An Army of One

It began when I was having a conversation at the register with store patron and buddy Ken. As I was checking him out, I somehow managed to raise-- again, because it's often on my mind-- the issue of my inadequacies contributing to a postapocalyptic society. Never thought about it yourself? I hadn't either until I read Max Brooks' essential World War Z last year, and then my view of my personal worth changed entirely. And not for the better.

I was pointing out the very few merits I would have as a citizen in a society that was rebuilding itself from zero. I can't sew; I can't cook; I can't cultivate plant life; my grasp of physics is very weak, so building anything is out; hell, I can't even make a fire. I'm not particularly physically strong, but as Brooks points out, I might be sturdy enough to bury the legions of dead. I tastefully skirted the issue of repopulation (hey, I'm a lady pre- or post-zombie holocaust).

Ken, surely caught off guard by guilt-ridden babblings parried gamely with "Well, it's not as if you can go to school for this kind of stuff."

And something clicked.

What if you could? Why not prepare now? Some of us maybe aren't so great at reading those disaster preparedness PDF's and getting the duffel bags of batteries, clean water and billy clubs together on the weekends. How about some real training? I'm talking about something like a summer camp, a week or two long. Offer two courses: THE APOCALYPSE: SURVIVAL TECHNIQUES and THE APOCALYPSE: HOW TO REBUILD CIVILIZATION. Learn from the pro's: Navy S.E.A.L.'s, Army Rangers and Special Forces badasses, Red Cross veterans, civil and electrical engineers,  tenth generation farmers, medical trauma professionals, Survivorman and sherpas. And that's just to name a few. Learn hot tips like How To Fortify a Wal-Mart Against Attack; Foraging in the Urban Wild; and When a Friend Turns. Drop a few pounds, get right with the world and get some focus. Because whatever it is you're doing in your cubicle right now isn't doing us any real good.

And then, when the zombies hit, you could be ready to roll.

Interested parties PayPal your seed funding to me immediately. This idea has G-E-N-I-U-S written all over it. Be a part of tomorrow's Imperial Future Zombie Liquidation Army and Reconstruction Force... today.

 

-AJ 

Bob Hates Andy

Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol are two of the most important pop culture figures of the last century. Unfortunately, Dylan didn't care so much for Warhol, as he blamed the modern artist for turning his former girlfriend actress Edie Sedgwick onto drugs. Their animosity culminated in the exchange of a Silver Elvis painting that Wahrol gave Dylan at the factory. Rumors have it that Dylan first used the painting as a dart board before trading it to his manager Albert Grossman for a cheap sofa.

A new online comic Bob Hates Andy follows the poetic and provocative exchanges between the two competing egos. Each strip imagines Dylan and Warhol as their 1960s heyday personas arguing over modern novelties such as the popularity of fashionable trucker hats, with their own unique hippie mysticism. Bob Hates Andy has good understanding of the two iconic figure's personalities and their interplay makes for an intelligent, comedic and thought provoking read. Check it out!

-Jon

The Warning

In the last year, the world of Hellboy exploded in size with the addition of new titles like Lobster Johnson: Iron Prometheus, Abe Sapien: The Drowning, and B.P.R.D. 1946. This isn’t even counting Hellboy running its longest story arc to date with the six issue Darkness Calls nor does it count the 10 straight-issues of B.P.R.D. that were put out in 2007. At the recent New York Comic Con, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola revealed his 2008 plans for Hellboy and it looks like things are only getting bigger.

This summer, we will see a new three-issue Hellboy miniseries called The Crooked Man, a series of B.P.R.D. one-shots, a Hellboy companion book, and the biggest Hellboy event of the year: the release of the second Hellboy film: The Golden Army. While, I’m excited about a lot these plans, what I’m looking forward to the most is the return of the main B.P.R.D. storyline in July. That is when the newest mini-series to chronicle the ongoing adventures of Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, and Johann Kraus is entitled The Warning will be released. This is just the first mini-series in a trilogy that co-writer John Arcudi claims “…will completely change the BPRD universe.” While world-changing storylines in comic rarely seem to deliver on what their promises these days, the creative team behind B.P.R.D. has the track record to back up their hype.

Throughout the run of the B.P.R.D. series, the creative team has been constantly delivering status quo changing events. In its pages we have seen the death of main characters, dramatic character growth, and a major change to the structure of the Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense itself. As Hellboy’s exploits have moved away from the apocalyptic storylines filled with ancient evils and frogs that filled its earlier storylines, B.P.R.D. has picked up the doom and gloom mantle. Since Plague of Frogs (the third B.P.R.D. collection), B.P.R.D. has delivered epic and creepy tales of Hellboy’s former teammates struggling to keep back the flood of death and destruction that is the impending end of the world. While it may seem doubtful that they will save the world sometimes, there is no question that a cast of characters that were created to be Hellboy’s sidekicks have grown into a collection of three dimensional and thoroughly gripping leading characters.

