Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2021
No sex please, we're superheroes
If even superheroes can't have fun sex, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Quick holiday book recommendations - Mary Shelley, Bill Mauldin, and Wakanda Files
by Mike Rhode
A few books that would make good gifts have come in -- well, a lot have, but I'm behind like everyone else these days. Part of my problem is that, as an editor, I assigned two of these to academic reviewers for the International Journal of Comic Art, and then I read those reviewers opinions... so I've linked to those reviews as well.
From the book's Amazon page, we learn - When angsty teenager Mary Shelley is not interested in carrying on her family’s celebrated legacy of being a great writer, but she soon discovers that she has the not-so-celebrated and super-secret Shelley power to heal monsters, just like her famous ancestor, and those monsters are not going to let her ignore her true calling anytime soon. Everyone expects sixteen-year-old Mary to be a great writer. After all, her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother are all successful writers (as they constantly remind her)―not to mention her famous namesake, the OG Mary Shelley, horror author extraordinaire. But Mary is pretty sure she’s not cut out for that life. She can’t even stay awake in class! Then one dark and rainy night, she’s confronted with a whole new destiny. Mary has the ability to heal monsters… and they’re not going to leave her alone until she does.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I'm a big urban fantasy reader these days, especially of books written by women. It's a good choice for a young adult who likes manga, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's funny, and well-drawn (by Li), with some minor family drama, but a lot of fun ideas. As an older white man, I'm not the target audience, but I'll be buying the rest of this series for myself as it comes out. Li's an artist I wasn't familiar with, but I'm going to look into more of her work (some of which is apparently not for this age group).
Drawing Fire: The
Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin, Todd DePastino (ed.), Chicago: Pritzker
Military Museum & Library, 2020. 250 pages; $35.00. ISBN 9780998968940.
From the book's Amazon page, we learn - The first career-spanning volume of the work of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin, featuring comic art from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm, along with a half-century of graphic commentary on civil rights, free speech, the Cold War, and other issues. Army sergeant William Henry “Bill” Mauldin shot to fame during World War II with “Willie & Joe” cartoons, which gave readers of Stars & Stripes and hundreds of home-front newspapers a glimpse of the war from the foxholes of Europe. Lesser known are Mauldin’s second and even third acts as one of America’s premier political cartoonists from the last half of the twentieth century, when he traveled to Korea and Vietnam; Israel and Saudi Arabia; Oxford, Mississippi, and Washington, DC; covering war and peace, civil rights and the Great Society, Nixon and the Middle East. He especially kept close track of American military power, its use and abuse, and the men and women who served in uniform. Now, for the first time, his entire career is explored in this illustrated single volume, featuring selections from Chicago’s Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Edited by Mauldin’s biographer Todd DePastino and featuring 150 images, Drawing Fire: The Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin includes illuminating essays exploring all facets of Mauldin’s career by Tom Brokaw, Denise Neil, Cord A. Scott, G. Kurt Piehler, Jean Schulz, and Christina Knopf, with a Preface by Tom Hanks.
This book is aimed at me - an older white male - except most of Mauldin's career took place before I was an adult. Never mind that ... he was an excellent cartoonist and a true proponent of a free and equal America with rights for all. After these past four years, we need to return to his values more than ever. While I got a review copy from the Pritzker, I would have gladly bought this is I saw it in a store first. Todd DePastino does an excellent job rounding up a diverse group of essays and providing the relevant grounding for cartoons that can be 70 years old now. IJOCA's review is here.
From the book's Amazon page, we learn - An in-world book from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Wakanda Files—compiled by request of Shuri (Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War) as part of her quest to improve the future for all people—is a collection of papers, articles, blueprints, and notes amassed throughout history by Wakanda’s War Dogs. In a nod to Wakandan technology, the pages of the book have a printed layer of UV ink with content that is visible only under the accompanying Kimoyo bead–shaped UV light. Within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Wakanda has been on the forefront of what is technologically possible. Their ability to stay ahead of the rest of the world is second only to their ability to keep themselves hidden. As the architect behind many of Wakanda’s great advancements, Shuri is constantly seeking ways to improve what has come before. To aid in her search, she researches the past for context, reference, and inspiration by compiling The Wakanda Files. Organized into areas of study, including human enhancement, transportation, weapons, artificial intelligence, and more, The Wakanda Files trace the world’s technological achievements from the era of Howard Stark and early Hydra studies to modern discoveries in quantum tunneling and nanotechnology, weaving together the stories, personalities, and technology that are the fabric of the MCU.
