Brief Thoughts

I seem to be going through a weird period right now and I don't really know why. While one of the biggest conversations pieces going around the blogosphere is about some growing bored with comics. I find myself enjoying comics more than ever, yet find myself in the odd place of not having much to say.

DC and Marvel's offerings are mostly of little interest to me, but rather than being put off by that, I actually find it nice to make such a clean break from them. Yet that doesn't leave me much to talk about when it comes to them.

Yet when I try to ponder a question like Lyle's "What excites you about comics today?" I'm left momentarily flustered to come with a simple answer.

I love series like HOT GIMMICK, SGT. FROG, OWLY, etc., and how every month there seems to be at least one new project that I want to read.

Yet I think the thing that excites me most, is that I know longer worry about comics as a medium. Whether DC and Marvel or all comic shops across the country closed their doors tomorrow. I know I'll still be able to read great comics, because there is so much variety of material and wealth of options to find them at.

Perhaps that's why I'm in sort of a funk in finding a desire to write though. I don't feel like comics need help or saving, so my "activism" feeling just isn't there anymore.

Or perhaps it is just a relationship I'm in that takes much of my creative juices and puts them elsewhere.:)

SHOJO BEAT COMPILATION, Vol. 1

I picked up this compilation, containing chapters of all of the Shojo Beat GN/digest line of series. So I could tell which ones I might want to give a longer look to.

Full Moon O Shagasite - When I first heard the premise for this series, dealing with a young girl who needs a surgery to remove a growth from her throat. Yet refuses because it will mean the loss of her voice, and thus the end to her planned life of a singer.

I thought it sounded dumb and a bit creepy, especially with two agents of death intervening to make sure she doesn't do anything that might help save her life.

Yet the whole thing works somehow, in a way that is cute and yet very emotional impacting. With an ending that does the best job of them all to make me want to find out what happens next.

Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden - I really enjoy Yuu Watusi's art, as it has such an energy and intuitive sense that makes it a pleasure to read. That is in evidence in abundance here, as well as just a beauty that had me admiring the figure work and backgrounds.

Yet not having reading any of the prior Fushigi Yugi series that this is a prelude to, just had me wondering if I was missing something important here.

It is a fantasy story about a young girl who feels lost after her mother's death. (due to consumption) Whose father's preoccupation with a mysterious book leads her to try to destroy it, only to apparently be sucked into another world.

I couldn't tell if this would be a series I'd like or not, as it just didn't have enough to get a feel for what the series will be like. The art is certainly nice to look at though.

Merupuri - I like the lead character here, a young woman who is obsessed with not being late. Because of a strange legend that says the longer you go with out being tardy, the better boyfriend you'll get. Which just makes me chuckle as of all things I look for in women, punctuality isn't very high on my list.:)

Yet she has a good heart, and when she finds a strange young boy in the street who seems lost. She takes him in for the night in order to help him.

Yet the last page revelation, and how the kid is apparently from a fantasy world just has me wondering if it'll be a book I'll like or not. Given my disinterest in fantasy as a genre.

Ouran High School Host Club - The worst story in the bunch, with art that felt claustrophobic with its almost entire lack of space. Not to mention a panel flow that was all across the board.

Even getting past that, the characters are all 1 dimensional wretches, who have yet to show any redeeming values. I'm glad I didn't waste any money on this series.

Tokyo Boys & Girls - I love the creator's Hot Gimmick series, and while this doesn't live up to that level of quality. It is still an interesting start to the series about young people's internal personal politics. As they try to find ways relate to each other in life as friends, classmates or potential lovers.

The art needs a bit of work on defining the looks for the characters though. There were a few times I found myself questioning who I was looking at, especially in regards to two rival boys after one girl's affections.

Still a good start, and I'm glad to have bought volume 1 of the series.

Ultra Maniac -Witchcraft has gone modern, as the cool and popular Ayu helps a clueless classmate Nina find what turns out to be her pocket computer/spellmaker.

