Happy almost Friday folks!

I am on a serious David Mazzucchelli kick. On a recommendation, I picked up DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN last week at the LCS, and it blew me away. 1980’s Frank Miller stories are all great, but Mazzuccheli’s art just blew me away. It was so good, i went back and found my old BATMAN: YEAR ONE comics, and reread them, just for a little more Mazzuccheli goodness. The man is just a great storyteller. He creates dynamic panel flow, never wasting page space with the superfluous. His fight sequences are crisp and easy to follow, with all the characters moving the way real people would. It isn’t the flashiest of art styles, but it is so solid, with clean composition and great use of blacks, that is spectacular in it’s non-flashiness. I looked into it and found that “The Mazz” has just released a brand new graphic novel titled ASTERIOS POLYP, which I am going to be picking up as soon as I can get my greedy little fingers on it. Here’s a few samples for you:

On a more company related note, thanks to all of you who have already pre-ordered MYTHOI issue one. For those of you who have not yet done so, do it now! We are getting closer and closer to our first issue release in September, and I am getting more and more excited with every page I see. You guys are going to love it!

Well, thanks for stopping in, see you tomorrow!

Good afternoon all!

I was going through my comic-con photos and came across three very different versions of Bumblebee. One is from the recent TRANSFORMERS movie:

Transformers Bumblebee

The next Bumblebee is hanging out with Xena the warrior princess, and looks very uncomfortable:

Xena and bumblebee

Finally, we have the other bumblebee is from, well, I don’t know. But I thought you should all see it:

Bumblebee? I don’t see it.

I thought this was a pikachu costume at first, what with the lightning tail and poke-ball, but no, I was assured that this is bumblebee. More than meets the eye!

What what what? Two posts in one day? Madness! However, as I sat watching television today, THE DARK KNIGHT was airing, and I realized that with the great amounts of comic-based movies out in the world, this site needed a list of my favorite funny book related movies. So, here are my top 10 comic-movies (in no particular order):

1) THE DARK KNIGHT: Okay, so I know I said that these were in no particular order, but if they were, this movie would still be number one on the list. Everything about this movie is great. The acting is superb, from Heath Ledger’s Joker, down to Colin McFarlane’s comissioner Loeb. Christopher Nolan got the most out each and every one of his actors. The story was complex and built upon the solid foundation that BATMAN BEGINS set a few years prior. The Gotham City setting felt fully realized, not like a mesh of different locales all meshed together. Even Christian Bale’s bat-voice couldn’t take away from the magnificence of this film. I know that some people complain about the length of the film, but I never felt the film slowed down or dragged. This is THE GODFATHER 2 of comic films.

2) A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Based on the graphic novel of the same name, this film was highly enjoyable. This is a great example of how you could make an exciting, griping film based on a comic without superheroes. This is not the first film to do this, but it is one of the best. Again, the acting is top-notch, led by Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello. David Cronenberg crafts a great thriller that puts you square into the lives of the main characters, which makes the twist that much more surprising.

3)IRON MAN: Another superhero film, but one that is pitch perfect. This translation catches the tone of the comic perfectly. Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as Tony Stark, and the special effects are top notch. I had reservations about Jon Favreau as the director, but he never missed a beat. A great summer flick, and a great comic translation.

4)ROAD TO PERDITION: Anything Sam Mendes directs is going to be visually arresting, but combine that with a killer Max Allen Collins script, and you have magic. As much as this is a gangster movie, it’s also a story about family, and the movie does a beautiful job of intertwining the two. The cast was amazing as well, starring Tom Hanks in his prime, the always great Paul Newman, and a young (pre-bond) Daniel Craig.

5)300: Probably as close a translation from comics to film as I have seen. This spot was a toss-up between 300 and Sin City (an equally faithful translation of another Frank Miller property), but I guess what it came down to was the source material. I have always enjoyed Miller’s graphic novel 300, and to see it come to life so perfectly was a magical experience. I was hooked from the opening monologue.

6)OLDBOY: Based (loosely) on the Manga of the same name, the story here is the main selling point. The concept is that one Oh Dae-Su, who is locked in a hotel room for 15 years without knowing his captor’s motives, is released suddenly and goes in search of who did this thing to him. The story is gripping and the direction by Korean director Park Chan-wook is gripping. Min-sik Choi does a great job as the protagonist, Dae-su Oh, really showing a great range of emotions.

