Subscribe



Subscribe by Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner






Get your own free Blogoversary button!

Bookmark TDF!

Follow @tdfangirl!





Marvel announces GIRL COMICS!

Marvel has announced a new comics anthology, set to debut in March of 2010, called Girl Comics.

Marvel-GirlComics_cov_col-tm

A few months ago Marvel announced that 2010 would see a big push for some events built around women — as characters, as creators and as readers. Here’s one of the first projects out of the box, GIRL COMICS, a three-issue anthology mini series much in the spirit of STRANGE TALES, featuring comics created exclusively BY women. And that means writing lettering, drawing — everything. Contributors include Kathryn Immonen, Marjorie Liu, Devin Grayson, Ann Nocenti, Trina Robbins, G. Willow Wilson, Stephanie Buscema, Amanda Conner, Jill Thompson, Louise Simonson, Valerie D’Orazio, Colleen Coover, Molly Crabapple, Nikki Cook, Ming Doyle, Abby Denson and Carla Speed McNeil. The book is edited by Jeanine Schaefer, and we’re happy to debut the cover of the first issue, by Amanda Conner, colored by Laura Martin.

The first issue is planned for March to tie in with Women’s History Month — 2010 is both the 30th anniversary of the founding of the National Women’s History Project AND the first appearance of She-Hulk.

PublishersWeekly’s blog The Beat has an interview with Jeanine Schaefer. I love that the anthology isn’t necessarily about female characters, but rather female creators and the stories they can tell. And while I’m very pleased that Marvel is doing this, I also have to wonder… why don’t these writers and artists show up in Marvel’s regular lineup?

Edit: Random thought addition. Tony’s moustache in the cover up there is pretty cunning, but my favorite bit is Logan and Storm in the background. I love the look on Storm’s face. :D


TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is currently working on a MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as often as she can buy them, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter at the link below.

profile | twitter

Review: Lenore: Noogies by Roman Dirge

Lenore_Noogies_DIAMOND_EXCLUSIVELenore: Noogies by Roman Dirge

Buy It Now: or on Amazon.com

Description: Take a trip into the dark, surreal world of a little dead girl with a knack for (often) unintentional mayhem in this remastered, gothic classic, newly-coloured and presented in glorious hardcover!

Lenore might only be small, but her talent for mischief — and occasional wanton destruction — is anything but. Featuring stories about limbless cannibals, clock monsters, cursed vampire dolls, taxidermied friends, an obssesed would-be lover and more fuzzy animal mutilations than should be legal, never has the term ‘something for everyone’ seemed more sinister and bizarre.

A massive cult hit on both sides of the Atlantic, Lenore is one of the funniest, darkest, cutest, creepiest characters on the marketplace today.

This review is based on a free, review copy received from the publisher.

TDF Pamela’s Review: B+

Lenore is adorably sick and twisted. This completely recolored reprint of the first Lenore collection is a great book, full of funny, creepy stories and very nicely colored artwork.

Some of the first stories in the collection are a bit rough around the edges. It’s obvious that Roman Dirge hadn’t quite hit his stride yet in the first two or three stories, but he quickly settles into the black humor that’s the trademark of the Lenore series.

Some of my favorite stories are “A Walk in the City,” in which a lady plays got-your-nose with Lenore, with gruesome results; “Ragamuffin,” in which Lenore accidentally resurrects a vampire who was cursed and turned into a cute doll; and “Leap Froggie,” where a game of leapfrog goes… well, horribly wrong. Leapfrog with gruesome results. :D It was pretty tough to narrow it down to three faves, though. Lots of the stories are hilariously macabre.

Lenore isn’t for everyone. Like I said, it’s sick and twisted, and if you’re easily grossed out or find dead baby jokes highly offensive, you might want to skip. But if you appreciate black humor in the form of a cute little dead girl, you should definitely pick up this collection.


TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is currently working on a MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as often as she can buy them, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter at the link below.

profile | twitter

Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic Trailer

Marvel has released the trailer for the first episode of its Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic. Check it out:

iFanboy Exclusive: Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic Trailer from Ron Richards on Vimeo.

I’m not sure if I’m on board with the motion comic thing. It’s definitely an interesting step, and with the continuous leaps ahead in technology, this kind of thing probably will be the future of comics. But at the same time… am I the only one who found it a bit creepy? Maybe it’s because I’m familiar with Cassaday’s art in the original comics, but seeing them move, almost as if it was animated, is a bit eerie.


TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is currently working on a MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as often as she can buy them, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter at the link below.

profile | twitter

Brett Ratner is a douche. News at 11.

Wolverine hates Brett Ratner, too.

Wolverine hates Brett Ratner, too.

Anyone who’s ever heard me rant about how absolutely terrible X-Men: The Last Stand is knows that I think Brett Ratner is a hack. He took a great movie franchise with a lot of potential, stuck it in his pie hole, chewed it up, and then crapped it out onto celluloid. I emphatically do not like what he did with that series. The third movie was poorly written and badly directed, and other than the Wolverine/Jean Grey stuff (which I occasionally watch without watching the rest of the film), I for the most part like to pretend that movie never happened. (I do the same thing with the sequels to The Mummy.)