While Ayu doesn't think it a big deal, and moves on with her life as a tennis player and tries to get ready for an upcoming tennis match her friends signed her up for against the best boy's tennis player. (with the fate of whether the boys or girls got access to two or 1 tennis courts to practice on)

Nina decides that Ayu must be her best friend in the world, and tells her about her life as a witch and grants her a wish. Which is a way to be stronger and faster than her male opponent, resulting in an ending that had me laughing and wanting to see what happened next.

While the witchcraft looks to be a big plot device, the first chapter here seems to point to it being much like television's Sabrina show. With it being used for laughs and backstory. While the heart of the story is about school life, popularity and first crushes.

So that's three of the 5 series that I want to try more of, and one that I'm curious enough about to at least look through the volume in stores. Not too bad for the launch of a new line of series.

Epiphany

Newsarama Has a report on DC's upcoming 52 title, which will be a weekly series detailing what happened during the "lost year" that most of DC comics will skip over after its Infinity Crisis miniseries.

I've yet to have any sort of interest in any of this stuff, and have found it easy to move away from series and characters I thought I'd never stop reading. Yet I never really thought about why, beyond just disinterest in the work of most of its contributors.

Yet reading this article it struck me why exactly it is this holds no interest for me. DC's comics has moved towards being more about the whole than their individual parts.

My disinterest in the work of the creators behind IC and such means nothing. Because if I want to follow my series, their work has to be followed in order to understand the parts I do like. To grasp the individual parts, I must work to understand the whole and since I have no interest in that it makes it easy for me to walk away.

Blast From The Past!

Turning channels last night I happen upon the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends show on Cartoon Network. The show was my first exposure to the Marvel superhero world as a little kid, and the episode last night was one of the ones that had stuck with me.

It was the origin of the Firestar character, who I really liked as she one of the first female characters I'd seen who wasn't a female version of a male character or there to be someone's girlfriend. She was just an equal part of the partnership between her, Iceman and Spider-Man, and that was just something I hadn't seen before so she stood out.

I can look back at her origin now and see how much the writers must have been influenced by the Stephen King Carrie story, right down to a certain prom scene. (that doesn't turn out quite as bad obviously)

Yet it was a fun origin, because it still showed that Angelica took joy in her powers. In this day where getting powers just means your life will suck even more than it did before, it is fun to see someone see her powers as a gift.

Something else that was interesting about the episode, was remembering that this was the first time I'd ever heard anything about the X-Men as Spidey and friends must help them against the Juggernaut.

The voices for the X-characters were so horrible, that it was fun to listen to them. From Cyclops's extremely stiff superhero speeches. To the awful Austrailan accent for Wolverine, made especially amusing since this was decades before Aussie Hugh Jackman would take up the role!

Pre-Ordering Brainstorming

Discount Comic Book Service has updated their site with this month's offerings from Previews. It looks to be a very big month for collections and new GNs meaning some hard choices to make.

From DC I'm thrilled to see the start of their "Essential" like line of black and white collections of older series. The line is off to a great start with SHOWCASE PRESENTS SUPERMAN and SHOWCASE PRESENTS GREEN LANTERN, which DCBS is offering at the incredible price of $8.49 each. 300+ pages of comics for less than $9? How could one pass up such a deal.

Also of interest from DC are manga sized collections of SGT ROCKS COMBAT TALES and SECRET OF THE SWAMP THING at $4.99 a piece. I've never been a big fan of war stories though, and I think Alan Moore (who seems to be the most loved ST writer) threw most of this stuff out when he became writer. So I'm not really sure on these yet.

From Marvel the only book of interest for me is RUNAWAYS VOL 4 TRUE BELIEVERS DIGEST at a discount price of $3.99. Which makes me wonder why anyone follows Marvel comics in pamphlet form, since that is cheaper than 2 issues at cover price.

CBLDF SPX 2005 ANTHOLOGY returns to its roots of a loose talent showcase anthology, after the past few years of themes. The *Support your right to read comic books! * is an odd tag line for it. I does feel a bit odd to have a discount on a charity book, at $7.12 but oh well.