7)HELLBOY: I loved the second one as well, but the first film really did a great job of setting up this character. Unlike a lot of Superhero movies, there was not a lot of time dedicated to the Origins of Hellboy, it was just one glorious adventure. Ron Pearlman was perfectly cast as Hellboy, and the special effects were not overdone. It must have been a challenge trying to get down the feel of Mike Mignola’s dark and atmospheric art, but director Guillermo Del Toro was up to the task.

X2: Far superior to the first film, this sequel took everything up a notch. Gone were the lame evil mutants from the first film. The team didn’t take an hour of film to set up. From the first scene in this movie, (an awesome Nightcrawler battle in the white house) you knew that there would be more excitement in this X-installment. The script juggled numerous characters and plot threads masterfully, and the fight sequences were always clear and enjoyable. This movie even had a great set up for a third installment, which Brett Ratner would ruin a few years later.

9)THE CROW: An indy film for an indy book. Creator James O’Barr has never been better than his story about love and loss, and the same could be said about director Alex Proyas (though I’m sure fans of Dark City would argue.) Moody and aggressive, this movie is often overlooked when it comes to comic films, but it captures everything that the creator is trying to express in his pages onto the screen.

10)BATMAN BEGINS: Yes, I know I already have a bat-movie on the list, but this film is great too. Ironically, I’m not even that much of a batman fan, but this film (and THE DARK KNIGHT) deserves to be on the list. Christopher Nolan moved Batman into the real world, away from Joel Schumaker’s Bat-nipples. While there was the obligatory origin hour to start the film, it was so enthralling, I did not even mind was seeing Bruce Wayne become Batman for the umpteenth time. The cinematography was gorgeous, and Liam Neeson’s Ducard made for an excellent villain.

Well, that’s my top ten. There are plenty of choices out there, but these are the ones that make the cut. Anyone out there feel differently? Think I missed one, or have something in the top ten that doesn’t deserve it? Let me know. Also, I will be putting up my 10 worst comic movies in the near future, which will certainly be more fun, as everyone loves a bad movie.

Thanks for stopping in, see you tomorrow.

Good morning everyone! My apologies for not updating here yesterday, I was still recovering from the epic weekend that was comic-con. As much as I loved getting to spread word about MYTHOI, it was also great to go and meet up with all the other small-press publishers that were out presenting their wares. I got to meet publishers from all over, from Bad Karma Productions, who have just about the funniest slogan ever (“Prepare to have your nuts exploded”) to Red 5 comics, which is producing all kinds of great stuff, across a myriad of genres. It was great to get a chance to pick the brains of these guys, and all of them were a joy to talk to.

It is also time, once again, to declare my (insert echoing voice here) Covers of the month! Now, I know what you are thinking, “You did one of these last week! You can’t add! You are calender-challenged!” These are valid thoughts, but I got a late start on last month, so I’m just catching up. These covers come from the October solicitations (books coming out in October), so you still have months to salivate over the pretty pictures before you see them in stores. My “Big guy” cover of the month goes to DC/ Wildstorm’s PLANETARY #27!

PLANETARY 27

Anything by John Cassaday is good looking, but this cover (this is the long-awaited final issue of the series) manages to be pretty and show a glimpse of what happened in every issue that preceded it. Kudos to Mr. Cassaday, and Laura Martin who provided the excellent colors(at least I believe so).

The “little guy” cover of the month goes to Red 5 comics (those guys again?) Atomic Robo!

I can’t quite put my finger on what I like so much about this cover, but it just pops for me. The style reminds me quite a bit of Cully Hamner, but with a bit more Manga influence. Scott Wegener is responsible for this piece. Well done!

Thanks for stopping in everyone, and don’t forget to pre-order your copy of MYTHOI #1 today, or at least check out our cool preview pages! See you next time, and have a great Tuesday.

