You surf the web enough, you start seeing patterns.
The number 52, for instance, seems to be very popular right now. Drill down further and new trends start to emerge. Critics like ANIMAL MAN and THE FLASH. Websites likes a good holiday story, particularly a week out from Halloween. Ready?
FLASH FACT: critics really do like THE FLASH. Just check out POPMATTERS' advance 10 out 10 stars rave review of THE FLASH #2, which hits stores tomorrow. “Francis Manapul writer-artist behind the New 52 Flash and co-writer Brian Buccellato, simply streak ahead of any previous limitations in storytelling. What Manapul and Buccellato have produced with the Flash is a rich, textured drama that hinges on both the emotional core and hard scifi,” they wrote. “Manapul and Buccellato conduct readers to a wonderland of augmented cognition and rapid cell development. But the real joy is linking beyond the ideas the writers express, and finding science theories for ourselves like the neuroscience of prediction and quantum entanglement and bringing these to bear on our reading of the book … The Flash is simply comics at its finest.”
Want to hear more about THE FLASH? Head on over to NEWSARAMA, for Vaneta Rogers' interview with the creative team. "What's interesting about Barry Allen's perception among fans is that a lot of people think he's 'old-school.'"said series co-writer and artist Francis Manapul. "But in reality, the only thing old-school about him is his idealism. His optimism. Right? So he's this very black and white type of hero, and he's been thrust into this world that's gray." THE FLASH co-writer Buccellato suggests, "We went through a period where the anti-hero and tortured hero were prevalent, and it's because they were unique at the time that they captured the imagination of readers. But now, I think people see a noble hero as something special. We want somebody who will do the right things because they're the right things, and maybe we don't need to know that deep down he's tortured."
Meanwhile, with Halloween around the corner, GAWKER’s IO9 interviewed I, VAMPIRE writer Joshua Hale Fialkov to help get you in a horror state of mind. “I went back to Bram Stoker. I'm using Dracula but with a slightly more superhero twist,” Fialkov revealed when asked about what type of powers the vampires in his title possess. “They can turn into bats, wolves, and a hybrid monster (to give them that great visual punch). They have the Stoker set. They can walk in the sunlight, but they can't use their powers. To kill them, you must chop off their head and stake them in the heart. They can turn to mist. They're super-strong, but not Superman. The basic idea is that they're an upgraded version of us.”
AIN'T IT COOL NEWS interviewed DC Entertainment Co-Publisher and JUSTICE LEAGUE artist Jim Lee about DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. “Brian and Cliff have come up with ways of introducing centaurs into WONDER WOMAN that is very creepy, and it's exciting to see a realistic, modernist take on ancient Greek mythology, and used in a way to make it kind of...you know, the same way we've seen different updatings of classic mythology, like Frankenstein, vampires, werewolves, he's kind of doing that with Greek mythology, so it's exciting to see.”
Meanwhile, CBR spoke directly with the WONDER WOMAN creative team, Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang. “Greek mythology is something that is unique to the character of Wonder Woman. Let's play it up. Why shouldn't it be played up?” Azzarello said. “The other thing is, now, we've given her a family -- a big, horrible family -- and the story possibilities are endless. The gods act horribly to each other, they act horribly to humans. But at the same time, they're not entirely unsympathetic, either. They are all coming from a place you understand. That's kind of the universal quality of mythology, that it's all about human nature. The other thing is, Wonder Woman's never had a Gotham City. Now, her family is going to be her Gotham City.”
While you're at COMIC BOOK RESOURCES, be sure to check out their exclusive first look at tomorrow’s TEEN TITANS #2.
Once Halloween is in the rear view mirror a week from today, we can all get ready for the winter holidays. Writer/artist Lee Bermejo helps sets the stage with an interview with NEWSARAMA about BATMAN: NOEL. “There are characters who fit in with the roles that those ghosts play in Dickens,” says Bermejo. “The ‘Ghost of Christmas Past’ is a sequence with Catwoman. The ‘Ghost of Christmas Present ’ is a sequence with Superman, and the ‘Ghost of Christmas Future’ is Joker. The roles these characters play at that moment in the story help serve the same purpose that the ghosts serve in A Christmas Carol.”
To be continued …
