A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans
I had the chance to interview Brad Meltzer, the writer behind DC’s best-selling Identity Crisis, on his latest works, I Am Superman
But since some people prefer the ancient art of “reading,” we’ve also transcribed the interview below, talking with Brian and Andre about making the graphic novel. The transcription has been slightly edited for clarity. Read and enjoy!
[Read more…] about Brad Meltzer Interview! “I Am Superman,” “I Am Batman”
This week on Creannotators, I’m joined by comic artist Gene Ha to talk volume two of DC’s Black Label Wonder Woman: Historia. Ha is also the writer and artist behind the comic “Mae” and was one of the chief artists involved in his comic “Top 10.”
On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics!
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[Read more…] about Creannotators #95: “Wonder Woman: Historia” interview with Gene Ha!
Dave and Charlotte talk X-Men crossovers! Looking at 1999’s “The Hunt for Xavier” and “Magneto War
[Read more…] about 1999 Pt. 3: Magneto War & The Hunt for Xavier Crossovers!
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[covers by John Buscema & Joe Sinnott]
If you missed our 1967 entry, check it out! You can link back to previous entries there, as well.
Probably Marvel’s second-best cosmic-themed adventure of 1968 (after the debut of the fearsome Mangog in Thor; next time) was the return of Galactus in Fantastic Four #74-77. Of course, that’s no endorsement for how everyone treats Sue Richards there; also, the story itself doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense and anyhow, it doesn’t push the envelope on Marvel Cosmic—although these issues are a visual wonder. Kirby takes flight with the Silver Surfer, especially as he escapes to the Microverse to avoid Galactus, who’s come back to Earth to beg for the return of his Herald. The Microverse’s Psycho-Man, recently introduced in Fantastic Four Annual #5, also appears. This unusually decompressed arc is also noteworthy for being Kirby’s farewell to one of his favorite creations, as the Surfer’s adventures continue in his own solo book, which was Stan’s full appropriation of the character for his own ideas—read: heavy soapboxing—while bringing aboard wonderful artist John Buscema whose art, however elegant, never popped and shattered banal reality/received aesthetics like that wondrous weird Kirby crackle. Of course, few artists have ever matched the King; further, as with any sensible up-and-coming artist, Buscema’s work ethic was about fulfilling his role to the utmost without causing trouble with the boss. We’ll return to this below in our entry on the first few extra-sized issues of The Silver Surfer title.
[Read more…] about The Evolution of Marvel Cosmic, Part 6: Cosmic Franchise, 1968
I love video games. I suppose I always have. Growing up in the early years of economic liberalisation in India, you took your first steps into the world of gaming on bootlegged consoles, manufactured by local companies that had cropped up all over the country to meet the demands of a large population with growing purchasing power and aspirations to live the life their relatives “abroad” and the stars of their movies did, all the while the companies that actually manufactured those consoles scrambled to set up shop in the nation. My earliest memory of gaming is playing Contra and Super Mario on one of these bootlegged “NES,” plugging in those “99999 in 1” game cartridges and setting up the system on those huge CRT television sets that took up an entire corner of your living room.
I am telling my age, aren’t I?
Well, kids, playing video games for as long as I have teaches you a lot of things, especially if you are interested in the behind-the-scenes stuff – how they are made (the tools and technologies that go into making a game and how they evolve over time), the politics of it (because, as with everything else in life, there is politics involved here as well), the economics of the gaming industry (and how it, at times, becomes the primary driving force for innovation) – which, I suppose, you become at least tangentially aware of if you stick with a particular hobby long enough. But, perhaps more than that, it teaches you to see that hobby differently. You learn to notice and appreciate the craft behind it. You learn to see video games as art.
[Read more…] about The Inmates Run the Asylum in Rocksteady’s Arkham Trilogy