The events that unfolded before B.P.R.D. in the previous series, Killing Ground, were shocking enough. I can’t wait to see what awaits in B.P.R.D.: The Warning. One thing I know I’ll see for sure is Guy Davis drawing some wicked monsters!

Nick

Manji and Rin Got Each Other's Back

The pulse-quickening pace of Blade of the Immortal may have slackened in recent volumes, but my allegiance to this amazing series has only slightly cooled. I know this because I have just preordered a pair of Japanese import statues of the two main characters, Manji and Rin and I invite you to partake of my consumerism drunk!!

Standing at 6" tall and cast in PVC, these will be a must-have for any true Blade fan. There has been a dearth of merchandise for this series since its 1994 English-language introduction to the States so I'm hopping on this bandwagon while I can... especially since it looks like things are about to change. After all this time, there will actually be a Blade of the Immortal anime . Once this gets out to the masses Manji and Rin will be on every messenger bag, hoodie and cell phone strap in the West. Always ahead of the curve, that's us!

Seriously though, I am fired up about these statues and will be fretting until they show up in August. The first episode of the animated television series adaptation of the manga (produced by Bee Train) will air on in Japan on July 13, so keep your eyes peeled for more import goodies as Blade hype mounts overseas. We are expecting a first wave of blind package toys late summer and I hope there will be more where that came from. Oh, and by the way: Blade of the Immortal Vol. 19: Badger Hole drops June 11!

 

-AJ 

Movie Promos

One of the fun things about working at Star Clipper is all the movie promos we get to participate in. We are constantly getting passes to sneak previews, or cool memorabilia or doodads promoting a film. No doubt you've seen the Speed Racer trailers playing on our plasma the last couple of weeks. I've really got to say that the movie looks like fun. And don't forget that we're running a contest for Speed Racer. Just enter your name and contact info to win a whole host of prizes, including reserved seats at a sneak preview next week. And this is a movie that you won't be seeing any special passes to go see, so the only way in early for the general public is through our contest!

Another movie that is getting a lot of hype is Forbidden Kingdom. The sent us some pretty cool promotional materials for this one - including 'Forbidden Kingdom' incense and 'Forbidden Kingdom' packs of green tea. We often get little food items, but green tea and incense are a definite first. They also sent some trading cards and you can find all of it at a nice little display at the front of the store.

One movie I'm pretty excited about is Hellboy 2: the Golden Army. I'm a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro who has done some of my favorite movies - including "The Devil's Backbone". If you haven't seen that, go rent it. It might be the best ghost story ever put to film. Anyway, the Hellboy movie is one we haven't actually gotten any promo stuff for yet. I'm hoping for something cool - like perhaps some Right Hand of Doom gloves, or some holy relics like the ones Hellboy carries.

We have some movie passes in for a few other movies sitting in the freebies area at the front of the store, so you should always to be sure to check those out when you come in. Oh, and if the ladies that are constantly calling the store for free movie passes are reading this blog - please stop calling us. We're not 'Star Clipper, the region's premier warehouse of free movie tix for cheap retirees.'

-b

New York Comic Con Wrap Up

The New York Comic Con hit the big Apple recently, providing some big excitement early in the convention season. Even before the doors opened, the convention was controversial as it was schedule on the same weekend as the beginning of Passover. Luckily, the most of the convention was filled with less controversy and more big news and in depth panels.

While I am pretty excited about a lot of the news unveiled this weekend like Peter Bagge doing a new Graphic Novel for Vertigo or Johnny DC’s new Supergirl limited series, there is just too much of it for me to cover it all. I will say that these days I am pretty much interested in anything that comes out of Grant Morrison’s mouth related to Final Crisis. It seems like with every interview I get a clearer picture of what he wants to do with the series as well as some juicy tidbits about the development of the project. Comic news sites like Comic Book Resources or Newsarama have in-depth coverage of the convention with all the news from the panels.

