Greetings folks!

For those that haven’t heard, MYTHOI Births: WIGLAF was just released (you can read it here) and it rocks. Jed and James really kicked @$$ on this one. I was so impressed with the awesomeness of the book, that I went back and read Beowulf. And the Bible. All of it. Furthermore, my list today is ten of my favorite historical epics in honor of Wiglaf. This is a cross-media list, so film, books, video games, and anything else are fair game. If the story is epic, and the time period is.… well, historical, it could be on this list. Enjoy!

1) BRAVEHEART: Oh man, BRAVEHEART is intense. The story is gripping, the battles are fierce, and the kilts are plentiful. Oh, and if you don’t cry at the end of the film, you might be heartless.

2) ASSASSIN’S CREED: The only video game on the list, Assassin’s creed takes the game player back to the time of the crusades to go and kill people (as assassins are wont to do). This one might be a bit of a cheat, but man this game is pretty.

3) MONGOL: A great historical piece about the rise of Genghis Khan, the baddest mamma-jamma this side of Sho-nuff.

4) 300: The movie was a ton of fun, but the comic, about 300 Spartans showing the Persians what’s what, was Frank Miller at his best.

5) LAST OF THE MOHICANS: The Cooper book left me a little cold, but I loved the movie.

6) GLADIATOR: This movie had Russell Crowe at his very best, and Ridley Scott was no slouch either behind the camera. What really gets me every time I watch this movie though, is Joaquin Phoenix just going bat-s#!t crazy as Emperor Commodus.

7) THE MISTS OF AVALON: I’m a big fan Aurthurian legend, and THE MISTS OF AVALON was a  very different and interesting take on the story. I know Mr. Wolff will make fun, but I still liked it.

CLASH OF THE TITANS: The movie that anyone born in the 1980’s saw a thousand times while in school, CLASH is awesome. They are remaking this movie, and it looks pretty awesome, but I don’t know if anything can stack up to the original.

9) THE ILIAD: The ancient Greek poem about the ten year Trojan War. And a great cautionary tail about what can happen when you chase tail. The movie TROY was good, but was only the reader’s digest version of this epic.

10) ROBIN HOOD: Bandits, politics, corruption, sex, the crusades, ROBIN HOOD has it all. There are many versions of this story, but in my opinion, the best one is the animated Disney version. Oo-da-lolly!

Thanks for tuning in folks, and don’t forget to go check out MYTHOI Births: WIGLAF!

Sgt. Angle reporting for duty!

The news, as recently reported in The Hollywood Reporter, is that “Fight Club” director David Fincher and dark childhood memory thriller writer Andrew Kevin Walker (both of Se7en and Fight Club fame) will be joining forces yet again, this time for a remake/new adaptation of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud. Story centers on a dude who starts to have visions of one of his past lives, and the dark places these visions lead him. The concept and powerhouse duo got me thinking of some other great film collaborations. I’ve compiled a list below, in no particular order.

1. Steven Spielberg and John Williams (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List). Spielberg’s always hitting audiences with the semi-fantastical yet always grounded in reality stories of human wonder, whether involving children or hopeful adults. John Williams has composed the musical scores of nearly all of Spielberg’s films (notable exception being “The Color Purple”). Without his melodies and memorable themes we might all still be able to enjoy swimming in the ocean.

Don’t steal his sandwich.

2. Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten (Citizen Kane, The Third Man, The Magnificent Ambersons) A kind of bizarre choice for a filmmaking creative team, but when you look at their films together, Welles and Cotton — both part of the same radio performance group who brought the world to its’ knees when they broadcast War of the Worlds — dominate every scene together, and apart. Welles as Harry Lime has one of the best character introductions, anticipated through the first half of “The Third Man,” and the impact is felt when looking at Cotten’s reaction to seeing his childhood friend alive.

