The Jacked Kirby Podcast: Episode #49 - Shazammin' It Up!

It’s the original Captain Marvel! Ed O’Hare from THE DC TV REPORT podcast talks to Mike D. & TL about the Captain and Jack Kirby and Joe Simon’s singular work on the character in 1941’s Whiz Comics, as well a whole bunch more comic book and DC TV show fun leading up to the release of the Shazam! movie!

Shout outs and good clean laughs are also included in our 49th episode!

Tell yer friends...

The Jacked Kirby Podcast: Episode #16 - Foraging With Bug!

Hosts Tommy and Mike D. explore the underground Colony of Apokolips with special guest James West Esq., digging up dirt on Forager aka Bug! The discussion starts with the character's introduction by King Kirby, and tunnels all the way to Mike & Lee Allred's DC's Young Animal 2017 miniseries... with many fun detours along the way! Just another great character still making moves in comics long after Kirby introduced him... so we gave him his own EPISODE!

The Jacked Kirby Podcast: Episode #6.5 - A Fireside Chat - Mister Miracle #1

Back in 1933 US President Franklin D Roosevelt began to hold "Fireside Chats" with the American Public via the Radio. The purpose of these "conversations" was to establish a connection between the President and the regular people during a trying time when they needed information. As a history buff I thought this was a perfect moniker for a feature that we will be doing from time to time here on the Jacked Kirby Podcast. These short episodes, or .5 episodes, will consist of one hosts talking about a specific issue or arc of Kirby's work... kind of how Roosevelt used his "Fireside Chats" to introduce new information to the citizens of the US. In the first installment of the feature Mike D will be discussing one of his favorite Kirby 4th World stories: Mister Miracle #1

The CCD Podcast: Episode #93 - B v S v CCD: The Definitive Batman v Superman Review

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice has finally arrived, and as one could imagine it has fueled lots of talk... some good, some bad. Some up, some down. But one thing is certain: A hell of a lot of folks turned out to see it! 470 Million dollars on its worldwide release. Man... that is some windfall! But when a film that was 3 years in the making and is poised to be the foundation of the future DC Comic Movie Universe is finally released... well, you are going to hear some mixed reviews! And that was the case here at CCD as well. For our take (or take down, depending who you ask over here..) Jedi Rob brought in two hardcore DC fans to chime in: Anthony Marino from Brooklyn One Productions and Mike D are on the show chopping it up, talking about what they liked, hated, loved and loathe about BvS...

This may very well be the most divisive and argumentative podcast we have done so far... the lovefest for everything we discuss is OVER!  Enjoy the podcast after the jump....

The CCD Podcast: Episode #63 - Upcoming Comic Movies Through 2020 or "What? 2020 ?!? I Barely Remember Where I Saw Avengers 2 A Few Months Ago!"

We are living in the golden age of comic book movies... that is one thing that can be said with a certainty. On top of the big dogs like Marvel & DC getting their properties green lit to the silver screen, we are noticing a bunch of indy titles also getting adaptions into movies. I never thought I would be alive to see a great Spider Man or Avengers movie in my life.... I certainly didn't ever think we would see indy titles like Kick Ass, Scott Pilgrim, and The Losers made into a full length feature. There are even a whole bunch of movies made in the last 10 years that ARE actual adaptions of comics that most viewers have NO IDEA were originally COMICS! (From Hell, Road To Perdition, A History of Violence just to name a few) So with recent announcements for the upcoming slate of comic movies getting more and more crowded, the CCD gang decided to jump into the mix and discuss some of our thoughts and expectations for all of these films. We are looking toward the future... and man, does the future of comic book movies look bright!

The CCD Podcast: Episode #62 - The Current State of DC or "What Took These Guys So Long To Get This Universe Started"

DC Comics is poised to make some noise in some of the other venues that the other comics companies have had success in (movies, TV, etc) and we here at the CCD Podcast thought we should discuss it. So we brought our good friend Anthony Marino from Brooklyn One to join in with Jedi Rob & Mike D and discuss the current state of the DC Universe. We touch on upcoming movies, the shows already on TV and ones to come, and even a bit of comics. DC is definitely on the rise. We got a lot to say.... so jump on in and join us!!!!

