Spider-Man explained in an adorable and hilarious nutshell

If you didn’t check out the King-Size Spider-Man Summer Special two weeks back, well you missed a ton of web-slinger fun courtesy of Paul Tobin, Colleen Coover and Chris Giarusso (not to mention a cool Spidey/Falcon retro team-up from Keith Giffen, Rick Burchett, Wil Quintant and Nate Piekos)!

However, fun as the whole super-sized issue was, the simplest yet most hilarious moment may have come on the intro page in a single-panel strip by Coover.

It’s the the wall-crawler’s origin in a silly six words! Good stuff, just like the rest of the issue, so go pick it up!

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Catching up on comics: late July’s best of the bunch!

Hey Folks! I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a week’s vacation (Hey, it’s summer! I gotta get some fun in the sun in some time!), which led to much relaxing and quite a bit of catching up on comics. I managed to pound through all the books from the last two weeks of July that had been piling up on my desk, so I figured I’d drop my top recommendations from the past half month now that I’m caught up (ok, ok…I’m actually still a week behind after missing last week, but give me a break and just read the recs!)…

Ambush Bug: Year None #1 (of 6)
It’s Keith Giffen—have I mentioned I’m a big Keith Giffen fan? No? Well, I’m a big Keith Giffen fan!—and it’s some good, irreverent fun, with some snazzy, old school interiors to boot!

Joker’s Asylum: Scarecrow
Wicked cool interiors from Juan Doe alongside a classic slumber party horror scenario make for a classic and spooky look into the Bat-rogue’s world. With this issue added to Jason Aaron’s Penguin story and J.T. Krul’s Poison Ivy tale, this series is doing justice to the one of the main things that make the Dark Knight one of comics’ top sellers: his villains!

The Exterminators #30
This book has been one of my favorite reads for a while and it’s conclusion two weeks ago was amazingly bittersweet: I’m bitter because I want more, but man, what an ending! If you haven’t checked out the story about city pest control bad asses and their battle against a killer swarm of bugs bent on bringing back an evil Egyptian insect god, now you can go scrounge up all 30 issues and indulge! Get on it!

Blue Beetle #29
Jaime Reyes is hands down my favorite character in the DCU, so I was super pleased to see his book pick up again with a larger storyline after Will Pfeiffer’s one-shots (they were fun, but one-shots…not much gravitas). Now, if you read the cover, you might have expected not only the return of the radical Rafael Albuquerque on art, but also writer John Rogers (the man responsible for The Reach story in BB, known for its massive amounts of pure awesomeness), and if you didn’t read the internal credits you would never have guessed the series has a new full-time scribe in Matthew Sturges. Take the one-shots out of the picture and it easily could have been mistaken for a continuation of Roger’s run—and that’s a distinctly good thing!

The book’s definitely got a new voice on the insectoid-monnikered hero with Sturges, but one so inline with everything that Rogers did that I’m really excited to see where Sturges takes things. He’s already got the most important part—the characters—down, so I’m psyched for the rest of his stories.

The bottom line: if you haven’t read Blue Beetle before, there’s no better time to start enjoying the adventures of El Paso’s superhéroe numero uno (but seriously, go back and read everything from issue #1 onward if you have the time and funds—you won’t be sorry)!

Teen Titans #61
It’s a Blue Beetle and Kid Devil-centric issue (more importantly Blue Beetle, read above), need I say more?!

Ok, Sean McKeever’s got a good handle on this team. It may not be the coolest incarnation or the most-seminal run ever, but it’s darn fun and it’s got my boy in blue rockin’ alongside Robin here and there, so you know I’m in!

Black Panther #39
One of my favorite writers, Jason Aaron, takes the reigns on the king of Wakanda’s book for a three issue tie-in to Secret Invasion.
And. It’s. AWESOME!
It’s war epic meets superhero story mashed together with a classic sci-fi alien invasion, and it features plenty of Skrull decapitation, so yeah…awesome!
(I chatted with Jason recently—mostly about Wolverine: Manifest Destiny but a smidge about BP‘s SI tie-in—so check that out here if you feel so inclined!)

