For Saturday, I spent most of my time get some comics signed by creators in the Marvel booth and the artist alley. Some include Steve McNiven, Scott Hanna, Steve Uy, Andy Lanning, Greg Horn and others.
I didn't have a chance to go to many panels, I did go to Marvel's Cup o'Joe, I was only limited to only 1 question b/c of the line, but I plugged his column on myspace that announced a fan favorite characters is coming back. I also bought some cool stuff like some artist prints, a Skrull latex mask, and some action figures. All in all a good.
Sunday was by far by the best day for me at the Con. I was considering skipping it since I had pretty much done everything i had set out to do, and it was "kids' day" but i went anyway. There was a Marvel Prize or No Prize trivia contest which I attended and was hosted by editor Tom Brevoort and my comics idol Dan Slott. The final round came for this huge stack of prizes, the question-who is Steve Harmon, which I know having read Dan Slott's books, but the guy on stage didn't, so i immediately got up and they had to pick me since I was the first one up, and Dan knew i knew the answer, so i yelled out "Slapstick" raced to the stage, hugged Dan, got my prizes which included- Hulk hands, original sketches, an Iron Man statue, an Iron Man action figure, and others. All in all a most excellent con experience :D
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
NYCC'08 Report
The NYCC'08 was last weekend, and what a blast it was! I spent most of my time around the Marvel booth, their panels, and the artist alley, but I had an awesome time, met some familiar and new creators, talked with some great guys, and essentially had a blast.
Friday
The first day, i got here early (didn't have to) but did. Immediately headed to the Marvel booth. Met some cool Marvel creators like Brian Reed, writer of Ms. Marvel, and EiC Joe Quesada who already knows me as my online username Spidey616. Later went to their panels for their announcments for Mondo Marvel and Secret Invasion. During the audience Q&A sections, Joe Q. immediately recognized me and told everyone in the audience Spidey616 was in the house and gave me a round of applause. It was great. Got some questions answered and reported in some reports.
The next question was directed towards Slott. The fan said his favorite new character was The Gauntlet, and asked if he would be seen "wearing the costume he wore in She-Hulk #3."Maybe," answered Slott. The same fan asked about the possibility of Avengers: The Initiative one-shots, and Slott answered that Chris Gage is writing one about Hardball and Komodo coming out soon.
"Will Namor be making an appearance in Secret Invasion?" "Yes," said Brevoort, typically a man of few words.
Brian Reed was asked about his vision for Secret Invasion: Front Line. The writer said that it's joked around the office that Bendis is writing "Godzilla," and he's writing "Cloverfield." "It's about survival," Reed said.
Will some titles be cancelled after the Skrulls? Brevoort: "I really hope so, because I'm really tired." He said there will be three Avengers books "for some time to come."
tbc....
Friday
The first day, i got here early (didn't have to) but did. Immediately headed to the Marvel booth. Met some cool Marvel creators like Brian Reed, writer of Ms. Marvel, and EiC Joe Quesada who already knows me as my online username Spidey616. Later went to their panels for their announcments for Mondo Marvel and Secret Invasion. During the audience Q&A sections, Joe Q. immediately recognized me and told everyone in the audience Spidey616 was in the house and gave me a round of applause. It was great. Got some questions answered and reported in some reports.
The next question was directed towards Slott. The fan said his favorite new character was The Gauntlet, and asked if he would be seen "wearing the costume he wore in She-Hulk #3."Maybe," answered Slott. The same fan asked about the possibility of Avengers: The Initiative one-shots, and Slott answered that Chris Gage is writing one about Hardball and Komodo coming out soon.
"Will Namor be making an appearance in Secret Invasion?" "Yes," said Brevoort, typically a man of few words.
Brian Reed was asked about his vision for Secret Invasion: Front Line. The writer said that it's joked around the office that Bendis is writing "Godzilla," and he's writing "Cloverfield." "It's about survival," Reed said.
Will some titles be cancelled after the Skrulls? Brevoort: "I really hope so, because I'm really tired." He said there will be three Avengers books "for some time to come."
tbc....
