Neilalien : A Doctor Strange Fansite : A Comic Book Weblog  

Beautiful: Photos of a comic shop filled with girls [Wonderland] [thanks C-Dog!]

Posted 30 May 02009 - Permalink

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Blue Hat Man Alex Cox (not the one who flies our Rocketship, the filmmaker behind Repo Man and Sid & Nancy) speaks re: his Doctor Strange movie with Stan Lee that never was! [Decider]

D: Almost every other Marvel hero has made it to the screen. It seems inevitable that sooner or later Dr. Strange will get there.
AC: I would suspect not, for a couple of reasons. One is that he doesn't have any superpowers; he's just sort of intellectual and spiritual. And the other thing that would really freak out the Christian right is that he's a witch. [Laughs.]

1 June 02009 New Yorker cartoon by Harry Bliss is an homage to Ditko [Comics Reporter]

U.S. Manga Obscenity Conviction Roils Comics World [Threat Level weblog at Wired]

Doctor Strange hissy fit observed in Defenders #100 [Progressive Ruin]

MoCCA Festival programming and panels announced [Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art]

Star Trek has been rebooted successfully a hundred times; the secret to rebooting any entertainment franchise; a good story that gives people what they like/expect about the franchise trumps hardcorefan/continuity service [Comics Should Be Good]

Short Frank Brunner interview [Mania]

Upright Citizens Brigade had a "This is Your Life: Stan Lee" comedy show in Hollywood earlier this month [Comic Book Resources]

New weblog examines economic matters in comic books [Ecocomics]

New Avengers #53 out today- there is someone other than Doctor Strange in possession of the Eye of Agamotto on the final page... Developing...

Posted 28 May 02009 - Permalink

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Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #3

Above: The Reed Richards of Earth-231 murders that Earth's Illuminati at inception, as observed by the Reed Richards of Earth-616 while searching unsuccessfully for any Earth in the multiverse in which the Illuminati were a catalyst for peaceful positive change. Panel from Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #3. Yes, if only this entire Illuminati matter could have been avoided.

Posted 27 May 02009 - Permalink

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New Avengers #53 preview, out this Thursday [Comic Book Resources]
Doc is so pathetic here.

Our broken comics industry: One public solicitation information channel for everyone means that if publishers want to keep plot-twists secret from readers, retailers must order comics in the dark [Brian Hibbs at Savage Critics]

Land of the Lost movie as Will Ferrell comedy pillages fan's childhood [John Kenneth Muir]
Programming Note: Land of the Lost marathon today on Sci-Fi Channel
Also found at above: Perfect review of excellent new Star Trek movie [John Kenneth Muir]

Trailer for film version of The Surrogates online! In September starring Bruce Willis [YouTube]

Posted 25 May 02009 - Permalink

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38-year-old Iowa manga collector Christopher Handley pleads guilty, faces 15 years in prison, in disastrous obscenity case [ICv2 recap; previous context]

Developing and updating:
[Comic Book Legal Defense Fund response; previous context]
[Neil Gaiman previous essay]
[Down the Slippery Slope- The Crime of Viewing Manga by Lawrence A. Stanley]
[Department of Justice press release]
[The Beat with discussion]

Neilalien can't claim to grok Japanese culture and the oversexualization of children and the young-looking common in manga and anime enough to vigorously defend it from all sides. He's mostly found it creepy and troubling (and a bit hypocritical and incongruous that the happy critics of big boobs in Western supercomics can be quick defenders of panties visible from under girls' short skirts, since it's the same animal, if not worse since it's a child instead of an adult woman). But clearly, we need better law and debate here, re: illustrations vs. photographs, defining obscenity, people can obviously possess avant-garde, subversive, controversial, and other-cultured art, violent video games, etc., without ever being actual doers of what is portrayed, there will be stories and art addressing and depicting things that exist like minors and sex, sentencing that makes more sense (the average prison time for actual rape is far less than 15 years), etc. How long until America's freedoms are eroded, and all culture dumbed-down and bland and safe, and boundary lines are placed such that owners of comic books with a greying Doctor Strange romancing a youthful Clea might find themselves ridiculously required to register in some molester database?

Posted 23 May 02009 - Permalink

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The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival is coming soon, 6-7 June, in NYC! [MoCCA]
Highly recommended. FYI new location, not at the Puck Building, but at the 69th Regiment Armory at Lexington Avenue and 25th Street.

Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark Broadway show opens February 02010 [Official Site at Marvel.com]
Redux: Neilalien's comedy bit re: what Bono and The Edge's songs for the show might be.

ABC orders 13 episodes of a new re-imagined V miniseries [Hollywood Reporter]
Trailer! [YouTube]:

Posted 21 May 02009 - Permalink

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Doctor Strange by Craig Hamilton Doctor Strange and Clea prelim illo by Craig Hamilton [Ink Destroyed My Brush]

Nice snag- and imagine the final result looking as awesome as this piece! [Craig Hamilton's Art Gallery]

Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1, edited by Blake Bell, 224 pages, $39.99 hardcover: from Fantagraphics in September [Robot 6]
"On the heels of Bell's bio comes this collection of Ditko's early, pre-code work, comprising his first two years in the industry. Folks like Dan Clowes and Gilbert Hernandez round out the book with essays about Ditko's influence."

