Neilalien : A Doctor Strange Fansite : A Comic Book Weblog  

"All superheroes with 'occult' powers- Dr. Strange, etc. are not pure secular humanists" [paraphrase of item on the National Review Online's weblog found via Usenet]
Scroll up and down from the link for the full discussion of religion in comics, Superman as Jewish subtext, etc. Inspired by that story that The Thing is Jewish from a while back.

Superstud or Superdud? Rating the men of comic books [Yourish.com via Instapundit, who rates some superheroines]
One vote for Doctor Strange as superdud. Neilalien ain't touching that one- to each her own, whatever floats the boat (or not). Note that in the comics, Doc is quite the stud, but usually ends up becoming a dud because his incredible other-worldly dimension-saving responsibilites make him cold and distant. PS- Yourish's post was in response to Instapundit picking up that Aquaman parody from a while back.

Neilalien was wondering if the new ocean of Salon blogs included any about comic books: The Words and Pictures Weblog

Posted 31 July 02002 - Permalink

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TPB Or Not To Be: Bendis and others weigh in on trade paperbacks vs. "pamphlets" [CBR Part 1; CBR Part 2]

Comic book becomes evidence at terror trial [Salem Evening News via Splash]

Alan Moore tunes? [Mp3.com via LinkMachineGo]

Marvel predicts higher earnings in 02003 [Splash]

Newsarama is moving [Newsarama]
Guess this means all of Neilalien's links to the comics news site will all be broken... again...

Tribute page for The Avengers vs. the Defenders [cover scans and synopsis]
Just in case The Order didn't satisfy your lust for blood.

Posted 30 July 02002 - Permalink

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Reviews of The Order #6 [Silver Bullet (positive); X-Axis (B, "never really clicked," "slightly bland")]

Rumors a-flyin' (or is that 'rumours') [this week's Gutters]
More on Quesada out (Alonso in?). More on Ultimatization (all future licensing?). Serious mistake on Essential Tomb of Dracula. And lots of little items here and there about damn-slow artists (Jiminez, Lee, Quitely). Only rumors.

The Comic Side of Vicente Fox [NYTimes.com (reg req'd)]
The Mexican President uses a comic book to get his message out.

Posted 29 July 02002 - Permalink

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Review of The Order #6 (Spoilers)

Synopsis. The Order and the rest of the Marvel Universe start their battle. Nighthawk and the females (including the analogues of the Order) show up, and try to convince the Marvel Universe to stop the violence that is feeding Yandroth. The Marvel Universe decides Nighthawk's got no evidence, and they can't chance it. Then a platoon of Adam Strange's from the planet Yann show up, yelling, "None may attack the Order!" Then Papa Hagg appears, and zaps a mysterious mystic blast that passes through the females and hits their Order counterparts apparently harmlessly. Then Yandroth blusters some. The Order move to attack, and then Hagg's bolt kicks in, the Order become the Defenders again, and stop the violence. Yandroth overextends himself and is destroyed. Captain America seeks justice, but the Big Four leave, to remain under suspicion. However, Gaea is appreciative. Gaea also secretly gives Nighthawk a method to bring the Defenders back together at some future point (way to go Busiek!- a gift from him to the next writer of the team).

Opinion. It's a good issue, a good finale. Everything makes sense- one of Busiek's strengths (except for Clea's jet belts). Really liked Captain America and Professor X's co-leadership. Matt Haley's pencils are a treat. But the fans have spoken out on this issue, and Neilalien must agree: we wuz robbed. We really wanted to see a battle royale. We wanted to see heroes fight heroes. It didn't have to be a fanboy stat-fest with the guy with Class 105 strength beating the guy with the Class 100 strength. But some creative war strategies would have been nice. The fans did not get the fight they wanted, and it's a big disappointment. If only the relatively uneventful #4 could have been shrunk down to include #5, and we had World War III in #5 before this #6.

Neilalien fears it's going to be a long time before we see the Defenders again. Maybe Avengers/JLA will sate the hero-battle appetite that remains.

