Neilalien : A Doctor Strange Fansite : A Comic Book Weblog  

Daniel Croiser's Wood-Burning Superhero Art [DeviantArt] [via Comics Alliance]

Doctor Strange Wood-Burn by Daniel Croiser

Posted 30 September 02010 - Permalink

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Blue Hat Man Steve Ditko's "Happy Ending", from Charlton's Ghostly Tales #139, November 01979 [Stormantic]

Ex-Marvel Editor-In-Chief Bob Harras from 01995-02000 named DC Comics Editor-In-Chief [Comic Book Resources] [Robot 6 w/reactions]
Best of luck to the veteran. The move seems very popular among creators (unless they're just getting kissy to the new man holding the strings!). But Neilalien's not remembering too many books that were his style coming out of Marvel in the late 90's...
Mark Waid interview with Warren Ellis ten years ago: Harras part of what made Marvel Comics confusing, inaccessible, incomprehensible to new readers, labyrinthine [Bleeding Cool]

Some backstory re: 01997's classic Coober Skeber 2: Marvel Benefit Issue [Comics Comics]

Who Invented The Long Box? [Kleefeld On Comics]

Artist Skottie Young on comics for kids, teens, violence: If you saw what kids are playing on Xboxes, you'd think comics are too tame for them [Skottie Young] [via Robot 6]
Also: Parents have young children who refuse to wear anything that doesn't have Spider-Man or Batman on it, but they don't know comic shops exist, if one even exists in their area to know about.

Posted 29 September 02010 - Permalink

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Deco Doctor Strange by Melissa Uran Awesome art deco Doctor Strange illo by Melissa Uran [DeviantArt] [via Whites Of Their Eyes]

Doctor Strange and Clea illo by Paul Smith [ComicArtFans] [Giant Size Marvel Comics]
And another Paul Smith Doctor Strange, same gallery/lucky owner [ComicArtFans]

Little-known Doctor Strange appearance on That 70's Show [Sanctum Sanctorum Comix]

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New York Comic-Con is 8-10 October [NYCC 02010 Panels/Screenings Schedule]

The next King Con in Brooklyn is 4-7 November [The Beat]

The next Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival is 4 December

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Neilalien fave Brubaker/Phillips Incognito returns with Bad Influences sequel in October [Marvel] [Marvel Noise]

Drive that horse into the ground: there are 14 Batman and 12 X-Men titles a month [Blog@Newsarama]
Marvel/DC hasn't created many new hit characters for 30 years. When you put Wolverine in everything, you're left with only Wolverine fans. Creators smartly keeping their best ideas far away from work-for-hire.

Neilalien takes the middle path: Alan Moore has earned enough screwed-by-the-comics-industry points to be cranky and not mocked/dimissed out of hand, but he's saying some nutty shit, that at least undermines his points
Recent example: Alan Moore Says Goodbye To Comics- Again

Superheroes are misunderstood, complex [Guardian UK] [via LinkMachineGo]
In response to recent press that superheroes are bad role models.

That time Stan Lee hosted Saturday Night Live, Marvel Team-Up #74 [Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun]

Life Model Decoys and Doombots: Clever? Cheap ways to avoid death? OK if not overused? [Comic Vine]

If Superheroes Were Hipsters [CollegeHumor] [via C-Dog]

Posted 26 September 02010 - Permalink

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DC cutting 20% of its staff (50 of 250); comics publishing staying in NYC, multimedia/digital moving to LA; WildStorm (had many creator-owned titles) and Zuda (webcomics) imprints axed [Comics Reporter link collection]
Big bad news. Developing/Updating...

