'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

I got a chance to join Ryan Claytor on the MSU Comic Art and Graphic Novel Podcast to interview Jamal Igle. Igle's creative output has been amazing. In this interview, we go over his entire career and gain some insight into his creative journey. A great conversation and worth your time.

Marvel Confirms Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur By Reeder, Montclare And Bustos - And She's Inhuman (UPDATE) - Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movie, TV News

       

  There has been a great deal of debate recently about the impact of cosplay on comics. This video hammers home the points made by Rob Salkowitz and Tim Beyers about the impact of cosplay.  Thousands of hours to design and construct these costume demands the fans go to conventions to interact with fellow geeks. The net result is a revenue engine driven by fans for fans.  Cosplay adds something to the conventions that corporation cannot control, but arguably benefit from...passion.

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Post by Julian Chambliss .

  With roots that run deep in U.S. popular culture, Marvel's 75th anniversary offers an opportunity to assess the cultural legacy from the "House of Ideas."  Long lauded for its emotive storytelling and engaged fandom, Marvel contemporary experience cannot be divorced from broader media concerns. The success of Marvel Studios adapting Silver Age characters to the big screen has made Disney, Marvel's parent company the home of two fantasy franchises with major cultural appeal (the other being Star Wars ).  The question become is the new Marvel merely a tool to deliver media ready content or is it still a house with ideas that challenge the audience and intrigue newcomers?

   The link between New York and Marvel Comics is historic and practical.  While it is possible to film the series elsewhere, the publicity (as the press conference suggest) makes this decision a good one. The superhero comic relies on the urban environment to provide the grist for the adventure mill.   Marvel more so than DC Comic has always relied on New York as the central staging point of its adventures.  So much so, I believe we can argue the state of the comic book city has more than a slight indicator of the real urban experience. 

The Spider-Man 2 spot hits the high points.  Are you excited?

The new trailer for The Wolverine emphasizes the hard hitting action and iconic warrior themes that have defined Logan in comics for decades. 

The contours for the Iron Man 3 story seem to be coming together through the various press narratives. I think the emphasis on a sequel to the Avengers make perfect sense. Moreover the emphasis on character evolution and relationship growth is always good in the third film of a franchise. If you know Kiss Kiss Bang Bang , you know Robert Downey Jr. and  Shane Black can work great together.   Iron Man 3 looks better and better, which in turns means all the other Phase 2 Marvel Studio films are getting a boost.

Great to see MADHOUSE back in the Iron Man animation game!  Marvel continues to position its most popular characters in spaces where diehards and casual fans can be entertained.  MADHOUSE provides the kind of anime style that will appeals to fans of Giant Robot and similar Asian inspired pop culture in the United States.  The roots of that devotion run deep.  Regardless, this kind of synergy can only help Iron Man 3.

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...

ICv2 - 'AVX' Marketing Biggest Ever Is Avengers vs. X-Men "the" summer event for Marvel? Is this the response to the New 52 everyone is expecting? In truth, I don't think Marvel needs to respond to the New 52. They benefit through the pop cultural associative ether. Moreover, DC's efforts have not had the broad sales impact they hoped. While lapse fans have returned, long term growth comes from new (hopefully young) fans. Recent reports suggest the New 52 is not attracting fresh eyes. So, what exactly would Marvel be doing if it rushed to react? There is not a clear answer, so the question become what to do, if anything in response. To me, the answer is to do exactly what the are doing. Marvel is continuing down the path to develop stories and characters across multiple platforms and bring them to audiences utilizing Disney 's distribution channels. This was the pattern they had before the New 52 and it has not changed. We wonder if digital...

Blank Panther?: Jack Kirby, Blackness and the American Dream The recent decision against the Kirby estate was not unexpected. The rules governing copyright are in some minds, regressive and suppress creativity. Fairness aside, should we allow a corporation to own the fruits of creative labor forever? It is a question worth asking. If the creator can never get their creation back, should they create? It is an argument that this decision is not going to do anything to solve. Regardless, the significant of Kirby's work remains despite the owner. Back in February, when I was reflecting on Black Panther and Kirby for Black History Month, it was impossible to escape the significant of Kirby's vision and the continuing power his work has shaping modern comics. Dynamite Entertainment's recent publication of Kirby: Genesis means that Kirby family will benefit from Jack Kirby genius in very real way in the coming months and years. The bitter feelings from this decision cannot...