Skaar: Son of Hulk #2
If you saw my review of Skaar #1 then you not only know that I am a huge fan of Greg Pak’s Hulk work, but also loved issue #1 of the third part in his big, green epic! Issue #2 just keeps things rolling on what is set to be one of my favorite weekly reads for a long time coming!

I also really enjoyed Fantastic Four: True Story and Immortal Iron Fist #17, but you can read more about my thoughts on those books here (FF) and here (Iron Fist)!

Well, that’s it for this round of “Best of the Bunch!” Hope those recommendations help out a few of you readers in need of some comicky goodness!

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Why I’m loving Paul Cornell’s ‘Fantastic Four: True Story’

Week in and week out, as comics stream into Wizard HQ, I end up reading quite a few books each week: the good, the bad and the ugly.

So after all that reading, when I end up finding a writer that constantly delivers for me as a reader—in this case Captain Britain and MI 13 scribe Paul Cornell (go read his Marvel Max mini Wisdom for a great intro into the crazy goodness he’s been bringing to the 616)—I get really excited to see their names attached to a new project.

On top of that, I am always drawn into a comic that has an awesome and original premise. Hearing Cornell was doing an FF mini got me pretty psyched. Then I read the solicit text, which explained that the book would be an in-continuity tale where Marvel’s first family has to venture into the world of fiction to battle evil alongside characters from the works of Jane Austen and Mary Shelley—among other famous authors—well…yeah…I’m sorry, do I even need to explain how awesome that is?!

Now, that would normally be enough to have me raving (and so far, it is!), but Cornell’s humor and handle of the FF in this super self-aware tale is just a joy to read. So, here are a few of the moments that led to the gush-fest that is this blog post:

All images below can be clicked on and enlarged

Instead of being yet another writer working with the FF trying to write new—and usually stale—dialogue between Ben and Johnny when they’re fighting/arguing, Cornell takes a completely different and hilarious route and gives a cool nod to anyone who’s ever read a Fantastic Four comic. No need to say what’s already been said 700 bajillion times, ya know?


And six pages later…

Ok, maybe I found this funnier than most as I’m possibly the only comic fan out there who shamelessly has the soundtrack to the Rachel Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid-starring “Josie and the Pussycats” on his iPod, but the idea of Earth’s biggest brain being a big fan of that flick is definitely worth a good laugh either way.



Another fun little nod as these “real world” heroes—from a fictional work, obviously—enter the world of fiction and can see their own speech bubbles. It’s the only way—as readers—we’ve ever seen them talk, so just seeing them get a kick out of it is fun (and when was the last time we saw a Reed Richards just having fun with discovery and not fretting about Skrulls or ruining his marriage with too much work? It’s great to see the guy in good spirits again!). Plus, it helps establish how crazy things are set to get if “talk bubbles” are just the tip of the Fictoverse iceberg.

Really, really enjoyable writing aside, how can you not get giddy for some amazing Niko Henrichon covers?!

Not enticed to check it out after all that?

First, that’s crazy!

Second, check out my interview with Paul Cornell for more on the series that should turn you around if I haven’t made a believer of you yet.

It’s my pick of the week and I highly recommend any fans of truly imaginative tales give it a shot. It’d be near impossible to be let down by this story, and it’s only issue #1!

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Well now, isn’t this some interesting ‘Punisher: War Zone’ news…

Hey folks, just got this link from Ain’t It Cool News sent to me about the “Punisher: War Zone” trailer at Comic-Con. Here’s a taste of the juicy gossip/interesting information it contains…

“Well when I posted that Comic Con footage with the sh–ty music and terrible scratches (that otherwise rocked)—a source of mine that I’ve been in contact for years inside Lionsgate contacted me out of sheer frustration, whom I’ll call JIGSAW. It seems that after a summer, where we’ve had incredible success with Superhero properties that were treated with respect by filmmakers that were left to do their thing… that Lionsgate has turned a deaf ear to all of that.”

The article seems to confirm that the ridiculous nature of the Red Band trailer I talked about earlier is likely due to Lionsgate and not the creative minds behind the film.

Now, the dudes over at Ain’t It Cool don’t have a history of making false claims, so I’m taking this as pretty reliable info (as reliable as news can be when delivered by unnamed Hollywood sources) at this point.

