Visual aides:

You should probably go find the book and read it, so that two years from now when you see the movie (titled Scott Pilgrim vs the World) and love it, you won't be racked with regret for not getting in-the-know much earlier.

Dark Horse Comics proudly announces the arrival of a most peculiar graphic novel experience -- Larry Marder's Beanworld!

Beanworld has captivated readers from grade school to grad school since its first publication as a series of comic books in the 1980s. Starting in early 2009, Dark Horse will present Beanworld as a series of affordable graphic novels collecting all existing Beanworld stories, with new material to follow in the same format, beginning with the all new graphic novel Remember Here When You Are There! To whet the appetite of new and loyal fans alike, Dark Horse will also release an all new Beanworld webcomic this Fall, with a full color Beanworld comic book to follow in time for the holidays!

Series creator Larry Marder explains, "Beanworld is about the affinity of life. It's like A Bugs Life meets Mutts, as told by Dr. Seuss & Joseph Campbell. It's a weird fantasy dimension that operates under its own rules and laws, but also reflects deep truths about our world in doing so. All the characters, whether they are friends or adversaries, understand that ultimately they depend on each other for survival. Beanworld isn't a place, it's a process, and I can't wait to share that process with a new generation of readers!"

"I couldn't be happier to welcome Larry Marder's wonderful stories home here at Dark Horse! I've always felt this is where they belonged, and I'm thrilled to be bringing them to today's readers," says Dark Horse President, Mike Richardson.

"Wahoolazuma! Larry Marder's personal Look-See Show is back on the boards! Beanworld is simply a joyous experience," said editor Diana Schutz, "total eye-candy, and it's good for you, too!"

"When Beanworld was first published, many people said it was ahead of its time," Marder says. "Looking at today's world raised on Pixar, Cartoon Network, and manga, I think it's fair to say that Beanworld's time has come. I'm looking forward to working closely with the team at Dark Horse to introduce the Beanworld to this comics-literate world!"

Look for Beanworld adventures, new and old, in the coming year!

A must-have companion piece for the

wheels-a-screamin', fist-a-pumpin',

rock and roll set

From the darkest depths of artistic angst, from the steaming pits of punk-rock putrescence, from the grinding gears of the Kustom Kulture Krypt comes The Workshop of Filthy Creation: The Art of Johnny Ace and Kali Verra. Johnny Ace started his career as an official artist for the late and great Ed "Big Daddy" Roth-custom car builder extraordinaire and creator of the hot-rod-culture icon Rat Fink. From his days as an artist for Roth's studio, veering through the birth of punk poster art, and now surfing on the cutting edge of lowbrow art and the new Kustom Kulture explosion, Johnny Ace and his studio cohort, Kali Verra, have taken art by the throat and taught it a lesson it'll never forget! Eye-wrecking posters, Fink-tastic sculptures, voodoo pin striping, and every manner of doodad, gimcrack, and unholy talisman imaginable are on display in this deluxe, full-color hardback collection. Featuring posters for The Cramps, Electric Frankenstein, Dick Dale, and many more, The Workshop of Filthy Creation proves to be quite the treat for greasers, gearheads, and guitar heroes alike. So adjust the seat, crank the radio, gun the engine, and get ready to blow the doors off the art world as you know it!

"Far from being a dilettante artist who tries on a Rat Fink style like some poofter with the latest fashions, only to discard them when the party's over, Johnny Ace is a straight-shot of the real stuff, off the cuff and garage-tuff . . ."

-The Pizz

The Workshop of Filthy Creation features 116 full-color pages of illustrations, sculptures, photos, and rock posters that serve as a historical look at one of the most influential art movements from the rubber-burnin', rock and roll world of Kustom Kulture. Workshop of Filthy Creation will be available on July 16, 2008, for a retail price of $19.95.

"sick" ... that's what the kids are saying these days. Even the honor students!

I'm happy to report that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is FINALLY OVER and that it went extremely well -- it's the first year I haven't had to run onstage an whisper lines to someone, in fact. So kudos to them. My partner in crime and I are very excited about our drama shirts for this year. We splurged a bit, a fact that may come back to bite us. But, hey! We're excited all the same.

At any rate, Halos is back with only one missed episode (even though I didn't post for two weeks). Enjoy!

Pues como unos 60 años despues.

Καλά τα λέει ο Rat!

