Saturday, January 31, 2009

My New Comics


This week’s best cover is Crossed #3.


Dark Tower: Treachery #5, Marvel Comics

Conan the Cimmerian #7, Dark Horse Comics

She-Hulk #37, Marvel Comics

The War That Time Forgot #9, DC Comics

Xena/Army of Darkness: What Again? #4, Dynamite Entertainment

Terminator Revolution #2, Dynamite Entertainment

Northlanders #40, DC Comics




-Swinebread

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Periscope (Mercury) Studio

A mini-doc done in 2005 I did with some of the folks that work at Periscope Studio formally called Mercury Studio

see their blog here






-Swinebread

Monday, January 26, 2009

Atomic Romance Awards




It’s the Second Annual Atomic Romance Awards! This is my special tribute to the comic books of 2008 that have earned fame or infamy in my little corner of comic fandom. The Atomic Romance Awards reflect my personal preferences so that's why some obvious choices may not appear. But before we begin I'd like to take a moment to thank She-Hulk, my Co-presenter this time around. Also, I'd like to thank all of you, my net buddies, for stopping-by Atomic Romance this last year. It's been one hell of a ride.

Now on with the show!


Best Overall Title: The Astounding Wolf-Man, Image Comics

Runner-up: Conan the Cimmerian

Best Writer: Robert Kirkman for both Astounding Wolf-Man and Walking Dead (and probably Invincible too, but I'm nont reading it right now), IDW


Runner-up: J. Michael Stryzinski for The Twelve, Marvel Comics (He could have won top honors if he had finished this series)


Best mini-series: Star Trek: Assignment Earth, IDW

Runner-up: The Age of Sentry


Best Adventure Comic: Tor, DC Comics

Runner Up: The War That Time forgot,DC Comics


Best Sword and Sorcery Title: Conan the Cimmerian, Dark Horse Comics
Runner-up: Wolf-Skin, Avatar


Best Sci-Fi: North Wind, Boom Studios

Runner Up: Star Trek: The Hollow Crown, IDW


Best Art: Chris Weston, The Twelve. Marvel Comics

Runner-up: John Byrne, Star Trek: The Hollow Crown. IDW


Best Horror: Necronimicon

Runner-up: The Crossed


Best Death: Rebecca gets accidentally slapped to death by Zecheriah the vampire, The Astounding Wolf-Man #7, Image Comics

Runner-up: Drunk Officer pulped by a propeller in Phantom Eagle #1, Marvel Comics


Best Cover: Army@Love: The Art of War #3, Vertigo

Runner-up: Amazing Spiderman #560


Worst Cover: 1985 #4, Marvel Comics

Runner Up: The Man With No Name #2, one of the greatest western characters ever is drawn to look like Bush


Best Dramatic Moment: Dynamic Man (from the 1940s) discovers interracial marriage, The Twelve #2

Runner-up: Captain Wonder at his wife’s grave, The Twelve #2


Best Butt: She-Hulk on King Size Hulk #1

Runner-up: damsel in distress on cover of Conan the Cimmerian #2


Best Animal Hero: Monkey Speedball, Marvel Apes
Rocket Raccoon, Guardians of the Galaxy


Best Geekout: Reading how Mirror Kirk assassinated Mirror Pike in Star Trek Mirror Images 1-5


Worst Costume: THE BLUE BLAAAADE!
Oh come on, could there possibly be any other choice from 2008!?

Runner-up: Jack Pot


Best Costume: Female Starhawk, Guardians of the Galaxy #5

Runner-up: The Crimson Reporter, The Twelve, Marvel Comics


Favorite Hero: Ambush Bug (If you can call him a hero)



Favorite Villain: Cranio, The Man with the Tri-Level Mind! The Age of the Sentry

Runner-up: Catman, Secret Six


Horniest Villain: King Crimson, Dark Tower, Marvel Comics



Best New Character: Ape X, Marvel Apes


Worst New Character: Jackpot


Best Fake Covers: Marvel Apes


Best Essential or Showcase Presents: Savage Sword of Conan… Ha!



