While I finish up my convention review of MAGfest 10, here’s something to keep you occupied. My friend Byron did a pretty good video on the history of Tokusatsu (think Ultraman). So here you go dear readers, get your learn on.
-Lauren
Archive for the ‘General Geekery’ Category
Video Monday! A history on Tokusatsu.
January 9, 2012Life With Riley-“Criminal: The Last Of The Innocent’
December 15, 2011After some months of having these comics sitting on my desk, I finally sat down and read them. I’m not sure what took me so long, but reading all four issues of this mini series in one sitting was a brilliant idea.
This series is best summed up as ‘what if the Archie comics universe was more realistic, and Archie decided to one day kill Veronica?’ because that’s what it is. Riley Richards is a broken man living in the big city with his heiress wife, Felix Doolittle. He has all but left behind his old life in his small town, until his mother calls him up telling him his father has stomach cancer. Riley leaves the city just in time to say goodbye to his father, and that’s when everything starts to spiral out of control. His best friend Freakout has been sober for one year, but with the “help” of Riley quickly goes back to his old ways. The girl next door, Lizzie Gordon, is suddenly back in the picture. As for Felix, she’s having an affair with Riley’s rival Teddy, and Riley knows it. Wanting an escape to get back to his old “perfect” life, Riley creates an imperfect plan to murder Felix, and frame Teddy while doing so.
The series is nothing short of brilliant. Riley is a piece of shit, Felix is a spoiled brat, and Lizzie doesn’t know any better. Freakout is a sad excuse for a human being, and the only one who really suffers here is Teddy. Perhaps this is the most realistic portrayal of Archie anyone will ever see. This is how Riverdale is, or should be, if Archie wasn’t a comic aimed at kids. The art switches from gritty to cartoony without warning. It works. The writing is fantastic, and really exploits all of the negative traits the Archie cast has. This is a comic you need to read, that’s all you really need to know.
‘Criminal: The Last Of The Innocent’ is by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.
-Lauren
What I’m looking forward to in 2012.
December 14, 2011I have a list of movies I’m looking forward seeing in 2012:
1.The Dark Knight Rises (Catwoman,Bane,Nolan’s last Batman film,God I can’t wait till 2012)
2.The Avengers (Captain America,Thor,Iron Man,Hulk,Black Widow,and Hawkeye in one movie.Plus I want to see Cap say “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE” on the big screen)
3.Amazing Spider-Man (While I like Raimi’s films,I’m liking what they’re doing for this reboot)
4.The Hobbit (I’m a fan of the LOTR movies,so I’m looking forward to this prequel)
I can’t think of any other movie I was to see in 2012.
-Sarah
The Best And Bad of 2011
December 7, 20112011 was a fantastic year for nerds, geeks, social nerds, and everyone in between. From movies, shows, comics, and more, this year was very much full of nerd goodness.
The Good:
The Green Hornet: Despite that most people didn’t like this movie, I did. Jay Chou literally stole the show as Kato. It’s easy to forget there were other characters because he was so good.
Thor: What a fantastic movie. Funny, solid, and to the point.
X-Men First Class: This reboot was AWESOME. We can finally forget that X3 and Wolverine ever happened. Here is the start of a terrific X-Men franchise.
Captain America: America, fuck yea!
Young Justice: If you haven’t been watching this show, you’re missing out. It’s a more of a serious show that appeals to both kids and adults. Cartoon Network did good with this one.
Brightest Day ending: This series was terrible and I’m glad it’s over.
The Bad:
Green Lantern: Oh man. I love GL, but this movie was pathetic. Lousy acting, characterization, and just over all not good. If only DC could make magical movies like Marvel does.
The Walking Dead season 2: NOTHING HAPPENS IN IT UNTIL THE END. Hope you enjoy prolonged episodes about doing nothing but hanging out at a barn. Some kid was missing, she was found, and then zombies were killed. This all happened during the last 10 minutes of the last episode of this year. Otherwise the show really let me down.
The New 52: Barbara Gordon can walk again and is now Batgirl, thus eliminating Stephanie Brown? Lame. Superman is kind of a dick and his uniform makes my eyes burn? Lame. Justice League issue 1 has nothing of real value and is a fluff issue? Double lame. While Catwoman shines in her solo issue, everything else is just sub par. Hopefully within a year everything will go back to normal.
Price decrease…then they went back up: How come three months ago I was paying $2.99, but now my comics have magically gone back up? Suck my nuts, comic companies.
Batman: Brave And The Bold ending: This show was campy and fun, but ultimately came to an end. I’ll miss it.