I really enjoy ghost stories, so Del Rey's new Ghost Hunt series could be something I'd be interested in. Yet I can't find any kind of helpful info about it, in order to judge whether I want to pre-order it sight unseen like this.

STEADY BEAT VOL 1 GN (OF 3) $4.99 - The preview Johanna at Cognitive Dissonance linked to. Has me really interested in this series about a younger sister finding what appear to be a love letter from a woman to her older sister while the two are on a road trip together.

Former Oni Press EIC, Jamie S Rich has a new illustrated novella, I WAS SOMEONE DEAD due out. I really enjoyed Rich's CUT MY HAIR novella about young people growing up and falling in love, set in the 1980s punk music culture. Illustrations for this book are by Andi Watson, whose work I simply can not get enough of. Making this a definite must buy for me.

Also from Oni Press, is the fourth BLUE MONDAY collection, PAINTED MOON. I love this high energy comedy series about teens with attitude. And really appreciate that Oni's publishing structure is such that I can wait to read these in the collection format that I prefer.

Last, but certainly not least, is a new Owly GN, OWLY VOL 3 FLYING LESSONS. This fun little series continues to entertain in quiet, subtle ways that never get too cute but are just fun, comforting stories about friendship.

So whew, there we go. I look forward to seeing what Greg and Johanna will have on their Previews rundown listings, though I hope it won't be too much more.:) If any of you spot something I should try or want to offer advice on some of the things I'm not sure on. Then please do!

It Has Been a While

Wow it has been a while since I've updated here. I have been busy with work and relationship stuff, but mostly it just comes from a lack of inspiration. The spark just isn't there to be creative at the moment for some reason.

I'm not really sure why, perhaps comics have just moved down in my level of importance to the point where they have become something to be consumed and so my mind just isn't putting the same level of attention to them.

I did just turn 30 today (July 2) and I have been thinking on that quite a lot lately. Plus to be honest little in comics has really struck a discord for me in a long time.

DC and Marvel are leaning heavily back on their big crossover leading to deaths that'll be undone in 5 years. Yet I was moving away from most of those anyway, so they really made my decision to leave most of them behind easy.

Indy titles pop up, some stick, most don't. Yet overall I'm pleased with the movement I'm seeing towards more OGN and the like, that make it easier to keep up with the ones worth checking out.

Manga continues to grow, introducing more titles that I want to try than I have the money to do so. Yet has me more excited about comics than I've been in a long time.

Perhaps that's the reason I'm having a difficult time finding something to write about. I'm content with the way things are, life outside of comics is good and active, and the comics I'm reading are fun and enjoyable.

I'm sure something will piss me off before too long though, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. And I'll try to make it a point to share some of that enjoyment here soon.

Batman Begins

I saw the Batman Begins film today and I quite enjoyed the movie. The movie goes really indepth into the motivations and psyche of why Batman who he is. The bad guys are genuinely interesting, with stellar performances by Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy in their roles.

Neeson had a real dangerous but yet almost heroic persona. You could see why Bruce would be drawn to him for a teacher, and come to admire him for his abilities and beliefs.

While Murphy just makes a perfect Scarecrow from the moment you first see him on screen. I guess they needed to have the mask for the type of movie it is, but he was even scarier without it. With those maniacal eyes and scary obsession for his own hobby.

Christian Bale is the star of the show, and it was great to see an actor come to the role as one would with any other non-comic role. He really seems to get the various roles he has to play, by bringing very different approaches his time as Bruce and as Batman.

If I had one complaint, and perhaps this just comes from having such strong female role models in my life so it really stood out. It is that the female characters come off as very unimportant in the movie.

Bruce's focus in the glimpses of his past are centered on his father, with hardly even a passing thought for his mother. I can accept that his dad was a stronger influence, but the movie hammered that point so hard that it made her seem too unimportant.

Katie Holmes as the love interest/assistant D.A. basically comes off as window dressing to me. I never felt any kind of spark between her character and Bruce, and was just happy to see her get off the screen as soon as possible.

Still it is a very fun movie, and I look forward to owning it on DVD and seeing what they do for the sequel.

