Random Crap

This Really Cheesed me Off.

No, this is not about the Superman story in Action Comics #900; those in the comic book community know that that was a one-off story and will have no repercussions in the DC Universe at all according to DC Comics. No, what I am talking about is what Louise Berridge put on her Twitter Feed about the events of Secret Avengers 12.1 that was out this past week. She Tweeted: "Ever wondered what IQ level anti-Wikileaks propaganda is aimed at? Now we know! http://bit.ly/jvq5wP Captain America vs Bradley Manning!" Well, Ms. Berridge, why don't you do some research into what you write about before you write about it? It was these kind of knee jerk reactions that got the Fox News pundits up in arms about Superman renouncing his US citizenship. 1. The "Captain America" in that panel holding a gun to the other guy's head is not in fact Captain America, but is instead someone who managed to get his hands on the costume of the former US Agent. I say former US Agent because during the events of The Siege the man who was US Agent lost at least one of his arms and the ability to walk. He's still kicking around the Marvel Universe as the warden of the high security supervillian prison The Raft and in one of the early Luke Cage Thunderbolts issues he manages to hold his own against some inmates. 2. The Steve Rogers Captain America would never use a gun against an unarmed civilian. He's Captain America, after all and would never use threats or intimidation with a gun to get someone to do what he wants them to do. This is the character that in the postlude of Civil War was willing to go to prison rather than reveal his identity. Steve Rogers now leads the Secret Avengers and when the list that was leaked of super villains and other lowlife scum he says they need protection even though Beast (of X-Men and X-Factor fame) says that one of the people on the list was one of the terrorists that called for the execution of mutants after they buried Moira MacTaggert. I know this is going to fall on deaf ears, but all of you people out there that work for the media companies that seem to think that a story about "Captain America" taking on WikiLeaks is going to cause a stir in other circles other than comic book fans, are not thinking things through. The only reason the Superman thing blew up so big is because he's Superman and he is supposed to embody everything good about America. How strong we are, how we are supposed to watch over the rest of the world and intervene when there is a crisis. Although it has been shown that Superman is a citizen of every country in the UN (yes even the ones who are ruled with an ironclad dictators fist.) and he can go to one of them and stay. Perry White might get a little worried when Clark Kent is not showing up for work and then draw an inference that one is the other. After all, Superman is not real and those people who went on Fox News to talk about the whole Superman thing and how he's unpatriotic and a traitor to the United States must realize how silly they look talking about a comic book character as if they were real. The takeaway from this is that always do your research on all your stories before going onto a show that is being broadcast around the world about something that has to do with comic books.

Television News

It was announced by the American network ABC that 'V' along with No Ordinary Family, Detroit 1-8-7, Mr. Sunshine and long running show Brothers and Sisters have all been canceled and that they have made a decision on what to add to the schedule in the 2011-2012 season. Frankly, I don't know who has compromising pictures of ABC Executives that got 'V' made for about two half seasons, but taking a show that was poorly received backed in the 1980's and trying it again in 2010 does not mean that it is going to do any better. An open letter from a Syfy (shutter) executive released on a Stargate web site said that the reason Stargate Universe was canceled was due to poor ratings. Well DUH! The network shuffled all of its schedules to accommodate the broadcasting of WWE Smackdown! on Fridays. You took the show that should have been the tentpole for your network and moved it to Monday where it went to die. He also denied that Stargate Universe was canceled to make room for more WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) programming on the network. You can deny it all you want Mr. Executive, but we all know that Vince controls the purse strings for that network and you will continue to take money from them to make the likes of your shows like Ghost Hunters that can include WWE wrestlers. They also are going to make a spinoff of Warehouse 13, like that is going to be any cheaper to make and garner better ratings than Stargate Universe.

"Castle" Comics

For those of us in the States that watch ABC at 9:01pm (central time) every Monday we know of the goodness that is the television show Castle. For those of you not in the know, here's a brief rundown. Nathan Fillion plays mystery writer Richard Castle on the show who lives with his mother and daughter in New York City. To get inspiration for his writings, he shadows a police detective named Kate Beckett of the 12th Precinct. He has already used detective Beckett as the inspiration for two books and is working on a third when this season started. Castle helps Beckett and two other detectives solve crimes each week by thinking outside the box. ABC has published two novels that Richard Castle has "written" about the fictional NYPD detective Niki Heat, and they have gone on to be best sellers when they come out. Now Marvel Comics writers Brian Michael Bendis & Kelly Sue DeConnic along with artist Lan Medina are using the ideas presented in the show for Richard Castle's first work based on the character Derrick Storm, Deadly Storm, for a special Graphic Novel to be put out by Marvel (who is now owned by Disney). According to Bleeding Cool.com the whole thing will be released in September. What I find curious is that how you can adapt something that does not exist yet. Either this is a really late April fools joke or this will rock your socks off.

Bits and Pieces

Gene Colan is out of the hospital and is going into Medical Rehab and then going to a long term care facility. I know that to those of us in the comic book world who want to jump in need legends like him to help guide us and help us be the best that we can be. It saddens me that one of the legends of comic books is in his twilight years. He'll still be signing things and his friend will be putting them up for sale/auction to help pay for his care. Dear comic art flippers, Stop, just stop. You have already driven one artist to stop taking commissions at conventions and ruined it for the rest of us. I would have loved to own a original piece of work done by Adam Hughes that I could get somewhere like San Diego or another big convention like that, but since you jackholes decided that you would get a commission for cheap and then turn around and put it on e-bay and get 10 times what you paid for it, you have ruined it for everyone. Thankfully though Mr. Hughes is still doing sketches, but instead of taking a giant list of who wants a sketch and only being able to maybe get to 10% of it; he's going to auction off a piece of work for every day he is at a convention. So if it is a two day convention then there will only be two pieces of art auctioned for that convention. This will give him the flexibility to still do art at conventions, and maybe do some drawing at home and get a portfolio together that they can take to conventions that people could buy from. That sounds reasonable to me and that would make things easier on him as well. Follow this edict and we won't have to throw down, Mathew B. Greg Land, you need to get new reference material for when you draw Northstar of Alpha Flight fame. This link shows that over the past few issues that he has drawn, he has drawn Northstar's face the exact same way down to the part in his hair, and looking in the exact same direction each time. Is this just an artist being rushed and cutting corners because he has more than one book to complete for a month, or is it simple laziness? I don't know, but I like to think that it is just because it was a rush job. Just when you thought that the tornados in Alabama did not affect any of us in the comics community it turns out it did. Chris Wozniak artist on Excalibur (Marvel) and Justice League of America (DC) had his home that he and his wife had just moved into ripped apart by the tornados. He and his two dogs hunkered down in a bathroom and only had minor injuries. His wife was at the college across town and was safe as well. That's all for this month. I look forward to see what the summer brings for the comic world. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me and I will try to fit them into a future article.

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