Review: Fanboys vs. Zombies #5

It’s been a while since I checked in on this book and I have to say that that it heads in a strange direction in this issue. It’s not that it shouldn’t head in the direction it does, its just the way in which it gets there that is strange. Finally a character is introduced that isn’t fucking annoying when they talk, but he’s too self-aware and becomes more of a commentary mouth piece for the comic medium at large.

Our Crew has finally made it out of the Convention center and into the Gaslamp District. Low and behold there are Zombies outside as well! The shit hits the fan and we’re flashed forward to a month later and we see a bad ass looking black dude on a motorcycle looking down at the pitchers mount of Petco Netco Park. Amanda shoots up a flare and he rides his motorcycle off a roof and lands it perfectly. As he races down the streets he pulls out one of his double swords and begins chopping off heads. He winds up in trouble though and needs Amanda to rescue him. Apparently they were playing a game and Amanda is winning eleven nil. Back at Fort Awesome, Kyle breaks the fourth wall and all my hopes and dreams with it.

It’s issue five and this story continues to try way too hard to be hip and cool. “Fort Awesome” is one thing, but the fourth wall stint was not funny. I get the gag and if it had been in the middle of a movie, maybe it would have been funny.

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SDCC '12: Eastman Returns To Drawing Duties For TMNT Annual #2

IDW Publishing and Nickelodeon are excited to announce the launch of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES ANNUAL 2012, a 48-page jam packed story written by co-writers Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman, and drawn by co-creator Eastman. It’s been nearly 20 years since Eastman has created a full TMNT story, but fans will relish this Annual filled with non-stop downtown action and mayhem that is well worth the wait!

“After nearly 20 years I find myself once again fully engrossed in the wonderful mythos of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and having the absolute best time in my life!” said Eastman. “The intense creative energy flying around between IDW and Nickelodeon is when this idea was inspired and born, so with this incredible team, I'm back on the drawing board--hanging with the boys, knocking out a full blown epic--and it is AWESOME!”

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UPDATE!-WTF: Kirkman's Zombie Car By Hyundai

Hyundai has teamed up with Robert Kirkman to create a "Zombie Survival Machine" version of their Elantra Coupe. If you make it to this years Comic Con there will be a line or a mob ( I'm guessing) to witness its unveiling and no genius, you can't buy one to kick it with the homies while you are out cruising for tail.

The car was designed by Kirkman who tapped a decade of experience vanquishing ( having your characters standing around talking doesn't really count ) zombies to come up with the key protective features of the vehicle. These include a spiked cow catcher for plowing through slow-moving zombie mobs, spinning blades protruding from the wheel hubs, slotted metal plates protecting the windows and a metal fence that pops up around the sunroof opening to create a protected firing position. The car runs on all-terrain rally style tires for high speed driving and has an old-school CB radio to communicate with other survivors.

I liked it better when it was called Mad Max...

UPDATE!! It sucks!

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SDCC '12: Street Fighter Live-Action TV Announced! Fuck Yeah

Maybe its the fact that I just watched EVO, or the fact that I just bought a Chun-Li shirt; but I am very excited by this announcement. Granted I have no idea what the production value will be, but the fact that it's an episodic series has me in good spirits. We can all agree that the cartoon series was good, but the movies sucked. There is just too much story to be condensed into two hours. Right now this is my favorite announcement to come for the Con.

Capcom USA, Inc. and Assassin's Fist Limited have signed an agreement to produce a live-action series based on Capcom®'s successful 'Street Fighter®' game franchise.

To be called 'Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist', this thrilling, multi layered series will take the audience back to the formative years of the iconic characters, Ryu and Ken, as they live a traditional warrior’s life in secluded Japan. The boys are, unknowingly, the last practitioners of the ancient fighting style known as ‘Ansatsuken’ (Assassin’s Fist). The series follows them as they learn about the mysterious past of their Master, Gouken, and the tragic and dark legacy of the Ansatsuken style. Can their destiny be changed…or will history repeat itself?

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Movie Review: Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope

I’m sure that some people scoffed at the idea of a movie about Comic-Con. After all it’s an event that even the attendees themselves can’t fully cover and explain and yet Morgan Spurlock gave it a shot and succeeded for the most part. Really the only aspect of the Con that they didn’t cover is the general audience experience because frankly that’s just not very interesting.

The film follows six people as they go through their experience leading up to the con and during. There are four core people that it follows: Holly a costume designer that is premiering her Mass Effect costumes at the Masquerade Ball with her team, Skip and Eric two artists independently trying to be discovered at the con and Chuck the owner of Mile High Comics. Each of these people represent very different experiences for attending the con, but there are two more that you’ll probably closer relate to and that’s Anthony a toy collector and two love birds James and Se Young.

