Get that story out of your head and onto paper!
A guide to creating graphic novels- presented in the form of a graphic novel- from a veteran in the field!
In You Can Do a Graphic Novel, Barbara Slate guides aspiring graphic novelists through the same process she learned in her early days working for Marvel and DC Comics-a process she has simplified for the classes she teaches and for the syndicated column she writes. Written in the form of a graphic novel itself, the book covers all the components and shows readers how to:
•Find their own drawing style regardless of ability
•Create memorable characters, compelling plots and subplots, and engaging dialog
•Traverse the graphic novel business
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In Batman: Arkham Asylum, the Dark Knight takes on his greatest challenge yet when he becomes trapped with all of his most dangerous villains inside the insane asylum of GOTHAM CITY - ARKHAM ASYLUM! Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum –Gotham’s psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City’s most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum. Using a wide range of Batman’s gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker’s demented scheme. Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner, Paul Dini, whose credits include Lost season one and Batman: The Animated Series. With amazing graphics and a moody, immersive setting, Batman: Arkham Asylum offers diverse gameplay options that push the envelope for all action, adventure and superhero games.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a single player, third-person action/adventure in which the Dark Knight is forced to take on his greatest challenge yet when he is trapped by arch rival, the Joker, within Gotham City's facility for the criminally insane, Arkham Asylum. A blend of exciting arcade style combat and stealth mechanics packed with amazing graphics in a moody, immersive setting, Batman: Arkham Asylum offers diverse gameplay options that push the envelope for all action, adventure and superhero games.
Batman: Arkham Asylum features an original story penned exclusively for the game by famous Batman author and five-time Emmy award winner, Paul Dini, whose credits include "Lost" season one and "Batman: The Animated Series." As the game begins Batman is personally delivering his nemesis, The Joker, to the asylum at Arkham Island, but he is uneasy. Although the Arkham asylum is well fortified, he has a nagging feeling that all is not well, which proves to be the case when seconds after turning The Joker over to the guards, the master criminal breaks free of his captors. Even more surprising than this quick turn of events is the revelation that it was never The Joker's intent to escape the vault-like facility, but instead to trap Batman there. Surrounded by an asylum full of dangerous criminals, many of which he put there and all at the beck and call of the Joker, can Batman survive and discover what is behind the Joker's intricate plot? Gameplay In Batman: Arkham Asylum players strap on the gadget-heavy utility belt of the Caped Crusader. Gameplay here is a combination of both the knuckle crunching rush of hand to hand combat as you take on the hordes of thugs that infest Arkham Asylum, and stealth gameplay in which you must dispatch individuals from the shadows. Players can expect an engrossing single player campaign in which Batman continually moves forward to face the henchmen, bosses and traps that The Joker has set for him. With regards to opponents, in addition to The Joker who you will hear more than you see, the dark walls of Arkham also hold familiar villains from the the Batman criminal universe including Harley Quinn, Victor Zsasz and Killer Croc, that you will have to deal with, but don't expect a one-dimensional experience. As players progress from environment to environment within Arkham they will have to use varying combinations of muscle, detective skills, gadgetry and a certain degree of light RPG-like leveling of Batman's skills, arsenal and physical characteristics to survive and discover what The Joker's underlying scheme is. In addition to the story-driven single player campaign Arkham Asylum also contains various additional play modes. These include an arcade styled combat mode where players accumulate points by engaging hordes of thugs in a hand to hand slugfest across a series of maps, in which Batman's physical strength and agility play a major role. The key here is to chain together as many attacks as possible due to the fact that with each successful combo players increase the point multiplier associated with their actions. The game also features a time-based stealth mode where players must hone their ability to strike silently from the shadows. This gameplay, referred to as 'Invisible Predator' utilizes the Dark Knight's skill with gadgets like the grapple tool, batarang and explosives. These allow for vertical/horizontal mobility, the ability to quickly strike from above and at a distance and to take out enemies and create distractions, even through walls. But remember that Batman works solo and is not superhuman. Your enemies will congregate around trouble areas and work as a team against you, so you must be silent, plan your attacks wisely, strike quickly and discover the value of encouraging fear within enemies. Key Features
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Lot of 2 different rings: Enamel Batman Returns Catwoman ring, and Batman logo plastic ring. 1980s-1990s. Excellent. Read more
This year, half-witch teen, Sabrina, decides to make some changes in her life, including attending college and living away from home like a normal freshman. Ecstatic to finally be on her own, she discovers that college life isn’t all she’d imagined and find out how difficult it will be to keep the fact that she’s a witch a secret from her unfriendly new roommates. Read more
Collector Safe Golden Age Resealable Comic Book Bags The Collector Safe Resealable Golden Age Comic Bags are an acid free, archival quality product made of crystal clear polypropylene. These bags have a reusable adhesive tape strip on the body of the bag so the collector can fold the top flap over and lock in the comic. Resealable for your silver comic needs 2 mil material thickness 1 1/2 inch flap for closure Crystal clear Protect comics while handling (Quantity = 1 Pack of 100 Bags) Read more
A large number of the creators of the most famous superheroes were of Jewish background, secular, religious, or both. Disguised as Clark Kent explores how the Jewish consciousness of these individuals impacted the content of the comics and contributed to making characters such as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Wonder Woman into the most familiar popular-culture icons of all time--on television and in movies, as well as in the four-color pages in which they originated.
