A review of an alleged X-Men 3 script is up at Ain’t It Cool News.

From the “talkback” section:

“If anything remotely resembling this makes it to screen anyone who goes to see it is a traitor to fandom.”

“I haven’t actually thought about how big this whole X3 situation is, sure I bitched about it, but only now, after reading this, did I take a moment to reflect… I LOVED this franchise and now it’s GONE!”

“Why is it that people who don’t understand movies are placed in charge of them??”

“I abandoned Marvel the moment magneto extracted wolverine’s adamantium skeleton..”

“The only way a movie can be successful by catering to the fanboys is if it’s budgeted at $32,000”

“Xavier IS NOT Malcolm X, he s Martin Luther King. Magneto is Malcolm X. I thought everyone knew that.”

“Forget poverty, war, and famine…write your letters to FOx about X3 dammit!!!!”

“What do you expect from a company that keeps a show like The Simpsons, which has not been funny for the last 5 years, on only because of the merchandising. Yeah, they know quality. I hope Jackman refuses to do it so the franchise crumbles.”

“I tell you one thing if future X Men film DO NOT have Stewart and especially McKellan , I aint bothering to see the flicks, Wolverine is a 1 trick pony without them”

“the first x men film was 90 minutes long and was very short on action and excitement – the 2nd was markedly better but only cause the first was lacklustre – never forget that guys”

“Couldn’t Fox have this site shut down for reproducing copyrighted material?”

And these are just the subject lines, folks!

Four Color Comics #625 (1955)

I really should do audio posts like yesterday’s more often…in fact, I’ve been thinking about doing a podcast (or, as we used to call them in the olden days, “downloadable MP3s”). Alan and Augie have fun with theirs, and I’d like to horn in on their action. Alas, I’ve no idea what happened to my computer’s microphone…but I suppose I could use Blogger’s Audioblogger function, record my message, save it to my hard drive from the Blogger work page, slap on the Swamp Thing cartoon music as my theme song, drop the bit rate, and vee-ola, a podcast of sorts to lull a few thousand of my closest friends into a deep slumber.

Unfortunately, I’m not terribly good at extemperaneous speaking…I’d probably have to work up a script, or at least heavily detailed notes, prior to recording, and that’s a little too much like work. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll do another audio post in the future…likely more dramatic readings from your favorite comics.


Speaking of Alan, the new Comic Book Galaxy continues to terrorize the world, with new features added today (including charter ACAPCWOVCCAOE member Ian Brill’s review of F Stop). Go pay a visit!


I just bought a Marvel Legends Man-Thing action figure off the eBay. Don’t look; I’m too ashamed. Hey, I couldn’t find the darn thing anywhere around here. At least it was cheap.


“There are keys to successful comic book adaptation”

“So why are some comic book movies better-received than others? What is the difference between a good adaptation and a bad one? What separates ‘Spider-Man 2’ from a film such as ‘Elektra?'”


“Drawn from the soul”


“Comics have had a chequered history: dismissed as mere children’s entertainment; admired in the hands of politically astute newspaper cartoonists; and hailed, when created by an Andy Warhol or a Roy Lichtenstein, as innovative art.”

Say, can you guess who drew these two panels? Answer at the end of today’s post.


As I not-so-vaguely hinted yesterday, I am one of the contributors to Alan David Doane’s All-New Comic Book Galaxy, with my (hopefully) monthly column “Mike Sterling’s Behind the Counter.” There I’ll be discussing issues related to comics retailing…probably inspired by various things already discussed on this site of mine. Sooner or later, I’ll get around to putting together an expanded “Things Not to Say to A Comic Shop Employee,” I think….

So, why am I writing for ADD’s CBG, when I have a perfectly acceptable internet soapbox here?

Well, I was asked. I get along with ADD, I like what he’s done with his site so far, and that second shoebox filled with twenty-dollar bills finally convinced me. Plus, it gives me incentive to write something a little more weighty and thought-out than the goofy stuff I’m always posting here. Not that I’m intending on being Mr. Serious-Pants…I’m shooting for “somewhat amusing, yet informative,” and I hope I can achieve it.

At any rate, go visit the site…there’s a bunch of new content up today, and more swell stuff to come during the rest of the week. You at least have to see this mind-blowing contest…I’m considering hiring people to enter the contest for me, since I can’t!


Talking about comics retailing, after a fashion…now, since I sell things on the eBay, it would be hard cheese for me to criticize other people’s eBay auctions. “Boy, that auction is crappy…you should buy our stuff!” You know what I mean. But I swear, occasionally I’ll poke through eBay at work doing research on items that I’d like to list for the store (just to see if it’s worth my time, you know…honest!), and more than once I’ll say out loud something like “they’re calling that a Very Fine? Are they high?” (Ask pal Dorian, I did that a couple times on Saturday.)