Posted 28 July 02002 - Permalink

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New four-issue series Marvel Double Shot will include a Dr. Strange story [Newsarama]

Leo McKern, Number Two on The Prisoner, has died [BBC story, obituary]

Blogeur's slowly randomly morphing color by Eric Costello is really neat! [found via Rebecca's Pocket]

Posted 27 July 02002 - Permalink

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Millar interview, part 3 of 3 [Newsarama]

Also, Millar has a column on CBR now- the debut is about the Man of Yesterday, Superman [The Column]

Posted 26 July 02002 - Permalink

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Sara Wolfe, Victoria Bentley, Morgana Blessing (and more): Where are they now? [Defenders Message Board]

Green Lantern vs. Aquaman [RetroCrush] [via Fark]

Klaus Janson interview [Slushfactory]

A Friendly Little Neighborhood [current Savant]
A call for the online comics community to be comicdom's best ambassadors, not balkanized infighters.

Posted 25 July 02002 - Permalink

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Off to the comic book shop to pick up The Order #6!

Mark Millar mentions Ultimate Defenders [Newsarama interview, Part 2]
The Order isn't even cold off the presses yet. Sounds like they will appear in The Ultimates #14. "It's nothing like The Defenders as you've ever seen them before (I swear)." Neilalien doesn't think we can even assume that Doc will be in the lineup at this point- but how can the Defenders not include Doc? Millar mentions a lot of heroes and villains he'd love to Ultimatize or avoid- Doc not mentioned either way. Oh well. BTW, some Millar lines in the interview are hilarious. Thanks go out to the fearless readers who emailed Neilalien the heads-up!

Todd MacFarlane wins his case against hockey player Tony Twist re: his mob character Antonio Twistelli in Spawn [Newsarama; Splash; Missouri Court ruling]
Sayeth the court: "Comic books continue to be a legitimate and important part of the American artistic and literary landscape... We therefore conclude that the comic book is an important expressive medium entitled to the full protections of the First Amendment."

Drinking game for the 70's Hulk TV show [The Incredible Hulk TV Series Page via Silver Bullet]

Action Comics #1 has been posted online, and it takes the weblog world by storm (#3 on Blogdex at this writing). You'd think it was the first appearance of an interesting character.

Posted 24 July 02002 - Permalink

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Warren Ellis has spoken his intention for the Seven Spheres War [Defenders Message Board]

"A blip in earth-time. Millennia there
lasted four months here -- time ran
at different speeds."

Thank you Warren Ellis for responding to fan email and throwing us battling fanboys that bone! And thanks to uber-Doc-fan SanctumSanctorumComix.

Comic Book Villains [FilmForce]
Coming soon: a "movie about two comic book store owners who will stop at nothing to possess a box of rare, mint-condition comics."

Sick of stocks? Here are 7 alternatives [CNN Money]
Comic books are one of the seven alternative investments listed.

Mixing It Up With Millar Part 1 [Newsarama]

Posted 23 July 02002 - Permalink

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Graphic Novels Gain Popularity [Associated Press (via Washington Post) via Silver Bullet]

Even more bull patties about Marvel Ultimatization [Lying In The Gutters]

Posted 22 July 02002 - Permalink

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First Look at The Order #6 [Mile High Comics]

Possible Marvel Ultimatization and "Who is Jemas" paranoia grip the message boards! :) [Journey Into Comics column and resulting discussion]

Great item about the current bad scanning and 'pixelation' of comic books [Permanent Damage at CBR]

Mark Millar, who always seems to give a good interview, will have a website [http://www.millarworld.biz/ via Newsarama]

Girl dies in a hot car while her father reads comics [Splash]

Posted 21 July 02002 - Permalink

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Infinity Abyss still keeping Neilalien's interest. Good #3 this week. We find out all about the funky Thani (plural of Thanos?). There is an interesting and well-portrayed mental battle between Dr. Strange and Moondragon in this ish. Won't spoil it for you- but let's just say that the proper person wins. ;)

Posted 18 July 02002 - Permalink

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One of Neilalien's favorite blogs, In Sequence, has a new URL: http://www.insequence.org/. Update your bookmarks! Teresa has also weighed in on the superheroine breast discussion. The uniboob sports bra makes a lot of sense too- although Neilalien admits that this "superbra technology" concept is quite intriguing...

Posted 17 July 02002 - Permalink

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There is a supernova named Dr. Strange [The High-Z Supernova Search; Dr. Strange page; super finder list full of supernovae named after superheroes; submitted by Doc uber-fan SanctumSanctorumComix]

Looks like Ditko did a precursor to Dr. Strange's astral form with Charlton in 01958! [Ditko Looked Up]
Very neat item. A man with a 'spirit self.' Neilalien hadn't seen this before- even he can learn something new about Doctor Strange. Added to this site's Doc Origins Page.

The Order Vs... Everyone! [Silver Bullet]
Some great images of Order #6.

