LeaguePodcast and DigBoston Comics Picks of the Week for June 17, 2014

COMICS

Bringing the characters of The Bard to Life, Kill Shakespeare: The Mask of Night #1 takes the action onto the water, a great companion piece to the new IDW game of the same name! …The weird wonderful talking drug addled space gun and cyber punk adventure concludes as Butch and Gun defend Repo city in Ballistic #5. … The Phonogram / Young Avengers team of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie are back with a new creator owned project THE WICKED + THE DIVINE telling the tale of Gods reincarnating as teenagers—the ultimate pop-stars! Picks from the new LeaguePodcast.com.

DEFEND YOURSELF: ALLEN MCRAE OF IMPROVBOSTON’S COMEDY, AMERICA

Starting this Friday and and ending on Independence Day, ImprovBoston is giving us an original sketch comedy revue show with musical guests and even a few songs. Celebrating all the shaving bumps and concealed warts of this nation of ours — Comedy, America— takes ImprovBoston’s holiday themed sketch comedy series from the Old West to Disney and of course American presidents. Comedy writer and director of the show Allen McRae joins us to talk ceremonial turkey.

Who are you and what are you doing?
My name is Allen McRae. I am the head writer and director of Comedy, America — an all new sketch comedy revue being presented every Friday in June and also on the Fourth of July at ImprovBoston in Central Sq., Cambridge.

How long have you been doing stuff at ImprovBoston?
For about six or seven years now. I lived in New York for a little while when I got out of college, doing comedy there. When I moved back to Boston I did comedy at this place called The Tribe. When they closed down, I started doing comedy at ImprovBoston. I took a couple of years off because I was in a band, as you know (The Tin Thistles!).

[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]

Indiegogo GO!: ALICE AND THE INVADERS FROM WONDERLAND Interview with Bret M. Herholz at FORCES OF GEEK

Bret and I met over the weekend at the strangest place, a crafts fair in his hometown of Worcester, MA, just minutes after a fender bender outside, and in a room with local Celtic punk bands playing amidst tables loaded with cupcakes, taxidermy, necklaces and pins. 

Naturally, I gravitated to the comic book artist there and looked at his book, Sherlock Holmes and the Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner and enjoyed his portfolio of drawings. There was a steampunk Batgirl in his signature style as well as Sherlock Holmes vs. the deadly Daleks. 

His new book takes on Alice in Wonderland and puts her Alice where she should be, a strong hero and her adventures after she returns home. Bret’s Indiegogo campaign runs until June 20th. 

FOG!: Thanks for joining us, Bret! What’s new in Wonderland?

Bret M. Herholz: Thank you Clay! Quite a lot has happened actually!
The story I’ve written picks up whereAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland left off.

We come to find out that all of Alice’s adventures weren’t all just a dream. The Queen of Hearts found a way to break through to Alice’s reality and her army has taken over the world.  

Alice manages to escape with the help of some of the friends she has made in her adventures down the rabbit hole such as the Mad Hatter, March Hare and White Rabbit. The bulk of the story takes place six years later with a now 16 year old Alice continuing her fight against the Queen of Hearts.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for June 3, 2014

COMICS

Archie comics are Undead! When Sabrina resurrects Hot Dog with a spooky spell, she kicks off a zombie outbreak! Amazing art by Francesco Francavilla on this Walking Dead meets Riverdale trade paperback, Afterlife with Archie Vol. 1. …Trekkies rejoice, Harlan Ellison’s Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever #1 gets the originally intended version of the teleplay from IDW in comic form. …Master Kazuo Koike returns with an all new version of New Lone Wolf and Cub Vol. 1, continuing the classic samurai title. Picks this week from League Podcast.com.

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (REVIEW) AT FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, 

Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker

Screenplay by Simon Kinberg

Story by Simon Kinberg, Matthew Vaughn, 

Jane Goldman

Based on Days of Future Past by 

Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Directed by Bryan Singer

Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, 

Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, 

Ellen Page. Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, 

Shawn Ashmore, Omar Sy, Daniel Cudmore, 

Evan Peters, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, 

Josh Helman, Lucas Till, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart

Director Bryan Singer is back for an epic cross-time caper with X-Men: Days of Future Past. The latest Marvel Comics summer blockbuster merges the casts of the previous X-Men films and offers a glimpse at a not-so pleasant future.

Drawing inspiration from the comic book storyline of the same name, mutants in the future are forced to wear inhibitor collars or fear being eliminated by robotic Sentinels.

There are differences in the stories, however.