The Spirit movie Trailer
In case you haven't seen it, here's a link to the new Spirit teaser trailer that premiered last weekend at the NYCC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj-avI31YPE
I think it looks pretty good, but apparatently there's been some controversy that it's not "Will Eisner's The Spirit" that it's Frank Miller's version of it. Indeed, it defiantely calls to mind the look of Sin City with the black and white imagery and the Spirit jumping off roof tops, and the title at the end isn't like Will Eisner wouldn't have done it. This might just be a rumor, but supposedly half the audience left after seeing it. But it's still WAY too early to tell, and it's just a teaser so this isn't a total reflection of the movie as a whole.
Reports of Spirit panel
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16119
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj-avI31YPE
I think it looks pretty good, but apparatently there's been some controversy that it's not "Will Eisner's The Spirit" that it's Frank Miller's version of it. Indeed, it defiantely calls to mind the look of Sin City with the black and white imagery and the Spirit jumping off roof tops, and the title at the end isn't like Will Eisner wouldn't have done it. This might just be a rumor, but supposedly half the audience left after seeing it. But it's still WAY too early to tell, and it's just a teaser so this isn't a total reflection of the movie as a whole.
Reports of Spirit panel
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16119
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Comic Book Confidential
I think since Comic Book Confidential was made, there have been a lot of other documentaries and chronicles about the comic book industry, so a lot of the information for me at least was repeat, but still offered quite a lot of new insights particularily into the world of underground comics, which hasn't been as touched on as mainstream superhero comics.
I was impressed with the huge array of creators Ron Mann was able to get to appear in the film, especially the underground creators, and the techniques he utilized that made it livelier and not just another boring narrative educational film. I quite enjoyed how he took some comic stories and shot the panels like storyboards and got the creators to say the lines and essentially adapt the comics for film. I think the best of all was the one Will Eisner did, because Mann got really creative with the camera such as panning, closing into the characters' faces, and transitioning from scenes using dissolves.
It was also a bit strange to see some creators who still work today younger since this was made in the late 80's. Especially Frank Miller, who's now a bit of an old guy himself, with long hair and having less of a gut than he has now.
I think it's also important to remember the context of the time when CBC was made, since the comics industry has changed quite dramatically since then. This was before the comics crash of the 90's, considered one of the worst time for the industry since the Wertham hearings of the 50's, and the current resurgence of comics as art and entertainment and moving successfully into other media such as current comic book films.
Overall, I think it was a highly entertaining and enlightening film on the comics medium, and would love to see Ron Mann do a follow up someday.
I was impressed with the huge array of creators Ron Mann was able to get to appear in the film, especially the underground creators, and the techniques he utilized that made it livelier and not just another boring narrative educational film. I quite enjoyed how he took some comic stories and shot the panels like storyboards and got the creators to say the lines and essentially adapt the comics for film. I think the best of all was the one Will Eisner did, because Mann got really creative with the camera such as panning, closing into the characters' faces, and transitioning from scenes using dissolves.
It was also a bit strange to see some creators who still work today younger since this was made in the late 80's. Especially Frank Miller, who's now a bit of an old guy himself, with long hair and having less of a gut than he has now.
I think it's also important to remember the context of the time when CBC was made, since the comics industry has changed quite dramatically since then. This was before the comics crash of the 90's, considered one of the worst time for the industry since the Wertham hearings of the 50's, and the current resurgence of comics as art and entertainment and moving successfully into other media such as current comic book films.
Overall, I think it was a highly entertaining and enlightening film on the comics medium, and would love to see Ron Mann do a follow up someday.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Peter David@ the Comic Book Club Video
As I mentioned, a few weeks ago I attended the March 4th show of the Comic Book Club at the People's Improv Theater with comic book creator guest writer Peter David and comedian Chris Gethard. I think hands down, this was one of the funniest shows the trio has done so far in the year, and luckily the footage I shot is available at their website through the following link. David was there promoting the release of Marvel's new Dark Tower book, as well as the other stuff he has coming out. I'm a big fan of Peter David, and it was a real treat to see him in person. In fact, you can hear me at some points particularily during his tease on "Secret Invasion" and promoting his Iron Man novelization. Take a look:
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=38
http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=38
Stray Bullets
Besides my initital reaction after reading "Stray Bullets" and being greatly disturbed, it's a really unique work that utilizes a lot of familiar elements of the "film noir/crime" genre but keeps going in a direction you never see coming.
