Results tagged “dc comics”

As it is zombie week it would be wrong if someone didn’t take the time to mention what has become the biggest event in the comic book world this year. DC Comics huge Green Lantern crossover mega event Blackest Night is dominating the comic book sales charts each month. Written by Geoff Johns and pencilled by Ivan Reis, the eight issue series is crossing over into all of the monthly Green Lantern titles as well as many of DC’s other core monthly books.
Just what is Blackest Night, and what does it have to do with zombies? Watch the video below for a little teaser and then jump to learn more about the series and find out how you can download a free copy of the Free Comic Book day Blackest Night issue 0 (cover to the left).

Aristotle once coined the general principle of holism as: “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

It can be great fun, however, analyzing the parts!

Where do the parts that comprise you come from?

Where did the parts that make up Shawn Charlton Speakman come from?

I am extremely self aware of who I am—at least who I think I am. Every daily event I have experienced in life has become a part of me. From birth until my last breath, I know that I will be shaped by anyone and everything. It is inevitable. That includes the books I read too. In a way the authors I’ve read over the years have taken up residence in my soul and, like the guiding influence of my parents when I was young, live inside of me, to be called on when needed.

It’s no wonder I love collecting those books that are most meaningful to me.

What characters in fantasy / science fiction best explain who you are?

Here are the main four I can definitively say reside inside:

Superman

No, no father of mine gave his son away, to rocket through the cosmos and help bring light to a barbaric humanity.

That would be cool though, right?

In all seriousness, the majority of who I am can be explained by Clark Kent and how he sheds all selfish desires to help others less fortunate. I try to emulate that. When a friend needs help I am there offering what I can. If a stranger falls down in front of me, I help them up if I don’t catch them first. When a wheelchair-bound man tries to belly up to the bar, I clear away the stools before the bartender can do it. I spend a lot of time and energy putting people at ease, to add a meaningful dialogue with all I meet whether it is talking about sports or giving heartfelt listening and advice.

I try to be a hero for other people who need it, even for what seems the most mundane of needs.

I have always held those ideals, from my earliest memories. But Superman became something more to me when I was diagnosed with cancer almost nine years ago. I began chemotherapy just like many thousands do every day. To represent the strength I would need to survive, I wore one of three Superman t-shirts to treatment every day. It brought a smile to those being infused around me; it kept me focused on the strength I would have to bring to bear.

Needless to say, there is a Man of Steel in my persona—despite looking like Lex Luthor on the outside!

A month ago Bruce Wayne went to that great Bat Cave in the sky, leaving Batman fans wondering what was going to happen to Gotham and its other heroes. After all, Batman is the glue that holds them all together but just because Bruce Wayne is no longer around doesn’t mean someone can’t wear the bat costume, right?

This coming June 10th, fans will discover who is the new Batman!

Visit DC Comics Solicitations for all other June 2009 comic book releases!

And after more than a year of believing Captain America dead at the end of Marvel’s Civil War storyline, it looks like Cap is coming back on June 17th! How is this possible? Only Marvel has the answer, True Believer!

Visit Marvel Comics Solicitations for all other June 2009 comic book releases!

Altogether, it looks like June is shaping up to be a great comic book release month!

What are you looking forward to?

When I started collecting comic books I only bought three titles: Action Comics, Wolverine and Green Lantern.

Don’t ask me why. It has been lost to me over the last 17 years. But those three were the start and they blossomed into almost 20 titles a month at one point. I imagine I collected those initial three because they were 1) great titles at the time with strong creative teams, and 2) because those characters are just plain cool!

Well, Superman has gotten multiple movie treatments.

Wolverine is getting his first solo movie in theaters on May 1st, 2009.

And now Green Lantern has been green lit into production for a December 17, 2010 release!

Martin Campbell, who directed such movies as Golden Eye, The Mask of Zorro andCasino Royale, will bring the origin story of Hal Jordan to life on the silver screen. Hal Jordan is probably the most famous character to bear a green lantern ring, a man “utterly honest and born without fear.” He wields the green lantern ring as he sees fit, a ring that gives him unlimited power (except against anything yellow) to enact right in a world filled with wrongs.

