Chris Sims
IDW’s ‘Super Secret Crisis War’ Hits Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends [Preview]
If you spent a lot of time watching Cartoon Network when you were a kid (or when you were, you know, in your twenties, no judgment here), then one thing you probably wanted to see more than anything else was a gigantic crossover between all of their original programming. Who didn't want to see Professor Utonium and Dexter swap scientific notes, or find out what would happen if the Powerpuff Girls took on Aku from Samurai Jack?
Well, in case you weren't already aware, that's actually happening right now, in the form of IDW's Super Secret Crisis War, and next week, it hits Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, courtesy of writer Ivan Cohen and artist Paulina Ganucheau, in a story about Pixel, shape-shifting robot that can duplicate any of the imaginary residents.
Karl Kerschl’s Hello Kitty Comic Is Adorable, Raises Even More Questions About Her Species
In case you haven't been keeping up on the anniversary celebrations of your favorite Japanese cuteness icons, this year marks the 40th anniversary of Hello Kitty. To celebrate the occasion, Sanrio -- which has recently been pretty cagey about whether or not Hello Kitty is actually a cat -- put out a hardcover featuring artists from all over the world, with comics celebrating 40 years of adorability.
One such creator was Karl Kerschl, the artist of the upcoming Gotham Academy, who contributed a sci-fi-inspired three-page strip that is absolutely delightful. There's just one problem: The third page was rejected by Sanrio for implying that Hello Kitty is actually a cat.
Top Ten Classic G.I. Joe Comic Book Stories
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.
Darwyn Cooke Illustrates 23 Variant Covers For The DC Universe You Wish Really Existed
If you are a jaded, bitter superhero reader like we are here at ComicsAlliance, America's Grumpiest Comic Book News Site™, then you probably respond with announcements of variant covers with an eyeroll and a noncommittal grunt, and may even go as far as to say "Variants! Bah!" out loud to an empty room full of action figures. That's what we usually do, but not today, friends and neighbors. Not today.
Because today, DC Comics announced that most of the cape (and one He-Man) comic they publish in December is going to have a "widescreen" variant by Darwyn Cooke, and holy cats, they are some of the most beautiful DC superhero pictures we have ever seen.
Top Ten Underrated Batman Villains
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 an quantified into 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 kicking it off with The Top Ten Underrated Batman Villains! The Dark Knight has an awful lot of notable foes, but there are plenty of also-rans, C-listers and one-shot villains who deserve better than being punched out and thrown into Blackgate, never to be seen again. So from the obscure to the unappreciated, here they are!
Marvel And Stomp Out Bullying’s Variant Covers Encourage You To Stop Being Such A Jerk
Superhero comics have always come down pretty hard against bullying, whether it's Superman sticking up for the little guy in 1938 or Marvel's more direct approach to having nerdy weaklings suddenly turn into super-strong crime-fighters who turn the tables and beat the living crap out of the bad guys. Captain America, Spider-Man and the Hulk all follow that classic formula, and heck, the X-Men are an entire school made up of an oppressed minority that spends most of their time fighting robots made of racism.
So yeah, Marvel is, historically speaking, pretty dead set against bullying. That's why it's no surprise that they're teaming up with the STOMP Out Bullying organization next month for a series of variant covers designed to raise awareness of bullying and help prevent it. The results are some pretty great covers that range from charming to genuinely hilarious.
Batgirl Takes The A.L.S. Ice Bucket Challenge (With A Very Special Guest)
Since you are reading this on the Internet, I'm going to go ahead and assume that you're already familiar with the Ice Bucket Challenge, wherein folks are being nominated by friends, fans and colleagues to dump buckets of freezing cold water on their heads on camera to raise awareness of (and money to combat) ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord -- or Lou Gehrig's Disease, as it is popularly known. Over the past few weeks, we've seen plenty of famous folks taking the challenge, but now, it has busted right through the Fourth Wal, and all the way to Gotham City's Burnside neighborhood.
This particular challenge was issued by Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr, the creative team for the revamp of Batgirl, and the challengee is Barbara Gordon herself, who seems set on finding out just how helpful that new jacket is going to be in fighting off the cold.
Hello Kitty Is Not A Cat, Everything You Know Is A Lie
If you're not already, you may want to sit down, and if you're already sitting down, you may want to go ahead and clear off a spot on the floor so that you can lay there and stare into space thinking about how everything you have been told in your life has been rooted in lies and deception. Are you sitting? Good.
So it turns out Hello Kitty is not actually a cat.
Gotham Academy: Becky Cloonan’s Super Cool Hero Portraits, Character Breakdowns and Guerrilla Marketing
I don't think it's possible for the staff of ComicsAlliance to get more excited for Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl's Gotham Academy than we already are, but if there's one thing that could do it, it's seeing the characters for the new book in a set of brand-new promo images drawn by Cloonan. Today, that's exactly what we've got, so prepare yourself, because they are fantastic.
Here’s The Thing, Episode 21: A Brief History Of Firestorm [Video]
If our weekly Ask Chris column isn't enough of definitive comic book (and pro wrestling) opinions for you, good news: ComicsAlliance is proud to present Here's The Thing, a series of videos where you can join our own extremely opinionated senior writer, Chris Sims, as he dives into comics history to explain why you're wrong and he's right.
This week, a few viewers write in to ask about the history of Firestorm, a relatively obscure DC Comics character who was most prominent in the 1980s. As you may already know, obscure DC characters from the '80s are Chris's entire jam, which sends him on a long explanation of who Firestorm is and how he came to be, from the DC Implosion to Brave and the Bold.