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The Cutest Little Superhero Kit
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 13, 2010 in Comic Books, Fandom
I got a real kick out of the new line of Superhero Snapsuits which are aimed at fanboys and fangurls in training. The series includes Wonder Woman (shown above), Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Batman and of course Superman. What nice about this line is that it comes in several different sizes from six to twenty for months so you can keep up with your superkid! Read more… Exploring Wonder Woman’s Original Design
Posted by Michael Sacco on Oct 25, 2010 in Comic Books
Comic books have been around for quite a while now — so long, in fact, that it’s hard to remember just when certain characters debuted. Letters of Note uncovered this 1941 sketch of Wonder Woman’s original design by artist Harry G. Peter, replete with notes from William and Peter Moulton Marston. “I slapped these two out in a hurry,” Peter writes. The design’s main motif — the golden eagle on her chest — was eventually scrapped in the following months before her heroic debut in favor of the famous golden Ws for which we know her best. Iteration is expected, though — when you’re inventing the first real superheroes, like these men did, you don’t have any others to base your creations on! Read more… Will Comic Book Stop Printing in the Near Future?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 24, 2010 in Comic Books
Not so long ago New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger admitted that the New York Times may stop publishing a printed version in the near future. Of course the newspaper of record is an exception to the rule, so one should expect other publication formats to follow suite — and that very much will include comic books. My gut feeling tells me that while coffee table collector editions will be here for eons that the bread-and-butter comic book that you see published by Marvel and DC won’t be around in a few years. Read more… From Punks to Pussycats: A Preview DC Comics for November
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 19, 2010 in Comic Books
I admit that I’m a manga fanboy at heart, but that doesn’t mean I’ll overlook a great cover illustration just because it’s published by DC Comics. My favorites are always the offbeat titles rather than the superheroes prancing around n their undies. So for your viewing pleasure I’ve gathered the six strongest starting with the above illustration by Simon Bisley for Hellblazer #273 which has a wonderful 80s sensibility to it. Read more… Tim Gunn Decides Which Superheroes Are In and Which Ones Are Out
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Apr 23, 2010 in Comic Books
I absolutely loved this. In a recent episode of the YouTube video series Crazy Sexy Geeks, fashion consultant Tim Gunn joined comic book historian, Alan Kistler, as they took a look at some of the questionable fashion worn by our favorite superheroes and heroines over the years. While I know that Tim Gunn probably doesn’t frequent his local comic shop, the man has always struck me as having impeccable taste, so I was really interested to hear what he had to say. It may seem a bit short, but this is only part one of what looks to be a three part series so keep an eye out for those in the coming weeks. Read more… Why Can’t DC Make Their Immature Covers Look This Good?
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 22, 2010 in Comic Books
These five beautifully illustrated covers are from DC Comics, and the one thing that they all have in common is that they’re aimed at mature audiences. In the past mature signified sex and violence, but I feel that with these covers that it also implies grown up art tastes. I bring this up because so many of the superhero covers I see from DC look like clichéd coloring book covers — it’s almost as if DC was looking down at their younger readers who I think are much more hip than they give them credit for. Shown above is the cover for The Unwritten Vol. 2: Inside Man by Yuko Shimizu and below is Unknown Soldier #22 illustrated by Dave Johnson: Read more… They’re Chunky and Funky: Blammoids!