Quick JLU Comments

I just caught up with the last two episodes of the Justice League Unlimited series, I love you TIVO, and was quite impressed by both.

The first one written by Gail Simone showcases the Huntress in pursuit of her own style of justice. Despite having to wear that really ridiculous Jim Lee outfit with the bare stomach, I really enjoyed the character's portrayal.

Her origin and motivations are established right off, and thus we get right to the story. I do get tired of everyone being out to get Huntress because she takes a different approach than they do. Her behavior isn't that different from her contemporaries, yet she gets called to the carpet for it more than anyone else.

Still she proves herself in the end while still being true to herself. Her not being yet another square peg hero makes for a much richer character to follow, and I hope we see more of her soon.

The other one introduced Captain Marvel to the show, and at first I didn't like what seemed to be a jealous and bulling portrayal of Superman in his interaction with CM.

Yet the more I thought of it the more the underpinnings worked for me. While the surface level aspects of a conspiracy by Luthor and Co. against the Justice League. I liked the subtext at how un-hero like the other JLA members have become.

While CM has a child like glee for his powers and makes himself a positive force for good in the world with his cheer and positive outlook. The JLA have become darker and look for the bad in everyone. Preferring to bully and over power any obstacle, rather than look at it in another light.

I wonder if this was a subtle jab by writer J.M. Demantiss at the negative portrayals of these very same characters in today's DC Comics? Where events like Identity Crisis and the upcoming Infinity Crisis has left a negative and brutish feel to the world and its heroes. With no room for the child like glee and innocense that superhero comics used to provide.

Or perhaps I'm just seeing things from my own bias.:)

Direct TV With TIVO Rules!

It is good to have a Direct TV system with TIVO sometimes, as I just got to see a special indepth preview of the upcoming Batman: Begins movie. Complete with interviews with cast and producers, that has me really looking forward to going to see the movie now.

The new DC logo looks really nice as well.

Apologies

I just realized that I hadn't posted anything here for over a week now. A romantic upheaval has just really got me all out of sorts right now.

I haven't even read a comic in the past week, much less had anything to comment on about them. Once things sort of settle I'll be back, but right now other things are occupying my mind with no room for much else.

In Stock Trades Launches

From the people behind Discount Comic Book Service is a promising new sit for those who prefer trades. So far they only offer DC, Marvel and Image trades, with Dark Horse and the mysterious Other to come soon.

35% off is a good sounding deal, as is the no shipping costs with orders over $50. I'll be curious to check their prices with Amazon once they are a bit more established, to see who offers a better deal.

Recent Comics Reactions

I picked up an assortment of comics today at a shop near Houston, and wanted to share some quick reactions to them.


Green Lantern Secret Files 2005

Geoff Johns and Darwyn Cooke manage to surprise me by telling a story crossing the time from Hal's days as a kid to his time now as an adult hero who has just returned. It showcases how Hal has gone from a starry eyed kid filled with dreams, to cocky flyboy, to now wiser mentor in a way that is fun and heartwhelming as well.

Good for DC to put the Wizard GL:Rebirth exclusive story in here as well, so readers who don't want to support Wizard could read it as well.


Green Lantern #1

As much as the Secret Files story was a surprise, the start of the new series has to go down as a shocker. Having never been a fan of Hal Jordan, I was surprised by how much I was pulled into Hal's journey to find a place for himself in the world.

It is good to see that Johns doesn't want to just rehash the past, by not going the easy route of sticking him back at Ferris Aircraft with Carol and Tom. Instead he has set Hal up with an entirely new supporting cast, as he seeks to rejoin the US Air Force.

I really like the new potential female love interest's "explosive" entrance, and the idea behind Coast City's return as an empty city the government is trying to repopulate is intriguing.

I was a bit annoyed that after all this new stuff, that the bad guy is such an older one who has been way too overused. Yet perhaps Johns will put a new spin on it, and as of now I'm on board for at least another issue if it keeps being this fresh a book.


DC SPECIAL: THE RETURN OF DONNA TROY #1

While Green Lantern brings a hero back from the past in intriguing, fresh new ways that has a directness to it. This book while trying for similar goals falls flat on its collective face.