The news I’m most interested in, though, is this announcement that Stan “The Man” Lee is not only creating a new line of super-hero comics for Virgin Comics but will write the cornerstone book of the line. It seems that everywhere these days there is news about Stan Lee’s latest projects, like his anime project Hero Man, but I’m really excited to see him return to working on old-fashioned superheroes. I know that I may be alone in this, but I really enjoyed the characters that Stan created in his Just Imagine… line for DC. I carry the unpopular opinion that some of those characters, especially the later ones in the series, would have become classics if they had been created in the 1960s. Hopefully, he will be teamed with solid art team and deliver some more classic characters. Lee is quoted in the LA Times article I linked to earlier, saying, "It will be a team of 10 heroes and they will be dealing with personality conflicts, personal problems and chemistry within the team.” This sounds like the vintage Stan Lee super-team format, something that worked great in books like Fantastic Four and the Avengers. You can believe that I am going to follow this story as it develops further with a hopeful eye.

-Nick

Funeral of the Heart

Disclaimer: I am no artist, but when I dabble, one of my preferred media– in truth, perhaps my favorite medium– is scratchboard. The precision you enjoy, the simultaneous experience of carving and drawing and the exquisitely stark results are heartily satisfying. So I was immediately drawn to Leah Hayes' new book, Funeral of the Heart.

 

Not yet a brand name, Leah Hayes is an up-and-comer from Fantagraphics' stable of young artists. Hayes is a standout from these, with her latest project particularly. I was surprised myself to discover I already owned her first comic, a funky little sketchbook called Holy Moly consisting of doodles she made while in class in college. Heh.

Funeral of the Heart is a true artist's creation. Hayes made the arresting, haunting images first, and then retrofit a story around them. Madness, you say! But it works. With her stories "The Bathroom," The Needle," "The Change," and "The Hair" you may get an idea of her predilections, but she doesn't skimp on care or (morbid) beauty. Her sense of light and dark, positive and negative are used to full effect. And I'm a sucker for funny hand-crafted typography every time.

Check out Leah's captivating new book, in stock now!

 

-AJ 

Your Comics Will Love You Back

Lately, it seems like everywhere I look I’ve been finding awesome stories and features about comics on the internet. Comic Book Resources has been running a quality three part interview with Grant Morrison where he talks about All-Star Superman, Batman, and Final Crisis. Meanwhile, IGN has a lengthy interview with Morrison’s fellow DC Universe #0 scribe Geoff Johns. I’ve read mind exploding stories like this Newsarama one on Rob Liefeld’s apocalyptic new graphic novel series. I had to listen to things like this Around Comics podcast interview with James Kochalka to rebuild what of my mind remained afterwards.

My favorite thing I’ve found lately, though, was sent to me by Star Clipper customer Jared Rourke. Mini-comics creator Alec Longstreth posted a handout/guide to comics self-publishing called ”Your Comics Will Love You Back” on his website. The handout was originally created for lectures he gave on self-publishing at the Center for Cartoon Studies and the Norman Rockwell Museum. The pamphlet covers everything from printing comics to the materials Alec uses to draw them to work ethic you have to have to make them. The guide served to remind me how awesome comics truly are and how attainable it is to make them. After you’ve read it, maybe you too will want to grab a pen and start cranking out comic pages. The only real downside to reading this handout is it will make you realize that you will never love comics as much as Alec. The man says that he views himself married to comics, having a life-long relationship filled with ups and downs. That is a level of commitment that I think few are willing to make.

If you wanted find out what kind of comics such a faithful lover of comics creates, check out Alec’s Phase 7 series. I stumbled upon the series when I was in Seattle for my sister’s wedding and was quickly charmed by the mini-comic series. I was surprised to find us start carrying it in the store a couple of months later. Currently you can scope out issue #12. You can also read his work Awesome Indie Spinner Rack Anthology and Papercutter #6 by Tugboat Press.

-Nick

2008 Eisner Nominees

The Eisner Award nominees have been recently announced and this year’s selection is filled with some great comics. It looks like some exciting trends are occurring with the Eisner’s like an ever-growing diversity in the selection of books nominated or the splitting of Best Title for a Young Audience into two categories due to the excellent offerings being regularly released for younger audiences.

One trend I noticed right away among the nominations is the presence of high-profile media crossover books like Joss Whedon’s Buffy Season Eight, and Stephen King’s Dark Tower: Long Road Home. While high-profile books have found a place among the nominees in the past, it was not as common for those books to come from people and properties outside of comics. When outside talent deliver work as strong as Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm or the Umbrella Academy, it isn’t hard to see why they gained notice. I guess it doesn’t help to team up the likes of Gabriel Ba or Dave Stewart, who both have other work nominated this year.

Gabriel Ba’s other nomination comes with the self-published 5 comics anthology that he made with his twin brother Fabio Moon and friends Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, and Rafael Grampa. I was really caught off guard to find such a low-profile comic hanging out with the likes of Mome and Best American Comics of 2007 in the Best Anthology category. It is really nice to see a collection of great creators get recognized for great cartooning inspired by the shear awesomeness of comics and a mutual admiration for each others work.