Μπζζζζζζ...

xD

Ist sie nicht glaubwürdig wird es für den Bildautor im späteren Verlauf ungemein schwieriger diese Glaubwürdigkeit zurückzugewinnen. Es gibt wohl nur eine Seite, die wohl noch mehr Macht über den ersten Eindruck besitzt: Das Cover. Da ich fest davon überzeugt bin, daß das Scheitern im kreativen Prozess ebenbürtig neben dem Gelingen steht ( ein Grund warum ich auch das eigene Scheitern so gerne veröffentliche ) und Besserung nur durch den permanenten Vergleich entstehen kann, wäre es eine Sünde es einfach nur zu ignorieren. Sie sind Beide ein gleichberechtigtes Paar. Warum also nicht gleich ein Museum des Scheiterns? Ein Museum der schlechtesten Cover gibt es hier: www.geocities.com

Achtung: Mitunter harte Kost! So gut, dass es wieder schlecht ist.

]]> http://sarabenincasa.wordpress.com/?p=76 Fri, 16 May 2008 21:00:49 +0000 sarabenincasa http://sarabenincasa.wordpress.com/?p=76 Blogger Sarah Goodyear did the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (and me) a solid when she linked to our Neil Gaiman PSA on YouTube. Hooray! Spreadin' the word!

As the summer of 2008 approaches, Iron Man and Batman compare notes on their respective franchises in this Mac/PC parody.

Visit www.youtube.com/ItsJustSomeRandomGuy for more!

Iron Man and Batman riff on their respective franchises once again in this Mac/PC parody.

Visit www.youtube.com/ItsJustSomeRandomGuy for more!

Part of the problem with Dr. Strange, I believe, is that he is a sorcerer.  I'm not sure if I can explain why this is, but it seems that most magical characters have trouble maintaining a popular following.  I would say this is true for any magic based character in any superhero universe.  Strange's counterpart at DC, Dr. Fate, has the same sporadic pulblishing schedule as Strange.  No other magic based hero in either universe seems to have made even that much of a splash.  Marvel includes such characters as Talisman, Shaman, Dr. Druid and even, to an extent, the Scarlet Witch, and none of these characters have ever been able to carry a series.  In many ways, one might think that DC would have better luck with such characters.  DC has the Vertigo imprint, which has often focused on magical worlds and characters, but even their premiere magical hero, Tim Hunter, has never been able to sustain a series.  In their mainstream universe, Shadowpact, a series with many magical characters, also failed to survive.  What is it about magical characters that seems to turn off readers?  Or are these results typical of many comics published in the major superhero universes, and they have nothing to do with the magical nature of their stars?  After all, a lot of comics characters have had problems maintaining an ongoing series.  Still, when you compare Strange to his other contemporaries of that time in Marvel, and look at the track record of his original creators (Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the co-creators of Spider-Man), it certainly doesn't look like you want to be a magic based hero in the Marvel Universe.

I've read and loved Dr. Strange stories from the sixties through the current decade, and some of the runs on the character have been brilliant.  I have to mention (as I seem to mention him in every thread) that Roger Stern did one of the best runs on Dr. Strange in his publishing history, particularly the storyline where Dr. Strange goes up against Dracula and attempts to destroy all the vampires in the world.  Truly remarkable storytelling.  There have also been times in Strange's publishing history when even I was ready to drop the book; Geof Isherwood, you were a great penciler, but I'm not sure you were ready to write the series.  But again, can't this be said of any character that's existed for as long as Strange has?  What is it about the successful times that works for Strange?

One of the things that I feel every successful comic series truly needs is a supporting cast.  Many times, Dr. Strange doesn't really have one.  We always have Wong, his faithful manservant....and that's often it.  Roy Thomas gave Strange perhaps the largest supporting cast, with an apprentice, Wong's fiancee, an undead brother, two female friends, a business manager, and Strange's girlfriend Clea.  I think that's one of the reasons that Thomas' run on Strange (which Thomas wrote with his wife) is so successful; there's a community within the book, and lots of characters to interact.  One of the other things the Thomases did was to bring Strange down to the level of mere mortals.  I think part of the reason that Strange can be difficult for some people to like is that he isn't really very....normal.  I know, I know, who is normal in a superhero universe, but if we pick someone like Peter Parker (the typical example) he's someone that the reader can relate to.  He has the same problems, fears and speech patterns that we do.  No one thinks or talks or acts like Stephen Strange.  He's truly in his own little world.  Now, for some readers, that's probably a plus, as it makes him more interesting, but I imagine for every person that prefers Strange be offputting and odd, another three find him cold and unrelatable.

I think another part of the problem is that Strange is a more cerebral hero.  While cerebral heroes can be popular (both Mr. Fantastic and Professor X have been around for some time), they don't tend to headline their own titles.  Most characters that do headline their own titles are action oriented.  They have a problem, so they hit it.  Or stab it.  Or web it.  Whatever they do, they take decisive action to neutralize it.  While Strange can certainly hold his own in a fight, that's not really what he's about.  He's much more likely to find out about a problem which he can deal with, study it, research it, and then come up with a solution.  That doesn't always make for scintillating comics.

