Free Republic

Martin Scorsese urges filmmakers to fight comic book movie culture: ‘We’ve got to save cinema’ The storied filmmaker is revisiting the topic of comic book movies in a new profile for GQ. Despite facing intense blowback from filmmakers, actors and the public for the 2019 comments he made slamming the Marvel Cinematic Universe films — he called them theme parks rather than actual cinema — Scorsese isn’t shying away from the topic. “The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture,” he told GQ. “Because there are going to be generations now that think ... that’s what movies are.”...

Margot Robbie’s “Birds of Prey” is set to open well below forecasts, with about $34 million at 4,236 North American sites, early estimates showed on Friday. Estimates for “Birds of Prey,” a spinoff of 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” had been in the $45 million to $55 million range, with Warner Bros. projecting an opening closer to $45 million. “Birds of Prey,” which carries a reported $80 million price tag, touched down with $4 million on Thursday night. Reviews have been strong, earning the film a 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes — a reversal from “Suicide Squad’s” 27%. The film made $7.8...

Marvel's The Amazing Spider-Man is changing the dynamic of Peter Parker's social circle in a huge way as he's been forced to defend his roommate, Boomerang, from the new incarnation of the Syndicate, an all-female crew sent by Wilson Fisk to kidnap him. But while the latest chapter sees the team pursuing Boomerang to undoubtedly score a major payday, we eventually discover a common ambition the members share: They want to bring down the patriarchy and, more so, take a shot against toxic masculinity in a New York that they believe should have more women in power. When the women...

When Spanish civil servants got wind that someone was sweeping up the priceless treasure of a 200-year-old frigate from the ocean floor, it triggered a real-life escapade full of naval pursuits and secret airlifts - like something from a comic book adventure. And that is what it has now become, after one of those suit-and-tie sleuths convinced Spain's best-known graphic novelist that together they should tell the tale of the modern-day treasure hunt. In 1804, a British fleet opened fire on the Spanish ship Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, causing the death of 250 people of the 300 on board...

Stan Lee, the man who co-created Marvel Comics, has died ... Stan's daughter tells TMZ. We're told an ambulance rushed to Lee's Hollywood Hills home early Monday morning and he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. We're told that's where he died. Lee had suffered several illnesses over the last year or so -- he had a bout of pneumonia and vision issues. Stan started Marvel with Jack Kirby in 1961 with The Fantastic Four. He went on to create Spider-Man, Black Panther, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man and The Avengers. Stan made cameo appearances in all of the...

He's been in the blue suit for five years. But Henry Cavill is reportedly hanging up his Superman cape as scheduling conflicts lead Warner Bros to rule out any future appearances for the actor as the DC Extended Universe superhero. The Hollywood Reporter write that Henry, who has played Superman in three films, can't commit to a planned cameo in Shazam! and the studio is now also reportedly putting a stop to any future appearances in the franchise.

Danny Venderamini's main site.Vendramini thesis on Youtube. All Neanderthal images here courtesy of www.themandus.org This thing starts off with Danny Vendramini figuring out something which should have been figured out 100 years ago i.e.. that (other than for the larger brain area) a Neanderthal skull is a near perfect match for ape profiles and a very bad match for one of ours: That is consistent with what we know about Neanderthal DNA i.e. that it's no closer to ours than to an ape's. The funny thing is that Vendramini did not tell his artist to produce the world's scariest monster,...

My fellow Americans: In this 75th-anniversary year of my arrival in this land, at this time of public debate about immigration in our great country, the time is right for me to add my voice to the conversation. (Good thing I have friends in journalism to give me a forum.) For many of you, I have come to represent the goodness at the heart of our country and what we aspire to be. I stand for “truth, justice and the American way.” It’s no coincidence that my signature colors are red and blue. I am also an immigrant —and an...

DC Comics plans to reintroduce a character as gay in a future issue, it has been revealed. Co-publisher Dan DiDio previously said that the company would not change the sexual orientation of an existing superhero and would bring in a new one altogether. But at Kapow Comic Convention in London on Sunday, he revealed that an existing character - who was previously assumed to be straight - will become ‘one of our most prominent gay characters’, according to comic blog BleedingCool.com. Who is it? An existing DC Comics character - who was previously assumed to be straight - will become...

New Comic Book Series Called ‘Faith’ Features the Life of Jesus Christ by Dan Wooding, Faith Issues/ASSIST News Many who went to Sunday school may remember comic books about the life of Jesus as a great and entertaining way to understand the life of the Lord and Savior. Now Bluewater Productions, an independent comic book publisher, is launching “Faith,” a new series featuring the biographies of various biblical and religious figures. A new version of the comic book is now available to the NOOK and Kindle. It will also be out on the IPAD as well. According to a news...

