Category Archives: Comics and More
Write or Wrong – The Dirk Manning Interview
Dirk Manning is the writer of the Write or Wrong column at Newsarama and the writer/creator of Nightmare World for Image Comics, and that’s just the tip of the creative iceberg. For the last five years I have been a huge fan of his Newsarama column, frequently sharing it with my writing friends and writers groups that I belong to. Several of the columns have been combined into a book: “WRITE OR WRONG: A Writer’s Guide to Creating Comics,” available now from Amazon here.
Recently I had the opportunity to ask Dirk a few questions. Here’s that interview:
Fan Expo Canada 2012 Preview
Fan Expo 2012 is about to hit Toronto and for the weekend of August 23-26th, nerds will rule. This marks the 18th year of Fan Expo and probably the 3 or 4th time I’ve attended… going to comics, sci fi, horror, anime, gaming conferences steels you against the extremes of fandom.
I expect this to be another crazy, cosplay filled, celebrity spotting type of conference; certainly nothing out of the ordinary for Fan Expo.
For a quick look at what’s in store and schedule hilights, read on.
WIN The Comic Book History Of Comics Contest
The Comic Book History of Comics is a treasure that any comic book fan will want to own; a detailed homage to the absolutely unique story of comics, in comic book form! And thanks to Biff Bam Pop, you can win a copy of your very own.
From the award-winning team of Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, this collection out from IDW offers something truly special for comic book fans. The Comic Book History Of Comics includes all the most important figures in comics/manga history: Jack Kirby, R. Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman, Alan Moore, Stan Lee, Art Spiegelman, Osamu Tezuka and many more.
We know Biff Bam Pop readers are serious about comic books, so we’re giving away one copy of this epic history of the comic book industry to one of YOU! Read the rest of this entry
Free Comic Book Day At Comics And More With Archaia, Andy Burns And His Princess
Today is Free Comic Book Day around the world, along with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in downtown T.O. at the Reference Library. My plan was to hit my local comic book shop, make my way down to TCAF and then a trip to the Royal Ontario Museum, all with my little Princess beside me. However, today I feel like crap, a cold having caught up to me, clogging my ears and causing constant coughing. So out was TCAF* and the ROM and plans cancelled with the friends I was hoping to meet up with. However, the Princess and I did make the 15 minute walk from our house to our local shop, Comics and More to see what books I could pick up for Free Comic Book Day.
The Avengers Behind the Scenes: Assemble the Ultimate Protection
The Avengers is gearing up for a huge release on May the 4th, and right on cue comes a brand new behind the scenes featurette. Maybe it was put together in a hurry since the title, Assemble the Ultimate Protection, sounds reminiscent of a condom ad… but it offers a great peek at what The Avengers movie will offer.
Featuring interviews with Joss Whedon, Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and more, this Marvel and Norton Antivirus promotional piece is a great way to get excited for the film to come.
Watch The Avengers: Assemble the Ultimate Protection after the jump…
Re-introducing: the Ultimates, the X-Men & Spider-Man
Three new series (and one miniseries) were launched by Marvel Comics this summer, in the wake of the Big Event “Death of Spider-Man”. Before you get too worried, it was Ultimate Spider-Man whose story came to an end – more on what that means in a moment. While providing a rare opportunity for closure to a long-running comics character, this gave Marvel a chance to make something of a splash during a few months when, obviously, big things were happening over at DC.
The Not So New 52 – Andy Burns on Justice League #1
Even if you’re not a comic book reader, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard about DC Comics big reboot of their entire comic line. Ended were all of their monthly magazines (including decades-old titles like Detective Comics and Action Comics); in their stead, 52 brand titles, all starting at issue #1. For better or for worse, the reboot got the company a ton of mainstream publicity, everywhere from Entertainment Weekly to Deadline Hollywood to the New York Times. Pundits were calling it the biggest thing in comics this decade, maybe the biggest since X-Men #1 was released in the early 90′s and went on to sell 8 million copies. Speciality shops around North America were open for midnight sales on August 31st, meeting the demands of fans eager to get their hands on a copy of Justice League #1, the first issue of the New 52. Walking in to Comics and More, my local shop, along with Biff Bam Pop’s J.W. Ward and JP Fallavollita, I was surprised and pleased to see the tiny store packed with people of various ages. It seemed DC had come up with an idea that was sparking a lot of interest. Maybe the New 52 would be a bold, crowd-pleasing venture.
Then I got home and read the comic. And I shrugged my shoulders.
Fan Expo Top Ten – J.W. Ward on everything you need to see
If you can name Spider-Man’s greatest girlfriends or have strong feelings about Superman wearing tights versus body armour, this is probably the weekend you’ve been looking forward to all year.
Tens of thousands of fanboys, cosplayers and gaming geeks are expected to haunt the south building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this weekend for the 17th annual Fan Expo.
Whether your flavour is comic books, science fiction, horror, anime or gaming, Canada’s largest celebration of geek culture has a little something for everyone. Even so, over 400,000 square feet of convention floor space is a lot to cover, despite the event being expanded to 4 days this year.
No matter if you’re a first-timer or an expert, a little guidance can go a long way. Here are Biff Bam Pop’s Top 10 things to check out at this year’s Fan Expo:
