Comics | Krypton Radio

May 4 – Free Comic Book Day!

May 032013

Free Comic Book Day is here! ~~Tomorrow~~ (TODAY!) we celebrate old school ink, color and great stories combined into one of the most remarkable mediums of our time. This year the event is bigger than ever: more than 4.6 million comics will be given away on Saturday, according to Diamond Comics Distributors.

To find a complete list of comics and where to find them, visit FreeComicBookDay.com. Need a local comic shop to visit? Use Free Comic Book Day’s “shop locator”.

It’s all seen differently in everyone’s eyes; as to why it is celebrated, where we see it headed with this plethora of technology, and why they’re people giving out FREE comic books in the first place.

But hey, who’s complaining right? We all come together to share the great legacy comic books have provided us as well as influencing those movies we see on Friday nights with friends. When Free Comic Book Day continues into the years to come, you and your children, along with your lifelong friends, will always have this day to pull you closer together. There will be memories to last a lifetime. Just like always.

And have fun ~~tomorrow~~ (TODAY!) discovering new comics, and new friends.

And May the Fourth be with you!

Updated: It’s Free Comic Book Day! OMG OMG OMG Go nerd and geek out and let us know what you get! Yes! We’re nosy!- 30 -

Video Of The Day: Spider-Man’s Bad Day

Animation, Comics, Marvel / DC, Satire, Video Of the Day, Web Series No Responses »

Apr 252013

Everybody has a bad day once in a while. Even the Amazing Spider-Man. This is the first of a series of animations by Stan Lee’s World of Heroes depicting superheroes having the worst days of their lives.

If even superheroes can have days like this, maybe you’re not running your own life so bad after all.

Enjoy.

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Bagram Batman Takes On The U.S. Army

Comics, Marvel / DC, Real Life Heroes No Responses »

Apr 232013

It’s hard to be serious and comedic at the same time, but in this series of U.S. Army PSA’s about soldier safety on foreign soil, the Bagram Batman pulls it off nicely.

The Bagram Batman is a soldier in a cowl and cape smacking soldiers around for being stupid on a U.S. Army base; his Christian Bale impression isn’t half bad. The acting is cheesy, but they do what they’re meant to do: they make soldiers pay attention to safety on the job, increasing the likelihood that they’ll actually get to come home in one piece.

It’s goofy fun, and serious business all at the same time – and it’s actually paid for and produced by the U.S. military. Your tax dollars at work, and Batman saving lives. Kind of an odd way to do it, but it works for us.

Have a look!

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L.A. Times Festival of Books Wrap Up

Books, Comics, Community, Events, Marvel / DC No Responses »

Apr 222013

Flash has just run around the world. Again. The Justice League showed off their best moves before reading "I am Aquaman: Justice League Visits Atlantis," which is part of HarperCollins' "I Can Read" series.

by staff writer Laura Davis

That’s it for LATFOB 2013. What a dizzying assortment of books, talks, characters and people! The Trojan marching band was spectacular despite the heat, and it seemed that after a week of heartbreaking and terrifying news, everyone was ready to enjoy a pleasant weekend. Festival organizers made not only the impressive food court at USC available to attendees this year, but about a dozen gourmet food trucks were also on hand, so people had a huge variety of choices, and were generally able to get food in a reasonable length of time. Many festival fans are still upset over the venue change from UCLA to USC, but USC has plenty of shade and plenty of places to sit and take a break, a flat campus, and better parking and accessibility. As great as the festival was at UCLA, it’s better at USC.

This year, Warner Bros. had an even greater presence in the Children’s area, featuring the Mystery Machine and Scooby Doo, and Justice League characters, activities, and photo opps. Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Flash put in an appearance on the children’s stage to read from I Am Aquaman: Justice League Visits Atlantis, and the kids were mesmerized.

Lucy Dahl, daughter of Roald Dahl and inspiration for his Matilda, gave a warm talk, and in reply to a question about advice for young writers, she shared a letter written to her by her father on December 10, 1986, while he was writing Matilda:

“Dear Luke (that was his nickname for Lucy, she explains), the reason I haven’t written for a long time is that I have been giving every moment to a children’s book…and now at last, it’s finished and I know jolly well I’m going to have to spend the next 3 months re-writing the second half. The first half is great, about a girl who can move things with her eyes, and about a terrible headmistress who lifts small children up by their hair and hangs them out of the upstairs windows by one ear. But I have got now to think of a really decent second half, the present one will al be scrapped: three months’ work gone out of the window. But that’s the way it is. I must have re-written Charlie 5 or 6 times, although no one knows it.” She laughs and adds, “Well, now you do! So, I think that to answer [the] question, it’s not easy to write stories and to get them right. I know that one of his biggest fears while writing, and I’ve heard him say this many times, was to lose the attention of his reader and to keep them with him all of the time.”