The film starts off by introducing the different people before they head to the con and essentially establishes what they’re goal is for that year’s event. For the artists you learn about their ambitions and goal of being discovered through portfolio reviews. While Holly’s focus is on the Masquerade Ball where she hopes their suits will be discovered by studios at the Con. While Chuck just wants to sell a lot of comic books, but ultimately he represents the fears of comic industry.

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WTF: Here's That Cirque du Soleil Comic You Wanted

So there's a show called KA in Cirque du Soleil and Marvel thought is would be really rad to bring it to you in comic book form...

It's about Imperial Twins separated by war and and their quest to bring their kingdom together.

Whoa, I'm only there if Wolverine shows up and well...just showing up is cool I guess. Wait, you know what? NO! That's not going to be enough! I demand more from my Marvel! So throw in X-23 and Wolvie as the twins and we'll talk.

Mark Your Calender: Comic-Con Episode IV Coming To DVD July 10th

Chris Ball, President and CEO of LA-based film production and distribution company Wrekin Hill Entertainment, and Joel Weinshanker, President and CEO of NECA Films, a division of NECA, announced today that Morgan Spurlock's (SUPER SIZE ME) COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN'S HOPE will be released on DVD ($19.99 SRP) on July 10, 2012. The film will also be available in two Collectors Editions with figurines ($29.99SRP).

The two Collector's Editions will contain the DVD alongside action figures of Stan Lee and Harry Knowles or Joss Whedon and Spurlock. This is the first time mega-director Whedon has been immortalized into action figure status... which will no doubt delight fans everywhere.

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First Look: Fanboys vs Zombies #1

Yesterday we posted our exclusive interview with Jerry Gaylord, the artist of Boom's upcoming book Fanboys vs Zombies which is about a zombie outbreak at Comic Con. The series is being written by up and coming hot-shit talent Sam Humphries who since this books announcement has been everywhere! At any rate, I'm pretty sure we're the only people with a preview (be it a small preview) of the first issue that is out soon. You can read the title announcement and the interview with Jerry which I'm very excited about having on the site. Also I think it was very cool of Boom to give us this preview and really allow us to expose an unknown artist. I think a lot of times with title announcements the writer becomes the focus even though it's a visual medium. Okay enough from me, enjoy it in it's condensed format for easy reading!

Title Announcement: Fanboys vs. Zombies For A Buck

Well it's official, Comic Con is so big it's seeping its way into comics. Also, I'm very concerned about the amount of covers and cover artists for this book. If there is one thing you don't want to do, it's take a page out of Dynamites playbook. Boom really should have played up the Sam Humphries and newcomer Jerry Gaylord angle. I did a little search for Jerry on the net and he's also a caricature artist. Before you freak out, check out his Deviantart page. If that's not the same guy then I'm even less interested. Also, who's fucking tired of Zombies? No one apparently.

When there is no more room in Hell, the undead shall take over Comic-Con! It's every zombie fans wish fulfillment in comic book form this April in the epic new title from BOOM! Studios -- FANBOYS VS. ZOMBIES #1 written by indie sensation Sam Humphries (OUR LOVE IS REAL, SACRIFICE) with art by hot newcomer Jerry Gaylord! BOOM! Studios offers the first full 22-page issue of this brand new horror-comedy ongoing series for only $1!

A crew of feuding best friends find themselves trapped inside America’s largest comic convention, transformed into a seething cauldron of zombies. Is a horde of starving brain-eaters any match against reflexes battle-hardened by video games, nerves tested by horror flicks, and courage crystallized by comic books? Find out as an unlikely band of nerds use their genre savvy to survive in Fanboys vs. Zombies!

“FVZ is the UFC of nerd battles," says writer Sam Humphries. "Hall H is going to be turned into an action/horror/comedy abattoir. I've been going to San Diego Comic Con for ten years. Plenty of time to formulate a zombie apocalypse getaway AND a plan for total Comic Con devastation. It is going to be so on."

“This is the real 'Revenge of The Nerds',” says BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “It's a fun story where nerds really do get to save the day. All the skills these characters have honed in the geek world finally get to be used in real life.”

“With the full first issue priced at only $1, you better grab your zombie escape plan and get down to your local comic shop!,” says BOOM! Studios Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ross Richie. “This is a book for everyone in the tradition of great zombie fiction like SHAUN OF THE DEAD!" Title ships in April with main covers in a 30/30/30/10 split by Humberto Ramos (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN), Alé Garza (FATHOM), Khary Randolph (NEW MUTANTS, SPAWN), and Matteo Scalera (DEADPOOL), a 1-in-25 wrap around "Where's the zombie?" incentive by Ulises Farinas, a 1-in-50 sketch incentive by Humberto Ramos, and a 1-in-75 sketch incentive by Alé Garza.

