Free Republic

How Liberalism May Be Hurting Comic Book Sales by Darin Wagner If you are a conservative like me, you’ve been reading fewer and fewer comic books over the last 12 years. For those of you who know what I’m talking about, the weekly visit to the comic book shop has become either an exercise in irritation or a monotonous drill. You pick up a superhero comic book featuring a childhood favorite of yours, hoping to reignite some of that magic you felt way back when and you see that the opening sequence in the comic deals with an oil rig...

Debora Marshall wasn't sure what she was witnessing. She came home from work to find sheriff's cruisers blocking streets in her sleepy Timber Pond subdivision. Deputies with guns drawn and bulletproof vests surrounded her house. "They had it blocked off at both ends. I thought a murderer was on the loose," she said. So did the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Authorities thought her son had killed her. "My son was home and clueless," Marshall said. "I was at work, and all my neighbors thought I was dead." In what appears to be the first incident of its kind in Hillsborough...

(English-language translation) PHILADELPHIA - The lights go out for Peter Parker, the high-school student whose bite from a radioactive spider turned him into the avenger who spins spiderwebs and climbs walls, a member of the Marvel Comics universe of heroes and villains. The publisher announced today that Spider-Man will be defeated by one of his fiercest enemies in the final issue of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, which will go out on sale tomorrow. But the arachnid's fans do not have to be in mourning, since the Ultimates label is separate from Marvel's major universe. The fate of Ultimate Spider-Man will not...

Whether or not you're as obsessed with comics as we are, you need to be paying attention. DC Comics is about to unleash one of the most important and disruptive events in all of pop culture. Starting this August, every superhero title under the DC Comics label is experiencing a reboot. Not just any reboot -- those happen all of the time. This is a serious reboot. Every single hero book is going to start again at issue #1. That means FIFTY-TWO books will experience a near-simultaneous relaunch. And yes -- everybody's getting a new costume. [SNIP]

If the country weren’t in such bad financial shape, this would actually be funny. Or at least, you know, fun to mock, in a disbelieving sort of way. It seems that the state of Florida is spending a boatload of cash in order to buy capes for the jobless. I guess it’s to make them feel good about being unemployed or something. According to the Orlando Sentinel: Dubbed the “Cape-A-Bility Challenge,” a $73,000 public-relations campaign by Workforce Central Florida features a cartoon character named “Dr. Evil Unemployment” and includes handing out about 6,000 red superhero capes to jobless Central Floridians…...

On Monday, I wrote about my disappointment when one of my favorite websites, Cracked.com, published a limp exercise in apologetics called “5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam.” Any website posting one dopey article in three years is actually a hell of an accomplishment. I just hope its the last one of its kind. But I’m not confident. Here’s why: This week, one of my blog readers sent me an article from The Jewish Press by David Lev called, “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman – Set To Join Muslim Superhero Crew.” They knew I’d be interested...

Vigilante justice has come to Seattle, and the caped crusaders drive a Kia. Seattle police say a group of self-described superheroes have been patrolling the streets at night trying to save people from crime. They call themselves the Rain City Superhero Movement and say they're part of a nationwide movement of real-life crime fighters. The national website -- cited in a police bulletin sent to Seattle officers Wednesday -- states "a Real Life Superhero is whoever chooses to embody the values presented in super heroic comic books, not only by donning a mask/costume, but also performing good deeds for the...

This is crazy. Discovery Kids is renaming itself "Hub" and announcing a new show about superheroes your kids will love -if they're into Sharia Law and all that. You know -Truth, Justice and the Islamic Way. Weasel Zippers reports:Hide your face and grab the kids. Coming soon to a TV in your child’s bedroom is a posse of righteous, Sharia-com pliant Muslim superheroes — including one who fights crime hidden head-to-toe by a burqa. These Islamic butt-kickers are ready to bring truth, justice and indoctrination to impressionable Western minds. Scheduled for release on the new network The Hub — formerly...