Numbers may be more like 80 DC employees moving or laid off/third of workforce [Robot 6]
How DC's Changes Will Affect More Than 80 Jobs [Kleefeld On Comics]

Now's the time to buy Wildstorm books like Neilalien fave Sleeper before they're gone [Ed Brubaker tweet] [via CR]

WildStorm legacy a bit astonishing when listed: includes Sleeper, The Authority, Planetary, Astro City, Ex Machina, Alan Moore's America's Best Comics (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Promethea, Top 10) [The Beat]

"They look at what DC's doing and that's where they think the problem is?... But as a reader I feel like- save for the occasional Grant Morrison project- DC Comics abandoned me years ago, with the event-driven nonsense, infinite sequels and spin-offs, and a truly awful trade paperback program As a retailer I look at their plans going forward and I just shake my head... like 13 utterly unnecessary Batman one-shots that didn't even have CREATIVE TEAMS when that shit was solicited..." [Comics212]

DC aims to get closer to Warner; Warner Bros. hoping DC superhero movies help soothe impending end of Harry Potter movie profits [Heat Vision]

Posted 22 September 02010 - Permalink

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"Return of the Illuminati" teaser image for December's Avengers #8 [Comic Book Resources]
Namor the Sub-Mariner is absent; Medusa is in Black Bolt's place. Neilalien was initially bummed about the image, that Doctor Strange doesn't have a proper interesting costume right now for images like this, just a boring trenchcoat- but then he thought, waitaminnit, does this appearance suggest Doc's not the one who's supposedly biting the dust soon in New Avengers? Then again, he's not looking like he's Sorcerer Supreme again either, or has the Eye.

Avengers #5 to include a chart that Old Tony Stark from the future shows to his present-day self about upcoming events; hyped as a teaser of big Marvel events to come [Stormantic] [Tom Brevoort interview at CBR]
Neilalien's squinting doesn't see anything Doctor-Strange related, although Sanctum spies "The Drumm of Revenge". Most heroes aren't mentioned specifically, so there's no reason to assume his absence on the chart bodes ill for the number/quality of his appearances/participation in near-future Marvel Universe events. Seeing a scrawl of "Doc becomes SS again" would have been too much and too spoilery to hope for. But Doc fans could have been thrown a bone.

Posted 21 September 02010 - Permalink

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MrvlCat Doctor Strange by Adam Koford

Doctor Strange MrvlCat by Adam Koford [#mrvlcats on Twitter] [Super Punch]
There's also a Dormeowmmu.

Posted 20 September 02010 - Permalink

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The Digital Comics Museum: "the #1 site for downloading free public domain Golden Age Comics" [via Waxy]

Posted 19 September 02010 - Permalink

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Doctor Strange in What If #34

[From What If #34, August 01982, "What If Doctor Strange Were An Ordinary Magician?" by Roger Stern and Marie Severin]

Posted 14 September 02010 - Permalink

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Out today: New Avengers #4, continuing Doc-centric arc [preview at Comic Book Resources]

It seems the pedigree of the Eye of Agamotto is in question. Could be a fun idea, but Doctor Strange fans are wary, so wary... Will Doc be a douchebag for another new reason, knowing that the Eye is a stolen item all along and never doing the right thing? Will the Eye, another critical piece of Doc legacy, be taken away too? Is Agamotto, or the whole Vishanti, along with the Ancient One, going to be bad guys now too? Will anything in the Doctor-Strange-verse survive the Bendis/Quesada regime's "break the toys" style? Or is this the tale where Doc is restored? We shall see.

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Another Dr. Strange appearance out today: Amazing Spider-Man #641, the "One Moment In Time" story arc finale, in which Doc facilitates the world (except MJ) forgetting that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Neilalien admits to being a bit lost: so what happened with that deal with Mephisto?

Update: No luck for the hope that OMIT (the acronym was intended) undos that terrible "deal with the Devil" plot splot- the story arc only describes what little behind-the-scene things Mephisto changed to grant the wish, undo the marriage, save Aunt May's life, etc. Mephisto didn't directly magic-poof make the world forget Pater Parker was Spider-Man: Peter asked Doc to do it.
One Moment In Time Wikipedia page
'One Moment in Time': The Spider-Man Story Nobody Wanted [Review] [Comics Alliance]
Positive OMIT review [The Hurting]

Posted 9 September 02010 - Permalink

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Mark Waid's Harvey Awards keynote speech: He will not fear filesharing, he will make it work for him [Comic Book Resources] [Robot 6]

Love this line: "There are more ideas in one Wednesday in one comic shop than in three years of Hollywood."

