Marvel has recently announced that they will be having Avengers themed variant covers in the month of April. The artwork featured in this round of variant covers will be showing appreciation for the different artwork and styles throughout the years. Looking at the images released, I've collected a list of what I believe to be the influences of each cover. I am unsure of some of them - you will notice some are blank - so help filling them in would be appreciated. Without further ado, the Avengers Art Appreciation Influences!
So I've decided to go on a search for trades that are available for some of the comic series I have read and enjoyed. Trouble is, I'm not quite sure if they actually have a readily available trades. I'm currently looking now and will put down the information I have but any help would be awesome.
Resurrection Man - No known trades.
Hitman - Partially available (5 volumes); issues 29-60 not collected.
Supergirl vol. 4 - Last story arc found; first story arc in out-of-print trade; no known trades for the rest of the series.
Beasts of Burden - Hardcover collection available.
Liberty Meadows - Available (4 volumes); issue 37 not included.
Perhaps it's just me, but the Jimmy Woo/Namora relationship currently portrayed in the Fear Itself: Home Front series seems odd and out of left field. No where in the previous Agents of Atlas series was there any indication that there may be feelings beyond platonic appreciation for one another. It also doesn't help that the last time we saw Namora display any romantic feelings it was towards fellow Atlantian Namor. It seems contrived to suddenly have the two Agents of Atlas members together with no hints of such a relationship ever developing, but that could be because it happened all "off-screen."
I find developing a relationship between characters off-screen is a hit-or-miss situation. One couple I think this approach worked well for is Todd Rice (Obsidian) and Damon Matthews. There was no direct lead up to Todd being homosexual (though there was a scene in JLA that seemed to suggest he was at least accepting of the idea of a homosexual relationship), but his sexual ambiguity worked well enough to not make the sudden couple seem odd. It also helped that Damon was a new character and there was no previous interaction in comics that would affect how the sudden relationship was viewed.
Obviously, this is the problem with Jimmy Woo and Namora. They do have this previous interaction that affects the view a reader would have on the relationship. In a situation like this, the writer should either chose a couple that have had previous attraction hinted at or, even better, find a way to make this relationship seem like a natural progression for the characters. In the case of Jimmy Woo and Namora, there was nothing in the initial introduction of the characters' relationship that showed how they got to that point. No brief dialogue to indicate when this change occurred, nothing. It just was, which is jarring for a person that has been following the characters for a few years now.
The series stars a unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle, who is a pupil of Equestria's ruler Princess Celestia. Seeing the young pony buried in books, the princess sends her to Ponyville and gives her the task of making friends. Along with her assistant, a baby dragon named Spike, she becomes friends with the tomboyish Rainbow Dash, glamorous Rarity, hard-working Applejack, timid Fluttershy, and hyperactive Pinkie Pie. Together they explore the ins and outs of the town and solve various problems.
With the new DC relaunch in September it is time to figure just what I'm going to be getting. Will add comics when they finally release that information.
June
AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #6 (June 29th) CHEW #19 (June 29th) THE WALKING DEAD #86 (June 29th)
July
BATMAN AND ROBIN #25 (July 6th) THE UNWRITTEN #27 (July 13th) CHEW #20 (July 20th)
August
THE UNWRITTEN #28 (Aug. 10th) AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #7 (Aug. 31st)
September
BATGIRL #1 (Sept. 7th) BATWOMAN #1 (Sept. 14th) DEMON KNIGHTS #1 (Sept. 14th) RESURRECTION MAN #1 (Sept. 14th) THE UNWRITTEN #29 (Sept. 14th) RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #1 (Sept. 21st) ALL-STAR WESTERN #1 (Sept. 28th) JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1 (Sept. 28th)
So the attempt at getting into the RPing world of Comic Vine has stalled. My trainer has gone MIA and I have no idea how to throw my character into the RP fray. Do I post a random thread going "HI!" (doubt it, I'd probably get eaten alive) or do I start being annoying and PMing people? I don't want to jump into random threads that are going on because most are pretty far in and, well, I'm an unknown. Just seems weird to insert myself. Is there some kind of thread I can go to and introduce myself to the community? I'm at a complete loss.
