Art Show: The Siren's Call

Mermaids



By Frank Espinosa. Man, I miss Rocketo. [Swing with Shad has four other mermaid comics covers in addition to this one.]



By Dugald Stewart Walker [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]



By Kristin Palach.

Island Girl



Also by Kristin Palach.

Lara vs T-Rex



By Otis Frampton.

Rocketeer vs Ornithocheirus



By Tom Fowler.

Rocketeer vs WWI Flying Ace



By Francesco Francavilla.

Valkyrie



By Arthur Rackham. [Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Xena and Gabby



Also by Otis Frampton.

Alice in Wonderland



By Ted Naifeh.

Quotes of the Week: In Which Wonder Woman Becomes a Professional Stripper

Photo by Mayka Mei.

Once a week, some combination of Dan DiDio, Rich Johnston and John Hodgman would try to expose the figurehead for what he is, always to be outfoxed by [DC Entertainment President Diane] Nelson and the [quirkily handsome] actor, who in turn develop a simmering sexual tension that erupts in season three in a special Angouleme episode.
--Tom Spurgeon, simultaneously describing what I wish would've happened when DC announced its new Publisher and creating a TV show that I would watch every week.

He doesn’t realize it would mostly result in stories where Wonder Woman becomes a professional stripper, beats the shit out of some ponies, then retires to bed in a shoebox with Ken lying perfectly still on top of her.
-- Shaenon Garrity, on why writing a Wonder Woman comic around a nine-year-old girl's playtime would be a bad idea.

His writing won a bunch of distinguished awards last year. By day, he works at Whole Foods cutting up pineapple samples. Somehow, this made INTERN feel terribly excited about the world, because she realized that geniuses are lurking everywhere, that there is indeed a kind of Secret Society of geniuses working at everyday jobs, and they are all too friendly and humble to mention that their work was recently featured in the New Yorker when you ask them in which aisle to find the quinoa, but if you look very carefully at their eyes you can sometimes tell...
--The mysterious INTERN, in a wonderful story about meeting one of her favorite, young authors.

Comics: Die, Monster! Die!

What Happened to Doctor Dorrm



Merpeople try to take over the world. [Scroll down to the bottom of this post at Golden Age Comic Book Stories]

Monster Isle



A funny, ongoing comic strip featuring giant monsters.

Island, Alone



A castaway meets a monster-fighting jungle girl on a mysterious island. [Zuda]

Princess Pantha vs the Mighty Gorilla M'Gana



[The Comic Book Catacombs]

Rulah, Jungle Goddess and the Slumbering City



[The Comic Book Catacombs]

The Return of Aquaman

So you may have heard that Aquaman's coming back to the mainstream DCU in their Brightest Day storyline. As usual though, DC's being very coy about exactly what that means. They've consistently presented the message that they'd love to do more with the character if only they could figure out what makes him tick. I've been suspicious of that message, thinking that they actually knew exactly what they wanted to do and just weren't telling until the time was right.

Even now that the time seems to be right, they're being very smart about how much info they're releasing. They've revealed that Aquaman is coming back, but they're also leaving room for doubt about his permanency with comments like, "Brightest Day is about second chances [but] ... some second chances work out … some don’t." Makes me want to tune in to find out if this one will for Aquaman.

In the meantime, Glen Weldon at NPR's Monkey See blog reminds us that this is far from the second chance for Aquaman. He gives a great, entertaining history of the highs and lows of the character's superhero career. Must Reading for fans.

Something else Aquaman fans must do is watch these two videos featuring him.

Aquaman's One Night Stand (Probably NSFW)



Mexican Aquaman

Comics and Book News: Atlas, Avatar prequel, and Space Dock 7

Atlas



Marvel's rebooting Agents of Atlas again, calling it just Atlas now. I'm not so excited about the inclusion of 3D Man, but as long as it still has a talking gorilla, a mermaid, a spaceman, a super spy, a killer robot, and Jeff Parker's writing it, they can call it whatever they want. CBR's got an interview with Parker about the whole deal.