Another pleasant surprise was Brandon Graham’s nomination for Best Writer/Artist- Humor! He has become one of my favorite comic creators in recent years with books like Escalator or King City. As someone who loves a good pun, his work is hard to resist. It doesn’t help that his panels contain a lot of imagination and excellent cartooning. With this nomination, it looks like I’m not the only one who was noticed his work.

One nomination that did not surprise me belongs to St. Louis’ own Matt Kindt. His Super Spy collection, of his Top Shelf web comic, scored a lot of great reviews and buzz last year and man did it deserve it. Super Spy’s interconnecting web of espionage-filled vignettes was one of the best reads of 2007. So, Star Clipper would like to congratulate Matt on his nomination for Best Graphic Album- Reprint with Super Spy!

As an added bonus, you can hear Matt talk about Super Spy in this Inkstuds interview.

-Nick

St. Louis MUNNY Show 3.0

Don't miss the St. Louis MUNNY Show 3.0, celebrating the phenomenon of vinyl toys as well as our 20 Year Anniversary!

This year Star Clipper is introducing a theme to our MUNNY Show: THE FUTURE. See an exhibition of future-forward artists interpreting their vision of tomorrow through custom vinyls! The show will run until May 30.

Be sure to come out for the opening reception happening tonight from 7 to 10, featuring sounds by DJ MAHF with support by Kidrobot and Schlafly Beer! Free admission and lots of prizes. For more event information, call Star Clipper at 314-725-9110!

The Death Note Encyclopedia

Star Clipper has just restocked Death Note 13 - How to Read Death Note and it is a must have for any Death Note fan. This all encompassing volume features complete character biographies, detailed story-line summaries, production notes and commentaries from series creators writer Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata. As an added bonus, volume 13 also includes a bonus manga chapter of never before translated material.

The most interesting aspect of the book is the in depth interviews with Ohba and Obata, explaining everything from the creation of the series in Weekly Shonen Jump to the an analysis of its massive popularity worldwide. Since Death Note has becoming such an allegory for debates over justice, death and the relativity of good and evil, writer Ohba's interview is particularly compelling. Ohba talks at length about how he didn't intend to push an ideological theory with the series and explains if there is any theme he wanted to come across in Death Note it would be "Humans will all eventually die and never come back to life, so let's give it our all while we're alive." Ultimately Obata's intent for the series was entertainment, and even though it has been surrounded by a fair amount of controversy, it intended for younger readers to enjoy it for its "plot twist and psychological warfare. Obata's overview of the art of the series is also immensely fascinating, with comments about Ohba's production notes about L's trademark sitting position, and a detailed look at Light's climactic speech in volume 12 that was so powerful it actually made the artist sick.

Any Death Note reader will appreciate this reference book, as we all know how complicated and confusing the mystery of the Death Note can be.

-Jon

Intergalactic Grudge Match: Round 1 - Nova Vs. Silver Surfer

Beginning in Nova #13, Marvel's two most popular possessors of the Power Cosmic, Galactus and the Silver Surfer, return to make Nova's life a living hell. Coming out of the Annihilation: Conquest series, Nova will take on the challenge of Galactus, the eternal world-eater, in a very interesting way. In an interview with Newsarama, Nova writers Dann Abnett and Andy Lanning explain, "We tried to do something a little different. Nova isn't crazy enough to go after Galactus personally. He's trying to deal with the effects of Galactus, as if Galactus was more of a natural disaster than a being. Of course, things get out of hand." Also of note, Silver Surfer will appear in the series as the Herald of Galactus, a role he famously rebelled against, again blurring the line of the ethics and mythos of the character. Nova will also have a role in the cross-over Secret Invasion series, exploring the intergalactic threat to the Marvel Universe that the Skrulls pose.

The current Nova series has been pretty darn good and with the new story arc is a perfect point for new readers to jump aboard. For those not familiar with Marvel's human rocket, Nova is actually Richard Rider from Earth, and was entrusted into the Nova Corps at random. Nova's Xandarian uniform gives him the ability to control the Nova-Force, which gives him flight and greatly enhanced speed and strength. The uniform also acts as a life support function that can sustain Nova in the most extreme intergalactic environments. Rider is the last of the Nova Corps and has also been entrusted with the Xandarian Worldmind, which communicates through his helmet and contains extensive records of everything in the universe. Go to Marvel.com for a full biography on Nova.

Though the character has often been criticized as Marvel ripping off DC's Green Lantern, and could have been easily modeled off of Dave Stevens' Rocketeer, Nova is a rising star for Marvel's intergalactic characters, and I encourage you to check him out.

