Well, we’re a little more than halfway through the BEFORE WATCHMEN experiment, and while the question of whether or not the comics should have been produced at all remains one that people can argue back and forth for days on end, it has to be admitted that when it come to the creative result, this […]
A slight break from the usual goings-on here at Blastoff HQ, to not that our own Scott Tipton recently made an appearance on the New York Times Best-Sellers list, with STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION/DOCTOR WHO: ASSIMILATION SQUARED, VOLUME 1 making its debut at #2! Geronimo!
You know, some superheroes have it better than others when it comes to origins. Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider; irritating, but hardly traumatic. Superman’s rocketship ride to Earth from Krypton? Maybe crippling emotionally, but hey, he was young – he adjusted. When it come to origins, nobody had it worse than the Spectre, […]
Hard to believe it’s been twenty-six years since Frank Miller’s groundbreaking BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS first hit comic-shop shelves. And ever since then, almost immediately upon its publication, fans have been clamoring for a film adaptation. And while elements and influences of DARK KNIGHT RETURNS can be seen in everything from Tim Burton’s BATMAN […]
Editor’s Note: The old Dreaded Deadline Doom has got its claws in me once again this week, so while I fight to get out from under, I thought I’d re-present this lost offering from the original COMICS 101 Archives, focusing on Spidey-friend and foe Harry Osborn, as originally presented on June 1, 2005: I caught […]
Not many creators can lay claim to being a true successor to the legacy of Jack “The King” Kirby. John Byrne, through his decades of impressive output as both an artist and a writer/artist, is one of the few. Byrne, British-born but Canadian-raised, began his artistic career humbly enough. In the mid-’70s, he worked for […]
With all the MARVEL NOW! Announcements that have been coming out in the last few weeks, the one that seems to have surprised and confused people the most is the new FF series by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred, featuring a new replacement team of Ant-Man, Medusa, She-Hulk and hilariously, “Miss Thing,” a celebutante-type in […]
Last week saw the loss of two significant figures, two men whose careers couldn’t have been more different, yet both of whom had a profound effect on the world around them, and on me personally, one affecting me fancifully and emotionally, the other inspirationally. I’m talking about Muppeteer Jerry Nelson and astronaut Neil Armstrong. Jerry […]
In 1963, as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were laying the groundwork for what would become the Marvel Universe, there were other books still being published by the company as well, remnants from the company’s days pumping out sci-fi and monster comics in the late ’50s and early ’60s. As Marvel editor Stan […]
With the New 52Verse now firmly entrenched in the hands and minds of readers, the initial shock has worn off, and many DC readers have found things to like in the new books and its accompanying continuity. While I’ll admit the jury’s still out for me, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on: […]
Where to even start with this one? Comics legend Joe Kubert passed away Sunday morning, August 12, at the age of 85. Kubert was a peerless editor, writer, and artist, best known not only for his work on characters like Sgt. Rock, Tor, Tarzan and Hawkman, but also for moving non-fiction work like FAX FROM […]
In the late 1960s, DC wasn’t much known for innovation. That is, until the arrival of Marvel co-creator Jack “King” Kirby in 1970, who in short order injected the DC Universe with more new blood than it had seen in decades, characters and concepts like Darkseid, Orion, the New Gods, the Forever People, Kamandi, the […]
The Marvel Age of Comics was firing on all cylinders by 1963. So much so, in fact, that legend has it that Marvel Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee and then-Marvel publisher Martin Goodman got a little wager going. Stan, heady with Marvel’s success, put forth that they could put out any kind of comic book, not just […]
