Neilalien : A Doctor Strange Fansite : A Comic Book Weblog  

Neilalien Action Alert

John Romita Jr. will be doing Spider-Man head shot sketches for $25 each at Planet Hollywood and Bar Code in Times Square, NYC on May 10th and 11th to set a new world record- and more importantly- to raise funds for the treatment of his 2 year old niece, who has brain cancer [PopCultureShock; Newsarama]
Neilalien will be there. For those non-local to NYC, donation info is provided in the linked item. Best wishes to little Jordan and her family.

Spider-Man's Long-Lost Parent [LATimes.com via Newsarama]
A must-read about Ditko! The reclusive artist will be credited in the Spider-Man movie.

A few years ago, Lee tried to set the record straight by sending Ditko a letter in which he said, 'I have always considered Steve Ditko to be Spider-Man's co-creator.' Ditko's response appeared in the May 2001 issue of the Comics: ''Considered' means to ponder, look at closely, examine, etc. and does not admit, or claim, or state that Steve Ditko is Spider-Man's co-creator.'

Yoiks! Ditto Ditko for Doctor Strange.

Totally lame Aerosmith version of the Spider-Man theme (a snippet anyway) [Empire Online via Oliver Willis]
The Ramones version is way better.

Quesada Interview In Abercrombie & Fitch [Comic Book Resources]

Posted 29 April 02002 - Permalink

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Neilalien has submitted Doctor Strange at whatsbetter?com. Vote for him if you can!

Stan Lee was great on The Simpsons tonight. He really laughed at himself, and the positioning of the Marvel Comics in front of the DC's rocked.

Marvel To Take 'Less Is More' Approach In 'Previews' [Newsarama]
Is solicitation text meaningless hype no one reads anyway? Yes. Is it sales-damaging spoiler stuff? Doubt it. Or is it critical information for retailers who can't only re-order but now must order even more blindly? Maybe. So Neilalien says, let's give the retailers at least that benefit of the doubt.

Posted 28 April 02002 - Permalink

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Review of The Order #3 (Spoilers)

The Story. The Order vs. The Avengers. The fight was excellent and made a lot of sense- trust in Busiek validated once again. I kinda liked all the oofs and ughs- superbeings fighting and affecting other superbeings. The pacing of the fight was well done- the cut scenes to the recruitment by the Little Three were fine (maybe a little screeching-halt-ness in the two-page visit with Clea). The female version of the Defenders should be good to see.

The Art. Great. Haley is solid. The battle was very dynamic with a lot of movement. If I have one complaint, it's that the fight looked a little too heavy on energy blasts. The fight may have been written a little too heavy on energy blasts, but there were things (Surfer messing with power reserves, Scarlet Witch's hex on Doc) that maybe could have been drawn a little more creatively than just another blast?

The Characterization. This issue was a fight story and a little crowded, so not a lot was expected. The Cap-Namor exchange was notable. I thought each of the Big Four were showcased well and shown as powerful as they are. The Grey Hulk's suggestion of rape wasn't too far off-base. Loved Namor's electric eel move.

Doc's Portrayal and Powers. Doc is given a lot of respect in the battle. He is the Number One target for distraction by the Avengers (with Surfer a quick second after Doc's out of the way)- and when finally freed by his teammates, he puts the entire team of good guys to bed.

Doc should be keeping a spherical Shield of the Seraphim up in mass battle- a faceful of snow by Quicksilver? Not unlike Nighthawk stuffing Doc's cape over his head as a distraction. It's almost as if Busiek has taken to an old-school AD&D magic-user interpretation of Doctor Strange- immensely powerful, but vulnerable and easily distracted to ruin his incantations.

And I don't see the Scarlet Witch, even a boosted one, keeping Doc that under wraps with some kind of hex energy blast- but she did express some doubts and I like the way she manipulated the Eye of Agamotto. Great idea!

Clea! Clea is back to help with a plan requiring the female analogue of the Defenders. Awesome. I was a little disappointed that she's still in some cave fighting Dormammu with impulsive swordsmen. Doc's Status Quo has been totally reinstalled.

I guess that's the Paradox (the Strange creature from the Strangers Among Us/Last Rites storyline) blue cape in the background notched up as a loss in the war? It's good riddance to a bad character. Then again, I wanted better for Paradox. He could have made an interesting villain for Doc (in a Venom sort of way because he was "part of Doc"). Maybe "loss" doesn't mean death, but rather Dormammu has converted him?

The female Silver Surfer should be Nova. I'm told she's dead, though.

