO #1 at FORCES OF GEEK

Who’s that “Bamf”-ing around?

Looks like Nighcrawler in a brand new X-Title, Amazing X-Men #1!

The Las Vegas casino compound is compromised by Firefly in G.I. Joe Cobra Files #8 before as the series winds down, and Jimmy Palmiotti returns to Daredevil and Misty Knight in Daredevil: Dark Nights #6.

Comixology Submit answers the age-old WWDD? question in What Would Dracula Do #1

AMAZING X-MEN #1
WRITER: Jason Aaron
ART: Ed McGuinness
Publication Date: November 6, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
UPC: 75960607957500111
Buy it HERE



I’m not gonna complain (erhm…again) about the number of X-Titles on the stand or come up with some fake number like “Including Wolverine and The X-Men that makes 3, 000,000 titles now”.

No sir, I won’t do it. Especially because the world rejoices this week with the return of Nightcrawler, who is in fact dead in the Marvel NOW! 616. 

I won’t complain because a combination of Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness makes my brain go crazy about the potential awesomeness. As you can tell, this review is going places!  

Nightcrawler leaves Heaven and is headed for the Jean Grey School, just as Firestar is having a rough first day getting acclimated as guest teacher!

I’m confused by a couple of things, like why are Logan and Storm flirting it up, which Angel is which and why Warbird and Northstar are in the best supporting actor positions but I am resolutely not complaining! 

Looks like I’ll need to be picking up this one while McGuinness is on art because his Classic X-Men look really heats up the place…like brimstone!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Save 20-35% on Superman Pre-Orders at TFAW.com!

 

Triple Shot With a Digital Chaser: THE JOKER #1, BIZARRO #1, ALL-NEW X-MEN #16 plus THE SIRE #1

Looming over cites such as Boston, New York and San Francisco is similar to the pain that is being brought down upon Metropolis, Gotham and Central City.

Yes, college kids are on a tear of rampant destruction similar to Villain’s Month at DC whereby the bad guys take over your favorite books, coffee shops and bars like they own the joint.

Taking a cue from Marvel, the DC Comics Point One issues of Batman and Superman are now property of The Joker #1 and Bizarro #1. Over at ComiXology Submit, The Sire #1 is trapped by his costume!

THE JOKER #1 (BATMAN #23.1)
WRITER: Andy Kubert
ART: Andy Clarke
Publication Date: September 4, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194131806623121
Buy it HERE

We heard stories of DC messing up the print run of the lenticular (3D) covers for this, but the company made up for it in a way by releasing a plain paper cover as well, and if you are reading digitally, no skin off your face!

Speaking of faces, this Joker is conspicuously full-skinned, and ready to laugh all the way home!

Set a few years in the past, Andy Kubert flashes back to a young boy who’s sadistic Aunt Eunice takes bleach and scrub brush to the young Joker’s face as she beats the boy and barely feeds him.

He does grow up with a sense of humor though! A very sick one.

Joker adopts a baby gorilla and decides like many parents to right the wrongs of his own rearing. This comic takes a turn for the really bizarre and melds ideas of golden age cartooning and animals acting like people and dressed in clothes to a modern day deconstruction of the American family. Via the Joker and his pet!

Andy Clarke (2000AD, Detective Comics) has a fine line Brian-Bolland style suitable for the Clown Prince of Crime, tying in character designs from The Killing Joke and The Man Who Laughs.

Great stuff! And quite possibly the only Joker story in recent times where Batman is no where to be found!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Save 10-20% on kids comics and graphic novels at TFAW.com! Buy Funny Costumes SuperHeroStuff - New Socks!

Triple Shot: X-MEN #1, CHEW #34 and EARTH 2 ANNUAL #1 at FORCES OF GEEK

This week’s Triple Shot relaunches one of Marvel’s hottest books with an all-female cast, you’ll be hungry for more after reading the latest issues of Chew and Earth 2, but for different reasons.


There’s a new Batman in the town, but is his reveal the ultimate bat-tease?


X-MEN #1
WRITER: Brian Wood
ART: Olivier Coipel
Publication Date: May 29, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Marvel Comics
UPC: 75960607924700111
Buy it HERE

The role of female characters and creators diminishes over the years for some unknown reasons. When a book stars a female, or if Gail Simone publishes a new book, tumblr explodes with glee. 

This book, is certainly no exception to that rule, as popular writer Brian Wood (The Massive, Star Wars, Mara) relaunches X-Men at number one. 

Starring in the book are Psylocke, Rachel Summers, Storm, Kitty Pryde, Rogue and the return of Jubilee.

Jubilee’s a mom now, that is to say she’s the adopted mother to an orphaned baby. She’s on here way back to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning with the tyke when she realizes she’s being followed and calls home for help.

This book has all of the elements of great comics, X-Men or otherwise. An orphaned baby with powers that may hold the secret to mankind’s survival, the best train scene we’ve seen since Skyfall, and a billion year old mystery to be solved with Caselli and his sister, Arkea Prime.

Oh, and there’s a Doop cameo. 

So far Bendis has done Uncanny and All-New X-Men right, and here comes along Brian Wood to add to the modern mythos. This is for certain the book people will be talking about most this week.


CHEW #34
WRITER: John Layman
ART: Rob Guillory
Publication Date: May 29, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Image Comics
UPC: 70985300808803411
Buy it HERE

This cover ships with three covers!

No, no no, silly, not three variant covers available from exclusive retailer, three covers on your book, with the cut along the lines marks so that you, the comic collector can play the interchangeable face game with the covers.

ComiXology customers will have to use their imagination on this gimmick cover that is the direct opposite of your comic shipping in a bag, it’s asking, nay, begging for you to take scissors to your cover!

