Michael D Hamersky On Comics Asks:   Are You Going To The 2012 Comic-Con International: San Diego?!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3675 - I've received a few emails about whether or not Tina and I are attending the upcoming San Diego Comic Con / aka Comic-Con International: San Diego, as I haven't blogged about the 2012 SDCC as of yet.

And it is only five days away, as of this blog posting!!!

Truth to tell, I have my youngest son, Vinnie, with us right now, and things have been a little hectic during this past week!

So, I'm not going to be posting any series of blogs about the upcoming 2012 SDCC at this time, although I may get in one or two separate blogs before the SDCC starts next Wednesday night, July 11th!

So here is my 12 part blog series from last year, (2011), which covered a lot of what I would say here anyways!

If you haven't been to the SDCC before, this series would be very helpful.  If you have been to the SDCC in prior years, it probably is still pretty helpful.

Check it out, by just clicking the links to each of the blogs.  Each blog shown below has a small description as to what is about.

Part 1 of this ongoing series about the 2011 Comic-Con, (Blog #3450), gave a 'general overview' of why the San Diego Comic Con / Comic Con International: San Diego is very important to me. Along with multiple links to previous years blog posts, photo albums dating back to 1973, etc, etc.

Part 2, (Blog #3458), pointed out shopping tips on what we are buying to bring to the Comic-Con. I haven't missed a year since the Comic-Con first moved to the San Diego Convention Center back in 1991. I first started attending as a comic book dealer back in 1972, at the El Cortez Hotel. But I still have to plan out what to bring each year, as five days on my feet means a lot of trekking around the convention center and surrounding environs! This con is expanding out every year it seems, with programs being held at two different adjacent hotels now, at opposite ends of the convention center!

Part 3, (Blog #3459), posted the links to what panels / programs I believe are the most important for those of you that are first timers to this comic convention. Plus they are the most 'representative' of what Comic-Con International is, without 'Hollywood' panels / programs being included, UNLESS they are truly comic book oriented.

Part 4, (Blog #3460) posted the links to where I normally would be spending a lot of time at while on the exhibit floor of this comic convention. Where's that?! Well... When I'm not attending panels / programs with or without my wife Tina, I'll be most likely at the 'Artists Alley' or 'Small Press Pavilion' sections of this convention center.

Part 5, (Blog #3461) posted a link to what is in store for those of you attending the 2011 Comic-Con and wondering about how to beat the online mess of trying to buy memberships for 2012! I don't want to 'repeat' myself here, so please look at the blog #3461 link for the 'news'!

Part 6, (Blog #3462) of this series... Well, Part 5 was about the future, so here I was taking a 'look' at the 'Past'! And not just a look via my thoughts or collections of memorablilia obtained at Comic-Cons in the past... But from the collection of the 'Founder' of the SDCC himself, Shelf Dorf!

Part 7, (Blog #3466) of this blog series was a brief history and a link to the online version of this week's San Diego Weekly Reader cover feature article on comics creators living in San Diego, and who will be attending the San Diego Comic Con International.

Part 8, (Blog #3467) of this series was to tell you that there wouldn't be any more blogs the rest of last week or the weekend, as I would be celebrating my Birthday the rest of the week at the Comic-Con! Which would be the last year I was going to be able to do so, as the Comic-Con moves up a week in time for next year, the 2012 edition of the SDCCI.  Plus that I would still be uploading  photos via my camera phone by mobile Facebooking to my Facebook Fan Page, at this mobile uploads photo album.

Part 9 (Blog #3468), of this series was to present to you my own personal 'Hi-Light' of the 2011 Comic-Con! Which was the Fandom Reunion 2011 - Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Comics Fandom.  The blog also had the link to the special photo album which is still being added to, as of this morning!!

Part 10 (Blog #3469) of this series was the first part of 'My Take' on the 2011 Comic-Con, where I covered the following topics and graded them:  memberships for 2011, memberships for 2012, and pre-paid parking.

Part 11 (Blog #3470), of this series was the second part of 'My Take' on the 2011 Comic-Con, where I covered the following topics and graded them:  posting of the 2011 programming schedule, art show, anime schedule, Artist Alley, autographs area, Freebies table, security, Fulfillment Room, The Events Guide, the Souvenir Book, On-site newsletter, small press section, off-site parties & events.