A special 1-in 200 CGC 9.8 Near Mint variant by MARVEL ZOMBIES artist and Zombie King Arthur Suydam functions as an homage to the cover of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #7.

FANBOYS VS. ZOMBIES launches this April with a Diamond Order Code of FEB120828.

FANBOYS VS. ZOMBIES is created by Jimmy Fox and Ben Silverman.

Those escalators move very, very slow...

Hey a Star Wars reference... go fucking figure.

This is the "find the zombie cover" I count twenty in the top left.

Notice how he actually drew/painted the Rebel's symbol... that's getting changed before printing.

Why Comics Should Be Less Mainstream

Last week I was inadvertently engaged in a conversation about whether comics should be more mainstream. This was after I unfollowed the lead comic editor of the site "International Gaming Network" and he basically confronted me asking why comics shouldn't be more mainstream and gave some great "talking points" such as the more people reading comics the more the industry can sustain itself. Now, I'm not one to argue on Twitter with only 140 characters and frankly I was never planning on addressing this because my intention of unfollowing him was not based on his or his sites views. I honestly felt attacked as two of his followers chimed in against me as well. I'm still not going to get into a long winded argument/debate on why or why not comics should continue to be more mainstream (aren't the movies and video games enough to keep people at bay?) or make detailed examples comparing comic mainstream-ness to what the Wii and iPhone did for video games by watering down the content just to get it in the hands of everyone. (How's that Wii treating you now?) What I will say is that I now have a two word answer to my argument that will sway any Twitter battle in the future and that's Jordan Burchette.

Jordan Burchette

Hell, I wasn't even going to address his New York Comic Con rampage and the controversy that followed, but then it dawned on me that two arguments were connected in a strange way. You see, if comics and conventions weren't so mainstream people like Jordan wouldn't be attending them. One silver lining for comic fans (which you can read all Jordan at Bleeding Cool) is that if you look at like this... he wasn't important enough to get into Comic Con International so don't give him more power than he actually has. Seriously, think about it. If he had gotten in with a press pass (Kevin and I did! Thanks Dark Horse!) then we would have had this discussion in July. Instead he had to attend a smaller convention at the end of the season.

These comments were based off of our mission statement and not the content of our site.

Upon reading his article it reminded me of a time back in high school when the "rival" school from the next town over wrote a piece in their school paper about us. The similarities where striking. In the school paper the female reporters wrote about how disappointing it was to pull up to the school and see the half dirt parking lot (paved was for seniors, unpaved was for everyone else) and worried if their Doc Martens would get dirty. They then walked through each name brand of clothing they were wearing and then basically continued to bag on our school based on appearance. Well it was a small town high school and these were rich kids that attended a school that received parent donations quarterly to keep it top notch. Hell our football teams didn't even play each other because of the weird high school sports ratings. The point is, that the article had no journalistic value and was basically just snobs being snobs. Our newspaper responded in a professional way criticizing their grammar and the professionalism of the article, but didn't stoop to their level.

Cue the Suicide Machines

The way that these two issues connect is that Jordan represents the mainstream and its views. He calls attendees "doughy","fat" and several other equally insensitive views, but if comics weren't as big as they are right now then he wouldn't even bother being there. Now the comic community may have sunk to his level calling him even worse names, but the point is they defended each other. Now tell me is that something that would happen if comics continue to get bigger and bigger and let in more causal and mainstream people in to the market? Will the Jordan Burchette's of the world that saw X-Men: First Class and like it defend you when you decide to dress up like Batman, but you've got love handles from living in the real world?

Wear it proud son!

No, it won't and that's the biggest reason why comics shouldn't be mainstream and it's because of the community; the sense of respect that we have for each other. Even if I don't like your views on a story line or character you bet your ass when some jack ass comes along to tell you your doughy and a nerd that I'll scream in his face, "Your damn right and proud! Now go do some squats and pretend your penis isn't small!" Because that's how nerds roll, we band together because we are a subculture and I'll continue to protect that subculture from being watered down for the masses to "sustain the art form" aka "Business Plan." Comics will endure no mater what, even if the "Big Two" collapse the art form will make it because the fans won't let it die. That being said, I'm ready for you now on Twitter or anywhere else you want to hold this discussion with my two word answer of Jordan Burchette.And even if you still don't agree with me on comics in the mainstream at least we can agree that there is some underlining sense of community in the comic fandom that keeps us all on the same page.