Ride the Stache.…

3. Tom Selleck and his Mustache (Quigley Down Under, Mr. Baseball, Three Men and a Baby) Don’t whine how this doesn’t qualify. Sure, it’s a mustache. Sure, it goes where Selleck goes, all the time. This team is inseparable — and unbeatable. Nobody messes with the stache, and, therefore, you do not mess with the Selleck.

It’s the secret ingredient.

4. Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon (The Apartment, Some Like it Hot) In film, Comedies are always hard to make funny. It’s a fact. You have to worry about the shot you’re getting, what you’re going to show the audience, the characters in the scene, and the timing of the actors. Wilder gets it right nearly every time, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have Jack Lemmon, one of film’s greatest physical and verbal comedic actors, every step of the way. Lemmon is believable and sympathetic as an average schlub in love in The Apartment. We root for him to win Shirley MacLaine’s heart, and our own hearts break as she falls for the jerk instead. Despite the tugs on the heartstrings, nothing relieves an audience more than the comfort of Lemmon straining spaghetti through a tennis racket.

The Western’s western makers.

5. John Ford and John Wayne (The Searchers, Stagecoach, The Quiet Man) Men, and Westerns, and women. John Wayne and John Ford collaborated on 20 films (at least), defining an American film genre, and crystallizing the mere idea that our landscape and the stories it tells can be captured and remembered on celluloid.

6. Sylvestor Stallone and Montages (Rocky III, IV, V, and Rocky Balboa) You cannot — and should not — have a Sly film without a montage. It’s a law, I believe.

I watch. You read.

7. Humphrey Bogart and John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre) This duo helped define Film Noir, and if there’s a detective movie out there without at least one reference to The Maltese Falcon, I dare you to show me.

8. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) Male-themed bonding over finger-guns may be the all-time favorite collaboration here. Wright’s slick editing style, along with Pegg’s wit and quick-thinking, make for a perfect team for the not-so-perfect 20s crowd.

Nom-Nom-Noms.

9. Woody Allen and various young women under the age of 35 (including Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow, Mira Sorvino, Scarlett Johansson, Penelope Cruz) The Wood-ster is a jack-of-all-trades, leading ten of his actresses to Oscar nominations since the 70s (four of them won).

The dude playin’ a dude.….

10. Robert Downey, Jr., and himself (Tropic Thunder, Chaplin, Iron Man, Zodiac) There is no other actor working today who has as much on-screen chemistry when he is alone as he has when he is acting with other people. Check out this scene for an example.

Sound back in the comments below with your preferred filmmaking team, with recommendations.

Until next time,

Sgt. Angle

The wait is over!

Semantink Publishing is proud to deliver to you the newest issue of the MYTHOI saga, and the beginning of the five-part Birth miniseries: Wiglaf!  Wiglaf is one of MYTHOI’s heroes and an incredibly complex character.  Explore his introduction and scratch the surface of his life…

This issue is totally free, as are the remaining four in the Birth series!  So, please send it to your friends and spread the good MYTHOI word!  We’re looking to create friends, nurture fans and build relationships — with everyone!   Enjoy it however you choose, but please help us spread the word and tell your friends about MYTHOI!

You will find the link to MYTHOI Birth: WIGLAF right here.

You can also download the PDF to enjoy whenever you want RIGHT HERE.

I love feedback, comments, concerns and secrets so if you get a chance write me an email at ben@semantink.com.  Also, feel free to look up our writer, James Ninness, and our artist, Jed Soriano, on Facebook — they’re both ready and excited to talk with fans of MYTHOI!

ENJOY!

PS:  The MYTHOI Birth series features a very particular marketing campaign for those willing to find it…  Pay close attention to the ads and take a look at our campaign sponsors: SanBox Inc, Spanky Stokes and NemO: Vinyl Toy Mastermind!

Hello and welcome to another Geek O da week. Today its all about a FaerieCon. I have just recently found out about this event that has been going on for years now. I was reading a blog somewheres on the Internet and there was a link for FaerieCon. I was like what the hell is FaerieCon? Well I found out and I will share this info with you.

