'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

Green Lantern's opening weekend won the race, but not by the margin Warner Bros. executives had hoped. Some of my observations on the nature of race and identity within the context of Green Lantern made the news. For many, the consideration of a "deeper" symbolism in comic books is complex exercise. While critics have been lukewarm to Green Lantern, for fans I'm sure it is fulfilling. The place of comic books in contemporary discussion of race has been seen as space cultivating and perhaps, promoting stereotypes. The comic book genre, especially it most popular aspect, the superhero uses visual cues to reduce individual characters into representations of cultural ideas. From a historical standpoint, this makes perfect senses. The popular media that preceded the comic book, like the comic book themselves, held to the racial conventions that celebrated accepted values and attitudes related to white mainstream society. Like those media, comics have changed as shifts i...

'Green Lantern' is opening. Does it appeal only to white American males? Green Lantern is the second major cinematic superhero coming to audience. As my comments indicate, I think Green Lantern represents a problematic perspective. While other comic characters are born with powers (mutants in the X-Men) or are supernatural beings (Thor), Green Lantern differs from other characters because he is picked to serve as a representative of law and order. While many can be dismissive because it is a summer film, we should also examine the story we tell about ourselves.

NBCU to tubthump Stan Lee's 'Guardian' - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety I know from seeing Stan Lee at this year's MegaCon that the man does not stop. While others may paint him as the less talented member of the Kirby/Lee dynamic duo, it is clear he brought and continues to bring a level of creative energy to his work most people can't match. At this point, his name along is enough to get the average person to stop and take notice, so this deal makes a lot of sense for everyone involved. Still, with the Kirby family lawsuit not settled, for some Stan Lee signifies how creators can be abused by corporations. I think this played in the background of DC Comics' holding the line at 2.99 campaign and it will continue to be an issue with DC and Marvel announcing major digital campaigns. Marvel's decision to join with Starbucks to stream it massive digital catalog for free and DC's announcement of Day and Date digital distribution post...

Marvel, Bono, and Broadway: The Odyssey of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is making it official debut. Why has the show had such a hard time? I think the comic inspired origin may give us a some idea.

A look at the teaser trailer for the Wonder Woman pilot you probably eventually see at some point in the future. I can't believe it will disappear unless David Kelley is really, really, really upset.

Invasion of the Bodybuilders - Newsweek It is no surprise that the new crop of superhero movies feature strong male characters. Comics book have always offered an idealized version of white male power. While the physicality of these characters may shift, as authority figures, superheroes are always reflect our collective vision about ourselves. As this article points out, this summer's superhero crop plays up these idea. From Thor to Captain America, these characters represent the values and ideas the U.S. citizens wants to believe about themselves. The next big release, Green Lantern will continue this trend. Ryan Reynold's Green Lantern has already appeared shirtless in trailer, flown a fighter jet, and kissed the girl. In the comic, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) is a test pilot given the job of galactic guardian. As a 1960s character, he embodies atomic age Cold War U.S. values. He is white, males, brave, and stalwart defender of traditional values. It makes sense to mak...

Paramount Making A Movie Out Of DC Comics Graphic Novel The Mighty - CinemaBlend.com Having just seen X-Men: First Class (it was great) and with Green Lantern and Captain America coming our way, it is a good moment to revisit the state of the comic book movie. The news that Paramount has optioned The Mighty , a creator owned titled from writers Peter Tomasi and Keith Champagne and artists Peter Snejbjerg and Chris Samnee means that movie producers are looking beyond established superhero characters for material. The reason for this is obvious, they don't have a choice. The comic book characters with "name recognition" are gone. For all the hype associated with Green Lantern, the vast majority of movie going public do not know the character. This fact haunts Warner Bros. executives like the ghost of Speed Racer . As I have mentioned before, the comic book movie offers benefits, but those benefits are not as simple as they seem. Comic book movie have the potential ...