Showing posts with label DC Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC Comics. Show all posts
Saturday, May 20, 2017
RIP Rich Buckler
I had the pleasure of meeting Rich at the Motor City Comic Con a few years ago. Rest in peace.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Sunday, August 14, 2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
My SDCC 2016 Wrap-Up
It’s hard to believe that it was a week ago today that we flew out to San Diego for SDCC.
An emergency stop at a clinic for pink eye, horrible traffic getting to the airport, and a slow leak in a tire were the only issues plaguing us on our trip to the airport. The flight was on time and really felt cramped for the five hour flight. All our luggage arrived safely and we checked into the Sheraton Marina and head downtown on the free shuttle. That Yellow Line shuttle was amazing, allowing us to travel back and forth from the Convention in about 15 minutes.
Getting our badges was very streamlined and quick. After a quick bite to eat, we got into the Con for Preview Night, but found out that Art Adams’ sketch list was already closed. Met the lovely and talented Marjorie Liu, writer for Image’s Monstress. After a couple of hours exploring with our jaws wide open, we headed back to the hotel and decompressed at Quinn’s, which served a lot great local craft beer.
On Thursday, after a big breakfast at the hotel, we headed down for our first full day. We got into the panel and signing ticket line, but quickly gave up after an hour wait and the line not going anywhere. Snagged a great Shadow sketch from Howard Chaykin. Collected some autographs from Chuck Wendig, Mark Brooks, Len Wein, and William Gibson. Had a nice Italian dinner in the Gaslight district watching the cosplayers. Ended the evening on a rooftop patio with an amazing view of the city and had drinks next to Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi.
Friday was a rather quiet day as I did a bit of shopping and then made my way over to NerdHQ for the Con Man panel. It was a great, intimate venue and the panel was a lot of fun. Got a few of my Master of Kung Fu issues signed by Paul Gulacy. We had a light dinner and enjoyed a bottle of the Star Trek Anniversary beer. We checked out the gaming area and played a few games of Shadows over Westminster where we chatted with the game’s designer. After a bit more cosplay watching along the Gaslight district, we called it a night.
On Sunday, after carefully backing my books and loot, we hit the show for our last day. Did a bit more shopping picking up an Enterprise Hallmark ornament and a Shopkins exclusive toy for my daughter. I picked up my lovely Punk Storm sketch by the talented Jae Lee, who turned out to be a big fan of my blog. We had a last dinner at a Kansas BBQ joint where scenes from Top Gun were filmed. Exhausted, we picked up our luggage and flew out on the red eye.
This was my third visit to SDCC and each of them is special in their own way. I travelled with 3 other guys who had never been, and part of the fun was simply watching their shock and awe as they experience the enormity of SDCC. The Fan Expo we enjoy in Toronto is nowhere near the scale of SDCC. The venue and administration at SDCC is much better handled and has more of a professional feel to it. Also, San Diego genuinely embraces the Comic Con, with nearby hotel venues, theme restaurants, and an overwhelming amount of off-site activities. My only real complain was how all the lines for the signings were handled. Not a lot of the volunteers knew what was going on which spawned many different and confusing line-ups. The highlights of the show to me were meeting the creative team of Monstress and that beautiful Punk Storm sketch by Jae Lee.
An emergency stop at a clinic for pink eye, horrible traffic getting to the airport, and a slow leak in a tire were the only issues plaguing us on our trip to the airport. The flight was on time and really felt cramped for the five hour flight. All our luggage arrived safely and we checked into the Sheraton Marina and head downtown on the free shuttle. That Yellow Line shuttle was amazing, allowing us to travel back and forth from the Convention in about 15 minutes.
Getting our badges was very streamlined and quick. After a quick bite to eat, we got into the Con for Preview Night, but found out that Art Adams’ sketch list was already closed. Met the lovely and talented Marjorie Liu, writer for Image’s Monstress. After a couple of hours exploring with our jaws wide open, we headed back to the hotel and decompressed at Quinn’s, which served a lot great local craft beer.
On Thursday, after a big breakfast at the hotel, we headed down for our first full day. We got into the panel and signing ticket line, but quickly gave up after an hour wait and the line not going anywhere. Snagged a great Shadow sketch from Howard Chaykin. Collected some autographs from Chuck Wendig, Mark Brooks, Len Wein, and William Gibson. Had a nice Italian dinner in the Gaslight district watching the cosplayers. Ended the evening on a rooftop patio with an amazing view of the city and had drinks next to Lucy Lawless and Ted Raimi.
Friday was a rather quiet day as I did a bit of shopping and then made my way over to NerdHQ for the Con Man panel. It was a great, intimate venue and the panel was a lot of fun. Got a few of my Master of Kung Fu issues signed by Paul Gulacy. We had a light dinner and enjoyed a bottle of the Star Trek Anniversary beer. We checked out the gaming area and played a few games of Shadows over Westminster where we chatted with the game’s designer. After a bit more cosplay watching along the Gaslight district, we called it a night.
Saturday was crazy, so I knew that I could get to the Con a bit later. I met author Jonathan Maberry who had edited an anthology I was a part of. When he asked me what story I had written, I totally blanked and couldn’t remember the title of my story (which was Dirt Man, about a grave golem terrorizing a small town). Had a great lunch at Smash burger. Got my ROM #1 SDCC Exclusive edition signed by the creative team. The crowds near the end of the day were insane. It took us over 20 minutes just to go from our shuttle bus drop-off area to the Gaslight district. After dinner, we headed back to the rooftop bar, but were turned away as it was an NBC exclusive party.
