Comic Books

Here#s  a look at Top Ciw’s upcoming Aphrodite IX exclusive cover, for the upcoming Las Vegas Comic Con. Viva Las Aphrodite IX

Source: Justice League of America vol.1 #114 (1974)Type: Transformation (in an imaginary story)Remember Anakronus? The Lord of Time's silent partner who, way back in Justice League of America #10 defeated the entire JLA more or less right after the comic ended? No? Neither has Snapper Carr who, three years after his falling out with the League (our time), finds his whole family taken hostage unless the JLA gives Anakronus the 10 million bucks their telethon has just netted (a JLA telethon?! Come back Monday for the details, there's a post in them there hills!). He goes on and on about defeating the Justice League and tells an involved story in which he uses his temporal powers to bring back/forward various warriors or evolve/devolve creatures to fight the heroes for him, and it all ends with the JLA - including Superman - devolved into NOTHINGNESS!!!!Obviously they got better.OR the truth may be that Anakronus is a nutjob in a Centurion outfit from a costume shop, wielding a blinged-up .45 automatic. At least, that's what it looks like when the Atom, Elongated Man and Red Tornado show up to save Snapper and his family. Which doesn't explain how Anakronus knew about the Lord of Time or why his gun makes sci-fi noises. I call shenanigans on Len Wein, and to no-win a no-prize, I'll say Anakronus' story is true, but the JLA prevented the timeline from occurring somehow, leaving the poor villain lost in time, his mind broken, with echoes of memories of what once went wrong.Section for Snapper Carr haters: Instead of using his JLA signal device (he doesn't think of it), he calls the telethon and puts subtle emphasis on certain words to let Green Lantern know he was in trouble. Being subtle with Hal Jordan is a risk, I think you'll agree.

- - - - - - - - - - Outlaw Kid v1 Atlas 1954-57 8 - Al Williamson art (more to come) - - - - - - - - - - Outlaw Kid v2 Marvel 1970-75 (more to come) - - - - - - - - - - See today's posts, more series checklists or the master list of series. See also this blog's artist checklists, top 10 lists or readers polls.

"It's a ship." "What, for midgets?" "Or a coffin for a very large man." (A prophetic quote, as it turns out.)TECHNICAL SPECS: This story is available on DVD. First aired Jan.3 1981.IN THIS ONE... The TARDIS and a human ship navigated by a lion-man's imagination get stuck at zero coordinates, in a vast whiteness.REVIEW: I don't think we've had such a visually impressive story since The Leisure Hive shocked the show out of the 70s. There are hiccups here and there - the bit-mapped frozen coin comes to mind - but the handheld work walking around the split-level spaceship set, the leonine Beric running through the void with his own echoes on his trail, the cobwebbed castle right out of Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête, the wire-frame TARDIS in the navigator's eye... But all this eye-candy comes at a price. Appropriately for this program, that cost is TIME, and director Paul Joyce would never work on the show again. Overruns and all that. I don't think it's entirely his fault. There are LOT of video effects that must be catered to, and that just takes time. Not for the audience, of course - this looks to be another of those serials with chapters closer to 20 minutes than 25 - but the short running time is at least filled with interesting visuals and heady concepts.Now, I'm all for rich and complex scripts. For example, I'm on record as a fan of Ghost Light. Warriors' Gate is one of those Doctor Who stories that invites literary analysis too, though I sometimes think it's overrated. What keeps it from really charming me is the underlying science. While I'm intrigued by the theme of randomization and the overt reference to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (the two grease monkeys commenting on the story happening over their heads and flipping coins), I have the niggling feeling that this is another Bidmead wet dream about mathematics. He's created E-Space where coordinates are negative, and now writer Steve Gallagher is asked to set a story at zero coordinates, an imaginary point where the two universes theoretically touch. Thankfully, Gallagher is literate enough to make this concept more poetic than scientific (though those TARDIS scenes tend towards technobabble), and the idea of "two sides of a coin" returns again and again - the two levels on the ship, Beric walking through a mirror, and his zen riddle about being from both the past and future.One thing I've noticed since I started this pilgrimage is that the show used to told from the TARDISeers' point of view and over time moved that POV to the natives of the TARDIS' destinations. We used to discover worlds and times with the Doctor and his companions, but now spend a fair amount of time, especially in the first chapter of every serial, immersed in an alien world before the TARDIS ever arrives. The consequence is that we get tedious TARDIS scenes just so the heroes can appear early in the episode. By the time they disembark, there's only just time for a little skulking about before the cliffhanger happens. That happens here. There's a bit of discontinuity with the Doctor proposing to bring Adric to Gallifrey instead of returning him home as he intended at the end of the previous episode. K9 gets his with solar winds as he once again gets hammered by JNT edicts. And Romana prepares her departure from the program by saying she might part ways with the Doctor. Plus, what's the I Ching and some bla bla bla about time rifts. I've nothing against the "alien POV" structure per se, but they really need to integrate the regulars into it better.THEORIES: A white void? Where have we seen that before? Ah yes. So is there a connection between the void at "zero coordinates" and the whiteness in the Land of Fiction's lobby? Both are outside the universe as we understand it, both snare the TARDIS, and both have strange physical properties that allow people to walk on, and breathe, nothing. In the middle of nowhere, there's a partly visible castle built by a race of lion-men - truly shades of