Even Batgirl Is Becoming A Hipster.... Ugggghhhhhh!

OK, let me start by saying that I do not HATE the new Batgirl character redesign, nor do I HATE the backstory the book is about to take at issue #35. There is a new creative team being put into place (written by Cameron Stewart & Brenden Fletcher, art by Babs Tarr) and they have decided to take the character of Barbara Gordon into a different direction. Now that she has lost everything due to a terrible fire, Babara gets a chance to relocate... so she chooses the hip suburb of Gotham, called Burnside (aka the Williamsburg of the DC Universe). And of course, she needs to update her wardrobe. So gone are the spandex and high heeled boots. Now we get a more practical (albeit hipster-ish) look, complete with practical Doc Martin-esque yellow boots, a snap away cape and glove set, and leather motorcycle jacket. We also get Barbara's version of a utility belt, which looks really cool when it is incorporated with the one leg holster pouch. The cover of issue #35 features Batgirl in full costume of her new local dive bar taking a selfie.... of course! I really am a fan of Babs Tarr's art, and this could be the type of 'forward motion storytelling' that the new 52 DC Universe needs. The first issue featuring the re-design hits stores October 8th. You can check an interview with the creative team over at MTV's website by cliicking here, and also check out the cover & some art as well by clicking after the jump...

Marvel Characters and Their DC Countreparts Get The Team-Up Treatment From Darren Rawlings

Everyone knows that although they are two completely different companies that are highly successful in the comic industry, Marvel and DC share a lot of similarities. It may be the fact that a lot of the creative talents through the years have bounced between both companies. It may also be due to the fact that when the lion share of the characters were conceived back in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s there was not Internet for people to call out creators for being copycats... imagine if you tried to put out a comic today featuring a band of survivors of a zombie attack lead by a rural sheriff? You would be crucified as a Walking Dead thief, and your comic would never get off the ground. But it was a-ok for Marvel to launch Dedapool in 1991 even though Deathstroke was around since 1980? I mean, forget their powers... even their real names are copies! Wade Wilson isn't a direct copy of Slade Wilson? What... huh???? Anyway, artist Darren Rawlings decided to highlight some of these comparable characters in his Little Friends series. Some are obvious (like Deadpool and Deathstroke above), but others require a bit of background knowledge of the characters to see the comparison. Either way, the characters are all cool and you gotta love the way they all co-exist in our little comic book nerd world! You can find a ton of them by clicking here and checking out his Deviant Art gallery, or you can see my personal faves after the jump...

The Ladies Of DC Comics Take A Trip Back To The 1940s Thanks To Ant Lucia

Ant Lucia is an accomplished artist that has a dope website and very unique style to his pieces. He gets the 'pin up' feel to everything he draws, and the realism in his work is balanced out by the fun nature of the characters poses and surroundings. It is not so serious, which makes all that he does really dope. Case in point: Check out his new series of DC Heroines and Villains with a 1940s feel. These are perfect, and the setting and background that each character is placed into fit wonderfully. And the ladies... well the ladies are looking pretty spectacular themselves. And the coolest part is the website QxM is offering these prints in a huge 18 x 24 format for a mere $ 14.95 !!! That is really cheap considering how big that print is. There are 10 all together, but some are available for purchase now and some are just available for pre-order to be shipped down the road. Either way, you can't go wrong for 15 bucks.... you can click here to check out the specific page on QxM to order Lucia's DC Bombshells, and you can view them all after the jump....

It All Comes Around For The "Original" TV Flash....

