Neilalien : A Doctor Strange Fansite : A Comic Book Weblog  

Healthy discussion of Defenders #12 with some good points in the morass [rec.arts.comics.marvel.universe via Google]

Comics Turning Tragedy Into Tribute [NYTimes.com (reg req'd) via Splash]

Posted 31 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Review of Defenders #12 (Spoilers)

  1. It's been a love-hate relationship with Erik Larsen on the title. Well, his swan song ends that relationship on the "hate" note. His story in Defenders #12, the non-dialogue one for the Nuff Said month of Marvel Comics, completely sucked. I don't think I've ever seen art that bad in a Marvel comic. Very sloppy. Good riddance then.
  2. The second story, which serves as prelude to The Order, was good, but only as satisfying as a prelude can be.
  3. The art was quite good. At least it doesn't polarize the comic-buying public into a minority loving it and a majority hating it. Larsen would not have been able to draw Gaea as beautifully. However, I did already miss the often great way Larsen told a story with his art (the "love" part of the equation). For example, why is Namor punching Gaea's boob in one panel? The Big Four's meeting in Doc's Sanctum gets large, spacious panels, while the battle with the dinosaurs is very cramped?
  4. I know goddesses are supposed to be aloof, and I'm pleased that she didn't lift the Curse- but Gaea was way too cold for my tastes. You'd think that the embodiment of Planet Earth would either (a) love humans as much as the animals and all her creatures, or (b) be a little more involved, maybe angry about all our pollution or something.
  5. Doc's powers- my never-ending nitpick. Energy blasts, shields and teleport-taxi the group around. That's all he does in this issue too. Watch me yawn like Gaea.
  6. The Defenders are truly poisoned. The menacing red eyes gleam in the shadows. The table is set for The Order. I just hope that the payoff is big. Because if it's not, I'm afraid that the high points are going to melt away from my memory, leaving me with 18 issues of characters I like who never acted like the characters I like. And that's going to be mighty disappointing.

Posted 30 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Hey waitaminnit... I didn't see the Essential Dr. Strange TPB in my comic book shop! Did it ship?

Neilalien spies a new comic book website, built with the increasingly familiar PHP-Nuke [Superhero Chat]

Posted 29 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Doc Micro-Hero from Bobster's Defenders Page!Clea Micro-Hero from Bobster's Defenders Page! New Doctor Strange and Clea Microheroes are online by Bobster! [Doc posted on the Defenders Message Board; Clea posted on Defenders Message Board; Bobster's Defenders Micro-Heroes Page]

Marvel Wants Stronger Poison Pills! [current Comicon.com Splash]
Recent SEC filing shows Marvel's attempt to beef up its anti-takeover measures.

Posted 27 December 02001 - Permalink




- -

Understanding Neilalien

Click to enlarge The newest O'Reilly book! [Design Your Own O'Reilly Book Cover via punkchick]

Posted 24 December 02001 - Permalink






- -

First Look at Defenders #12 [Mile High Comics]
The Nuff Said no-dialogue issue.

Marvel's Christmas Gift?? [Newsarama]
Response to DC's ten-cent books: nine-cent books!

Mayor Giuliani Writes Foreword To 'A Moment Of Silence' [CBR]
Rudy in comics.

Dreamwave/Hasbro Team-Up For Transformers [Newsarama]
Well, except for all the damn different covers for G1 #1, Transformers folks ought to be quite happy about the announcements of the last week.

Posted 21 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

We already knew it, but now it's official: Not one Dr. Strange story made Marvel's Top 100 of All Time.

A sad day for this weblog.

More 'More Than Meets The Eye' [Newsarama]
More Furman Transformers TPB are coming out in 2002.

Posted 19 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

How did John Walker come to be a traitor? Liberal California upbringing? Hip Hop? Islam? Or was it comic books... [via LinkMachineGo]
This Newsweek story mentions his interests and online handle "doodoo." Here are a list of posts to Usenet by a "doodoo" involving mostly Hip Hop and Islam. And here's one in that list, selling Daredevils.

Teaser is online for M. Night Shyamalan's next movie Signs [Signs official website]
I loved Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense- why not be excited? The movie's due out 2 August 02002.

Posted 18 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Microheroes are back!
New and improved. And all done with Photoshop- and without similarity to, or the usage of, a certain web application by a certain entertainment company, which frankly is that company's great loss. They've gone from free advertising to free competition.

Meeting of the EICs- Shooter and Quesada Chat [Newsarama]
Lots of great tidbits.

Dreamwave Talk Transformers [Newsarama]
"Cars and jets transforming into intelligent warriors..?" asked Sarracini [writer of the line-launching, monthly, six-issue Transformers: G1 series starting in April] rhetorically. "C'mon, it's just cool."