So, I've identified some of the problems with Strange and why it's difficult to write him in a successful series.  How about other ideas as to why his series don't end well?  Ideas on how to fix these problems?

E’ arrivato online il nuovo poster di Hellboy 2: The Golden Army e possiamo solo dire che è bellissimo.

Il film è il sequel del bello (e sottovalutato) Hellboy di Guillermo Del Toro, anche questo sequel sarà diretto dal regista più lanciato del momento.

Il poster lo trovate a seguire, mentre in vece il film lo troverete in sala dal 16 Luglio.

Fonte: Slashfilm

Les parece familiar la imágen de arriba?, pues es nada mas y nada menos el increible Spider-Man, pero como la juventud no es eterna aquí esta caracterizado de una forma peculiar ya en su tercera edad.

Esta caricatura fue realizada por Donald Soffritti, un caricaturista Italiano, que se dedica a dibujar a los Superheroes y Supervillanos más famosos.

Vía | Donald Soffritti

This is just an anagram add-in from yesterday's collage. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...these are the directions? Sorry, but you're gonna hafta do better than this, pal. SOUTH" text became this anagram, "You heard that. I had to show you that our blogosphere actions benefit what another earth answers."

I figured I needed to put that in before the next collage and anagrams are posted today.

¿Qué más patriota que el Capitán América?, creo que nada, o sea, un heroe que se hace llamar como el país en el que vive es digno de destacar ¿o no?. El "Capitán América" es un héroe norteaméricano perteneciente a la editorial Marvel Comics -los mismos del "Hombre Araña", "Hombres-X", "Hulk", "Ironman" y varios otros-. Quiero destacar antes de seguir explayándome que esta es una teoría y opinión absolutamente personal, no la he recogido de ningún otro lado, por lo tanto ustedes están en todo el derecho de refutarla, es algo obvio pero quiero dejarlo claro.

Me gusta navegar bastante por sitios relacionados con el cine, siempre tienen una u otra pildorilla que entregar o notición que compartir, a parte, ¿a quién no le gusta el séptimo arte?. Bueno, se rumorea por la red que ya para el próximo año (2009) se estaría preparando todo para el lanzamiento de la película "El Capitán América", por que me llama la atención esto, ahora procedo a explicar.

A diferencia de otros lados, el comic en los Estados Unidos es bien especial -con esto no digo que en otras partes no ocurra lo mismo- pero los más famosos e importantes personajes de la historieta américana han sido creados con un doble lectura o mejor dicho con una doble intención, y creo que nuestro heroe en cuestión no se escapa de esto, de hecho es el fiel reflejo de lo ya mencionado.

"The Capitain America Comics" fue creado por Jack Kirby y Joe Simon a inicio de los años 40'. Este personaje fue pensado, ni nada más ni nada menos, que para enfatizar los valores patrióticos en los Estados Unidos, protagonizando una serie de aventuras en la segunda guerra mundial, de hecho quieren saber cual es la profesión de este personaje (Steven Grant Rogers en la serie) un soldado américano que después de ofrecerse como conejillo de indias para experimentos militares (que buscaban combatir a los nazis) le inyectan "el suero del super soldado" quedando, si bien no inmortal, con el cuerpo de un super atleta. El doctor a cargo del experimento es asesinado por los nazis perdiendose la fórmula del suero y quedando rogers como el único "super soldado", dedicando así, su vida al servicio del país.

El comic ha tenido altos y bajos, con una popularidad abismante en sus inicios y una caída en los años 50', volviendo a retomar en los 60', pero siempre a hecho noticia por cosas especiales. El capitán América no usa armas, esa es su filosofía, solo utiliza su habilida en la lucha cuerpo a cuerpo, inteligencia y -lo que más lo caracteriza- su escudo, hecho de una aliación metálica indestructible, que lo utiliza como proteción y elemento de ataque.

El año pasado (2007) el Capitán América fué asesinado por un franco tirador en las afueras del un juzgado en los Estados Unidos, absolutamente solo y humillado por la gente que tanto protegió, ya que se oponía a que los hombres con superpoderes fueran sometidos a la Ley de registros de superhumanos, propuesta después del atentado a las torres gemelas, donde recibirían un trato y entrenamiento militar, que según para nuestro héroe, limitaba los derechos civiles, su postura lo llevó a liderar el grupo de superheroes que estaba en contra de esta ley y a enfrentar al grupo de héroes que estaban a favor, liderados por Ironman. Esto, para muchos analistas, es la muerte de los valores norteaméricanos, reflejada con una imágen del heroe que dió la vuelta al mundo, Rogers tirado en una escalinata, con sutraje ensangrentado (traje que tiene los colores de la bandera de los Estados Unidos).