-Jon

The All-Too-Mortal Iron Fist

Well, the title of this blog is a bit of an exaggeration. The Marvel series starring everyone’s favorite kung fu fighting billionaire
isn’t being canceled, though when I read this post at Comics Reporter, I sure felt like it might as well be.

My brain was complete unprepared for the news that my news was delivering to it. The triple threat team of Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja were off the Immortal Iron Fist. With all the things that they have been saying about how much they love working on the title, the end of their tenure on the title was the last thing I expected to read.

When the title was first announce, I resisted picking it up even though I loved the writers and Iron Fist is an old favorite. I
didn’t need to be buying another superhero title from Marvel or DC. I quickly found that the tales of Danny Rand and company a top read as I borrowed the latest issues from friends. There came a point in the middle of the first story arc where I could not wait to borrow the issues and the title joined my monthly must buy list. I have been enjoying it ever since.

As I mentioned earlier, the fact that the creative team is leaving the book does not mean that it is over. Current Cable scribe Duane Swierczynski and artist Travel Foreman are taking the book over. Swierczynski is even planning to dig in for the long haul on the title so it looks like it may be sticking around for a while. I’m trying not to prejudge the new incarnation of the book and say that it is going to stink or anything like that. On the other hand, the title I knew and loved will be no more with the last panel of issue #16. Hopefully the new team will create something fun and exciting as the first run on the revitalized title while putting their stamp on the title.

While I can’t say what the future of Iron Fist holds, I do know that I will savor each remaining issue of the current teams run and continue to enjoy the stories they have already told.

-Nick

The Creative Trinity of Trinity

Back in March when Jon blogged about DC Comics next weekly comic series, Trinity, we didn’t really know a lot about it. We were told that it was a another 52-week series like 52 or Countdown that starred DC Comics three biggest characters: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. We also knew that it would pair recently DC exclusive artist Mark Bagley with his former Thunderbolts partner in crime Kurt Busiek.

I am writing this blog exactly one month later to the date and I really hadn’t heard much more than a peep about the series until today. Checking out Newsarama, I stumbled upon a four part interview with the creative team that they have been posting all week. The series of interviews has conversations with Kurt Busiek, Mark Bagley, Busiek and Bagley together, and finally the series’ back up feature writer Fabian Nicieza. I found the interviews were mostly helpful in giving us a better idea about the back-up features and the artists that are going to work on them. In general, though, I am surprised at the lack of hype and information available on this series.

I have to agree with Jon’s previous blog that it is a smart move to have their top characters star in the new weekly, but there doesn’t seem to be much capitalizing on it. Back when 52 was launched; we had iconic ads featuring an abandoned bat-cowl, super-cape, and lasso of truth. While with Countdown, there were the orange teaser ads that exclaimed things like “Jimmy Olsen Must Die!” Back then people talked about who was going to be in 52 and later they wondered what exactly Countdown was, well, counting down to. With Trinity, there is just teaser art of very classic group shot of DC’s big three and not a lot of talk around the shop.

With the series launching in less than two months, I hope that the Newsarama interviews are the beginning of a campaign for the new series. The series, and definitely its fan favorite creative team, deserve greater attention than it has gotten so far. I just hope that the book gets it.

-Nick

A People's History of American Empire - A Graphic Adaptation

Howard Zinn's inflammatory classic A People's History of the United States has just been adapted into a graphic novel A People's History of American Empire. The adaptation follows the most poignant chapters of the original novel and is retold by Zinn, cartoonist Mike Konopacki, and historian Paul Buhle. Opening with the events of 9/11, Zinn narrates America's choices and actions in the world since the country's inception and follows everything from early U.S. expansionism, to Vietnam, and Iraq. The book also follows Zinn's own rise from a poor jewish immigrant to become one of America's most popular historians.



A People's History of the United States has sold over 1.7 million copies and for many students has become required classroom reading. This version will hopefully encourage a younger readership to pick up Zinn's revolutionary book, especially with the addition of Konopacki's thoughtful and sombre cartoons. A People's History of American Empire will make a perfect gift for teachers, inspiring historians, and free thinking political minds.

Posted above is a short animation of American Empire, with a voice over by actor Viggo Mortensen. For the most recent update with Howard Zinn, check out his website.

-Jon

Living Large in Tokyo

Americans love to complain about not having enough space, presumably to store all our crap and shift our increasing personal bulk around.  So how do we break the acquisition habit? Who do we look to for advice? There's nothing for it but tough love, people. Instead of living in homes, we may have to learn to live in communities comprised of tiny one-room spaces. I know, I don't care for the idea either. But a couple of books out now show how the professionals in Tokyo do it, and make it look good.