So Microsoft debuted the XBOX One this week and the video game fanboys dropped trou and prayed to Lord Gates. With it, the next generation of consoles are all spec’ed out, and being built by poor children of other countries. Err, I mean by robots. Yes. Souless, never-hungry robots. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, or just the fact that I’m getting older and crankier by the day (something I may attribute to being in proximity of several fine folks on this very site), but I’m finding it harder and harder to care. My generation was gleefully known as the ‘Nintendo Generation. When the original NES debuted, I was at the perfect age. With careful prodding, pleading, and sad-face-making, my parents dropped the $100 (a veritable fortune at the time for a lowly birthday / Chanukah gift) for the system. Elation, kiddos. Elation. Flash forward sometime later, and I was able to finagle the Super Nintendo when it debuted. I remember with near photographic memory the reflection of my beardless cherubic face in the glossy UV coating on the box… declaring all the amazing new games debuting with the console –none of which were included, save for Super Mario World. This cycle continued all throughout high school: the SNES begat the Sega Saturn (don’t judge me). The Saturn begat the Dreamcast (continue to hold that tongue). The Dreamcast gave way to the original XBOX. And I remember it so well; plunking down my shiny new credit card for the $650 charge (the system, a game, and the extra controller, don’t-cha-know), and then holing up at a friend’s apartment for what would end up being one of very few all-night gaming sessions. See, even in my early twenties I was a budding old man. But I digress. The newest line of video game consoles continue the trend to move away from entertainment add-on devices to full on hubs of all things do-and-watchable. Literal, visceral computers minus a keyboard and mouse. They’re WiFi-enabled, app-store-shoppable, and motion-sensitive. The XBOX One will apparently be ‘on’ all the time, and be able to take voice commands at will. XBOX, turn on. Bring up Netflix. Order me a pizza. Raise me my child. They’ve even showed a possible add-on that will project environmental graphics onto the walls and surfaces of your media room. I’ve seen the future folks… and I can’t wait to tell my son about how in my day our graphics were crappy and damn-it we liked it that way. So why all the hatespew, you ask? All allusions to getting older aside, it’s frankly a matter of taste. The commitment of time a child (or teen, or adult for that matter) can sink into a video game is mind-numbing. Pun intended. Games today simply try too hard to be immersive. One simply doesn’t turn on the game, play a level or two, and call it a night. Suffice to say, that is what Angry Birds was designed to do. With the next generation of systems on their way, this is the trend that will continue. The phone will be my Nintendo. The XBOX will demand I plotz for 90 minutes if I intend to game. The late Roger Ebert was adamant that even the best games were hardly art, I’ve never subscribed to that point of view. While Halo won’t sit on my shelf next to Inglorious Basterds, it certainly provided more smiles and provoked more thoughts than Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. But therein lies the blessing and the curse of modern gaming. The more video games mimic real life / real cinema / long-format stories, the more time and energy will be required of the player. Who here would watch The Godfather trilogy in 20-minute chunks? And while yes, this doesn’t include Madden, fighting games, or arcade games… even there Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are subtly demanding more and more of us as players – both in our time, and from our bank account). Madden may have that quick game, but the appeal (for those not online) is in the franchise mode-built for hours-long tweaking, prodding, and finessing. Fighting games demand the completest beat the game with every figh