Part 12 (Blog #3471) of this series was Tina's POV of the 2011 SDCC.  In a blog titled: "I Survived San Diego Comic Con 2011'!  It has several points of value to it!

~ Michael

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,675 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,757 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Our Take On:   The 2012 Amazing Spider-Man Film!   That Opened On July 3rd of 2012!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3674 - Yesterday, Tina, Vinnie, and I attended the first showing of The Amazing Spider-Man 2012 film at our local theater.  Yesterday, July 3rd was 'Opening Day' for this film in the USA, although Tokyo, Japan had the first Opening Day on June 13th.

Here are 'Our Takes' on the film:

Tina: Watching this Spider-Man reboot, it's tough not to compare it to the original. For me, the first Amazing Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire is still my favorite of all the Spider-Man movies, including the latest. While Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker is nerdy, open and full of wonder for his new found powers, Andrew Garfield's Spidey comes off as a moody loner gleefully uses his powers to avenge past hurts.

The biggest challenge with this reboot - besides 'why do it?' - is the two main characters. Garfield and Emma Stone are likeable actors, but their portrayals are way too mature for a couple of high school kids. When Stone as Gwen Stacy first appeared on screen I thought she was a teacher! Later we see her leading a group of new interns at Oscorp. She has the run of the place. Much later we learn she "creates antidotes for Dr. Curtis all the time!"

Don't get me wrong, Garfield and Stone are terrific actors. The problem is they are playing college students (and Stone a graduate student), not high schoolers.

Purists will have trouble with the changing of the origin story. The general movie-goer will have a harder time with the unbelievability of the leads and general darkness of the title character. Unfortunately for the audience, Peter spends most of the movie as a cranky-ass who uses his abilities for retribution. It's only when he rescues a little New Yorker from Lizard-induced peril that Spidey's heart grows three sizes that day.

One big plus in this Spider-Man is the villian. I enjoyed Rhys Ifans thoughtful portrayal of Dr. Stone. Is he evil? Is he mad? Did he have Peter's parents killed? It's not quite that simple. Interestingly, his first Lizard tirade is really a rescue mission; he's trying to stop his slimy corporate counterpart from infecting a veterans hospital with the Lizard serum. Like most great villians, Dr. Stone/The Lizard is a multi-faceted character - and when he's The Lizard he still talks like the Doctor - very cool.

Like most super-hero movies there's a ton of CGI and special effects that were lost on me. I will say that Spider-Man's soaring between New York skyscapers didn't seem half as exhilarating as when Tobey Maguire first did it ten years ago.

Rating: Fine / Very Fine (F/VF) 7.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grade.

Vinnie: On opening day, July 3rd, my dad, my stepmother Tina, and I went to go see the new "Amazing Spiderman" movie. My favorite aspects of the movie would be the after-editing (aka special effects), plot, and actors. I feel that the whole movie was quite "amazing" (hehe get it? Oh, I should stop while I'm ahead...), but to be more precise, the actors would have to be my favorite.

I found the special effects to be quite believable. The Lizard was spectacularly done. Even small details like facial features were touched up on, and made it feel like a true evil monster. The method of moving between scenes was done the original, but proven method, EG. zooming in/out of an object or fading away when a character was entering/exiting a place. However, it was still quite charming, and well executed.

My second favorite piece of the movie was the plot. Fans of the comic series, (such as my father) or purists may disagree with me, but I feel this "reboot" of the series was pleasing. Yes, the plotline was different from the comics and the original movies, but if you're going to get a new cast, you may as well spice up the plot by adding, removing, or changing certain elements. One of the major changes done was the new villain, The Lizard. I personally loved this change, because in all reality, who would pay to watch the same movie with a different fight scene. Another big change was the character swap from "Mary Jane Watson" to "Gwen Stacy". Like I said previously, new cast, why not a new plot. One other difference was the fact that Peter was no longer a college student - he was a high school student.