For one the book made it feel like I needed a PHD in Greek Mythology to understand any nuance of the story, which has Donna Troy as part of a race of the Titans of myth trying to conquer planets for supposedly peaceful reasons.

The book is a bore both narratively and artistically. Storywise it reads a lot like fan fiction with characters standing around discussing their motives, but not actually doing a heck of a lot.

Visually I was really looking forward to the artistic collaboration of José Luís García-López and George Pérez. Yet with most of the story being either a far off battle scenes with no sense of focus or long conversation scenes which provided no movement or sense of place. It doesn't use either's talent in any meaningful way, and just seems such a waste.

I like Donna Troy, but there has to be something a bit more cohesive of a story and something a bit more human for a reader to latch onto. In order to make this miniseries work, and I'm not sure what I've seen here promises to have any of that happen.

More later...

Gail Simone Makes TV Guide

This has probably been talked about elsewhere but I've been too busy to notice. Yet it was neat to see a short article in the newest TV Guide giving props to Gail's upcoming scripted episode of the Justice League Unlimited episode. Which will feature both Black Canary and the Huntress, and has me stoked to see it.

Time & Experience Gives New Perspective

I was listening to an older CD today that I hadn't listened to since I was much younger than I am now. The thing that stuck out to me most was how different I reacted to the songs.

The fast songs were still as fun as they were back then. Yet the slow melodies, especially ones about broken hearts and the like, really surprised me by how different they seemed.

Back in my younger days I could appreciate the beauty of the song, but the emotional impact wasn't there because I hadn't really know love or loss. Yet now I was startled at how much deeper they were to me, as I knew more about what they were talking about.

Which made me wonder if there were comics I could go back to now and have a deeper understanding of. Not negative ones either, as I did that a few years ago when an old favorite G.l. Joe returned and found that memory was much better than reality.

I'm not quite sure which ones to try, though I am tempted to look at The Watchmen for one. Does anyone have any suggestions? Or had similar experiences?

My Order

It has come time once again to make out my pre-order for comics from Discount Comic Book Service.

While I was tempted by a number of single comics from the big publishers, like the new Defenders series from the same creators as the wonderful Formerly Known As The Justice League series. Or All Star Batman #1 Frank Miller, who first got me interested in Batman after a very wrong headed impression made by the old TV show.

Yet I decided to wait for the trades on those and go with:

BUMPERBOY LOSES HIS MARBLES - Just sounds very neat, and I learned after Egg Story to trust Johanna on these type of books.

GURU GURU PON CHAN VOL 1 - The creator behind the wonderful OTHELLO series prior work about a dog who gets turned into a young girl sounds bizarrely fun.

NODAME CANTIABILE VOL 2 - I enjoyed the first volume about young musical students a lot.


Tramps Like Us VOL 6- Interesting that this has an of 10 listing, which is a nice change from the seeming never ending runs of other series. That should still leave plenty of room for this series about a young woman in the business world and her "pet boy" Momo.

Wahoo Morris #1 - I just have the feeling that I'll never see this comic in print though because the orders will be so low. I wonder if it might be wiser for them to just do a big GN each year instead.

Yet I'm going to do my part by preordering this great series about young people who have put together a band.

Dead Boy Detectives Digest - Hopefully Jill Thompson doesn't try to ape manga art conventions as much as she did in Death's Door. Because I thought she only captured the surface, but missed the true heart of that style.

Tuxedo Gin Book 3 - I really enjoyed the second volume of this series about a young guy reborn as penguin who still seeks to protect his love. With such light month, it was a good time to get another volume.

Catching Up

It has been a hectic week here with long hours at work, and trying to squeeze in quality time with a new love. A trend that looks like it will continue for the next several weeks at least, so updates are going to be sporadic at best here.

I was sent a PDF of the upcoming AP COMICS MR.T #1 comic. I was curious about the series from being a fan of Mr.T as kid and writer Chris Bunting's obvious enthusiasm for the project as seen in his brief interview.

