Boondock Saints 2: All Saint's Day, Pumping Iron and Arnie, Finishing the Game, Kevin Bacon, (where is) Gentlemen Broncos (playing?), Shakira and The Neptunes, Legionnaire starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Holes, Dynamo 5 #25, WWE, Dian Bachar, and more.
Tag Archive for 'Dynamo 5'
HOLY @#$%! Today's a big day at the comic shop for the AudioShocker!!!
First off, Ross Campbell's Wet Moon 5 is in stores today. If you've been listening to A Podcast with Ross and Nick, then you already know that Ross has been extremely tight-lipped about the details of WM5. That just means it's gotta be juicy! Ross and Nick will be talking about WM5 and dropping behind-the-scenes info starting with A Podcast with Ross and Nick #12 on August 26th, so that gives you two whole weeks to read the book before you listen.
Also, Chris Giarrusso's G-Man: Cape Crisis #1 hits racks today. This awesome all-ages comic book was the topic of our most recent conversation with Chris in AudioShocker Podcast #91. This is the first issue of a five-part mini, so I suggest you get in on the ground floor today and snag a copy.
Man, this day could only be bigger for us if Jay Faerber had another issue of Dynamo 5 out today! Too bad D5 #23 came out last week... (and, by the way, it was an EXCELLENT issue).
EDIT: Wet Moon 5... or not.
EDIT 2: Wet Moon 5 out on August 19th!
Dynamo 5 #0 SPOILERS! Jay Faerber is here and we talk about Strong-Suit, Father Gideon, Tower City, War Chest, Maddie, how Scrap and Myriad get a new apartment together, and the future of the Dynamo 5 superheroes. And, as an added bonus, Dynamo 5 #20 hits stores tomorrow!
Then Justique returns to the AudioShocker podcast to celebrate our super nasty 69th anniversary by arguing with Neal about anime. Neal thinks anime is derivative, Justique thinks anime is awesome, and Nick thinks Ghost in the Shell is sweet. We also talk about Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, The Underneath, Betty Page, the historical porn collection of Franz Kafka, and too much more.
Jay Faerber talks about Dynamo 5 #19. Spoilers abound as we discuss Myriad, Scrap, Alexander Serra, Bill Rosemann, War of Kings, Mahmud A Asrar, Ron Riley, and how everything leads up to Dynamo 5 #0.
Then Nick and Neal chat about Balls Out and the future of raunchy comedy, superhero movies have replaced sci-fi action movies, Domino Harvey is lame even with Keira Knightley, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is decent but overrated. Finally, we end the show with a debate... Monty Python vs. Mel Brooks for the title of Biggest Influence on Modern Gross Out Comedy Movies.
Wednesday, February 4
12:00 PM
I emailed Jay Faerber and Chris Giarrusso. Jay and I have been planning to talk about Dynamo 5 as the series approaches its semi-relaunch. I emailed Chris because Wednesday saw the unexpected appearance of Mini Marvels: Secret Invasion on the Diamond Comics shipping list.
Within the next few weeks, you can expect to hear Jay Faerber on our weekly podcast talking about Dynamo 5 #0 and the future of the series. Also expect to hear from Chris G in the coming weeks. We'll be talking about the new Mini Marvel digest, as well as his upcoming G-Man digest from Image Comics.
6:00 PM
I worked my way thru a Pittsburgh mini-blizzard to get to Phantom of the Attic Comics on Craig St. It was Wednesday, after all. And I needed me some new comics. And some old comics too.
Last week I gave my retailer a back issue wish list. At the top? Iron Man #215-232. David Michelinie and Bob Layton join up with penciler Mark Bright to take Tony Stark and Rhodey Rhodes into Armor Wars (and BWS bats cleanup on #232, an Armor Wars epilogue). I was inspired by the reviews on Advanced Iron to grab this whole run.
And there's more. I also snagged Iron Man #285-299, filling in the middle between the landmark War Machine issues of #284 and #300. AND I picked up Marvel Comics Presents #152-155, a four-part War Machine story. Expect to see some of these issues pop up in my 3 Panel Reviews.
