Fantastic Alien Abduction Lamp design by Lasse Klein now in prototype stage [Herrklein.com]

Posted 6 May 02008 - Permalink

Amazing custom Eternity Mego figure and box [Mego Museum] [by Howard Hallis and Clea's Cave]

Pop singer and Ren & Stimpy animator April March assisted Ditko on Mr. A!? [Mystery Island interview] [via Fred Hembeck 1 May post]

1st full Ditko pencils in comics "Stretching Things" (Fantastic Fears #5, January 01954) (info source) for download (4.2 MB PDF) [Datajunkie]

Stan Lee Is a Ladies' Man in Iron Man Cameo [Wired News]

Compilation of Stan Lee movie cameos [YouTube]

Sweet Dr. Strange and Deadpool custom statue by Julian Briones based on Skottie Young's Cable & Deadpool #47 cover [Statue Forum]

Uncle Ben is the only true unresurrectable: Barry Allen Flash returns [New York Daily News]

Neilalien doesn't know what delights him more: "dutifully" following a Neilalien link, or the enormous fun text inspired by doing such duty [Trout In The Milk]

Dr. Strange at #83 on Wizard's 200 Greatest Characters Of All Time:

A master of medicine and magic, Strange is one of Stan Lee's classically tortured characters, a man punished for his ego when fate strips him of the steadiness of his surgeon's hands. Turning to a life of sorcery, Strange is our gateway into the fantastic, wielding the kind of mysticism comic panels were made for.

Posted 4 May 02008 - Permalink

Michigan comics retailer David Pirkola, owner and operator of Apparitions Comics and Books, shot by robber; no health insurance; donations needed [iFanboy] [via Comics Reporter]

Looks like an acquired Steve Ditko Strange Tales #141 original art page [ComicArtFans]

"I think the problem is that... Marvel has tried to make [Doctor Strange] more super-hero than supernatural" ["DoctorMudd" on the Defenders Message Board]

Marvel legal batshit cease-and-desists legit Iron Man movie screening [TechCrunch] [Update: All is OK] [via Techmeme]

Late-comics business-as-usual sucks; "indie"-published books not as creator-owned as we thought [Permanent Damage]

Navigating Comics: Reading Strategies of Page Layouts [Visual Linguist; essay, 31-page PDF]

Interview with CBLDF's Charles Brownstein after big Gordon Lee win [Comics Reporter]

Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday!

Iron Man movie out tomorrow! Reviewing well [91% on Rotten Tomatoes at this writing]

Posted 1 May 02008 - Permalink

"Tiki" got some great Doctor Strange sketches at NYCC [The Comic Forums]
By Paolo Rivera, Daniel Bradford, Alex Maleev and Jeff Lemire [thanks Pimp!].

Steve Ditko's new book The Avenging Mind is allegedly out now and in NYC [Blake Bell's Ditko Looked Up]
Neilalien will go to Jim Hanley's Universe on his lunch hour today to see if it's there. Mail order info at the above link.

Meanwhile, Blake Bell's Ditko book Strange And Stranger will debut at MoCCA in June! [Ditko Looked Up]
Bring your $40. Is there anything that great art festival can't do?

Posted 28 April 02008 - Permalink

Doctor Strange is circled in red on Nick Fury's Secret-Invasion wall in Mighty Avengers #12
Red means warning, evil! All it means, if it means this, or anything, is that Nick Fury thinks Doc is a Skrull. And who wouldn't, with the useless way Doc has been acting lately? Neilalien's not going to fall for the hype-and-herring game. Whatever is done with Secret Invasion and Doc, just please do it well. Wolverine, Hulkling and Sentry are also circled in red; Spider-Man, Daredevil, Namor, Lockjaw and Stature (who? Ant-Man's daughter) are circled in blue [Newsarama MB].

A good synopsis of Mighty Avengers #12, and a good review Neilalien mostly agrees with, especially re: Nick Fury by Bendis, and Maleev's art being good for a slow dark moody story like this one but not for Mighty Avengers overall [Rokk's Comic Book Revolution review]

IMDb has a stub page for the Guillermo del Toro 02010 live-action Doctor Strange movie [thanks Mudd!]

