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Comics

10 of the Year’s Most Buzzed-About Comic Releases

By Emily Temple on

Don’t worry, folks, this is the last year-end top ten from the Flavorpill books department — for 2011, at least — but we promise, it’s a doozy. Though we’ve given our opinions on some of the best memoirs and debuts of the year, not to mention the coolest book covers, we realized we were sorely lacking in covering one important genre: comics. Accordingly, we asked Tucker Stone of super-awesome Brooklyn comic spot Bergen Street Comics, to share a list of his favorite new releases from the year in comics — and this is a guy who knows what he’s talking about. In addition to his job at the bookstore, he runs a very fine comics and culture blog, Factual Opinion, that is absolutely not to be missed, whether you’re a fan of serious graphic novels, pulpy one-off comics, or anything in between. Click through to read what Tucker has to say about his choices, and then be sure to stop by the store to swoop up all of his picks — or let us know which releases of the year you liked better. … Read More

Books

Stan Lee Launches a New Children’s Imprint

By Emily Temple on

The legendary comic mogul Stan Lee has teamed up with publisher 1821 Comics to create a new imprint just for kids, entitled “Stan Lee’s Kid’s Universe.” Of the project, Lee explained, “Our main purpose is we feel that there aren’t enough comic books or books for kids that really hit the target, that gives them excitement… Read More

Film

Open Thread: Have Superhero Movies Gone Cold?

By Jason Bailey on

The Green Lantern, the third of this summer’s four huge potential-tentpole superhero comic book adaptations, opened over the weekend with a total box office take of $52.6 million — a sum that pretty much every movie site that comments on such things has deemed “disappointing.” Of course, only in 2011 Hollywood can generating over $50 million in three days be deemed a downer, but there ya go. However, hard on the heels of X-Men: First Class’s similarly “disappointing” $55 million opening two weeks back, it begs the question: are moviegoers, at long last, growing tired of superhero movies? … Read More

Books

Finally: Harry Potter in Comic Book Form

By Emily Temple on

Are you too lazy/busy/grownup to finish the Harry Potter books, even though everyone you know still makes references to them all the time? Do you enjoy pictures and have a short attention span? Well, have we got the solution for you. Illustrator and all around awesome artist Lucy Knisley has created quick and dirty abridged versions of the first five Harry Potter books — with the rest to come (we hope)! Not only is it delightful to see some of our favorite stories in comic form, but Knisley has also coined hilarious and relevant phrases like ‘Patronused!’ ‘snakey talky’ and ‘slug-d’ to describe the gang’s various adventures. Click through to prep for the new film and refresh your memory with these charming and irreverent comics — and if this only whets your appetite for graphic adventures, don’t forget that today is Free Comic Book Day! Go here to plug in your zip code and find the closest person to you that will hand you free comic books. … Read More

Celebrity

Nicolas Cage’s $1.5 Million Comic Book Found

By Jason Bailey on

Good news for those who were worried about the fate of Nicolas Cage’s stolen comic books (c’mon, admit it, it’s kept you up a few nights): Los Angeles police have recovered his first edition copy of Action Comics No. 1 (aka the first appearance of Superman), which was stolen from his West Los… Read More

Film

Rate-a-Trailer: ‘Captain America’

By Jason Bailey on

Okay, we’ll say it: We’re tired of superhero movies. The saturation point has long passed. Thanks to the success of the Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and X-Men franchises, it now seems that any caped hero who ever appeared in the pages of a comic book is a worthwhile subject for a major motion picture — in spite of the fact that, with the exception of the films mentioned above (and not even all of them — how ya doin’, X-Men: The Last Stand) and a few scattered others, most comic book movies are downright putrid.

So please, please, bear that bias in mind when we tell you that, much to our chagrin, the new trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger looks awesome. Director Joe Johnston’s ’40s visual scheme is delicious (the trailer immediately brings The Rocketeer to mind — which, wouldn’t you know it, was directed by Joe Johnston), Chris Evans is looking more and more credible (pull this off, Chris, and you’re forgiven for those Fantastic Four movies), and how about this supporting cast? Tommy Lee Jones? Stanley Tucci? Hugo Weaving? Sign us up! Check out the full trailer after the jump, and let us know if you agree in the comments. … Read More

Books

A Chronology of Gay Comic Book Characters

By Rob Hebert on

Mainstream comics have had more than their fair share of homosexual subtext almost since their inception — look no further than Wonder Woman’s all-female homeland of Paradise Island or Bruce Wayne’s overly comfortable relationship with his ward Dick Grayson. But, until relatively recently, being “out” in comics had been a somewhat iffy subject. In honor of the news that Archie comics introduced its first openly gay character last week, here’s a look back at the evolution of open homosexuality in mainstream comic books. … Read More

Books

Meet Kevin Keller: Archie’s First Openly Gay Character

By Caroline Stanley on

With tomorrow’s release of Veronica #202 the world meets Archie Comics’ first openly gay character: Kevin Keller. According to The Daily Beast, bringing a gay student to Riverdale High School is “a sign of changing attitudes toward homosexuality.” But we’re not so sure. Archie artist Dan Parent told them that Kevin is “well-dressed” not “too flamboyant.” In other words, the kind of gay teen who shouldn’t ruffle the feathers of more conservative Americans — and absolutely nothing like the tiny fringe-wearing illustration that accompanies The Daily Beast’s article, which was done exclusively for them by Donatella Versace. … Read More

Art

Covered Covers: Re-Interpreting Classic Comic Book Covers

By Sam Schlinkert on

Robert Goodin, artist and comic book enthusiast, hosts Covered, a blog for artists to submit their “re-interpretations” of classic comic book covers. Some very closely resemble the originals (one of which dates back to 1919!), while others are more liberal in their re-creations. If you look closely, you can see some artists even rewrote the characters’ original dialogue, which may not be in English. Here are 10 of our favorite reimagined covers. … Read More

Books

A Chronological Look at 13 Classic Comic Heroines

By Daniel McGillivray on

Shannon Donnelly over at the The Daily Beast recently put together a list of the greatest female action heroes of the small screen. As these women all owe something to comic book heroines who’ve been fighting both physical and political battles on the page since Fletcher Hanks’ Fantomah was born back in 1940, we’ve decided to round up 12 essential characters who’ve contributed the most to the cause.

A brief disclaimer: Please consider that when many of these comics were created, they were exclusively aimed at men. Boys. Teenage boys. So yeah, grain of salt. And if we missed your favorite heroine, add to our list in the comments. … Read More