Good morning all! It’s the last day of the SDCC, so if you are down there, enjoy the last minute sales and last day panels. The Semantink crew won’t be down today, as we are all out of promo stuff (which was actually the plan), but that’s okay, as we got all the convention we could handle in our two days there. It was a great time, and a big “thank you” goes out to all the people we met down there who took the time out to listen to us about MYTHOI. We got plenty of great photos down there, which I will probably be sharing for the next few days, so prepare yourself. Thanks also to all the people that have begun pre-ordering MYTHOI, you are in for a treat this September. As I leave you all to your Sundays, here are a few photos from this past weekend:

Good Morning! We are once again down at the Comic-con, and I will try to be better about giving constant updates to everyone throughout the day. We are going to be be just outside the convention center, around Lou and Mickey’s for the first hour or so handing stuff out. If you don’t catch us there, don’t worry, we will be around, just check back here for where we will be next!

Well ladies and gentlemen, Semantink’s first official day at SDCC, and it was a blast! We had seven guys downtown, promoting MYTHOI and Semantink, giving out posters and buttons, and just meeting a lot of very interesting people.

We don’t aprove of Nazis, but the costume was neat.

As always at Comic-con, there were plenty of great costumes (as seen above), and a few ones that were just off the mark, walking around the halls and spilling out into the streets of SD. Our MYTHOI artist, Jed Soriano, was quite the social butterfly today, with 3 different interviews to various media representatives, and a cornucopia of pictures with various colorful con attendees.

Our writer, James Ninness, was no slouch either, meeting with none other than, Brent Spiner! That’s right, Data from Star Trek!

All in all it was a fun time had by all. The whole crew will be back out tomorrow, so if you are out there, come find us! We will also continue to be posting throughout the day on twitter, so if you can’t make it, you can always follow via tweets. Oh, and if you are looking for us, email, we will tell you where to find us. We also have preview art available (4 whole pages!) so go check those out, as they are magnificent.

Thanks all for stopping in, see you next time.

After a long, sweaty labyrinth on the grass outside of Hall H, we are finally seated for James Cameron’s “Avatar” in 3D. Mr. Cameron is gushing about his childhood and passion for the film. He just announced we will all be viewing a world premier showing of 25 minutes of clips from the movie!! More to come later!

–Chris

Good evening all! Above is the fourth of the buttons that we are going to be giving out at comic-con. I’m so ready to get down to the convention center, it’s not even funny. Well, it’s funny if you think a grown man doing a dance like a six year old who has to go to the bathroom is funny. I have been going to the SDCC for 16 years now, since I was but a wee lad, and it is amazing to look back on how it has grown into the monster that it is today. I won’t bore everyone with fond remembrances of when it was just a bunch of nerds shopping for rare back issues, but there is a part of that experience that I miss with the crowds as ginormous as they are today. That being said, it is awe-inspiring to see comics become so mainstream, and for one glorious weekend every year, if you want to dress up like a giant anime kitty, no one will judge you.

A few quick reminders, we are going to be down at the con all day Friday and Saturday, so if you want to say hello or get the skinny on what we are doing, shoot me an email. If you can’t make it, we will be posting blogs and video all the time, so keep checking back here for whats up in San Diego. In addition, our letterer for MYTHOI, Chris Henderson, has gotten himself a four day pass to the con, so he will be posting throughout. Also, MYTHOI is now available for pre-order, both in printed form, and in a deluxe edition, which has the printed comic, plus gives you the pdf for easy computer viewing, if that is more your style.

Thanks for stopping in, see you next time.

Greetings! Thank you to everyone that has started to pre-order MYTHOI issue one, it’s great to see all the support! Also, if you wanted to order MYTHOI, but didn’t want to spend $8.75(!) on sales tax, that bug has been fixed.  Sorry to anyone that might have been put out by that, but all is well now, I promise!

Also, I wanted to show everyone the second of the five buttons that we will be handing out at comic-con, so here it is:And, as something I’m going to try and make into a regular feature here, I am going to pick a cover of the month from the current solicitations. Eventually I will pick a “Big Guy” (like Marvel or DC) cover, and a “Small Guy” (like Avatar or Rebellion) cover, but for now just one a month. Starting with September ’09 Solicits, my cover of the month award goes to (drum roll please…)Marvel comics’ WOLVERINE: OLD MAN LOGAN by Steve McNiven! McNiven’s work is always great, but this cover just really pops for me. The clean line work, the ominous figure of the Hulk, the cute, dead hulklets, it all works. The coloring is just as excellent (by Morry Hollowell I believe).

Thanks as always for stopping by, and fell free to try our store page again, where the tax rate is as reasonable as anywhere in California.