In Disguised as Clark Kent, Danny Fingeroth--a long-time executive in the comics business who wrote and edited Spider-Man as well as other famous lines for Marvel--reflects on the phenomenon of the heavily Jewish elements that, consciously or not, went into the creation of the superhero.
The book is well researched, including personal interviews as well as historical data. It centers on questions of Jewish identity, which is historically about the push and pull toward and away from that very identity. One sees this immediately and most famously in Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the superhero "disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper." It is also a large part of Bill Finger and Bob Kane's Batman, Will Eisner's Spirit, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Captain America.
As emigrants with a history of persecution, Jews came to America with their heads down but their eyes open. Finding in America a civilization freer of officially sanctioned anti-Semitism and replete with a philosophy that allowed the individual to succeed to the extent of his or her abilities, Jews were faced with unprecedented freedom and opportunity. Yet there were limits, spoken and unspoken, that they dared not push. Many were relegated to trades and fields with a taint of shabbiness to them. The garment business was one. Another was entertainment, of which the outer edges of the formerly old-line publishing industry was another: the pulps and the comics. It was here the above-named made their mark, later to be reimagined by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and others from the 1960s down to our own time.
Disguised as Clark Kent brings valuable insight into the fantasies that fuel our imaginations and entertainment industry, as well as many significant and often hidden aspects of our society. Read more
Art imitating life. That's what happens in Lynn Johnston's perennially popular comic strip, For Better or For Worse. By reflecting on her own family and experiences, she created the Pattersons: Elly, John, Michael, Elizabeth, and April, along with grandparents, grandchildren, friends, and coworkers and the everyday situations they deal with.
In Never Wink at a Worried Woman, life is progressing for each character. Elly and John tenuously think of retirement while still being preoccupied parents of a preteen. Michael and Deanna grow into their roles as new parents while Michael's career gets a new boost. Elizabeth takes more steps to adulthood, by beginning her student teaching and facing the fact that Anthony is marrying another. April is racing to turn 13, busy with her band and also helping out at Lilliput's, where she makes a painful discovery about a coworker. Add in Grampa Jim's quest to maintain his aging dignity and baby Meredith's burgeoning curiosity, and you get a full dose of life.
For Better or For Worse has appealed to readers for more than 25 years. It runs in more than 2,000 newspapers in the U.S., Canada, and 20 other countries and is translated into eight languages besides English. Read more
Written by J. Michael Straczynski Art and cover by Jesus Saiz A thing that lives... and fights for its soul! The shambling walking doll that is Brother Power, the Geek has been reborn in Gotham City without a home or purpose! Could destiny have something in store for this seemingly lost relic? And why does his appearance cut into Batman's heart like none of Gotham's strange monsters ever has before? Find out in this new issue from best-selling writer J. Michael Straczynski (Amazing Spider-Man) and artist Jesus Saiz (OMAC PROJECT)! Read more
Movie DVDPicking up where the final theatrical feature (Blade: Trinity) left off, Blade: The Series made a valiant attempt to translate the Marvel Comics vampire hunter's adventures to the small screen; though the series was short-lived, the DVD features uncut versions of the episodes, as well as a smattering of extras. Rapper-turned-actor Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones takes up the katana from Wesley Snipes as Blade, and he certainly fills the physical requirements for the role, which requires him to hunt down the well-bred bloodsuckers in the House of Chthon, whose leader, Marcus Van Sciver (Neil Jackson), is developing a serum that will cure vampires of their weaknesses (sunlight, garlic, sunlight). Aiding Blade in his campaign is former Army vet and vampire-in-training Krista (Jill Wagner), who lost a brother to the House of Chthon and her humanity to Van Sciver; in between bouts of swordplay and martial arts with the House's followers, we also delve into Blade's back story, which covers his early days as a vampire. All 13 episodes of Blade: The Series (including the two-part pilot, which was previously released on DVD as Blade: House of Chthon) are energetic and action-heavy (and hew closely to its comic origins--Blade villains like Damek and Marvel characters like Moon Knight are referenced), though the leaden dialogue is a frequent stumbling point; ultimately, the series' approach (which was more crime story than vampire action) didn't have the same appeal as the big-budget, effects-heavy features. Loyal fans, however, won't be disappointed by the decision to present the uncut versions of all but one ("Monsters") of the episodes in this set, which feature a great deal of gruesome violence and sexuality that was trimmed for the original network run. However, the extras, which include a seven-part behind-the-scenes featurette and commentary tracks for the pilot episode (one by director Peter O'Fallon and one by writer and executive producer David Goyer and Geoff Jones) were both included on the House of Chthon DVD release. --Paul Gaita Read more
Collecting the formative issues in the grown of Invincible as a superhero. This volume collects Invincible's violent battle with the villainous Angstrom Levy, his reunion with his estranged father and the bloody battle with the Viltrumites. This is a can't-miss for any Invincible fan and a perfect addition to any bookshelf. Read more
Get Creative with the Spider-Man Creative Studio! You can create your very own Posters, Calendars, Bookmarks, Party Kits, Stationery, Flyers and much more¿ but that's not all! Ever wanted to make your own Spider-Man stories come to life? Now you can by designing your very own comics and scanning your pictures into the storylines! Read more
In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created—in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress—only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine.