This is taken strait from their site: “Faericon brings magic of Faerieworlds, the West Coast’s premiere mythic music festival, to the East Coast. Array yourself in your most beautiful faerie finery, don your wings, gather your friends and family and cross the threshold! Once inside, you will find the largest gathering of faerie artists and authors in the world who look forward to meeting you, amazing, magical apparel, beautiful jewelry, mysterious masks, handmade crafts, fashion shows, performers, musicians, storytellers, exhibitions, panel and workshops.”

You had me at Faericon but I will stay to see my friends and family cross the threshold. Right? I mean come on who wouldn’t want to don their wings and release their inner faerie that shines in all of us. So Faericon started because they wanted to bring the magic of Faerworlds to the east coast.  I was like what there is another con that spawned this con and then I saw the videos for Faerieworld.

The event looks crazy with Ents and giant Centaurs walking around. Maybe this is what hippies have transformed into. From the looks of it there seems to be a pretty decent amount of people that participate in this thing. They have live bands and other performances. There is a full vendor section so you can swap incantations and buy the latest in Faerie gear. They also have the typical Con costume contest. I think I have seen most of the same people appearing at the SD Comic Con.

All in all it looks pretty interesting and I am pretty sure that if I was in the area I would definitely go and check it out. It looks like a people watchers paradise. The whole thing probably smells of patchouli and sage, which unlike most people, am completely fine with. If you need more info check out their sites: Faeriecon.com and Faerieworlds.com.  You will find a lot more info, photos, videos, and Faerie products that should satiate your interests. Until next time, Street Fece out!

Greetings ladies and gents!

While I was reading MR. Wolff’s rant about “Smallville” yesterday, I couldn’t help but to think what comic books would make great TV shows. So, as usual, I made a list about it. Now if I had my druthers, every show would be put out by HBO or Showtime, just because they have so much freedom in terms of content and presentation (just look at “Carnivale”),  but I know there are those of you out there that love you some ABC shows, or FX shows (hey, “Sons of Anarchy” is great), there might even be some of you out there that love CW shows (shudder) so feel free to envision the following list on any network you want (but it would be better on HBO).

1) SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE: This book had a great noir feel month after month, focusing on the mystery solving adventures of Wesley Dodds, the original Sandman, and his girlfriend Dian. Take the stories and ambiance from this book, and it would make for must-see TV.

2) NO HONOR: The story of a thief and the Samurai ghost that shares his body. If you were to mix “Kung-Fu” with the odd couple this is what you would get. A new setting every week and a series of wacky adventures (“This ghost is gonna get me killed!”) would make this a hit.

3) 1602: Imagine a John Adams-esque mini-series with all the same great costumes and set pieces of any other historical drama, but then add in super-powers. You could probably even get Neil Gaiman to write the screenplay.

4) CRIMSON: Vampires are hot right now. “True Blood” is great and “New Moon” is coming out soon. If you are going to have a vampire show work though it has to be different that what is out there, and CRIMSON is that. It’s more like a coming of age tale with crazy goth vampires, and buckets off blood.

5) POWERS: This one is a bit of a cheat, as both a POWERS movie and TV show have been announced at some point, but I still think it would make for great TV. Think “NYPD Blue” with capes.

6) HITMAN: This one would have to be on HBO to be done right. HITMAN is about a hard-drinkin’, crude-talkin’ Irish-American assassin who has super powers but usually doesn’t use them. Irreverent, bizarre, and violent as all get out, HITMAN would be a great TV show that would probably offend a lot of people.

7) DANGER GIRL: The whole team-of-spies-on-weekly-missions genre has fallen on hard times. Where once there were shows like “Charlie’s Angels”, “Mission Impossible” and “The A-Team”, now there is nothing but a valley of Blech. DANGER GIRL could be a return to glory for the genre if handled right. Stay away from the corny late night “She-spies” or “V.I.P.” vibe, and put some production value behind the show, and it could go places. Oh, and get attractive women, that never hurts.