This book is aimed at a young adult audience too, probably received as a gift, given the price. It must be popular this season as Amazon appears to be sold out. As a teenager, I would have loved this book. As an adult, I admire the cleverness of the packaging (especially that little uv light which is the middle detachable ball there on the right in the photo), and the conceit of being a set of spy reports from the MCU. There's not enough Black Panther in here, which makes sense because the book is a report to him, but that may disappoint people who expect to find him in a book with Wakanda in the title. In conclusion - a good grandparent's gift to a fan of Marvel movies, if not the comic books. IJOCA's review is here.
All 3 books were provided by the publisher's representatives. We don't receive anything but the books, and that includes advertising or link revenue. So buy them from your local store if you can.
Wednesday, July 08, 2020
PR: Announcing Dead Reckoning Fall 2020 Titles
Dead Reckoning announces three new graphic novels in
Fall 2020.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
By Jean-Yves Delitte and Giuseppe Baiguera
In
the history of civilizations, sea power has always played a
preponderant role. This symbol of a nation’s scientific and military
genius has very
often been the deciding factor during major conflicts, putting the
names of several clashes down into legend. With this collection,
Jean-Yves Delitte and Giuseppe Baiguera plunge you into the heart of
three of the twentieth century’s greatest naval battles:
Tsushima, Jutland, and Midway.
“This
is an immersive tour of war at sea in the twentieth century that brings
readers alongside sailors and pilots in the battles that shaped the
modern world. Delitte and Baiguera are masters of the form, crafting
elaborate comics art to recreate time and place in ways that will
transport, teach, and thrill you.”
—Jeff Parker (James Bond: Origin,
X-men First Class,
The Hulk and Batman ’66)
9781682475249 | 21 October 2020 | Paperback and eBook | $24.95
Edited by Michael J. Vassallo; Art Restoration by Allan Harvey
Atlas at War!
collects fifty hard-hitting stories from Atlas Comics, the company that
became Marvel Comics and published more war titles than anyone in the
industry between 1951 and 1960. Comics historian Dr. Michael J. Vassallo
has chosen the best of the best, many of
which are coming back into print for the first time, from sixteen
different Atlas war titles and featuring the artwork of twenty different
artists—giants of the genre, including Russ Heath, John Severin, Bernie
Krigstein, Joe Maneely, Jerry Robinson, Steve
Ditko, and Jack Kirby. Each page has been meticulously restored from
its first printing by comic art restorer Allan Harvey.
Atlas at War!
covers the brutal pre-code period where graphic depictions
of war action were rendered by artists who were World War II veterans
themselves, as well as the post-code period, where code restrictions
forced creators to tell stories without graphic violence but produced
some of the most beautiful comic art of the genre.
In addition to the artists, stories cover all aspects of war—from
famous campaigns, weaponry, and personal soldier stories to political
topics, Nazi atrocities, and even one story tinged with pre-code horror!
Often overlooked in favor of its competitors,
Atlas at War! will finally show that Atlas’ war titles were second to no one.
“Michael
Vassallo knows more than anybody in the Marvel Universe about the rich
history of the company's comics. His grasp and insights are astonishing!
Make mine Michael's!” —Craig Yoe, curator of
Don Winslow of the Navy and
Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups
“Atlas at War!
is a treasure trove of lost war classics.”
