Wanna Make Somethin’ Of It?
Artist Daniel HDR created this cool image that places some old Hanna-Barbera characters in the Justice League. I like cover spoofs/homages, and this one is a send-up of the classic cover to Justice League #1, from the late 80s series relaunch from Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire.
Blimey . . . Tha’ Is One Very Big Arse
In Lady Mechanika # 3 from Aspen, the title character continues on her quest to learn the secrets of her past. A mission that had brought a dead mechanical girl across her path. When the mechanical girl’s body is stolen, Lady Mechanika sets off to track her down.
The trail takes Mechanika to the Cirque du Romani. Once there she is confronted by several of the circus performers. Her questions to find the mechanical girl aren’t met well, and this leads to Mechanical scuffling wit ht he circus’s knife thrower and his big cat.
The owner of the circus, Madame Divinite, breaks up the fight and things calm down. With cooler heads thinking, it is discovered that the mechanical girl is Seraphina, the daughter of the knife thrower, and she isn’t dead. It is revealed that the promise of fame and fortune lured Seraphina and her boyfriend away to join another circus. Although the it is deduced that the two lost performers weren’t lured away by another circus, but rather they were tricked to follow a mercenary working for the Blackpool Armaments Company.
After learning the new information Lady Mechanika and her associate travel to Mechanicon, the Annual Mechanika City Convention of All Things Innovative, Scientific, and Industrial. It is here that they find Nathaniel Blackpool, the person that Lady Mechanika believes is holding Seraphina. At the opening ceremony for Mechanicon, Blackpool introduces his Helio Arx, a giant airship and fortress that Mechanika believes she will need to infiltrate if she is to find the mechanical girl.
Lady Mechanika is an interesting and enjoyable comic book set in a steampunk world. The characters, costumes, and environment are all amazing. There is a great style and flare to this comic. The comic is written and drawn by Joe Benitez, with Peter Steigerwald providing colors, and Josh Reed on lettering. The story and characters are engaging, and the artwork is beautiful. This is a comic book that you should be buying.
“My name is Bill Mantlo. I want to go home.”
Writer Greg Pak has set up a page to take donations for former comic book writer Bill Mantlo, who has long been suffering from injuries caused by an auto accident.“Bill Mantlo has had a huge influence on me as a writer and reader,” Pak said. “His Micronauts stories blew my mind as a kid and his Incredible Hulkrun laid the groundwork for the themes I explored my five-and-a-half year run with the character.” Money donated through the site goes directly to Mike Mantlo, Bill’s brother, for Bill’s ongoing care.
Bill Mantalo, a prolific writer for Marvel during the ’70s and ’80s has been living in a Queens, New York, nursing home for the past 19 years due to being the victim of a hit-and-run accident.
On Friday, July 17, 1992, he had been making a three-mile roller-blade journey home when a car came around a corner and hit him. The left side of his head impacted the windshield, he rolled across the hood of the car, and the right side of his head impacted the pavement. The driver never stopped, and unfortunately wasn’t identified.
The accident severed his brain stem. and while he wasn’t paralyzed, it made it very difficult for his body—particularly his extremities—to accurately receive and process electrical messages from his brain. For a time he was on a ventilator and a feeding tube, as his brain was too damaged to tell his body how to swallow or breathe.
Marvel’s “fill-in king,” who co-created Cloak & Dagger and penned titles like ROM, Micronauts and The Incredible Hulk, hasn’t been able to write since 1995. The last personal entry in his journal, dated Feb. 14, 1995, begins, “My name is Bill Mantlo. I want to go home.”
The care needed to save Mantalo’s life cost more than $1 million, according to his brother Mike. Mike became Bill’s legal guardian once Bill could no longer make decisions for himself. Since the accident there have been constant fights with care facilities and the CIGNA, the group health insurance provider matched with Bill through The Legal Aid Society.
Mantlo turned 60 on Wednesday, but is said to be gaunt and pale condition, and is described as looking closer to 80. He lacks mobility and labors to speak; he has a history of violent outbursts as a result of the injuries that the accident caused.
When Mantlo’s health-insurance provider wouldn’t cover the long-term care it deemed necessary, Mike was forced to sell off the majority of his assets so he could qualify for Medicaid. His collection of toys and memorabilia, his comic books,and the vacation cottage he once owned with his wife are now gone.
An article in National Underwriter Life & Health magazine, titled “Tragic Tale,” recounts his career at Marvel, where he wrote more than 500 issues, until his assignments dried up in the mid-’80s. It also touches upon his work as an attorney for the Legal Aid Society, and the bitter divorce that preceded the hit and run.
Marvel Finds It’s Nook
Barnes & Noble’s next-gen e-reader, the Nook Tablet, will have a wide selection of trades and graphic novels from Marvel Comics. When the Nook Tablet launches on November 18 Marvel’s extensive library with titles such as Civil War, Invincible Iron Man, Astonishing X-Men will be available through the reader.
“This is a huge opportunity for Marvel—and the entire comics medium—to reach a wider audience than ever before thanks to Barnes & Noble’s exciting new Nook Tablet,” said Peter Phillips, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Marvel Digital Media Group. “Barnes & Noble is committed to offering customers a broad array of Marvel graphic novels, both digitally and through their massive in-store selection, which can only help bring fans into our exciting world of Super Heroes and unparalleled storytelling.”
“We’re excited to bring Nook customers the largest available digital collection of graphic novels from Marvel Entertainment,” said Theresa Horner, Barnes & Noble’s Vice President of Digital Content. “The high resolution of our VividView color touchscreen makes the action virtually jump off the page, and takes graphic novels to a whole new level of entertainment.”
Transformers Chaos
“The Last Story On Earth” ends here! When Prowl makes a breakthrough in his investigation, he assumes that he has the answers to all his questions… until a shadowy adversary brings some shocking revelations to the Autobot’s attention. Could this be the end of the human/Autobot truce? Mike Costa and Brendan Cahill bring this tale to its unexpected conclusion!
Transformers #29
Mike Costa (w) • Brendan Cahill (a) • Marcelo Matere, Cahill (c)
FC • 32 pages • $3.99