Finally, my favorite aspect of the movie was the acting. The actors of Uncle Ben and Aunt May were OK as small parts of the movie. If they had a bigger role than they did, I would honestly prefer a different set of actors. They just didn't develop any on screen chemistry like a 37 year long marriage (as stated in the movie) would certainly have. I just didn't buy their act. On the other hand, Anndrew Garfield (Spiderman), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy), and Rhys Ifans (The Lizard) were amazing. The chemistry between Andrew and Emma was remarkable. Not only that, but their acting was incredible - especially Andrew. He acted just as a high school student would - slightly immature, but still a responsible and respectable young man (or at least what the average high school student would be...). Rhys Ifans, of course, didn't develop chemistry with the others (at least on screen) being that he was the man who became the evil villain known as The Lizard. His acting as both Dr. Curt Connors, and the Lizard was very believable. I'm glad all three of these actors were chosen.

In summary, I really enjoyed this movie. To recap, I found the special effects, the plot, and the actors to be the highlighting moments. I give the 2012 film, "The Amazing Spiderman" a Very Fine/Near Mint (VF/NM), a 9.0 out of 10.0 grade scale. If you haven't stopped by a local theatre and seen it yet, I really recommend you take the time to fit it in your plan. In my opinion, it is definitely worth it.

Michael:   Well, I wasn't overly keen about going to see this film, as what little I had seen didn't move me.  However, we have Vinnie for a week's vacation, so this was one family outing we decided to do together.

The idea of another 'origin film', ten years later in real time, didn't exactly thrill me to want to go see it. The choice of 'The Lizard' as the film's villain, was one that I wouldn't mind seeing, as it had been a possibility in the previous films...

The whole early part of the film was totally 'foreign' to me, a long time Spider-Man fan.  No Mary Jane Watson, and Aunt May didn't have white hair. Plus a lot of other strange things, including Gwen Stacey being in his high school.  And yes, I was there 50 years when Spider-Man was first published, so truth to tell... I don't like 'reboots'.

Although the film's early sequences didn't grab me, I did grow to enjoy the scenes between Gwen and Peter Parker.  Those two did have some sort of chemistry between them.

The Lizard's appearance was not at all what he had been envisioned as in the earliest comic books, and it was just weird to me to see this creature as 'The Lizard'.

Denis Leary as Captain George Stacey just didn't cut it as that role for me.  Too young, I believe.

I like Sally Field in most TV shows and films, but she wasn't 'Aunt May' for me in this film.

Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben Parker pretty much captured that role for me in this film.

Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man just didn't carry the title role for me.

Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey was close to being 'Gwen' for me, but the storyline was all messed up, and ruined her role for me.

Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors was just fine, but the animation for 'The Lizard' scenes just didn't cut it for me.

I enjoyed Stan Lee's cameo in the film, which actually was a pretty good scene!

As you can tell by the above, this film just didn't cut it for me.  On a comic book grading scale, I'd have to give it a FINE (F) 6.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.  It would have been even lower in grade, but the interaction between Peter & Gwen was actually good!

For those of you that don't mind spoilers... Here is the Wikipedia entry for this 2012 film.

Here is the link to the earlier three films in the 2002 / 2004 / 2007 film trilogy. A different Wikipedia entry.

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,674 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,755 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Update On:   The 2012 TGIF Season Has Started!   With The MoFo Party Band On Friday, June 29th!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3673 - The 2012 Season for The TGIF Concerts In The Park in the City of Carlsbad, California started last Friday night!

As seen in the two pics shown above, the band was the Mo Fo Party Band from Fresno, California, and the pic below that is of Joe, Vikki, Tina, and myself on the lawn before the party started!

The MoFo Party Band was the first band to play in this 9 concert series.  They had played for the first time last year, and were invited back.

There were just the four of us from our little association that attended on Friday night, but there were several hundreds more that gathered around the large lawn!

Here is the TGIF 2012 Season Calendar for the rest of the concerts, which BTW, are Free to attend.

This is the link to the Facebook Fan Page for the MoFo Party Band.

Here is the link to rest of the photos that are being uploaded to my Facebook fan page.

And lastly, here is the link to my YouTube channel for the videos I'm uploading of the band.

As for the connection of this blog to comic books?  Here's the link to the comic books with music as their theme!

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,673 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,755 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Update On:   The 2012 San Diego Comic Fest   As of the June 24th Meeting!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3672 - This is an update via the Sunday, June 24th staff meeting that was held at the Town and Country Hotel, where the upcoming San Diego Comic Fest will be held at in during October 19th through the 21st of 2012!

