Comic Book Collection News and Updates

Well here is a rather interesting article I ran across if you happen to be a Steven King Fan:

"Pennsylvania > Arts & Entertainment Updated: Thursday, February 1, 2007 2:01 PM EST

Stephen King's epic 'Dark Tower' becomes a comic book series

Left Field Hobbies chosen for first release

MILFORD - World fantasy award-winning writer Stephen King, master of modern horror, joins forces with Marvel Comics this month to launch a ground-breaking new comic book series adapted from King's magnum opus, "The Dark Tower."

To celebrate the launch of this new comic book series, Marvel Comics will offer a first-ever midnight release of "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born #1," Tuesday night, Feb. 6.

James Rogers, owner of Milford's Left Field Hobbies said, "We were very fortunate to be chosen as one of the premier stores allowed to run this event. This will allow all fans of Stephen King in the tri-state area to get their hands on the book as early as possible. This is a first; a comic book has never had a midnight release before - its very exciting."

Only 140 retailers across the country were chosen to open at midnight on Tuesday (effectively 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7) so Stephen King fans can get their hands on the debut issue.

Rogers said the store will offer refreshments for the midnight event. Early shoppers will also have an opportunity to acquire "variant" - one of 25 - covers of the #1 issue, which are certain to become collectors' items.

Marvel's senior vice president of Sales, David Gabriel, said, "As the first visualization of "The Dark Tower" characters and stories in the sequential arts medium, these midnight openings provide fans with the same first chance, gotta-be there-the-second-it-comes-out opportunity that Harry Potter fans have enjoyed at mass market bookstores."

The series will expand the saga of King's epic hero, Roland Deschain, whose quest to save the dark tower is captured in seven best-selling novels published over the course of 25 years. King's unparalleled storytelling power will inform new stories that delve into the life and times of the young Roland, revealing the trials and conflicts that lead to the burden of destiny he must assume as a man, the last Gunslinger from a world that has moved on. The comics will work in conjunction with the novels, further supplementing and defining the saga's mythology under the direction of the acclaimed author himself.

"As a lifelong fan of Marvel comic books, and as an adult reader who's seen comics 'come of age' and take their rightful place in the world of fantasy and science fiction, I'm excited to be a part of Roland's new incarnation," said King.

The series will be illustrated by Eisner-award winning artist Jae Lee.

King continued, "I love Jae Lee's work, and I think this is going to be a dynamite partnership. Frankly, I can't wait."

"Stephen King is a true literary master. We are thrilled beyond words to have him join Marvel on this exciting project. The millions of 'Dark Tower' fans are in for a real treat, and I'm sure many more will soon be hooked on this epic series through this historic comic project," said Joe Quesada, Marvel Entertainment's editor-in-chief, and chief creative officer for Publishing.

Left Field Hobbies is located at 115 Mill Street in Milford. For more information call 570-409-0202 or visit www.leftfieldhobbies.com ."

So if you happen to reside in Milford, PA you might want to go spend the night and get the first issue. Don't think I would hang out all night though! But that is just me.

Dave

February 5, 2007 10:00 - Ready for a "Heroes" Update?

Well now, after a couple of weeks of this season's Heroes, I am totally hooked. Dr. Who is turning in a more serious and sinister character role than that whom we are used to. And George Takei (Hey there Sulu!) has made a surprise appearance. I did know he was coming though. Here is an interesting update of the season's progression that I ran across at about.com. I subscribe to the comic book newsletter there (you may want to think about this also):

"Heroes Episode 1-13 Review and Synopsis
From Aaron Albert,
Your Guide to Comic Books.
Stay up to date!

Episode: Volume 1, Episode 13
Name: "The Fix"
Writer: Natalie Chaidez
Director: Terrence O'Hara

Character Plots Advanced:

# Peter Petrelli: Peter continues to seek help from the invisible man, Claude. Claude seems to have been using his abilities for some time now and agrees to help Peter better control his powers. He has a confrontation with his brother Nathan Petrelli about wanting to go away and seclude himself to keep from inadvertently hurting others, as he did in his vision.