Most Likely To Piss Off PETA Badger Saves the world


Best Gunfight: Brothers in Arms#4

Runner-up: Bat Lash #6


Best Formerly Ugly Aliens that Are Now Sexpots: Skrulls


Best Sword Fight: Wolfskin Annual, Avatar


Best Reprint: Dr. Who Classics, IDW


Best Cross of Hellraiser Cenobites with Piers Anthony’s Incarnations of Immortality: Army of Darkness: Home Sweet Hell


Lamest Series I’m glad I didn’t read: It is a Tie
Secret Invasion/Final Crisis and all of the spin offs


Best Single Issue: Fantastic Comics #24 Image

Runner-up; Jonah Hex #33, DC Comics


Best Comedic Moment: Ambush Bug, it turns out, is responsible for the death of Sue Dibney, Ambush Bug Year None #1

Runner-up: A Medieval wizard buys a shit-load of goods at S-mart, AoD/Xena #1


Best Free Comic Book Day Comic: Gumby… of course


Best Trade Paperback: Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991
Runner-up: Captain Carrot and the Final Ark!


Biggest Warm Fuzzy: The Medieval Silent Knight is revealed to be an ancestor of Superman’s adopted Family, Brave and The Bold #10, DC Comics.


Best Collection of Older Comics: I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets
Runner-up: The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics



Best Cameo: ‘Mazing Man: Ambush Bug: Year None. #1
Nazi Super Villains in the entrance way in Berlin Building The Twelve #1


Coolest Country in Marvel Atlas Volume 2: Boca Caliente (doesn’t that mean spicy hot mouth?)


Dumbest Moment: New Gods, New Gods New Gods!



Best Monster: Giant Eyeball Demon, Iron Man Legacy of Doom #4, Marvel Comics

Runner-up: Ursus the Ultra Bear, The Age of The Sentry #2, Marvel Comics



Biggest Surprise: Ambush Bug Marries Dumb Bunny, Ambush Bug #3,


Best Golden Age Retcon: The Twelve, Marvel Comics
Runner-up: Fantastic Comics #24 Image


Worst Golden Age Retcon: Project Superpowers, Dynamite Entertainment


Worst Retcon Period: Red Sonja #29, her own Goddess set’s her up to get raped and have her family murdered.


Best Pimp Scene: Star Trek: Mirror Images #2, IDW



Best Terrorist Acronym: NACHO (Nihilist Anti-Capitalist Hate Organization) Badger Saves the World IDW


Best New Trick for an Old Dog: John Byrne doing Star Trek Comics
Runner-up: DC Fontana doing Star Trek comics


Most Ruined Character: Red Sonja
Runner-Up: The Wasp… because she’s like dead


Best Supporting Character: Cheeks the Toy Wonder (Of course)

Runner Up: Abdul Alhazred, Fall of Cthulhu, Boom Studios


Best Western: Jonah Hex


Best Nonfiction Comic: Comic Book Comics, Evil Twin


Biggest Yawn: The Flash is coming Back!!!!! Zzzzzz


Best Revival from Suspended Animation: The Creature Commandos in Action Comics #872


Best Origin Story: The Black Widow, Twelve #8
Runner-up: Ungrounded Super Agent The Twelve #6


Lamest Promotion: Those Skrull "Who Do You Trust" ads
Runner-up: What were you doing final crisis


Best Crossover: The Army of Darkness/Xena: Why Not, Dynamite Entertainment


Title I would Have Liked To Try from the Beginning But It Was Always Sold Out: Guardians of the Galaxy


Favorite Lesbian: Golden Age Black Widow, The Twelve, Marvel Comics
She was Goth before there was Goth...



Best One Liner: “Hi Lois! I’ve got a weenie with your name one it” Earth 2 Superman. Ambush Bug: Year None # 3


Best Meh Ending: Y: The Last Man.


Best Capturing of the Spirit of 1980s Comics: Amazing Spider-Girl


Best Corporate Foot-Stepping: Moonstone vs. Dynamite over the publishing rights to The Phantom.


Biggest Disappointment: Project Superpowers, The heroes have been stuffed in a jar all these years? ...give me a break...
Runner Up: What... No Poo flinging in Marvel Apes?


Congratulations to all the winners!

Happy Chinese New Year



Year of the Ox...

All I found was this cover with a 1960s' villain named the Ox... so this will have to do.



-Swinebread

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Non Sequitur Comic Panel



Caption from Marvel Premiere #39

Random Image Word: Solitude




-Swinebread

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Six Random Things About Me

Dean Wormer tagged me with a the "Six Random Things About Me" meme. see here

The Rules

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six random things about me-

1) I have driven on the autobahn... it's not as fun as you might think... but there were some great views

2) While I was reading Mel Blanc's autobiography, That's Not All Folks, he died. I was kinda freaked out about reading autobiographies for awhile...