Green Lantern cartoon: While I like that it jumps right into the story, the four-year old I babysit summed it up best: “This is lame.”
Can’t wait for 2012!
-Lauren
The New 52: Catwoman
November 13, 2011Out of all the “new” titles DC is pumping out, I only read two: Batgirl and Catwoman.
While hoards of people out there are shocked and dismayed by the rampant sex that is prancing through the pages of this comic series so far, I for one am not bothered by it. Traditionally Catwoman is a sexual character. In Batman Returns she was a deliciously sexy beast in a stitched up suit, and through the Batman history she’s always had a sexual thing with Batman. This comic just shoved it in your face.
Judd Winick has the character down better than anyone I’ve seen. She’s quick, witty, and you can’t help but to root for her. She is the perfect anti-hero in this comic. Above all else the art by Guillem March is amazing. I’ve been a fan of his since his work with Gotham City Sirens, and I’m thrilled he’s drawing the new Catwoman. He draws her with the dangerously sexy curves I’ve always fancied her to have. The duo have created a sexy and dangerous love interest (and foe) for Batman, and so far I love it.
The story so far is pretty basic. She pissed someone off, and is squatting from home to home. With the help of her pal Lola she seems to be good to go. That is untill a new villain–Bone–finds Lola and kills her. There’s much more to this story then that, and the comic is only 2 issues in.
Needless to say, so far so good.
-Lauren
The Archie Panel At New York Comic Con
October 22, 2011Just some tid bits from the Archie panel from New York Comic Con 2011:
What a great panel. I didn’t know there was going to be an Archie panel (cause I don’t read the program guides, ever) until Dan Parent told me about it. So, my friend and I got there 40 minutes early, and somehow got lucky to get seats in the panel. Yes. The panel had to turn people away because they were full to capacity. The audience was mixed, but older adults dominated the audience. That’s nothing short of impressive. Perhaps comic fans should start to take notice to Archie comics. They might just be outselling your Batman and Spider-Man comics in the near future.
The New Crusaders are going digital! While I still prefer holding physical comic books, there is no denying that comic companies need to embrace this new technology.
There will be a new Sabrina cartoon show. It should be out October of next year. And there will also be a new Little Archie cartoon series as well! We should see that next year too.
Kevin Keller gets married in life with Archie to a doctor he met in battle.
A Kevin Keller ongoing series starts next year!
Make sure to pick up Archie 625. 100% profits go to Ronald McDonald house in NYC.
There will be a revamp the teen superheroes, such as Pureheart the Powerful.
Dilton is going to do a back to the future type thing, so keep an eye on major development for him.
The Stan Lee Super 7 series is due out next Spring.
There will be a Best of Sonic The Hedgehog hard cover due out soon. There will also be a Sonic encyclopedia book due out fall 2012.
There will be an Archie Android app. This is great news for me as I am an Andriod user…but I also own an iPad.
The Black Hood will be back.
There will be future Archie cartoons. Of course nothing is set in stone, but this is terrific news!
All in all I had a great time at the panel, even though I was really cold. It was an ice box in that room.
-Lauren
New York Comic Con 2011
October 16, 2011I’m not sure where to begin. After last year of only being there for a scant 2 hours, I spent half of my day at the con yesterday. There was a lot to see, and a lot to do.
First things first, the layout this year was far better than last years. The anime festival was moved to another floor (yet there were anime dealers here and there in the dealers hall) which opened up a ton of space. The artists were moved into a much spacier part. The video games and other random industry people had a big hall to themselves. Yet despite this, I feel the show may have over sold tickets. Weekend passes and Saturday passes were sold out. Perhaps next year they can limit how many single day passes they sell. It might help if they also expand further into Javits, which is a HUGE convention center.
Because of the crowds, it took almost an hour to two hours to get from one side of the convention to the other. There needs to be better traffic control. Somehow Otakon can do this flawlessly, but NYCC has yet to figure this out. There was also a ton of confusion about where to get badges. Still I understand as this is a very popular convention. Hopefully within the next few years they can work through those problems and become a truly great con.
I myself enjoyed this convention a great deal. I went to an Archie panel (which I’ll post about in the next day or so), talked to lots of people, and picked up a signed Lenore comic. I’m upset I didn’t get to meet Roman Dirge, but it is what it is! Dealers I spoke too said they were doing really well–one was doing better than he had at San Diego. This is a great. Perhaps all of these comic book movies are finally paying off for the rest of the comic world.
