The Comic Book Project

So a friend of mine, let’s call her, “Trixie” was cleaning out an attic recently.  Her son found some issues of “Action Comics”, “Jimmy Olsen”, & “World’s Finest”.  She asked her son if he wanted them.  He said no.  She said that she knew someone (spoilers – ME) who would.  She was right.

Trixie, I love ya.

The books are from the mid to late sixties & are monthly publications and this got me thinking.  I too am from the mid to late sixties and I have an original publication date (birthday) in December.  ‘Come to think of it,” I thought to myself, “lots of people have such a publication history.”  Then I thought of my immediate family.  How cool would it be to find a comic in the birth month for each family member, frame them, and put them in a collage on a wall in the ops center at Rancho del Evil Chicken?  “Very cool, indeed.” I thought to myself.

But how does one organize such an undertaking?  Do you choose only Marvel, only DC, or do you mix and match?  Of course you go with characters that you love but what if the cover in your birth month is a little less than you had hoped – do you plan for back up covers?  Yup; you do.  My thoughts immediately were drawn to, “The Amazing Spider-Man”.  In December of 1968 the cover has Spidey with his back to the view, askew, with the gauntlets of Mysterio ready to crush him.

Not bad but then I thought to myself, “What was the HULK up to?”  Apparently he was in the Savage Land with Kazar fighting “UMBU the Unliving”!  Nice cover – looks like it’s right out of the sixties – and now I have a dilemma.

Then there is my wife.  I narrowed her down to two covers, “Detective Comics – Batman and Batgirl” 384 and, “Silver Surfer” 4.  The Batman issue has the quote, “Who is the mysterious SHE?” prominently featured on the cover so that scores some points there. 

The Silver Surfer cover is set up in a classic Jack Kirby-esqu slugfest between the “God of Thunder” and the “Sky-rider of the Space Ways!”

What about the kids!?  My oldest was born just when “Doomsday” was being introduced to the DC universe.  His arrival was big news for Superman and her arrival was big news for us.  

My middle child has a love for Tony Stark and all things, “Iron Man”.  She was born during the whole, “Heroes Reborn” saga at Marvel.  A pretty good time to be alive.  

Rob Liefeld & Jim Lee breathed life back into these guys when no one else could.

My youngest was born when “Batman Beyond” was making the transition from TV to comics.  Further, Terry McGuiness is one of her favorites.  I hope that DC does more with Terry in the future - so does my youngest.

So now I have another reason to save my pennies.  My wife has already threatened to take her issue into work – thereby throwing off the entire Comic Book Project concept in the process.  I may have to get both issues for her so she can alternate at work and not throw off the AWESOMNESS of the feng shui that the framed collage would provide.

I know that I have some of these issues in the attic.  So, if you will excuse me, Gentle Reader, I have a mission to attend to.  This project is not going to start itself.

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

In 1986, the great, Alan Moore wrote a “final” Superman story, entitled, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow.” In the story Clark Kent’s identity is discovered, the Fortress of Solitude is destroyed, arch-villains make their exits and Superman… well, Superman is no more. {NOTE: That’s as far as I’m going with the spoilers; if you are so inclined hunt down the reprint.} Superman does not walk away from this final fight. As it turns out an attorney, Marc Toberoff, just may succeed where Doomsday, Brainiac and Lex Luther have failed. Marc Toberoff may be the man who really kills Superman as we know him. Eriq Gardner’s article from the Hollywood Reporter explains what’s going on in more depth here; http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hollywood-heist-how-a-burglary-192768. On behalf of the Siegels and Shusters, the descendants of the two men who created the Man of Steel, Marc Toberoff may succeed.

Remember that “Bombshell” from DC Comics? I blogged; NAY, hemorrhaged GEEK protoplasm as to what that might mean for Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton here: [NOTE BEFORE YOU CLICK THE LINK – you really don’t have to read it. It turns out my ramblings were completely wrong.] http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2011/05/bombshell-from-dc-comics-coming-soon.html. I suspected that Superman was going to be turned into the biggest, baddest, super-villain in the entire DC universe. Hey, it’s what I would have done if I was writing for DC Comics – heck I would have had citizens worshiping him; both sincere and forced! Well all of that speculation doesn’t matter. Actually it REALLY doesn’t matter.

“How so?”

The “Bombshell” is that DC Comics will be revamping their entire pantheon of characters. That’s about 52 different comics ALL being reset to issue # 1. Here’s a good little article on the subject: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=32607.

“Why?” one might ask, “Isn’t this just a trick to sell more funny-books?” Yeah, that’s a good assumption on the surface and, in fact ultimately, this probably will sell a lot of funny-books; but Warner Bros. and therefore DC Comics is launching what appears to be a preemptive move that is designed to protect their assets just in case Toberoff wins the case for the descendants of Siegels and Shusters. Let’s face facts; Superman is the basis for everything that the juggernaut of DC Comics has become. It is not possible to separate the last 60 years of comic book history from that publishing house from Superman. In other words you can take the Kryptonian out of DC but you can’t take the DC out of the Kryptonian.

DC knows this. If Toberoff wins his lawsuit will they be able to move on towards the next phase in the saga that Superman has become? They have a talented creative team at DC and I believe that they will make it work. The only losers in this scenario are anyone and everyone who has some loose sense, idea or affiliation as to whomever the character of Superman was. I’m not talking your garden variety geek here – I’m talking about the every-person, the common denominator, the person on the street. Pop-culture consumers who are not necessarily comic book fans but STILL have memories of “playing Superman” as a kid. Toberoff and whatever’s left of the Siegels & Shusters are about to rob all future generations of that simple joy. Honestly, it is this that saddens me the most.

