Greenflame » Comics

Star Trek meets LHS

stepheng — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:41:10 +0000

I love Star Trek, and have a soft spot for the Legion of Superheroes, but this could go horribly, horribly wrong.

How will the Legion of Superheroes meet the crew of the Starship Enterprise? Author Chris Roberson fills us in.

Comic Book Month

stepheng — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:29:22 +0000

Apparently it’s Comic Book Month at Auckland Libraries this month.

Tablets – Comic book saviour?

stepheng — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:05:05 +0000

I’ve tried reading comics on an iPod. It really didn’t work for me. I’ve tried the browser-based app from Comixology to read comics and that didn’t really work for me either, and neither do CBR/CBZ readers. So I remain with paper issues and trade paperbacks, but an A4 size tablet might do it (and I could afford more comics that way).

Anyway, see The iPad Could Revolutionize the Comic Book Biz — or Destroy It | Magazine.

Will be interested to see how Apple’s enforcement of in-App purchases affects this too.

All things green

stepheng — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:58:43 +0000

After waiting for somewhere over 30 years I finally got to see a Green Lantern movie on the big screen. And as a fanboy of longstanding I have to say my feelings about it were pretty mixed.

On one hand I think they got some things right – the aloofness of the Guardians, Sinestro’s focus at bringing order at all costs, the diversity of the Corps, Jordan’s confidence tempered by his father’s death, the alieness of Oa, and even Carol Ferris. Plus I think some of the CGI worked well. And the little things for the fanboys and girls – like Carol’s ‘Sapphire’ call sign, the green boxing glove construct, and Sinestro’s yellow ring.

What didn’t work so well was that it felt like two movies joined together – the space focus is a key point of the GL mythos, but it felt like they didn’t really think they could take it off Earth for most of the movie. So we ended up oscillating badly between the two. Secondly, the ‘training’ sequence was so abrupt it didn’t make sense at all – in the comic books it takes several months at least – which would make Kilowog’s comment at the end of the movie about training more real. Two villains didn’t work – either could have worked, but Parallax really should have been embodied in some way (like the big yellow insect thing in the comics). And marketed really badly too.

Interestingly, I’ve recently rewatched the first DVD animated Green Lantern film – Green Lantern: First Flight – and I have to say I think it works better in terms of the plot than the new movie. I also watched the new animated film Green Lantern: Emerald Knights which came out a week to two back. That too caught the spirit of the comic books, though not all of the stories in it were as strong as each other.

I’ll buy the DVD when it comes out, and in the meantime hope that if they ever make a sequel they get back out into space more and give Kilowog and Sinestro way more screen time.

In the meantime, here are some links from the GL universe:

DC Comics Green Lantern Secret Origin (PDF) : Shorter origin story over here.
List of Green Lanterns in the DC Universe including Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart and Kyle Rayner, plus Kilowog and Sinestro. No mention of Alan Scott though – but a good write up on him at Agent of S.T.Y.L.E.: Alan Scott, Earth’s First Green Lantern!.
io9′s ‘A beginner’s guide to Green Lantern’
Green Lantern: First Flight (Official Site)
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (Official Site)
Reviews over at Political Jesus: Review of Green Lantern: A fan’s perspective | Political Jesus; Movie Review Tri-Blog (Rod)- Green Lantern | Political Jesus; and Sunday Funnies: The Real Reason I Went And Saw Green Lantern | Political Jesus
Newsarama.com : Review: GREEN LANTERN Avoids Cheese and Charm in Film Debut
Newsarama.com : Infographic: Science Fiction Superhero – GREEN LANTERN
Newsarama.com : Why They Endure: GREEN LANTERN’s Everlasting Light
The moral power of Green Lantern – The Globe and Mail and Green Lantern and the Psychology of Willpower | Political Jesus.
"Green Lantern and Philosophy: No Evil Shall Escape this Book (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)" (Wiley)

Supervillains and Space Opera

stepheng — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:13:41 +0000

Having spent the last few months immersed in pop culture related to angels, vampires and wizards (see below), it’s time to return to the superhero and space opera genres. (If I have time later this year, then I’d been keen to whip out a paper on the theologies found in angel fiction).

In particular, I’ve been reading comic book related material that explores what happens when things turn to custard and the heroes don’t win. (Think Megamind (which I enjoyed) but with much, much darker overtones). Mark Waid’s writing explores this in several different ways – from the anarchy of unrestrained power in Kingdom Come, where the older heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman cease their roles, to the darkness in Empire with it’s triumphant villain, through to Irredeemable (which I’m currently readings) where the ‘Superman’ character goes rogue. All interesting explorations of power and its use and abuse.

I’ve also picked up Austin Grossman’s novel ‘Soon I will be Invincible‘ which also looks like it will explore some of the same themes.

And, when I’m done with that it’s a return to Neal Asher’s Polity universe with ‘The Technician’ and ‘The Gabble and other stories’.

Should all be good for the train ride to and from work.

Comic Book Literacy

stepheng — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 18:47:22 +0000

Has anybody seen this?

Comic Book Literacy : A Documentary Film About Comics in the Classroom and Beyond

Looks like it might be interesting.

Every single 2000 AD cover

stepheng — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:58:21 +0000

Somewhere out there there’s someone in an anorak who put this together – amazing. As well as reading some of the early issues with Dan Date in them (I’d already read some of the old Eagle comics) I read every issue between 25 August 1979 (when Tornado was absorbed into 2000AD) and the end of 1985 (we had a weekly subscription). A real mixed bag of stories and artwork, but somehow the comic seems to have survived.

Watch every single 2000 AD cover fly by in 4 minutes

Encounter – Comic Book Superheroes

stepheng — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:39:15 +0000

ABC’s Encounter programme’s most recent episode focuses on religion and comic books – Islam, Judaism and Christianity in four-colour frames.

Both the podcast and a ‘mini-comic’ of the episode are available at:

Encounter – 19 December 2010 – Comic Book Superheroes

First full-length Green Lantern trailer

stepheng — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:04:17 +0000

This could either be really good (they seem to be paying attention to the origin story, Jordan’s attitude, and the alieness of the GL Corps) or really bad (the CGI looks really dodgy, can’t decide between humour or drama, and too much time on Earth).

See the trailer at IO9.com – In the full-length Green Lantern trailer, destiny finds YOU.

(Still after watching the animated Wonder Woman movie over the weekend anything would be an improvement.)

Anabaptist Superheroes!?!?

stepheng — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:49:20 +0000

Someone recently pointed me towards Pax Avalon: Conflict Resolution, a ‘superhero’ comic book series with a Mennonite background. I can’t even imagine how that would play out, so I’ll try and get an issue or two and have a look.

There’s a review of it over at Pax Avalon by Steven “Reece” Friesen | ComixTALK

Pacifist comic book superheroes are few and far between. In my experience, even those espousing peaceful solutions (e.g. Wonder Woman and Dove of Hawk and Dove) end up in fist fights etc. more often than not, or are portrayed as impotent in the face of evil. I wonder how the Anabaptist dimension plays out in Pax Avalon?