On Sunday, after carefully backing my books and loot, we hit the show for our last day. Did a bit more shopping picking up an Enterprise Hallmark ornament and a Shopkins exclusive toy for my daughter. I picked up my lovely Punk Storm sketch by the talented Jae Lee, who turned out to be a big fan of my blog. We had a last dinner at a Kansas BBQ joint where scenes from Top Gun were filmed. Exhausted, we picked up our luggage and flew out on the red eye.
This was my third visit to SDCC and each of them is special in their own way. I travelled with 3 other guys who had never been, and part of the fun was simply watching their shock and awe as they experience the enormity of SDCC. The Fan Expo we enjoy in Toronto is nowhere near the scale of SDCC. The venue and administration at SDCC is much better handled and has more of a professional feel to it. Also, San Diego genuinely embraces the Comic Con, with nearby hotel venues, theme restaurants, and an overwhelming amount of off-site activities. My only real complain was how all the lines for the signings were handled. Not a lot of the volunteers knew what was going on which spawned many different and confusing line-ups. The highlights of the show to me were meeting the creative team of Monstress and that beautiful Punk Storm sketch by Jae Lee.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Friday, March 13, 2015
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Saturday, March 7, 2015
Friday, November 21, 2014
DC Comics: A Visual History - A Review
DC Comics: A Visual History
Published on Oct 21/2014 by Dorling Kindersley Ltd
“Trace DC's fascinating story: the company's beginnings as National Allied Publications in the 1934, and its subsequent change to Detective Comics, Inc. in 1937. The book details all the major DC publishing landmarks and more, displayed clearly, month by month.
"Highlighting the debuts of iconic super heroes like Superman and Batman, the geniuses that invented them, and the real-life events, like the Vietnam War, the atom bomb, and the Space Race, that shaped the atmosphere of the times, DC Comics: A Visual History follows the characters' foray into the real world through TV series and blockbuster movies.”
Yes, this is a book about DC Comics, so I’ll restrain the Marvel Zombie within me long enough to provide an impartial review. And for the record, I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.
At first glance I was a bit put off by the book’s slipcase as it highlighted DC Comics’ New 52. However, when I pulled out the hardcover, I was blown away by Ryan Sook’s cover. Wow. Sook lovingly renders each DC Comics age in a beautiful montage, channeling Murphy Anderson, Bill Kane, Frank Miller, and George Perez just to name a few! After flipping through the book, the cover captures the effort and completeness of this visual history.
This 375-page hardcover is an update from the 2010 Edition (DC Comics: Year by Year – A Visual Chronicle), adding 16 new pages for 2010-2014.
The book is dense and while it’s titled a visual history, there’s a huge effort by a team of writers to cover each year, month by month. These write-ups aren’t simple issue summaries, but instead capture the importance of these comics with a critical eye and discuss their significance and creative teams. Also, a nice little added touch was the real world history ticker at the bottom of the pages, that gives you a few of that year's news headlines.
The book covers the entire history of DC Comics, from the Golden Age, to Silver Age, to the Bronze Age, and the New 52, right up to the current year. And they cover these ages in impressive detail. For example, the 1980s section runs over 50 pages.
And speaking of the 1980s, for obvious reasons I paid close attention to that section. It was certainly a fun read through, reminding me of how industry leading DC Comics was. They not only introduced the limited series, which they expanded into maxi-series like Camelot 3000, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Amethyst, but broke ground with the new formats (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns’ prestige format and The Teen Titans’ Baxter format series.
DC Comics: A Visual History is a gateway drug that will have you hunting down the other DK Visual History books, like DC Comics Villains and Batman, all recently published in 2014.
Published on Oct 21/2014 by Dorling Kindersley Ltd
"Highlighting the debuts of iconic super heroes like Superman and Batman, the geniuses that invented them, and the real-life events, like the Vietnam War, the atom bomb, and the Space Race, that shaped the atmosphere of the times, DC Comics: A Visual History follows the characters' foray into the real world through TV series and blockbuster movies.”
Yes, this is a book about DC Comics, so I’ll restrain the Marvel Zombie within me long enough to provide an impartial review. And for the record, I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.
At first glance I was a bit put off by the book’s slipcase as it highlighted DC Comics’ New 52. However, when I pulled out the hardcover, I was blown away by Ryan Sook’s cover. Wow. Sook lovingly renders each DC Comics age in a beautiful montage, channeling Murphy Anderson, Bill Kane, Frank Miller, and George Perez just to name a few! After flipping through the book, the cover captures the effort and completeness of this visual history.
This 375-page hardcover is an update from the 2010 Edition (DC Comics: Year by Year – A Visual Chronicle), adding 16 new pages for 2010-2014.
The book is dense and while it’s titled a visual history, there’s a huge effort by a team of writers to cover each year, month by month. These write-ups aren’t simple issue summaries, but instead capture the importance of these comics with a critical eye and discuss their significance and creative teams. Also, a nice little added touch was the real world history ticker at the bottom of the pages, that gives you a few of that year's news headlines.
The book covers the entire history of DC Comics, from the Golden Age, to Silver Age, to the Bronze Age, and the New 52, right up to the current year. And they cover these ages in impressive detail. For example, the 1980s section runs over 50 pages.
And speaking of the 1980s, for obvious reasons I paid close attention to that section. It was certainly a fun read through, reminding me of how industry leading DC Comics was. They not only introduced the limited series, which they expanded into maxi-series like Camelot 3000, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Amethyst, but broke ground with the new formats (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns’ prestige format and The Teen Titans’ Baxter format series.
DC Comics: A Visual History is a gateway drug that will have you hunting down the other DK Visual History books, like DC Comics Villains and Batman, all recently published in 2014.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
1984 - My First Pull List!
January 1984 - The four comics on my very first pull list when I was 13 years old!
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
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