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 21, 2010 in Comic Books, Hobbies and Collections
The Blammoids! seem to be catching on quickly — the first set is due out this month and features Batman, the Joker and some other well known DC characters. Shown here is a preview of the fourth series which is due out in December and will feature Flash, Etrigan the Demon, Brainiac, Martian Manhunter, Hawkman and Reverse-Flash: Read more… Out of the Widening Gyre Comes a Grand Graphic
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 20, 2010 in Comic Books
So I find myself looking through the dozens of previews that DC Comics has lined up — and I see cover after cover of the same old mediocre prancing over posed lackluster superheroes. But alas one jumped out at me, it’s the cover for Batman: The Widening Gyre which goes on sale in September. The first thing that hit me is that the draftsmanship of the drawing itself is just stunning. There’s a great deal of action going on, yet the drawing style is very loose but not cartoony. And then there’s the color and specifically the texture of the drawing which is so much more sophisticated than the typical coloring book job you see on almost every other DC Comics cover. So of course I go to check out the illustrator and the artist is the master himself: Bill Sienkiewicz. Tiny Titans and the Cute Crisis of Infinite Toddlers
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 26, 2010 in Comic Books
I have to admit that I’m enjoying the kids titles that DC and Marvel have been putting out over their grownup titles for two reasons: First the kids titles aren’t afraid to play with the typical superhero styles that we’ve all have seen too often — the illustrations are always fun and never take themselves too seriously. Secondly these books always contain a certain amount of fanservice to make us kids who never grew up want to buy them. The cover of Tiny Titans #29 which is illustrated by Art Baltazar is a good example of what I like to see in this genre. A Swinging Sixties Zombie Cover
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 18, 2010 in Comic Books
This variant zombie cover illustration by Darwyn Cooke captured my eyes pretty quickly. The artwork is for the comic book I, Zombie #1 which will come out on May 5th and features the exploits of a gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery who is also a zombie detective on the side. It seems that DC Comics is working hard to push this Vertigo title, so the book will be priced at only $1 which makes it more than worthwhile to check out. I, Zombie is a “mature title” and features the writing of Chris Roberson along with the artwork of Michael Allred who won an Eisner Award. Here’s the standard cover which is also fun: Read more… Sockamagee! Dial H for Hero Returns…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 22, 2009 in Comic Books
In January of 1966 artist Jim Mooney and writer Dave Wood introduced a new concept for the existing comic book series House of Mystery. They came up with a teenage boy Robert “Robby” Reed who uses an old fashioned telephone dial to become one of many superheroes. This classic kitsch series became known as Dial H for Hero and ran until 1968, but was picked up again by DC Comics in the 80s and just a few years ago in 2003. Well the good news is that it looks like DC will be re-issuing the series as a book in April of next year. Read more… Buckle Up Batman Style
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 11, 2009 in Comic Books, Hobbies and Collections
Actually the JLA Trophy Room Batman Modern Utility Belt Prop Replica isn’t designed for vintage cosplay fanatics; at a price tag of $280 this replica is designed for display in your bat trophy cabinet. The design of this belt is somewhat based upon what Adam West wore in the 60s television series shown here: Read more… Superman: How To Rescue a Rusting Man-of-Steel
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 1, 2009 in Comic Books
Above: A reality TV show isn’t the way to fix Superman…
The first problem that you notice with Superman is that he always performs better on the small screen than in theaters. If you look back at the 50s TV show with George Reeves they had time to have fun with the characters; and if you look at Smallville today the series has been running since 2001 and is well loved. This gives a vital clue: The danger of Superman is that within the limits of a few hours the man-of-steel runs the danger of becoming a flat character devoid of any substance. Read more… Wonder Woman Day: Everyday Fans Become Superheroes
Posted by Guest Author on Oct 28, 2009 in Comic Books, Fandom
Editor’s Introduction: Journalist Amber Love shared with us these touching photos of Wonder Woman Day which took place this past weekend. The event took place in both Portland and New Jersey — these photos are from the Jersey event which was hosted at Comic Fusion. To me the folks in these photos are the real superheroes — fans and pros like yourselves coming together to pitch in for a good cause. By the way in these photos you’ll see several shots of Joe Sinnott — the man is a living legend of comics, if you don’t know him do yourself a huge favor and check out his bio and you’ll be amazed at his life story. Read more… Help Celebrate Wonder Woman Day on Sunday for a Worthy Cause
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 23, 2009 in Comic Books, Fandom
