Tag Archive for 'Marvel Comics'

The Top 9 Superheroes I DON’T Want to Hang Out With

Published
by
nick marino
on November 21, 2008
in Comics and The Top 9
. 1 Comment

9. Man-Thing. Aside from the obvious ridicule I’d endure from my friends for chilling with someone named Man-Thing, I don’t feel like “burning at the touch” of a weird swamp monster who can’t hold a conversation.

8. Luke Cage. Power Man used to be awesome but now he’s all into conspiracy theories and hiding out from “the man.” Hanging out with Cage nowadays means putting on disguises to buy hot dogs and running underground to eat them in a deserted subway tunnel.

7. Green Arrow. Aside from being obnoxious and preachy, Ollie Queen would be extreme rude to any attractive women in his vicinity. Then he’d insist on playing darts for money until I’m broke. Not my idea of fun.

6. Dr. Strange. Seemingly fresh at first, cute sayings like “by the hoary hordes of Haggoth!” would get really old really fast. I would end up telling Stephen Strange that his “hoary whore mouth of Haggoth better shut the fuck up!” before I put my foot in it.

5. Hawkgirl. Along with being uneasy about her wings and the giant mace, I wouldn’t be able to take her seriously in that bird mask. Then, if I asked her to take it off, Kendra would probably give me a line about how it’s her proud warrior garb and my request insults her.

4. Hank Pym. Something is bound to go wrong. If he’s not losing his mind and pretending to be a different bug, then he’s slapping his wife around or getting abducted by aliens. It’s not his fault he’s a writers’ punching bag, but that doesn’t mean I want to hang out with him.

3. Emma Frost. Seriously, what a bitch. The White Queen has the worst attitude in the entire Marvel Universe. She would whine about everything. The pizza’s not hot enough, the restaurant is too dirty, her ludicrous costume is riding up her crack, etc.

2. Havok. Alex Summers will ditch me halfway through our night to tell some woman he just met that he’s deeply in love with her and can’t live without her. He’ll stick me with the bill and run off to the southwest United States, where I won’t hear from him again for years. At least, that’s what he always does to the X-Men.

1. Cyclops. What’s worse than getting ditched by Alex Summers? Chilling with his brother Scott as he rants about “how hard it is to live life when I can’t relax for one moment because the smallest slip could result in my ruby quartz glasses falling off, causing my eyes to release powerful blasts of cosmic energy that could harm the people I love!”

Next: The Top 9 Supervillains I DO Want to Hang Out With

Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.

The Hollywood Reporter Announces Director of The First Avenger, Runs Picture of the Wrong Captain America

Published
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nick marino
on November 10, 2008
in Comics and Movies
. 4 Comments

On Sunday, The Hollywood Reporter announced Joe Johnson as the director of 2011’s The First Avenger: Captain America. On the good side, this movie looks like it’s actually going to happen. On the bad side — as it is with any superhero adaptation announcement — there were a number of oddities with The Hollywood Reporter’s article.

1. The title. “First Avenger”? The original Avengers are the ones who un-froze Cap from his Arctic cryogenic stasis in the first place! How the hell is he the “first Avenger”?! I know that this title has been out there for some time now, but I thought I’d mention this as it is endlessly perplexing.

2. The time the article was posted. When I went to look at the official date of announcement, I was surprised to find that this story dropped at 10:00 PM on a Sunday. I know it has to be ready for the Monday papers, but that’s still a strange time to go and publish it online.

3. Joe Johnson is directing Captain America instead of Ant-Man. You would think that Johnson, with his notable experience as the director of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, would have been tapped for the Ant-Man movie. Nope. They gave him a WWII Captain America period piece instead. This guy obviously knows how to do small stuff on a big scale, yet he’s been hired to take over the superhero that requires the least amount of fantasy special effects.

4. The picture accompanying the article. The Hollywood Reporter went out of their way to give a brief history of Steve Rogers, even going so far as to mention the horrid 90s Captain America film. But they ran a picture of the wrong Captain America!!!

Hollywood Reporter shows the wrong Captain America

Instead of showing Steve Rogers in costume, they have Bucky wearing the new Captain America outfit. WTF?! It could be Marvel’s fault or it could be THR’s fault. Either way, it’s both funny and sad at the same time. You can even see the knife hanging on Bucky’s belt in the image (not to mention those goofy stars on his shoulders).

All-in-all, I’m glad that this is going to get made. I would much rather see a Captain America movie set in the 70s with Steve and The Falcon fighting side-by-side, but any good Cap movie is better than no Cap movie.