I think much more than Billi 99, Stray Bullets reminded me of Frank Miller's Sin City books. In fact, the first story with the two guys and the dead body and all the increasing number of dead bodies was a bit reminiscent of "The Big Fat Kill" Sin City story with Dwight, which was the 2nd story in the film adaptation with Clive Owen playing Dwight. But I think one of the key differences is that Frank Miller draws his characters in a more abstract cartoony style, so although the characters are clearly human beings, there's very few people on earth who look as deformed as the Sin City characters. As opposed to Lapham's character designs, which are really photo-realistically draw, which gives more attachment to the action in the book, and thus most likely seemed more unsettling to me than something like Sin City.
Visually, I was impressed with how Lapham was able to make something that seemed simple on the surface actually complex. A majority of the stories are 6 basic panel grids, but there's a lot going on in each and every one. Like on the 5th story with Orson, from p.144-149, there's a lot of dialogue coming from his parents, but no where in the story do we ever seem them. The closest we come is a one panel kiss silhouette from his mother on p.146. It just reminded me a little of the shark from Jaws.
I also liked how Lapham varied the speech bubbles depending on the context and situation. For instance, whenever someone was intoxicated the bubble would be very bumpy and the lettering more spaced between each other and looked like it was scribbled. It reminded me a bit of Jeff Smith's lettering in Bone in that respect, especially for some characters like the Lord of the Locusts or the Rat Creatures. And of course the captions and titles had a type print, almost like a police or criminal record, which of course is very fitting for the mood.
Story-wise, I found it a little jarring at first to be plunged into a world that was basically ours, but the dark underbelly of it. It was kinda like a Quentin Tarantino movie, because a lot of these people are not typically seen in "normal society" but as we get to know 'some' we find they too go through some of the same experiences and even know the same pop culture stuff we do ex) Star Wars. There was a lot I took away from it, that I won't soon forget, which is something Cynthia usually asks us after we finish a work. Things that'll stick with me for some time are the mantis eating Virginia, her Halloween experience, Orson's drug trip, Joey killing all those people in the diner, and so much more.
There's a lot to talk about Stray Bullets. Like Billi 99 it's not something I would've read or heard of if not for this tutorial, and although it was darker than my usual comic taste, I like being exposed to new things and getting a new flavor of something that's not mainstream.
I think much more than Billi 99, Stray Bullets reminded me of Frank Miller's Sin City books. In fact, the first story with the two guys and the dead body and all the increasing number of dead bodies was a bit reminiscent of "The Big Fat Kill" Sin City story with Dwight, which was the 2nd story in the film adaptation with Clive Owen playing Dwight. But I think one of the key differences is that Frank Miller draws his characters in a more abstract cartoony style, so although the characters are clearly human beings, there's very few people on earth who look as deformed as the Sin City characters. As opposed to Lapham's character designs, which are really photo-realistically draw, which gives more attachment to the action in the book, and thus most likely seemed more unsettling to me than something like Sin City.
Visually, I was impressed with how Lapham was able to make something that seemed simple on the surface actually complex. A majority of the stories are 6 basic panel grids, but there's a lot going on in each and every one. Like on the 5th story with Orson, from p.144-149, there's a lot of dialogue coming from his parents, but no where in the story do we ever seem them. The closest we come is a one panel kiss silhouette from his mother on p.146. It just reminded me a little of the shark from Jaws.
I also liked how Lapham varied the speech bubbles depending on the context and situation. For instance, whenever someone was intoxicated the bubble would be very bumpy and the lettering more spaced between each other and looked like it was scribbled. It reminded me a bit of Jeff Smith's lettering in Bone in that respect, especially for some characters like the Lord of the Locusts or the Rat Creatures. And of course the captions and titles had a type print, almost like a police or criminal record, which of course is very fitting for the mood.