Avatar prequel



James Cameron's writing a prequel novel to Avatar to tide us over until the next movie. I suppose that's pretty cool, except that the plot sounds a bit over-ambitious to me. Avatar-producer Jon Landau described it as going "into much more depth about all the stories that we didn’t have time to deal with — like the schoolhouse and Sigourney [Weaver's character] teaching at the schoolhouse; Jake on Earth and his backstory and how he came here; [the death of] Tommy, Jake’s brother; and Colonel Quaritch, how he ended up there and all that."

Now, James Cameron isn't Matthew Costello, but this reminds me a lot of Costello's King Kong: Island of the Skull prequel novel to Peter Jackson's King Kong. That novel also tried to follow several different plotlines leading up to the movie (Carl Denham's, Ann Darrow's, and the guy who discovered Skull Island) and never did figure out how to merge them all together to tell a cohesive story. Which, of course, is because that was the movie's job. I'm not sure how Cameron is going to do that with Avatar either though and I'm skeptical.

Space Dock 7



I don't know anything about this except that it's coming in April and some of my favorite cartoonists are doing it (Grant Gould, Katie Cook, Otis Frampton, and Mike Maihack to be exact). I'm guessing it's a webcomic and with a name like Space Dock 7, it sounds pretty cool. The teaser page is here.

Elsewhere on the Internets: Strong Gals, Batman, and a Very Nice Compliment

Here's what else I've been up to online lately.

Five for Friday



Last week's Five for Friday at The Comics Reporter might as well have been tailor-made for me. The assignment was to Name Your Five Favorite Comics Strong Gals. Here are mine, but check out the other picks too. It's a great list of lists. Wish I could've added about fifteen more names to mine.

1. She-Hulk
2. Wonder Woman
3. Valkyrie
4. Gamora
5. Mary Marvel

Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs



This week I did a rare thing for the column and talked about a mainstream superhero book. If you haven't read Batman: The Brave and the Bold, please go read the review or at least look at the pictures. It'll give you a taste of what you're missing.



I love having my reviews quoted as much as the next person, but really the biggest perk of reviewing comics is compliments like this one by George O'Connor: "Seriously, this is one of those reviews where I feel like the reviewer really got it and then some." That is the coolest thing a creator can say about something I wrote. Especially when that creator is someone who's work I admire as much as I do O'Connor's.

TV Tuesday: House, Chuck, Grey's Anatomy, and Burn Notice

If you're further behind on TV-watching than I am then a) God bless you, and b) SPOILER WARNINGS
 
House – “5 to 9”

I never doubted for a second that Cuddy would pull that off, but otherwise, a fun episode. I liked the one that focused on Wilson too, so this was a great follow-up to that.

Chuck – “Chuck vs. the Mask”

Now that I’ve seen the episode, it makes this whole brouhaha look even more ridiculous. Forgetting the fan-entitlement angle, it’s just stupid TV-watching. Do these people really think that Chuck and Sarah aren’t eventually going to end up together? That’s not the only part of the show, but it is a big part. I’m as impatient as the next person to see it happen, but geez… let the people tell their story.

And if we’ve got to see Chuck and Sarah with other people for a while, they could be with much more annoying choices than Brandon Routh and Kristen Kreuk. I’ve always been fond of Kreuk and it’s great to finally watch her without the obnoxious plot-lines Smallville kept giving her. 

Grey's Anatomy – “State of Love and Trust”

I try not to talk about Grey’s Anatomy here, but I just can’t help it sometimes. When it’s doing its thing, there’s nothing better on television.

So, at the risk of sounding like a ‘shipper, I need to talk about Lexie and Sloan for a minute. I wasn’t that invested in them, but I did like them together and it’s annoying that they’ve broken up. Especially since Sloan’s daughter shows up just long enough to drive a wedge between him and Lexie, spark a Private Practice crossover, and then disappear. In the meanwhile, Lexie and Sloan both make mistakes so that even when the daughter leaves they still can’t get back together. I don’t know where it’s headed and I tend to trust the Grey’s writers, but it’s frustrating.

I do like the hint though that Sloan’s loneliness is going to affect Callie and Arizona. First of all, that makes total sense, but more than that, I love those two – especially Arizona – so I’m all for spending more time on them.

Nice moments in this episode with Christina; especially the debrief on her relationship with Burke and how that’s affecting her current relationship with Hunt. That’s what I mean about trusting these writers. The characters may not talk about Burke much, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t make an impact on their lives or that they’re not thinking about him. He mattered. Still matters. And that’s very cool.

