Chris Sims
DC’s Newest Heroines Olive & Maps Get The Grand Tour In ‘Gotham Academy’ #1 [Preview]
Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl's Gotham Academy is the comic I never knew I wanted until it was announced, and every moment since then has been an eternity of waiting for it to actually hit shelves. Now, with the book set for release this Wednesday, we are finally on the verge of living in a world where there is a high school adventure drama that also has Batman in it.
If, however, you can't wait, then I have some good news. Today, DC released a five-page preview of the new series, in which our lead characters, Olive SIlverlock and Maps Mizoguchi, take a tour of the ominous and imposing Gotham Academy, before immediately being caught in an equally ominous and imposing thunderstorm. Because of course there's a thunderstorm; heavy rain and blood-red skies are the only two types of weather allowed in Gotham City.
The Marvel Comics Connection To Super Sentai And Power Rangers [Video]
You may have already noticed that I'm a pretty big fan of going really deep into the origins and minutiae of my favorite characters. That's one of the reasons that I really appreciate what ToyBountyHunters has been doing with their in-depth series on the origins of the massive, long-running Super Sentai series, the franchise that gave us the source material for our American Power Rangers. They spend a lot of time discussing the origins and development of the series, an as someone who really likes that stuff, it's fascinating.
The same goes for their latest video, the third part of their retrospective, where they turn their attention to the connection between Marvel Comics and the development of Super Sentai -- and while I already knew all about the tokusatsu series about Spider-Man -- known colloquially as Japanese Spider-Man -- there's a lot in there that I wasn't familiar with, like how Battle Fever J started out as a Captain America show.
The Top Ten Worst Haircuts In Superhero Comics
If there's one thing we've learned from our years on the Internet, it's that there's no aspect of comics that can't be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of ten. And since there's no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we're taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Ten Lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics.
This week, we're taking a look back on the many mullets bowl-cuts and other assorted disasters with the ten worst haircuts in superhero comic history!
Eric Canete’s ‘Arkham Manor’ Cover Is Mind-Blowingly Rad
Listen, all you had to do to get me excited about Gerry Duggan and Shawn Crystal's upcoming Arkham Manor was tell me exactly what it's about. The idea of housing all of Gotham City's most notorious arch-criminals right there in Batman's ancestral home is completely bonkers and incredibly intriguing, and I am exactly the kind of person who is going to be stoked for that from day one.
If, however, there was anything that could get me more excited, it's seeing an amazing variant cover for the first issue by illustrator, animation artist and comic book storyteller Eric Canete. It's a phenomenal image, and while the issue won't be out until next month, Canete took to Twitter to post not only the cover, but his whole process from start to finish.
Fox News Said Some Incredibly Stupid Bullsh*t About Comics Again [Video]
The great thing about Fox News is that it's only Tuesday and you're already about to see the dumbest thing you'll see all week.
In this case, it's a clip from Fox's weekend morning show, where three people with the collective brains of a sack of doorknobs turn their reasoned and well-thought out opinions to the world of comic books. Specifically taking on Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman's upcoming run on Thor, where the iconic Marvel hero will get a new identity as a woman, and complaining about Wonder Woman's costume in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice film by comparing it to Jim Lee's redesign from four years ago that, according to them, appears to be a product of what they characterize as fundamentalist Sharia Law.
No, really, this dope on the left actually says that.
Gotham’s Finest: Nine Great Comic Books About Jim Gordon And The Gotham City Police Department
This week marks the premiere of Gotham, the new Fox television show focusing on Jim Gordon's first year as a cop in Batman's hometown, and the origins of young Bruce Wayne and the people who will one day become the greatest enemies of his war on crime. That the show exists at all is a testament to how strong Jim Gordon and the rest of the Gotham city Police Department are as heroes in their own rights.
So if Gotham has you in the mood to read about Gordon, Harvey Bullock and the rest of the GCPD -- or if you just want to dive into some solid Batman comics where the spotlight isn't entirely on the Dark Knight -- then I've got some suggestions for great comics about Gotham's top cops!
Batman Is A Fact Of Life: Greg Rucka Reflects On His Batman Work, Part Three [Interview]
To say that Greg Rucka had a profound impact on DC Comics in the 21st Century is underselling things quite a bit. After arriving on the scene in the late '90s, he became one of the few writers to have written all three of DC's biggest characters, with critically acclaimed runs on Action Comics and Wonder Woman. It was on Batman, however, where he made his biggest impact, as one of the writers for the year-long No Man's Land crossover, the relaunched "New Gotham" era of Detective Comics, and cowriter of the enduringly influential Gotham Central.
In part one of our in-depth interview, Rucka discussed his arrival in Gotham with the popular "No Man's Land" megaseries. In part two, the writer detailed his involvement in the "New Gotham" revamp of 2000, including the Bruce Wayne: Fugitive saga, the introduction of Sasha Bordeaux, and the difficult transition from longtime Batman group editor Dennis O'Neil to Bob Schreck. Today we finish our three-part interview series with a look at Gotham Central, the book that focused on the non-superhero police detectives of Gotham City. Rucka speaks at length about how looking at Batman from the outside changes how the character works, the nature of collaboration with series co-writer Ed Brubaker and artist Michael Lark, and how the book produced one of the greatest Joker stories of all time.
‘The Devastator’ #11 Goes Otaku With Felipe Smith, KC Green And Joe Lo Truglio
The change of seasons has brought a chill to the air and widely available apple cider once again, but those are merely a prelude to something better: The new issue of The Devastator, our favorite comedy magazine. In previous issues, Devastator's mix of comics, text pieces, graphs and the occasional board game has taken on topics like hipsters, spies, crossovers and even the apocalypse, but this time, the quarterly mag is taking on anime, manga, and even a few video games in the newest Otaku-themed edition. And yes: The graphs are back, in the form of a pretty amazing flow chart helping you to answer the question of "Is This Hentai?"
Contributions to The Devastator: Otaku include a cover by All New Ghost Rider writer and Peepo Choo creator Felipe Smith, a new installment of The Anime Club by Gunshow and Back creator K.C. Green, and a series of ads for an anime sex pillow dating service featuring Brooklyn Nine Nine's Joe Lo Truglio. Seriously. Check out a preview below!
My Little Pony’s ‘Equestria Girls’ Music Video Features Horse-Human Hybrid Playing Bass Solo, Presumably To Be Enticing
If you're a die-hard fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, then there's a chance that you saw the first Equestria Girls movie that came out last year. If that's the case, feel free to skip ahead. Everybody else, settle in, this is going to get weird real quick.
Batgirl Gets Bedazzled On Cameron Stewart’s Fabulous Cover To ‘Batgirl’ #37
By this point, you've probably noticed that we here at ComicsAlliance are already huge fans of the new Batgirl of Burnside costume making its debut next month in Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr's Batgirl #35, but there are some out there who don't like it. For a few eaders, the stylish leather jacket and snapped cape just seems so much less practical and realistic than the heavily seamed skintight spandex, leading them to express genuine concern about Batgirl's effectiveness as a crimefighter.
Fortunately for those compassionate souls, Cameron Stewart has made a concession in the form of a variant cover for December's Batgirl #37, featuring a new variant of Batgirl's costume that is more practical.