Happy 75th, Batman!

Today comic shops across America are celebrating 75 years of Batman. Batman is without a doubt one of the most recognizable comic book characters in history, and almost all of us reading this blog are fans of his. He doesn’t need any kind of introduction. After all, he is the Goddamn Batman.

For my 27th birthday, my dad bought me this fantastic balloon.

My obsession with Batman began when I was very young. I remember watching the Adam West show after pre-school every day. I frankly don’t remember a time before Batman. When Batman Returns hit theaters in 91 my dad deemed me old enough to see the movie in theaters, much to my mom’s protests. After that I was officially hooked. I was Batman the following school year (first grade!), broke my Batbelt halfway through the day and cried about it (seriously ugly sobbing) because you can’t be Batman without the belt.

The funny thing is, I’ve never followed the monthly Batman comic. I read Catwoman, Batgirl, Batman Adventures, even Batman graphic novels. But never followed the main Batman title. To this day I don’t, and I don’t know why. I’ve always been attracted to the other characters, namely Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl, Poison Ivy and Catwoman. They’re much more complex in my opinion, and I relate a great deal to Barbara.

Hey I got the symbol tattooed on me!

Over time the other movies came out, and I saw all of them. I followed every cartoon show, every spin off series (Birds of Prey) and even saw Catwoman. Needless to say the franchise means a lot to me. It was my first foray into comics. He is my first superhero. It even made my dad and I closer as he too likes Batman. In fact, our vanity tags on our cars are Batgirl and Dark Knight (it’s abbreviated). My mom’s legal name is even Robin. So maybe it’s more of a lifestyle for me at this point.

Check out my sweet Batmobilepool.

I’m nearly 30, and I don’t see my love of this character dying anytime soon. He’s been around for 75 years, and here’s to another 75!

My Batman sketch done by Guillem March!

So dear readers, what does the Dark Knight mean to you?

-Lauren

Wizard World Philly 2014

Ah Wizard World. A comic con that isn’t a comic con but really a pop culture con. If you’re only familiar with Wizard shows and truly believe this is what a comic con is, you’re wrong. Please go to Baltimore Comic Con and see what a real comic con looks like.

Anyway.

I only went for Friday this year and it worked out well for me. I went up to meet my favorite DC artist Guillem March. From what I can tell he rarely does American shows, so even if it means going to Wizard World to meet him, I’m there. His line wasn’t long (maybe five or so people) on Friday, which was great for me. I got his autograph and a Batman sketch!

Yet while that’s great for me for personal reasons, low attendance isn’t good for dealers and artists who went to make money. Some people will make out OK simply because of who they are, but I had friend’s there who hadn’t sold a thing in two days. There was some great talent there and good variety both in the artists alley and dealers hall, but almost every person I saw there was in line for autographs or pictures with a celebrity. If I was to set up and sell my wares at a con, I would not pick this show. The other problem this show had was timing. Last week was Special Edition New York. This weekend also had Heroes con, a traditional comic con. So you either went to Special Edition or made the trip to Heroes.

I have no plans to attend the show next year unless they get another artist I absolutely must meet. Wizard World shows are not worth the price of admission or the headache of dealing with crowds of people who only want to meet some B list actor/actress/wrestler.

-Lauren

Female Collector

I have a problem with the term “female collector”. I’ve had this problem for a few years but never knew how to articulate my issues with it. There’s so much behind that simple, almost rudimentary phrase. Most people mean nothing by it, after all, what’s the harm in a word? Well for starters, some females don’t identify as a female. I for one also don’t want to be bottled into one category. I am a collector. My gender has 0 to do with what I collect. I know women who only read and collect manga, or indie books, or Batgirl. I know men who do that same thing. I happen to collect Platinum and Golden Age books. Just like men, women too have diverse tastes in everything.

“Why do female’s collect?” or “Why are women drawn to comics”? This question get’s posed to me a lot. Truthfully I don’t know why other women collect as I am not an ambassador for other women. The only person I represent is me. I like comics for the stories, my love for certain characters, and some artists. I collect because I enjoy the thrill of getting into a bidding war over a Batman #1. Why do men like comics? Why do men collect comics? Seems like a silly question when posed that way doesn’t it? Everyone is going to have a different, unique answer. It’s important to celebrate people as unique collectors, not as grouped together by one term.

At the end of the day we are all collectors. I am a collector of Platinum and Golden Age books. You may collect manga. Enjoy what you like, and always ask questions as to why a certain person collects. But to ask broad questions really takes away the identity of the person and why they are unique. 

Happy collecting!