However, I love finding weird comic book stuff on eBay and showing it to you…pal JP usually finds good stuff on there (like this adult Batman diaper I linked to a while back). I did find today this Death of Superman Neon Bar Sign. Of all things to make into a neon sign….

“It is a Great decor item for den, home bar, commercial bar, restaurant, game room, store or garage….”

Fantastic.


So, I wonder if George Lucas read underground comic books? Here’s a cover detail from Jim Pinkoski’s Spaced #1 from 1974, three years before Star Wars (featuring a character with a similar hairstyle) was released:

The full cover (not work safe) can be seen here.


Saturday’s new episode of Justice League Unlimited featuring the Cartoon Network debut of Captain Marvel (but not his animated debut…well done, I thought, with a nice contrast between Cap’s cheerful attitude and the slightly more dour JL members. I know pal Dorian had expressed some concerns about the Big Red Cheese being so easily bamboozled, given that the “S” in “Shazam” represents the Wisdom of Solomon. Dor does have a point, but it may not be entirely inconsistent with Cap’s portrayal in the past. The Wisdom part of his power doesn’t always appear to be “on” — Cap’s been tricked and swindled in the comics, so it’s not terribly surprising that he didn’t access Solomon’s Wisdom to figure out what was going on with Luthor in the cartoon. Granted, he should have known enough to use his Wisdom when dealing with Luthor.

I particularly liked the speech Cap gives at the end, about believing in the inherent goodness of people and taking them at their word…even if he was wrong in this instance. And I don’t think I’ve seen an animated superhero battle quite like that (between Supes and Cap) in…well, ever. Can you picture something like that ever happening on The Super Friends? Kids’ brains would have exploded.

The ultimate result of this episode is that I now want to see a regular Shazam! cartoon. C’mon, you too, don’t deny it.

Just prior to that evening’s JLU, I caught a couple minutes of the new Batman cartoon, and it looked to me like they lifted a scene right out of Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke. There’s a sequence in the cartoon where Batman grabs what appears to be the Joker and rubs make-up off the Joker’s face, leaving three pink streaks of revealed skin. Batman then shouts (well, growls) “where is he,” noting to this fake Joker (and the audience) that the Joker doesn’t wear make-up, since his skin is normally white.

That’s more or less right out of Killing Joke, and still sort of effective…if it weren’t for that terrible new Joker design. Gads.


Those two panels at the beginning of this post represent very early work from Jim Starlin, printed in Dolfin #1, a 1968 fanzine with a print-run of about 500 copies. Here, enjoy the cover.

So anyway, I was poking through other comic weblogs this evening, and noticed, via Greg (in a post that’s not safe for work, BTW), that Laura already linked to a story about that Australian academic superhero conference that I mentioned this morning. Oops! Thankfully, I linked to a different site on the subject, so I don’t feel too much like a link claim-jumper.

I will say that as I was putting together this morning’s post, thanks to the Google, every time I picked a story I did think, “hmmmm, I wonder if Tom Spurgeon got to it first.” That’s why I don’t do a whole lot of news-weblogging. It’s easier to post links to, say, Wonder Woman and her dog in a race, or to Mattress the Super Cat, or to a gallery of DC Direct and Buffy figures in action scenes, and not worry about doubling-up on some news story someone else has already handled.

At any rate, you should visit Laura’s site (and that naughty fellow Greg, too) if you don’t already. There is always something worthwhile to read at either site.


Yes, I’m blogging about blogging. Wanna make something of it?


Pal Nat reviews a CD I sent him.


The mighty Fred Hembeck posts (under “June 12”) what may be the greatest cover Marvel Comics ever published. Honestly, it’s pure brilliance. I had a subscription to the magazine in question, so I was lucky enough to receive this piece of comic book gold in my mailbox. (I still had issues to go when the mag was cancelled, so I finished out my subscription with The Amazing Spider-Man…a run that included #200, about which I still have fond memories.)


Starting tomorrow…the new Comic Book Galaxy! Alan David Doane’s been sweating blood putting it together, so the least you could do is give it a visit. Maybe you’ll see a new name or two there that might strike you as familiar….

“Dr Simon Locke, sociology lecturer at Kingston University […] looks at how public attitudes to science can be charted through the pages of comic books of the last century.”

