Goin Local- Swizz Beatz

Bronx native, Kasseem Dean aka Swizz Beatz has been pushing himself forward as a renaissance man beyond the arts with the likes of  Mos Def, Jay-Z and Russell Simmons-- not only for his genius production skills, being adept in the fine arts but most notably for his philanthropic role in the collaboration of Hope For Haiti Now.

Most heads outside of the realm of Hip-Hop rarely knew of the talented "One Man Band" beyond the sound that owns the airwaves- Jay-Z's On To the Next One...



In this behind the scenes footage with MTV, Swizz humbly (a term rarely used in Hip-Hop) passes off shine towards Q-Tip and Pharrel on the now famous Justice "Dance" sample that he transformed to propel the chart-killin track.



Swizz masterminded the incredibly moving lyrics and sounds to support the anthem- "Haiti Mon Amour," that is helping to spread awareness efforts in rebuilding Haiti-- performed by Rhianna, The Edge, Bono and Jay-Z.




And man you can't hate on em just cause he gets served breakfast by Alicia (just with a chain on--ha!!  check the Drake joint for reference).

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Missed Connections- C.P. Smith's Wolverine

The most talented of artists often have their hands on many books through their career, but it is often the case that they make their mark by really connecting with one character: be it Neal Adams on Batman, Frank Miller's Daredevil, Todd McFarlane on Spidey-- and in just 4 years, C.P. Smith is carving out just that with Wolverine.




Though Smith has touched less than 10 titles of Logan with his imaginative, distinctive graphic style, it is clear how easily he delves into the hyper-violent and equally emotional world of the mutant samurai.

In Wolverine #41, Smith teams with Stuart Moore on a very memorable one-shot that captures Logan as a deadly killing machine, fighting his way through a civil war torn Africa- with one mission in mind, delivering "the package," an infant baby to safety.

Smith crafts his illustrations and use of colors beautifully, somehow managing to apply pastel washes to Wolvie slashing or in peaceful moments of intimate dialogue.



This month's release of Wolverine: Weapon X takes Logan through his gloriously, tragic love life that is covered by women in his life (X-Men ladies)as he faces one of the greatest threats he has yet to face, a new GF.










The photorealistic imagery CP delivers is breathtaking and oh how we would all just wish for some regular ongoing work by this creator on Wolvie. Oh well, I suppose I can just go and pickup some of those Wolverine: Noir titles...

This post was written by:
big O

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WTF moment of the week- Batman and Robin

In a slam-bam-thank you (dood/mama ur preference) kinda way we are treated to not only the premier of Canadian artist Cameron Stewart (who bromanced with Morrison on dope indies like- Invisibles and Seaguy) gracing the pages of Batman and Robin, but also a special guest that we have all been waiting to see hit the DCU beyond that of Detective Comics...Batwoman!!

No doubt, Greg Rucka (including JH3 and Jock) has been profound in fleshing out Kate Kane-- but besides James Robinson's minor attempt (in a few panels of Cry for Justice) at adding to the creative life of this femme fatale, Rucka has been the sole, creative controller.

Enter Morrison and Stewart.

Kane handles herself with Grayson and cos of Morrison's subtle, well-crafted wordsmith, depth is added to Grayson's character in how he justifies why he would go to such lengths at "bringing back" Batman/Bruce Wayne. This issue sets the stage for what looks to be an incredible adventure involving Batman, Knight, Squire and Batwoman taking on...a Lazarus pit, revived Bruce Wayne??  (okay, we know it's a doppelganger, right?).

Check this fab session of Cameron Stewart in finishing mode for a page of Batman and Robin.  Dopeness indeed!!!



This post was written by:
big O

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Dime Pieces - Ethan Van Sciver

Oh EVS, you have been absent for quite a bit. I can see you haven't been couch potato'ing, watching daily Maury Povich episodes of "Is This My Baby's Daddy?", eating pizza rolls and drinking Yoo Hoos. You've been busy. Above is EVS's Flash:Rebirth #6 variant cover (he is also the interior artist), due out later on this month. Ohhh Chessie likey...Chessie likey long time.
We can see that Mr. Van Sciver is no stranger to the Scarlett Speedster. This blast from the past is from The Flash #214/November 2004/Volume 2, where he was the cover artist.