[T]he Aug. 2010 comic sales were down 17 percent from one year earlier, the steepest year-over-year sales slide since the 19 percent drop in May 2009...Only time will tell if this is an aberration or the sign of a steepening slide for the sequential art industry....the most popular comic book in the country sold a little over 90,000 copies nationwide. That's a smaller circulation than many regional newspapers. As many people know, comic books used to have sales figures in the millions. Even as late as 1996, an issue of X-men had a circulation more twice what it is now....

In a Kryptonian-heavy ninth season, many fans were left wondering what happened to Kara Kent in all the apocalyptic festivities. Well, it looks like Season 10 will at least offer some answers. Laura Vandervoort, who currently plays “V” girl Lisa on the ABC series, has signed on to return to the show during the final season. Entertainment Weekly has reported that the deal is for a single episode, however there are other sources suggesting that her return is for at least one outing, suggesting she may have additional episodes.

Wonder Woman may have finally been given a pair of pants, but has she been stripped of her patriotism? The new and allegedly improved Wonder Woman (a.k.a Diana Prince), has been given a head-to-toe makeover by artist Jim Lee, replacing her signature American flag decorated briefs with skintight black pants and purging the super hero of all her trappings of Americana. Wonder Woman’s original red, white and blue costume, which practically screams America through its stars and stripes covered bodice and belly, was a product of World War II-inspired patriotism, explains Charlie Jane Anders, Managing Editor of io9, Gawker Media’s...

See movie trailer Here

Well, looks like this Captain America business is still rolling ever onward. I have been quite amazed at the wide reach this article of mine has found. When I hit the enter key to post my analysis of Captain America #602 I never imagined that I'd be on The Keith Oblermann show (even though few saw it as he only has about 20 viewers!), in the New York Times, the Washington Times, and a million webpages across this great land. My piece was picked up by the whole of the U.S. Old Media and has forced Marvel Comics to apologize...

A sign created by a poster at Free Republic, and then recreated in a Captain America comic, has led Marvel to admit a mistake. *updated "It looks like Marvel Comic's Captain America is throwing his mighty shield at the Tea Party Movement. Warner Todd Huston wrote on his Publius forum blog that the super-powered soldier who fought the Nazis in WWII observes with disdain Americans who are seemingly compared to Tea Party Movement protesters of today:"In preparation for the infiltration, Marvel Comics depicts the two super heroes out of costume and observing from a rooftop a street filled with what...

A "tea bag" reference in a recent Captain America comic book that has angered the Tea Party movement will be removed by Marvel Comics in future editions, the story's writer told FoxNews.com. In issue No. 602 of Captain America, "Two Americas, Part One," the title hero and The Falcon, a black superhero from New York City, stumble upon a protest rally in Boise, Idaho. They see scores of protesters carrying signs that say "Stop the Socialists!" and "Tea Bag The Libs Before They Tea Bag YOU!" Captain America says the protest appears to be an "anti-tax thing," and The Falcon...

Marvel Comic’s Captain America is the mightiest soldier with the super powerful secret soldier formula that makes him a super man. Sadly, this muscle bound hero that took on the whole Nazi army during WWII seems to be afraid of those American people who’ve joined the Tea Party movement. Not only is Cappy quaking in his little red booties, but he’s sure that the Tea Party folks are dangerous racists, too. Isn’t it wonderful that a decades old American comic book hero is now being used to turn readers against our very political system, being used to slander folks that...

Marvel Comic's Captain America is the mightiest soldier with the super powerful secret soldier formula that makes him a super man. Sadly, this muscle bound hero that took on the whole Nazi army during WWII seems to be afraid of those American people who've joined the Tea Party movement. Not only is Cappy quaking in his little red booties, but he's sure that the Tea Party folks are dangerous racists, too. Isn't it wonderful that a decades old American comic book hero is now being used to turn readers against our very political system, being used to slander folks that...

Megan Fox is set to take up the role of Catwoman in the next Batman flick, it has emerged. Also, actors Christian Bale and Michael Caine will reprise their characters from "The Dark Knight'.

The world's first Muslim cartoon superheroes have taken the Arab world by storm, and now they are headed for British television screensNamed the 99, as each possesses one of Allah's 99 attributes, the characters include a burka-clad woman named Batina the Hidden and a Saudi Arabian Hulk-type man named Jabbar the Powerful. They have proved a hit from Morocco to Indonesia and were recently named as one of the top 20 trends sweeping the world by Forbes magazine. Now they are being brought to British television by Endemol, the production company behind Big Brother, with a mission to instill Islamic...

