Hauptmann Amerika

This has got to be one of the weirdest things for me in the Universe... Captain America in German!




I think I heard something in there about sending the Führer to hell



Here is trailer two in German


The Red Skull sounds awesome!

-Swinebread

An Unexpected Delight

Holy Crap! The Irish Times call Captian America "An unexpected delight."

See Link Here

Maybe folks overseas will like movie Steve Rogers after all.



-Swinebread

Rotten Tomatoes is Manipulating Captain America's Score

Currently Cap is barely getting a Fresh Rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Yesterday, It was Rotten with only a few reviews. I'm Calling BS on this as Warner Brothers owns RT and Cap is MARVEL/Disney.

From Comic book Movie:

Rotten Tomatoes is indeed owned by Warner Brothers, the company behind the recently released Harry Potter movie. As the reviews roll in it would seem that the RT score is being manipulated to be presented as low score and in fact rotten. As I write this the score stands at 58% with a 7/10 rating, 14 positive reviews and 10 negative. Wow? 7/10 still, and it sits at a 58% rating? A little odd I might say. I've been scanning the web all day and I know for a fact there are way more than 14 positive reviews from major critics out there, and maybe there are more than 10 negative reviews from major critics but I don't see them. In fact every negative review that I see on the web is updated on RT, but there are still tons of positive reviews yet to be released. I also find it odd that of those 10 negative reviews 3 of them don't actually seem negative and they all have a score over 60%, is RT actually reading these things?

I don't think it's a stretch to think that RT is sitting on a ton of great reviews until the very last minute, or at least as long as they can. It's almost like they're deliberately waiting for a negative review to come in until they put up another positive one, perhaps to keep that score down as long as possible? I don't think it's a coincidence that of the first 8 reviews posted 6 of them were negative. Where have we gone since then? Positive has gone up by 12 and negative only by 4. Huh? maybe I'm just a conspiracy theorist but that does seem a little odd.

It is the day before the movie opens and there is no consensus on RT yet... TOTAL BS

-Swinebread

Full Article here

A thread from superhero hype here


They are deliberately keeping the score low to damage the 1st weekend of Cap.

Happy 4th!

It's the 4th and Cap coming soon!

Have fun and be safe!

The Sentinel of Libation

I'm SO excited because two movies with two of my favorite characters are coming out this summer...

therefore a mashup is in order... ...CAPTAIN CONAN!


Yeah it's already been done...

A long time ago...

...in the 1980s


-Swinebread

Recent Comic Buys

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

It's one for the ages.


-Swinebread

Great Moments in Comic Book History

Nazi scientist, Frieda Ratsel (soon to be the Axis Supervillain Warrior Woman), tortures an American soldier by beating him with a comic book.

From Invaders #17



-Swinebread

My Sorta New Comics... Again

Here's the comics from two weeks ago. The comics from last week won't be at the shop until this week because of both the winter storm and Christmas.

Whatever week’s best cover is The Walking Dead #56.


Terminator: Revolution #1, Dynamite Entertainment.

Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #2, IDW. This is basically a "What If" for Star Trek. Part of the Myriad Universe line.

The Walking Dead #56, Image. Five Years!

Cthulhu Tales #9, Boom Studios.

The Age of the Sentry #4, Marvel Comics.

Conan the Cimmerian #6, Dark Horse Comics.


Trade Paperbacks:
Invaders Classic Vol 2 Marvel Comics. I was feeling a little blue about my friend Josh so I picked this up. There’s just something life affirming about Captain America and crew kicking Nazi butt.



-Swinebread

Great Moments in Comic Book History

Canada's greatest super-team has an underwater 'meet and greet' with the Avengers before they attack Atlantis.

From Alpha Filght #39.




-Swinebread

Favorite Costumes

Since it’s almost Halloween, I thought I’d list some of my favorite comic book costumes from years gone by. You'll notice no Superman, Batman, or X-men costumes (except for Dark Phoenix) because I'm just too overexposed to them. In no particular order:

Fantastic Four She-Hulk
Shulkie is interesting because she's never really had a costume per se except for her time in the mid '80s with the FF. The results were stunning don't you think?