Tokyo: A Certain Style from publishing juggernaut Chronicle Books has been out for years, but I never get tired of poring through it.
Photographer Kyoichi Tsuzuki zipped around Tokyo on a scooter, snapping shots of tiny urban dwellings. A Certain Style catalogs hundreds of cheerful, honest photographs of a Tokyo that is brimming with microapartments, single rooms with shared bathrooms, mini and modular everything, sinks that make do for everything, spaces packed floor to ceiling with electronics, books, clothes, light, remote controls, pictures, toys and cheer. Tsuzuki introduces each tiny pad with notes about the occupant(s), perhaps artists, students, young singles or professionals with children. His notes capture the spirit and ingenuity required not only to live within such small quarters, but the bustling city without. In a witty nod to the topic, Tokyo: A Certain Style small enough to fit in your hand. Perfect for that cramped apartment...

So Tokyo: A Certain Style shows how modern Japanese have cleverly compromised their lifestyles with the resources at hand. But what about intentionally designing environments to meet the limited amount of space available? Another book from Cocoro Books called Small House Tokyo describes how micro homes, or kyosho jutaku , are reshaping the way Japanese live and work, while at the same time at the forefront in urban design. In a city like Tokyo, where every square inch comes at a premium, innovative architects and designers are making the most of that concept and building beautiful structures full of purpose. Walls might be pitched at greater than 90 degrees or undulate like a wave. Rooves may not be flat. Floors may be a series of wide catwalks. Ambient light and clever storage solutions are huge considerations.

But small doesn't mean skimpy. These homes can be made of luxurious textures emulating nature, like glass, concrete and wood. Some have features any homeowner would covet, such as inner gardens, raised patios or open-plan living rooms. With over 150 full-color photographs of interiors and exteriors of some of the leading designs of the Japanese kyosho jutaku movement, Small House Tokyo is is house porn indeed.

Although the feeling of these two books is different, the message is the same: bigger isn't necessarily better. Peering at these books gives one a lot of perspective on the way we live. Their resources are shared; privacy is impossible; notions of space, both public and private are thoroughly different. They measure space in tatami mats. But at the same time, they create real, sustainable, liveable environments for themselves out of simple ingenuity. Sounds like the American way.

 

-AJ 

A New Kind of Zombie Variant

I'm so sick of Zombie variants. They cause quite the predicament when it comes to making shelf space every Tuesday night. And seriously, was a Howard the Duck Zombie variant really necessary? However, one such upcoming variant issues does have me excited.

To celebrate issue 50 of Walking Dead, Image Comics and series creator Robert Kirkman will be releasing a 1 out of every 100 variant, featuring the series' most popular characters, Rick, Tyreese, Michonne, and the despicable Governor, as super-heroes. The idea for the celebratory cover came from a conversation Kirkman had with Image executive director Eric Stephenson, who discussed an idea about a possible series of variant covers featuring Image's best known super-heroes Savage Dragon, Spawn, ShadowHawk and others, as zombies, a la Marvel Zombie variant covers. In an interview with newsarama, Kirkman explains "A certain other publishing company has been doing a slew of 'Zombie variants' on their super-hero titles, and so I thought it only fair to do a 'Superhero variant' on a zombie title." The cover, pictured above, was drawn by Erik Larsen and Ryan Ottley.

If you have not been following the current story arc of Walking Dead, let me tell you, no one is sacred in Kirkman's zombie apocalypse. With out spoiling in major plot points, all I will say is that you see a lot of major players dying off in the issues leading to the big 50. It seems like there has been a major shock in at least the last 4 issues, leaving my jaw dropped, gasping in disbelief. How many comics can boost that type of excitement for their fans? At this point, I almost have to predict the death of leading man Rick as the ultimate climax of issue 50, but we'll see.

The regular cover for issue 50 is pretty rad too, and I think helps illustrate my guess. Take a look:



Walking Dead 50 is scheduled for release April 23.

For more on all things Robert Kirkman, check out Kirkmania.

The Legion of Three Worlds

Readers of the latest Action Comics storyline starring Superman and the Legion of Superheroes found a pleasant surprise in the last pages of the latest issue. Those pages contain a two-page teaser (a la the Green Lantern Blackest Night teaser) for a new Final Crisis tie-in Final Crisis! Legion of Three Worlds. The series, which had not been previously announced, is by the creative team of Geoff Johns and George Perez.