Most of all, I’m excited at the prospect of this film hitting theaters a month or so before The Avengers movie. That means Cap will end up in the Arctic at the end of this film and then he’ll get de-thawed in The Avengers just mere weeks later. That’s awesome!!! I can’t even think of another example of tight movie continuity like that. I’m about to piss myself just imagining how sweet that will be.

The Top 9 Things That May Have Gone Wrong with Last Defenders - Part Two

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nick marino
on October 24, 2008
in Comics and The Top 9
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Last week, I was a big jerk and I only gave you reasons nine thru five of why Marvel Comics’ Last Defenders miniseries didn’t get the proper comic book love. Now, here are the top four reasons… which I will still title “The Top 9″ even though it’s only the top four. Why? Because I’m a lazy bastard and writing these lists can be a bitch so I have to stretch things out.

4. What’s the deal with Mark Millar’s New Defenders? Here’s part of where Marvel went wrong with Last Defenders. Mark Millar’s Fantastic Four has, directly after the completion of Last Defenders, introduced a team of New Defenders. Think about that. Casey writes a book called Last Defenders, detailing the ULTIMATE fated destiny of the team, only to have Millar spin out his time-traveling future Defenders in a book featuring another cast of elemental characters. Plus, Millar’s gearing up for the Lady Liberators, featuring She-Hulk (a member of the fated Last Defenders), and Valkyrie (a classic Defender).

How did that go down? Was FF editorial too scared to say no to Mark Millar? He is, after all, the new golden boy of the intersection between comic books and movies. Meanwhile, Joe Casey has been Marvel’s resident Avengers continuity custodian for the past few years. If Millar is Marvel’s rock star renegade writer, Joe Casey is Marvel’s team book librarian who makes sure that you don’t run down the halls.

3. Did Last Defenders get shorted on promotion from Marvel Comics? Despite his longing to play in the sandbox of continuity nostalgia all day, I saw Joe Casey take a break and go to bat for Last Defenders all over the Internet. And that was nearly all I saw from Marvel regarding this book. There were very few ads for Last Defenders, none of which utilized Jim Muniz’s captivating art. And the book’s promotion was highly obtuse. No one announced Last Defenders as the end-all love note to Defenders history. That angle may have actually attracted more readers.

2. Was Last Defenders unfairly overlooked by reviewers? Despite Casey’s passion for the content and his fairly sophisticated method of storytelling, I saw little-to-no hype on this miniseries from reviewers. I thought it was positively fantastic for most of its issues. And while I concede that the story gets awfully confusing, the final issue wrapped it up nice and neat for me. It created an intriguing blueprint for future Defenders stories.

1. Where are the Last Defenders follow-up stories? Millar obviously had no trouble getting his Defenders approved despite the fact that it blows right past everything that Casey, Giffen, Muniz, Smith, and Fabela just did. The lack of internal Marvel promotion leads me to believe that this book either underwhelmed with sales or simply didn’t lineup with the company’s future plans. I haven’t seen anything suggesting that the Last Defenders lineup will appear anywhere else.

It’s a shame that this is all we’ll get out of Casey’s elegant Last Defenders concept. This story is a smart piece of fallout from Civil War — but it got released too long after the end of the Civil War event to make a splash. So just like Christopher Priest’s The Crew, Dwayne McDuffie’s Fantastic Four, and Scott Lobdell’s Alpha Flight vol. 3, it looks like Last Defenders now sits on Marvel’s list of “to be ignored” superhero stories that took bold steps but never received the recognition they deserved.

Next: The Top 9 Star Wars Characters to Dress Up as for Halloween

Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.

Sneaking Into Comics 007 - A Failed Intern Gives Advice on How to Score an Internship

Published
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nick marino
on October 23, 2008
in Books, Comics, Sneaking Into Comics and TV
. 0 Comments

If you know me, this might be hard to believe: I am currently on an advisory board for a student internship center. That’s ironic because I’ve only been an intern once (with Man Made Music, a small music production company) and it was long after I finished college. Therefore, I am no expert on how to be a successful intern.

However, I am an expert on how to be a failed intern. I’ve applied with both DC Comics and Marvel Comics (numerous times). I’ve let great connections at publishing companies like Random House and Ingram slip through my fingers. And I even botched a shot with Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson.

Both of the Big Two comic book publishers posted their internship opportunities much later that I expected. I thought they would be locking down interns in March or April. Not the case. DC and Marvel waited until late May / early June. And I would have been a great candidate… if only I had waited for their postings and not given up earlier.

