Category Archives: JP/Japer
Biff Bam Popcast – The Star Trek Into Darkness Edition
Spoiler alert! The latest and greatest Biff Bam Popcast is up. In this edition, Glenn Walker, JP Fallavollita, Emily McGuiness, Jason Shayer and Andy Burns talk Star Trek Into Darkness, what we liked (lots), what we didn’t (more than we thought) and much more.
As well, we take a look at the gorgeous new IDW hardcover, Star Trek: The John Byrne Collection. As mentioned in the popcast, IDW continue to knock it out of the park with their licensed properties and this book is no exception. Take a look inside during the popcast and then order your own copy here.
Star Trek: Into Darkness Shines (Kinda?) Bright: Biff Bam Pop’s Box Office Wrap-Up Report
This week, instead of “Wrap-Up Report”, we should have titled this column the “Warp-Up Report”. I mean, really, there’s only one film to talk about, isn’t there?
Last Friday, our esteemed Editor-In-Chief, Andy Burns, threw down the gauntlet, decreeing that the latest iteration of the Star Trek franchise would beam up $90 million of box office revenue. Today, I get to sit in the catbird’s seat and reflect on his predictions alongside the actual numbers. It’s an easy job.
Did J.J. Abrams’ second stab at Trek beam up the goods? How did Iron Man 3 fare? And what did the classic The Great Gatsby garner from the movie-going public?
Find out after the jump!
Dream Thief Dreams Of Being A Superhero On The Wednesday Run–May 15, 2013
Who doesn’t like a good “possession” story?
Yep, those sorts of ghost/demon/entity tales wherein a strange force takes over the body of a living host are where it’s at. I mean, The Exorcist, written by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin, is one of my favourite films. “Wolf in the Fold”, written by acclaimed horror author, Robert Bloch, is one of my favourite episodes of the original 1960’s Star Trek series. At their essence, those types of stories remind us that we’re not always in control of our actions; that human beings can still revert to their base, most wild forms.
But what happens when the ghost/demon/entity takes over the human host and turns him into a superhero…that kills villains?
That’s the intriguing question that today’s release of Dream Thief asks.
A Love Of Comics, Art, Storytelling, And Libraries: The Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF)
If you’re living in the Toronto area or are thinking about visiting the city this weekend, you’re in for a treat. The 10th anniversary of The Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF) is happening on Saturday and Sunday – and if you’re a fan of sequential art and storytelling in all of its forms, TCAF is the place for you to be!
If you haven’t been before, this isn’t your usual run-of-the-mill comic book convention. No, it’s much, much more interesting: truly a celebration of art, storytelling and the small-press and independent comic book industry by and for the people that love to create in unison with the people that love to read.
Love is a word that can be used often with TCAF.
The festival is indeed an international love affair and you can find out more info and some highlights after the jump!
Get Caught Red Handed On The Wednesday Run–May 8, 2013
A sly, feline hand slips into the back pocket of an unsuspecting businessman, gently pulling, in an unnoticeable fashion, at a black leather wallet.
A small pill made of unknown chemical substances is quickly and reprehensibly dropped into the hot cup of coffee of an oblivious newspaper reader.
A fry cook and a waitress antagonistically raise spatula and bagel knife against one another, the comedic scene betrayed by tempers raised amid overcooked hash.
These are the crimes, or perceived crimes, that exist on the front cover of Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes, a promise to the even stranger wrongdoings found within the inside pages, not to mention the back cover. Strange crimes, indeed.
Got your attention? Good. With crime, not all is as it seems.
Walks, Landscapes, And A Swear Down – Biff Bam Pop! Speaks With Comic Book Artist And Writer: Oliver East
Many in North America first became aware of Manchester, England based artist and writer, Oliver East, through his album cover work for the acclaimed English alt-rock musicians, Elbow. His drawings and paintings for the band’s seminal albums, The Seldom Seen Kid and Build a Rocket Boys!, perfectly captured the spirit of that music: at once puzzling and implicit, melancholy and joyous. But East had been hard at work making comics too, eventually releasing four books over the last five years through publisher, Blank Slate Books.
Renown for landscape-fuelled inspiration, his latest comic book offering, Swear Down, is also his most personal story. It debuts at the upcoming Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF), an event that East will fly over the Atlantic Ocean to attend and exhibit as well as meet and greet like-minded sequential art lovers.
JP Fallavollita got a chance to speak with Oliver East via email about his love of exploring the world and understanding life through walking, his evolution as a writer and an artist, and his affinity for American comics.
It’s A New Biff Bam Popcast!
The illustrious Biff Bam Popcast panel of Andy Burns, JP Fallavollita and Glenn Walker gather to talk about the recent trailers for new movies, Iron Man 3, what we’re reading, the role continuity plays in pop culture and much more!
As well, this edition of the Biff Bam Popcast is brought to you by the new Rob Zombie album, Venoumous Rat Regeneration Vendor, in stores now and available to purchase online here.
Hyperbole Abounds With Jupiter’s Legacy #1 On The Wednesday Run – April 24, 2013
When a comic book company advertises one of their new publications as the comic book event of the year, you’ve got to assume that it’s just hyperbole. Heck, it happens all the time. The big spring, summer and fall franchise crossover stories get all of the headlines. Many comic book fans are embroiled in one or two of those titles right now.
But when you put a genre-smashing and well-regarded (if polarizing) writer together with a fan favourite artist, and have their work published by a company that is known to let their creators create, you get the possibility of something special.
That’s what we get today. The fist issue of the long-awaited series, Jupiter’s Legacy is finally released. And it might very well live up to the hyperbole!