Damning report on the New York Comic-Con (and the whole comics industry) if you wanted to do something more serious and journalistic there than what Neilalien does (the creators and comics of Artist's Alley, panels, and parties); rude unhelpful booth-jockeys; all industry socialization and little engagement re: art, comics, business, or non-industry attendees; few book recommendations not sold by oneself; "ingrained comics industry outlook that the highest function of the [comics] press is to serve as a marketing arm of their companies" [Comics Reporter]

Posted 27 April 02008 - Permalink

Amazing Fantasy #15 original Ditko Spider-Man artwork given to the Library of Congress; anonymous donor checked with Ditko first [Mike Rhode reports at ComicsDC] [thanks Pmpknface!] [Update: Library of Congress PR]

Posted 24 April 02008 - Permalink

Gordon Lee case dismissed! [Newsarama] [Update: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund] [Gordon Lee: The Road To Trial]

Colorful Illustrations 93° C is a book of stolen cartoonist artwork- do not buy- spread the word [Luc Latulippe] [Apefluff] [Stuart Immonen] [Briefs On The Outside]

Stan Lee still truckin', creating a new superhero universe with Virgin Comics [PR Newswire] [LA Times]
Stan Lee talks Ultimo manga collaboration at NYCC [Comic Book Resources]

Michael Golden's "classic" "Patience is a virue" [sic] Doctor Strange insultocommission didn't sell at auction recently; $500 minimum bid; who would want that turd? [Ebay]

Comics, creators hobbled by the economically-imposed 22-page format stricture; graphic novels change everything [Permanent Damage]

Coloring Comics, Old School [Todd Klein]

Interesting tiny experiment re: panel size to reading time to narrative time [Visual Linguist]

Fifteen comics creators and the comic that hooked them [Entertainment Weekly slideshow]

"Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC [Neilalien blogged here] getting press as opening day approaches; runs 7 May to 1 September [The Independent] [AFP] [Metropolitan Museum of Art]

Great comics blog and traffic dynamo Dave's Long Box shutters, on to bigger and better blogging gigs; Neilalien honored as an inspiration [Dave's Long Box]

The highlight of this year's New York Comic-Con (which gets bigger (and logistically better) every year) for Neilalien? Finally meeting Fred Hembeck in person [Fred's recap].

Absolutely no Doctor Strange news was announced at NYCC? That could mean exactly that and be very bad news- but Neilalien has a hopeful vibe that it's a calm before a storm...

Posted 22 April 02008 - Permalink

The Inspiration for Dr. Orpheus, from Venture Bros. co-creator Doc Hammer, from Comic Foundry #2 (Spring 02008):

"Dr. Strange is the only real comic book passion I have," Hammer says. "I remember being a little kid trying to read Dr. Strange and knowing even then that it sucked. But I still was attracted to the poor guy. He had this untapped humanity that I wouldn't stop searching for in those confusing pages. I mean, he's the guy that is an arrogant prick trying to heal himself so he can be a rich surgeon again. He's not avenging his parents' death, or trying to help humanity. He's just a jerk trying to help No. 1. And then he gets involved with black magic. That's a rich character."

Posted 21 April 02008 - Permalink

Some pre-NYCC comics articles in NYC newspapers:
Their Blank Slates Await the Comic and Graphic Touches; coverage of NYC cartoonists and one of the parties earlier this week [NY Times]
Joe Simon, A Creator of Captain America, Fighting On [NY Times]
Current events crop up in comic art; Secret Invasion [NY Post] [JPG]
Heroes' heroes: CBLDF protects, defends artists [NY Post] [JPG]

Big New York Comic-Con 02008 this weekend!
See you there, and at the parties, Neilalienistas!