An organizer behind a growing campaign to outlaw circumcision for infant boys now has created a comic book specifically targeting that Jewish practice, and critics say he's gone too far by using Nazi images and stereotypes. "This comic is modern anti-Semitism at its best. It is one story to fight against circumcision, and another to portray Jews in a false anti-Semitic stereotype. The Jewish depictions look like they came right out of Nazi Germany propaganda in the 1930s and 1940s," wrote Hailey Dilman in a commentary at Digital Journal.

Last night "The Daily Show" aired a prerecorded segment that I taped with them a few weeks ago. During the segment I was interviewed by Aasif Mandvi, the show's "liberal Muslim" correspondent. The main topic discussed was the "Muslim" Batman, but we also spent a significant amount of time discussing my own creation, a counter-jihad superhero named Pigman. Based on what was filmed during the 3-hour shoot, the segment had the potential to be humorous, controversial and informative. How it actually turned out was the product of some pretty crafty editing. And, unfortunately, I had no control over that. It...

#16 Forbes PowerWoman Sarah Palin will be immortalized in comic strip form for the second time this winter by Bluewater Productions. Bluewater Productions made headlines in 2008 when its Sarah Palin biography comic sold out. Now Palin is returning to Bluewater with a sequel. Female Force: Sarah Palin, Act 2 focuses on Palin’s life after the 2008 presidential elections. The book examines the reasons behind Palin’s increasing celebrity, and the threat that she might pose to both Democrats and mainstream Republicans should she decide to run in 2012. “You can’t help but admire Sarah Palin for her tenacity and...

The year was 1934 and the "Buck Rogers" adventure strip was a huge success. Hoping to break into the lucrative goldmine that were science-fiction comics, Alex Raymond conceived of a new futuristic superhero who could protect the Earth and liberate alien worlds from merciless villains. And so "Flash Gordon" was born. Following the outer space adventures of Flash and his companions Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov, the strip became immensely popular and proceeded to run as a daily comic strip for more than 60 years. During that time, "Flash Gordon" was transformed into three serial films and eventually received...

It's a curious phenomenon to see what the minds at The Huffington Post deem funny, and at least this one wasn't filed under the category "HuffPo Religion," but a series of images depicting Jesus Christ making unhinged statements wins the HuffPo's "Comedy" classification. In a June 30 post, Katla McGlynn wrote that mocking Tea Party protestors by "juxtaposing" "hateful, ignorant, or otherwise nonsensical rants" but at the same time mocking a religious figure many hold very is sacred isn't only funny but it is also instructive about what she described as "people who claim to be Christians." ...more...

Frank Frazetta's original 1955 artwork for Weird Science-Fantasy #29, considered by many comic art fans to be the finest comic book cover of all time, has been sold in a private treaty sale for $380,000 – almost certainly the most ever paid for a single piece of original American comic book art – to Heritage Co-Chairman and Co-Founder Jim Halperin, a collector known to own one of the finest comic book and original comic art collections in the world. It was an outright purchase for immediate payment, with no trade-ins involved. "Knowing I'm a huge Frazetta fan, and a...

WASHINGTON - US Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor has attained true stardom. This month, she joins House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore and conservative radio icon Rush Limbaugh in having her own comic book. Describing the four as "some of the most fascinating and polarizing figures on the national political stage," Bluewater biography comics is publishing separate comic books on each that will be in comic book stores tomorrow. "These four individuals represent some of the most influential and historic figures of the 21st century," said Bluewater president Darren Davis in a statement. "Each has a...

The comic books that brainwash North Koreans Mighty Wing, Pyongyang's equivalent of Mickey Mouse, is a honeybee that confronts a swarm of capitalist wasps. By Geoffrey Cain — Special to GlobalPost Published: February 26, 2010 07:20 ET SEOUL, South Korea — Heinz Insu Fenkl, a literature professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz, has cracked one secret to understanding the bizarre regime of North Korea: by reading its comic books. The academic, who refers to himself as an American-Korean, spends hours in his office tucked away in upstate New York, churning out English translations of...

1938 edition of Action Comics No1 with cover showing superhero lifting car sets record for comic book sale. A rare copy of the first comic book to feature Superman sold for $1m (£640,000) yesterday, smashing the previous record for a comic. The 1938 edition of Action Comics No1 was sold by a private seller to a private buyer. Neither released their name.

Can't post vanity fair stuff here, must click through.