But the coolest thing in this episode was Jason Winston George’s showing up as an anesthesiologist. I love that dude. He was one of the best parts of both Eli Stone and Eastwick, so it’s about time he got some time on a show that’s going to be around for a while. I’m hoping they let him stay and become a possible love interest for Bailey. Not that Bailey needs a love interest, but if she’s going to get one – and if it can’t be Taye Diggs – it might as well be Jason Winston George.

Burn Notice – “Noble Causes”

I actually wasn’t looking forward to this one because the client was that annoying drug dealer from the pilot. But damn if it didn’t turn out to be really touching.

TV News: Hawaii Five-O and White Collar casting; What's Getting Renewed?

Hawaii Five-O remake



Daniel Dae Kim has been cast for CBS' Hawaii Five-O remake series and my interest in it has just skyrocketed. Growing up, the best thing about that show was always the theme. Jack Lord was a cool man, but he overshadowed what could have been a great ensemble cast and he wasn't quite interesting enough to carry the whole show by himself. I'm hoping the new version (under the control of some Fringe and CSI:NY folks) will correct that.

Moonlight's Alex O’Loughlin will be playing McGarrett.

Marsha Thomason returns to White Collar



I've liked Marsha Thomason since Las Vegas, so it's always nice to see her pop up on shows like Lost and the pilot of White Collar. Oddly, she hasn't been back on White Collar since that first episode and - while I haven't been complaining about Natalie Morales' (The Middleman) apparently taking her place - I've kind of missed her. I'm guessing she made some other commitment after filming the pilot, but whatever it was, she must have fulfilled it because she's coming back.

I just hope there's room for her and Morales both. Morales doesn't get enough screen time on the show as it is.

What's (likely) getting renewed?

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello has the skinny on which network shows are likely to get picked up for another season and which aren't.

As far as the shows I care about go, Cougar Town, Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, and Glee have already been renewed. Ausiello calls Castle, Grey's Anatomy, The Mentalist, House, and The Office "sure things," while Chuck is a "safe bet."

He says that The Human Target could go either way, which makes sense because it's still new and it's on FOX. You know how those guys love to cancel shows.

Scrubs, unfortunately, is a long shot. That's disappointing. I've really taken to the new cast.

He's updating the list as info comes in, so keep checking back.

Movie News: Adele, Musketeers, the Lone Ranger, and Jack Bauer

Les Aventures Extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec: New Poster



I really love the ad campaign for this movie. The first stuff they released could've been any period piece, but they've gradually and slowly been unveiling the cooler parts. [Undead Backbrain]

The Three Musketeers: New Movie



The guy responsible for Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movie is planning to work the same magic on The Three Musketeers. Wonder if he can beat the Resident Evil guy to it. The more the merrier, I say.

The Lone Ranger: Screenwriter



/Film has the long and rumored history of this project (George Clooney and Johnny Depp were once speculated to be a possible Ranger and Tonto, respectively) including the recent hiring of a new screenwriter: the guy who adapted Revolutionary Road. He was also supposed to write Disney's Captain Nemo prequel until that project was canceled.

24: The Movie



I gave up on 24 a long time ago. My disbelief-suspension is flexible as all get-out, but the needs of the real-time format required ridiculously padded storylines that I just couldn't buy into. I still love Jack though and I've thought since the second season that the show would be vastly improved by abandoning real-time and just having a traditionally-paced series about his fighting bad guys. Which is why I'm so interested in the possibility of a 24 movie.

Happy Valentines Day!

You're all my Action Valentines.

Quotes of the Week: That'd go great with a nice bowl of Boo Berry.

How can I ever enjoy a couple of eggs now that are NOT ghost shaped?
--Brother Calvin, on how breakfast is now ruined for all of us.

When did fans get the idea that they could dictate content to creators? If you aren’t enjoying something, stop buying/watching/reading it. (And if the overall ongoing story gets to a place you’d like even more, you’ll feel like an idiot for not having any patience or trust in the creators.) If they’re creating something you like, then have a little faith.
--Johanna Draper Carlson, on the stupidity of fan entitlement.