Two different versions of the comic-book hero Captain Marvel (one who recently acquired the name, and one who recently lost it) are heading to the big screen in the next few months – Marvel’s Captain Marvel in March: and DC’s Shazam! in April: I thought I’d give a brief history of the Captain Marvel concept […]
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Secret Origin of the Hulk
That Stan Lee and Jack Kirby have offered conflicting testimony as to which of them came up with the idea for the Hulk is not exactly news. But what I didn’t know before was the specific incident that Kirby claimed gave him the inspiration for the Hulk – namely, seeing a mother demonstrate extraordinary strength […]
Anti-Life Justifies My Blog!
On this date in 1917, comic-book writer-artist Jack Kirby was born (originally under the name Jacob Kurtzberg). Over the course of his career (until his death in 1994), Kirby would be involved in the creation of many of the comic book industry’s most recognisable characters. With collaborator Stan Lee, he helped create Iron Man, the […]
Four Rogues In Buckram
I haven’t been a great fan of the recent Fantastic Four movies. I thought Johnny was fine, and the Surfer was dead-on perfect; but Reed, Sue, and Victor were badly miscast; Reed and Sue had zero chemistry; Reed’s stretchiness never looked right; Victor had the wrong origin and lacked the original’s proto-Vaderesque gravitas and tragic […]
The Blessings of Compulsion
Compulsory IP licensing (where anyone can use your IP but they have to pay you a fee) is not my ideal – I favour getting rid of IP entirely – but it does seem preferable to the current system, both on rights-based grounds (having to pay to exercise your rights to free speech and press […]
Fear-Fraught Funnies
Jack Kirby once famously admonished (on a cover featuring Superman and the Guardian rushing toward the reader while bearing a photograph of Don Rickles): “Don’t ask! Just buy it!” In that spirit I offer the following comic. Don’t ask, just read it!