Posted 28 April 02002 - Permalink

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Joe Quesada: "There are no plans for Dr. Strange anywhere at Marvel currently." [Marvel Press Conference at Newsarama]
Let's try to have a better day tomorrow, my fellow Doc fans. It's hard-luck days like this that make Neilalien feel frustrated enough to give up the fansite, yet bolstered to press on with its mission to promote Doctor Strange, all at once. :(

Neat post about Stan Lee's "With great power comes great responsibility" [Metafilter]

Posted 25 April 02002 - Permalink

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Priest on Panther [Newsarama]
Black Panther is an excellent book- Neilalien is relieved that the title will continue. This behind-the-scenes and analysis of Panther is great.

But Neilalien thinks the "major complaint" has some merit. We're all into competent characters, but Priest's T'Challa is seeing the future and planning in six dimensions. We just watch his plans unfold. What problems does he have? He's got brutal supervillains to beat (like any other self-respecting superhero should), American public opinion has turned against him (those fickle folks?- he shouldn't give a rat's ass), and his home life's a little rocky (it's good to be the King)? If there are going to be failures, hauntings, tortured souls and self-destruction, we may need to see them more in the actual comic book and less in online character treatments. And an inoperable brain aneurysm may not be the kind of struggle to give him that boosts sales.

There's a review of the Doctor Strange Nightmare novel online [Defenders Message Board]

Posted 24 April 02002 - Permalink

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Get your Transformers on at Seibertron.com [via Fark]

Posted 23 April 02002 - Permalink

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The Order #3 is coming out this week! Here's another art tease posted online [Defenders Message Board]

Marvel Locks Up J. Michael Straczynski and Kevin Smith [Newsarama]

Posted 22 April 02002 - Permalink

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Neilalien checked out The Simpsons tonight expecting Stan Lee, but nope, Wizard Magazine was wrong, it's next week [items from this past week: Official Fox Press Release on Simpsons Archive; Cinescape: Stan Lee Helps Bart Create Angry Dad]

Posted 21 April 02002 - Permalink

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Neilalien got a lot of link love last week!?

Traffic-increasing mind-control satellites working... Proceed with Phase Two.

Posted 20 April 02002 - Permalink

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Cash-In [PopMatters via Triptych Cryptic]
A review of the book Spider-Man Confidential: From Comic Icon to Hollywood Hero.

Posted 19 April 02002 - Permalink

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Doctor Strange: A Separate Reality TPB is out!
The delays, and the mysteries about what stories would be included, are over. It reprints Marvel Premiere #9, 10, 12-14, and Doctor Strange #1, 2, 4, 5. A good product, and Doc's presence in the trade paperback record is increased. Still, Neilalien was expecting the Shuma-Gorath Saga. :( Go check it out and support Doc if you can!

Posted 18 April 02002 - Permalink

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A Separate Reality TPB is listed for release this week, $17.95 [Diamond Shipping Lists]
Aha- someone's post online about a June hardcover in Previews is simply the hardcover edition [Kurt Busiek on the Defenders Message Board]

A little art from Order #3 posted online [Defenders Message Board]

The new Wizard has a blurb that Sam Keith has been offered Doctor Strange?!

Neilalien is in the trenches over on the Defenders Message Board tonight. I guess some people just have a version of the Doctor Strange character that's radically different than Neilalien's. A dark moody godlike being like Sandman or The Watcher who rarely casts spells? Boring! Neilalien has spoken. Tamam Shud.

Posted 15 April 02002 - Permalink

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Comic Book Numbering [Mark Evanier]

Comics turn a new page [BBC News via LinkMachineGo]

Posted 13 April 02002 - Permalink

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An online post reports that the Separate Reality TPB is now hardcover, $69.95, coming out in June, and reprinting the early issues of the 70's Doctor Strange series and maybe not the Marvel Premiere/Shuma-Gorath stories [Defenders Message Board]
Nothing on the Marvel site or the usual haunts yet. Neilalien wonders what the source is, and how his alien replicants of comic-industry insiders could possibly be scooped! :) Update: It's from Previews.
Neilalien thinks this is bad news. We went from getting most of the Shuma-Gorath saga from a great Marvel Premiere run which hasn't been reprinted for a low price, to stories which mostly have been reprinted for an outrageous price.

I'm Not Clark Kent [Hero Realm]
Hero Realm's Bendis Interview [Part One, Part Two]
A comic book site is once again embroiled in the raging debate and blurring lines of weblogs, independent content and journalism. Neilalien remembers way back before the current explosion of the topic, when Hero Realm and even ComicGeek had to put disclaimers on their sites concerning their expressed opinions on news items. Neilalien is fiercely pro-weblog and pro-independent content. Traditional journalists and distributors of content and opinion are obviously shaking in their boots, and they should be. The freedom of the internet is divesting them of their monopolistic power to shape our thoughts and world. But sometimes, a fandom website is just a fandom website, eh?

Then again, Neilalien can also understand that any independent content which truly aspires to rise above the noise and crap must have integrity (talking now about the also current Are Bloggers Journalists? [Microcontent News]). Or at least a disclaimer.