Do you have the guts…or another $2.99 to spend? Layman and Guillory continue to have fun with this detective book from the lettering to the cover concepts and sneaky inside jokes. This issue has Olive donning a Mike Norton Battlepug shirt.

We’re 4/5ths of the way through the Bad Apples storyline, wherein our hero Tony Chu is hunting down the Vampire Cibopath. His hunt leads him to Eastern Europe, an undisclosed location that could be Transylvania.

This issue serves us up a plate of new food-related powers including one guy that can string guitars with pasta noodles. Admittedly, not a very useful power but he looks like Slash so that’s cool. Senator David Eccles is a Bromaformutare—meaning his head transforms into the last thing he ate. On his campaign trail, he first looks like Mayor McCheese but takes a bite out of an apple pie before his speech is over. That is one way to get votes in the Chew-verse. Also, this can get you in trouble if you are literally what you eat in the Chew-verse where chicken is illegal.

This book is consistently great and surprising, and the schedule ships toward the end of each month. Just as I’m getting full from a month’s worth of comics, I always find room for Chew!


EARTH 2 ANNUAL #1
WRITER: James Robinson
ART: Cafu / Julius Gopez / Cam Smith
Publication Date: May 29, 2013
Price: $4.99
Publisher: DC Comics
Buy it HERE

It all seemed right. I mean, I’m not buying issues of Earth 2regularly, but I’m hip to the concept.

Earth 2 is the closest we’ll get to Elseworlds in the New 52 so you an imagine how I nearly made a boom tube when the solicits were shoving a new Batman my way. I’d already bought the action figure in my mind because the design was equal parts Batman Beyond, Flashpoint Thomas Wayne Batman and Alex RossKingdom Come Batman.

Spoiler warning - if you desperately want to know the identity of the Earth 2 Batman, you won’t find him here. Batman stays on the sidelines as we watch the origin of Captain Atom and briefly see some action with Kirby Fourth World creations Mister Miracle and Big Barda. 

James Robinson is a great writer, and the art by Cafu (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents) is amazing. Sure, not everyone buys these Annuals, but I feel completely duped by DC Editorial promising something (for a hefty $5, noless) and not delivering. 

I’ve no gripe with the Captain Atom origin or the Barda, Scott Free and Hawkgirl cameos but I bought this book under false pretenses. Marketing led me to believe an alternate version of the Dark Knight would be revealed. He was there and he fought a bit, but we are no closer to knowing the man behind the mask. This was a miscalculation, I can’t imagine I’m the only one feeling this way. I don’t care about the Earth 2 continuity a year after it’s launch but thought this might lead me in.

No way am I enthusiastic about getting the next issue to have the same bait and switch happen. This was a $5 trick you played on me, DC. I’m not happy.

EARTH PRIME TIME: KEY KICKSTARTER COMIC PROJECTS

 

Peter Pan page from Renae De LizSome of our friends are hard at work cutting out the middle man by raising money for their own comic book projects directly from fans on the popular Kickstarter platform. Here’s a preview of some funded projects that we will be learning more about in 2013.

Back in July, we gave you a heads up about Joe Martino’s The Mighty Titan comic miniseries where a superhero’s alter-ego is stricken with cancer. A cancer survivor himself, Joe’s comic is much a story of support from his friends, family and the comic book community at large.

In a little over a month this summer, his $12,500 goal was achieved and the fans will get some great bonus material when the book comes out.

The Mighty Titan - art by Luca Cicchitti

The Mighty Titan - art by Luca Cicchitti

August gave us the incredible oversized multi-media experience TOME from super art collective 44 Flood. While many of the creators using Kickstarter also make a living off of comics professionally for large companies, the artistic vision of a Kickstarter project remains pure and authentic by bypassing outside input.

One of the projects we are highlighting today was created by Renae De Liz, who is responsible forWomanthology (now an ongoing series smartly scooped up by IDW). The Womanthology book has given the opportunity for over 140 female creators to see print, all from a successful grassroots Kickstarter campaign.

Peter Pan: The Graphic Novel — Vol. 1 is a fully funded project, with just hours left on the countdown at the time of publication. Renae De Liz and husband Ray Dillon are known for a variety of projects together, but most famously their New York Times Bestselling adaptation of Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn also published by IDW.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for August 1, 2012





COMICS

 

Leather jackets, untold simian legends and special guest Jeff Parker (Thuderbolts) give us The Planet of The Apes Annual #1, augmenting the past year in BOOM! Studios ape-talk from Gabriel Hardman & Corinna Bechko. … There’s a 5 story high ginger on the Zakim Bridge and the new Captain Marvel teams up with Spider-Man to knock her down! I say impale her on the Bunker Hill Monument! Avenging Spider-Man #10 brings the battle to our fair city … First X-Men #1 takes a look at early years of Wolverine and Sabretooth before Xavier’s team is formed. Story and art by League favorites Christos Gage and Neal Adams. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

 

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DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for December 21, 2011

COMICS

Fables 112

The closest we’ll come to a holiday edition is making Fables #112 our marquee pick this week! Snow White’s sister Rose Red glimpses at the Christmas future of Fabletown, where legends try to assimilate with our society. … Geoff Johns finally reels his Aquaman character into the Justice League in issue #4. Fish stick jokes aside, the King of Atlantis is badass in the New 52, and the legend behind his trident has yet to be revealed! … Wolverine and the X-Men #3 is part of X-Men: Regenesis. Logan’s team is forced to rely on Quentin Quire to stand up to the Hellfire Club, but does that mean more trouble in Westchester for the new headmaster Wolvie? Picks this week from the holly jolly LeaguePodcast.com!

 

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