Nerdy Nuggets of News: August 2006 Archives

Today should be declared a national holiday for comic-book fans: it's Jack Kirby's birthday! He would have been 89 years old today (thanks to Newsarama Blog for the info). Funny enough, when I was a kid, I really didn't care for Kirby's artwork or writing. I much preferred Neal Adams drawing Superman, John Buscema on Silver Surfer, or John Romita Sr. on Captain America. Only in my 20s did I gather an appreciation for his incredible artistic style and his unlimited imagination. Now my Kirby mania has extended to all my computer names (Silver Surfer, Black Bolt, Lightray, Metreon, Galactus) as well as this new domain name I've registered (www.attilan.com, more on that later). This particular cover on Fantastic Four #72 has one of my favorite Silver Surfer images.

Having started reading Marvel Comics in 1970, I was mystified by the DC house ads that announced "The King Is Coming!" The New Gods were unlike anything I'd ever read on the comic book newsstands. I didn't really know what to make of it. One concept I really dug was "The Black Racer", a harbinger of death who arrives on flying skis. His touch can kill even a New God. When he's not killing people, he lies comatose in a hospital ward as Sergeant Willie Walker. It was Kirby's contribution to the blaxploitation era, but it was really far out. In many ways, Grant Morrison reminds of me of Kirby, with his wild imagination and out of the box concepts.

Kirby returned to Marvel in the late 70s after his DC contract was terminated. He resisted returning to any of his old characters, except for Captain America, he did grace a number of Marvel covers. This particular cover to Iron Man #80 had a wonderful depiction of Tony Stark in outer space--I think I bought the issue just for this image. I was terribly disappointed with the same old George Tuska art inside--how could anything match a Kirby cover!

Celebrate King Kirby's birthday. Dig out his old comics and read them. Or better yet, create something original. Nuff said.

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Here's an interview that PopCultureShock did with the producer of Justice League Heroes. There's lots of gameplay videos so you can see how the characters perform. Flash's superspeed fighting ability is really cool. There's no "magic health potions" in this Diablo-style game--you just regenerate health Halo-style by taking a small break from the action.

Thanks to PopCultureShock for letting us steal their content! Nuff said.

This has already been mentioned on Newsarama's blog, but it can't be repeated often enough. There's a blog titled "A Spirited Life", written by Will Eisner's biographer, Bob Adelman. Adelman is interviewing a series of comic book greats (Howard Chaykin, Denis Kitchen, etc.) about Eisner's impact on the graphic novel medium. The latest interview with Darwyn Cooke is really full of great news about Cooke's plans for the new Spirit series. Apparently the Spirit/Batman special will be forty pages long and set in a past era. Cooke does plan on bringing Ebony back into the ongoing Spirit series, but will update that character along with bringing the series into the modern era. If anyone is good at doing a modern look with a retro feel, it's Cooke.

I can't wait for the new Spirit--I got hooked on Eisner's creation ever since The Spirit #1 was published by Warren Magazines. Cooke mentions the cover of The Spirit #3, which had this dynamic image of Denny Colt trying to outrun a train (click to see it a little larger). One day I'll create a gallery of those Warren Spirit covers. Nuff said.

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Comic Book Resources first tipped me off to the real-life Power Girl model (click to expand the photo) at last weekend's Wizard World Chicago 2006. Now, I feel it's my job to bring you boys the finest in PG coverage, especially since the words "Power Girl Breasts" bring the biggest hits to our web site. I did some ol' fashioned Mike Wallace-style investigative reportin' and found the model's name is actually Liana from the Ed the Sock TV show. This is a Canadian show that got picked up by G4 for a while. Liana has a blog on Ed's official site where she mentions her trip to WW, and there's also a gallery with a bullzillion pics of her dressed up as Power Chick. Check 'em out, little doggies! Nuff said.

External Link:
Liana's Gallery

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