# Hiro Nakamura: Hiro and Ando try to take the painting from Isaac to Mr. Linderman. Hiro still seeks Kensei's sword so that he will be able to regain control over his powers. The duo is chased by some mysterious men and Ando has a crisis of faith, wanting to return to Japan. They are eventually captured and told to return to Japan, but Hiro refuses and is instead taken to their boss - Hiro's father.

# Matt Parkman: Having finally come clean to his wife about his powers, Matt must now face his peers in his decisions to raid the Primatech facilities. His report tells them the whole story, about how the man Mr. Bennet is holding a super powered serial killer. When Matt uses his mind reading ability to see that his report will cost him his job, he recants his account and is put on six month suspension pending a full investigation..." Click on over to comicbooks.about.com to catch up on the rest of our heroes!

It is most definitely going to be interesting to see how this series develops. Will it be a limited series or is there enough imagination and interest to carry it on for several years? We will just have to wait and see!

Dave

February 9, 2007 08:08 - Are Comic Book readers Smarter?

What do kids do most these days, read, watch TV or other? Here is an interesting article as to what is import to children now. Do you think reading comic books is one of them? Check it out:

"Spreading the word in pictures
GARETH EDWARDS
(gedwards@edinburghnews.com)

AROUND the long tables of the classroom, the group of 25 youngsters are beginning to get a bit fidgety.

Some are kicking their heels, others are whispering to each other, and most seem to want to avoid the questions being fired at them by comic book author Alan Grant.

The writer is trying to find out how many of the children are avid young readers. The answers, however, are not encouraging.

"Do you watch TV?" "Aye," comes a chorus. "Do you watch DVDs?" "Aye." "Do you play video games?" "Aye." "And do you read books?" "No."

Just when all seems lost, a small lone voice pipes up from the back of the room: "I do!"

The children, pupils at the Wester Hailes Education Centre, are in the WHALE Arts Centre as part of a workshop on Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped.

Most have read the graphic novel version of Stevenson's classic, created by Alan and artist Cam Kennedy for the Evening News-backed One Book - One Edinburgh reading campaign.

And as part of this morning's workshop they have also seen another adaptation of Kidnapped, the two-man play When Kilts Were Banned, which races through the story in around 30 minutes.

When asked whether they will now go on to read the novel, however, they seem a little uncertain.

"I've got the big book in my bag but I haven't started it," says Aaron Aitken, 12. "I don't know if I'll manage to read it. The play was really good though."

"It's a really big book and I think the size does put you off," admits Steven Reid, 12. "I've read the graphic novel and it was good, but I don't know if I'll read the actual book."

When Alan puts this question to them straight, around six children stick their hands up, while the others shrug and scoff.

One of those who believes she will read the book is 12-year-old Chelsea Neil, the one person who earlier admitted to reading books at home..." Finish the article here.

It still seems to me that comic books can play an important productive part in a child's overall learning experience. What do you think?

Dave

February 14, 2007 12:10 - Where was a Teacher Like this When I was in Elementary School?

When I was young, I used to draw then current comic book characters during art class and at home. I got pretty good at it, but I was also alone. It would have been great to have a teacher like this:

"Comic books today aren't just for play
NIRVI SHAH
Associated Press

CORAL SPRINGS - The brave Eagle Eye and the evil Lord Phazer are at war, a blind teacher and her former student-turned-villain at odds over a science experiment gone wrong.

What happens next is up to Mitchell Reiner's fourth- and fifth-grade students at Eagle Ridge Elementary.

Reiner, who says he identifies with Spider-Man, is leading about 40 students at his Coral Springs school through the creation of a comic book.

Every Friday, Superhero Club students gather for two hours after school, crafting their story lines, drawing comic book panels and inking drawings. They ponder whether Phazer should rob a bank after discovering one of his superpowers - electric bolts shoot from his fingers. They debate story lines to explain how Eagle Eye lost her sight.

"You get to create whatever you want. You get to tell your whole life story, but super," said Taylor Kron, 10.