Bad news: Captain Britain and MI-13 ends with #15 [Paul Cornell]
Who denies Neilalien freshmaker?!

Posted 20 May 02009 - Permalink

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Howard Hallis' Doctor Strange Original Art Collection and Gallery [Page 2]
Neilalien's linked to a few of these items individually over the years- but they're so pretty all in one place!

Hulk #12 preview, out tomorrow; Defenders/Offenders War finale [Comic Book Resources]

Not cool: DC puts out Top 10: Season Two four-issue miniseries as an incomplete story without giving consumers any clue [Big Time Attic (writer Zander Cannon); update; with Wildstorm email address to show support for the book] [via Lying In The Gutters] [DC Comics Message Board] [reviewer of #4 scratches head re: dangling plot lines]

Posted 19 May 02009 - Permalink

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George Clooney avec moustache looking a lot like Doctor Strange in a 02007 Martini commercial [YouTube] [via Popoholic]

Posted 18 May 02009 - Permalink

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Uncle Stan says There's Money In Comics! The Birth of Stan Lee [City Cyclops] [NSFW] [via Comics Reporter]

Rough Ditko pencils of the Hulk circa 01964 [Ink Destroyed My Brush] [thanks Johnny!]

The Spider-Man: A New Goblin TPB: threat or menace to any future moment Neilalien feels the blues? [Marvel.com] [Amazon]
Love this stuff! And as evidenced by Neilalien's commentary to Black Jack #1, the reprinted issues Amazing Spider-Man #176-180 are right in the wheelhouse of his childhood comics joy. Written by Len Wein, who's hit a rough patch with a recent home fire.

Umar: Namor the Sub-Mariner in drag? [Silver Age Comics]
Both drawn by legend Bill Everett:

Umar: Sub-Mariner in drag

Update: Bill Everett would have been 92 this week [Comics Reporter (source for Sub-Mariner image above)] [Bill Everett Wikipedia entry]

Lost big season finale tonight! [Lost at ABC.com]

See you at The Damned show at Irving Plaza in NYC tomorrow night! [Damned Official Site] [The Damned Wikipedia entry]

Neilalien didn't want to blog it and give it more reality, but it looks like fellow Doctor Strange uberfan and blogger Sanctum Sanctorum Comix will be having a real weblogging hiatus, due to the economic downturn hitting home. Neilalien sends positive thoughts Sanctum's way.

Posted 13 May 02009 - Permalink

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Meetings of Minds

Swipe: Cover of Marvel's Star Trek #18; first splash page of Doctor Strange story in Strange Tales #137.

Enjoy the new Star Trek movie this weekend everyone! [currently 96% on Rotten Tomatoes]

Posted 9 May 02009 - Permalink

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Thorough historical examination of Jughead's "crown" [I'm Learning To Share!] [via Waxy]
It was more a busted hat like Goober's:

Goober

Posted 7 May 02009 - Permalink

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Doctor Strange Philadelphia Gum sticker Found: Uncut sheet of the Marvel stickers that accompanied 01967 Philadelphia bubble gum [Spider-Blog! Spider-Blog!] [Philadelphia Gum Wikipedia entry] [Howard Hallis has good scans of the two Doctor Strange stickers: Nag Nag Nag; Call Them Names]

James "The Pimp" Sime's San Francisco comic shop Isotope and Comixology highlighted in interesting essay about the new potentials for creative connected commerce [FactoryCity]

The Direct Market comics shop should be the jewel in the crown of multiple comics markets during a peak time of comics craft and mass-media attention; instead it eats its own arms off [Comics Reporter]

Go ahead, waste five minutes of your life playing with the Marvel Universe Connections cloud flash thing
It defaults to Spider-Man; click on 'All Characters' to get to others, like Doctor Strange.

Marvel Q1 02009 numbers released; Iron Man DVD sales helps slightly lower profit beat estimates; publishing revenue for the quarter decreased $0.7 million to $25.8 million, down from $26.5 million a year earlier [Newsarama]

Over Batman's long and varied history, he has represented all nine Dungeons & Dragons alignments [Comics Alliance]

Posted 6 May 02009 - Permalink

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Blue Hat Man The Ditko Comics Weblog had a very active April

Walter Simonson and How He Became the Man Who Fell Into Comics [NYC Graphic Novelists]
Complete with anecdote about Dino Haspiel and his love for Prince?

The Marvel/DC/Diamond/DM monopoly catering to a small hardcore audience of aging big spenders is a dead-end due to said aging, but said dead-end might come sooner if said spenders spend less in this economy [Comics Reporter]

Captain America's shield is made of the most virtually indestructible substance known to man, a combination of both adamantium and vibranium; Count Nefaria miffed [Comics of Rhodey]
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #15: Book of Weapons, Hardware, and Paraphernalia is the most virtually universally-loved comic known to man.

Huzzah to Postmodernbarney re: five years blogging; often a refreshing reality pill of reason re: comics fandom, homosexual issues
And to Polite Dissent too; Neilalien has learned a lot about your primitive human anatomy and medicine there.

Posted 3 May 02009 - Permalink

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Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is today! Go to your local comic book shop, sample some stuff that's new to you, and get your friends and kids hooked! Go to Rocketship and tell Fred Van Lente he's a fine young man.

Posted 2 May 02009 - Permalink

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