Tag: Comics

Never trust someone named Doctor Death as the Sorcerer Supreme, Marvel

Esto ocurre justo el año en el que se estrena la película de ‘Los cuatro fantásticos’… y a estas alturas ya deberíamos saber que ambas cosas van unidas.

In Marvel comics, there are three maxims: Most everyone has been part of The Avengers (about 125 heroes, more or less), dying is only temporary, and the position of Sorcerer Supreme changes from time to time. Although we all have Doctor Strange in mind as the Sorcerer Supreme, the truth is that over the years characters like Doctor Druid, Jericho, Clea, and even Loki have succeeded him in the role. And now it’s time to give it to someone else. Again.

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Seriously? Him?

Note: spoilers from current comics.

Doctor Doom had been ruling Latveria undisturbed for a long time, but now he’s back for ‘Blood Hunt’, the current vampire saga that has the entire Marvel Universe in checkmate. Luckily, Doom can help fight the bloodsuckers, and for that he only needs a lot of magic. A whole lot. So much that Stephen Strange must transfer to him the power of Sorcerer Supreme.

And yes, we know not only that he’ll do it, but also that along the way he will take a piece of Clea’s soul, thus inaugurating the comic ‘Doctor Doom: Sorcerer Supreme’ in 2025. What could go wrong? Additionally, this happens during the same year ‘The Fantastic Four’ movie is released… and by now we should already know that both things go hand in hand. There’s no way to know what Kevin Feige is thinking, but it’s probably going to be pure magic. Time will tell.

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The Spiderman team leaves after one of the most controversial stages in comic book history. And now what?

Two years later, we can say that it wasn’t necessarily positive: it gave Mary Jane another boyfriend and kids, turned Norman Osborn into his friend, and completely destroyed the character’s status quo. Now, after tearing Spidey’s life apart, he leaves the mess for the next one. Whoever that may be.

In 2022, Zeb Wells started writing ‘The Amazing Spider-man’, the comic that is already approaching its 950th issue. And he started promising the biggest revolution in the superhero’s life. Two years later, we can say that it was not necessarily positive: he gave Mary Jane another boyfriend and children, turned Norman Osborn into his friend, and completely destroyed the character’s status quo. Now, after breaking Spidey’s life in two, he leaves the mess to the next one. Whoever it may be.

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Amazing Spider-no

Let’s face it: no one at Marvel wants to script Spider-man. He has so many open storylines, so many stories to explore and so much to solve right now that a makeover would have to be done to try to return to Mephisto’s promise of ‘One more day’, destroy Paul (MJ’s boyfriend) and, by the way, turn Norman Osborn back into the villain he always should have been. And this is just the beginning.

For now, several star writers have said they don’t want to get anywhere near this legendary title (the best-selling one from Marvel!), which is dangerous especially as the end of the Wells and John Romita Jr team approaches, probably in early 2025. In the end, the arachnid will face Lápida for a few episodes, and it’s in Wells’ hands (or rather Marvel’s) to leave a hot potato for the next writer or make it easy for them. Actually, all we readers want is for Paul to leave. Right now, if possible.

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DC has had so little confidence in the Aquaman movie… that they haven’t even released a comic at the same time

If you leave the second part of ‘Aquaman’ wanting to buy a comic of the character currently being published, you will go home empty-handed.

One day, in the future, we will look back at these last fifteen years of absolute superhero madness and say “But how was it possible?”. And it’s because the flood of releases has caused the quality of them to significantly and depressingly decrease. As evidence, ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘, which will barely make back its cost and, despite everything, considering what happened with ‘The Marvels’, it can be considered a relative success. It’s more than what DC expected, apparently.

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Comics? Can you eat that?

And it’s something easy to check: right now, in these moments, if you leave the second part of ‘Aquaman’ wanting to buy a comic book of the character that is currently being published, you will go home empty-handed. DC, in its comic book aspect, has decided not to support the premiere in a quite rude and strange way.

For example, the series ‘Aquamen’, which had all the numbers to continue, was left as a miniseries, and the relaunch of the main comics, which was planned as part of Dawn of DC, was canceled. Why? Is there a reason to let Aquaman die after 82 years of publication? Did they really think that James Wan’s movie was going to harm sales? Because if so, and considering that even ‘Blue Beetle‘ was supported from the comic marketing, it is something to consider.

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The character has always been stumbling in the company’s comics, with very few writers taking him seriously beyond “Haha, talking to the fishes”. But here we are. Since August 2022, Aquaman has not returned to the shelves, and only DC knows why they haven’t wanted to give him a chance with the boost from the cinema. Strange thing. Something is brewing in DC, and certainly, that can never be good.

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A basic character from ‘Spiderman’ has just died… And many more are about to do so

This paradigm shift has begun with an unexpected death that can literally change everything.