Ratner gave an interview to Starpulse in which he bitched, moaned, and whined about how mean the “comic book geeks” are, and how we’re rabid fans who don’t understand his genius, etc, etc. Lucky for me, Screen Rant already ripped his interview to shreds and called him on all of his bullshit rationalizing as to why fans of the franchise which he was supposed to extend hate his movie.

My favorite bit of Ratner bleating: “Mine was the one that made the most narrative sense. And I’m not knocking Bryan’s movie but he just does a certain thing; Bryan uses his brain and I use my eye and my instincts more. It’s a whole different approach to making a movie. I’m not saying my movie wasn’t smart; I just wasn’t intellectualizing it. I was just looking at it as pure entertainment value which is what it was.”

Yours was the one that made the most narrative sense? Really, Ratner? Because from where I’m sitting, as a fan of the comic books and the movie franchise as well as someone who’s trained to analyze narrative, yours was the one that made the least sense. You tried to cram two completely separate comics-based storylines into an hour and forty-five minutes. The narrative sucked. While I can admit that killing Professor Xavier was a bold, interesting move, killing of Cyclops was just ridiculous. I’m not a Cyclops fan by any stretch, but for god’s sake, what was the point in that?

Singer’s two X-Men films were miles above Ratner’s precisely because he used his head. Singer knew that the storyline was ripe for comparisons with modern events, and by using his brain, as Ratner puts it, he was able to create a superhero film that wasn’t just explosions and BIFF! POW! and hot chicks in leather suits. Ratner’s film wasn’t particularly smart, though he did want to give it the veneer of intelligence. The cure storyline, taken from Joss Whedon’s run on the Astonishing X-Men title could have dealt with very serious emotional issues for mutants. In the comics, Hank McCoy really struggles with the decision to use it or condemn it, because he’s had to live most of his adult life in a less than human form and faced even more fear and hatred from humans for it. What did Ratner do with it? He gave Rogue some teen angst and then depowered Magneto, OMG!

Yeah. It’s so smart my brain can’t handle Ratner’s dizzying intellect.

And this comment: “When I was a kid and used to watch that cartoon it was just fun. It wasn’t a deeper meaning for me when I watched the cartoon as a kid. I didn’t read the comic books but it doesn’t matter, the cartoon is the same f*cking thing.”

I… I… I’m sorry, my brain just exploded. The cartoons were certainly not the same thing as the comic books, dude. Saying this pretty much cemented the opinion that you were the absolute WRONG person to direct an X-Men film. The cartoon was silly and fun, therefore I don’t need to use an ounce of intelligence when I make the third movie!

I’m beating my head on the desk right now.

While yeah, the fans are pretty harsh on Ratner, I say it’s justified. He inherited a project that two directors had already backed out of and then screwed the pooch with it. So he can piss and moan all he likes, but the fans are going to keep ripping him a new one as long as he stays on our radar. Honestly, he should probably just shut up about it and go back to making Rush Hour 18 or whatever his new project is.


TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is currently working on a MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as often as she can buy them, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter at the link below.

profile | twitter

Disney acquires Marvel; the world does not end

So. News broke yesterday that Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is being acquired by Disney to the tune of $4 billion.

Predictably, Twitter and the blog’verse exploded. This morning, I ran across no less than ten separate posts with “funny” Marvel/Disney crossovers. Guys, Mickey Mouse fighting alongside Wolverine is only slightly funny the first time.

So, I’m not going to wail and gnash my teeth just yet, and I’m certainly not going to post my own top ten involving Minnie Mouse being inserted into the Wolverine/Jean Grey/Cyclops/Emma Frost love quadrangle. I’ve got to admit that I’m slightly worried about what will happen to both the comics and the movies if Disney decides to assert creative control over Marvel, but there’s been no solid indication of that so far, so I’m just going to sit here with my fingers crossed and hope that my beloved Wolverine remains as pissy and violent as usual.

I think RichL1 said it best: Please stop talking about Marvel and Disney now.

In other news, Fox is planning to reboot the Fantastic Four movie franchise.

Dear god, why? I mean… okay, confession time. I actually liked the first Fantastic Four movie. Sure, it was ridiculous and why in god’s name would anyone cast Jessica Alba as Sue Storm? but it knew that it was silly and played that up. It wasn’t great cinema, but it was fun. (I make no comment on the second film, though.)

I just get the feeling that Hollywood is peeing their pants with excitement because the Star Trek reboot did so spectacularly. In an ongoing attempt to not have to create anything original, they’ve now decided to reboot everything.

Oh boy.

…er, I appear to have woken up grumpy this morning. I’m going to go load up on hot tea and finish reading some stuff for class tonight. The new semester started yesterday and the inundation of reading for class as begun.


TDF Pamela

The Discriminating Fangirl, who is more likely to answer to Pamela if you shout it at her, is currently working on a MA in English, focusing on children's/young adult literature and popular culture. She reads voraciously, loves geeky movies and tv shows, reads comic books as often as she can buy them, and when she's procrastinating, she enjoys playing video games. She can be contacted at t.d.fangirl @ gmail.com and followed on Twitter at the link below.

profile | twitter