For the past two years, Reiner has turned his love of comic book superheroes into class assignments. This year he won a $4,000 grant for a schoolwide project.

The money is from the creator of Airborne, an immune-system booster designed to help the body fight germs and viruses. Airborne creator Victoria Knight-McDowell is a former second-grade teacher who recently founded the Airborne Teacher Trust Fund to supplement dwindling resources for art and music education in public schools.

Reiner coined the names for the superhero and villain and chose the setting - the school and neighboring Coral Springs. He said there would be no killing, blood or cursing.

The rest was up to the kids.

From there, Reiner split fourth- and fifth-grade students who wanted to participate into four teams, each creating their own version of the story. The best one will be published by the end of the school year.

Some students, including fifth-graders Eddy Valenz and Josh Sanchez, are gifted artists who helped bring the heroine and her arch-nemesis to life. But Reiner is focused on developing students' writing and storytelling skills.

So as Reiner goes over their sketches and dialogue, he sprinkles each critique with pointers about punctuation and spelling.

He's also hoping the kids learn teamwork and leadership - every team has a captain - along with multitasking and concentration."


Do any of your children get into comic books? Maybe a suggestion from you might spark them into showing some interest at school that may get a comic book creation class going. Who knows, it is worth a thought.

Dave

February 16, 2007 15:16 - Ghost rider on the Scene, Finally!

Well, after all the hype and media promotion lately, Ghost Rider finally opened in theaters today. Sounds like we might be somewhat let down. I kind of wondered about that. There seems to be quite a few somewhat negative reviews floating around. Here is an interesting review I found for you:

"REVIEW: GHOST RIDER
02.16.07
By Devin Faraci

Ghost Rider is not the worst movie of the year. That's going to disappoint some people - myself included - but that doesn't mean it's a good movie. It's not even an OK movie. Ghost Rider is, more often than not, terrible - but in a very watchable way. A huge part of that comes from Nicolas Cage, who is making acting choices that leaves you to wonder if he knew he was in this particular movie. Then halfway through the movie you realize that he actually knows exactly what movie he's in - it's everyone else involved in the production who is delusional.

Based on the third tier Marvel Comics character, Ghost Rider is a movie that could only have happened now, mostly because the main character is a guy with a flaming skull for a head - this is the kind of effect that's tough to pull off practically. It turns out that it's occasionally tough to pull it off in CGI, especially in close-ups, where the Rider's head sometimes looks like it was created in an Apple IIe 3D modeling program by a goth middle-schooler. But mostly the Ghost Rider looks pretty good, and it would have been nice to see this character used in a better film.

A better film would have started off without a script by Mark Steven Johnson, a man who is so unable to avoid being corny that his Indian name is Maize. The dialogue often sounds like it was written by that same goth middle-schooler, and the movie is also infused with the kind of retarded theology that would appeal to that sort of audience. In fact, Ghost Rider is very much a movie for 9 year olds that feels like it was made by a 9 year old. I think that even 14 or 15 year olds will feel too old for what passes as cool or dark in this edge of camp movie, including satanic enemies who look like even gayer take offs on Matrix villains, a love interest that never threatens to get too gooey or too sexual, and a central hero who shows up rarely and doesn't do very much but pose.

It's the lack of interesting Ghost Rider action that makes this movie flop. Cage is more fascinating as the completely loony Johnny Blaze than the Rider ever is, and even when he's flamed up and skeletal the movie doesn't give him shit to do. There are four villains - three elemental demons and Blackheart, the devil's son played with Velvet Underground weariness by Wes Bentley - and the battles between Ghost Rider and them are perfunctory at best. The bad guy menaces Ghost Rider, Ghost Rider hits them with his flaming chain, the fight is over. I am not even exaggerating here - the longest fight scene in the film isn't even that long, but it includes part of a chase and an extraneous confrontation with a helicopter to beef it up a little bit. These villains all look like crap, by the way - the only decent FX in the whole film went to certain Ghost Rider scenes..." And to finish this fine Ghost Rider review, click on over!