I guess the main point of this post was simply to pass that on and say that while the aforementioned Red Band trailer was pretty silly, I could still see a rad movie coming out of that. But now, with rumors/info like this coming out about it, I’m inclined to think ol’ Frank Castle might have some egg on his face come premiere time.

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‘Punisher: War Zone,’ my god, what have you done?!

I’m not sure how many of you have caught the new Red Band trailer of “Punisher: War Zone,” but here’s just a list of initial reactions I’ve heard after having the link sent to me and passing it around to some others (friends, colleagues, etc)…

“This is the goriest trailer I have ever seen.”

“This could either be the best movie ever or the worst movie ever…there is no middle ground for a movie like this.”

[In response to above comment] “…or it could be the best movie ever BECAUSE it is the worst movie ever…I could get behind that!”

“If that is the trailer…this is a snuff film.”

I could grab some screen caps of the crazy gore and post them here, but honestly, I don’t want someone to walk into those without some forewarning. So, if those comments have piqued your interest, or you’re the “it mght gross me out, but now I have to see it” type, then click here and watch the trailer. But be warned, it is a gore-fest the likes of which has never been seen in a “superhero” film!

Now, I’m a big fan of HBO’s “Rome,” so hearing Ray Stevenson was going to be the new Punisher was awesome news for me. I’d seen him cut down gladiators, so heck yeah I’d be up for seeing him chop the mob into bits! Early photos from the set had me pretty psyched, as well! It looked good, dark and pretty cool. Then, the first trailer hit and featured far too much chandelier swinging which kinda led me to move from psyched to apathetic about the film.

But now, after this trailer…it’s like…I don’t want to say I want to see it…but, hell yes, I will see it! It might be awful, or it might be surprisingly good…that’s up to you after you watch it.

Me? Well, I can see this movie being a bit like a semi-serious “Shoot ‘Em Up” and just being so much ridiculous fun that it’ll be great. Conversely, it could easily just be too much gore to work, even with the Punisher.

I just hope they aren’t aiming for super-serious, because they’ve already lost that with Frank Castle punching in faces like they’re month old pumpkins.

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The New, More ‘Mortal’ Iron Fist!?

So, I just checked out Duane Swierczynski’s first issue of Immortal Iron Fist.

Being a huge fan of Brubaker and Fraction’s relaunch and run on the book, I was as bummed as everyone else to hear they’d be moving on. But, when Marvel announced the Swiercz would be taking the reigns, I had this quiet hope that the book would continue it’s radness. Sure, he only had one or two issues of Cable under his belt when the announcement was made, but something told me he had the chops to rock this chop-socky book in a way that would live up to what came before while taking the book in a whole new direction.

I’m happy to say that after one issue, as far as I’m concerned, the Swiercz is on target and kickin’ this book like a kung-fu foot through a few planks of wood!

Seriously, don’t be deterred by the change of team. If you liked this book before, you’re still going to like this book. There is no drop-off at all, which is saying something as the book was definitely of a high-quality before, and the story is super cohesive with everything that was set up in the previous arc. I don’t want to say to much, because you should really read it…ok, there’s a dragon-man who hunts down and kills Iron Fists, an old west Iron Fist flashback story and some Danny Rand/Misty Knight sexiness! It’s pretty awesome!

My only real gripe is David Aja’s not on art duty anymore. New artist Travel Foreman’s style takes a little getting used to, and while his more talky scenes aren’t really to my liking, when the guy can draw actions scenes like these…

…well, that’s really the most important aspect of drawing Marvel’s Immortal Weapon!

So—as if it weren’t already obvious—my recommendation is to go pick it up!

Also, we ran an interview with the Swiercz yesterday over on Wizard Universe proper, so go check it out if you’re craving more info on the book.

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Sketchy Galore!

This one’s a long time coming folks! For over three weeks now I’ve been wanting to get this up for you kind readers, but with the cool down from Wizard World Philly meshing right into the crazy-hectic buildup to Wizard World Chicago, I haven’t had the time to post this SUPER AWESOME WIZARD STAFF SKETCHBOOK!