Yet while the art team of Neil Edwards, Randy Emberlin and Don Mackinnon turn in a very professional and visually enticing work. Writer Chris Bunting's scripting could use work, especially the dialogue that sounded fake and impractical through out most of this issue.

Also the storyline of a former hero who has cut himself off from others because of a loss of faith. Is handled in far too generic and as such predictable a fashion. Which left me feeling like I'd already read this story many times before.

I debated with myself about writing the above commentary because they seem like a great bunch of people from my dealings with them. Yet they did ask for my honest opinion, and did spend the time to send me all of this info. So it would seem a waste to completely ignore it.

I do wish them well in their future endeavors, and hope that one of them will work better for me.



In other news, I probably will eventually go see the newest Star Wars movie. Yes I know many reviews for it have hammered it, and that after seeing the first two prequels I'm just as likely to hate it myself.

Yet I'm very weird in the way that I like to at least try and keep aware of what's popular in our culture. I've sit through aweful movies, CDs and TV shows, just to be aware of what is sort of hip or popular.

I wonder if anyone else does this, or is this a singular idocity of my own making?

Foul Play! : The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics!
Author: Grant Geissman
Publisher: Harper Design; $29.95, 272 pages

I was very hesitant about approaching this book. I knew absolutely nothing about the EC Comics line beyond a vague sense of them being well thought of, and that they were at the center of the Wertham comics controversy of the past. So I wondered whether a book highlighting the creators would allow me any point of interest.

Yet when I did finally get around to trying the book, I was amazed at how engrossed I became with it.

First off the design sense is wonderful, with lots of images and artwork dispersed on nearly every page. That not only played well off what was being talked about in the articles, but instilled a compelling interest in me as a reader to want to seek these books out.

The book breaks itself down into individual chapters on the creators who worked for EC during the time. While there are a lot of facts they aren't done in the coldly distilled way of other bio pieces in other such books.

These give light to the work being done, the period they were working in and especially important, who the people were behind the work were. These aren't fluff pieces either, as the negative sides of these personalities are discussed with just as equal attention as the positives.

Which showed me a side of creators of the past that I hadn't saw before.

Be it Ingels's battle with alcohol and his later almost paranoia sounding need to isolate himself from his past. Or Kurtzman's prima donna sounding demands and seeking of power, whether justified or not because of his obvious talent. It gave me new insights into creators behavior in the past and today, and shows that some things never really change.

Most impressive about the book though, were the sample stories after most of the key creators work. These gave a new reader like myself a sense of what the individual's work was like, and brought home the points made in the articles in ways that the words alone couldn't have done.

Not all of the stories won me over, the horror stories especially, were nasty things happen to people are just not my cup of tea. Yet the talent behind them stands out clearly, showing a seriousness and approach that was miles ahead of many of their contemporaries at the time.

This volume is a definite must for fans of the EC Comics line. Yet even the most casual comic fan can pick this up, enjoy and likely even become a fan of that era of comics themselves. I know I myself will be tracking down some of the collections to learn more about and enjoy these treasures of the past.

MR. T COMIC BOOK INTERVIEW

When I first got an e-mail asking if I'd be interested in trying a new Mr. T comic. My first thought was to wonder why and how they would bring back a property from so long ago.

So I sent back some questions to MR. T's writer Chris Bunting and got these answers back:


I, as I'm sure many were, was a huge fan of Mr. T growing up. I never missed an episode of the A-Team and even watched his short lived animated series. Yet I have to wonder how the idea of doing a new Mr. T comic came about now 2 decades later?

CHRIS BUNTING: The easy answer is that I’m both a comic writer and I’m a huge fan of Mr.T and his work. So what could be a cooler idea than a Mr.T comic book?

The deeper answer would be that the time is right for this iconic character to return. His character has relevance now more than ever. Why? We live in an age where people more often than not turn the other way when they see – whether that’s literally or metaphorically – a fellow human being in trouble, rather than get involved. The stories in Mr.T – about a non-super powered man who will take a stand, who will champion the weak, the vulnerable … a guy who does care – have incredible relevance, and I believe readers will genuinely respond to that.