$55,000 Worth Of Comic Books Stolen [MyCFnow.com via Fark]

Comic Wars a 'page turner' [Fascistopinion.com book review]

Posted 16 July 02002 - Permalink

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It's just a rumor. It's just a rumor. It's just a rumor...

"Look for JMS' "Strange Tales" to debut early in 2003, with his "Dr. Strange" series right behind" [this week's Gutters]
Pretty awesome news if it's accurate! Neilalien's been doing this weblog long enough to know though- don't get too excited yet, my friends.

The column also has lots of Transformers stuff, and more speculation re: if the Ultimization of the Marvel Universe is really true.

Posted 15 July 02002 - Permalink

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Stan Lee was on Todd MacFarlane's Major League Baseball radio show [can't link directly- check out the 12 July archive of MLB Radio (requires RealAudio)]

Paul O'Brien challenges himself to be optimistic about the comics industry [NinthArt]

Good Grant Morrison item [East Bay Express]
Unfortunately, the article is only titled "Dr. Strange."

Some neat Authority stories we'll never see; more potential CrossGen comments and tentacles [this week's Rage rumors]

Posted 14 July 02002 - Permalink

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Madonna kissing a Dr. Strange comic book

Old pic of Madonna kissing Doctor Strange #45 [MadonnaShots; submitted by SanctumSanctorumComix]
The Sorcerer Supreme is ubiquitous online and in the popular culture.

Nikki from Satana's Haunt of Horror posts an update about Witches [Marvel Universe Message Board]
Sounds dead. Joe Q doesn't think a monthly horror book is going to fly these days.

Inside The 200K Fantastic Four #60 Deal [Newsarama]
Baltimore retailer orders 200,000 copies of the 9-cent promotional issue! "Spider-Man #1 by McFarlane sold approximately six million, which means probably about three million sold, and three million are still in back rooms of shops. Spider-Man now sells approximately 100,000 - of those 2.9 million people who bought and hopefully read #1, maybe 10,000 of them live in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. Those are the people I would like to get a hold of."

Posted 11 July 02002 - Permalink

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Editorial response to Jemas' "Sequential Whores" line [Sequential Tart]

How to Draw Breasts [Sequential Tart]
Great article, as usual from the Bizarre Breasts column...
Neilalien winces with his comicdom sisters at the udderly ridiculous cheesecake of DD spheres. But this ST piece- is it pushing for superheroines with realistic athletic A cups? To be honest, Neilalien doesn't want to see those in his comics, either. On the DD's we agree: (1) it's anatomically incorrect, unskilled figure drawing, low on variation between characters, and otherwise just bad art; (2) it's needlessly over-sexualized; and (3) it's an extreme that fuels an unhealthy, unhappy body-image culture. Let's not wander too far from those solid points, though. Entertainment is always going to show us a little something good- unrealistic, idealized, escapist, fantasized, vicarious- and that's perfectly fine. Movie stars are beautiful, soap operas aren't about poor people, and comic book heroes aren't 98-pound weakling men with no bulges in their pants. Heck, boobs sell. Not saying that society's beauty ideal doesn't need critiquing, or that anything in particular is unattractive in real life. But that's just it- it's real life. People don't want to spend their entertainment dollar on what they can see out their windows and in their mirrors for free. So put Neilalien firmly in the skillfully-drawn, non-objectified, non-extreme, shapely B's and C's middle-ground camp.

Hey, a couple more mouse clicks and it turns out the breast article writer, L.K. Malnassy, has a great comic strip online Sea of Insanity. Go check it out! And here's her online journal.

Checking some links. Surfed over to thecomicreader.com. Looks like the site has died. "This domain is for sale, asking price $10,000." Uh-huh.

Posted 10 July 02002 - Permalink

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Alessi Speaks: CrossGen will be Number One; Quesada and Jemas will be gone in a year [Splash]
Lively discussion at Splash too.

More WizardWorld stuff, DreamWave was stylin' [Splash]
Also an item about how perennial Marvelite Matt Ragone was fired for not being a good fit with Jemas. Neilalien wonders who a good fit with Jemas might be. Just going by the public perception, of course. Especially since Ragone is apparently a stand-up competent guy who has dealt with difficult bosses before.

Mark Evanier on the great art of lettering [Part 1, Part 2; via Pipeline]

Posted 9 July 02002 - Permalink

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Fan recounts his talk with Tom Brevoort at WizardCon [Defenders Message Board]
Talk and possible plans for a Dr. Strange mini-series.