100 BULLETS: If you took all the violence that was in “OZ” and a story as dense as “Lost”, you would get 100 BULLETS. YOu could get some mileage out of the series as well, with the book running 100 issues.

9) SCALPED: A story about an undercover FBI agent infiltrating a nasty Native-American crime syndicate. Drugs, sex, lies, and gambling, its like “Las Vegas” but good.

10) THE FRESHMEN: College hi-jinx + new hero hi-jinx+ some french dude who calles himself “squirrel” and collects nuts = greatness.

That’s what I would like to see on TV. What would you like to see?

Thanks for stopping in folks, see you next time!

A few years ago I was injured while fighting a bear.  I killed the bear, but not without a price — I sprained my ankle.  Yes, I know it’s hard to believe that I could have suffered injury at the hands of so small a beast, but it is true.  I was out of “work” for a few weeks and I asked my friends and family to give me ideas for things to do while bedridden for a while (it was a very serious sprain).  One of my friends offered me his collection of a show called Smallville, maybe you’ve heard of it?  Well, as someone who loves a good comic book and an on-again, off-again fan of the man of steel, I took up this well-intentioned gift and finished (what was) the entire show in a few weeks.  I was in no way enamored or in love, but it was entertaining enough to pass the time and he gave me the whole collection at once so, there you have it.

If the power rangers were from Kansas…

Now from what I understand  the show is still on after 50 or 60 seasons now and Clark has yet to don his iconic dress and Mr. Luthor left the show — meh.  Normally I wouldn’t care enough about a megacorporation raping established cannon like this, but I heard something the other day that rattled my geeky cage; a young boy was with his mother inside of a Target, begging her for one of the seasons on DVD.  The mother denied him and he went on to say, “But I need to know if Clark and Chloe get together.”  I couldn’t help myself and butted in, “You know Lois and Clark end up together in the end, right?”  The child looked at me like I punched his mother and replied, “Maybe in the comics, but Smallville isn’t like the comics, it’s actually good!”  I then punched the child.  His mother took offense so I punched her as well.  Then I grabbed all of the Smallville DVDs, stole them, and burned them in my backyard as a sacrifice to the continuity gods.

If you didn’t know this before, I’m going to fill you in on a little secret now: Smallville is a piece of sh*t.  It’s not a piece of sh*t the way a person who sleeps with your girlfriend is a piece of sh*t, scheming and conniving.  Smallville is a piece of sh*t the way Ryan Leaf is a piece of sh*t, promising, but stingy and too self-involved.

The show started with a great idea: Bruce Wayne before he becomes Batman — Great!  Wait, huh?  That’s right Smallville was originally going to be Gotham and to be honest, I’m thankful they didn’t.  Who knows how greed-rape would’ve ruined the caped crusader for me…  Anyways, after Batman’s story got axed, Alfred Gough (Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, Spider-Man 2, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) and Miles Millar (who partners with Gough on many of the previous titles, but also celebrates success with The Hannah Montana Movie) came up with the same formula for Superman — Clark in Smallville.  In and of itself a great idea!

While season one was freak-of-the-week, the following seasons have revolved around greater story arcs involving several DC characters, heroes and villains.  Okay.  Fine.  So what’s the problem?

The problem is that Smallville the TV show isn’t Smallville from the comics.  I know a lot of people defend the show saying, “Smallville is its own continuity,” but to me, that’s horse sh*t.  Why would you make a show about a younger version of the most famous superhero ever, if you’re not going to stick to the details?  It’s the details that make him great!  I can understand a few changes in the name of interpretation, but some of the stuff the CW has done is just bad (I’ll get to details in a second).

A show with this doesn’t need good writing.