Welcome back, everyone! Just a quick reminder of what our goal for each and every Saturday is: Stirring the pot is the act of causing trouble for the sake of your own amusement. So we here at Comic Booked would like to formally invite you to discuss, debate, and start some shit talkin’ about the characters, the creators, and the storylines given to us from the industry we all know and love, hate, and love to hate. So let’s quit wasting time and start the mud (or web) slinging! This Saturday’s question: Which characters were destroyed by creators who obviously didn’t like them? Did Brian Michael Bendis really need to kill off Hawkeye, bring him back, kill him again, bring him back again, make him crazy, bring his long-thought-dead wife back when he was in the middle of what might have been a healthy relationship, and then basically make him a worthless character in the period of less than a decade? Was it really necessary for Geoff Johns to kill off so many characters in Infinite Crisis? Did Joe Quesada and J. Michael Straczynski break the one rule of superhero comics (don’t let the bad guy win) with the ending of One More Day, the now infamous Spider-Man story? And how many X-Men writers have proven time after time that they simply hate the character Gambit? Or is it just a coincidence when characters who are most likely someone’s favorite hero or villain are so senselessly and utterly destroyed? So go forth and debate! But be sure to back up your responses. Don’t be scared. And don’t give up. After all, no one likes a quitter. And you’re not a quitter, are you?

The early 90s incarnation of Marvel Super-Heroes was an odd duck--a quarterly anthology series with absolutely no theme, no rhyme or reason. Every issue was completely random in its choice of subject matter. It functioned as a way to clear out the back-files, to publish the previously unseen inventory stories that had been piling up over the years. It also seemed to serve as sort of an ersatz new talent showcase, as lots of names turned up there that were never seen again. And given the origins, a lot of the stories...well, weren't terribly good. And at one point they printed the skeeviest story in the history of comics books. But in #8 (1992), they also included a bunch of Jim Starlin pin-up pages. Why? Who knows? They were unrelated to anything else in the issue (which unleashed the blight that is known as Squirrel Girl upon us). Nope, just random splash pages of Warlock and friends, or Doctor Strange wandering through Ditko-esque realms, or Wolverine and Spider-Man fighting ninjas. And then there was this: HOLY CRAP!!! Sasquatch versus Hulk versus Thing versus Beast, with Man-Thing watching on?!? Was this from some stillborn project? A pitch for the ultimate Marvel Two-In-One tale? Or was Starlin just noodling around? I've no idea myself, but I'll tell you what--I would read the living hell out of this story!

