Stargirl Bombshell

Comic companies make a lot of money making pictures and merchandise of sexy women.  That’s the industry and I don’t really see that changing any time soon.  There have been times when a comic’s cover made me mildly embarrassed to purchase it, but for the most part I don’t think about it.  Most the statues I own are male, so it’s possible I was subconsciously a little creeped out by statues of mostly naked women in action poses.  For the past couple months DC has been doing a series of “Bombshell” statues.  They are of current DC women in retro pin-up style and even have a bit of airplane nose art on their bases.

The most recent solicited is of Stargirl.  I love the character of Stargirl.  I love airplane nose art and vintage cheesecake.  The combination of these two things had a very different reaction.  It made me uneasy.  The statue is very well done, but reading about Courtney growing up changed the way I look at this.  I feel like I’m seeing a sister or daughter posing for a pin-up and I don’t think I like it.

The strangest thing is the costume she is wearing in the statue shows just about the same amount of skin her actual costume shows.  Normally her midriff is exposed, that’s covered on the statue.  The statue shows more of her arms and back though.  There is no logical reason for my reaction.  It's probably a good thing I have a son and not a daughter.

To show my hypocrisy knows no ends, I think the Black Canary Bombshell is one of the sexiest statues I’ve ever seen.  I can’t say I’ve ever cared about the character and I almost ordered that statue.   

Starman Week: Statues

Today is the last entry in our first ever Starman week. I hope you’ve had a good time. I had a good time. Today we’re talking about some collectables a little nicer then action figures, we’re talking about statues. There aren’t a whole lot of Starman statues, but what is out there is worth tracking down if you’re a fan.

We’re starting off with the Eaglemoss Starman. I’ve already talked about how much I love the Eaglemoss line in my numerous reviews of the Flash related releases. Hand painted lead figures. They aren’t very large, but that makes them affordable and easy to display. They are quickly my favorite way to get a collectable of a character I like. As you can see Jack looks fantastic.

I was even more impressed with the piece when I got a look at the back of his jacket. The Starman symbol is a little more complex than most of the designs I’ve seen recreated on the Eaglemoss stuff so far. I think the picture speaks for itself. Unfortunately there isn’t a Golden Age Starman in this line. The good news is that they are adding a Stargirl though, she was just recently announced.

Then we have the statue DC Direct released in 1999. Sculpted by Tim Buckner and based on Tony Harris’ designs I’ve had this piece in my collection for a long time. The pose makes it an interesting piece. The base on the statue is sized normally but since Jack is kneeling it takes up much less space than if he was standing in some kind of dynamic action shot. It is cold cast porcelain, so it has some heft to it.

The tip of the staff is a separate piece, which makes it much easier to transport. It fits into the staff snuggly though; I’ve never had any issues with it falling out. The Starman zodiac is also nicely painted on the back of Jack’s jacket on this piece too. Despite it being older, you can find this popping up on eBay pretty frequently.

That’s it for Starman week. I’d like to do it again some time. As always there is a “Contact Us” button on the right hand side if you have any suggestions, complaints, etc.

Starman Week: Figures

Starman Week marches on! So far we’ve covered the books, the mini-series, and shared some stories about convention sketches. Now it’s time to talk toys! DC Direct did make a Jack Knight figure but it won’t be in today’s article. When the DC Universe Jack came out I considered it an upgrade and packed up the DC Direct version somewhere in my closet. I suppose there is a certain irony to a character who is a collectables dealer being turned into a collectable himself.

DC Universe Classics did a version of Jack and one of his father, the Golden Age Starman. As you can see by the sticker, they were part of the line that debuted at K-Mart before showing up at other stores. I had looked all over for the Jack figure, but couldn’t find him on the store pegs. I ended up buying him for a little bit of a markup at Heroes last year. The bonus to buying him there was I got the package signed by Tony Harris.

This week is really turning into a love letter to Tony Harris isn’t it? I like to open most of my figures, even if they are just going in a display. That way I can make sure I like the pose they are in and things like that. Well, once you get the packaging signed you’ve pretty much decided to leave the figure in or carefully cut out the back of the packaging. I decided to just leave him in there.

I wasn’t sure I was going to buy the Ted Knight figure. It was one of those situations where buying one item snowballs into buying another just to have a complete set. I found him in a store one day and debated with myself whether or not to pick him up. Obviously the collector in me won out. Just because I already had Jack, Ted stays in his package also.