-Lauren

 

 

Cosplaying While Human

Turn on your television on any given day and chances are good you’ll see a show about cosplay. Or someone talking about cosplay. Or somehow cosplay is involved. The world of cosplay has been forever opened up to any Average Joe with shows such as ‘Heroes of Cosplay’, ‘King of the Nerds’ and even ‘Big Bang Theory’. It’s no longer just something that’s an underground thing, it’s a very viable and profitable market to the masses now. Walk into any Halloween store or Hot Topic, and with just $50 you can become Naruto, Sailor Moon, Chun Li, or whomever else.

Personally I love cosplay. I’ve been cosplaying since I was 13! It’s a fun hobby and a great way to celebrate what you love. I’ve never competed for any kind of prize and I’ve certainly never won any kind of money from doing it either. Shows such as ‘Heroes of Cosplay’, while fun, is not a representation of everyone that does cosplay. I don’t cosplay to be “famous”, I don’t cosplay to win money, and if I don’t finish a costume in time it’s not the end of the world. I also love meeting other cosplayers. Some costumes clearly take months and thousands of dollars to complete. Some were bought at a store. To me it doesn’t matter. If you love something enough to put on a costume and brightly colored hair, who am I to tell you likewise. Yet some people do feel the need to shame others for their choice of costume, the quality, or even the person’s physical appearance as well.

And that’s where I have a problem.

Guys and gals, it’s just not cool to shame someone because they don’t “have the right body type”, “aren’t the same color” or what have you. It’s not funny, it doesn’t make you look rad, it just makes you look like a jerk. If a person’s choice of costume really bothers you so much, maybe you should take a big step back and think long and hard about why it bothers you. Does the person’s choice really impact your life? Your job? Your friends and family? If you answered no, then maybe you should let it go. Cosplay is for every body. It doesn’t matter what color skin you have, how large or small you are, it just matters if you’re having fun while dressing up as something you love. It’s also not cool to sexually objectify the men and women who cosplay as well. Following them around, only taking pictures of their behinds, or even just saying lewd remarks are all rude and tasteless. They’re people with complex feelings and emotions just like you. Just because a woman is dressed like Wonder Woman or a man is dressed as a Spartan warrior, does not mean you have the right to harass them. Being a respectful, decent human being will get you a lot farther than being a creep. Summer con season is in full swing, so let’s try and make these next few months as incident free as possible. Everyone deserves a good con experience whether they are in cosplay or not!

-Lauren

The Wolverine, Time Traveler

I’ll assume if you like comic books you’ve already seen Bryan Singer’s latest X-Men installment, X-Men: Days of Future Past. I saw it Tuesday but waited until it was officially out to talk about it.

My gut reaction was, wow, what a great movie! My reaction to it is still wow, what a great movie! If you’re not familiar with X-Men story line Days of Future Past by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, or just passively watch these superhero flicks, this is a confusing movie. Let me try to make it as simple as possible. In the future robots called Sentinels are killing off mutants and certain humans as well. A rogue team of mutants manage to evade these robots due to Kitty Pryde’s projection powers. Eventually the other remaining X-Men-Storm, Professor X, Magneto and Wolverine-find Pryde and her group in China. They decide one of them needs to go back to 1973 in order to stop all of this from happening.

But why is all of this happening?

Boliver Trask, a brilliant human who has some weird fascination/appreciation of the mutants creates these Sentinels to kill them…Even though he admits he appreciates them. Anyway. Mystique is pretty pissed off at Trask for killing her friends (Emma Frost, Angel, and the other mutants from the first movie you don’t see in this one) so she shoots him. By shooting him, she causes the government to buy the Sentinels in order to kill the mutants. In order to stop all of this from happening, someone has to go back and stop her from shooting Trask. The only natural choice is to send Wolverine back in time since he has that special ability to heal and thus be able to handle such a daunting task. When he gets there he finds a strung out Professor X (with Beast as his dealer), Magneto is being kept in the Pentagon for killing JFK, and they also get Quicksilver in on the act. The climax of the film is fantastic, and the ending of the movie is even better. This movie effectively retconned all previous X-Men films, so rejoice! X3 is no longer valid in this time line! That means that all previous dead mutants (with the exception of who was killed by Trask for experimentation) are now alive.

The movie tries really hard to be a “deep” superhero movie, and while I appreciate it’s attempt it just winds up confusing the passive fan. That shouldn’t stop anyone from seeing it though. The dialogue is witty, the characters are all familiar faces, and the action is great. Go see this movie, you won’t be let down!

-Lauren

 

Sailor Moon Set to Return This Monday!

Viz Media has recently announced their acquisition of Sailor Moon. Starting this Monday, May 19th, Sailor Moon will stream on Hulu and Neon Alley. We will have the first four episodes, followed by two new ones every Monday. These episodes will be subtitled. We will finally get a subbed and dubbed version of all 200 episodes. Uncut, as they are supposed to be seen. Viz also obtained the movies, the specials, and the new Sailor Moon Chrystal anime. HD Blu-Rays and DVDs of the series will be available starting this fall.