I think the best way to get a resume to the right Big Two people is to pass one along through an editor. As a college grad, I managed to have some light communication with editorial. I once sent Andy Schmidt a resume back when he was with Marvel, and I think that would have been a great “in” had I been eligible to be an intern (you have to be a student).

As for publishing companies, my dad actually used to be the head of Ingram’s digital printing division. Think of the great connections I could have made there as an intern. Instead, I decided it would be better to work as a YMCA summer camp counselor. That was one of my worst ideas ever. Later, a connection of mine from Ingram became the President of Random House. And what did I do? I blew that connection too! I called him up once and I failed to sell myself whatsoever. Another week, another blown opportunity.

The biggest and best shot I ever botched was a chance to intern for Nancy Cartwright. She works out in Hollywood, so naturally the internship would have been spent in Los Angeles. She needed someone who could navigate the city and get around easily. I should have said, “Okay, Nancy. I don’t know Los Angeles that well… yet. But give me a month to research the city and I’ll know it like the back of my hand!” Instead, I rushed off the phone and promptly lost her number.

So here’s what I learned from all this: 1) Be patient. If the opportunity doesn’t come along right away, stay vigilant. I called Marvel Comics every week for four months, but I never got a response because the internships weren’t being offered yet. By the time they were available, I had stopped calling. 2) Be enthusiastic. Prove you’re a necessity by being assertive and resourceful. 3) Fucking intern ANYWHERE!!! If I had interned at any one of these places, I would have been well on my way. Instead, I spent my summers earning minimum wage while working sucky, depressing jobs.

And that’s just another reason why I’m going to have to sneak into the comic book industry if I ever want to make it in.

The Top 9 Things That May Have Gone Wrong with Last Defenders - Part One

Published
by
nick marino
on October 17, 2008
in Comics and The Top 9
. 1 Comment

Reflecting back on this recent miniseries from Marvel Comics, I’m fascinated by its underwhelming promotion and reception. Last Defenders was a smart, fun, and kinetic story that followed Nighthawk thru an introspective journey into modern superheroics. Kyle Richmond asked a lot of existential questions about his place in the universe and received a lot of answers in the form of temporal tampering via Yandroth, a time traveling superbaddie with a big chip on his quantum shoulder.

So what went wrong? I’m no expert, but I am an asshole. That’s why I’m only giving you reason nine thru five this week.

9. Was the art accessible enough? I found the story both brilliant and confusing. Jim Muniz, Cam Smith, and Antonio Fabela brought this journey to life in a sort of Ed McGuinness meets Duncan Rouleau way. The art was a big selling point for me, mostly because the stylized visuals took what could have been a painfully old school story and made it impossibly fresh. But was the art too stylized for this book’s demographic?

8. Was Last Defenders TOO old school? To say that this could have been “painfully old-school” is not a knock to Joe Casey or Keith Giffen. They both did a great job here, with Giffen co-writing the first few issues and Casey carrying the rest. The story pulls from the Defenders back catalog of adventures in an obsessive way that’s just as disorienting as it is fun. This comic was like a thesis statement on Defenders history, sprinkled with non-team team book irony.

Continue reading ‘The Top 9 Things That May Have Gone Wrong with Last Defenders - Part One’

Next Avengers Movie Review

Published
by
nick marino
on September 15, 2008
in Comics and Movies
. 1 Comment

Awesome. Totally awesome. Go watch it.

Nuff said for right now. But as I think of anything else worth saying about the movie, I’ll edit my thoughts into this post.

EDIT 1: Next Avengers is my favorite of the Marvel direct-to-DVD animated films so far.

EDIT 2: Okay, after thinking on it a bit, the only flaw that I can find with this film is the character design and animation of the Hulk. The way the character is conceptually roped into the story works very well for me. But when the Green Goliath finally appears, he just doesn’t look right.

Hulk’s movements are too jumpy and not nearly menacing enough. His body language suggests “Tasmanian Devil” more than “strongest one there is.” Still, this is hardly an issue. The story still works great and the character fits in even if he doesn’t visually fullfil his part to the fullest.

EDIT 3: I really enjoyed the character of Azari in Next Avengers. He’s obviously the kid of T’Challa and Storm. For some reason they never say Storm explicitly, which I assume is because Marvel Studios doesn’t currently have the rights to reproduce Storm in an animated release. He’s also a tad bit underdeveloped compared to his Next Avengers teammates. Still, his straight man persona and wonderful design worked.

