Pictures from New York Comic Con 2010

It's Clobberin' Time!

A family wedding nearly kept me from this year's New York Comic Con, but some creative flight management (i.e., waking leaving an upstate hunting cabin at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday) got me back into the city in time for the final day. In addition to meeting Paul Levitz, attending a panel with John Romitas Sr. and Jr., and spending a ton of money on old issues of Legion of Super Heroes, Thor, and Uncanny X-Men, I managed to take a lot of pictures. (Check out the full Flickr set.) (Oh and there's always the 2009 pix, too.)

Maybe next year I'll get to go for all three days.

Catwoman takes a break from crime for an interview

A speederbike rider poses with a young skateboarder

Catchin' air

Superman, brooding

Bringing Comics to Work: Five Comics-Related Works at The Mueum of Modern Art

I wrote a quick blog post about comics and comics-inspired art at MoMA (aka my day job):

"Five for Friday: See You in the Funny Papers"

"DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake" Redux

As a quick follow-up to an earlier post about Art Brut's recent visit to the DC Comics (now DC Entertainment) offices, here's a video piece from Pitchfork...

UPDATE: Streaming was disabled for the video, but Under the Radar has a report on Eddie Argos's DC-inspired side project, Spoiler Alert!.

Plus you can hear all about the band's experience...live in concert:

Lex Luthor Goes for Federal Bailout Money

John Hamm should consider playing Lex in the next Superman movie.

"Lex Luthor Bailout" with Jon Hamm from Jon Hamm

NPR Blog Calls Thor a Jerk

Thor Odinson: Likely to cancel his support for public radio
Writing on NPR.org's Monkey See blog about the addition of Natalie Portman to the cast of the upcoming Thor movie, Glen Weldon calls the God of Thunder a "jerk" who always has "a puss on his face."

Now I'm not sure what that latter phrase means (though it certainly doesn't sound like a bad thing), but on the whole I'd say that Mr. Weldon is either very brave or very, very stupid. That's awfully ballsy talk for a public radio man. I have one word for you, sir, and that word is "smite."

Needless to say, I would avoid walking anywhere near Glen Weldon during inclement weather.

Just for fun, here's an episode of Thor's cooking show, Thor's Kitchen...

WEDNESDAY PULL LIST 7/15/09: Ryan Reynolds to Portray All Remaining Superheroes

Well despite my brazen prognosticating, the seemingly impossible has happened. Warner Bros. selected Van Wilder as the big screen's Green Lantern, officially kickstarting Ryan Reynolds's campaign to star in every single superhero adaptation from now on. Having already appeared as Hannibal King in Blade: Trinity and signing on to play Deadpool, Reynolds (who was at one time also the favorite to play the Flash) is now set to become the first actor to portray characters from both the Marvel and DC universes (That's not even close to accurate). His next trick will be balancing his Hal Jordan and Deadpool duties, which may prove difficult since they're both slated for a 2011 release. Please god, don't let this culminate in Green Lantern II: The Rise of Taj.

In other casting news, Natalie Portman has signed on to join a cast of nobodies in the upcoming Thor movie (as Jane Foster, not Sif), and Holt "His name is Robert Paulson" McCallany has joined the cast of Warner Bros.' adaptation of The Losers.

And now for the severely vacation-delayed Wednesday Pull List...

Blackest Night #1 (of 8)
The long-awaited Blackest Night storyline finally kicks off this week (after an absolutely stellar lead-in from Green Lantern #43 last week), and the DC-porn will be in full effect as scores of long-dead characters are reanimated by the Black Lantern(s). The appearance of a zombie Martian Manhunter will be worth the price of admission, but Geoff Johns excels at this kind of universe-building endeavor so it should be great across the board. High hopes abound on this one.

Wednesday Comics #2
Not sure why I passed on the first issue of what has already become a universally lauded weekly series, but hopefully I can pick up a copy this week. The premise is simple: a large-format, fold-out compendium of short comics stories by a veritable who's who of today's talent, featuring characters like Deadman, Metamorpho, Batman, Adam Strange, and more.

Dark Avengers #7
The Dark Avengers/X-Men crossover (a concept that I was mocking mere weeks ago as too ridiculous for even Marvel to entertain) continues, to diminishing returns. I may have to drop this book, as it continues to inspire yawns and little else.

Preacher Hardcover Vol. 1
I hate to jump on the deluxe-edition bandwagon, but this pricey little number compiles the first twelve issues of my all-time favorite comic book into a lovely hardcover package. So yeah, I'm gonna drop the dough on this and the rest of the volumes as they come out. What can I say, I'm a merchandiser's wet dream.

Random News Roundup

With just under two weeks to go until the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, the newswires are rife with comics news, wild speculation, and feverish message-board dork battles.

The most interesting tidbit so far today is the rumor that the lead role in the upcoming Green Lantern movie has been narrowed to three candidates: Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds, and...wait for it...Justin "Dick in a Box" Timberlake! (I guess my boy Nathan Filion is too old for the part.) But Reynolds couldn't possibly be the next Hal Jordan, as he's already set to play Deadpool, and he has long been rumored as the top choice for any potential Flash movie as well. Cooper is an intriguing idea, and his dick-ish streak matches Hal's devil-may-care attitude. I'm a big JT fan, but I just can't see America's favorite mother lover as the Green Lantern for sector 2814.

In other news, Scott Ian, legendary goatee aficionado and lead guitarist of Anthrax, is set to write the upcoming Lobo: Highway to Hell miniseries for DC. Ian is just the latest in a recent rash of celebrities getting into comic books.

Sad (though no longer timely) news came my way yesterday: First, J. Michael Straczynski is leaving Thor. This is terrible news for one of Marvel's best-written properties, especially on the heels of the Captain Britain and MI-13 cancellation. No word yet on JMS's replacement.

And speaking of sudden and unwelcome departures, comics superstar and burgeoning Hollywood talent Brian K. Vaughan has confirmed that he is leaving the writing staff of LOST for "greener pastures." No further details have been made available on this one, either.

Finally, your weekend would be incomplete without footage of Doctor Doom doing stand-up in Baltimore...