And if you absolutely must change things around, do it for a good reason; if the word money comes up in the conversation, it’s not a good reason.  When I say “good” I mean “of moral fortitude,” in other words, if you’re going to have Lex Luthor live in Smallville (for much longer than he should’ve) there better be a good reason behind it.  What you’re doing at that point is changing cannon, not reinterpreting it.  A reinterpretation would be something like, changing the design of Supe’s suit, or making Lois a blonde, but creating a character named Chloe who will exist as one of the most significant characters in Clark Kent’s life is going to change his future, that’s something that’s hard for me to take.  Now, Ready for the list?

Lex don’t love dem hoes.

1.  Lex Luthor.  This guy should never have been in the show, well, at least not until Clark moved to Metropolis, or at least just for a brief stint according to cannon.  If you needed him to be in the show in order to give Clark a nemesis, than maybe a show about Superman before he was Superman wasn’t such a good idea in the first place!  What you’ve done instead is taken a series of events and moved them back in time.  That’s not really impressive…  We know Clark and Lex become enemies, I thought Smallville took place before all that.

Cute, but unnecessary, like munchkins.

2.  Chloe Sullivan.  The idea of Chloe is fine: a high-strung, headstrong reporter who will stop at nothing to “get the story.”  Are you f*cking kidding me?  I have an idea, let’s do a show about Superman before he was Superman and all we really have to do is write about superman with all the people he knows when he is superman, but make them teenagers and give them different names — SHENANIGANS!  We didn’t need Lois Lane in this show yet!  I THOUGHT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BEFORE ALL THAT!  This was a cheap way to create a relationship that wasn’t supposed to happen to Clark yet…  Chloe Sullivan did not exist in the comics-proper.  I understand the need for more supporting characters in Smallville, sure you can even make some up, but do they have to be copies of people we already know and love?  PS: Allison Mack is cute.

Ginger or no, let Jimmy be.

3.  Jimmy Olsen.  You killed Jimmy Olsen?!  Clark Kent isn’t even Superman yet and you killed Jimmy Olsen?  Are you f*cking kidding me?  I know, I know:  He wasn’t really Jimmy Olsen, but Jimmy Olsen’s younger brother Jimmy Olsen.  Oh, okay.  Let me bend Ms. Continuity over a bit so it hurts less when you f*ck her!

I see: Heroes. CW sees: $$

4.  Flash, Cyborg and every other mucked up ancillary character…  Cyborg was too old, (that) Flash was too young, Aquaman, well he just sucked, Oliver Queen should’ve been the same age as Superman, Papa Kent didn’t run for Senator, and Lionel Luthor didn’t exist…  You’ve destroyed the fictional reality of Superman, please leave the rest of DC alone.

Look, I’m fine with reimaginings, I think it’s neat to see what different people do with different materials.  All I’m asking for here is a bit of discretion when referring to the “greatness” of Smallville.  If you really love the Superman mythology, go support the comic community and buy a book!  Otherwise just admit that you like the Gilmore-Girl-like writing, typical WB/CW teenage angst drama, and keep your nose out of Superman all together.  You can play with Superman, just don’t f*ck with him.

Two good things to come from Smallville?  Kreuk and Durance.  Especially Durance.

Until next time,

Mr. Wolff

**UPDATE: This video is awesome.  Thanks to broken for the heads up!

Happy Wednesday folks,

Today I want to talk about something very serious. Cheesecake. No, not the delicious dessert, but the art. Cheesecake is a style of art featuring provocatively clad, sexually attractive women. Now, it’s not hard to find attractively drawn women in comics, heck, it’s harder to find ugly ladies floating around in funny books, but some artists have mastered the art of the cheesecake, and I wanted to focus on them today. Why you might ask? I respond with another question: Do I really need a good reason to post pictures of hot comic book characters? The answer is no. Sit back and enjoy dessert!

1) Adam Hughes– The all-time master. Nobody can beat him.

2) Frank Cho– A self-proclaimed “boob man” who upon landing the job as AVENGERS artist said ” I know all the lady Avengers are different sizes, but they will all be well endowed for as long as I draw them”.

3) Terry Dodson– One half of the current team of UXM pencillers, Dodson draws great… costumes.