Speaking of the design, I found it interesting that Azari had some striking visual similarities to Nezhno a.k.a. Gentle from New X-Men. Nezhno’s vibrainum tattoos look very similar to Azari’s markings that light up with electricity. Since Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost both worked on this movie, I’m curious to know how much Azari was influenced by Nezhno. Actually, considering how long animated features are in production, it’s possible that Nezhno was actually influenced by Azari.

EDIT 4: Here’s another favorable review of Next Avengers by Ed Liu over on Toon Zone. It echos some similar sentiments that you see here (no Storm mention = probably a rights issue), but Ed also has some differing opinions as well (especially his take on Pym’s character, which I didn’t have a problem with at all!).

EDIT 5: The only element of the Next Avengers story that’s truly divergent from the Marvel Comics 616 Universe is the creation of Ultron. Yeah, Cap hooking up with Black Widow is a little far fetched, but Ultron being created by Tony Stark instead of Hank Pym is a radical departure.

Seeing as how Tony is the caretaker of the children and a focal figure in the film, having him directly responsible for Ultron makes sense in terms of this story’s emotional development. It also allows for other small flourishes such as the moment when Pym determines that Azari can break into Ultron’s fortress because the locks are the same as the maintenance hatches at their home.

EDIT 6: As I end my broadcast day here at the AudioShocker, I’d like to give a special mention to the spooky scene where the kids end up in Ultron’s “trophy room.” As they enter, we see the tattered costumes of the fallen original Avengers. It’s not long before the lights click on and reveal a seemingly endless vertical corridor of costumes, alluding to a momentous massacre of Earth’s heroes.

The creepy visual was (in my mind, whether conscious by the filmmakers or not) akin to the Return to Oz scene where we catch a glimpse of the towering room full of interchangeable heads worn by Princess Mombi. Damn, I still get chills just thinking about all those eerie heads!

Sneaking Into Comics 001 - Heroes, NYCCBM, Gene Colan, and Bill Jemas

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nick marino
on September 11, 2008
in Comics and Sneaking Into Comics
. 0 Comments

I’ve been doing a shitty job of breaking into the comic book industry for nearly ten years now. I’ve probably botched better career building opportunities in the past decade than some professionals have had in a lifetime. This column is the first installment of a new series wherein I will relate my experiences (no matter how painful) to show you what NOT to do if you want to work in comics.

My first truly formative experience took place (I think) in 2002. I caught wind of a gallery opening in New York City honoring the artists who worked on Heroes (Marvel’s charity book benefitting the September 11th cleanup efforts). Not only was this a great historical moment in comics, but it was a terrific venue to meet professionals outside of the convention circuit.

The event was put on by the New York City Comic Book Museum (NYCCBM), an effort run by David Gabriel (before he was Marvel’s Director of Sales). It was a terrific show, with tons of great original art from the Heroes book and even greater comic book legends in attendance. Early on, I approached a table of distinguished elderly gentlemen (who had to be silver age comic book greats). Ignorantly, I asked them if Jim Steranko was at the show. They shrugged their shoulders and looked at me like I was nuts.

And I was nuts. There’s no better proof than when I ran into Gene Colan later on. In one of my more embarrassing moments, I shoved my Essential Captain America vol. 2 in front of his face and asked him to sign it. Was I out of my freaking mind? Have Gene Colan sign a black and white reprint book made of newsprint?

I was out of my mind and extremely excited to meet the artist who helped create the Falcon. To my surprise, Gene didn’t recall being the first artist to draw the Falcon. In fact, I don’t think he remembered the character at all. I had to kindly explain to him that yes, he was the first artist to ever draw Sam Wilson. And then I had him sign the crappy copy of the cover of the Falcon’s first issue in my newsprint reprint book.

After a couple hours, my sister was sufficiently tipsy from the cash bar and she was determined to help me network. She struck up with Bill Jemas, then President (a.k.a. Publisher) of Marvel Comics. Bill imparted an excellent piece of advice that I now pass along to you: if you want to work in comics, get in on the business end. Even if your end goal is creative, work your way up through comic book sales, production, or admin. Bill used himself as an example, noting how he was an executive with Fleer and worked his way into one of the top spots at Marvel publishing.

I haven’t taken Bill’s advice. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve tried, numerous times. I just never got my foot in the door and kept it there (those are, of course, the subjects of future columns). Point is, I went to one of the world’s greatest comic book networking opportunities and all I left with was a confused signature and advice I didn’t follow.