While DC mentions the series being announced in this Geoff John’s Newsarama interview, you can scope out the above pictures of the teaser in this interview Johns’ did with Comic Book Resources. Both articles provide some decent insight into the miniseries and Johns’ plans for Legion. I, for one, would be excited to see more of his take on this classic teen super team. Johns’ has been providing an exciting and fun updating of the original Legion of Superheroes characters over in Action Comics. This version of the team, along with the two other incarnations (from the two reboots the team has experienced), will battle it out with Superman-Prime and the Legion of Supervillains in the pages of Legion of Three Worlds.

I am notorious for my lack of interest in crossover event comics, yet this summer I find myself not only excited about a huge crossover series with Final Crisis. Now, it seems, that I’m going to be hooked into one of the spin off series as well. While the set of interviews with Johns provide some insight into the storyline of the miniseries, there has yet to be mention of how it ties into Final Crisis. I just hope that Superman-Prime finally gets his comeupence in the mini-series.

If you think that I am excited about this series, you should read this interview with series penciler George Perez. Now, there is a man excited about a Legion book.

Nick

A Brief History of AKIRA

Twenty years ago, the world saw the original theatrical release of AKIRA, and the ground-breaking anime subsequently went on to define the standard for which almost all Japanese animations and manga are judged today. However, in 1988, AKIRA was like no other anime. The film's meticulous attention to detail, exact lip-synching, and illustrious motion, was uncommon for anime at the time, which was viewed as a passing trend, guilty of poor production values and formulaic sitcoms. AKIRA was so much more. It explored youth culture and delinquency, while also addressing larger topics such as social unrest and post-war nuclear destruction. Plus, it did all this while following a homicidal motorcycle gang member who mysteriously gained uncontrollable psionic awareness.

AKIRA started as a manga comic created by Otomo Katshhiro in 1982, and was originally published in Young Magazine. The massive collection finally concluded in March of 1993, and was well over 2000 pages. The main story of both the film and book follow the friendship and rivalry of Kaneda and Tetsuo, two orphaned bike gang members, who grow up in Neo-Tokyo. When Tetsou has a motorcycle accident with an escaped lab patient labeled Number 26, he gets wrapped up in the classified AKIRA project. Its up to Kaneda to overcome anti-government activists, greedy politicians, and a powerful military leader, to either save or kill his friend.

Though there are similar themes and plot outlines with both the book and film, there are some major differences between the two. The most predominate difference between the two is the role of AKIRA himself, who is regulated to minor back story in the film, but plays a huge role in the book from the second volume on. The young AKIRA and crazed Tetsou form the Great Tokyo Empire, and a large portion of the book is dedicated to the rise and fall of his cultish kingdom. Two other important characters to the book, Chiyoko and Lady Miyako, have little to no role in the film. Here is a full list of difference between the manga and the anime.

To the celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film, the Webster University Film Series will be showing a FREE screening on Sunday, April 6. For more info on this event, check the film series calendar. If you haven't seen the film, you have no excuse but to go see it now. Its Free, its on the big screen, and its the best anime ever!

-Jon

“Who Do You Distrust?” Contest Winner!

**Be warned, this post is packed full of spoilers!**

Marvel Comics has been building up for Secret Invasion for months, asking the Marvel fans everywhere, “Who Do You Trust?” They revealed back in New Avengers #32 that a Skrull had replaced ninja assassin and Daredevil ex-flame Elektra. The implication was that any number of our beloved Marvel Comics characters could also be a Skrull impostor. All this was leading up to Marvel’s super-event, Secret Invasion. Star Clipper decided to get in on the fun of guessing “Who Do You Distrust?” We wanted to know who our customers and blog readers though was going to be the first Marvel Hero revealed to be replaced by a Skrull in he Secret Invasion series.

Well, with the release of Secret Invasion #1 on April 2,we know the answer and the winner! Out of all the answers we received, only one character appears replaced by a Skrull in Secret Invasion #1 that was guessed. The person that made that correct guess is:

Star Clipper regular Bruce Wulff!!!

He guessed the Invisible Woman, winning him a Steve McNiven variant copy of Secret Invasion #1 and the bragging rights around the shop. While the character wasn’t exactly revealed to have been a Skrull all long, a Skrull does pose as her in the issue and causes some major trouble at the Baxter Building. That was good enough for Jon and I, who are much worse at guessing. He was pulling for Aunt May, while wanted Roberta (the hologram secretary of the Fantastic Four). I should have gone with my second guess, Edwin Jarvis!!!

While I’m busy kicking myself, I’m going to wait and see who is next in the Skrull impostor parade. As the series unfolds, I hope to name the second and third prize winners as we still have a lot of guesses that could pan out. Keep tuned in to the Star Clipper blog for further developments in the contest.

