Summer Reading Week 2

This week in honor of the amazing success of the Dark Knight, I will be bring you the critically acclaim graphic novel, The Killing Joke.

Batman: The Killing Joke
(was written by Alan Moore and drawn by Brian Bolland)



For fans of : The Dark Knight Movie, Batman: The Animated Series and Watchmen.

This original graphic novel (with other notable novels like The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One) help established the "darker" side of Batman.

This original graphic novel published by DC Comics in 1988 and was the first to try and explain the dynamic relationship between the joker.

In this story, the joker tries to push commissioner Gordon to the brink of madness to prove that even the most upstanding citizen is capable of going mad after having "one bad day."
The joker;s origin is told in this book but since the joker is the one narrating, one cannot tell if his is telling the truth or lying to our face as his says in his own words "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice".



This novel has been nominated for several awards and is considered to be the best joker story ever told and is is one of the major influences in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.
Enjoy as you emerge yourself in the world of Batman.

Summer Reading week 1

Now to start of this bi-weekly series of graphic novels , I decide to chose a book that is simple but very enjoyable.

Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1 - Scott vs The world.
(written and drawn by Bryan Lee O'malley)



For Fans of : Video Games, Rock Music, Relationship drama and comedy.

This Book is the first volume of a 6 volume series, this digest size book (which means it's smaller than a regular book) and is drawn in black and white but that shouldn't stop you from picking up this up, it's book that will have you wanting to read it all in one sitting.

the story is about a 23yr old guy bass player in a rock band who meets the girl of his dreams, but a current girlfriend and a slew of evil ex-boyfriends of hers are standing in their way.

Along the way you get to meet an array of characters and locations in Canada where the book takes place.

Volumes 1 through 4 are out now with vol 5 and 6 coming in the near future and with the recent announcement of it being pick up to be made into a movie written and directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz).

See you in two weeks for the next volume of Summer Reading.

No T.V. to watch....read a graphic novel.

With the summer upon us and nothing new to watch on TV, I'm here to introduce you to a new and exciting stories for you to read, i want to introduce you to an amazing medium called Graphic Novels.

Each Week I will be introducing you to a different graphic novel that you will hopefully enjoy, even if you have been reading since you were a kid or picking up a graphic novel for the very first time

But first a little introduction to what is a "graphic novel" or "trades" are for those who may not know.

A graphic novel is a combination of a comic book and a novel it usually has complex storyline and are often aimed at mature audiences. It also encompasses comic short story anthologies, and in some cases bound collections of previously published comic-book series.

Graphic novels are typically bound in longer and more durable formats than comic books, using the same materials and methods as printed books.

My Collection of trades and graphic novels is extensive as you can all see for yourself,





So Join me in the next couple of weeks will we read thru graphic novels as fun as Scott Pilgrim to critically acclaimed novels like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.

WW Chicago: a Convention, a remembrance and a couple of signatures.

Wizard world Chicago was this past weekend and as always we had a great time,
three days of enjoyment from the world of comics.



Everyone that went with me each had a special moment at the convention, either was meeting one of their favorite creators or getting a awesome sketch by someone famous or even getting a great deal on merchandise.

Before any of that i would like to say something on a sad note,
The convention was saddened on Saturday when the news was announce on the passing of Michael Turner (Aspen founder & Comic Artist),
Michael Turner (age 37) died on Friday night after an 8 year battle with cancer.



I have met Michael Turner several times at past conventions and he was a great person, he was never too tired to say hello or to give a sketch,
he was a wonderful human being and will be missed by his many fans and friends.

This year we were a smaller group that previous years, with some of our friends not being able to either have time go or afford to make it, and one who decided to go to Disney world instead
(your loss, Louie).


My girlfriend Elaine and I Stood in line most of the weekend to get autographs from some of my all-time favorite creators like Brian Michael Bendis, C B Cebulski and Skottie Young.



I was able to get Greg Rucka's (Queen & Country, Checkmate) autograph



and David Petersen's autographs (both on the book and on the figurines of Mouse Guard)



My Brother Tony was able to complete some of his Comic book runs like fantastic four and Exiles



My sister Nancy was around getting anyone and everyone to sketch in her sketchbook with the grand prize being a sketch of Runaways' Molly punching Wolverine by Humberto Ramos



Not to mention all the books I bought and the Awesome Spider-man and batman figures i got .