Spiderman
Spidey's look is as iconic as DC's big three but somehow his costume still seems fresh after all these years.



Doctor Spectrum
I enjoy this Marvelized Green Lantern for his bold colors and simple masked design.


Sandman
The original pulp superhero. You gotta' love the gas mask and gas gun.


Harbinger
She's gotta' nice mix of Roman goddess and classic Sci-fi in her superhero outfit that gives her sexy regalness that brings it home for me.


Judge Dredd
Dredd has a hardcore, over the top, and supercool costume that's perfect for fighting crime in the future.


Doctor Doom
Doom is powerful and fearsome in his medieval looking armor and green cape. Plus his sidearm gives him that modern fascist look.



Supernova
He has kind of a generic costume but that's why I like it I think. It's sort of an everyman kinda look. The combo of full mask and cape really pulls the whole thing together.


Blue Beetle
I really groove on the cross Spiderman/Batman vibe that the Blue Beetle costume (at least the Ted Kord version) has.



Scarlet Witch
I love everything about how the she looks. The Scarlet Witch is the perfect gift for Valentine's day.



Gamora
She's had a lot of changes to her costume but I like the original the best. Sassy and deadly all in one.



Psycho-Pirate
His suit messes with my emotions...



The Question
Who doesn't like a guy with a fedora and trench-coat but when you add the blank face... classic!



The Shocker
I like the fact that this guy just looks like a thug.



G.I. Joe
I picked up a few issues of the G.I. Joe when I was a kid but I dropped it after I realized it was more about shooting people then having amazing superpowers, but I was still always attracted to the title for some reason. Now I know why. It was because of the costumes. Regardless of any jingoistic message of the series, G.I. Joe had and still does have a ton of wonderfully designed outfits. Basically, the X-men movie folks ripped off costume ideas from G.I. Joe when they went they looking for a more realistic look for the mutants. Here's a few of my top favorites.

Snake-eyes


Storm Shadow



Baroness



Cobra Commader with hate hood



Captain America
OK I admit the little wings don't work as well in this day and age but otherwise what we have here is the ultimate patriotic costume. Plus the Cap shield seals the deal for me. Cap is the Defender of Liberty not the attacker for Liberty and the Shield symbolically backs that up. Folks outside the US might not be able to appreciate his outfit as much which makes sense.


Valkrie
Does this really need to be explained to you?



Dark Phoenix
Sexy Cosmic Evil? ...I think so!


Moon Knight
I've never been a super big fan of Moon Knight but I keep coming back because of the excellent look that he has.



The Rocketeer
Best homage to retro-sci-fi ever. How could this wonderfully conceived outfit not be on any comic lover's list.



Vance Astro
The Guardians of the Galaxy are great and Vance has the best costume of the group with or without cap's shield. It's simple but elegant with an amazing abllity to stick to his face.



The Human Bomb
This guys is obviously dangerous and his costume says this in spades.



Doctor Fate
The archetypal superhero magic-user. I love the Helmet and color scheme .



Union Jack
I'm not an Anglophile but Union Jack sure has a kick-ass patriotic costume.



Jennifer Morgan
She sure looks like she has mystic powers right?



Nova
His suit has been messed with a lot over the years but I like the classic version the best although the latest one isn't too shabby.



Original Spider-Woman
One of the first amazing female costumes at Marvel IMHO. The 2nd Spider-Woman had a pretty good one as well.




Mr. Monster
Nothing says Halloween Like Mr. Monster!



Hobgoblin
Playful and Scary at the same time.



Kang the Conquerer
I know that most folks think his costume is dorky but there is just something about it that works for me.



Doctor Midnight
A classic cross of Pulp Adventurer and Superhero



Green Lantern
I think Hal Jordan's orginal sleek costume was a masterstroke from a design sense but I also like all the variations that DC has created for the different Green Lanterns over the years.