Now this doesn't sound very promising as an excellent movie, but I imagine I will still enjoy it. I do like Nic Cage as an actor and I will still want the DVD in my collection. Feel free to leave your thoughts and feelings about the movie here.

Dave

February 19, 2007 05:25 - How Long will Hollywood Continue its Comic Book Craze?

Personally, I hope comic book movies continue to pour out of the capital for entertainment and emotional release. Some will bomb while others will do record box office numbers. The new release of Ghost Rider has brought about many news articles of late. Here is another interesting one:

"Hollywood's on fire for comic books

BOB STRAUSS; Los Angeles Daily News
Published: February 16th, 2007 01:00 AM

It seems like every comic book gets made into a movie these days. But some are harder to put on the screen than others. The new "Ghost Rider," for example.

It took about 10 years to settle on an approach, a cast and a tone for the outre Marvel Comics property. Understandable, since the hero is under blood-signed contract to serve Mephistopheles - and when he's not just daring motorcycle stunt driver Johnny Blaze, his head bursts into a flaming skull.

By comparison, Spider-Man looks perfectly normal. And after spending a reported $120 million to make the "Ghost Rider" movie, Columbia Pictures is still apparently concerned that it might be too off-track for some viewers. The studio didn't screen the film for critics until Thursday night, a sure sign of marketing jitters.

But sheer weirdness was one of the things that attracted Hollywood's least-conventional superstar, Nicolas Cage, to the project. A boyhood fan of the comics, Cage saw "Ghost Rider" as the perfect vehicle to bring the behavioral ingenuity from his art films ("Adaptation," "Wild at Heart," the Oscar-winning "Leaving Las Vegas") to the action blockbuster field where he has enjoyed remarkable commercial success ("The Rock," "Face/Off," "National Treasure").

"I feel I'm able to introduce many people to the character," Cage reckons. "Spider-Man, Superman and Batman are characters that really need no introduction; one could argue that those movies would be successful in any event, with any cast.

"This, we had to build from scratch. This is really a philosophical character dressed in a popcorn movie's clothes. It's dealing with bargains with the wrong types of energy."

Or, basically, Faust on a Harley. Beside his love for comics - born Nic Coppola, the actor took his stage name from the Marvel title "Luke Cage, Hero for Hire," and in 2005 named his infant son Kal-el, which is Superman's Kryptonian moniker - Cage is a huge motorcycle enthusiast. But that wasn't all that made the movie seem like hellish hog heaven..." Finish the comic book article here.

Although Ghost Rider has gotten off to a rocky start, will it make its money back and even turn a profit? We will have to wait and see. Maybe the DVD sales will pull the fat out of the fire.

Dave

February 21, 2007 12:50 - My Space and the Comic Book World!

Amazing, I ran into several news stories about comic books coming out on My Space. This site, apparently, has been quite a social site and now they are dedicating a select area to comic books. Check out this article:

"A Comic Book Community From MySpace
Submitted by Mike Sachoff on Tue, 02/20/2007 - 15:04.

Social networking site MySpace has branched out into the world of comic books. Late last week MySpace launched MySpace Comic Book community, "a Place for Comic Books".

MySpace.com Comic Bookswill be the official community for comics, including Japanese-based manga, graphic novels and other classic American comics. Visitors to the hub will find comic book related news, interviews, special features and drawing contests. They will also feature new artists, industry events and user-generated comics from MySpace members.

Although MySpace clearly has name recognition it will be interesting to see if they can attract devoted comic book fans to their latest community. With established sites such as ComicVine and ComicSpace the challenge could be more difficult than they imagined.

To promote their launch, MySpace is hosting the "Buffy Changed My Life" contest running until March 14, 2007. Fans can write in describing how Buffy changed their lives in 250 words or less. Joss Whendon, "Buffy" and "Angel" creator will judge the contest and select one winner who will be written in as a character in the comic book Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8.

To further promote their presence in the comic book genre MySpace will be the title sponsor at the New York Comic Con taking place from February 23-25 at the Jacob Javits Center.