Update: Sergio Aragones disagrees; much discussion [Robot 6] [The Beat]

Update: Scott Kurtz: "If you're a member of an industry that let Dave Cockrum die in a VA hospital after helping give us most of the X-Men characters that comprised three blockbuster films and you get pissy about what Mark Waid said, then you deserve to remain on this sinking ship... And the bottom line of it all is that in about 5 years, a lot of people are going to owe Mark Waid a fucking apology." [PvP Online] [Robot 6]

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Darwyn Cooke rants on video, wants Marvel/DC "to stop catering to the perverted needs of 45 year old men", bemoans rape in comics, lack of new characters, "I don't want to see characters who have been straight for 60 years become lesbians overnight because the writer's too stupid or uncreative to come up with something decent" [The Beat] [Comic Vine] [4thletter]

Veronica #202, and Kevin Keller, the Archie Universe's first gay character, reviewed [Postmodernbarney]

Congrats and Thanks to Joey Q: 10 Years of Joe Quesada at Marvel: A Timeline [Comics Alliance]

Posted 8 September 02010 - Permalink

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Stan Lee mentions he's got a Doctor Strange movie cameo to do [Ain't It Cool News]

Brendan McCarthy interview: crazy Doctor Strange crossovers with Lady Gaga, a new Doc/Clea story, a Pixar animated Doc? [Bad Librarianship] [via Bleeding Cool]

Posted 7 September 02010 - Permalink

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Think

Think

Think

Concentrate

Concentrate

Think

Posted 6 September 02010 - Permalink

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Marvel editor Tom Brevoort: Possible new Defenders series is a thing often discussed [Comic Book Resources]
Is this tease enough to rescue The Defenders Message Board from its tits-up status?

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Why You're Not a 'Moron' If You Enjoyed Machete [Cinematical] [via C-Dog]
There's no shame in embracing the low-brow that is entertainingly effective at eliciting basic personal gut responses. Interesting point that if you ever saw how a movie is made- imagine doing a love scene in a roomful of people, so much strategy hiding privates, a million takes, etc.- you'd think it was a miracle if a movie ever made you feel anything.

Update: Neilalien enjoyed Machete, the Robert Rodriguez homage bloodily spouting from his fake trailer from Grindhouse; high Michelle Rodriguez/Jessica Alba babe quotient anyway [Franklin Harris review]

Posted 5 September 02010 - Permalink

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Amazing Spider-Man #641 preview shows Doctor Strange and fellow Illuminati discussing a universal mindwipe for Peter Parker [Comic Book Resources]

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A huge congratulations to Comic Book Galaxy for ten years of comics punditry [Comic Book Galaxy] [Trouble With Comics]

Posted 4 September 02010 - Permalink

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More t-shirts with Doctor Strange, with just Doc's ear(!), the 01996 Marvel Picnic t-shirt with Doc [Sanctum Sanctorum Comix]

Moralist wet blanket bombs town's free lighthouse in Ditko's "The Lighthouse From Nowhere", Strange Tales #87, August 01961 [Just Another Blog (From L.A.)]

A history of the short-lived comics publisher, Atlas/Seaboard [The Atlas Archives]
From 02001, by Jon B. Cooke in Comic Book Artist #16, never blogged here before. [Atlas/Seaboard Comics Line]

Posted 3 September 02010 - Permalink

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Comic Book Cartography: A Collection of Maps and Diagrams [Ditko Explains Everything]

It's hard to sell change re: the Fantastic Four's immutable lineup [Douglas Wolk at Techland/Time] [via Comics Reporter]
Upcoming story arc to kill one of the FF again.

DC Comics Goes Batty, Fights BBQ Restaurant Over Trademark [Consumerist]
Does DC own all bat-shaped silhouettes for commercial purposes?

Posted 2 September 02010 - Permalink

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Some of Neilalien's Favorite Manifestations of Dr. Strange's Powers

Crimson Rubber Bands

The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak as a ball of rubber bands [Defenders #1].

Remote Control Cloak

Remote-control Cloak of Levitation smothering people [Strange Tales #143].

M.C. Escher Sanctum

The Sanctum Sanctorum as an M.C. Escher maze for intruders [Doctor Strange #56].

Shattering Shields

Mystical shields cracking against magical bolts [Strange Tales #139].

Fish Memories

Observing fish memories using the Amulet of Agamotto [Fantastic Four #27].

Posted 1 September 02010 - Permalink

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