Monthly archives: October, 2009

Surely, I can’t be the only Batman Beyond fan around here

Batman BeyondNews hit today that we’re going to be getting another dose of Terry McGinnis and the Batman Beyond universe, and we’ll be getting it a little bit sooner than we may have expected.

DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio announced on Newsarama that Paul Levitz will be writing the Superman/Batman annual at the beginning of next year, and that issue will feature a guest appearance by Batman Beyond himself. This will be the first we’ve seen of McGinnis since his one-panel cameo appearance as part of one of the 52 (or is it still only 51?) universes featured in the pages of that shit-burger called Countdown to Final Crisis. This comes in addition to the announcement earlier this year that the Batman Beyond universe will be featured in a mini-series set to run sometime in 2010.

I don’t know about you, dear readers, but this news has me pretty excited. When Batman Beyond was cancelled, what, seven years ago, it never received a proper finale, as the show’s producers opted to simply take it behind the woodshed and be done with it sans fanfare. It brings me great joy that they’re not only revisiting the characters, but they seem to be open to the idea of continuing the franchise instead of just going back once more for some form of closure.

So what do you guys think? Is this a good idea, or is Batman Beyond something that you think should be left in the past. . . or, uh, future?

I think that as long as it means we get more of Old Man Bruce, I’ll be happy as a puppy with two penises.



5 Horribly Un-PC Characters in the Marvel Universe

Marvel has (debatably) always striven for inclusiveness in their universe. Just look at the international X-Men squad that was debuted in Giant Size X-Men. Then look in that very same issue at Thunderbird. Yeah, Marvel tends to miss the mark. Sometimes it all comes out OK, as Luke Cage went from blaxploitation caricature to Avenger. But some heroes never quite make the recovery. Here are some of the most stereotypical heroes, villains and otherwise, with all the fun criteria of discrimination … race, sex, religion, sexual orientation …

1. El Aguila

You’re a Spanish mutant who can generate electricity. Logically, you’d want to live up to your cultural heritage. Being from Spain, the one that’s in Europe and not in imaginary land, you decide that your course is to imitate Spain’s greatest hero: Mexican-American swordfighter Zorro. Your tiny, donkey filled village of Madrid (population 3 million) can barely contain your zest for adventure, so you go abroad for your superheroic adventures. Sadly, his days drew to a close in the post-House of M period, losing his mutant powers. But he retained that zest for life, incorrectly applied non-Castilian Spanish and (assumedly, at least) awful mustache.

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Q & A – Miss Lasko-Gross

I discovered Miss Lasko-Gross quite by accident. Escape From “Special” was kind of jutting out from the shelf at my library, and I picked it up as an afterthought. It had been previously discussed by Van Jensen, a.k.a. Jean Claude Van Doom, but where he didn’t take something from it I, on the other hand, was captivated by the off-beat art and seeming mundanity of day to day life … if your parents are dead heads who send you to alternative schooling, at least. Still, though, it had the cathartic highs and lows of being the weird kid in class.

A few weeks ago at Small Press Expo (where I got to have some Chinese food with the ever illustrious Mr. Jensen), I stumbled across the table for Lasko-Gross and, seeing that there was a sequel to Escape from Special, decided to give it a go. Here, we find the weirdness subdued, segueing into the illusive quest for identity. The worldview felt different.

Miss Lasko-Gross was kind enough to answer some questions for Doomkopf about her style, her work and her work to come:

How did you develop the artistic style that went into Escape From Special and A Mess of Everything? Was the way you do more muted colors deliberate or just something that naturally evolved? Who are your own influences in comics, and what drew you to the medium? (more…)



Our long national nightmare may soon be over

Bryan Singer wants to return to the X-Men franchise.

I’m still looking to possibly returning to the ‘X-Men’ franchise. I’ve been talking to Fox about it.

Not a lot to say here. X2 was one of the strongest comic movies of all time, and I think he can steer it back on a course towards relevance instead of whizz bangs. This also means I’ll stop bitching for at least three hours about the sharp and sudden turns of the series.



Pokrok Zapadu, The Greatest Warrior Who Ever Lived: A 24 Hour Comic

Created as part of 24 Hour Comic Book Day, Oct 2-3, 2009. Of the Doomkopf gang, I was the only one who was able to participate this year. Check out our creations from 24HCBD 2008. Notes and spoilers on this comic after the jump.

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Reviews: XKCD Volume 0

In my secret, not very interesting real life, I’m a web “professional,” which is to say I spend eight hours a day fixing HTML code. My sweet, sweet refuge is XKCD, updated every Monday – Wednesday – Friday.
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