The movie doesn’t take direct cues from the famous storyline, rather it deftly adapts plot points from each of the other X-Men movies (Including Matthew Vaughn’s 2011 X-Men: First Class) to weave in and out of possible timelines. Are you a fan of Doctor Who and The Wolverine?

Singer delivers with this all-star cast and intelligent storytelling.

The movie opens on the future, as Bishop (Omar Sy), Blink (Fan Bingbing), Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), Kitty (Ellen Page) and Ice Man (Shawn Ashmore) fight off Sentinels. Our new brand of Sentinels are unlike any you have seen in the comics, more T-1000 than robot, with the ability to change form to fight the mutant enemy.

Before long, we’re treated to a meet up in China where surviving X-Men meet up with the old guard of X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Professor X and Magneto. Actors Barry, Jackman, Stewart and McKellen are of course all reprising their signature X-Men roles. 

Divergent from the comic storyline, Kitty has a new skill whereby she is able to send someone’s consciousness back into the past (reserved in the comics for Rachel Summers). In order to escape their current fate, someone must go back in time to stop the Sentinels from being invented. Wolverine takes Kitty’s place this time because of his healing factor and the fact that he doesn’t look all that different! 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for May 21, 2014

COMICS

Rise of the Magi #1 is a story of Asa, who controls the gates between our world and his where magic rules the land. Written by Top Cow founder Marc Silvestri - this “Harry Potter meets The Usual Suspects” is sure to be a hit! … The Flash trailer has everyone running around like crazy and with the drug the help of a drug in MPH #1 from Mark Millar, teens in Detroit are using it to collect loot! … Walking Dead writer Robert Kirkman invades Invincible in issue #111. Things are getting DARK in Mark Grayson’s world thanks to Robot! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

DIGBOSTON AND LEAGUEPODCAST COMIC BOOK PICKS OF THE WEEK FOR MAY 14, 2014

COMICS

Superman’s deadliest foe, Doomsday is back in the New 52, and writer Scott Lobdell promises tons of smashing action in the Superman: DOOMED #1 event! …Mark Millar’s take on a retired Flash Gordon a la the Dark Knight in Starlight #3 is the must read comic event of the year. Genius level stuff, sure to be optioned for a flick! … Star Mage #2 is the opposite of our last pick in many ways, young Darien is also the chosen one! …Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

COSMIC TREADMILL / TRIPLE SHOT - FREE COMIC BOOK DAY RECAP 2104 AT FORCES OF GEEK

Another nerd holiday came and went, and unlike the usual December comedown, we ain’t sick of our presents after coming down from a sugar high!

Free Comic Book Day, the first Saturday in May offers an opportunity for fans and more importantly retailers to focus on what really matters, comic books!

Most stores will set up some kind of event or discount for coming by to get the free goods, while the publishers get their hooks in to greedy fans everywhere with honest-to-goodness free product! 

If you are lucky, when in the shops today, there may be some leftover goods to grope.

This week’s Cosmic Treadmill merges with Triple Shot to take a look at our Saturday grab bag and also every title available for free on the ComiXology platform in honor of Free Comic Book Day!

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

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.

THE 5 BEST LOCAL EVENTS FOR FREE COMIC BOOK DAY - at BDCWIRE with Jerard Fagerberg

Posted May 2, 2014

Since tomorrow is the annual nerdgasm known as Free Comic Book Day, we decided to tab local comic book expert Clay Fernald (AKA Clay N. Ferno) about which local shops should be hit up for the best events. Obviously, as the  host of League Podcast and chief scribe of all things comics, Fernald had a tough time choosing only five joints to pimp out, so he recommends using the store locator to select the best spots for freebies around your area. But, if you’re feeling adventurous and want to meet some of the city’s best graphic novel talent and swipe some gratis page-turners, they’ve got the hookup to make this year’s event the Best. Free Comic Book Day. Ever.

1.	New England Comics 316 Harvard St., Brookline

New England Comics is a Bay State institution and, of all the NEC locations,New England Comics Brookline boasts the best signee in attendance, League Podcast co-conspirator Matt Dursin, who will be John Hancocking his comic Robin Hood: Outlaw of the 21st Century. “When this is over, we go across the street to eat pizza,” says Fernald, “and you are welcome to come!”