Personally I am over the moon that Viz has Sailor Moon. Now we will finally have the series the way we deserve it. Complete. As a life long fan of this series, I am at a loss for words with how happy I am.

-Lauren

Awesome Con 2014

This past weekend was Awesome Con, one of the newer cons to hit the con scene. Nestled in the nation’s capitol, the con is a welcome addition to anyone’s con tour. I went on Friday and I’m glad I did. Friday was preview night, with limited hours from 3-8pm. The con was not crowded, which is great if you just want to browse and not deal with a crowd. Panels were pretty limited on Friday which was kind of a bummer. But being able to talk to your favorite artist for an extended amount of time due to a lack of a crowd surely made up for it.

The dealer selection was good, but I would have liked to have seen more Golden Age dealers. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough, but I did notice the many dealers selling toys/shirts/other things. And that’s perfectly ok! There was something for everyone.

Overall I liked preview night. Maybe next year I’ll make a weekend of it.

 

-Lauren

Wanna see some pics? Click the link! https://www.flickr.com/photos/baltimorelauren/sets/72157644182121423

 

Captain America:The Winter Soldier film review

I can say that Captain America:The Winter Soldier improves on The First Avenger in every way.

The movie takes place in modern times.
I love the direction they took for The Winter Soldier.
It feels more like a political thriller of the 70’s than a superhero movie (which it makes sense for Captain America)

Chris Evans really shines as Steve Rogers this time around.
Scarlett Johansson was great as Black Widow (I love her performance so much,I want her to have a solo movie)
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon was cool.
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier was great as well.
He doesn’t appear a lot in the movie,but when he does,he’s an unstoppable killing machine.

I would love to see more of The Winter Soldier in future movies.

I really don’t have anything bad to say on the movie.
I give it a 5 out of 5 (The First Avenger 4 out of 5)

Stay after the mid & end credits for scenes for the Avengers 2.
Also,try and spot the easter eggs in the film.

-Sarah

R.I.P Archie Andrews

On July 16th ‘Life With Archie’ readers will get an ending to a series none of us saw coming. Archie Andrews will die. Recently sales on the comic have not been great, so this seems like a natural niche comic companies rely on. According to an interview with Jon Goldwater conducted by CNN, the decision had been planned for some time. Perhaps they knew LWA was going to be short-lived? The series has certainly been interesting. The gang’s beloved high school teacher Ms. Grundy passed away in it. Rich red-head Cheryl Blossom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Kevin Keller got married. LWA was an innovative series for Archie, and I’m sad to see it go.

We will get to see how the world is without Archie too. The series will end with issue 37, a year after his death. Maybe we won’t get a real answer to the timeless question, Betty or Veronica? Maybe it doesn’t really matter.

Viva la Archie!

-Lauren

Let’s Fly to Space, Carol.

 

Captain Marvel #1 is exactly what I would want out of a first issue. A straight to the point story with a good enough back story. Captain Carol Danvers (aka Captain Marvel) is leading a rag tag team across the universe in what appears to be a wild goose chase. Or is it? While walking around an alien planet, Marvel and her alien companion Tic are intercepted by Spartax Secret Police. We’re not sure what they are after yet, but Marvel and Tic make a run for it.

The back story is a classic “how-did-she-get-here” story, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less interesting. Frankly I’m not familiar with Captain Marvel. I know of Carol Danvers through various social media outlets, and well hanging out in comic shops most of the time. What I do know of her after this issue, is that she is a take charge woman. She’s a caring person who possibly has some ex lover troubles. She also likes Star Wars and punching things. Overall, a gal I’d probably call my friend if she were real. Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick masterfully creates a scenario that even the newest Marvel readers can follow. The dialogue is witty and appropriate for each character. She writes them in a way that even to the newest reader, we can relate to the characters. The art is also impressive. David Lopez has a unique, beautiful style. Carol’s style reminds me of the Golden Age heroines I love and adore, but with a splash of modernism thrown in.

What I enjoyed the most from this issue is that Captain Marvel is perfectly capable of fighting by herself. She has super powers. She has a colorful costume. But she’s humble and kind to people and has a sense of duty. She’s also a nerd. Anyone who makes a Star Wars reference before starting a brawl is ok in my book. She recognizes that children look up to her and she acts like a proper role model. Sure her personal life may be messy, but that’s not keeping her from doing the right thing.

There’s no reason to not have this in your pull list. It’s an engaging story with enough wit and sass to keep everyone entertained. I enjoyed it, and you will too!

-Lauren