That’s right, a sketchbook from Wizard World Philly chock-full of art from the Wizard Staff!

Basically, we’re all at a convention where sketches are being done left and right and it motivated all of us to try our extremely amateur hands at some sketches of our own. Most were done just screwing around and over a few beers, but we all thought it’d be a good time to get them up for people to see as they’d be at least worth a few laughs to the our minimal but fiercely loyal fanbase (thanks to all seven of you!).

Anyway, here’s a quick sample…

“Jordan”
By Alex Kropinak



“Mel by JIM”
By Jim Gibbons

Yep, that’s Top Cow’s Mel Caylo!

Head here for the rest of the sketchbook with drawings by Wizard legend Mike Cotton, Wizard TV‘s Alex Kropinak, Indie Jones‘ David Paggi and a few more by me.

Sadly, there was an entire series of drawings done in crayon at a Chili’s that got ruined in Dave’s backpack…but hey, be thankful you got these hilarious doodles!

And yes, we’re well aware they may just be funny to us, as they are drawings by us of us…but hey, that’s what blogs are for right?!

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Ed Brubaker…still the man.

You regular readers will—of course—remember that I am a huge (HUGE!) fan of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ ICON series Criminal, but let me tell you, as I’ve been catching up on comics (I’m a week or so behind) and just read Criminal Vol. 2 #3 which had a bit of semi-silly dialogue that just made me go, “Sh— yeah! This series can be kinda cheesy and still rock!” I mean, I have a Criminal t-shirt and the poster on my wall, so don’t take this in jest when I tell you I love, but laughed out loud at, this line…

Seriously, just one line in a great issue, but I had to give mad-props (yep, I just said “mad-props”) to the Bru for writing that bit of dialogue!

And even more seriously, if you aren’t reading this book on a monthly basis, what the hell is wrong with you?! Dig the scratch out of your couch cushions and pick this up on a monthly basis, it’s well worth it!

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And the winner(s) is(are)…

Ok folks, the reader votes have been tallied and my winner has been selected, not to mention—and much more importantly— I’ve made my pick. So, it’s time to announce the first ever winners of the Loudest Monkey Semi-Annual Coloring Contest!

Taking how the prize of Reader’s Choice is Clay Stooshnoff a.k.a. (._Y_.)!

Even after subtracting the additional votes he admitted to on the WUMB, Clay pulled out the top spot via voting! But since this blog isn’t a freakin’ democracy, there is an overall winner that needs naming, and as the tyrannical king of this little corner of the interweb, it’s my job to lay down the law on this.

So, without further ado, the overall winner and champion of the coloring contest…it’s first entrant, KrptKrwly!

This entry just captured the soul of The Loudest Monkey right from the get go and set the bar high (way too high, in fact) for anyone to reach! Well done, Krpy! You are a winner in my book—and on this blog, that’s the only book that counts!

Also, a big thanks to everyone who participated! It was a ton of fun to kick off these coloring contests, and we got them off to a great start. Make sure to stay tuned here, because you never really know when another one of these puppies (and by puppies, I mean contests) is going to show up!

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Move over Springsteen, I’m “The Boss!”

Hello again, fair readers! It’s time for a little less looking at words and a little more watching of videos! Straight from Wizard TV comes the newest of—what I like to call—The Alex and Jordan Adventures (actually, I think they called them that to me once and I just went with it…anyway…)! Watch till the end for a cameo appearance by one large, hairy, blogging simian-like someone you may recognize! Or, you could just watch it because it’s pretty fudgin’ funny!

Now that you’ve seen the hilarious might of Wizard TV, I’m sure you’re all aching for more. Well, fret not, Alex and Jordan have been cooking up some seriously comedic videos for a while that you may or may not have seen.

Here are some must-watch videos over at Wizard TV:
• Alex and Jordan head down to investigate some Dark Knight viral marketing…featuring hilarious antics!
• The Wizard World Philadelphia intro video. Good laughs and a cat!

Basically, you may have been checking out Wizard TV for our great interviews, but there’s some serious funny going on over there as well. And speaking of funny on Wizard TV, if you haven’t seen any of the animated Twisted ToyFare Theatres…well…get your butt over there and check’em out or you’re fired!!

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