The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told—until The Ten-Cent Plague. David Hajdu’s remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority.
When we picture the 1950s, we hear the sound of early rock and roll. The Ten-Cent Plague shows how—years before music—comics brought on a clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of mainstream culture with a big target. Parents, teachers, and complicit kids burned comics in public bonfires. Cities passed laws to outlaw comics. Congress took action with televised hearings that nearly destroyed the careers of hundreds of artists and writers.
The Ten-Cent Plague radically revises common notions of popular culture, the generation gap, and the divide between “high” and “low” art. As he did with the lives of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (in Lush Life) and Bob Dylan and his circle (in Positively 4th Street), Hajdu brings a place, a time, and a milieu unforgettably back to life.Amazon Significant Seven, March 2008: I may be alone here, but when I read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a whole strata of American artists came to life for me. Ever since then I've been waiting for a book like David Hajdu's The Ten-Cent Plague to come along and show me the contours of this world. Anyone who remembers Positively 4th Street will recognize in this new book Hajdu's peerless ability to weave first-person recollections with an acute perspective of America at a pivotal moment in its cultural timeline. The rise of comics as a mode of expression, an outlet for entertainment, and, rather tragi-comically, as a target for censorship, couldn't be more compelling in anyone else's hands. In deft narrative strokes Hajdu creates a colorful, character-driven story of our first real--and lasting--counterculture (if the burgeoning popularity of graphic novels is any indication) and shows why we embrace it still.--Anne Bartholomew
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To coincide with The Mask of Zorro, the blockbuster film produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Antonio Banderas, Hyperion presents a complete, illustrated history of the character--from 1920's pulp fiction to the present. 75 photos & illustrations.A must-read for Zorro aficionados, Sandra Curtis's thorough compendium offers a rich historical cross section of one of pop culture's most influential icons. Beginning with his debut in 1919 in a pulp magazine to Antonio Banderas's high-profile impersonation in The Mask of Zorro, every factoid and trivial tidbit about the masked muchacho is included. For example, did you know that Zorro, which means "fox" in Spanish, was based on an actual California bandido? Or that Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, are spinoffs of the legendary Latino? Curtis's husband inherited the rights to Zorro, which subsequently gave the author access to a vast archive of information not available to other writers. That, coupled with her own extensive research, lends to some interesting synthesis, especially when she touches upon early Californian history. Replete with film, TV, and historical photos and coupled with balanced film and television reviews, Zorro Unmasked is a satisfying reference guide for those who can't get enough of the sexy swordsman. --Rebekah Warren Read more
They were visionaries. Explorers. Imaginauts. They were Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. And like their creations - the Fantastic Four - they continually strove to overcome the impossible and achieve the extraordinary. Now, the first three years of their landmark run on Fantastic Four - issues #1-30 and Annual #1 - are collected in one oversized volume. Read more
In the fallout from House of M and following the surprise film-noir hit Madrox, a new mutant team is forged! X-Factor is an investigative mutant agency that includes Madrox, the Multiple Man; Guido, the Strong Guy; Wolfsbane, the shape-shifter; Siryn, the chorus girl; Rictor, the living earthquake; and Generation X's Monet, the pompous witch. Drawn together in the heart of District X, this rag-tag band of heroes has a lot of answers to find, and fast! Collects X-Factor (2005) #1-6. Read more