La editorial, no dispuesta a perder al personaje, lo resucitó en enero de este año, aún no se sabe si es Rogers, que para su muerte ya tenía 66 años, algunos de sus amigos u otro heroe dispuesto a asumir como Capitán América, pero el cambio desde su aparición fué radical, haciendo un quierbre a su filosofía, llegó armado, menos conciliador y mucho más garesivo.

El cine en norteamérica es una industria, y si lo entendemos como tal siempre busca una remuneración, económica o de otro tipo y en forma masiva, si lo tomamos por ese lado, son incansables las escenas donde después de una victoria sale a relucir la bandera de USA, siempre imponente y flameante. ¿Será acaso la llegada del Capitán América a la pantalla grande una inyección de los valores norteamericanos tan alicaidos hoy en día?...la verdad no lo sé...son solo suposiciones...solo queda esperar a ver si se llega a realizar esta película y que se propone...

So, the story resumes this week, and Arkady takes us to meet Carolyn. Arkady is like a dollop of honey at helping all these introductions to both a new character and new ideas slide down. Everything seems bathed in sunshine with her when she is engaged in something happy. I think the intensity of this feeling is increased by the knowledge we have of some of her abilities and the darkness which has touched her life.

Another element of the social mechanics of the Freakangels world comes into play with the steam truck and the idea of the success of the system putting strain on that same system. An engineer commenting on social engineering -- damn, I think this has to be the most poetic writing I have come across from Ellis.

I think that the toughness of his characters has always struck me, their cleverness, but something here is genuinely different. Sure, there were moments of calm reflection even amidst the hustle and bustle of Spider's Transmetropolitan, there was tenderness in with the craziness of Lazarus Churchyard, Desolation Jones humanity shone through on more than one occassion. What is it here? I think it is the deftness or rather gentility of touch, the space which these characters are being allowed to breathe in. There is no sense of rushing to get anywhere -- sure, there is a sense of something coming as well as something that has already happened, but Ellis is not beating us over the head with it. I know that is intentional -- things don't happen accidentally with a writer as careful as Mr Ellis, but the pacing is lending this comic an atmosphere uniquely its own.

If you reach for the filmic as a way to describe comics, which I know everyone does, then Ellis is shooting a different kind of movie here. His cinematographer, Mr Duffield, is investing each shot with a sweeping grace, a love of how light hits things, a concentration on how figures move within their environment. This is arthouse sci-fi, or fantastika as Ellis might prefer. This is a Tarkovsky movie.

And we get out first sign of ethnic diversity amongst the angels. Questions were asked early by people in the Whitechapel community. This is a slow reveal though. Think how well this works -- how time seemed to speed up when Luke was attacked, how Luke's story burns along the fuse with his anger and stops when someone else intervenes; Sirkka's lazy ease and effortless reach. We know how important time is to the fabric of this tale and the significance of the pacing is, I think, going to seriously come into play with that. The Freakangels affect the pacing of the story, affect the time within the story -- think of KK's march through London, Arkady's balletic swirl; each of the character's has their own rhythm.

It will be interesting to see how Mark pushes time along. I think he may be something of a red herring -- a distraction to keep us looking the other way whilst the thing which took the chunks out of the buildings and forced the Freakangels to do whatever they did in the first place moves into position. It's going to be an interesting ride whatever the case.

Free web hosting services have become rampant in the past few years because individuals and companies naturally want to cut back on costs particularly in hosting their websites. The first firms that offered free website hosting took advantage of profits in advertising to be able to provide free hosting services. The venture turned out to be a profitable one in the succeeding years.

But most of those who availed of free website hosting services experienced the downsides of availing of such services. It was often frustrating for them to have their websites be always down.

Free web hosting also gave its users with sub domain name, making it almost impossible to be searched on in various search engines. This made most websites on free web host servers almost impossible to be found on search engines. Reliability was also a concern, troubling most business owners who availed of free website hosting.

With all these problems arising, there's little doubt that getting free website hosting is not that practical. It will not help websites particularly those selling products and services.

There are now cheap website hosting services that are easy on the budget. Perhaps they are more practical to be availed of. For those without a budget, perhaps free hosting can work. Be ready though, to deal with the consequences.

So what do I do when it's my best friend's birthday?

I make a comic where someone gets stabbed in it, of course!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KRISTEN!