Most of what I have seen on the blogosphere concerning MySpace Comic Book has been skeptical of the new community. Michael Vu writes, " The problem with MySpace and Facebook expanding their current social networks to fill these verticals is that current interfaces don't really reflect all of the subtleties and nuances of what made that particular niche, a niche in the first place. It's pretty clear who built something for true comic book fans and who built something just to do it".

About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news."

And click on over to my space and comic books for some working links.

I will have to take some time and investigate My Space more thoroughly and see how I may be able to add to the content in the comic book section. I have been wanting to do this for quite a while. I just haven't gotten to it yet. Oh well!

Dave

February 23, 2007 12:13 - Some Interesting Superman Tidbits!

All you Superman fans, have you heard this legend before? This is an interesting 1990s type of Superman trivia:

"Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #91
Posted by Brian Cronin, Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 9:30 PM

This is the ninety-first in a series of examinations of comic book urban legends and whether they are true or false. Click here for an archive of the previous ninety. Click here for a similar archive, only arranged by subject.

Let's begin!

COMIC URBAN LEGEND: DC gave Superman new powers to aid them in a legal struggle.

STATUS: False

In the late 90s, DC had a storyline where Superman gains new electric powers.

At the same time, DC was (and still is) involved in a legal dispute with the heirs of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, over the copyright to Superman.

Therefore, the timing of the events led some people to believe that perhaps there was something tying the two events together.

At the official Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed Suggestion Thread on the Comics Should Be Good forum, reader Stressfactor states:

1) I remember hearing someone claim that at least *one* reason behind the "Electric Blue" Superman of the 1990's was an attempt by DC to circumnavigate a lawsuit by the family of either Seigel or Schuster. That, at the time, one of the family were trying to get the rights to the character back and DC changed Superman's powers and looks in an attempt to either A) Establish something new and thereby keep fans just in case they lost the rights to the "old" Superman or B) Try to establish a preceident that Seigel and Schuster's creation was not "unique" and "distinctive" and to prove it DC was going to change Superman and prove to the courts that even a drastically changed character with the same name would still sell just as well.

I figured I would go straight to the source, specifically the man who came up with the idea to give Superman new powers, former Superman scribe Karl Kesel.

Here is what Karl had to say:" Superman Tidbits!

Guess I hadn't heard this rumor before. This was an interesting explanation. I will have to keep an eye out for more of these urban legends!

Dave

February 26, 2007 11:46 - Ghost Rider is Kicking Butt!

Well, apparently, Ghost Rider is holding its own at the movie theaters. Here is what Aaron at about.com says about the new movie:

"Ghost Rider Movie To Comic Comparison

With Ghost Rider pulling in almost $80 million as of this last Sunday, it's safe to assume that this movie will at least make back it's money and could easily put some coin in the Marvel coffers. Lets take a look at how the movie compares in it's story to the Marvel comic book. There were some changes, as expected, both good and in my opinion, not so good. Find out how the movie compares to the comic and make up your own mind.

How do they stack up?

It is pretty much a given that when a movie, T.V. show, game, or even a toy is made based on a comic book, the new creator feels the need to tweak with the base material. Just about every instance of the comic book movies as of late have had this, with few exceptions. For comic fans, this can be quite annoying and with the advent of the interent, fans have become quite vocal about their disdain for how the movie or game has portrayed their favorite comic book character.

The latest Ghost Rider movie is no exception. Check out a comparison of the Ghost Rider movie with the Marvel Comic and see for yourself how close or far they came to portraying the original character of Johnny Blaze - the Ghost Rider." And for the Ghost Rider comparison chart click on over!

Now after reading the comparison chart, I am a tad confused. Aaron talks about the original Ghost Rider and the second one, both being motorcycle riders. Now in my past research, I found the original Ghost Rider character created in the 1950s to be a horse riding cowboy that blazes afire. Then in the 1970s this character was redone as a bike rider to become more modernized. Can anyone enlighten me? Later.

Dave