—PJ Holden, artist for
The Stringbags
9781682474709 | 9 September 2020 | Hardcover and eBook | $65.00
Written by Salva Rubio; Drawn by Pedro J. Colombo; Colored by Aintzane Landa
This
is a dramatic retelling of true events in the life of Francisco Boix, a
Spanish press photographer and communist who fled to France at the
beginning
of World War II. But there, he found himself handed over by the French
to the Nazis, who sent him to the notorious Mauthausen concentration
camp, where he spent the war among thousands of other Spaniards and
other prisoners. More than half of them would lose
their lives there. Through an odd turn of events, Boix finds himself
the confidant of an SS officer who is documenting prisoner deaths at the
camp. Boix realizes that he has a chance to prove Nazi war crimes by
stealing the negatives of these perverse photos—but
only at the risk of his own life, that of a young Spanish boy he has
sworn to protect, and, indeed, that of every prisoner in the camp.
Now a major motion picture streaming on Netflix.
9781682476277 | 11 November 2020 | Paperback and eBook | $19.95
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Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Trump's campaign compares him to genocidal fictional villain
'These are sad and strange times': Thanos creator rips widely mocked campaign video portraying Trump as Avengers supervillain
Friday, June 07, 2019
Washington reviews of the last X-Men movie
Dark Phoenix is the Disappointing End of an X-Men Era [in print as Ashes to Ashes].
The franchise tries the Dark Phoenix Saga once again.
Washington City Paper June 7, 2019 p. 19
'Dark Phoenix' Review: X-Women Power? Nah
The new installment in the long-running franchise has blowouts and Jessica Chastain channeling Tilda Swinton (so it could be worse).
A version of this article appears in print on June 7, 2019, on Page C6 of the New York edition with the headline: Superhero Tale With Feminist Spin, Till Momentum Fails
Watch Sophie Turner and Michael Fassbender Battle in 'Dark Phoenix'
The writer Simon Kinberg narrates a sequence from his directing debut in the X-Men franchise.
- June 7, 2019
Friday, November 23, 2018
Exhibit review: Superheroes at the National Museum of American History
Superheroes. Washington, DC: National Museum of American History. November 20, 2018 to September 2, 2019. http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/super-heroes
The Smithsonian museum has mounted a small, but choice, exhibit made up of some extremely surprising pieces. The terse description on their website only hints at it:
This showcase presents artifacts from the museum's collections that relate to Superheroes, including comic books, original comic art, movie and television costumes and props, and memorabilia. The display includes George Reeves's Superman costume from the Adventures of Superman TV program, which ran from 1951-1958, as well as Halle Berry's Storm costume from the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Of the five exhibit cases, two concentrate on comic books and original art, while the other three contain props from movies and pop culture ephemera. Surprisingly, the Black Panther costume from the Marvel movies which the African-American History museum collected this summer is not included, but as noted above they have displayed George Reeve's Superman costume (since it is in color rather than grey shades, it came from the later seasons of the television show), Halle Berry's Storm uniform, along with Captain America's shield, Wolverine's claws and Batman's cowl and a batarang. Those three cases are rounded out with the first issue of Ms. Magazine which had a Wonder Woman cover, two lunchboxes (Wonder Woman and Marvel heroes), and a Superman telephone.
 |
| courtesy of Grand Comics Database |
The small exhibit lines two sides of a hallway off the busy Constitution Avenue entrance of the Museum, but the location has the advantage of being around the corner from a Batmobile from the 1989 Batman movie that was installed earlier this year. The car may be tied into the nearby installation and branding of a Warner Bros. theater showing the latest Harry Potter spin-off movie which seems like a true waste of space in the perennially over-crowded and under –exhibited (i.e. they have literally hundreds of thousands of items worthy of display in storage), but one assumes that besides the Batmobile, the theater came with a cash donation or promise of shared revenues.
Bruce Guthrie has an extensive series of photographs including the individual comic books at http://www.bguthriephotos.com/graphlib.nsf/keys/2018_11_22D2_SIAH_Superheroes
(This review was written for the International Journal of Comic Art 20:2, but this version appears on both the IJOCA and ComicsDC websites on November 23, 2018, while the exhibit is still open for viewing.)
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