They are superheroes battling injustice and fighting evil the Islamic way, and they are teaming up with some of the west's biggest comic book icons. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are among those joining forces with The 99, who personify the 99 attributes of Allah, according to Islamic tradition. What will unfold on the pages of the collaboration between DC Comics in the US and Teshkeel Comics in Kuwait is yet to be seen, but the appearance of The 99 – who already appear in comics in the Muslim world – alongside archetypal American heroes would have been unlikely during...

The JibJab crew is at it again. This time they bring on teh funny at The Won’s expense. This one is destined to become a classic. Roll the tape: [video at site] (Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...

Got to read the comments. People think this is satire based in truth.

Hello: A good friend of mine recently finalized a screenplay for Captain America that is receiving very high praise on both coasts from in and outside the industry. A former Marvel Studios staffer has called the story surprisingly original, creative, "epic", “engrossing,” “wonderful,” "very inspiring", "realistic", "really cool," "intense" and "as serious as a heart attack,” “creating ideal opportunities for dramatic content and visual appeal.” He said if he were still at Marvel doing coverage for the studios as a script reader for executives (read: filter), he'd highly recommended it for very serious consideration. The screenplay is intensely patriotic, but...

"...The most perceptive comment on the picture’s politics came from Sonny Bunch in The Weekly Standard, who called Favreau’s feature “the film equivalent of a Rorschach test. If you go into Iron Man seeking right-wing imagery, you’ll find it: Tony Stark is a patriot, pro-military, and likes unilateral intervention. If you go into Iron Man looking for left-wing imagery, you’ll find that, too: The true villain here is Stane, representing an out-of-control military-industrial complex." (snip) "..As the Bush years give way to the Obama era, there will be no shortage of superheroes at the cineplex. Both Iron Man 2 and...

America faces an economic calamity. Trouble brews in faraway lands. Sound familiar? More than 70 years ago, the very first superheroes debuted in the dire times of the Great Depression and the early years of World War II. Their names became legend -- Superman, Batman (or, as he was then known, the Bat-Man), Wonder Woman, Captain America -- and they're still with us today. A new exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles celebrates these icons from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Through a collection of rare original artwork and comics, the exhibit explores how a group...

A rare copy of the first Superman comic book sold for 317,200 dollars at an auction -- a super hero sized increase on the original 10 cents paid back in 1938. Bids in the online auction, which started two weeks ago on www.comicconnect.com, immediately topped 200,000 dollars and a last-minute surge crossed the 300,000-dollar mark. There were 89 bids and Comic Connect extended the deadline by several minutes to catch the late interest.

Abu Essam's footsteps echo loudly as he walks through the narrow alleys of Damascus' old city. Around him in 1930s Syria, tall stone buildings block the scorching sun. Cautiously, he walks on. Around the next corner he could find the key to the gate to free prisoners captured by Syria's colonial ruler, France. Or he could face a shot from a French soldier's rifle. As he turns the corner, a shot rings out , but it is the soldier who is dead. This is not Syria of 75 years ago, however. It is a rolling, 3-D video game on Wael...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Barack Obama will be "nerd-in-chief" when he takes office as U.S. president this month, according to Marvel Comics, which is putting him on the cover of its next "Spider-Man" comic.

Once, comic books were against Nazis and Hitler and were very up front in supporting America's fight against them. But those days are over. Both DC and Marvel Comics long ago embraced left-wing politics, and when it came to the war on terror, they were for the most part silent. Fighting "global warming" and on behalf of other mythical left-wing creations was far more important (as was transforming Wonder Woman into an ugly, steroidal man). Now, though, comic books are back to supporting the President, since he embodies their far-left ideology. Yup, Spider-Man is in the tank for Obama and...