Story-wise, I found it a little jarring at first to be plunged into a world that was basically ours, but the dark underbelly of it. It was kinda like a Quentin Tarantino movie, because a lot of these people are not typically seen in "normal society" but as we get to know 'some' we find they too go through some of the same experiences and even know the same pop culture stuff we do ex) Star Wars. There was a lot I took away from it, that I won't soon forget, which is something Cynthia usually asks us after we finish a work. Things that'll stick with me for some time are the mantis eating Virginia, her Halloween experience, Orson's drug trip, Joey killing all those people in the diner, and so much more.
There's a lot to talk about Stray Bullets. Like Billi 99 it's not something I would've read or heard of if not for this tutorial, and although it was darker than my usual comic taste, I like being exposed to new things and getting a new flavor of something that's not mainstream.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Billi 99
If it hadn't been for this tutorial, I don't think I would've read this or even heard of this work. Reading it, I was defiantely reminded of Will Eisner's work in The Spirit and even Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novel. I know Billi 99 came out in the early part of the 90's, but I'm not sure if this had any influence on Miller's work, but there are defianatel similarities in tone, art, and many other aspects.
It was a really enjoyable story that took things that have already been used in comics and other media and made it unique. In fact there are even direct references to some of these influences such as Zorro. It's not necessarily a superhero book, but it does have a film noir style, probably best depicted by the choice of making it a black and white comic.
I'm familiar with Tim Sale's work in superhero comics with Jeph Loeb on Batman, Heroes, and their various Marvel projects, but he really blew me away with the art in Billi 99. Not only that but the fact that he did all the lettering, which was a joy to look at, especially the sound effects. There are many sequences that come to mind after reading it like the panel spacing on p. 11 that drop down to the corner. Or the flashback sequence on p.20-21, where the art style noticably changes. I don't know how best to describe it, only that the lines change, but you can tell this part is set in the past.
And of course, no film noir comic would be complete without silhoutes, which there are plenty of in the book. There's one I particularily like on the bottom left on p.30, which at first I didn't know what it was, but then I finally realized it was a closeup of Anunzi's bottom half of his face drinking from the glass. Another sequence to note is the chase sequence between Billi and the cop on p.148-149, that's arranged in interconnecting panels read from left-right in a curvy fashion. You just have to look at it to see what I'm talking about it, but it's such a unique way of staging a chase while still keeping the story going and not using too many panels.
Overall, I found Billi 99 enjoyable. Perhaps a little too similar to other works, but I'm guessing this came before many, and glad to read another jem that hasn't been noticed in the mainstream.
It was a really enjoyable story that took things that have already been used in comics and other media and made it unique. In fact there are even direct references to some of these influences such as Zorro. It's not necessarily a superhero book, but it does have a film noir style, probably best depicted by the choice of making it a black and white comic.
I'm familiar with Tim Sale's work in superhero comics with Jeph Loeb on Batman, Heroes, and their various Marvel projects, but he really blew me away with the art in Billi 99. Not only that but the fact that he did all the lettering, which was a joy to look at, especially the sound effects. There are many sequences that come to mind after reading it like the panel spacing on p. 11 that drop down to the corner. Or the flashback sequence on p.20-21, where the art style noticably changes. I don't know how best to describe it, only that the lines change, but you can tell this part is set in the past.
And of course, no film noir comic would be complete without silhoutes, which there are plenty of in the book. There's one I particularily like on the bottom left on p.30, which at first I didn't know what it was, but then I finally realized it was a closeup of Anunzi's bottom half of his face drinking from the glass. Another sequence to note is the chase sequence between Billi and the cop on p.148-149, that's arranged in interconnecting panels read from left-right in a curvy fashion. You just have to look at it to see what I'm talking about it, but it's such a unique way of staging a chase while still keeping the story going and not using too many panels.
Overall, I found Billi 99 enjoyable. Perhaps a little too similar to other works, but I'm guessing this came before many, and glad to read another jem that hasn't been noticed in the mainstream.
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