There is a DC Universe Stargirl figure. I haven’t picked her up yet. I’ve seen her in the stores and had the same debate I had with the Ted Knight, except this time my diminishing display space won out. I do have this fantastic Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E. minimates set. I haven’t really covered Stargirl this week; she’ll have to wait until I decide to do another week dedicated to the series. I don’t know why I’ve kept them in package, but most the minimates I’ve purchased remain unopened.

That’s it for the figures, check back tomorrow for even more Starman!

Starman Week: The Shade

Hangover Thursday takes a week off as we continue Starman week! It would be wrong to have a week dedicated to Starman and not mention the Shade. If you haven’t read the series yet that might sound like a strange thing to say. But James Robinson changed a generic villain into one of the most compelling characters in comics. He plays a major role in the Starman series and not just as a cackling criminal. He’s practically a co-star.

Shade moved up to full star for amini-series that came out during Starman’s run. All four of these issues are now in the Starman Omnibus that we talked about Monday. Currently there is a twelve issue Shade mini-series that is only a third of the way through. In fact I think issue number 4 comes out next week. Now I realize that sometimes coming back to a beloved series doesn’t always work. James Robinson has jumped right back into the feeling of the first series though; you’d never know they were written so long after the original end.

I’ve been talking about the writing, but the art is also amazing. Covers have been provided by Tony Harris, we’ve already established that I’m already a fan of his. The interior art for the first three issues were all done by Cully Hammer. Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone worked on the cover and interiors for issue number 4. Javier Pulido takes over art duties on issues 5 and 6. I can only speak for the Cully Hammer issues, since the others aren’t out yet. It’s good, so good that Cully Hammer has been added to my sketchbook wish list.

The last thing I want to mention is that James Robinson has tweeted that DC isn’t happy with the numbers this series is pulling. There is a danger that it may be cut short. If you’ve haven’t jumped onto this series yet, swing by your local shop and grab the first couple issues. You won’t be disappointed.

Starman Week: Tales from the Brain Jar, #19 pt2

Welcome back to Starman week and the second part of my Jack Knight Tales from the Brain Jar. Yesterday I discussed the Heroes convention in 2008 where I met Tony Harris and his unique way of picking what sketches to do. Today’s story is from that very same day, although it was later in the afternoon when he was getting ready to do my sketch.

I was walking past Tony’s table and he called me over. He was getting ready to start my sketch and he wanted to ask me a few questions. So as I walk over he says, “Goat or no goat?” I wasn’t really expecting it, so I was caught a little off guard. I must have gone slack jawed for a split second, but I recovered and realized he was talking about Jack’s facial hair. He nods approvingly and then tells me that he’s going to put something in the sketch that I should get since I’ve read all the books.

I didn’t say this yesterday, but I’ll mention it today. I am intimidated by Tony Harris. It’s just that I admire his work so much, and he just seems so cool, I don’t want to say or do something that would appear dumb in front of him. Is it geeky? Yes, I realize it is. I’ve talked to him numerous times and he is a fantastically nice person, but I’m still nervous that I’m not cool enough when I’m around him. So the fact that he was putting an Easter egg into my sketch was awesome and terrifying at the same time.

My mind was racing, what would happen if it was some obscure reference from the comic and I didn’t catch it? I’d be humiliated. As he worked the two of us talked about tattoos and the series in general. No matter how awesome that conversation was though, I was constantly thinking about that reference that I needed to get. Luckily for me, it was something I easily recognized. You’ll notice the name of the tattoo parlor is a reference to Turk county in the story. I can’t really describe how relieved I was.  Of course besides getting the reference, I also recieved the amazing sketch that we've been talking about.

That’s it for this Tales from the Brain Jar. Check back the rest of the week for more Starman goodness.

Starman Week: Tales from the Brain Jar, #19 pt1

I hadn’t realized it, but it has been months since we’ve ran a Tales from the Brain Jar. Just in time for Starman week comes one of the most impressive sketches in my entire book. It is by Tony Harris and it was done at the Heroes convention in 2008. There are two stories attached to this sketch, so we’ll get right to the first of them. Because this may run a little long, I’ll post the second story tomorrow.

Any time I know I’m going to a convention I keep track of the artist list so I can budget both time and money accordingly. I usually plan for 1 sketch, with the possibility of picking up a second depending on how much I’ve spent already. For Heroes, I knew I wanted a Jack Knight from Tony Harris. I could have left the convention with just that and still called the weekend an amazing success.