This stage of Spiderman in the comics might not be the most beloved by fans, but Marvel is refocusing it, setting aside the drama with Mary Jane, who now has a new boyfriend that no one likes, to focus on what Spider-Man does best: street fighting and gang warfare. And of course, as it couldn’t be otherwise, this shift in paradigm has started with an unexpected death that could literally change everything.

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A head for hammering nails

Al Ewing has kicked off this mega-crossover among all the Spider titles with an issue that explains why the New York mafia has engaged in an all-out war. But first, a quick update on this never-ending soap opera: during Randy Robertson and Janice Lincoln’s wedding, the daughter of Tombstone, things turned sour when Randy got shot and now lies in agony in a hospital bed. Got it? Let’s dive in.

With their enemy lying there dying, the rest of the street-level criminal associations decide to divide up Harlem, Randy’s territory, which obviously won’t happen without bloodshed. Janice shows up at the meeting demanding her father’s seat, something Hammerhead agrees to on the condition that she’s able to kill… Randy Robertson, her ex-fiancé (the wedding, post that incident, didn’t end well, for whatever reason).

Of course, as much as she appears willing in front of him, she won’t do it. Disguised as The Beetle, she warns her ex about what’s about to happen while he’s giving a speech. Too late, of course: Hammerhead shoots him, and he ends up in the hospital alongside Tombstone. Shortly after, the mobster reveals his plans to his innocent girlfriend, who, as always, is not what she seems. Here, we’ll need a sudden touch of magical realism because this could only happen in a Marvel comic book.

Actually, the anonymous girlfriend is Madame Masque, who faked her death at the wedding and now, knowing everything about Hammerhead, is ready to make her final move. Literally. She takes a human femur lined with adamantium (no one knows where she got it from), enchants it, and crushes her boyfriend’s skull, seemingly killing him on the spot… or so it seems. And thus begins a gang war where Spider-Man will assemble a team, thanks to Mayor Luke Cage (it’s a long story), with all fronts open. Sometimes it’s a pleasure to be a Spidey fan. Not many times, though.

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GI Joe removes censorship from a dialogue… 40 years later.

We are soldiers… our job is to do the unthinkable… and be forgotten.

We often underestimate what GI Joe once was. Created in 1964, in a peaceful America that felt victorious after World War II, the toy line started with four action figures based on different branches of the military and, not long after, they abandoned realism to fight alongside a bionic warrior (Atomic Man) and battle against Cobra Commander. They sold like hotcakes all over the world, spread American patriotism across Europe, and to this day, thanks to the movies, they are still riding high.

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God bless censorship

So much so that the little figurines continue to sell (more geared toward collectors than children), and their cameo in the latest ‘Transformers‘ movie, anticipating a Hasbro-verse, made it very clear that no one had forgotten about them. In fact, in addition to the famous 80s series, there have been several well into the 21st century, although none have surpassed those episodes of limited animation, repetitive plots, and which we devoured.

What’s interesting is that before the action figures, there was a comic in 1942 within the military magazine ‘Yank,’ intended for American soldiers in the war. Dave Breger was its creator, although it didn’t last long because he soon signed with another company to cover his experiences as a special envoy to the United Kingdom. From there, ‘GI Joe’ went through all sorts of writers, artists, and wars, from the Korean War to its fictional battle against Cobra.

But the main comic book series began in September 1983, published by Marvel. In that issue, written by the legendary Larry Hama, there was a dialogue dedicated to boosting patriotic sentiment: “We’re soldiers… Our job is to follow orders… do the impossible, and make it look easy.” The problem is that Hama hadn’t written that, but he suffered unilateral censorship from Marvel. Now, in its reissue forty years later, it will finally have the (much better) dialogue he wrote.

“We are soldiers… our job is to do the unthinkable… and be forgotten.” A key moment that finally appears unaltered, a thorn the author had after enduring 300 subsequent issues with an axe to grind. “This is why I never rewrite any script that comes to my office. I always give the writers the option to rewrite them themselves. I do the same with the art. I’ve always hated it when I see redrawn heads that bear no resemblance to the original style. I think this is a courtesy that is rarely given these days,” the author confessed, who completed his work in 2022 after a 16-year hiatus. Who said GI Joe was out of fashion?

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Peter Parker married, happy, and with children: Marvel fulfills the dream of Spiderman fans

And then, already in his adulthood, he is bitten by a radioactive spider. That is the great novelty of the matter: for once, not even their children can have the powers.

For decades, Marvel has been determined to make Peter Parker suffer over and over again. Does he have a girlfriend? She dies. Does he have a daughter? She disappears. Does he have a wife? Mephisto makes her vanish. Do they reconcile? She ends up lost in another dimension and falls in love with someone who happened to be around. Those affected by ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ had been asking for something good to happen to Peter for years. And then, once again, the Ultimate universe arrived.