2.	Jetpack Comics 37 N. Main St., Rochester, NH

Though Fernald is stretching the term “local” with this pick in the Land of No Seatbelts, the featured guests at Jetpack Comics are original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who are re-uniting for the first time in 20 years. But wait, there’s more. “Free Comic Book Day at Jetpack, if you can make the drive, will be like a mini-convention,” says Fernald, “Indie creator Tyler James is signing his popular The Red TenComiXTribe comic there as well.” So, yeah, get a Zipcar, and, as Fernald recommends, pick up Epic and Scam from ComiXTribe.

(with Jerard Fagerberg) 

[READ MORE AT BDCWIRE.COM]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 30, 2014

COMICS

He’s Back! Swinging his way through Manhattan, conveniently in time for a new movie! Amazing Spider-Man #1 stars Peter Parker and his damn luck - will this be a Superior book? Let’s see! … Valiant jumps forward to 4001 AD for the return of the legendary Japanese warrior ghost of Japan in Rai #1 by Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain. … Buddy Bradley from ‘Hate’ comics returns from indie legend Peter Bagge with 20 pages of new material. What’s Buddy gonna do raising his family in the local dump in Buddy Buys a Dump! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

JC DE LA TORRE’S STAR MAGE: FROM KICKSTARTER TO IDW at 13th DIMENSION

Last week saw the debut of JC De La Torre and Ray Dillon’s Star Mage from IDW. We caught up with JC for a MIGHTY Q&A about his influences, the Kickstarter process and merging a classic war-in-space tale with magic to give us an identifiable teenage hero!

Clay N. Ferno: Thanks for joining us, JC! Care to tell us how you got from Kickstarter to IDW with Star Mage? It seems like the response so far is spectacular!

JC De La Torre: Thanks so much for having me. It was such an interesting process to get to where we are now. The story of Star Mage actually started out as a novella that I was dissatisfied with. It just didn’t feel like it was coming together as I hoped. I happened to be reading an IDW Doctor Who comic and that dim light bulb of mine had a momentary flicker and I realized that Darien’s story belonged in a visual medium — what better place than with comics?

I started doing research and whatnot. I knew I wanted high quality artwork and I can barely manage stick figures — so I needed to hire an artist. I went through several potentials before realizing that if I truly want the best art, I needed to pay for a pro. I found Ray Dillon and he was exactly what I was looking for. I paid for the first issue out of my own pocket but to continue the series we were going to need some help, so we turned to Kickstarter. If our Kickstarter failed, Star Mage would have been DOA. It was thanks to those supporters, my defenders of the realm as I like to call them, we kept the lights on and allowed us to continue to develop the series.

IDW knew of the project thanks to Ray, who had previously done work with them and got some of the artwork of Issue #1 in front of Chris Ryall of IDW. There were a ton of starts and stops in the first year and a half developing Issue #1. There were days where it truly seemed like we’d never finish — but IDW stood by us through and through. When we finished Issue #1 and realized due to his demanding schedule Ray wouldn’t be able to finish the series, they trusted me to find another artist of the same caliber. Franco Cespedes took over and once we got our first three issues in the can, the IDW machine began churning.

Response to Issue #1 has been overwhelming. We’re very close to a sell-out of our initial run and we just had a signing at Heroes’ Haven Comics in Tampa where the line was out the door, the store sold out of their copies and we actually had to dip into our convention stock to be able to support the masses. The reviews have been mostly positive so it appears to really be well liked.

It’s very exciting.

[READ MORE at 13th DIMENSION.COM]

CHARLIE GILLESPIE TALKS 'THE MANY' ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

This week at ComiXology, fans of 2000AD books will get a special treat, a full graphic novel, The Many, from cover artist Charlie Gillespie.

This future world with superpowers, vampire lore and gore ranks right up there withTransmetropolitan or Black Mask’s Ballistic. Both the art and story are rich and colorful.

Charlie Gillespie joins us today for a run on the Cosmic Treadmill!

FOG!: Thanks for joining us today for your ComiXology Graphic Novel The Many! Fans may have seen your work with. 2000AD and Judge Dredd, but can you tell us some of the video games you have worked on as well? 

Charlie Gillespie: Cheers, thanks for hosting me! Off the top of my head, Micro Maniacs, Mike Tyson Boxing, BC, Paperwings, Burn Zombie Burn, Legends of the Guardians, Lara Croft Guardians of the Light (iPhone/iPad),Call Of Duty Black Ops Zombies (iPhone/iPad), Wipeout (from the TV show), and there was work on a few others along the way.

What are some other comics work you have done? Is this your first venture with both writing and drawing a comic?