Overall this was a fantastic weekend a little sad to see a great artist pass away before his time,
but we will continue to enjoy his work and the work of many others to come.
Next year Wizard World Chicago will be in August 6-9, 2009
hope to see many more people there.

Wizard World Chicago. . . .Here I Come.

For those who don't know I'm a Huge Comic Fanboy,
("fanboy is a term used to describe an individual who is devoted to a single subject, or to a single point of view within that subject, often to the point where it is considered an obsession." according to wikipedia.)
and every year since 1997, Wizard Entertainment has been hosts to four annual comic book conventions in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Texas.

I have been going since '99 or 2000 and Every year I look more and more forward to it and with most of my friends now reading comics, it has become a big group outing that everyone enjoys.

This year the Convention is in June (june 26-29) instead of late July or early August like previous years, this was done to keep up with having to be so close in dates with San Diego Comic-Con.

The Guest list looks to be very promising with many creators coming for the first time or back again after many years away.

Wizard world Chicago 2008

Guest of Honor

Warren Ellis (Thunderbolts, Astonishing X-men, etc)


Celebrities

Missy Peregrym (Actress – “reaper” Stick it”)

George “The Animal” Steele

Iron Sheik

Honky Tonk Man


Special Guests

Brian Michael Bendis (New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Powers, ult. Spiderman and Secret Invasion)

Alex Ross (Justice, Avengers/Invaders, Earth X, Kingdom Come)


Comic Creators

Mike Choi – X-men artist

Tony Daniel – Batman artist

Shane Davis – Superman/Batman artist

Adi Granov – Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas artist

Geoff Johns – Green Lantern, Action Comics writer

Alex Maleev – Daredevil: End of Days artist

Marc Silvestri – X-men: Messiah Complex artist, Top Cow Founder

Gail Simone – Bird of Prey, Wonder Woman writer

Arthur Suydam – Marvel Zombies cover artist

Brian Azzarello – 100 bullets, Batman: Gotham Knights writer

Art Baltazar – tiny titans artist

Joe Benitez – Batman, JLA artist

Alan Burnett – Batman: Gotham Knights writer

Mitch Breitweiser – Captain America: The Chosen artist

Jim Calafiore – Gotham: Underground artist

J Scott Campbell – Spider-man artist

C.B. Cebulski – The Loners, Marvel Fairy Tales writer

Olivier Coipel – Thor artist

David Finch – New Avengers artist

Brian J.L.Glass – Mice Templar writer

Greg Horn – Cover artist

Aaron Lopresti – Wonder Woman, Ms. Marvel artist

David Mack – Kabuki artist/writer

Sean Mckeever – Teen Titans writer

Angel Medina – Spider-man Artist

Mike Norton – Green Arrow/Black Canary artist

Mike Perkins - Captain America artist

Humberto Ramos – Uncanny X-men, Runaways artist

Brian Reed – Avengers: Illuminati, Ms Marvel writer

Greg Rucka – Queen & Country, Whiteout, Batman Writer

Billy Tan – Uncanny X-Men Artist

Bruce Timm – Batman: the Animated Series creator

Ethan Van Sciver – Green Lantern artist

Freddie Williams II – Flash, Robin artist

And Many More...

The creators that I most look forward to seeing/meeting are Brian Bendis, Greg Rucka, Humberto ramos and Alex Maleev.

I Can't Wait For the Con to get here and if you go this year,
look for me I will be the one with a huge stack of books in my arms
and a huge smile on my face.

Summer Movies are Here!!!

With Iron Man releasing today (May 02), it is the first movie to kickoff the Summer Blockbuster Movie Season.
There a lot of movies coming out this summer and this just the list is the ones that my friends and I are really looking forward to...

hope you are excited about these movies as I am.



For the Month of May.

MAY 02, 2009

IRON MAN





MAY 09, 2008

SPEED RACER





MAY 16, 2008

CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN





MAY 22,2008

NDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL





For the month of June:

JUNE 06,2008

YOU DON'T MESS WITH ZOHAN





JUNE 13

INCREDIBLE HULK & M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN'S THE HAPPENING




JUNE 27, 2008


WALL-E & WANTED




For the month of July:

JULY 02, 2008

HANCOCK



JULY 11, 2008

HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY





JULY 18, 2008

THE DARK KNIGHT





JULY 25, 2008

X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE (X-FILES 2)



and many more....

I can't wait for these movies especially The Dark Knight and The Incredible Hulk and Hellboy 2,

what are you looking forward to???