Posted 17 April 02008 - Permalink

Doc Scholars: Doc uber-fan SanctumSanctorumComix has been active on the DMB re: Doctor Strange's love life
An extensive list/history of Doctor Strange's loves [Defenders Message Board]
Subhistories and the current fates of Sara Wolfe, Morgana Blessing and Victoria Bentley [Defenders Message Board]
Clea and the bad in-continuity timing created by Illuminati #4 [Defenders Message Board]

Posted 15 April 02008 - Permalink

Secret Invasion includes a "Sacred Invasion" four-part storyline by Fred Van Lente, Greg Pak and Rafa Sandoval in Incredible Hercules; a "God Squad" of Marvel's deities of humanity will fight the Skrull deities; to get to the Skrull gods' realm, they must pass through Nightmare's dimension; Nightmare on Incredible Hercules #118 cover [#118 solicit at Marvel.com, out in June] [Wizard World LA Marvel Secret Invasion Panel coverage at Wizard] [Van Lente and Pak interview at CBR] [thanks Sanctum!]

Posted 14 April 02008 - Permalink

Steve Ditko's Secret Invasion: "I Am The Changing Man!" (Tales of Suspense #8, March 01960) [Again With The Comics]

"Under Attack!" great Andy MacDonald Doctor Strange commission [ComicArtFans] [thanks Howard!]

"Real-life superhero"-ism starting to catch on? [Times Online "Microtrend"] [via Techmeme]
"Real-life superhero" Wikipedia entry
Worldheroics Database ["does not support illegal or vigilante acts of any kind"]
Documentary now on festival circuit
World Superhero Registry [okay, some of these intros read a little creepy]

Comic Weblog Update Aggregator Update: While in theory, it would be better to have every post out there in an update aggregator (so you won't miss something), rather than just the latest post, or rather than just the last-update time (which provides no clue to the nature of the new content that's appeared) of all the given weblogs- in practice (like on the current hub Tales From The Longbox's New Comic Weblog Updates), useless post titles undercut that usefulness anyway (how many "Quote, Unquote"s can one click on before never clicking on one again?), and the every-post method means the aggregator naturally gets dominated by those who publish more posts. Which usually means dominated by the charmless and churning, the more-corporate blog, the group blog, the 'thirty of the tiniest shreds of "news" items per day each elevated and published as its own distinct, commentable, Digg-able post' blog (but that is the format of blogging today). If you prefer a public, no-login, one-stop aggregation system and community hub that makes it easier to check out a wider range of smaller blogs with a more-level playing field, and easier to check out posts that went up in the last 48 hours instead of merely in the last 15 minutes of info overload, then the latest-post or last-updated mechanism is for you- like the way the original Simply Comics' Comic Weblog Updates worked. So if you use the interweb like Neilalien does, then you'll hope along with him that the new Update-A-Tron (sites listed by most recently updated, each site only listed once regardless of how often updated, links direct to the main page) (by Four Realities) sticks around.

Posted 12 April 02008 - Permalink

Whazzahooza?! "Ditko's New Book Coming This Spring" [Ditko Looked Up]
Updated: Titled "The Avenging Mind"; possibly anti-Gary-Groth and anti-Blake-Bell for upcoming Fantagraphics book?

BTW, Blake Bell's Ditko Looked Up website celebrates ten years (congrats!) with a redesign

Comic Foundry's Tim Leong interview [Comics Reporter]

Wizard blurb on 90's "misguided collectors" "gimmickry" crunch, fails to mention its own role [Brian Hibbs at Savage Critics]

Next weekend is New York Comic-Con! Panel schedule is online [PDF]

Posted 9 April 02008 - Permalink

The mindlessones.com URL has been put to good use for a new comics weblog [Mindless Ones]

Cute Doctor Strange and Clea illo [The Wastebasket]

Creating a Doctor-Strange-oriented deck in the VS card game [Lost Hemisphere]
Who wouldn't want an open ended DEF pump?

Alan Moore Primer [Onion A.V. Club]

Garfield Minus Garfield
Turns out removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips produces a much funnier comic strip about Jon being a nutjob.

Posted 8 April 02008 - Permalink

Great article on Al Jaffee: A Veteran Mad Man Remains in the Fold [New York Times] [Must-Do: Fold-In interactive feature!] [via Waxy]
The 87-year-old cartoonist for Mad Magazine still draws the Fold-Ins by hand- and without folding them.