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The last universe

When the Ultimate universe was first published back in 2000, the idea was to showcase the renewed origins of superheroes with a team of top-notch artists. Ultimately, it was merged with the 616 universe, and the comic line disappeared… until 2024, where they’ve promised to come back strong and, most importantly, with completely different and unexpected stories.

And one of them is the new ‘Ultimate Spider-Man,’ in which Peter Parker is happy, married to Mary Jane, has a son and a daughter. Then, in his maturity, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider. That’s the big novelty here: for once, neither his children can have the powers (I’m looking at you, Spider-Girl), nor will we see his origins as a teenage acrobat. Now, Spidey is mature, adult, and reluctantly heroic.

The story will be written by Jonathan Hickman, who always stirs things up when he takes charge of a project. There have been other collections that have kept the married couple with children (like ‘Renew Your Vows’), but this is a unique case that will be released alongside ‘Ultimate Black Panther’ and ‘Ultimate X-Men.‘ Will the big M realize that we want to see a happy Peter, or will they miss the hint? Probably the latter, but for sure.

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28 years later, the creator of ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ publishes a work again (although it’s not what you expect)

And, out of nowhere, in 2023 he released his first published work in a long time: ‘The mysteries’, a fable for adults that he created half-heartedly with the cartoonist John Kascht.

‘Calvin and Hobbes’ is the best comic in history. Yes, it’s that straightforward. If you only have to read one comic in your entire life, make sure it’s this masterpiece by Bill Watterson, which lasted almost exactly ten years (from 1985 to 1995) and has never had a sequel or even merchandise, all by direct order of the author. Watterson withdrew from public life and has hardly given any interviews. In fact, he doesn’t even appear in the documentary solely dedicated to searching for him around the world, ‘Dear Mr. Watterson’. And now, suddenly, he comes out with something new unexpectedly.

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What a mystery

Watterson hasn’t exactly been lounging on the couch for nearly thirty years. During this time, he has created paintings, curated exhibitions, written forewords, and even, on rare occasions, crafted posters and illustrations with a style reminiscent of comics. Out of nowhere, in 2023, he released his first published work in a very long time: ‘The Mysteries,’ an adult fable he co-created with illustrator John Kascht.

The book tells the tale of an ancient kingdom plagued by continuous misfortunes. Hoping to put an end to them, the king sends his knights to uncover the cause… but only one returns. To depict the story, both creators devised different illustrations, elements they couldn’t even anticipate, collaborating closely. It all sounds lovely, but… How’s the book, you ask? Well… let’s see.

Perhaps it’s due to the excessive hype or maybe it’s just not worth the fuss, but the initial reviews aren’t overly enthusiastic. Let’s face it: it’s not bad, but it’s not good either. Certainly not on par with ‘Calvin and Hobbes,’ something most of us could have already predicted. Basic nihilism that was already portrayed better through the mouth of a stuffed tiger.

Curious about what the creator of the best work of the last forty years is up to? Well, here it is. Want to read more ‘Calvin and Hobbes’? Maybe it’s time to, well, reread it. Because there won’t be any new strips. All we’re left with… is the mystery.

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5 million dollars for a comic book: the craziest prices ever paid in the world of comics

If you want to get Action Comics #1 from 1938 in good condition, the money better be like Monopoly for you, because you’re going to have to spend a lot of money. And it’s not the only one! Let’s take a look at those comics that have sold for absurd amounts.

If you live in the United States, it might be the perfect time to rummage through your attic or basement, because you might have a comic book from your grandfather hidden away that could set you up for life. Comics are expensive now (check any specialty store), but if you’re aiming to get your hands on the 1938 Action Comics #1 in good condition, your money better be like Monopoly money because you’re going to have to spend a fortune. And it’s not the only one! Let’s take a look at those comics that have been sold for absurd amounts.

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1-Superman #1 (1939): $5.3 million

The first comic featuring Superman in its title contained 5 short stories narrating different adventures of the Man of Steel. In fact, it was supposed to be a one-shot comic, but it sold so well that they ended up making it a regular series. It has now surpassed 850 issues, so it hasn’t done too shabby. This comic, in a grade of 8.0, cost a fortune. If you have a slightly worn copy, you’re not going home empty-handed either: a comic graded at just 5.0 was sold for a whopping $720,000.

2-Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962): $3.6 million

Who would have thought that the final issue of a failed and secondary series from a publisher that wasn’t even called Marvel yet would become the debut of Spider-Man, one of the most powerful superheroes in history? The comic had three other not-so-great stories, but if you have a copy in perfect condition, beware: with a grade of 9.6, it has been valued at $3.6 million. A bit worse, with a grade of 6.5, can make you the owner of $225,000. That’s nearly $10,000 per page, not something to complain about.