Pictures to come later. I’m still tired from yesterday… zzz…
-Lauren
24 Hours To Make A Comic
October 2, 2011
Collectors Corner in Baltimore, MD recently held an event called ’24 Hour Comics Day’. This day is a worldwide event, where comic shops (or regular shops or fan clubs…) stay open for 24 hours so people can create a comic book. I got to the store around 2, then went to a bar and drank for a few hours, then I came back and attempted to draw a comic. I was there from 7pm-12:18am, and got 10 pages done.
I am a failure at making comic books.
That being said, it’s nice to see the kind of community that happens within this shop. There was a pretty good turnout for this event, including Mike from http://www.itastesound.com/, who had one helluva set up. The store wound up closing shop around 12:30 since it’s pretty hard to stay awake for 24 hours. I know that around 3am, if I’m not in bed, everything becomes stupid funny.
Hopefully next year I can give this a better go, and make an actual comic in 24 hours.
-Lauren
For more information on 24 Hour Comics Day, check out the website here! http://24hourcomicsday.com/
Sex, drugs, and comic books.
September 25, 2011Ah, the glamorous life of being a comic book fan girl.
I’ve read comics my whole life. My dad had been reading comics his whole life. I’ve been attending conventions since I was very small, and I’ve been going to comic shops since I was about 5 or 6. I’ve grown up in a male dominated hobby and only really encountered problems with it once I started going to conventions alone. Do you know how many times I’ve had a male comic book dealer scoff at me and tell me I can’t afford a book, only to offer the price and even a slight discount to my father? Same book, but he’s a guy and I’m a girl.
Comic book companies are not any better.
Marvel Comics has always been the leader when it came to facing issues that everyone could deal with (The X-Men and being different from everyone else for example). Yet when it came to the women in their stories, it was still “Well she’s a woman, we need to treat her as such.” Sue Storm is the perfect example. Her power was invisibility. Perhaps her power of invisibility was (is) a parallel to how society views women, and in turn how comics view them. She’s pretty, she has the heart of a smart dude who can stretch, but she turns invisible. Over the years her powers have evolved, but at the core of it she’s someone we shouldn’t see.
DC Comics has usually been a step or two behind once the Silver Age of comics came about. The one thing they can say is “We have Superman. We have Batman. We have Wonder Woman!” Wonder Woman is a powerful, strong female character, but her weakness is being tied up. So if a man (or woman) ties Wonder Woman up, she is powerless and therefore weak. That’s fucked up. And don’t get me started on the whole Blackest Night thing where she needed to kiss Batman in order to become a Star Sapphire. Wouldn’t her love for Earth be enough?
Things have gotten wildly better since the Golden and Silver Age of comics, but it’s still a male dominated hobby, both in the industry and outside of it. Things need to vastly improve. Women can have weaknesses, but they shouldn’t be of sexual nature. In Batgirl #1, Batgirl became fearful when a bad guy pointed a gun at her abdomen. That’s perfectly acceptable. We know why she would be scared of that, and it adds depth to her. It’s not something most people would find sexually appealing. Wonder Woman being tied up is a sexually appealing thing for many people.
As it stands, I don’t really read Modern Age comics. I love the Golden Age, and even though most of the comics are wildly sexist and racist, I accept it since that was normal in 1941 America. In 2011 America things are different. Women shouldn’t have to feel like they don’t belong in this hobby. We should be able to walk into a comic shop without having every guy there look at us like we’re some rare exotic bird. Comic companies need to wake up and realize that the demographic should not be 18-35 year old men. You want more money? Realize women read comics too. Kids read comics too. Comic books should be for everyone and not 18-35 year old men.
-Lauren
DC Comics 52 sex controversy
September 22, 2011As you all know by now about the “sex” controversy in this weeks new books.
As a woman who has read comic books for a long time,I can said I don’t give a crap about this.
Now,you’ll may say “but I thought you would be offended by this because you’re a fangirl?”
Well,guessed what? I’m not.
Why? you ask,here’s my reasoning:
1:These books were written and draw by men,so it’s mainly fanboy service.
2:I’m not a fan of Starfire,I am a Catwoman fan but she’s known for this kind of behavior before.
3:Not all of DC’s women are acting like this.for example Wonder Woman,Supergirl,and Batgirl are not acting like sex crazed women.
There may be a reason why DC are writing Starfire and Catwoman this way,but we don’t know yet.
What I want in a comic book is a great story & good character development.
I mainly read Marvel books,so I’m not offended by this.
If this was done to say X-23 or Sue Storm,I would be really pissed off.
And remember this:
There’s not a whole lot of female readers buying the new 52,so DC is just targeting the male readers that are buying the books.
Yes,I am reading the new DC books,but I’m not interested in reading Catwoman.
So,there you have it,my opinion on this controversy.
-Sarah
Girls With Comics 