'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

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"We are connected to Avengers 2." Well, I'm curious how they will get back from outer space.

  The sequel to 300 is not hotly anticipated. Given this fact, releasing a picture of Eva Green makes perfect sense. The first film was a visual triumph, but far from a complex cinematic feat.  Judging from the cast, this film could be a major improvement. 

Another great clip from Iron Man 3.  Tony Stark easily channels a techno-gunslinger vibe in this film. In many ways, the contours of the story we have seen harken back to a core element of Iron Man's appeal. He is a lone hero (similar to a gunslinger) on a redemptive journey. He is making up for past wrongs by protecting a community he once threaten. Given Stark's role as a weapons designer, we can expand that framing to cover the entire world.  After seeing Tony Stark at the center of all things Marvel Cinematic Universe, IM3 signals a return to hero gunslinger mode so familiar to the U.S. audiences. Could international audiences see shadows of the United States' post-1945 journey in Tony Stark?   

Marvel Comics has released details of a new storyline featuring Thanos. This is not a surprise. It will coincide with Marvel Studio activities featuring the Guardians of the Galaxy. What does surprise me is that the new release got coverage in USA Today .  Coverage from "mainstream" media of a new mini-series announcement  is an indication of the synergy linked to superhero comics. We assume that independent comics, always a space for creativity are more cool. DC and Marvel Comics, firmly controlled by corporate media giants are, in the best case scenario, fodder for next blockbuster.  Still, the relative success of Marvel versus DC over the last few years has more to do with the legacy of independent comics than corporatism.  As far as I can tell, Marvel hasn't hired a writer who was not already established in the independent comic world in more than a decade.  Names like Brian Michael Bendis , Matt Fraction , and Jason Aaron published indy comics befor...

Is there anything new in these ads? These spots are basically based on what we have already seen. Questions abound driven by plot speculation across the web.  Case in point,  is Tony using Extremis to move the armor in spot 2? I can't be sure and anyone who read the comic book knows the Extremis transformation merged part of the armor with Tony's body. Are we seeing this in the tv spots? This seems to be a modular assembly and not a biomechanical interaction. The armor "working at the speed of thought" aspect so crucial to the Extremis story could be on display or it could be something else.     This reflects a bigger ideological question. Will the audience want to see Tony Stark become part machine? The danger posed by science changing our bodies is a major theme in science fiction today. Will this anxiety inform Iron Man 3 or will The Mandarin as Bin Laden be enough? If the goal was to make me (and you) curious, Marvel Studios is doing...

On January 17, 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appeared on television to deliver his farewell address. Broadcasted from the Oval Office of the White House, Eisenhower framed his closing remarks as “a message of leave taking and farewell” to his countrymen. Far from a nostalgic reminisce of national service, Eisenhower provided a cautionary narrative about the dangers of military buildup in the United States.  Eisenhower's remarks frame a debate about U.S. defense policy since 1945. Namely, he spoke openly of the need to find balance between forces that desired to spend, at all costs, to secure the United States from attack and those forces that advocated for negotiation and disarmament. These ideas inform the meta-textual narrative found in the pages of Iron Man. Debuting two years after Eisenhower's address, Iron Man can be seen as continuation of the pro-American and anti-communist dialogue found throughout Marvel's Silver Age revival. Yet, the narrative als...

Fearful Symmetry: John Carter and the Struggle of the Individual

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 ...