This post was written by:
chessie

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Ticklin' Spines - 2/3/2010

Title - Writer/Artist / V-variant cover (artist)

Blackest Night:Wonder Woman #3 - Greg Rucka / Nicola Scott (cover-Greg Horn) / V (Ryan Sook)

Cable #23 - Duane Swierczynski / Gabriel Guzman (cover-Marko Djurdjevic)

Invincible Iron Man #23 - Matt Fraction / Salvador Larroca / V,2

The Question #37 - Greg Rucka / Denys Cowan & Bill Sienkiewicz (cover - Cully Hamner)

Siege #2 - Brian Michael Bendis / Olivier Coipel / V,2 (Gabriele Dell'Otto, Joe Quesada)

Sweet Tooth #6 - Jeff Lemire / Lemire

Torch #5 - Mike Carey / Alex Ross

Ultimate Comics X #1 - Jeph Loeb / Art Adams / V,2 (Adams)

This post was written by:
chessie

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Johns is Killing It

Geoff Johns has shown that hard work, extensive research and maniac-level passion can equate to die-hard reader loyalty to the extent that anything bearing the GJ label translates to heavy sales. With Blackest Night: The Atom and Hawkman #46, I found myself following suit with this claim.

In just this one book, Johns effectively characterizes the low-pro heroics of Ray Palmer, especially focused on emotionally charged combat with the primary antagonist (not Hawkman), ex-wife Jean Loring. And as expected with the quirky themes that make the Atom so enthralling, Johns/Sook/Pasarin magnify every interaction between the two-- as they battle it out within the infected ring of Indigo I.

 

Johns remixes and sequences Gil Kane's The Sword of the Atom with a natural tone that allows Ray Palmer to relive his days as a tribal warrior but with some splashes of indigo, of course.  This beautiful Blackest Night revival special has added some fun to my bin digging adventures as I hunt down some of the OG source material.

This post was written by:
big O

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New Trailer from The Losers!

 
Master illustrator, Jock (Detective Comics, Losers) just tweeted exclusive new footage from The Losers flick set to hit us this Spring.  How fab is it to have full-on support from the original creators to rep the authenticity of this adaptation (say, in comparison to all Alan Moore inspired films-- not hating, just saying).

The hilarious scene of Jensen's (Chris Evans- Fantastic Four, Push)standoff is captured as I imagined it.  From the looks of things-- I expect only brilliance from this cinematic monster's big screen translation.

This post was written by:
big O

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Ticklin' Spines - 1/27/2010

Title - Writer/Artist / V-variant cover (artist)


The Atom and Hawkman #46 - Geoff Johns / Ryan Sook

Batman and Robin #7 - Garnt Morrison / Cameron Stewart (cover-Frank Quitely) / V (Stewart)

Blackest Night:JSA #2 - James Robinson / Eddy Barros & Ruy Jose / V (Gene Ha)

Captain America:Reborn #6 - Ed Brubaker / Bryan Hitch / V,2 (John Cassaday, Joe Quesada)

Chew #8 - John Layman / Rob Guillory

Daredevil #504 - Andy Diggle / Roberto De La Torre (cover-Esad Ribic)

Detective Comics #861 - Greg Rucka / Jock (cover-JH Williams III)

Fantastic Four #575 - Jonathan Hickman / Dale Eaglesham (cover-Alan Davis) / V (Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic)

Gotham City Sirens #8 - Paul Dini / Guillem March

Green Lantern #50 - Geoff Johns / Doug Mahnke & Christian Alamy / V,2 (Jim Lee, Doug Mahnke)

Justice League:Cry for Justice #6 - James Robinson / Mauro Cascioli

Kick-Ass #8 - Mark Millar / John Romita Jr.

The Marvelous Land of Oz #3 - Eric Shanower / Skottie Young

Ms. Marvel #49 - Brian Reed / Sana Takeda

Superman:Secret Origin #4 - Geoff Johns / Gary Frank & Jon Sibal / V (Sibal)

Worlds Finest #4 - Sterling Gates / Phil Noto (cover-Noto)

X-Force #23 - Christopher Yost & Craig Kyle / Clayton Crain (Crain)

X-Men:Legacy #232 - Mke Carey / Clay Mann (cover-Adi Granov)

This post was written by:
chessie

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Imperial Stormtrooper Barcrawl @ Wondercon 2010

Saturday, April 3, 2010 7:00 PM - ?
Moscone Center, San Francisco CA

So you get the gist...you come in stormtrooper, tie-pilot, royal guard, clonetrooper, sithlord or any other Galactic Empire-related garb (sorry NO jedis allowed cos we evil & likey the drinky...BUT slave leia outfits are welcome).

We will definitely be starting the SF bar hop @ Wondercon. Through the next few months we will be providing more details like where you can rent or buy your gear...
*UPDATE*
Costume Rentals:
Costumes on Haight in SF-  ask for Matt or Chuck

Stormtrooper- $125.00
Slave Leia- $60.00

Biker Scout kit:
FAQ
Kit for Sale


..a supplies list, a schedule of stops we will be hitting throughout the evening and of course our "secret" final destination.

Please feel free to offer ideas and we will be posting fresh details on this dope event here and on Yelp

This post was written by:
big O

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