-Nick

New Readables from Del Rey

Del Rey Manga is the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, in turn a branch of Random House. For those of you not familiar with their work, they bring us successful manga such as Negima, Basilisk, Tsubasa, XXXholic and one of my all-time top faves, Parasyte. I appreciate that although they have some turkeys in their lineup they try to maintain a decent blah to blockbuster ratio. Lookin' at you, Tokyopop.

 

Looking over the new solicitations for March 2008, I was made to pause when I came to Del Rey's offerings. While normally I get queasy when it comes to anthologies-- too hit-or-miss-- the forthcoming Faust anthology magazine sounds pretty compelling. Originally published by Kodansha, it will feature a mix of short stories, articles, comics and illustrations inspired by manga, anime and video games. Since its debut in 2003, six volumes of Faust have been published in Japan, Taiwan and Korea. The first issue will feature stories and illustrations by some popular manga-ka, including Yun Kouga (Loveless), Hajime Ueda (Q-Ko-Chan), CLAMP (Tsubasa, xxxHolic), and-- wait for it-- Takeshi Obata, revered illustrator of the bestselling title Death Note. From all accounts, the series is expected to be very cutting-edge, both in terms of literary content and illlustration. Honestly I'm intrigued by the mash-up direction this seems to be taking.

 

The anthology will still have the smaller dimensions of a manga, which I think is too bad. I understand that if it's already formatted that way there's not much else you can do, but I'd love to see it oversized like a true magazine. Titles like KERA, Gothic & Lolita, Hobby Japan and other Japanese-language special interest magazines do just fine when they find their niche at Star Clipper, so I can only imagine that the English-language version of Faust will do well. I think we'd all like to see more in this vein. For that matter I'd like to see some of the Japanese tabloids either be collected in a "Greatest Hits" edition in English or simply become available on a serialized basis. I love a good trashy read in any language! Uh, pictures, please.

 

-AJ 

Less is More Garfield

One big question has plagued thousands of comic readers for decades: "Is it possible for Garfield to actually be funny?" We have suffer through his mundane repetition for the last 20 years, like "where's lasagna?" and "I hate Mondays!" and there is seemingly nothing that can be done to save the Hallmark relic from simply being grandma's favorite sarcastic cat. However with a little tampering, the strip apparently can be funny! Believe it or not, all it takes is the complete absence of Garfield and the strip can be a somewhat profound and always hysterical exploration in the solitude of a lonely every-man, Jon Arbuckle. With the awesomeness of photoshop, the website garfield minus garfield has done exactly this. By erasing Garfield and focusing on his bipolar owner, it reinvigorates the joy in our voyeurism into Jon Arbuckle's depressing life. Check out this one:



Obviously, in this strip Garfield walloped Jon something good for some hedonistic reason, but by taking him out of the strip, the context is just disturbing and melancholy. Whatmore, by subtracting Garfield's smug rebuttals Jon Arbuckle's self deprecation and sadomasochistic ways somehow feel beautifully sombre and insightful.

In Garfield's defense, I do think the early strips were funny. The art work is so bizarre it's hard not to laugh. Take for instance, Odie's first appearance:



I have never felt more sorry for an animal in my life. It looks like the poor dog was both strangled and electrocuted at birth, and for some horrible reason his maniacal owner Jon let him live just to look miserable and retarded.

If you would like to contribute to Garfield's comeback, why not make your own with this Garfield Comic Creator. Send them in to jon@starclipper.com titled Garfield's comeback and the funniest 3 will get posted on the Star Clipper Blog!

All entries should be in by April 18.

-Jon

Zardoz

If there is one movie Sean Connery is probably trying to forget it's Zardoz. Decked out in the baddest knee-high boots this side of Texas and little more, Connery plays Zed an exterminator of the primitive Brutals in this post-apocalyptic nightmare. Zed commits ritualistic killings to appease his god Zardoz, but when he begins to question Zardoz's omnipotence, he gets intwined with a secret society called the Eternals who have long been pitting the Exterminators and the Brutals against one another for their own amusement. What's a man-thong wearing, gun-totting madman to do?!

This flick is truly a narcotic Sci-Fi acid trip. Blame it on on it's 1974 release date, but even for it's time Zardoz is just plain bizarre. Plus, the ludicrous sex and violence only helps "blow your mind."

Zardoz is screening as part of the Webster University Film Series - Strange Brew program on Wednesday, April 2, at Schlafly Bottleworks starting at 8 p.m. Yours truly will be there screening the insano 16-millimeter print! See ya there.

-Jon