Boom! Studios, Italian Style

Here’s some good news for our friends in Italy; Boom! Studios is coming your way in a magazine format to boot!  Check out the complete press release below.  (heh, I said boot when talking about Italy.)

Press Release

BOOM! Studios just concluded an agreement with Italycomics (www.italycomics.it), an Italian comic book publisher whose catalog is a virtual “best of the best indy publishers” translated into Italian, to form a new publication called BOOM! MAGAZINE.

This new publication sees Italycomics dedicating a whole anthology magazine to BOOM! Studios series.
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Quote of the Week: Mark Waid on Dan DiDio on 52

Man, I knew there was a reason Mark Waid was one of my favorite people.  In an interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Waid spilled the beans on nearly every company he’s ever worked for.

“The biggest challenge [of 52] was actually, wisely, kept from us by [editor] Steve [Wacker]. EIC Dan Didio, who first championed the concept, hated what we were doing. H-A-T-E-D 52. Would storm up and down the halls telling everyone how much he hated it. And Steve, God bless him, kept us out of the loop on that particular drama. [Editor Michael] Siglain, having less seniority, was less able to do so, and there’s one issue of 52 near the end that was written almost totally by Dan and Keith Giffen because none of the writers could plot it to Dan’s satisfaction. Which was and is his prerogative as EIC, but man, there’s little more demoralizing than taking the ball down to the one-yard line and then being benched by the guy who kept referring to COUNTDOWN as ‘52 done right.’”

I think this is a fascinating look at the company, and actually puts a lot of what is going on into perspective.  You’ll want to read the entire article, as there are enough quotes that can be pulled that would fill a month of Sundays worth of Quotes of the Week.

And if you are interested, we did our own little interview with Mr. Waid a while ago, where he hints at some of these things…

via Ain’t It Cool News

Review: Blue Beetle #35

Sometimes Actions Have Repercussions

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One of the best stories to come out of the most recent Blue Beetle series featured Jaime Reyes and friends kicking the butts of the alien Reach who were invading the Earth.  That battle ended when Jaime and his scarab (the Khaji-Da) severed the connection between the Blue Beetle alien technology and the invaders.  With one issue to go after this one, one might think the tale being told would settle down a bit.

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Hero History: Devlin O’Ryan

Or – “Some Heroes Take A While To Warm Up…”

Last time out, we returned to the “Five Year Gap” era Legion of Super Heroes for the first time in a while, visiting the world as it was with neither Kal-El of Krypton or the Time Trapper.  I’ve said before, and I still believe that this portion of Legion history (now, apparently relegated to one of many alternate realities) was the first dry run for rebooting Legion continuity, which was then considered to be too complex and hard to understand.  Of course, Keith Giffen and company felt that the best way to deal with the issues of complexity and continuity was to remove the distinct color-schemed costumes and codenames and go low-tech.  It was a bold move, and one that worked mostly due to the characters in play.  One of the more unique Legionnaires of this time started out not as a hero, but as a Daily Planet cub reporter sent by Earthgov to bury the Legion with bad press.  In a Legion that welcomed a smuggler, a private detective, a senator, and even a former member of the Legion of Super-Villains, he was our point of view character, the closest thing we had to the kid next door in a 30th Century fraught with terror.  This, then, is your Major Spoilers Hero History of the Legionnaire briefly known as Reflex of Earth…  Devlin O’Ryan!

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On the Next Major Spoilers Podcast

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Next week on the Major Spoilers Podcast, we’re taking a break from DC trade titles and taking a look at Tag Vol. 1 from Boom! Studio.

Tag Vol. 1 TPB
Writer(s):
Keith Giffen
Artist(s): Andy Kuhn, Kody Chamberlain
BONUS: Included in TPB form for the first time as an “extra” is Keith Giffen’s “10″ one-shot — ten innocent people become unwilling contestants in a game of death. Given 10 bullets and a gun, it’s kill or be killed as they’re forced to hunt the other 10 contestants! In the dark, horrific tradition of Battle Royale!

Spine-snapping horror in the tradition of the movie The Ring! An average joe strolls down the street after a fight with his girlfriend when a random stranger TAGS him, handing off an ancient curse! He literally begins to die – and rot – seeing his body begin to decompose every day before his very eyes. Cursed, he must either surrender, or find the next victim to TAG… Collecting the three issue mini-series from white-hot Wizard Magazine favorite Keith Giffen and 30 Days of Night Bloodsucker Tales artist Kody Chamberlain!

If you have read the series, post your comments below, and we may use them on show.

Review: Reign in Hell #1

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One of my pet loves in the literary world is the mystical and demonic. There is nothing quite like a well told, not too anti-Christian, believable mystical story. Gaiman did it so well with American Gods, and Joss Whedon did the campy just as well with Buffy and Angel. But one of the better portrayals of the mystical universe has always stemmed from DC’s line of mystical and magical characters.

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Image Comics Sneak Peek of the Week

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Here’s the latest batch of sneak peeks from Image Comics for titles arriving in stores next week. On the list this week; Bomb Queen V #1, Dynamo 5 #13, Godland #23, Gutwrencher #3, Invincible Universe Primer #1, PVP Volume 5, and The Perhapanauts #2.

Wow, that’s a lot of comics. Better take the jump and get cracking!

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