“‘Superman comics were first published almost 70 years ago and they were massively popular. Today, the same stories are just as successful, although they tend to come as films rather than in comics.'”


The Golden Plates, Mike Allred’s comic based on the Books of Mormon, setting sales records at a store in Utah:

“‘The first volume sold 2000 copies and number two will come very close to that as well.'”


“Holy mackerel, Batman! An Australian university is hosting what it claims is the world’s first academic conference on superheroes.”

“Other topics to be dissected will be a comparison between the superhero worlds created by rival publishers Marvel and DC, and a scrutiny of Arnold Schwarzenegger as an example of a superhero character who has crossed over into real life.”


Batman’s got milk:

“‘DC Comics provides a powerful way to leverage the hugely popular appeal of Batman with the milk moustache’s campaign focus on health and nutrition.'”


“Zap! Pow! Amen!”

“Using comics is a delicate balance for artists and writers trying to spread a religious message through a medium sometimes viewed as frivolous or tawdry.”


“Keep Sunday comics funny, clean”

“Consider the June 5, 2005, strip of ‘Opus.’ Reference was made to a ‘belly fart.’ Do we really need this type of gutter comedy on the funny pages for our young people?”

The Comic Reader #139 (January 1977) – art by Trevor Von Eeden & Joe Orlando

Now is the time where I answer your questions…and if you have more, lay ’em on me:

Gordon asks: “Where do babies come from?”

I point you in the direction of this page, which features a swell animation (work safe, but does have sound).

H has a fistful of questions:

“Who has the biggest collection of Swamp Thing memorabilia in the world?”

Why, I do believe that would be me!

“Why isn’t every day Free Comics Day?”

Because then it wouldn’t be special. And every comic retailer in the country would be out of business. And Earth would run out of trees.

“Why won’t Marvel let Larry Young take over?”

Ultimately (so to speak), it doesn’t really matter who runs Marvel Comics…it exists primarily to perpetuate the trademarks and turn them into movies, TV shows, toys, and other licensed products. I think Larry is better off being captain of his own ship, imbuing it with his own personality, and I’m reasonably sure he agrees.

“If all 3 Bat(-)girls had a fight, who would win?”

The readers. Ooh yeah. (Well, okay, probably the new Batgirl. Pal Dorian told me that she took down Lady Shiva, and that sounds pretty darn bad-ass to me.)

Todd asks a couple good questions:

“About three days ago you apparently switched your loyalties from Rann to Thanagar. Why the flip-flop?”

No flip-flop…I was secretly a double-agent, appearing to work with the Rannians, when I actually worked against them in cahoots with my Thanagarian comrades. Hawk-AAAA! (Oops, wait, that’s Blackhawk.)

“And while we’re at it, is it really possible to even have a ‘Rann-Thanagar War’ when Thanagar doesn’t even exist anymore? Isn’t it sort of like Krypton going to war with Earth?”

Our brave Hawk-warriors carry Thanagar in their hearts.

Tom asks: “Who was your favorite character when you were writing the Authority?”

Of all the characters I created for The Authority during my writing stint, I think my favorite is Mark Millar. He’s got the best superpowers outta all of them.

Brian wonders: “How mad is a comic retailer allowed to get at a customer? For instance, if a customer gets really mad and starts yelling…what is a retailer to do? Yell back?”

Well, I think a retailer (or any business owner) can get as mad as he or she wants…but whether or not to show that anger is another question. I prefer to take the high ground…if I’m getting yelled at (rare, and almost always because I’ve asked the “customer” — in quotes, since yellers never spend a dime — to show some personal responsibility and/or common sense in regards to their in-store behavior) I try to remain calm but stern. That usually works better than blowing a gasket.

The very, very few times I’ve actually lost my temper with someone, it’s because they insisted on pushing my buttons and, usually, just generally acting like complete assholes and impacting the shopping experience of other people in the store. I have no problem with asking people like this to get the hell out. I’ve got plenty of good customers, thank you.

Harvey asks…well, you better just go read it yourself.

In answer, I defer to Cecil’s statement on the matter. At near the speed of light, the headlights would still appear as functioning normally to you.

However, at the speed of light, all laws of time and space will be irrevocably destroyed, and the universe will vanish. Good going.

“Will the warping of spacetime cause me to get Liefeld-feet?”

Some things are beyond all science.

Mike’s lazy post.

Well, once again I’m short on time, so there’s no real post this morning. However, I suggest you hie yourself hither to pal Dorian‘s internet pad, and check out this week’s special guest commentator.

But, hey, as long as I have your attention…got any questions for me? Leave ’em in the comments section and chances are pretty good I’ll answer them.