I make no apologize for the fact that Warner Brothers has made a complete mess of the fact that they own the rights to all of the DC characters. They have owned them for years, and aside from a handful of successful Batman films and a 10 + season run on Smallville (of which only 2 were really "good") they have little to show for it. But one of the best things that they have done, aside from Batman, is a little television show by the name of Arrow. Yup, I can't exactly figure it out either... but it is baffling to me that a TV show featuring a minor DC character such as Green Arrow on a shit network like the CW is the only thing DC seems to be doing right. But boy are they doing it right... and they have no signs of slowing down. They are parlaying that success of Arrow into another show, this one featuring the Scarlet Speedster himself, Flash! Flash, or should I say his alter ego Barry Allen, appeared on a few episodes of Arrow and suffered an explosion that apparently turned him into the Flash. Next season CW will give him his own show, and the cast is shaping up to be pretty great. Grant Gustin will continue his Barry Allen/Flash role that he started on Arrow, Jesse L Williams will play lawman James West, and the lovely Danielle Panabaker will be on board to bring some sex appeal to the show. But further proof that the guys in charge, the same gang that is responsible for Arrow, is all about getting it right comes in the small details. Case in point: They are casting John Wesley Shipp, aka the original Flash from the 1990-91 TV series, to a role....

Check out more after the jump...

'Batman: The Deal' - The Greatest Indy Fan Fic Batman Story I Have Ever Read!!!!

Batman has always been my favorite character to read when it comes to comics. It is not even close. While I am very protective over my favorite character and how he is portrayed in the pages of his books, I am always open to seeing a different spin on the Dark Knight... especially if they can add something new to the mythos. Writer Gerardo Preciado and artist Daniel Bayliss have decided to do just that with Batman: The Deal. A Batman work that comes WITHOUT permission of DC Comics and obviously does not take place within typical DC Comics canon, this story delves deep into the dark, twisted relationship between Batman and the Joker. Since this is an un-authorized book, it allows Preciado & Bayless license to take the characters and stories to dark places... the darkest places I have ever seen the World's Greatest Detective go. I was floored by the visuals and the story got my blood pumping in a way that hasn't happened in a long, long time. I hope this opens the eyes of the brass over at DC Comics in relation to the talent of these guys... and if not them, then how about some of the other companies like Image & Marvel take a shot on these fellas? I want to see way more from them. You need to go over to the Blogspot page they set up and show your support, but you can find the whole comic after the jump in full. I really love this story. Check it out for yourself....

DC Comics '75 Years of Superman' Suit Display at the 2013 NY Comic Con

DC Comics marquee character over the last century has been Superman. I love Batman as much as the next guy, but Supes is the main dude over at DC. So in order to honor 75 years of Superman at this years NY Comic Con, DC set up an awesome display of all the costumes that he has worn throughout the history of the beloved character. Now I don't even really like Superman all that much (like I said, I'm a Batman guy..) but this display was very cool to admire. Check out all the detailed pics that Joe Fletch took after the jump. Here is to another 75 more years!!!!

WW - A Wonder Woman Film Short by Rainfall Films

Here is something I can't seem to grasp: DC Comics is sitting on a goldmine of a property in Wonder Woman and they can't seem to monetize on the potential of the character in any forum besides comics. Why??? The character has been around for over 60 years (tons of back story to pull from), is stepped in mythology for cool side characters and villains (I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Ares or an island full of Amazonian woman), she is sexy (for the guys) and a symbol of a powerful feminine character (for the ladies) that is a lead in a story, and is probably the most recognizable character in the DC stables besides Superman & Batman. So why is it so hard to get this character in a TV show or a movie? WTF DC... stop dropping the ball. Diana Prince has long been a favorite of Cosplayers and amateur filmmakers as a subject, and since DC isn't pulling the trigger on a project anytime soon it seems like they are just proving the point on how much potential the character has. We put up a short film some time earlier this year (click here to see it), but now we have a brand new short from Rainfall Films that will blow you away. Rileah Vanderbilt (Adam Green's kick ass wife and the star of the very underrated horror film Frozen!) takes up the mantle and does Diana justice. All it needed was an Invisible Plane sighting and it would have been perfect... maybe in the sequel! Lets hope these short films help get DC up off their asses! Check out the full video after the jump...