Authors Austin Grossman, Scott Hutchins, Lydia Netzer, and Robin Sloan formed a lively panel, Fiction from the 22nd Century; and John Scalzi gave a great talk, in conversation with Richard Kadrey. We’ll feature full coverage on both of these events shortly. Stay tuned!

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Happy Birthday, Superman!

Comics, Marvel / DC, Music, Superhero, Television No Responses »

Apr 182013

This 1948 Republic Serial starred Kirk Alyn, the first actor to portray the Man
of Steel. For millions of movie-goers, his was the face and voice of Superman.

The Last Son of Krypton and Earth’s Greatest Hero is 75 years old today! It’s on this day that Action Comics #1 was released, the comic book that introduced Superman to the world. Lois Lane, the feisty reporter love of his life, was also featured in the same story.

The iconic character that would form the kernel of our modern superhero mythology was born from the minds of two comic book geeks still in high school – writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Schuster (Lois Lane was based on Jerry Siegel’s real life love interest Joanne Siegel who became his wife).

Over the years, Superman has appeared in virtually every medium, beginning with the famous radio serial and moving television, movies, video games, apps and an amazing array of pop music, much of which we play here on Krypton Radio.

Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson has declared April 18 to be Superman Day in that city. Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster were living in the Glenville area in Cleveland when they created the comic book hero in 1938.
To commemorate the event, these events are planned:

Superman flag will be raised on the steps of Cleveland City Hall with Superman in attendance
Lights on city hall and the Terminal Tower will be blue, red, and yellow
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport will have cupcakes for travelers and a birthday card for the hero at its recently-installed Superman Exhibit
City’s website and social media sites will feature citizen tributes to Superman

The proclamation will take place Thursday at 1 p.m. on the front steps of Cleveland City Hall.

MTV Geek will be celebrating the birthday all day long. Such celebrations are happening all over the country, the internet is vibrating with the news. Perhaps in these dark times, we turn in our hearts to symbols of hope.

Happy Birthday, Superman. We sure need you now.

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It’s Coming – Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

Comics, Marvel / DC, Superhero, Television No Responses »

Apr 172013

Justice-League-Flashpoint-Paradox-Blu-Ray

Primetime TV Stars & Justice League Alumni Fill Stellar Voice Cast

… including Justin Chambers, Kevin McKidd, Michael B. Jordan, C. Thomas Howell, Nathan Fillion, Ron Perlman, Dana Delany, Cary Elwes, Danny Huston and Kevin Conroy

Justice-League-Flashpoint-Paradox-Blu-Ray BURBANK, CA (April 17, 2013) – The world is turned upside down as one of earth’s greatest super heroes – Flash – wakes up devoid of his super powers in the all-new Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox – the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Original Animated Movies. Produced by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, this all-new, PG-13 rated film arrives July 30, 2013 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Blu-Ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP), DVD ($19.98 SRP) and Digital Download. The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack will include UltraViolet™*.

When time travel allows a past wrong to be righted for Flash and his family, the event’s temporal ripples prove disastrous, creating a fractured, alternate reality where the Justice League never formed, and even Superman is nowhere to be found. Amidst a new world being ravaged by a fierce war between Wonder Woman’s Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans, Flash must team with a grittier, more violent Batman and government agent Cyborg to restore the continuity of Flash’s original timeline.

Primetime television stars Justin Chambers Grey’s Anatomy) and Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy), the voices of Barry Allen/Flash and Thomas Wayne/Batman, respectively, unite with numerous greats of television and film to fashion the famed animated roles. Adding to the celebrity-laden voice cast and providing thrilling additions to the Justice League< series are Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale,Friday Night Lights, Chronicle) as Cyborg, C. Thomas Howell (Southland, The Outsiders) as Thawne/Professor Zoom, Nathan Fillion (Castle) as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Ron Perlman (Hellboy) as Slade and Deathstroke, Dana Delany (Body of Proof) as Lois Lane, Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) as Aquaman, Danny Huston (Magic City) as General Lane, Sam Daly (The Office, The Daly Show) as Superman, and Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) as Batman.

The screenplay is by Jim Krieg, as a vision of the now legendary comic book miniseries FLASHPOINT, by Geoff Johns & Andy Kubert. Jay Oliva (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) is director and James Tucker (Superman: Unbound) is producer.