Due to someone very awesome that I won’t name right now, I managed to get into Heroes about 10 minutes before the doors were opened. I quickly parted with my benefactor and started for Tony Harris’ table. I found him about 5 minutes before the doors opened and found that I was the third person in his sketch line. I was disappointed I wasn’t first, but I figured there was no way I wouldn’t get a sketch if I was third in line. That’s when the convention opened and Tony explained what he was doing this weekend.

Tony explained that he can do a certain number of sketches during the convention (I forget what that number was). He then went on to tell us that to make it more interesting to him, we would have to write our names down and then write down what we wanted a sketch of. Tony would then to the sketches that he thought were interesting. It made sense, but I was suddenly terrified that Jack Knight getting a brain jar tattoo wouldn’t be interesting enough to make the cut.

The first guy in line writes down his name and then writes “Batman”. Tony looks at the list, arches an eyebrow and pretty much tells the guy. “Hey, Batman is pretty boring. I get tons of Batman requests, there is a good chance I won’t do this one.” The guy sticks to his guns though; he seems indifferent about the whole thing. He doesn’t go into an impassioned speech about how Batman is his favorite character in the world; he just kind of nodded and went on.

Guy number two walks up and writes down “Wonder Woman.” Inside I’m cheering, I’m still worried that my sketch isn’t interesting enough, but if this is what I have to compete against I figure I’m a sure thing. Tony looks at this guy the same way I must be. I honestly don’t believe he thought he would get a Batman and Wonder Woman so quickly after telling people he didn’t want to do generic sketches all day.

Finally it is my turn. I get my first omnibus signed. We both comment on how nice the book is. I joke that after the singles, the trades, and finally the omnibus that the story must be something special because at this point I’ve bought it three times. I write my name, what I want, and I show him the other 18 brain jar sketches in my book. I was relieved to know almost immediately that he would be doing my sketch, but the story isn’t over yet. Check back tomorrow to find out what else happened.

Starman Week: The Omnibus

This week we’re going to take a long look at my favorite comic book series ever, Starman. Now considering the website has a serious Flash bias I can understand the confusion that statement may cause. The Flash is my favorite superhero, but the Starman series with its definite beginning and end is my favorite superhero story. The Flash in one form or another is ongoing, there are good arcs and there are bad arcs. So when you talk about a good Flash story you talk about an issue or an arc. When I talk about Starman I’m talking about the whole thing.

So what is so great about this story? Well a lot of it has nothing to do with superheroes. Sure it is masked in a love letter to both the Golden Age and the Silver Age of comics, but if you look deeper into Starman you can see other themes. The importance of family is one of those themes, even when you don’t get along with them. Growing up and the changes that come with growing up are another one. I won’t lie, I see a lot of myself in Jack. I will also admit that even though I’ve read through the entire series five or six times, I have cried every time I read certain issues.

As a superhero story it has all of the things I loved about DC. The stories take a heavy look into past characters. Because Jack is an outsider, all this information is fed to the reader slowly, so you’re never overwhelmed by it. It celebrates Opal City and makes it iconic. I love DC’s fictional cities and I’m thrilled when a writer takes the time to really define them. Also defined are Jack’s supporting cast. As you read through the story you’ll have your own favorites, but all of them are memorable.

If you are new to the series you can’t go wrong with picking up the Starman Omnibuses. There are six hardcover omnibuses that collect the entire series. I understand, six 50 dollar books don’t exactly sound like an economical way to read the series. The books are beautifully put together and the contents of them are worth every penny.

Comic adaptations that would scare me

No bar last night due to some other issues, so we’ll talk some comics. I got a text from Brandon the other day, in what seemed like seconds after the story broke, “What do you think about the xXx writer doing the script for Iron Fist?”  As a big Iron Fist fan, it was kinda scary.  We've talked a lot about accepting the changes movies like Jonah Hex, Thor, and Green Lantern make to the comic stories.  But what about the ones that aren't about to hit the movie theaters?  It got me thinking of those characters where I would have to repress my inner geekdom if the movie changed something in the story or diverged from the comic. So I'm counting down the Top 5 superhero adaptations that would make me nervous. I’m sticking with superhero books here, so awesome characters like Cal McDonald aren’t being overlooked; it is just a list for another time.


Check the list out after the jump