Ben Affleck On The Internet Criticism Of Being The New Batman - "I Handle Shit..."

For a long time I was one of the dissenting internet trolls who constantly questioned casting decisions. The turning point for me was The Dark Knight... I couldn't believe that they cast Heath Ledger as the Joker, and then he proceeded to kill. So after that I decided to ease off on the critiques till AFTER someone actually performs in a movie and sucks. I have stuck by that mantra for a while... an honestly, things have not stopped on the Internet critiques but they have been much slower since Ledger-gate. Up until last month, when Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in Batman vs Superman. Then the Internet hatred exploded in a way I have not seen in quite a long time. It was epic. Even among my Facebook friends... nobody thinks that Big Ben could be the Dark Knight. But I believe. I truly do. So everyone has been waiting to hear what Affleck himself had to say about the casting and the fallout. And that came to an end last night after Ben appeared on Jimmy Fallon and gave us a glimpse into what its like to be the most hated man on the Internet. Pretty fantastic reaction, if you ask me. Check out the full clip after the jump...

JLA Quote Posters

I found these bad boys over at Cal's Canadian Cave of Cool, and boy are they fantastic. They take some of the best members of the Justice League of America and uses some key quotes from the characters history. Most of the quotes come from the comics (the issue #'s are cited... cool), but Batman's comes from The Dark Knight Rises. These are great posters. Love the abstract nature of them, and the quotes are perfectly fitting for each. Check 'em all out after the jump...

Cute Gotham Justice Vehicles By Phil Postma

Designing just the characters for his new Gotham Justice set was not enough for Phil Postma. He had to go the extra mile and create cute vehicles that would not only look good animated but would find their way into my toy collection if they ever were produced as toy vehicles.Check them out after the jump...

Gotham Justice By Phil Postma

One of most amazing pop culture artists to me is Phil Postma. I could lay out ten versions of his character sets and you would be hard pressed to figure out if they were done by only one artist or several. The skill set he possesses is just remarkable. This is his latest set called Gotham Justice. Once again I wish that someone at DC would snatch this guy up and put his vision into animation. His stuff is that great.

Carmine Infantino: 1925 -2013

After losing a film legend like Roger Ebert, it would have to take someone major to pass away to make my day any more miserable. But just a few short hours after I found out that Ebert had passed away, i got the news that comic legend Carmine Infantino had also passed away. While Infantino may not be as well known amongst the mainstream as Ebert was, to geeks like me he is one of the golden gods of the comic industry and a titan among men. Infantino was directly responsible for ushering in the Silver Age of comics, and he did this by redesigning The Flash's costume to the familiar hooded red & yellow suit that we all know and love. Those stories focused on the rebootable aspect of comics, and the future inclinations of classic DC characters came shortly after.

Read more after the jump...

Super Powers By Phil Postma 2

Here is another round of Super Powers drawings from the great Phil Postma. A great second batch to go with the ones we ran yesterday. Here is what Phil had to say about the series... 

I came across some old drawing I did years ago and decided to clean them up a bit, then I started to draw more and it snowballed from there. These were always cool toys when I was a kid and I am sure alot of you had them also. - Phil Postma

Check out the 2nd set of pics after the jump....

Super Powers By Phil Postma - Part 1

Phil Postma returns with a great set of Super Powers inspired comic books covers. Why some smart creative entertainment giant doesn't snap this guy up is beyond me. This is the of the snappiest, more creative stuff out there. Just take some time to scroll through his archives. The sheer amount of imagination and talent is staggering. I never see him repeat himself. Each series is as different as the next and if you didn't know it, you could be fooled into to thinking it was done by another artist. Postma's style is that hard to pin down. That is why I am happy to share his latest set with you. Click after the jump for the pics...