Dart
probably the best thing about the Atari Force comic was the character of Dart. I loved her her sci-fi mercenary look.



Jack of Hearts
He's always been one of my favs and his complicated playing card inspired costume is one of the reasons.


Wonder Woman
I'm not particularly into WW but you have to admit that her superhero costume is one of the best ever.



-Swinebread

The First Six

I read comics a few times as a kid, mostly dc stuff, but it never really fired me up until one day back in 1983 I had my mom buy me a sealed bag of three comics because I was bored. What I found in that plastic bag changed me forever. I immediately became a huge comic book fan and a huge groupie of the Marvel Universe. I so thoroughly enjoyed the marvel titles so much that I went back the next day and bought a second bag of three comics and I was off and running. I had suddenly found comics to be so creative and so immersive that its nearly indescribable to explain how my child self felt, but I guess you might say it was kinda similar to seeing Star Wars in the movie theater the first time. Pretty powerful stuff for a kid.

They funny thing is that the bagged comics were a few months behind what was actually on the shelves so there was a gap in my collection for several years until I discovered the comic book store.

But what were these six issues that had such an affect on me?

Captain America # 283

This is the one that started it all because it was this cover that got my attention. I’ve always had a fondness for Cap ever since this issue and I really loved (and still do) Mike Zeck’s art. Plus it had the Viper, see here for my love of this character.


Rom #44

What immediately blew me away with Rom was Sal Buscema’s artwork. I’d never seen anything that exploded with so much energy and yet was so emotive at the same time. I greatly enjoyed the sci-fi and horror trappings of the title and Rom was also my first experience with the “tortured” hero. Other supers talk about losing their humanity but with Rom he actually gave up his own body to fight the cosmic threat of the dire wraiths. This issue took place in Russia, and the idea of Communist Superheroes (and villains) was totally new for me and it felt representative of how a kid could interpret the bizarreness that was the cold war.


Fantastic Four #256

I think I read an issue of Fantastic Four back in the seventies, but this issue was a whole new ballgame. John Byrne was at the height of his powers and he really was doing something special with this title and as a kid I noticed. This was my first introduction to a really cosmic adventure with the FF battling in the Negative Zone. I loved the grandness that was the villain Annihilus and his “death” as he floated to through space and crashed into the barrier that separated dimensions. I swear I could actually hear his scream. I’ve been an 80’s Byrne Junkie ever since.


New Mutants #5

Before New Mutants #5 it was my belief that kid superheroes were supposed to be a joke like the wonder twins. Abruptly, with this issue, that all changed. Here was my first encounter with an X-men title and I was hooked. The characters were so well fleshed out and the team was so relatable that it almost seemed like they could be real… if just for an imaginary moment. I also really liked the international flavor of the team and I greatly enjoyed how they interacted, like a superhero Real World. This was also my first introduction to Sal Buscema’s art as he did the inking chores on this title and I’ve been a big fan of his from this time on. Plus, there’s that Viper again and this time she’s brought a friend.

Daredevil #196

Daredevil #196
I had never encountered anything like what I found in Daredevil #196. Before, I couldn't even conceive that an environment itself could really be menacing before but this issue really showed me the danger that lies in the heart of a decayed concrete jungle. It was gritty and crime hung around like old smelly socks. I had no concept of the super anti-hero before, so I had a difficult time making out if Wolverine was a supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy, but the fun part was trying to figure it out. I’ve never been a big fan of Klaus Johnson's art but it was certainly different then everything else and it suited crime story feel of comic.


And ?
I can’t remember the sixth issue! I thought I’d never forget any of these titles but for some reason one has slipped from my memory. I’ve rummaged around the Internet endlessly looking at comic covers, trying to find this lost issue of my “real” first six Marvel Comics. This lost comic book would have to be from June 1983 as all the other bagged comics had this cover date but nothng has come up in my searches so far. It’s maddening that I can recall this issue. Oh well… I just have to keep looking.


-Swinebread