With a comic book aficionado about to be sworn in as the president of the United States, it’s no surprise that comic book makers are eager to capitalize on their new inside-in-the-beltway connection. But is it true that comic books are now turning partisan? It’s been all over the news this week that Marvel Comics is planning a special issue Jan. 14 , 2009, issue of Amazing Spider-Man #583 with Obama on the cover. Inside are five pages of Obama-Spider-Man escapades, as Spider-Man stops the Chameleon from spoiling Obama’s swearing-in....“Even Comic Books Crawling with Pro-Obama Bias?,” asks Ken Shepherd at...

Obama and Spider-Man appear in comic together WASHINGTON (AP) - Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect. Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a "shout-out back" by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief.

LMAO!!! I can't wait for these guys to get their a*ses kicked by a bunch of thugs wearing Sean John clothing!!! Here is the registry for these jokers...PRICELESS!! http://worldsuperheroregistry.com/world_superhero_registry_gallery.htm

Teri Stoddard Fathers4Justice Activists Atop Crane In Ohio 2008-09-27 Donald Tenn is a man of conviction. Since the day I met him, one thing, and one thing alone has guided his every move. Tenn is a Daddy who misses and worries about his daughter Madison every moment of every day. Madison and Tenn are victims of Madison’s mother Shannon and the disaster called the family court system. Shannon illegally abducted Madison from California to Illinois. When she learned the law would make her return Madison, she immediately filed false allegations of domestic violence against Tenn. As I described here and...

This is the funniest thing I've ever seen. Captain Euro saving the world with his diplomacy and polygot powers!

Who would have guessed that the latest Batman movie would have a conservative point of view?

The Rage Offstage at Marvel By BILL ALPERT Lawsuits against Marvel, Lee and Bill and Hillary are pressing Paul's claims that a dot-com he started with Stan Lee in 1998 was undone by the actions of the former president, short-sellers and Stan Lee himself. In a Manhattan federal district court, some of Paul's associates argue that the bankrupt dot-com, Stan Lee Media, still owns rights to Marvel characters like Spider-Man and The X-Men. On behalf of the former dot-com, they want half the profits that Marvel (ticker: MVL) is piling up, now that it's producing its own films like the...

DC Comics has just announced that it's sending its characters into the most terrifying parallel universe yet: the American political system. At a comic-con last week, the publisher's executive editor talked about its upcoming "DC Decisions" series, in which members of the DC universe will declare their partisan affiliations. "Everyone’s talking politics; it’s an elections year, and we’re going to try to see how the characters of our universe react to that," he said, which I think means that his writers have completely run out of material. So now that superheroes are going to start meddling in domestic politics, which...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Buoyed by the blockbuster success of "Iron Man" over the weekend, Marvel Studios on Monday announced plans for a string of superhero properties, including an "Iron Man" sequel set for April 2010. "Iron Man 2" will be followed in June 2010 by the big-screen adaptation of another of Marvel's popular comic book characters, "Thor," the mighty, hammer-wielding hero based on the Nordic god of the same name, the company said. "Captain America" and "The Avengers" are next in line for the summer of 2011. The nearly $99 million opening weekend of "Iron Man," Marvel's first fully...

At first sight, Iron Man, which hits theatres today, appears to be just another superhero movie. His gimmick? He's a modern day Sir Lancelot in high-tech armour that brings him enormous powers, ideal for slaying the villainous dragons of the comic-book universe. But there's much more depth to the Iron Man character than first meets the eye. In fact, he may be the superhero best fitted for the post 9/11 era -- a politically contentious hero for politically contentious times. In a new book, Iron Man: Beneath the Armor, by Andy Mangels, comic artist Jorge Lucas is quoted describing Iron...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wonder Woman, King Kong and Shrek are heading for the Persian Gulf as part of the rush to build what could become the world's largest theme park playground. But even as the ink dries on the billion-dollar deals in the United Arab Emirates, movie studios are grappling with ways to make their signature characters and amusement parks fly in the conservative Muslim region. Politically sensitive characters such as Captain America could be left at home. Prayer rooms will join the list of accommodations, and menus will likely feature falafel and humus alongside pizza and hot dogs....

With so many superhero movies around, such as Spiderman or Hulk, we are used to see people with special abilities in fiction. But people with amazing abilities actually do exist in real life; here's a list of 10 of the most amazing of these people!