Or, more accurately, a funny thing happened to me at the comic shop.
When I popped into my local comic shop to pick up my comics for the week, standing at the counter signing some comics was writer Alexander Irvine. I didn't really chat with him since he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, but he seemed cool. I was the only person in the shop when he left, which meant I was the first person the clerk Chris showed the comics to. The Murder of King Tut, all four issues signed. I mentioned that I had been semi-interested in looking into it and Chris asked the store owner Jeff what he'd sell them to me for. What was the answer? Cover price.
After some tempting from Chris I ended up getting them. So yeah. I have a full comic series signed by the author that was bought at cover price and no other customer got the opportunity to see it before it was swiped up. I feel so greedy.
I've done it! I finally created a superhero-esque character that can be used for RPing on the Vine. I have been eying the RP threads for a while now, but never felt I could bring a character into the Vine AU that works. Most of my OCs tend to be non-hero/villain types with no real powers or abilities that would be beneficial for battle. They are better support characters than actual main characters.
I suppose this blog was a congratulatory piece of writing on my part. I do, however, have a question. Should I bother making an alternate account for said character? I am so confused with this whole multi-pass thing. I've read the thread Red L.A.M.P. made but it doesn't really answer any questions about the long term.
Forgot to mention this little gem when it originally happened, but it was too amusing not to post. This would be my local comic shop, by the way. Stupid driver.
Comic store hit in parallel park gone awry
Bangor’s Top Shelf loses storefront after light pole fails to stop driver
BANGOR, Maine — A local woman apparently trying to parallel park in front of the Top Shelf Coins & Comics shop Thursday morning ended up parking her car in the shop’s front foyer — destroying the display window and front entrance.
Comic books and graphic novels could be seen strewn all the way to the back of the store, and splintered wood and shattered glass was left all over the front of the shop after the Toyota Camry was removed just after 9 a.m.
“She was parallel parking down in front of that store, and she claims she may have accidentally hit the gas and put it up over the curb and hit the store,” Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said.
Laura Santilli, 47, of Bangor was attempting to park on Central Street around 8:25 a.m. when the mishap occurred, Edwards said. She also hit and destroyed an antique-style light pole that was located in front of the store and will cost around $3,000 to replace, Edwards said.
“It appears to be operator error,” the sergeant said. “No one was hurt” and no tickets were issued.
Top Shelf owners Jeff and Ellie Mae Robinson, who moved their business downtown a decade ago, arrived at the store, which was not yet open, shortly after the accident occurred.
“It’s crazy,” Ellie Mae Robinson said while standing on the sidewalk in front of the comic book store. “I almost cried.”
Brother Don of Friars’ Bakehouse next door heard the sound of the crash and initially thought there had been a multiple-car accident.
“We heard this horrific noise” and ran outside to see Santilli getting out of her car, he said. “I don’t understand how the pole didn’t slow her down.”
Ellie Mae Robinson pointed to where the pole stood and said, “She hit the pole — and you still can see the tire tracks — and didn’t stop.”
The front half of Santilli’s car was on the sidewalk and the rear end was inside the comic book store when the vehicle finally came to rest.
No one was on the sidewalk or inside the store, which opens at 10 a.m. daily, both Brother Don and Ellie Mae Robinson said.
“If this had happened at noontime, this sidewalk is full, and people would have been hurt,” he said.
After the car was removed and police left the scene, Jeff Robinson stepped through the mess, breaking glass as he went, to begin the cleanup. Employee Chris Mills, who was scheduled to work at 9:30 a.m., arrived for work on time.
“I heard,” he said as he approached Ellie Mae Robinson on the sidewalk. “Somebody sent me a picture [text] this morning.”