Posted 16 December 02201 - Permalink

- -

Follow-up: Stor Entertainment went after all the Microhero sites [see this LinkMachineGo entry with dead links and comments, currently dead JLA Microheroes site with threatening email from Stor]
This is ridiculous and disgusting. Another corporation that doesn't get it- they claim to be a internet company- and a community-building one at that? If something is absolutely critical to your branding and profit-making ability, then don't put it up on the web as a free applet for people to use. Duh. Or, if you're going to put a free applet up on the web, to get site traffic, web celebrity, free advertising, meme status, and show off your skills or present your product, then don't expect to control the results. (Who knows how many people are using storTroopers on their intranets without Stor's knowledge or permission now.) No one took the software/applet and called it their own work- that would be different. Stor should have partnered with all the Microhero sites, linking to them and ensuring that they got links/credit back, embracing and advertising their tool's popularity and celebrating the creativity it inspired, maybe even having a contest. But now they're just more clueless, pathetic fascists. I'm taking down my blogTrooper in protest (yes, I did follow all the terms and conditions when I put it up)- no more free advertising for Stor on this site.

More Free Comic Book Day Details [Newsarama]
Mark your calendars: 4 May 02002

Posted 14 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Lawsuit brought by Clinton donor dismissed [AP via Splash]
Follow-up to yesterday's Peter Paul entry: Apparently you can't use the courts to sue people while you are a fugitive from the law. Duh.

Dreamwave Gets Transformers License [Newsarama]
Wow- are we going to see new stories with the original line of characters (i.e. no Beast Wars, etc.)?

Posted 13 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

FEC Sued Over Alleged Hillary Campaign Fraud [NewsMax.com via Splash]
He's baaack! Peter Paul, formerly of Stan Lee Media, sues the Federal Election Commission because they're after him and not the Clintons.

Posted 12 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Seems all quiet on the Dr. Strange front tonight.

Congratulations to Chris Ware for winning the Guardian First Book Award for 2001 with Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth [Guardian Unlimited]
The first time a graphic novel has won a major UK book award. If you somehow claim to be both "an adult" and "into comics" but still have not experienced this yet, then get thee to the comics shop! It's a devastatingly beautiful read.

The Defenders Message Board is back up with a new host after being down a couple days. And all my old links still work. Hallelujah!

Negative review of Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating The Flash [PopCultureShock]
Stan gets raked over the coals in this one. Maybe it's my insanely pro-Stan bias, but I don't think it's as bad as all this. But it's not great. This review covers most of the reasons why. I'm not shelling out for this series anymore. Maybe DC characters just can't be saved. :) Or maybe Stan should leave his god-like legacy alone.

Stan Lee Legacy Reminder: Gil Kane once said of Lee: "He wrote one book a night for 10 years. Not only was it easy for him, but it was also the best thing that happened to comics." [revisiting this Salon piece]

Played catch-up tonight with All The Rage. I guess I just forgot to read one of my favorite columns for a month. How does that happen? Look at all the great stuff I missed.

Posted 11 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Sounds like some NYC bloggers are getting together to buy comic books next Saturday [A Fire Inside]
Answer the call.

Posted 8 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

More Larsen Doc art posted online by Tom Smith [Defenders Message Board; image]

Posted 7 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Perfume or Marvel Super-Villain? [Brunching Shuttlecocks via Weblog Wannabe]
How did you do on this hilarious quiz? Neilalien got 8 out of 10.

Frank Miller interview [The Onion A.V. Club via LinkMachineGo]

LinkMachineGo is one of Neilalien's fave weblogs. But Neilalien noticed today that several of the cool comic book items recently mined from that site have come via I Love Everything. Neilalien will have to keep an Agamotto Eye on that blog as well.

Posted 5 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Doctor Strange from Rich's Micro-Hero Page Beautiful animated Doctor Strange Micro-Hero posted online [Rich's Micro-Heroes; based on storTroopers]
This is much nicer than the one I attempted a while back.

Marvel Enterprises Secures $80 Million Senior Credit Facility With HSBC Bank USA [Yahoo Finance]

Erik Larsen art for Defenders #12 posted online by Tom Smith [Defenders Message Board; image]

Posted 4 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Marvel's superheroes fight their way back from comic disaster [Boston Globe via Comics2Film]
Avi Arad at Marvel Studios just happens to mention casually, "Dimension [Films] is doing Dr. Strange."

Posted 3 December 02001 - Permalink

- -

Marvel Stock Up 25% Last Week [current Splash]
Will Lord of The Rings merchandise bring Toy Biz back from the brink?

DC No Longer Accepting Unsolicited Submissions [current Splash]
Sounds like they stole a lot of ideas they received, and had some successful lawsuits brought against them. Marvel has talent contests, and DC does this? Marvel gets this one. I realize that it's already hard enough for young talent to break into the business- but who would want to write for that boring stable of DC characters anyway? Stan Lee had a slew of interesting drunks, insecure teenagers, misfits, hated mutants and tortured souls for his heroes long before any DC character ever started worrying that his secret identity would be revealed.

Posted 2 December 02001 - Permalink

- -