Now if Toberoff loses then DC will stir the pot for about 12 issues and make sure everything goes back to exactly the way it was before all this silliness transpired. It is the way of the funny-book. The path of the comic book universes no matter from what publishing company they hail. Whoever ‘wins’ this lawsuit DC Comics is at an interesting crossroads.

If you click on the cover of Justice League # 1 by Jim Lee (the picture for this blog) you will see the new Justice League. At first glance you might say not all that much has changed. The “S” on Superman’s chest is different (it has to be since the rights to the “S” have gone back to Toberoff, the Siegels & Shusters), the collar & cape have differences too and he is no longer wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants. What you don’t see is that he is not really flying anymore – he’s “jumping” or rather leaping tall buildings in a single bound. You won’t see Lois Lane anymore either. She will be the property of Toberoff, the Siegels & Shusters. I’m not sure whomever or whatever else is going to be missing. There are rumors that Superman (I think he can still be called that) and Wonder Woman are now romantically involved. We will have to wait and see what other changes are in store, Gentle Reader.

So a lawyer and the distant descendants of the creators of the Man of Steel just may deal the deathblow that even Doomsday couldn’t deliver. The second death of Superman.

Lex Luthor would be proud.

“Bombshell” from DC Comics Coming Soon

[NOTE: I am diving into the GEEK deep end here so if that is not your thing – move along; there’s nothing for you to see here. You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.]

Gentle Reader, are you still here? GOOD!

So, remember that weekend when that prince and princess got married, Superman renounced his American Citizenship and Osama bin Laden was put down? Yeah? Good times… good times. I didn’t write about the royal wedding. It’s just not my bag, Baby. I didn’t write about OBL’s demise; after all, what more needs to be said? I did, however, write about Superman (which happened a day before SEAL Team 6’s raid). Let’s review, shall we?

Here’s the link: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2011/04/american-way.html.

So there’s that. Well, this morning while catching up on some Twitter activity I saw that Jim Lee (DC Comics Guru and Comic Book LEGEND) had retweeted something about a “Bombshell” that he, Geoff Johns and the rest of DC Comics is about to unveil. Here’s the link: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/05/23/geoff-johns-and-jim-lee-plan-to-drop-dc-bombshells-at-hero-festival/?dlvrit=63378. The bombshell is set to go off on 6/11/11, at the Chinese 6 Theater at the Los Angeles Times HERO COMPLEX Film Festival. I think my faith in Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and DC Comics is about to pay off in spades; they’re going to show their hand concerning Kal-El and his future and what a BIG HAND it will be. Now then, with that being said, you should know that I have absolutely no insider information but I just wanted to voice my prediction for what I believe is in store for The Man of Tomorrow before the big day happens.

The Last Son of Krypton has been far too good for far too long. I bet Superman is about to ultimately become what he hates the most – the complete opposite of everything he once stood for. The Boy Scout is about to become the absolute ruler of Earth. He will claim the power grab is for all the right reasons but soon, very soon, Earth will become a complete totalitarian state. There will be those who compare him to the dreaded, Darkseid and not without cause. Sure, it’ll start small with renouncing his American citizenship; soon he’ll be toppling governments that do not fit into his ‘new world order’ and when the UN and the United States finally realize what his endgame is it will be far too late. He’ll take care of Bruce (since Bruce has already planed for such a contingency). Supes will probably set him adrift in the Phantom Zone out of some twisted sense of guilt or for some further use he might have for the Batman. Come to think of it he’ll have to do the same thing with Diana. Wonder Woman has to go as well. Heroes will fight and heroes will lose. My guess is that “Parallax” will ultimately be the cause of Kal-El’s corruption. In the end Hal Jordan and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps free Batman & Wonder Woman from the Phantom Zone and the battle royal commences. Hal was corrupted by Parallax before so he’s carrying that baggage with him into battle but it doesn’t matter; Hal and company win the day. Kal-El assists with getting Parallax into the Phantom Zone and everything goes back to the way it was before Superman renounced his American citizenship – except, now that the world has seen what Superman is truly capable of and now wonders should he ever be trusted again?

Fini.

So there’s that. I sincerely thank you for making it this far, Gentle Reader. I anticipate one of three responses to this blog; especially that last paragraph.

1. “I really should have skipped this particular Blog entry here at Chicken Scratch.
2. “That would be so cool!”
3. “You know, we ought to hire this, Evil Chicken guy.

If your answer was:

1. Sorry. I will try to do better next time. I’ve gotta ask; didn’t you read the note at the beginning?
2. I know, RIGHT!
3. You can contact me right here on Chicken Scratch or via my Twitter account at the right. I look forward to working with you in the future.

The writers & artists at DC Comics are about to have a very good time unleashing the Armageddon that Superman is about to become onto an unsuspecting comic book world. Mr. Johns, Mr. Lee and the rest of the creative team at DC Comics, I can’t wait to see it happen.

On the other hand perhaps it is only my ravings. We shall see... we shall see.




(Picture from, Game Banana)

The Enterprise Project

Yep. I am a Star Trek fan. I bleed GEEK. So when I heard about “The Enterprise Project” I gushed a bit. It’s pop art through the eyes of pop art. As per the website…

Respected graffiti, FX and pop artists from all over the world have designed their interpretations of the USS Enterprise. These 34-inch-long replicas of the USS Enterprise from the upcoming film were cast from the 3D digital models created for the film by Industrial Light & Magic. These models will begin touring the world in March – see the location details on each ship to find its current location.

People such as Jim Lee and Robert Rodriguez each have submissions. It would be fun to see them all together in one place for now, however, you can check ‘em out here: http://www.startrekmovie.com/modelgallery/. There will be more Enterprise interpretations coming soon.

This might be able to hold me over until the first 12:01 showing on May 8. We shall see…