Neilalien of course does not aspire to rise above the noise and crap. Not until he gets interviews with Brian Michael Bendis, anyway. He tries to keep things honest though! For example, he always discloses that he doesn't own Marvel stock before criticizing President Jemas!

Posted 12 April 02002 - Permalink

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Jonathan Ross Meets Alan Moore [The Idler via LinkMachineGo]
Great interview. High and proper praise for Steve Ditko is mentioned. Also: Moore: "The saddest story I heard: it was either the 30th anniversary year or the 25th, one of the big Spiderman anniversaries I think, and Steve Ditko was staying in the YMCA... You know, practically living out of a box." Sad indeed.

All Still Optimus-tic For Dreamwave [Newsarama]
About 225,000 copies sold. Hot stuff.

Posted 11 April 02002 - Permalink

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Comic Wars coming out soon [via Splash]
Book about those two guys who destroyed Marvel called "riveting." Lawsuit getting ready.

Posted 9 April 02002 - Permalink

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Are there $$$ in Spider-Man's web? [CNN Money via Splash]

Can Online Lightning Strike Twice? [Splash]
Drawn & Quarterly is having an online sale due to LPC's bankruptcy. Go pick up some Optic Nerve!

Al Milgrom's nasty comment just won't go away! [All The Rage]
The inker's hidden potshot at former Marvel EIC Bob Harras, which got Spidey: Universe X pulped, has reappeared in the Universe X TPB. No way is this a another dumb mistake, says Neilalien. As much as Quesada is now loved and successful, Harras must be detested.

This week's All The Rage also has a great Hulk image by Deodato. What about Witches? cricket... cricket...

Posted 8 April 02002 - Permalink

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Giffen/DeMatteis 'Justice League' returning for a six-issue mini-series! [Newsarama]
You won't see much DC on the Neilalien site, but the JL series from '87 was a riot. Kingdom Come, The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, Watchmen, Crisis on Infinite Earths. That's about it.

Posted 7 April 02002 - Permalink

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Dark Horse Comics is okay, Drawn & Quarterly may need our help, and Seven Hills Distribution is trying to swoop in while LPC is down [Splash]

Posted 6 April 02002 - Permalink

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Top Shelf Saved By Comics Community [Comic Book Resources; Newsarama]
1,000 orders in a day! Viva comics! Neilalien not mentioned in their thank you letter. Oh well. ;)

More on LPC Chapter 11 [ICv2 via Splash]
They don't owe a lot of money to just Top Shelf...

Stan Lee on Home Shopping Network 15 April [Newsarama]
Neilalien's hero at his most unheroic: shilling Dynamic Forces speculator rip-offs on cable.

Posted 5 April 02002 - Permalink

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Stan Lee on The Simpsons! Confirmation: Stan Lee will be on the Simpsons on 21 April! [Source: Wizard Magazine #128]
Be sure to watch!

A Starlin Doctor Strange prominently graces the cover of Comic Book Artist #18! (It's dated February 02002 but it came out today.)
The interviews inside with Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner are excellent! A must-read for all Doctor Strange fans! Go buy it now!

Posted 4 April 02002 - Permalink

 

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Neilalien Action Alert

If you love comics, and have some extra money right now, consider buying something from the Top Shelf website.
First, the Big Bad Bank shut down on LPC. LPC is the distributor of independent graphic novels and TPB's to bookstores (which many have said is the future of comics). That in turn caused LPC to file for bankruptcy and bounce a big check to indy publisher Top Shelf, so now they are in trouble.

Posted 4 April 02002 - Permalink

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Don't want to blog this anymore! [The Captain Marvel Sideshow Continues on Newsarama]
Although Neilalien must admit that Quesada-Jemas tension is a guilty pleasure.

Congratulations to Erik Larsen for 100 issues of Savage Dragon [Newsarama]

Transformers: Armada Preview [Newsarama]
Neilalien can't wait to get a good look at Generation One #1 on Thursday (no comics tomorrow because of Easter).

Posted 2 April 02002 - Permalink

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Alex Ross selected to paint Presidential portrait! [Washington Post via Splash]
Heh.

Weblog Wannabe has a great April Fools Day page. Rock on Firda!

Matt Haley interview (Spoilers) [Sequential Tart via a fearless reader]
There's a lot in this interview about how slow he draws. Revealed: Someone special to Doc fans is showing up at the end of the Order story arc!

Now it's Jemas vs. Peter David [Newsarama]
The stunt continues. Neilalien's Third Option: Don't buy Captain Marvel or The Marvel.

Here's a Jemas interview Neilalien missed [Ain't It Cool News]
This idiocy strains even Neilalien's sense of humor.

Posted 1 April 02002 - Permalink

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