Related but opposite: Some Old Man Still Churning Out Marmaduke [The Onion]

Posted 7 April 02008 - Permalink

Ditkomania #64 zine review [Comics Bulletin] [relink: Ditkomania revival info] [via Ditkokirby Yahoo Group]

Doctor Doom says "Silence, harlot!", not "Shut your cow-mouth, fat ho!" [Blog@Newsarama]
They got Doom's bad-guy misogyny right, but his characterization/voice is all wrong in Mighty Avengers #11. Victor just hasn't been the same since he cried for the victims of 9/11 in Amazing Spider-Man #36.

Warren Ellis explains why he doesn't work on non-creator-owned stuff for long periods [Whitechapel] [via Occasional Superheroine]
"[Y]ou can only paint someone else's house for so long before you start thinking that it might be nice to own your own house one day... The more creators who only took on housepainting as a part-time gig, the healthier this medium would be."

Posted 6 April 02008 - Permalink

"Backlog" blurb supports urban legend that there may be (or were) two Dr. Strange stories pencilled by Ditko that Marvel never got? [Ditkokirby Yahoo Group post by Blake Bell]

Reprinted here with permission. FYI- you'll want to check out Blake Bell's Ditko Looked Up website next week, for its TENTH anniversary! Congrats, and thanks for the all the Ditko scholarship, and good luck with Strange and Stranger, Blake!

Greg Theakston, I believe, was the first one I heard talk to the idea that Ditko had two Dr. Strange stories in pencil form in his studio that he never submitted by the time he quit Marvel in the mid 1960s.

Greg has said he was at Ditko's studio, asked Ditko about them, Ditko pointed up to a shelf, but said he wouldn't show them to Greg.

Fast forward to this morning, when I'm re-reading Ditko's run on the Hulk in Tales to Astonish.

Cover-dated May '65 (14 months before Ditko's last issue of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange), the letters page for #67 - Ditko's last issue - leads off with an announcement about Ditko's departure from Tales to Astonish (and Kirby's return the next issue).

Interesting to note, though, is what is given as the reason: "he [Ditko] plans to concentrate on the new SPIDERMAN [sic] ANNUAL, and more Dr. Strange thrillers until we get a backlog of them, and then - who knows? We might just have a new feature in the offing for one of comicdom's most popular illustrators!"

Was Ditko given the go-ahead to get ahead of schedule on Dr. Strange, and therefore had two issues penciled when he left Marvel? Possibly, based on the above. Doesn't guarantee that this happens, but the above certainly could lend a little credence to the possibility.

It should also be noted that this issue of TTA coincides with the cover month of Amazing Spider-Man #24. As Ditko now famously has stated, it was before issue #25 where he says Stan broke off all contact with him. If you check out my chrono. checklist on Ditko Looked Up that spotlights this period, you'll notice that NO new Ditko work for Marvel outside of Dr. Strange and Spider-Man was produced by Steve.

The breakdown in communication certainly seemed to have put a halt to Lee's prior aspirations of continuing with Ditko what Lee would do with Kirby - start up a strip with layouts and then hand off to another artist (Ditko restarting Hulk in TTA, and Iron Man in TOS). Another casualty of the Lee/Ditko break-up.

Posted 5 April 02008 - Permalink

Tons of homemade Lego-people Marvel characters [Brickshelf Gallery] [Doctor Strange] [Earth X Clea] [thanks Sanctum!]

Posted 4 April 02008 - Permalink

"Meet Doctor Strange", to the tune of "People Are Strange" by The Doors [Schung1968] [thanks Howard!]

When you're Strange
Faces are covered in flame
When you're Strange
Eternity changes your name

Posted 3 April 02008 - Permalink

Tonight at Rocketship in NYC: Jonathan Lethem, Farel Dalrymple, Karl Rusnak, Paul Hornschemeier, and Gary Panter, Omega The Unknown signing [Rocketship]

Posted 2 April 02008 - Permalink