And that’s just another reason why I’m going to have to sneak into the comic book industry if I ever want to make it in.

A Week in the Life of a Comic Book Junkie

Published
by
nick marino
on September 10, 2008
in Comics, Movies and Music
. 1 Comment

Wednesday, September 3
An IT guy at my day job saw the Fantastic Four posters hanging in my office and that got him to thinking. It turns out that he used to be best buds with comic book writer Fabian Nicieza when they were kids. When they were growing up, everyone thought Fabian was going to become a comic book artist instead. Fabian even drew a huge banner for this guy’s high school rock band. Now that thing would be pure eBay gold.

Thursday, September 4
Comic book day hits late due to a Labor Day shipping bump. In one of my smallest weekly hauls in a long time, I only picked up two books. The first was an Iron Man one-shot with a photo cover — it’s really just another excellent issue of the now-canceled Marvel Adventures Iron Man. The second was Family Dynamic #1, which shipped the previous week but I picked it up off a Comics Should Be Good! recommendation. AWESOME issue! The odd thing is that Family Dynamic is under the Johnny DC imprint, but it feels more like an Image title (akin to Dynamo 5).

Friday, September 5
This day is like a blank spot. I can barely remember anything that I did. I do remember starting work on a new blog / podcast project for the Unlicensed Attorneys at Law. I’m going to release all the UAL songs via podcast, putting up a different song every week. This way the music gets onto iTunes AND it reaches a wider audience. More details soon.

Saturday, September 6
Spent the afternoon at a coffee shop inking the first issue of my new comic book, Time Log. I think this may be the very first time I’ve even mentioned the comic outside of a private conversation with a friend. It’s a project co-written, inked, lettered, and (most likely but hopefully NOT) published by myself. It was scripted along with a former AudioShocker podcast guest, and drawn by an extremely talented artist who will hopefully put some webcomics up on this blog one day. Again, more details soon.

Sunday, September 7
Feeling a bit demoralized after Saturday’s fruitless attempt to rent Next Avengers from Blockbuster, I hoped to sooth my battered ego with Rita’s water ice. Friday was the debut of their new Pumpkin Pie cream ice, and I just couldn’t wait to try it. It ended up being delicious but it punched me in the stomach so hard that I had to lay on the sidewalk for an hour afterward. Then, when I got home a couple hours later, I found that a large chunk of my bathroom ceiling had caved in.

Monday, September 8
Will Smith as Captain America? Awesome but unlikely. Riding high on this news, I went home to watch Weather Report Girl vol 2: Warm Fronts In Collision. This is by far the greatest anime I’ve ever seen. In fact, this may actually be one of the greatest cartoons I’ve ever seen. Still, it’s too soon to officially bestow that title. I need to think about it some more. Meanwhile, my bathroom ceiling is still not fixed.

Tuesday, September 9
According to Justique, our bathroom ceiling has been repaired. Going out to (most likely) see a movie, but it’s unclear what I’m going to watch. Bangkok Dangerous is in the lead with the silliest title, while The House Bunny is unfortunately not playing at my theater of choice. Meanwhile, I’m already dreaming about comic book day (Wednesday!) where I’ll buy Big Hero Six #1, my shop will finally have copies of Amazing Spider-Man #570, and I’ll add Family Dynamic to my pull list.

Wednesday, September 10
News of Marvel’s Monday announcements from Diamond’s retailer summit finally made it my way. Here are some knee-jerk reactions: Hahahahahaha Dark Avengers!!!!! Oh man, I HATE the “dark” movement. That phrase is so overused. Still, I love you Marvel Comics. I’m sure I’ll like the new Deodato book anyway. Meanwhile, Marvel Noir sounds like a very strong mini series based on the interview I read on Tuesday. And Ultimate Avengers? Sounds a bit well-worn, but who can blame Marvel for wanting to revisit this concept? Mark Millar + Ultimate Universe = $$$ in the bank.

Podcast Episode 046

Published
by
nick marino
on September 9, 2008
in Interviews and Podcast Episodes
. 1 Comment

An interview with cartoonist Chris Giarrusso, the creator behind Mini Marvels a.k.a. Bullpen Bits a.k.a. those awesome comic strips in the back of Marvel Adventures comic books. Chris talks about his new Mini Marvels: Rock, Paper, Scissors digest, his creative process, and his history with Marvel Comics.

 
 AudioShocker #46 [32:07m]: Play Now | Download