WASHINGTON – Endowed with superhuman strength, yet looking different as day and night, the Amazing Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk will stand shoulder-to-shoulder as the Postal Service launches its latest set of super hero stamps. The 20-stamp set premieres Thursday at Comic-Con, the comic book and pop culture show in San Diego. The 41-cent stamps honor the creations of Marvel Comics, and also include Sub-Mariner, The Thing, Captain America, the Silver Surfer, the Spider-Woman, the Invincible Iron Man, Elektra and Wolverine. In addition, 10 of the stamps highlight covers of comic books featuring the characters. Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man,...

Hi guys, I was just wondering if anybody had seen Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. I saw it this weekend and I liked it a lot. The movie vastly improved on the original and included some terrific adventure. The film is very humorous by showing the squabbling relationships among the four heroes without diverting from the mythic atmosphere and storyline. The Silver Surfer is a wonderful character, though I wish that they showed more of him. The final battle with Doctor Doom is awesome. The film took many elements from some of the classic storylines in the comic...

(CBS) NEW YORK -- Like many who become superheroes, Nestor Rodriguez's transformation is rooted in loss: His father, a civil rights activist and New York City councilman, is murdered in front of him. Yet unlike other superheroes who gain their powers through the bite of a radioactive spider or through birth on an alien planet, Rodriguez is changed through an Afro-Caribbean religious ceremony. The unusual twist is thanks to Marvel Entertainment Inc. editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, who in his seven-year tenure has shown an ability to push forward comic book tradition by encouraging controversial changes to characters and taking risks on...

Superheroes With a Muslim Message - 99 Islamic Superheroes Find Success on Newsstands Alongside Batman, Superman By REBECCA LEE May 16, 2007 — Watch out, Captain America. Step aside, Superman. There's a new breed of crime fighting superheroes looking to capture the comic book scene, with 99 characters from around the world with one trait in common amid their superpower strengths -- they are rooted in Islam. "Islam is not mentioned directly in these comics, but the back story is very much based on Islamic tradition and culture," said Kuwaiti psychologist Naif al Mutawa, who teamed up with cartoon giant...

UFO: Unidentified Funny Object For the offbeat quirky types ... and who at Free Republic isn't offbeat and quirky? ... this is a feast.

I have commented that there is an undercurrent of anti-Western self-loathing permeating parts of our popular culture and our news media. There is. But there are also some other trends worth studying. I watched the movie Superman Returns recently. I knew it had received some criticism in advance. Rather than Superman’s traditional motto “truth, justice and the American way,” his mission had now been transformed to “truth, justice and all that stuff" by scribes Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. “The world has changed. The world is a different place,” Harris said. “The truth is he’s an alien. He was sent...

(English-language translation) “Holy God!”, my grandmother would have said if she were still alive, if she spoke English, and if she would have read the [film] review of “Superman Returns” written by Richard Corliss titled “The Gospel of Superman” that appears in the June 26 issue of “Time”. We read that Bryan Singer’s version emphasizes the superhero’s divinity and elaborates: “He is not a super man; he is a god (named Kal-El), sent by his heavenly father (Jor-El) to protect Earth. That is a mission that takes more than muscles; it requires sacrifice, perhaps of his own life. So he...

First there were the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Now, for many Christian moviegoers comes another gospel. As the hype machine shifts into high gear for new release Superman Returns, some are reading deeply into the film whose hero returns from a deathlike absence to play saviour to the world. "It is so on the nose that anyone who has not caught on that Superman is a Christ figure, you think, 'Who else could it be referring to?"' said Steve Skelton, who wrote a book examining parallels between Superman and Christ. As one of society's most enduring pop-culture...

STUDIOS love magazine stories that breathlessly hype their summer popcorn movies, so you would think that Warner Bros. might have been happy with Alonso Duralde's cover story about "Superman Returns," which gushed, "Superheroes — let's face it — are totally hot." There was a twist: Duralde's "Superman Returns" story was not in Entertainment Weekly or Newsweek or Premiere. It ran in the May 23 issue of the Advocate, the prominent national gay magazine, next to the headline: "How Gay Is Superman?" Man of Steel has been missing from the movies for 19 years, and now that he's scheduled to fly...