3) I have two vague memories of being in a baby crib... ...(when I was a baby, sheesh)

4) I rule at connect four.

5) I was never able to watch CBS when I was a kid because of bad reception so I missed that whole Dukes of Hazzard thing...

6) Thundarr has to be my all-time favorite Saturday Morning cartoon. Demon Dogs!

I know I'm supposed to tag six folks but I haven't been very good about commening on other folks blogs so I feel kinda weird about demanding a tag from anybody.

Broke the rules.... oh well.



-Swinebread

My New Comics


This week’s best cover is Army of Darkness #16.

Amazing Spiderman #583, Marvel Comics. 2nd Printing of the Obama issue. Marvel just flipped the image on the cover to make it fake new cover.

Army of Darkness #16, Dynamite Entertainment.

Conan the Cimmerian #7, Dark Horse Comics.


Trade Paperbacks:
Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Volume 0, Marvel Comics.

Magazine:
Back Issue #36 TwoMorrows Publishing.


-Swinebread

Tuesday, January 20, 2009



I'm not expecting miracles from Obama but let's enjoy this great moment.

It's one for the ages.


-Swinebread

Friday, January 16, 2009

Name This Character



I'm starting a new reoccurring topic here at Atomic Romance: Name This Character!

Periodically I'll create some bizarre photoshop creation and you, the readers, will suggest names. Then I'll pick the best one and update the post.

So this cross between a model and Dr. Doom is waiting for a name... go for it.


UPDATE: THE WINNER IS ZEVIN! with... Khandroma!


-Swinebread

RO-mance



In the latest issue of The Last Generation, it's revealed that in an Alternate Universe where the Federation has been conquered by the Klingons, Ro Laren and Tasha Yar are lovers. These panels are pretty much all we get... but it's fun to imagine the possibilities which I guess is the whole point of the Star Trek Myriad Universe line.

Star Trek is so bogged down with continuity anyway you need an alternate Universe just to tell interesting story anymore it seems.

Also in this issue, Wesley goes nuts and gives himself a mohawk...



-Swinebread

Movie of the Week: Freaked!


Trailer:


comp of scenes



-Swinebread

Hey remember when there was all that buzz floating around about Marvel working on a Deathlok movie...? No? Well I sure did as he is one of my favorite characters (at least the original Luther Manning version is...) anyhoo, yes they WERE working on a Deathlok movie and Paul McGuigan was going to be the director. Here's the scoop from this i09 article
Finally, I asked McGuigan about those internet rumors that he was working on a movie based on Deathlok, Marvel Comics' cyborg character. "It wasn't a rumor, it was true," says McGuigan. He'd been working with Marvel and writer David Self on a Deathlok movie, but then Marvel put it on the back burner. "I was really into it, but Marvel changed their mind."

McGuigan got pretty excited about working on Deathlok, and he has all of the character's back comics. The biggest challenge in doing a Deathlok film would have been the fact that the killer cyborg is always having conversations with his on-board computer. "In a way it felt like Knight Rider, where you have the machine talking to him." It would have been a challenge to make that work on screen. "The script was really good. David Self is no slouch, he's a great screenwriter. And the whole idea of nanotechnology was fasinating." The movie included a "weird professor" character, who created Deathlok because he wanted to go down in history as another Da Vinci. (And McGuigan had envisioned Robert Downey Jr. for that character, which would have been a very different role than Tony Stark.)

"It would have been a good movie," he adds. "Maybe they'll still make it with somebody else."


It looks like it wouldn't have been set in a near apocalyptic future as the original Astonishing Tales comics were, which I think is the best way to do a Deathlok film, but now it doesn't matter I guess.


-Swinebread

Thursday, January 15, 2009

My New Comics


This week’s best cover is Cthulhu Tales #10.


Solomon Kane #4, Dark Horse Comics.

Terminator Salvation #1, IDW.

Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #3, IDW.

Fall OF Cthulhu #2, Boom Studios.

Cthulhu Tales #10, Boom Studios.

Dr. Who Classics Series 2 #2, IDW.


and no, I didn't get a copy of Amazing Spiderman #583 with Obama on the Cover but this guy did:



-Swinebread

Perhaps I'm Spending Too Much Time On the Internet?




Just a random thought I had for some reason...