Twitter is fast becoming my go-to source for movie news, and every now and then I like to round up some of my favorite Tweets. There was lots of action on Twitter this week as several huge movies are either starting production or close to opening. As usual, we got plenty of Tweets from directors Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days of Future Past), and James Mangold (The Wolverine).I've collected some of the best Tweets of the week, so let's get to 'em.First up is Marc Webb, whose latest Tweet (as of May 25) mentions an ancient, mysterious manuscript. Could this be a clue to an important plot point in The Amazing Spider-Man 2? If you're curious, you can check out the Wikipedia article about the manuscript.If you're looking for a good Internet time suck - try looking up Voynich Manuscript.You're welcome!— Marc Webb (@MarcW) May 24, 2013Hmm, that looks like the aftermath of a huge battle scene on the streets of New York.Day 77. Never go full hobo.Writer Alex Kurtzman, Rocky and me making use of an Oscorp crater fire. twitter.com/MarcW/status/3…— Marc Webb (@MarcW) May 24, 2013Andrew Garfield took a break to play basketball with kids in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York. Watch a video of Spidey's Bball skilz.Day 76. Suit up! Let's play. twitter.com/MarcW/status/3…— Marc Webb (@MarcW) May 22, 2013Next, let's see what Bryan Singer Tweeted from the Montreal set of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Singer dropped a bombshell when he announced that Evan Peters would play the mutant Quicksilver in the film. This was most surprising because earlier this month Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers 2, said that Quicksilver was going to be in his movie. As of today, there's no word from Whedon or Marvel Studios as to the status of Quicksilver in the 2015 sequel to The Avengers.Thrilled to say #EvanPeters is joining #XMen #DaysOfFuturePast as #Quicksilver.— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) May 24, 2013Here's our first look at Jennifer Lawrence as the blue-skinned shapeshifter Mystique.First look: #JenniferLawrence as a vengeful #Mystique. #XMen #DaysOfFuturePast twitter.com/BryanSinger/st…— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) May 20, 2013Actor Peter Dinklage goes over the game plan with Singer. We still have no official confirmation as to who Dinklage is playing. I know some people are convinced that he's playing the Canadian mutant known as Puck. I'd say that's a pretty good guess.Reviewing tomorrow's work on the flight back to Montreal with #PeterDinklage #XMen #daysoffuturepast twitter.com/BryanSinger/st…— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) May 20, 2013James Mangold presented the second awesome trailer for The Wolverine.youtube.com/watch?v=th1NTV…— James Mangold (@mang0ld) May 21, 2013Check out the stylish character poster featuring the villainous Viper.Don't miss the BRAND NEW Trailer from #TheWolverine TOMORROW (5/21) 6am PST -- ONLY on Youtube.com/TheWolverineMo… twitter.com/WolverineMovie…— The Wolverine (@WolverineMovie) May 21, 2013The link goes to another poster, this time for Wolverine's Japanese friend Yukio.A poster for Yukio as played by @rila_fukushima. redcarpetcrash.com/wp-content/upl…— James Mangold (@mang0ld) May 21, 2013The official Twitter account for Man of Steel shared some new images from the movie, including Henry Cavill as Superman...He will save them all. #ManofSteel #June14th twitter.com/ManofSteelMovi…— Man of Steel (@ManofSteelMovie) May 22, 2013and Michael Shannon as General Zod.#MichaelShannon is #GeneralZod. #ManofSteel #June14th twitter.com/ManofSteelMovi…— Man of Steel (@ManofSteelMovie) May 22, 2013 The highlight of the week was definitely the new trailer! With all respect to The Wolverine, Man of Steel is the movie that people are talking about the most."The fate of your planet rests in your hands." Epic new trailer for #ManofSteel: youtu.be/NlOF03DUoWc Tickets now on sale.— Man of Steel (@ManofSteelMovie) May 22, 2013We also got a great new pic of Russell Crowe as Superman's father Jor-El."Keep t

Excellent childrens' books illustrator and Phoenix-contributor Gary Northfield has released The Terrible Tales of the TeenyTinySaurs, a delightful new kid's book from Walker Books - and Gosh London are celebrating it with a launch party on Friday 31st May. Is it possible to fly to the moon in a bubble of snot? Can you really have an argument with a cloud? Are there bogey monsters at the bottom of the garden? All these questions and more are explored in The Terrible Tales of the TeenyTinySaurs - an hysterical and charming collection of comic strip adventures, following a teeny tiny gang of dinosaurs as they wind each other up and muddle their way through the myths and mysteries of prehistoric life. • The Terrible Tales of the TeenyTinySaurs Launch Party Friday 31st May, Gosh London, 1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR • Here's a link to Gary's website with several teasers: http://www.garynorthfield.com/2012/07/24/teenytinysaurs/