Whenever I’m in a dollar store one of my favorite things to do is look for the toys, specifically action figures. More often than not comedy gold can be found In the form of cheap knock-off figures based on Spider-Man, Lord of the Rings, Transformers, Robocop or even generic G.I Joe knock-offs with names like “Action Fighting Man”, the packaging promising such exciting things as “Aplomb!” and “Service!”.
From the first line of the Genesis 1:3 to the radioactive arachnid bite that turned scrawny Peter Parker into a spider-man to the titular face-hugging creature in Alien, the greatest stories ever told all owe their beginnings to a single metaphorical light-bulb going off in someone’s head. (more…)
“If they can make it there, they’ll make it anywhere.”
In this paraphrased line from “New York, New York,” Frank Sinatra summed up the role the Big Apple has played for superheroes across comic book history. (Sinatra was possibly himself a mutant with those freakish blue eyes.) After all, the vast majority of tall buildings a hero might leap in a single bound are located in New York City – or at least based on a real-life counterpart. (more…)
The Dusty Hoard is a regular feature in which Ian Gonzales delves into comic shop discount bins, quarter comic boxes at flea markets and his own personal collection. He’s looking for the comics that made him smile as a youth – long-buried treasures that get the occasional wink and nod in today’s mainstream comics. Sometimes he’s lucky – most times he’s not. (more…)
There have been many deaths of girlfriends and loved ones over the years in comics, but none has caused such a stir as Alexandra DeWitt. A photographer for a newspaper in Los Angeles, Alex was the girlfriend of Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. One day, however, Kyle came home to find his girlfriend stuffed in a fridge by a guy named Major Force. This spawned the website, Women in Refrigerators, which dedicated itself to cataloging the often violent ends of the female lovers of superheroes. But there’s more to superhero love than dying, and sometimes a hero’s girlfriend turning up in a refrigerator is the best thing to happen. (more…)
Pigs #1
(Image – writers: Nate Cosby & Ben McCool; art: Breno Tamura)
Pigs is described as the story of a second-generation KGB Cuban sleeper cell, activated and assigned to overthrow the U.S. government through a series of kidnappings, assassinations and acts of terrorism. Sounds intriguing, right? The first issue, however, proves to be an exercise in inaction. Despite its attempts at political intrigue and clandestine operatives, Pigs moves at a snail’s pace, offering a modest payoff on the final page, but one that falls far short of making up for its banal introduction. (more…)
Since September 11, 2001, comics and comic book superheroes have become more popular than ever. I remember seeing Spider-Man in theaters and being awed by the sight of him swinging through the canyon streets of New York City. I believed that Spider-Man could be a real person, and that this fictional New York could be the same as the one I had visited so often. My excitement was dampened by Ang Lee’s Hulk (which I still find groan-worthy in its cheap direction) but rejuvenated by Spider-Man 2. For me, however, Batman Begins set a new tone and direction for superhero movies. And this trend has continued, strongly, making studios clamor for the rights to comic book characters in the hopes of cashing in on the superhero boom. But the genesis of this “boom” is really the heart of this article. In a world saturated in familial and economic crises, bitter politics, war, terrorism and lack of safety, people have turned to fictional heroes with fantastic powers to fill the need for real heroes in their everyday lives. (more…)