-Swinebread

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Ricardo Montalban Has Passed Away



A very versatile and talented actor that just happened to be one of the best parts of the Star Trek legacy. He will be missed. see here






Ricardo Montalban tribute part one


Ricardo Montalban tribute part two


Ricardo Montalban tribute part three


-Swinebread


Now this is how a second language should be taught.



-Swinebread

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Monday, January 12, 2009

This Makes Sense to Me



I was toodling around youtube this weekend and came across this video of Daft Punk's Around the World. I watched it over and over again. This is definitely my kinda thing. It's got the playfulness of Devo but without the spudboys sexual frustration. I love all the pop culture gems that are just hiding in plain sight. Plus, the choreography is absurdly fantasitc.

I had a weird thought too
If I went back in time to say... the 1920s and the folks there asked me what the future was like, I'd just show them this video without any explanation.


-Swinebread

Saturday, January 10, 2009

There's Something About She-hulk



I've been thinking about Valerie D'Orazio's post about supporting women superhero comics and the related fallout to Josh's Tyler's anti-Female Superhero rant. In regards to Josh's post (and film in particular) all I'll really say is that Female superhero movies have generally sucked. They have been poorly written, poorly designed, and poorly produced. So I don't think laying the whole thing at the door of the Female superhero trope is really fair. When a Male superhero movie bombs we don't say the whole concept of the male superhero is dead, we just say "they" didn't get the character and made a bad movie. I submit that Hollywood in general doesn't know how to make a good female superhero film and certainly doesn't know how to attract a female crowd.

When it comes to comics I think there is somthing to the fanboys not buying into and simply not buying female superhero comics. But I'm not all fanboys... I'm just me and I can only speak to my personal habits.

As women heroes concern me, it would seem, superficially, that I'm not one that really supports the "girl characters" all that much other than drooling over the occasional stacked drawing but if I look closer a few things do pop out namely She-Hulk... and I guess, Red Sonja.

To be honest I wasn't totally into She-Hulk from the beginning. I found her interesting when I first encountered her in the Avengers but it wasn't until John Byrne got ahold of her that I became a fan of Jennifer Walters. I can't say I was a consistent fan but I always maintained a fondness for Shulkie since her FF days. As for Red Sonja I'll cop to some good old male horndogness, but I also really like the idea of a female warrior in the vain of Conan. In fact, the idea of Red Sonja has a lot of power for me because I'm still following the Dynamite Entertainment title despite the beef I've had with a lot of the plotting.

But is that really it? Is that all the stock I put in female characters? Well maybe when it comes to DC I think so. I've never been very compelled to pick up any of the gal books by the Distinguished Competition. A lot of this reflects my disinterest the DC Universe. The Marvel characters just always seemed richer, deeper and absolutely a lot cooler (not in the last several years though). Sadly marvel had less books featureing gal heroes in the 80s and so there wasn't much women stuff except for team books... and I sure did loves me some female heroes in my X-men (Storm, Shadowcat, etc). There's a few random mini-series in there too like firestar...

Outside of superheroes I've picked up Love and Rockets, and Strangers in Paradise...


...Uh, Strangers in Paradise? OK kiddies, this post has officially gone off the rails. I'm not even sure what I'm talking about here. So I'll just wrap up by saying when it comes down to it, I've thrown my lot in with She-Hulk for better or worse. She just has that certain something that other characters don't seem to have...


Green Skin?



-Swinebread

Friday, January 9, 2009

Obama in Amazing SpiderMan


Ordered my copy but I don't think their will be enough to go around. Folks that don't buy comics are wanting this thing...




-Swinebread

Thursday, January 8, 2009

My New Comics


This week’s best cover is Kull #3.


Xena/Army of Darkness #3, Dynamite Entertainment.

Last Reign #2, Boom Studios.

Jonah Hex #39, DC Comics.

Secret Six #3, DC Comcis.

Marvel Zombies 3 #4, Marvel Comics.

The Walking Dead #57, Image Comics.

Guardians of The Galaxy #8, Marvel Comics.

SGT Rock: The Lost Battalion #3, DC Comics.

Kull #3, Dark Horse Comics.

War of Kings: Saga #1, Marvel Comics. Free giveaway


-Swinebread

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Non Sequitur Comic Panel



Caption from New Titans #111

Random Image Word: Odor


-Swinebread



Old Norm Coleman is a sore loser if I ever saw one...



-Swinebread