This movie is noteworthy in one other respect: it is the first to canonize the events in Flashpoint that led up to the New 52 series currently being pressed by DC Comics.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox Blu-ray™ has over three hours of exciting extra content, including:

A Flash in Time: Are there other dimensions? Can time travel get us there? And if The Flash existed, could he really travel through time? Interviews with experts in mythology, theoretical physics and top DC writers will examine the science and legacy of the storytelling behind the fiction.
My Favorite Villians! The Flash Bad Guys: Acclaimed DC Comics writer Geoff Johns and others share their favorite Flash villains in this short film that gives viewers a glimpse into the Flash’s world through the eyes of some of the nefarious characters he has encountered over the past 70 years!
A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe animated movie:. An in-depth look into the next DC Animated feature film, spotlighting the cast and crew.
From the DC Comics Vault: Bonus cartoon episodes
The Flashpoint Paradox Audio Commentary

Krypton Radio First Look: 3rd Man of Steel Trailer

Comics, Marvel / DC, Movies No Responses »

Apr 162013

Click on the above image to see the full image. If you want to download it after that, right-click on the image and select "Save As".

Have you ever read Sumerian poetry or storytelling (it’s more or less the same thing)? It’s extremely repetitive. It makes the elements of the story almost a litany, a chant to be memorized and retold. The first superhero’s story was written in Sumerian: the story of Gilgamesh, who was thought to have been a demigod, two thirds god, one third human; five epic poems were written about him that we know about, and were distributed widely in ancient Mesopotamia.

Our modern legends owe a lot to Gilgamesh and the Sumerian view of him, especially our modern legend of Superman – so when retellers of the story take liberties with it trying to make it artificially trendy, they misunderstand what they’re working with and miss the mark.

From the trailer released today, it’s clear that director Zach Snyder and screenwriters David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan understood what they were working with. The new film looks less like it was meant to keep kiddies happy on a Saturday morning and more like an honest treatment of the Man of Tomorrow and what his life might be like were he here today. There is a lot of action on the screen, but every detail on the screen adds up to a whole instead of fighting for attention. The last several Superman movies have ranged from lackluster to embarrassing, but we think this one will be one to remember.

Man of Steel, from Warner Bros. Studios, opens June 14.

Kickstart This: CODE MONKEY SAVE WORLD

Comics, Kickstarter, Music No Responses »

Apr 152013

Comics writer Greg Pak (“Planet Hulk,” “Batman/Superman,” “Magneto Testament”), internet superstar musician Jonathan Coulton, and artist Takeshi Miyazawa (“Runaways”) have joined forces to create a graphic novel that stars the much-loved monsters and super-villains from classic Coulton songs like “Code Monkey,” “Skullcrusher Mountain,” “The Future Soon,” and “Re: Your Brains.”

This is not a photoshopped fake, nor is it an April Fool’s joke (unless you count the deadline for filing your taxes as an April Fool’s joke – we do). No, this is the real deal.

“Code Monkey Save World” follows Code Monkey, the put-upon coding monkey from the Jonathan Coulton song as he teams up with the lovelorn mad scientist from Coulton’s song Skullcrusher Mountain. The duo fights robots, office worker zombies, and maybe even each other as they struggle to impress the amazing women for whom they fruitlessly long.

Pak told Newsarama.com of the project’s origins, “I’ve always loved songwriters like Bill Withers, Willie Nelson, and Warren Zevon who create these strange, lonely, funny, compelling characters. And I’d put Jonathan right up there with them. He’s a fantastic storyteller, and at a certain point, after listening to his songs again and again for years and years, the comic book writer in me realized he’s told a huge number of stories in his songs about super-villains and monsters. So on the fateful day of November 21, 2012, I tweeted this:

Greg Pak @gregpak

Occurs to me that you could field a pretty awesome supervillain team with characters from @jonathancoulton songs.
2:05 PM – 21 Nov 12

The project was born last November after Pak joked on Twitter about writing a supervillain team-up comic based on Coulton’s characters. Coulton tweeted back “DO IT.” And so they did.

The characters are all based on characters from Coulton’s songs, which if you think about it is a gold mine of interesting and colorful characters, mostly villians. It’s the perfect well from which to draw for a comic book like this – and with the appealing character of Code Monkey in the central role, it’s the comic novel that demanded to be made!

The plan is to produce a 60 page graphic novel that will be released digitally in four parts through Monkeybrain Comics and comiXology and then in a collected trade paperback form.

Most of the Kickstarter campaigns we write about on Krypton Radio are underdog projects we think are deserving of a little extra help. Sometimes through our support, the projects go big when they might not have otherwise.

This project is different. This time we just want this ourselves!

Go, Code Monkey – Save World!

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