Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Review: The Guardian Line

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 14, 2007
Post category:Media Reviews
Post comments:5 Comments

Joe and Max #1
By Jason Medley, Claude St. Aubin & Chris Chuckery

Genesis 5 #1
By Lovern Kindzierski, Claude St. Aubin & Chris Chuckery

Code #1
By Mike Baron, Lovern Kindzierski, Howard Simpson, Dave Ross & Chris Chuckery
(All published by The Guardian line, December 2006)

Any sincere attempt by a comics publisher to reach new audiences (particularly from an all-ages perspective) is deserving of high praise, and Urban Ministries is doing exactly that with The Guardian Line, targeting the Christian demographic for whom the adventures of the superheroes they grew up with are neither representative of their beliefs nor appropriate for their children.

Of course, while good intentions are important, the final judgement should be based on the most basic of criteria: are they any good? The answer to that question is…they could be.

(more…)

Spider-Man 3: Here’s Venom!

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 13, 2007
Post category:Pop Culture
Post comments:0 Comments

Yesterday Superhero Hype posted a link to Medicom Toy Corporation's release of Spider-Man 3 12-inch action figures. The web site, Sideshow Collectibles, had posted galleries of Spider-Man, Black-Suited Spider-Man, and Venom.If you follow this **Spoiler** link **Spoiler** you will find clear shots of Venom in his movie incarnation.To quote a co-worker of mine, "Venom looks badass!" Click on the image for the big reveal!Nuff Said![Update]: Sideshow Collectibles has taken down the gallery featuring Medicom's Spider-Man 3 figures. Use this **Spoiler** link **Spoiler** to reach Empire Online's article, that only features Venom.

Fierman Out at DC Comics

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 12, 2007
Post category:Media Reviews
Post comments:4 Comments

NOTE: I've rearranged the updates, so if you're checking this for the first time, scroll all the way down for the original post. ***** UPDATE (1/16 @ 12:49m): The Beat's latest update stirs the pot a bit as former and current DC staffers debate the story. It's mostly he said/she said stuff involving Vinnie Costa's take on working for Fierman, but there's an interesting bit about Nellie Kurtzman's departure from a current staffer, Joe Castleman [not sure if that's his real name or not], that possibly sheds some light on things: "...everyone in marketing worked with Nelie Kurtzman. Really nice…

Marvel: Leaving Money on the Table

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 12, 2007
Post category:Media
Post comments:1 Comment

Comic Book Resources' review of 2006 has been made fun of by several bloggers for its participants lauding of Civil War as "the one project that had the biggest impact on the comics industry" -- which is arguably true, if for all the wrong reasons -- but I found this particular exchange much more interesting: If we're all agreed that sales are up and things look bright for the industry, how can we ride this success? The last time business was this good was the 1990s and we all know what happened there. What's the key to keeping things going…

What if Civil War #6 was good?

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 12, 2007
Post category:Uncategorized
Post comments:1 Comment

Tetsubo Productions is at it again with a hilarious remix of Civil War #6 that is a much more entertaining read than the real thing could possibly be.Go, read, laugh your ass off and, hopefully, be glad you didn't spend any money on the real thing. (And if you missed it last time, check out the remix of Civil War #5.)

On the Web: Zombies on a Plane

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 11, 2007
Post category:Personal
Post comments:2 Comments

I'm going to be very disappointed if someone, at some point in this story, doesn't say, "I am sick and tired of these muthaf**kin' zombies on this muthaf**kin' plane!"(Flight of the Living Dead, via murdershow.net)I've only recently started to dabble in webcomics and Flight of the Living Dead looks like the first one that will keep me coming back on a regular basis. (If it had an RSS feed, I'd track it in the Watchtower. Hint...) Scott Ewen's taken a can't-miss premise and, on a weekly schedule, is planning to roll out what looks like it will be an entertaining…

Much Ado About Cowboys & Aliens

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:January 10, 2007
Post category:Media Pop Culture
Post comments:5 Comments

I knew a lot of people in the comics industry didn't like Platinum Comics' Scott Rosenberg, but holy cow!Comics writer A. David Lewis (the excellent The Lone and Level Sands) absolutely flipped his lid last Friday upon seeing Entertainment Weekly's sporadic comics sales chart showing Cowboys & Aliens in the top spot, according to Midtown Comics:"What smarts most is that C&A is listed as the top-selling graphic novel. Yes, Entertainment Weekly crowns it as #1.First, that's crap. I think we all know that's crap. And, by 'we,' I mean people who actually go to comic book shops on an almost…