We had actually had an even LONGER list of links here, but accidentally deleted half of it so…well…it wasn’t meant to be.
§ The LA TImes on the end of the Marvel/Universal character pact:
Universal’s contract with Marvel expired at the end of 2007, meaning the superhero characters will no longer pose for photos with visitors or appear on T-shirts and other souvenirs sold inside the movie theme park. In recent months, Universal added Simpsons and Scooby-Doo walk-around characters in anticipation of Spidey’s ignoble departure.
Marvel Characters can still be seen at Islands of Adventure, thank God. (Photo © Ronald Dupont.)
§ You will hardly need to read Kirby: King of Comics after Peter Sanderson’s exhaustive review of the book — he’s only up to part 2!!!
This week I pick up Kirby’s story in the year 1938, when he entered the comic book business by going to work for the studio jointly run by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. As Evanier explains, earlier in the 1930s comic books had consisted of reprints of newspaper comic strips. “No one had yet really thought how to design a comic book page in any way other than to replicate the reconfigured newspaper reprints,” comments Evanier. “But then, Jack Kirby hadn’t started drawing comic books yet” (Evanier, Kirby: King of Comics, p. 40).
§ You can now read DAN DARE by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine online for FREE!
§ Johnny Bacardi really pulled a Ric Flair on us, didn’t he?
I think it’s sad that she’s letting these idiotic phenomena make her feel bad. Perhaps she shouldn’t have faith in youth culture in the first place, calling MTV “my generation’s salvation.” When Pastorek was my age, circa 1999, the network couldn’t get enough of Limp Bizkit and Korn. Some salvation. She’s taking all this trash far too seriously, more seriously than those thriving on it. When it comes to reality TV and viral videos most people know how bad it is. The fans of such shit just use it as a chance to gain an empty sense of superiority by seeing the worst modern America has to offer and saying to themselves “better him than me.” It’s to Pastorek’s credit that she does not succumb to such a sentiment although I wonder how much better this alternative is.
§ Steve Bissette has a lengthy – and that can be mighty lengthy– review of various versions of TWIN PEAKS
Die-hard Peaks fan that I am (through two marriages, and both wives are fans, too!), I’ve bought ’em all along the line: the meager and infuriating vhs releases (see below), the glorious and crystal-clear laserdisc boxed sets, and the 21st Century DVD releases. This isn’t out of the bent collector’s genetic makeup I no doubt harbor, but from a craving to relive the series as it was originally experienced — and better, given the superior sound and image quality of the disc format(s). Coincidentally, not knowing of the impending Definitive Gold Box Edition release, Marge and I savored a complete home retrospective this summer and early fall via the previous DVD editions — cited below, broadcast pilot included — but this new release trumps ’em all.
§ Bookslut interview librarian Robin Brenner all about manga and then–
§ –Brenner lists The Best Manga of All Time!!!!
§ Apparently, John Ridley is the screenwriter who is leaving the WGA to go it alone. But what about his graphic novels?
I prefer to think of it as more along the lines of the Who…but thanks!
Maybe the Universal Park Spider-Man can make a deal with Mephisto that would allow the contract to extend to 2009.
Thanks for the link. That’s a pretty good group be listed alongside of.
I’m glad Spidey’s still at “Islands of Adventure”. I was there last year with my family and that whole park is a hoot.
And, on so many levels, the memory of watching a guy in a Wolverine costume signing autographs with those claws poking out of his gloves was something that will always bring a smile to my face.
(But how’d they get Scooby-Doo to make appearances when Scooby’s owned by Warner Bros., the company that owns the Six Flags theme parks?)
Time Warner sold Six Flags years ago. And Warner Books is now Grand Central. And Planet Krypton is now a Fuddruckers…
So what do Korn and Limp Bizkit have to do with each other? I know people who don’t know better lump them into Nu Metal but one has actually put out a few halfway decent albums (yes, I’m old enough to call them that!) while the other is Limp Bizkit.
Six Flags is now owned by Redskins owner Dan Snyder and the parks are run by a guy who used to run ESPN.
Is Six Flags’ mascot still that creepy dancing old guy?
Bookslut really is scrambling for contributors isn’t it? When you ask a question like:
“Is manga always quintessentially Japanese or Korean in outlook? Are there American manga creators?”
You kind of emberass yourself. Thankfully Robin is loquacious and pithy without the high school paper level prodding.