New stuff? Black Panther #1, X-Men: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #1, X-Men Vs. Hulk, Tales of the TMNT #53, Black Lightning: Year One #1 (for free thanks to a misprint!), and Dynamo 5 #19. My retailers were awesome enough to toss me the variant cover of Black Panther #1 (probably because I'm the most rabid T'Challa fan at the shop!). Sadly, my shop didn't have any copies of Mini Marvels: Secret Invasion... I'm not sure if they didn't order any (which would be odd) or if Diamond didn't actually ship the book (which would NOT be odd).
I made a pretty serious decision about my comic book purchasing habits as well. These $3.99 books are killing me. I decided that stuff like yesterday's Secret Warriors #1 is just gonna have to wait. Stuff like the Bishop mini and Claremont's X-Men Vs. Hulk one-shot are going to take precedence. I'd rather indulge in more unique side projects. Vixen, Terra, Hulk one-shots, MC2 books, and X-Men minis are the sort of intriguing things I want to pick up.
8:00 PM
After sitting on it for a few days, it was time to crack open the Hulk Vs. DVD. First up? Hulk Vs. Wolverine. It's awesome that Jeff Matsuda was the character designer for this half of the Hulk Vs. project. But I need some character exploration too. While the animation was strong and the voice performances were decent, the story of Hulk Vs. Wolverine (which really should have been called Hulk Vs. Weapon X) needed more gripping character development. This just didn't reach the heights of Ultimate Avengers or Next Avengers. Hopefully Hulk Vs. Thor will really knock it out of the park.
9:00 PM
Shh!!! Justique's asleep and I have a whole mammoth stack of Iron Man back issues to read!!!
I slowly snuck over to my new reading regiment and selected Iron Man #215. As I crept back to the couch, Justique opened her eyes! DAMN IT!!! But I didn’t put the issue away. I know my girlfriend well. She was back to sleep within two minutes. Then I cracked open #215 and started to read.
Thursday, February 5, 11:59 AM
9:00 AM
Iron Man #225 and #228. That's what I needed. My shop had EVERYTHING from my wish list save for these two issues. I ended up paying $10 for the two of them online, which kind of sucks. But considering I only paid $1 per issue for the entire Armor Wars run, I'm already well ahead of the curve.
11:00 AM
I want to see this Push movie. Chris Evans was great as Johnny Storm. Plus, Push is a super powered action flick… so much so that a few movie reviewers actually think this film is based on comics... like this guy from the Orlando Sentinel.
But the movie could go either way. It sounds reminiscent of last year's Jumper, which sucked. My movie theater has Push projected digitally, which Fandango describes as having "impressive clarity, brilliance and color and a lack of scratches, fading and flutter."
Not sure if I'm buying it, Fandango. I mean, can it really be that much better than regular projection? Isn't it awesome enough that movies get projected 50 times bigger than the screen on my crappy TV set?
Kanye West is drenched in auto-tune on 808s & Heartbreak, Ashley Simpson and Pete Wentz join the long list of celebrities who give their children eccentric names (in this case, Bronx Mowgli Wentz), Neal has a 72 hour crush on Hillary Duff and he's pretty sure that Sean Connery is an aphrodisiac, watching the Nick Fury movie is like putting your head in a bag of shit, Watchmen has graphic novel variant covers, and Dynamo 5 #18 is awesome.
An interview with Jay Faerber, the comic book writer and creator of Noble Causes, Dynamo 5, Gemini, Urban Myths, and more. We talk about the creation of his Top Cow Pilot Season offering, Urban Myths, as well as the fate of the characters in his ongoing Dynamo 5 series. Jay also reflects on the work of artistic co-creators Mahmud A Asrar, Jorge Molina, and more in this excellent AudioShocker exclusive.
I've been pretty busy lately so the ComicShocker actually (GASP!) missed its first week ever last week. Instead, the AudioShocker got an SEO update. I think that's a fair trade.
