Behold! The Chromium Age!
As a kid in the fifth grade, I was dumbfounded when Keith, my fellow classmate, asked me who was my favorite X-Man. At the time, I had never seen an X book let alone read one, but I had seen the cartoon on Fox the previous weekend. My answer was, "The guy in the trench coat who throws cards." I didn't even know the characters name. My friend replies, "Oh, that's Gambit." and proceeded to educate me an all things X-Men. This was my first exposure to comic books.
Soon after this incident, I became a regular viewer who anxiously anticipated every Saturday morning's episode of X-Men. I also watched Spider-man since it was animated in a similar style. Before too long, begging my mother to take me to the comic book store became a frequent habit. The comic book store was amazing, and oddly enough it was literally named "The Comic Book Store". They had so many comics, trading cards, and toys that I knew at an instant that I was in nerdvana. Comics with chromium and holo-folios particularly caught my eyes. In fact, the "Fatal Attractions" storyline by Marvel was one of my favorite chase items from the time. I suppose as kid I was enamored by the shininess. This simpleton attitude was exacerbated by the Marvel Metals trading cards. I didn't know it at the time, but I was a Chromium Age comic book collector. Read the full arcticle!
Decoding Cowboy Bebop
It’s no secret that I think Cowboy Bebop is the greatest anime of all time. There are lots of anime fans that agree. Even fans that wouldn’t agree that it’s the absolute best would say it’s in their top 10. The ones that don’t even do that are stupid and aren’t really anime fans. Anyway, as much as I love Bebop, sometimes I’m at a loss for fully understanding it. Most specifically, I’m talking about Spike’s origin. Sunrise was really good at giving us a decent amount of info on Jet, Faye, Ed, and Ein, but Spike’s complete back story has always been somewhat of a mystery, told only in the fewest of frames in flashbacks. Over the past few weeks, I’ve pulled out all of my DVDs and re-watched the series from episode 1-26 plus the movie. Finally, I think I have cracked Spike’s origin. Read the full article!
Fandom on 11/12ths of a Twelve pack per day
It's getting near to four in the ante-meridian, and I should hit the sack. This is backed up by the idea that I have drank something like 11/12ths of a 12 pack of Pabst, and I have to be at work at the ungodly hour of three in the afternoon tomorrow.
Rumbling Hearts:
Good Anime that happens to be Shoujo
Last year while talking to a friend I was informed of an anime called Rumbling Hearts. I should rephrase. Rumbling Hearts was recommended for me to recommend to my wife, who is a huge josei/shoujo fan. My friend told me, “Look, I know this is a shoujo, but you need to watch it. It’s one of those anime that’s good and just happens to be a shoujo.”
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How i learned to stop worrying and love the Legion
I am drunk and in a foul mood and up past my bedtime, which seems like a good excuse/frame of mind for writing.
Last time out, I went on at nigh-unendurable length about my lifelong love for Superman and how that makes me feel aout the Big Blue Boy Scout today.
Tonight's topic: The Legion of Super-Heroes.
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SNEAK PEEK AT THE GREEN LANTERN MOVIE
I got of a copy of the Green Lantern script. The script, a first draft credited to Greg Berlanti, Michael Green and Marc Guggenheim, is pretty decent. We get a good, solid telling of the story of Hal Jordan and how he became Green Lantern. All of the characters you'd expect are there--Hal, Tom Kalmaku, Carol Ferris, Sinestro, Tomar-Re, Kilowog, the Guardians, Hector Hammond. All the characters are what you'd expect, stepping from comic page to screenplay page pretty well intact. Hal is very much the Hal we know and love, the archetypal 50's jet-age Right Stuff test pilot. READ THE FULL REVIEW BY EL SCOOB HERE
Blade the Immortal: Action for the Art Snob
Now I know what you’re thinking. This is a manga blog. Why is this guy talking about American style individual issues? Well, back in the day before manga made a huge splash here, companies tested the waters by publishing Japanese titles in individual issues. Akira originally saw print in the US under Marvel’s Epic line. Lone Wolf and Cub also started off here in issue format, with covers done by Frank Miller no less. All of this brings me to my topic: Blade of the Immortal (Mugen no Juunin) by Hiroaki Samura. READ THE FULL BLOG HERE
One Life Furnished in Early Superman
Superman has always loomed large in my comics-reading life. He and Batman were the two comics characters with whom I have the longest-standing acquaintance. Both were familiar to me from the Super Friends in their various incarnations, of course; I was born in 1973, as were the Friends themselves, so they were Saturday morning companions throughout my childhood. Batman also reached me through the Adam West incarnations--not only the live-action series of the '60s, but also the late-'70s Filmation cartoon for which West and Burt Ward supplied voices. READ THE FULL COLUMN IN THE FANDOM MENACE
I am aware that this entry is too late and too short by a huge goddamn margin, but I write now anyways. I told Wayne some weeks ago that I would have a Batman-centric column to him in a couple days. That seems not to have happened. READ THE FULL COLUMN