Rumors swirl about who will play the role of Hal Jordan and the rest of the cast. If you hear anything please bring it to my attention. I’m always curious…

I’ll be reciting that mantra over and over again as the film opens on December 17, 2010, hoping nothing evil happens to this adaptation—an adaptation that if done properly could be as great as the recent Batman movies!

Stay tuned!

In 1993, a year after DC Comics killed Superman, the comic book publisher also destroyed Batman, probably their second most beloved character. Emotionally and physically exhausted from a long stretch of villainous activity in Gothem, Batman is literally broken when a villain named Bane breaks the back of Bruce Wayne. Hobbled by Bane and having to work through intensive physical therapy, Bruce Wayne handed the mantle of Batman over to another. Life just isn’t easy for ole Bats. Just as they did with Superman, DC proved they were willing to do the darkly imaginative when it came to their best characters. No comic book character was safe if DC could take out Batman for a year.

Well, it is happening again to Batman in February and March 2009!

I felt a good cereal-bowlful of tension drain from my shoulders this morning when I got an email from a fellow “Watchmen” fanatic saying simply, “You hear they settled?” What words to start my morning! In case you hadn’t heard, Fox and Warner Bros. have been having legal battles for quite some time now over the upcoming Watchmen movie adaption. This morning, however, they will request that the case be dismissed.

They have settled. It will come out on time. Phew.

I’d been worried for some time that it’d be delayed and delayed until its hype tapered off (sort of like the movie adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocolyptic novel The Road, which was originally supposed to come out in 2008), but now I can simply look forward to March 6th with everyone else. And feel better about my hasty investment in that owl costume…

Here’s the official statement:

“Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox have resolved their dispute regarding the rights to the upcoming motion picture Watchmen in a confidential settlement. Warner Bros acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography. Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith in defending against those claims Warner Bros. and Fox, like all Watchmen fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film’s March 6 release in theatres.”

WARNING: This post is written by a proud uncle shamelessly plugging the excellent work of his seven year old nephew.

Shortly before the long holiday break The Kid posted his Best Comics of 2008 year in review column. If you’ve been reading his reviews regularly than there’s no surprise that books like Deadpool, Hulk, and Tiny Titans all made the list. Many of his other selections did surprise me though and I was thrilled with the level of maturity shown in some of his choices. It should be noted that these are completely his opinions, no influence from his geek father or geek uncle (truth is, we couldn’t influence him if we tried). Overall, it just reminds me why I fell in love with comics so many years ago and why I still read them today (BTW: Some of those books I read now I pick up because of his reviews).

To read The Kid’s most recent reviews and a report on his visit to DC Comics over the holiday break click on the banner at the top of his page or click here.

Thus endeth the plug.

ABC has announced a pilot commitment to DC’s “Fables” comic book series. It’s being written by “Six Degrees” creators/executive producers Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner. So far they’re keeping pretty mum about which characters will make an appearance, except for Bigby Wolf and Snow White.

Even as a reader who was recently introduced to the Fables series (of course, I was also an immediate fan - fairy tale characters living in the modern world? Sign me up!), I’m extremely nervous about this. What fan wouldn’t be? For one, the television series will have to tango with the FCC, which means none of the fun, risque stuff from the comic books. For another, can any actors really match up with six-years’-worth of fans’ imagination?

I am glad, however, that it’s being done on television, which allows more room for the story to breathe. Also glad that this will possibly introduce millions to the wonderful series. So it isn’t all bad.

Who would you cast? For reasons most likely related to Wolverine, I’m seeing Hugh Jackman as Bigby Wolf. As for everyone else, I’m hoping for some unknowns.

ABC to bring DC’s ‘Fables’ alive (The Hollywood Reporter)

As an admitted newbie to the graphic novel world, I had no idea why my friends were so excited when DC Comics started handing out Watchmen at Book Expo last year. They urged me to grab one anyway and boy am I glad they did, especially now that I’ve seen the trailer for the movie (out in 2009):

What do you guys think? Are you going to see it?

For those who are also new to Watchmen, it’s hard to fully describe the plot. Suffice to say that it’s about superheroes in an alternate, dystopian 1985 where the threat of nuclear war is imminent. More information is here:

Watchmen (Wikipedia entry)