Keeping it short and sweet this week, I'm going to pass along a link to more free comics online. Ahhh, free comics how I love you…
This week we're checking out Gemini #1 for free. I'm a big Dynamo 5 fan, a series by Jay Faerber and Mahmud A Asrar. Since Gemini is written by Faerber as well, I caught a bunch of previews in the back of my Dynamo 5 issues.
Well, I didn't get to pick up Gemini #1. But now I can read the first issue of Gemini for free over on Newsarama. I'm ashamed to say that at the time of writing this, I still haven't read the comic. But I'm a busy guy, damn it.
Speaking of which, the AudioShocker (a.k.a. just me) will be at Wizard World Philadelphia this weekend (a.k.a. just Saturday for a few hours). Email me at nick@audioshocker.com if you want to meet up and say hi. Feel free to attach nude photos to your email (ladies only, please).
I went to my first comic book convention this past weekend. I've been reading comic books regularly since the age of four (well, you know, as regularly as you can read comics at four…) yet I've never really been a part of communal fandom. I got into the online comic book message board thing a bit in the past few years, but I wouldn't even really consider myself a true part of that either.
So attending a comic book convention for the first time after reading comics for over 20 years was interesting. It just wasn't what I expected. Ever been to a trade show or a business convention? It's just like that except the attendees wear tights instead of suits. The booths and the salesmen are all still there, from retailers that go straight to the consumer all the way through to niche businesses geared especially towards the convention-going small press comic book creator.
And I wasn't even at one of the huge conventions. I was at the Pittsburgh Comicon, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year under some extremely unusual circumstances. I enjoyed myself in the sense that nothing went wrong. But I feel so disconnected from the convention culture. I love comics for the craft, for the stories, for the characters, and for the sweeping metaphors. I suspect, however, that if I really want to make the comic book industry my career field of choice, I need to learn to love comicons too.
As for Reads You Need, may I recommend Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #45. It felt like autumn today here in the Steel City, and this comic book made me feel like October arrived early. This eerie tale is a solid example of why I've read more consecutive issues of Tales of the TMNT on a month-to-month basis than any other comic book series. Coming in a close second is Dynamo 5 #12, which finally pays off a plot tangent about the character Myriad that was introduced way back in issue #7.
Before I go, I should let everyone know that Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3 Chapters 14 and 15 are online. I've watched both of them (a two-parter called "The Boiling Rock") and I thoroughly the episodes. Chapter 14 is mostly setup -- and Chapter 15 is doubly good when it really brings the plot home. If you're trying to find these episodes, here are links to Chapter 14 and Chapter 15. Enjoy (and check out the video description on Chapter 15 for more).
Who owns superheroes?
Inspired by Dynamo 5 #10
For years, it seemed like comic books owned superheroes by virtue of being the introductory medium. For a long time it seemed like Marvel Comics and DC Comics exclusively owned superheroes (even going so far as to trademark the words "superhero" and "super-hero").
Nowadays, many people would claim that Hollywood owns superheroes. Lately, superheroes seem to be most lucrative as fodder for movie scripts. Then again, maybe licensing owns superheroes. Go to your local dollar discount store, Target, and Wal-Mart - Marvel and DC characters are plastered on everything from t-shirts to backpacks to mugs to bed sheets to pajamas to cake decorations.
But at the end of the day, I think fans own superheroes. The beauty of the superhero concept is that these larger-than-life protagonists are metaphorical for the latent potential we all have inside of us. The reason Dynamo 5 can be an incredible interpretation of the superhero without being published by the Big Two, without a movie, and without licensing? It's written and visualized by fans.
The passion behind the creation of the Dynamo 5 is evident in every issue. It's a testament to the creators' love for superheroes and their amazing possibilities. Without the fans, there would be no one to watch the movies, no one to buy the pens and trinkets, and certainly no one to run Marvel or DC. Just like tall tales and mythology, it takes a devoted audience for storytellers and artists to bring superhero dreams to life.
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