For the fourth year in a row Portland, Oregon will celebrate Wonder Woman Day and use the day to raise funds for three local domestic violence prevention-intervention agencies. The popularity of the day has inspired Stacy Korn, co-owner of Comic Fusion in New Jersey to do an east coast event by having local artists do sketches for charity. I have to say that I love the idea of taking Wonder Woman who is an icon of strength and equality — and using her to raise awareness for a good cause: Read more… The Bad Girls of Comics: Sex, Violence and Objectification
Posted by Michael Pinto on Oct 3, 2009 in Comic Books
ForaTV has a great show out on Comic Book Heroines: Sex, Violence and Objectification which features Supergirls author Mike Madrid. What i find amazing about this segment is that he explores how during the 90s adult entertainment merged with mainstream media and then crept into comic books. Comic Books are Officially Dead
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 10, 2009 in Comic Books
The Dark Knight Goes Anime
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 22, 2009 in Comic Books, Hobbies and Collections
When I first laid my eyes on this Batman Ame Comi Statue I have to say that I was impressed! The folks at DC Comics actually did a good job of giving the dark knight that anime touch — even down to the Captain Harlock belt treatment. But then I started thinking: Why no improve this and bring to the next level? So on the photo above I added my own captions to show what accessories a mangaesque Batman might be adorned with. And not to be left out I gave the same treatment to the Robin Ame Comi Robin Vinyl Statue: Read more… Red Robin #3: Anatomy of a Killer Cover by Francis Manapul
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 19, 2009 in Comic Books
On the surface this cover illustration of Red Robin #3 may not look like much, but to me that’s why it’s so good. Every month I see tons of covers that are crammed with detail but have little graphic impact, however this artwork by Francis Manapul is a great example of “less is more”. Although his cover looks simple there’s actually a great deal of detail and though going on under the surface. Here’s a breakout of what I love about this cover: Read more… Adam West Deserves More Than a Batman Garage Sale
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 29, 2009 in Comic Books
The Superman-Tim Club Card: Membership Has Its Rewards
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 22, 2009 in Comic Books
 Superman-Tim Club Pin Watchmen: My Fanboy Hangover
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 8, 2009 in Comic Books
From the moment I read Watchmen all of those years ago I always wanted to see it as a film — and I guess the lesson here is is that you should be careful what you wish for because you may just get it. After seeing the film I was left with a vey flat empty feeling, yes on a superficial level the director got almost every frame right but there was something lacking: the soul of the comic book. Read more… Watch out, Watchmen! This Film is Fanboy Approved…
Posted by Guest Author on Mar 5, 2009 in Cinema, Comic Books
Editor’s Note: In this column animation critic Joe Strike gives us our first review of the Watchmen film. They got it right – they didn’t fuck it up too bad. That only begins to describe my reaction to Zack Snyder’s Watchmen. On the ‘faithful-to-the-source-material-in-terms-of-capturing-its spirit’ scale I give the film 4.95 stars out of five. I credit the film to Snyder because it’s definitely his version of A____ M____ and Dave Gibbons’ ‘unfilmable’ graphic novel. It’s also a paraphrase of what Snyder said back in 2007 when he was starting work on the project: “I hope some rainy afternoon in England A___ M____ will watch the movie and say ‘they didn’t fuck it up too bad.'” Since you’re reading this on a site called fanboy.com, you know A___ M____ removed his name from the film (and turned down the zillions of $ of booty it will generate, handing it over to Gibbons) because of his distaste for what Hollywood’s done to his books; you also know the book inside-out, the way its themes echo through its huge cast and various subplots, or the counterpoint between the main story and the pirate comic ‘within the comic.’ (I don’t intend to review the movie here, plenty of people are already covering that end of it, but even so, plenty of spoilers ahead – you’ve been warned…) Read more… Robin as Batman: Travale Turns the Tables on the Dark Knight
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 5, 2009 in Comic Books
In this illustration Ontario based artist Rosemary Travale depicts Nightwing (i.e. Dick Grayson who’s best known as Robin) taking up the role of the Dark Knight. Travale did this illustration for a competition, but in our book she’s already fanboy approved: The two things that I love about what she’s done here is how she brings the spirit of youth into Batman (that special unsure quality about yourself) without being too cute about it — and her gouache technique really allows the texture of the paper to come through which is something that you would just never get in a Photoshop coloring job. |
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Sadly the Superman franchise is on hold as Hollywood waits for the legal chaos to clear up. 
It’s been unofficial for a while, but as of this week I’d say that as of this week the comic book biz is no longer about actually publishing comic books, but in fact about making films that star comic book characters. The take over of Marvel Entertainment by Disney and the reorganization of DC Comics into DC Entertainment is part of a larger picture which includes the death of print as a viable commercial medium. Although to be fair this story has been a long time in the making: In fact the first chapter in this story can be traced to Disney. 
This comedy sketch for 
