More New Comics A-Comin'

Because a) I left out a couple of things in yesterday's post and b) I can't think of anything particularly original to blog about today, I'm going to make a few more notes on things that I'm seeing coming down the pipe...

The Amazing Transforming Superhero! Essays on the Revision of Characters in Comic Books, Film and Television Jeff McClelland alerted me to this the other night. When he first began working on his essay for the book... some time back, I don't remember when exactly... he hit me up with some questions regarding the Thing's character and how he evolved, how much of Jack Kirby was in him, etc. It's finally getting published which, from personal experience, I can say is something in and of itself! I haven't seen Jeff's final piece, but I'm looking forward to picking this up. Not only does Jeff's piece interest me, but the solicitation looks interesting, too: This collection of essays analyzes the many ways in which comic book and film superheroes have been revised or rewritten in response to changes in real-world politics, social mores, and popular culture. Among many topics covered are the jingoistic origin of Captain America in the wake of the McCarthy hearings, the post-World War II fantasy-feminist role of Wonder Woman, and the Nietzschean influences on the "sidekick revolt" in the 2004 film The Incredibles.

Top Shelf Seasonal Sampler 2007 This book actually came out today, and the owner at my LCS pulled aside a copy for me. (It was free, and I'm never really one to shy away from free comics!) It looked like he'd ordered maybe half a dozen copies, so I'm presuming he only gave them to folks like me who get a variety of books from a variety of publishers. Obviously, this is a promotional piece from Top Shelf that, as the name suggests, provides something a sampling of the various books they've got coming out in the near future. Honestly, I've never been overly partial to Top Shelf's stuff in general, but that's generally based on cursory glances over their material. A lot of the art is, to me, off-putting and I don't often look past the superficiality of the illustrations. This sampler, though, should give me a better sense of their creators' stories and storytelling abilities. Hopefully, I'll find at least a few things to keep an eye out for.

Related Items upcoming