Yeah this is my first big adventure into writing and drawing a comic book, I’ve dabbled with doing both before but nothing that was this complex and hopefully interesting. The other stuff I’ve worked on have been The Judge Dredd Megazine, 2000AD, Shit the Dog, Wasted, Sancho, covers and illustrations for various sci-fi/fantasy mags and Magic Cards and that sort of thing.

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

COMIXOLOGY ACQUISITION Q & A WITH TIM GIBSON OF MOTH CITY ON THE COSMIC TREADMILL AT FORCES OF GEEK

Moth City (Thrillbent) is one of our favorite and innovative digital comics, so when we heard of the pending merger between ComiXology and Amazon we had questions!

Who better to ask these to than Moth City’s own Tim Gibson?

We get into the nitty gritty of the pinch, swipes, scans, payments and tablet wars with our favorite Kiwi after the jump!

FOG!: Have you ever read a comic on the Kindle app? Kind of atrocious, right?

Tim Gibson: Hah, I’ve only read one comic on my Kindle, and that was Tumor by Joshua Fialkov and Noel Tuazon many years ago. It was a great comic but I haven’t been back to try another comic on that platform.

What’s your initial reaction? Glee, excitement? Disappointment?

Cautious optimism.
  
Do you think creator percentages for something like the ComiXology Submit program will stay the same? How does this affect creator owned projects?

Amazon has always been open about the royalty rates they offer authors, 35% if you sell your work for less than $1.99 or more than $10, and 70% if you sell between $2.99 and $9.99. I believe our royalty rates via ComiXology are locked behind a T&C wall, but they aren’t bad.

There would probably be more comics on Amazon right now taking advantage of that 70% rate if they didn’t also have a strange ‘Delivery Fee’ that cuts into the author’s proceeds for supplying high resolution art at larger file sizes.

I have no idea if ComiXology’s rates will change, but I would like to see our books integrated into Amazon’s store at either rate.

ComiXology seems to be forward thinking and has good customer service (these days). Do you picture a total absorption of the company?

I hope not, and I doubt it. Everything said to date implies that they will keep being the great company they are. Hopefully Amazon just gives them a new audience, and they give Amazon some comic selling tips!

Do you see the iPad comics Apps: iBooks vs. ComiXology going after each other’s throats? At least the competition is healthy, right?  I’d imagine Amazon stops developing it’s various comics properties and shifts all comic attention to the ComiXology app, yeah?

I’m not sure that any independent creators are using iBooks or Amazon in anywhere near the same capacity as they are using ComiXology. But yes, I would hope that Amazon would follow ComiXology’s lead when it comes to technology and systems for comics. I imagine they’ll continue publishing their own stuff through their imprint Jet City Comics.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 16, 2014

COMICS

Aw, yeah! Captain Action Cat #1 from Art Baltazar, Franco and Chris Smits is the dawning of the Aw Yeah Age of all ages comics! No crossover too silly! The time stream needs new shoes! … Frank J. Barbiere (Five Ghosts) takes on Solar Man of the Atom in a new #1! Dr. Phil Seleski is back, in a new series from Dynamite! …An all new Hulk #1 smashes its way onto shelves today with our favorite Marvelites Marks Waid and Bagley! This new volume follows up the conclusion of Indestructible Hulk! …Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

HOW I MADE THE WORLD – THE COSMIC TREADMILL INTERVIEW WITH LIZ PLOURDE & RANDY MICHAELS AT FORCES OF GEEK

How i Made The World is a new independent autobiographical comic book getting a lot of attention already. I spoke with writer Liz Plourde and her artist Randy Michael for some insight into the after-hours art school adventure showcased in Issue #1. With honest storytelling and classic Hernandez Bros. inspired cartooning, FOG! thinks they have a hit on their hands!

Liz and Randy took some time to chat with FOG! about the upcoming release of the first issue.


FOG!: Hi Liz, thanks for joining us today! How did you meet your illustrator Randy Michaels?

Liz Plourde: We’re thrilled you enjoyed the book.

I met Randy when we were working at a local TV station on a nightly news magazine. We realized we had many shared interests; in that frenetic environment, we had a lot of laughs. Before long, I was showing Randy my short stories, and he was sharing his illustrations. I thought they were so cool. 

I was an English major at the time, and because Randy was also an editor—really, he’s a Renaissance man—he started helping me hone my craft. One day, he showed me that he’d adapted one of my short stories into comics form. It was a slice of life tale about a college friend. I wrote more stories about college life, and we began developing the main characters in How i Made the World together. Becoming a collaborative team happened very organically.

