Right now, I’m a very happy comic book reader because I finally got my hands on a copy of GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1. I have wanted to read this historic comic from 1975 for years because I am a big fan of Chris Claremont’s run of the X-Men.
And the team that was introduced in this Giant Size X-Men is my favorite team of the X-Men. Granted, this is the genesis of that team: Kitty Pryde and Rogue would join the ranks of the X-Men later on. However, I have always wanted to know how Len Wein and Dave Cockrum practically rebooted the X-Men franchise with this comic. And thanks to a True Believers reprint of this story, I was able to finally read it.
I am a fan of the Spider-Man TV Series from the 1970s starring Nicholas Hammond as Spider-Man. The twitteraccount @SpideyTVSeries keeps every one up to date about this first live-action outing of Spider-Man.
Today he posted the location of Peter Parker’s first wallcrawl from the pilot episode. This made me so happy I felt like sharing it. If you’re a fan of the series, please check out https://twitter.com/SpideyTVSeries.
In the early days of his career American comic book artist Mike Mignola worked for Marvel Comics, making superhero comics.
But frankly, Mignola, who later created HELLBOY, didn’t like doing superhero comics. He was much more interested in drawing monsters and mythological creatures. In this interview Mignola tells how he got started as a cartoonist at Marvel Comics.
I recently picked up this True Believers comic from 2017. That year Marvel celebrated a 100 years of Jack Kirby (1917-1994). Kirby was one of the co-creators of the Marvel Universe.
Together with Stan Lee he created a lot of characters. He was also a very prolific artist. And yeah, I made a mistake in the video saying Kirby died in 2015, because that should’ve been 1994.
When I was in Stockholm, Sweden, I came across the SCIENCE FICTION BOOKSTORE in Old Town. If you are a geek like me, it’s the kind of store you want to live in. Here’s a short impression of the store.
In New Avengers: Siege there is an interesting sequence drawn by Daniel Acuña in which Spider-Woman and Spider-Man are slugging it out.
Of course there is a reason why Jessica Drew aka Spider-Man is pounding our favorite webhead. In this video I take a closer look at the sequence and show you some of the wonderful artwork Daniel Acuña has made.
By the way Acuña is one of the special guests at the Dutch Comic Con that takes place in Utrecht on March 23rd and 24th.
Check out their site for more information.
In the early days of 2018, just a year ago, I came across one of Casey Neistat’s videos on YouTube. At the moment I didn’t realize I had seen some of his work before, particularly a video about not being able to use the bike lane in New York, which was very funny and to the point. Now I saw him snowboarding through New York and I wondered: “Who is this guy?”
Casey seemed to be a daily vlogger, one of the people who revolutionized YouTube. I started to check out his channel on a regular basis, and watched a lot of his past episodes. Following someone like Casey, who for a long period of time made a video per day, became addictive. But it was an inspirational addiction.
In his well-crafted, well-structured and tightly edited videos Casey seemed authentic, funny and positive. I also loved the fact that often New York City was a character in his stories. Casey inspired me to make my own videos. So, I started making those since May last year.
I make vlogs about stuff that fascinates me, particularly comic books and other forms of popular culture. To be honest, I’m still figuring out what works for me and ‘my audience’. I’m still looking for my voice and style. But it has been fun so far.
I started doing vlogs in Dutch, because that is my native language. Later, I stared Amsterdam Comic Geek: a second channel to post English vlogs on. So far that channel hasn’t been a success and I am still struggling with the language. It’s easier for me to make a video in Dutch, instead of having to find the right words to express what I want to convey. It’s a work in progress.
Today I discovered a video made by Alex Gasaway. Another YouTuber named Cody Wanner pointed her video out to me. Gasaway explains what Casey’s work means to her and how he inspired her to pursuit her own creations. She also goes to New York to check out locations that feature in Casey’s vlogs. I recognized that: I went to New York to check out locations from Spider-Man-comics for my book about my favorite character. I thought Gasaway’s video was very inspirational and heart warming, so here it is:
Owly is a kind-hearted little owl who’s always searching for new friends and adventure. Relying on a mixture of symbols and expressions, these animated and heartwarming tales are a perfect read for all ages.
The comic Owly is made by Andy Runton and published by Top Shelf.
Tuesday March 12th I went to Henk’s Comic and Manga Store in Downtown Amsterdam to check out a particular issue of the True Believers series. However, that one was sold out, so I came home with a couple of other True Believers issues.
The first time I met Iron Man, aka Tony Stark, was when I read Iron Man Annual #10 by David Michelinie and Paul Smith. I immediately knew this was a great character. What makes Tony Stark so great, I explain in this video.
In 1994 Marvel published their first annual Survey to check with their readers a couple of things. I came across this survey in X-Men Annual #3 and was curious about the questions the publisher would ask. In this vlog we’ll go through all ten questions and issues.
I will give you the answers I would have given back then, but I’m also very curious about what your answers would’ve been.