4) Greg Land– The other half of the UXM team, a lot of people call Land a glorified tracer, for his heavy use of the light box. I just can’t bring myself to care.

5) J. Scott Campbell– Campbell draws some of the sexiest comic book characters around. DANGER GIRL is a can’t miss read for the cheesecake lovers.

6) Guillem March– A relitave new-comer, March is is quickly making his mark on the ladies of DC.

7) Joe Benitez– Joe Benitez thinks that normal proportions are silly. He makes that work for him.

David Finch– Sure, everyone loved his AVENGERS and ULTIMATUM work, but I think the man’s true calling is in womens’ fashion

9) Bart Sears– Sears exaggerates the human form quite a bit, but hey, sometimes that can be a plus. And for those wondering, the “Whitman” signature on She-Hulk is due to him having a contract issue with DC at the time he drew that piece for WIZARD magazine.

10) J.G. Jones– Jones draws fine looking females with a great deal of class and decorum. And rope.

Well guys and gals, hope you got your fill. Thanks for stopping in, see you tomorrow!

Sgt. Angle reporting for duty!

There are many things I want to talk to you about on this page in the days and weeks ahead, including the wonderful reunification of the creative team behind “Se7en.” But today I don’t have a lot of time, so let’s dive right into the topic at hand: Facebook and Twitter. How do these sites relate to the movie world? Why is it that a status update or a tweet can be the subject of a two-hour movie, but I can’t seem to pick the stall with the toilet paper when I go to the theatre?

This is more like it.

Facebook, the founding of which is already the subject of a movie (The Social Network) written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, has fast become the place to be for witty status updates, informing your online world of “friends” of your latest endeavors and wha’s happenin’ in your life. So it comes as no surprise that a particular former Spielberg groupie Dreamworks Executive (!) typed out an update deemed worthy of development.

“Lisa Hamilton Daly’s  Pomeranian raided Chinese takeout bag overnight, opened and ate a fortune cookie. Her fortune: You have strong spiritual powers, and you should develop them.”

There are enough layers to this story, though, to convince us that it’s not merely coincidence or circumstance that gave this woman the opportunity to sell a story to Hollywood. And, as you can see, it ain’t exactly Shakespeare. For starters, Facebook is huge, a billion dollar company, known worldwide. Second, Lisa Hamilton Daly’s former job and co-workers give her exclusive access to industry players. Her circle of “friends” on Facebook includes Christy Fletcher who runs a NY Lit Agency. The likes of Fletcher and UTA agent Howie Sanders are trying to spin Daly’s status into a “tween series about Charlotte, the Pomeranian, who uses her newfound superpowers to save her owner’s home after said owner loses her job and is forced to contemplate moving in with her folks.” These industry cats (see what I did there?) really do know how to spin even the most mundane activity of flossing one’s teeth into a 400 page epic of man vs. tooth (sorry, Dwayne Johnson, but that’s the tooth).

Yes, it hurts a lot.

Thanks, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, for sparking unwarranted love on dogs who chat and can save their owners, if not the world, from utter self-destruction.

But the latest gem of an idea to leap from the internet to (small) screen comes to us from Twitter. Shitmydadsays is an account started by Justin Halpern in August of THIS YEAR. Halpern, 29, moved back in with his parents in San Diego and started up a Twitter account based on – you guessed it – the shit his dad says. Little gems and touching words, such as “Why the f**k would I want to live to 100? I’m 73 and shit’s starting to get boring. By the way, there’s no money left when I go, just fyi.” Shitmydadsays has over 700,000 followers. How much do you want to bet that none of them are in the age demographic of CBS, the network which bought the rights to the tweets?

Of course, Halpern also sold Shit My Dad Says to HarperCollins for a book deal last month, so it’s not like he’s new to selling shit that’s barely three months old.

Lastly, and briefly, another show in the works from Fox based on a website: http://www.textsfromlastnight.com/, which is pretty self-explanatory and right up Fox’s alley for quality entertainment aimed at that 18–24-year-old crowd of dudes. Can’t they just do webisodes, or is that too incestual for the beast?