Randy - how is it collaborating with Liz on her scripts?

Randy Michaels: I liked Liz’s “voice” from the very beginning. Her writing is smart, but she also writes extremely funny lines that come at you when you least expect them. Liz and I read through her scripts with my sketchbook in hand, and we map out the pacing and major plot points and how they’ll play out on the page. Sometimes, Liz will suggest a particular angle to draw a scene. Or I’ll suggest text changes, such as additional dialogue. We brainstorm together and make it fun. There’s no embarrassment that one of us might come up with a bad idea. 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for April 9, 2014

COMICS

Celebrate 50 years of Daredevil, as our blind lawyer heads to San Fran and has revealed his secret identity in Daredevil #1.50! Fifty years without fear! … Shutter #1 is being toted as Indiana Jones for the 21st Century, with a smart female protagonist! … Iron Fist returns to a new series in Iron Fist Living Weapon #1 bringing back the street level kung fu Marvel action we expect from Danny Rand. Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER REVIEW at FORCES OF GEEK

Review by Clay N Ferno

Produced by Kevin Feige

Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Based on Captain America by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

Directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, 

Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell,

Toby Jones, Maximiliano Hernández, Garry Shandling, 

Robert Redford, and Samuel L. Jackson

The First Avenger is back in his blockbuster sequel, joining Iron Man and Thor for in-between The Avengers movies solo ventures.  Chris Evans is back as Captain America Steve Rogers, and in contrast to the introduction of the character, the movie is set in present day, after the events in New York in The Avengers.

Flashbacks occur to move the story along, and are welcome callbacks to the WWII story of Cap and Bucky vs. Hydra, but there is much more going on with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and introducing Sam Wilson as Falcon (Anthony Mackie) as the Scooby Gang of espionage S.H.I.E.L.D. is on watch.

Former Community/Arrested Development producer and director team Anthony and Joe Russo add humor to the mix in a subtle way, but more importantly pack so much action and tension into this chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we hope to see more from them with Cap 3.

While closest to Iron Man conceptually, the flavor of this Marvel Movie is all espionage Cap and Secret Avengers—a combination sure to make comics fans as well as Avengers fans excited, intrigued and headed to the theatre more than once for a taste of this non-stop action.

This is certainly the most meaty of stories and filled with the most Avengers since the franchise took off.

Nick Fury and Black Widow have a lot of screen time, and introduction of Stan Lee and Gene Colan’s Falcon as Captain America’s wingman makes for a great team. While this is still a superhero movie, we are taken to the world that Ed Brubaker established in his run on Cap. Throw in the main, practically unavoidable spoiler that Winter Soldier is in fact Cap’s erstwhile partner in justice Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and you have a complicated past mixed with a technologically advanced future. 

[READ MORE at FORCES OF GEEK]

COSMIC TREADMILL: 'AVENGERS CONFIDENTIAL: BLACK WIDOW & PUNISHER' (REVIEW) at FORCES OF GEEK

Ramping up for the big Cap movie this weekend got us all excited, preened and pumped for some small screen Marvel action, NOW!

The weekend brought us to the store for a DVD copy of Thor: The Dark World and a stranger, peculiar animated relative (second cousin?) Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher.

Mixing Anime and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (I think) made for a great sequel to the Madhouse produced Marvel Anime series, but underserved as a rally cry for this weekend’s live-action Winter Soldier. The Cosmic Treadmill ran with this on the HUD, and here’s what worked and what didn’t! 

The Punisher, for better or for worse, has always been a favorite Marvel character. I grew up with his War Journals, his Armory, his War Zone and throughout the ‘80s. Artists like Jim Lee Mike Zeck drawing Frank Castle and his family’s murder was my raison d’être! One day, I thought, I’d be rich and sexy enough to buy Amazing Spider-Man #129. I thought wrong!

As for Black Widow, co-star of this movie and The Avengers, I’ve only been interested since Iron Man 2. ScarJo’s stoic yet sexy expressions and her trickery over Loki in The Avengers certainly puts her in the front lines of the squad, but ‘back in my day’ Black Widow was second string. I have more Mockingbird comics in my long boxes than Natasha Romanoff!

Either way, story wise, this is a great pairing. You know what you are going to get with Frank Castle. He’s the opposite of Batman—killer, judge, jury, executioner. Black Widow, a former Russian spy, now S.H.I.E.L.D. spy under the thumb of Director Nick Fury (Cinematic, Samuel L. Jackson version) is one who must answer to military protocol and her higher ups.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]