What is the new series going to be about?

CHRIS BUNTING: The opening issue of Mr.T is a mystery thriller that takes place in a very street level setting. A lot of strange stuff is going on, including a dangerous new drug. The neighborhood’s really falling into ruin because of it. Someone needs to pull it out and put things right … but the only person who can do that is nowhere to be seen.

As for what the Mr.T comic is about, it’s going to be a comic with a real entertainment factor. It’ll be contemporary and will be layered with action, adventure, humor and intrigue. It’ll also have depth and substance. And, hey, it’s got a huge star of course!


How much input into the stories and art does Mr. T have?

CHRIS BUNTING: Mr.T’s closely involved every step of the way as Creative Supervisor. He makes sure it meets his approval and that it’s not just good quality … it’s the best! The reaction from him has been terrific, very supportive: Mr.T knows that we want to give readers nothing but the very best with this comic, and he’s as excited about it as we are!


What is it like to fictionalize a real person, rather than writing entirely fictional characters?

CHRIS BUNTING: The Mr.T in the comic is still a fictional character although based on the real-life living legend. While he has no super powers, maybe we have him performing stunts no real person ever could … you get the idea. But the template for the comic book Mr.T is of course the real Mr.T. It just makes the entire process all the more interesting, all the more fun.


Do you have any concerns as to how to balance this for both the people like myself who were fans as kids, and those new readers who perhaps weren't even born when Mr. T was such a huge draw?

CHRIS BUNTING: Not concerns particularly, as a writer it’s more of a creative challenge, and I love challenges.

Many comic book readers and Mr.T fans are adult, and I’ll more than make sure that they’re catered for. The Mr.T comic carries an “all ages” tag, but that’s not any sort of stigma. The majority of current mainstream titles could in truth carry the exact same tag. And think of some of your favourite comic books of all time? I bet most would, in all honesty, be all age reading. I know most of mine are. The trick with this is to handle it in such a way that it’s enjoyable for readers of every age group. This is often the way it’s been done in some of the finest runs of comicdom, such as Peter David’s Incredible Hulk, Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men, Mark Gruenwald’s Captain America. I hope the same will be said of the Mr.T comic too.

Established fans and new fans will be far from disappointed come May 21 2005, when Mr.T #1 blasts into the shops!


A big thank you goes out to Chris for taking the time to answer my questions.

EXTRA INFO:


• MR.T: 22-PAGE / FULL COLOR COMIC SERIES
  
• MR.T PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY APCOMICS
  
  
• WRITER: CHRIS BUNTING
  
  
• ARTIST: NEIL EDWARDS
  
  
• INKER: RANDY EMBERLIN
  
  
• COLORIST: DON MACKINNON
  
  
• CREATIVE SUPERVISOR: MR.T
  
  
• MR.T #1: RELEASED WORLDWIDE 21 MAY 2005 (to coincide with Mr.T’s birthday)
  
  
• APC DEDICATED MR.T PAGE
  
  
• CHRIS BUNTING’S PERSONAL WEBSITE

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to send good wishes and thanks to all of the mothers out there.

Especially to my mom who despite never really understanding my interest in comics, supported and even encouraged me in my pursuit of them. Not many moms would likely have made the weekly trip for me to the shop while I was in school or sick. Or taken a wish list into the shop for birthday and Christmas time shopping.

Thanks mom!

Wow...

From a Newsarama interview with George Perez:

Pérez has at least one project he’d love to tackle. “It seems inconceivable in my thirty-plus years in this industry that I’ve never drawn a Legion of Super-Heroes story, and that’s a wrong that needs to be addressed. I’ve called that to Mark Waid’s attention, in fact, and he agrees with me. Legion was one of my favorite books as a child, and I’ve never drawn them except when they appeared in Crisis. I think there may be a market for a standalone Waid-Pérez Legion of Super-Heroes story…


I would SO be all over this project, and do find it strange (given George's penchant for big teams) that he's never drawn the team outside of Crisis.