Quesada's job in jeopardy? [this rumor and more at Gutters]
Marvel needs to keep Joey as Editor in Chief.

Somebody's testing their digital camera using a Doc action figure [Toshi Station Editorial]
Late night surfing for Dr. Strange comes up with the most unexpected stuff, but Neilalien's thoroughness demands it be linked.

Posted 8 July 02002 - Permalink

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Heroes and Anti-heroes: Spider-Man vs. Bill Clinton [NewsMax.com]
Right-wing website goes from Ditko speaking out against glorifying the anti-hero in art to the evils of masturbation. YMMV.

Stan Lee not at WizardWorld due to illness [Comic Book Resources]
Get well soon!

Kurt Busiek interview [ComicBoards]
It runs through each of his recent books... except Defenders/Order. Not a peep.

Nothing about Dr. Strange at WizardWorld's X-Men & Marvel Heroes Panel [Newsarama]
Maybe a new mini-series really isn't coming out. :(

It's a Jewish 'Thing,' sort of [Leonard Pitts, Jr. column, Miami Herald]

Good Quesada item, good "no bad publicity" attitude [Comic Book Resources]
Quesada's bad publicity is much better than Jemas', though.

Check out the official site of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen II.

Posted 7 July 02002 - Permalink

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Marvel Adds Synopsis Pages, New Trade Dress in September [Newsarama]

Creators respond to synopsis pages positively [Newsarama]

Nothing about Dr. Strange at WizardWorld's Marvel Knights/MAX Panel [Newsarama]

Sounds like the testosterone at WizardWorld is a little out of hand [Splash]
Also: Stan Lee was supposed to give an Excelsior Award to Joe Q, but The Man was absent.

Congrats to Birdy Jae for winning a Doc lot on EBay
Birdy Jae's also started a Doc movie casting thread on the Neilalien Message Board.

Posted 6 July 02002 - Permalink

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Marvel Bails On 'Urinetown' [Splash]
Yikes! Sounds like Neilalien picked the better of the two to attend (MOCCA vs. New York International Sci-Fi and Fantasy Creator's Convention). MOCCA rocked. Filled with love. Good space, no urine smell. Klaus Janson doing Dr. Strange sketches. Oh yeah.

Warren Ellis To Shut Down Forums [Splash]
Neilalien Message Board announced as the replacement. Just kiddin'! ;)

Blogs helping cartoonists draw a bigger audience [Mercury News via Blogger]

Reviews of Amazing Spider-Man #42 [Silver Bullet]

Posted 2 July 02002 - Permalink

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And then there were two comic industry gossip columns.

Marvel's going down from 22 pages to 21 [All The Rage at Silver Bullet]
Supposedly it's not a cost-cutting measure, but rather to make room for a page with story and character synopsis to make books more accessible. Neilalien is pro-synopsis. It just seems to him that if one is brainstorming ways to make a comic book easier to buy, where are the theories that involve giving the fans more content at $3 a pop? Then the freelancers clamor about losing a half-book of work per year. Then Quesada says no one's losing any wages because few have been able to crank out 22 pages per month on time anyway- ouch! BTW, if you see anyone on the message boards actually defending this policy, it's probably Jemas with one of his many fake online IDs.

Marvel to be completely Ultimized [Lying In The Gutters at Comic Book Resources]
This wouldn't be bad news here, except that the Ultimate Dr. Strange as we saw in Team-Up is pretty lame. Are they really rushing the JLA/Avengers crossover out before all the heroes change costumes, ethnicities, ages, etc.? Also: never mind fake IDs, check out the moronity Jemas posts under his own real name.

Neilalien wishes good luck to both Ian and Rich in their new gigs. Although, after suffering through hundreds of Johnston "you would've saw this yesterday if you read All The Rage" posts on the various online forums, Neilalien just has to say one thing to the new guy: the naked painted Spider-Man guy is so last month, dude.

Let's blog good news! Comic sales up! [ICv2 via Splash]

Note to self: Marvel Mangaverse #4 out this week [Marvel Comics]
Mangaverse Dr. Strange on cover. Doc story arc beginning. Lots of cool Ben Dunn ideas undoubtably running around. Oh, and pick up that Kevin Smith Black Cat/Spidey book if it hasn't sold out already.
Update: It's Doom's Day For The Marvel Mangaverse.

Posted 1 July 02002 - Permalink

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