The comic book store has three part-time employees and is run by Jeff Robinson. The Robinsons lease the space and the landlord “is sending his workers right over,” Ellie Mae Robinson said.
Giacomo’s coffee shop, which is located nearby on the corner of Central and Hammond streets, has a four-step, how-to-parallel-park painting on one of its windows.
“We actually sit here all day watching people trying to parallel park,” said owner Brett Settle. The idea for the window painting arose last winter when people inside Giacomo’s saw someone outside having a hard time parallel parking, he said. “It was only going to stay up for a week, but it’s been up for about six months now,” Settle said. “It’s a simple four-step thing.”
Parking is allowed on both sides of Central Street, which is one-way, and Settle acknowledged that for many drivers “it is harder to park on the left-hand side than the right.”
In fact, when the owners of the comic book store heard that someone had driven through the front window, it was hard to picture, Ellie Mae Robinson said.
Most of the damage to the building seems cosmetic and can be repaired, Ellie Mae Robinson said, adding that she hopes some of the comics and graphic novels also can be salvaged.
“The main thing is nobody got hurt,” she said.
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As I have been organizing my comics and just browsing around the site in general, I was reminded of something I noticed a while back. What would that be? Well, that would be DC Comics obsession with black haired, blue eyed people. Marvel has some as well, but their problem seems to be more along the lines of blond haired men than black and blue. Thus, the focus will be on DC Comics.
The Trinity
Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The three characters that have been DC's poster children for years. You see them and you automatically know that you are looking at something DC related. All of them exhibit the black and blue formula. Could the multiple number of black haired, blue eyed individuals be a product of these well-known images? Do creators feel the need to mimic the look of the big three to gain recognition for their characters? I am aware that some characters have the same coloring because of familial relations or cloning, but what about all the other characters? Surely there are enough color combinations to add some variety.
The Bat Clan
You all knew this was coming. You can't highlight black hair and blue eyes without bringing up the Bat Clan. Now, there are members that break away from the established norm: Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Kate Kane, Cassandra Cain (she does have the black hair, but that's understandable considering her part Asian ethnicity). The ones I'm speaking of our everyone's favorite caped crusader and his male Robins. Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd (I will be discussing his hair shortly), Tim Drake, Damian Wayne and Terry McGinnis. Is there some kind of requirement for the men of the Bat Family to look like Bruce Wayne? Damian Wayne I can understand (he is his son, after all). I can even cut Dick Grayson a little slack as he was the first, but what about the others?
I'm aware Jason Todd Pre-Crisis was a strawberry blond and merely dyed his hair black to look like Robin. As I was a late arrival to comics and didn't experience this before Post-Crisis Jason and Tim popped up, I felt it was a bit of a loss to retcon Jason's hair. It just seemed less... weird for Bruce to pick up a kid who wasn't a black haired, blue eyed young man that looked suspiciously like his very first sidekick. Yes, I know Morrison brought back the whole "I've had red hair the whole time, I've just dyed it" idea, but we all know that's not going to stay. Post-Crisis Jason has black hair, end of story.
To bring up another interesting point, it seems most of the women of the Bat Clan - as I mentioned above - manage to avoid the black and blue syndrome. There's Huntress that didn't escape it, but she was the daughter of Bruce Wayne Pre-Crisis. In a way, I can sort of excuse her like I do Damian Wayne. However, the point still stands. Perhaps it's because writers don't feel they need to worry about keeping the costume/characters looking the same. It's okay for Batgirl to have red, black and blond hair. Robin, however, he needs to keep the black hair. Why? I'm not really sure. Likely something to do with the iconic image of a black haired sidekick in red spandex running alongside Batman.
While I covered only a part of the DC Universe, rest assured that I am well aware of the many black and blue characters that inhabit that universe. For more examples of these types of characters, simply look at the list created to accompany the artlcle. Or you could just pick up a few DC comics, either/or.
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