3-Action Comics #1 (1938): $3.4 million

Few comics illustrate the absurd inflation in the world of collectors better than Superman’s first appearance in a panel. In 2010, a high-quality copy (8.5) sold for $1.5 million. By 2021, the price had risen to $3.25 million for a similar one. But hold on, because last year, $3.4 million was shelled out for a grade 6 copy. Granted, it’s believed that only a hundred of these exist worldwide, so this astronomical price might not be as surprising as it seems, relatively speaking.

4-Captain America Comics #1 (1941): $3.12 million

Captain America punching Hitler in the face! One of the most iconic covers in comic book history that is currently selling, in another example of absurd inflation, for $3.12 million for a grade 9.4 comic. The same comic sold for… $915,000 in 2019. It seems like if you have a comic, you have a treasure. Literally.

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The creator of ‘The Boys’ and ‘Preacher’ will be the new writer for James Bond

There’s a catch, of course: these are not new novels, but comics. ‘James Bond’ number 1 will be released in January 2024

Ian Fleming created James Bond in 1953 in the novel ‘Casino Royale,’ but its popularity ensured that the character did not die with him in 1964. Authors such as John Gardner, Raymond Benson, or Anthony Horowitz have continued the legacy. However, now, on its 70th anniversary, it has been decided to take a new direction with the stories of the most famous secret agent of all time.

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Ennis. Garth Ennis.

Over the years, the character’s owners have approached dozens of famous comic authors to explore their ideas for writing new stories about Bond: Warren Ellis, Gail Simone, Kieron Cullen, among others. What no one expected was for the responsibility to fall on one of the wildest writers of all time, the author of ‘The Boys,’ ‘Hitman,’ ‘Punisher’ (one of the most memorable runs, at least), and ‘Preacher’: Garth Ennis.

There’s a twist, of course: it’s not about new novels but comics. The first issue of ‘James Bond’ will be released in January 2024, and it seems to have set aside the films and will focus solely on the original character. “When I read Fleming’s Bond novels, I saw much more potential in him than the larger-than-life character from the movies: a much darker figure living in a more interesting world,” commented the writer.

To give us an idea of what Ennis is going to do, we have the synopsis for the first of his adventures, ‘Your Cold, Cold Heart,’ in which Bond faces a silent killer, a compound, Stalvoda, who manages to kill an enemy without causing visible harm or leaving a trace. It will be 007’s mission to track him down, find him, and eliminate this Cold War relic before it destroys him. We’ll have to wait, for now, sipping a shaken Martini… but not stirred.

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A car crashes into a comic book store… and the store ends up making money in an unprecedented way

Imagine that you go into your favorite comic book store to buy a Batman comic and the latest Spider-Man, browse for a while, maybe get a Funko that you fancy, chat for a while with the shopkeeper… And, suddenly , a car crashes into the wall destroying everything in its path.

Imagine walking into your favorite comic book store to buy a Batman comic, check out the latest Spider-Man issue, maybe indulge in a Funko Pop figure you’ve had your eye on, and have a chat with the shopkeeper… And suddenly, a car crashes into the wall, destroying everything in its path. No, it’s not a horror movie or the plot of a nightmare by Kevin Smith: it’s something that happened to The Comic Shop, an independent store that not even Superman could save.

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Crash!

We’re heading to Oswego, a city in the state of New York, about a five-hour drive from Manhattan. On September 21st, a car slammed into the back of the store. The good part? Only the driver got injured, but they’re okay now. The bad part? Shelves stocked with independent comics and comic strips were shattered into a thousand pieces and destroyed.

Of course, the store has to do some repairs and rebuild the wall somehow. They’ve come up with a fantastic idea: selling the bricks that the car destroyed. “Own a piece of The Comic Shop’s history!” they announce. The price? A reasonable 20 dollars, which comes with a certificate of authenticity, just in case you ever find yourself on ‘Pawn Stars’ and they don’t trust what you’re saying.

If you have an extra $5 to spare, you can choose to have your brick personalized, adding your name, a special message, or your favorite line from any comic. Imagine hundreds of bricks proudly displaying “With great power comes great responsibility” all over New York State. Of course, they warn, these bricks are limited edition, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Unless another crazy driver decides to take their car for a spin through the European comics section, that is.

The curious thing is, in the United States, they seem to be accustomed to cars taking on comic book stores: it has happened in recent years in Alabama, New Jersey, Denver, and a handful of other places. Is it the fanaticism for new Marvel or DC adventures, or perhaps, is this country just more apocalyptic than we think?

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