There were 22 staff members that attended this meeting.

Here is just some of the topics that were discussed during the staff meeting:

Wendy All shared several items from the Cafe Frankenstein presentation that will be at the SD Comic Fest.

Mike Towry shared the fact that he was on Fox 5 TV station in San Diego.  The station had a special segment on the upcoming San Diego Comic Fest!  Check the web site for the video.  (At:  the Facebook Fan Page for the San Diego Comic Fest.)

Daniel shared the fact that the Twitter account for the San Diego Comic Fest was up.  Feel free to 'follow' this!

Mike Towry brought up the fact that the Richard Alf Tribute Panel will be held at the upcoming Comic Con International:  San Diego on Friday, July 13th, at 4PM at Room 9!

Mark brought up the status of publicity for the SD Comic Fest.

Mark also brought up the fact that the SD Comic Fest will be having a table on the Mezzanine level of the San Diego Convention Center during the Comic-Con International: San Diego event.  Plus he asked for volunteers to man the table during the SDCC.

Also brought up was the fact that there will be a price increase after the middle of July.  Not for sure when, so buy your membership today!  At: Registration.

There will also be a 'film program'.  More on that later, but here's a thought:  A 'Ghost of Honor' - Forrey Ackerman, with possibly a reel of Forrey's cameos, of which there are over 200 of them!

There may also be a 'Kickstarter' program, but more on that later!

Vendors - The possible layout could be 70 each of 6' tables.  More on that later.

That's about it for this latest meeting, except that we took in a view of the rooms, which I'll be sharing at my Facebook Page, and possibly at the Facebook Page for the San Diego Comic Fest.

Feel free to check out the links above, and join us in October!

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,672 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,753 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents His Take On:   The Arctic Marauder   By Jacques Tardi!

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3671 - This graphic novel is about the following:

"In its ongoing quest to showcase the wide range of Jacques Tardi’s bibliography, Fantagraphics reaches all the way back to one of his earliest, and most distinctive graphic novels: A satirical, Jules Vernes-esque “retro-sci-fi” yarn executed on scratchboard in a stunningly detailed faux-woodcut style perfectly chosen to render the Edwardian-era mechanical marvels on display. Created in 1972, The Arctic Marauder is a downright prescient example of proto-“steampunk” science fiction — or perhaps more accurately, and to coin a spinoff genre, “icepunk.”

In 1899, “L’Anjou,” a ship navigating the Arctic Ocean from Murmansk, Russia, to Le Havre, France comes across a stunning sight: A ghostly, abandoned vessel perched high atop an iceberg. But exploring this strange apparition is the last thing the sailors will ever do, as their own ship is soon dispatched to Davy Jones’ locker via a mysterious explosion.

Enter Jérôme Plumier, whose search for his missing uncle, the inventor Louis-Ferdinand Chapoutier, brings him into contact with the sinister, frigid forces behind this — and soon he too is headed towards the North Pole, where he will content with mad scientists, monsters of the deep, and futuristic submarines and flying machines. Told with brio in hilarious slabs of vintage purple prose, The Arctic Marauder works both as ripping good adventure story and parody of same, and, predating as it does the later and not dissimilar Adèle Blanc-Sec series, is a keystone in Tardi’s oeuvre in his fantastical mode. 64 pages of black-and-white comics."

As you can see from the above, this is a reprint from the 1974 publication originally published in French.

The cover was what stood out to me, and prompted me to pick it up.

The interior pages artwork grabbed my attention as well, and I knew that I wanted to read this, and possibly review blog it also.

The translation from French to English was done by Kim Thompson.  Not having seen it in French, nor understanding the language to read, I've got to say that Kim did a good job in presenting the work here in this book.

The chapters were laid out properly, and grew my interest as each chapter ended.

My only con to this graphic novel would be the last page, after the 'Fin'.  I'm not for sure if this is to be a continued story or what...?

Still, until that last page, I would have to say that the storyline, the artwork, and the full presentation, even though it is in black and white, gave me many minutes of pleasant diversion.  A very good job indeed!

My comic book grade for this is a Very Fine / Near Mint (VF/NM) 9.0 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale!

Here is where you can purchase a copy of this graphic novel: The Arctic Marauder.

~ Michael D Hamersky

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,671 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,753 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Loca8' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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