In brief, here are reviews of the four films I saw over the weekend. A la Twitter:

@TheMenWhoStareAtGoats: Clooney with a stache not as funny as Jeff Bridges looking for ice cream.

@ThisIsIt: Michael Jackson is hands on, an approach his music director loves. And this was a great show.

@Precious: Not as depressing as it looks, and I never thought Mo’Nique would be invited to Oscars. This is it for her.

@TheFourthKind: You tried so hard to scare, but you’re not real. And I know it.

What do you think should be a hot internet site/twitter account/facebook status/graffiti on building wall/newspaper headline/ image of the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast to hit the big or small screen? Sound back with it in the comments below. You never know who might be reading…

At ease,

Sgt. Angle

Next on Sgt. Angle’s Cinegasm: Filmmaking teams we’re dying to see come together again.

Good Morning!

Well, the votes are in (thank you to everyone who voted), and it’s actually a write-in that garnered the most love, Mr. Jeph Loeb!. So, let us shine the spotlight on Mr Loeb shall we?

Jeph Loeb was born in 1958 in Stamford, Connecticut, under the name Joseph Loeb III. Jeph attended college at Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts, and later a Masters, in Film.

Loeb’s professional career began in film as well, collaborating with Matthew Weisman on two films in 1985, Teen Wolf (starring Michael J. Fox), and Commando (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger). Loeb followed up by scripting more films, including Teen Wolf Too, Burglar, and Model by day.

In 1991, Loeb wrote his first comic for DC comics, revamping CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN with Tim Sale. Over the next few years, Loeb wrote several small Batman stories for the title LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT, which eventually led to Loeb (again partnered with Tim Sale) crafting the year-one style story, BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN. THE LONG HALLOWEEN which served as a breaking out point for Loeb.

Jeph followed B:TLH up with more DC work, including SUPERMAN FOR ALL SEASONS, which helped him to become the regular writer on SUPERMAN for next two years.

At the end of his Superman run, Loeb moved to Marvel and produced several year-one type mini-series including DAREDEVIL: YELLOW, SPIDER-MAN: BLUE, and HULK: Grey, all of which again partnered Loeb with Sale.

Loeb does work with people other than Tim Sale. In 2002 Loeb partnered with Jim Lee on BATMAN: HUSH, a 12 issue run which topped sales charts for 11 of it’s twelve months of production.

Loeb would eventually move back towards moving pictures as well as comics, writing episodes of Smallville, and becoming a producer (as well as writer) for Heroes. Loeb also has continued to work with Marvel, writing THE ULTIMATES V3, ULTIMATUM, and the newest HULK series.

Jeph Loeb has won a number of WIZARD and EISNER awards, mostly for his work on THE LONG HALLOWEEN, but fan reaction to his work is just as negative as it is positive. Loeb relies heavily on narration boxes as a way to show character thought, but will often write very light amounts of dialogue. A common criticism of Loeb’s work is that there is action for action’s sake, and that Loeb lacks an understanding of the characters that he is writing.

Despite the polarizing effect he has on fans (or perhaps because of it), Loeb is undoubtedly one of the biggest writers in comic books. He is constantly in demand at conventions. For my money, Loeb writes action as well as anyone, as well as being able to give a large cast of characters each a distinct voice. Loeb also writes the most compelling Batman that I have ever read. Where Loeb falls flat for me is characters with a sense of humor, as an example, his Spider-man stories are somewhat dry.

That’s the spotlight for today folks, thanks for stopping in, and have a great day!

Happy Football day folks!

Well, even though it’s Sunday, I am going to hold off one more day on my writer spotlight to allow any last minute voters a chance to get their votes in. What am I talking about? Check it out here.

At any rate, Enjoy this great football Sunday, and just so I dont leave you without any good news, DC is finally doing something with the Milestone characters. YAY! Blood Syndicate baby!