Superman is a Dick...

click pics for larger view

I have a new interest in Superman recently since I've been reading All Star Superman. I even went as far as to have a legit brainstorm meeting with resident comic nerd, Fish and Spaghetti Editor Skip Serpico about writing and pitching a real Superman story to DC comics.

So keeping in mind that Free Comicbook Day is this weekend I hit up the internets to see if I could find some classic Superman stuff to add to my list.

Instead I found a site called Superdickery.

It's funny to see how Superman, a living embodiment of "Truth, Justice and the American way" has been portrayed through the years.

Check out some more Super Dickery after the jump...

PS- This new blogger interface sucks.

Hellblazer: Pandemonium

Little known fact; in our archive is a half-written Point/Counterpoint about the movie Constantine.  At the time it was written I believed Constantine to be the worst movie adaptation of a comic book.

Of course in 2011 that distinction now belongs to Green Lantern.  
 I'm not a huge Hellblazer fanboy, but I do dig the exploits of John Constantine.  Hellblazer: Pandemonium got me curious.   While I'm not really a fan of the supernatural, I do like Jock's art.  Plus I'd heard Jamie Delano was quite a scribe.

But sometimes a graphic novel can be a chore. I've read more than a few of them that bored me to tears.  And given that I was pretty much unaware of Jamie Delano's work before this, I'll admit to being a pinch worried.

X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain

I was a pretty big fan of the original X-Men Noir miniseries.  I dug the whole putting familiar characters in a vastly different setting.  Sure it was pretty much just biting Elseworlds, but the whole "noir" setting made it unique enough.

Given how much I enjoyed the original, the thought of Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero returning with a follow up was very enticing.  Would they be able to recapture the magic that the first mini held or would they buckle under the pressure of expectations?

Martian Manhunter: American Secrets

Eduardo Barreto, a renowned comic book artist from Uruguay, passed away yesterday.  He was 57.

I was a fan of his art.  He illustrated one of my favorite comics of all time; The Unauthorized Biography of Lex Luthor.  I was recently able to track down Martian Manhunter: American Secrets, a 1992 miniseries he created with Gerard Jones.

Rat Catcher

I dig Andy Diggle.  I really enjoyed his Vertigo title (which later became a Hollywood flick) The Losers.  He even had a pretty solid run on Hellblazer.

But sometimes a guy who writes comics can't really hit a home run when it comes to writing a graphic novel.  Which is why I was pretty unsure about Diggle's Vertigo Crime offering Rat Catcher, featuring art by Victor Ibanez.

Fables

One of the cool things about comics is that, generally, you can usually find some old comics that pique your interest.  It's dope when you're digging through a box and you find a comic that you've always wanted to pick up.

That's what happened when found the Detective Comics Annual #1, Green Arrow Annual #1 and The Question Annual #1.  I'd finally found a story that I'd wanted to read since I was a kid.

Spider-Man's Tangled Web vol. 3

Spider-Man gets plenty of love around Fish & Spaghetti Industries.  In fact Chet his completely modeled his life after the life of Peter Parker. We still mourn Chet's parents.

Anyway, I could never quite get into Spider-Man.  First it was The Clone Saga.  Then it was Norman Osborne having twins with Gwen Stacy.  Then it was the disappearance of May Parker.  And don't even get me started on how MJ and Pete's marriage ended.

Fortunately Spider-Man's Tangled Web exists.

A Sickness in the Family

I've been interested in the Vertigo Crime graphic novels since they launched. The initial offering, Dark Entries, which featured John Constantine, wasn't the book that got me excited.  It was the second offering, Filthy Rich, by Brian Azzarello that really got me hooked.

I've been collecting ever since.

Which brings us to this week's comic focus is the Vertigo Crime graphic novel A Sickness in the Family by Denise Mina and Antonio Fuso.  

The Original Johnson vol 1

I'm always on the lookout for more comics by Black creators.  I enjoy comics period, but as a relatively outspoken Black guy, I sort of feel obligated to do my best to support Black creators.

Not only is The Original Johnson about Jack Johnson, but it's written and illustrated by Trevor Von Eeden a creator who's been in the industry for three decades and worked on basically every major character.

The Original Johnson is also quite good.

Catwoman: When in Rome

If you dig comic books there are certain creative tandems that conjure up images of greatness.  Kirby & Lee.  Morrison & Quitely.  Azzarello & Risso.  Brubaker & Phillips.

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have made a name for themselves by crafting stories set in the past of icons.  For Marvel they had the "color" series.  For DC their stories revolved around the calendar.  The Long Halloween and Dark Victory are heralded as classics.  They followed up those Batman tales with Catwoman: When in Rome.

Justice, Inc.

I've been reading comics for a minute now.  One of the cool things about going to the Baltimore Comic Con is finding comics that I'd seen house ads for back in the day.

Justice, Inc is one of those books.  I remember seeing the house ad in the back of old comics and it always struck me as something I wanted to pick up.  That stark image of a silhouette casting a shadow was a striking one.

And now I've finally read the book.

JLA: Welcome to the Working Week

Since Patton Oswalt decided to completely give up on DC Comics yesterday, I decided that now would be as good a time as any to take a peek back at a time when the relationship between the two comic entities wasn't quite as contentious.

(Yeah, I know you were expecting a "fill in the blank" Thursday, but it's the one weekday that never had a regular feature.  Our fault. Way to go Thursday.)

The Executor

It's raining like crazy right now.  Like, I'm talking torrential downpour.  Since that pretty much relegates me to the crib, I figured I'd take some time out and try my best to make good on a promise I made to myself.

A promise to read more comic books and blog about it.

The focus this week is the Vertigo Crime graphic novel The Executor

Karmic Comic Retribution

Ok, so last month I made a trip to the Baltimore Comic Con.  I spent too much money.  I didn't spend as much as I did last year, and I still spent too much.  Like, I've got more comics than I'll ever possibly be able to read.  I would literally have to be unemployed for six months to read the stacks and stacks of comics that I have.

And what really sucks is that in 51 weeks the Baltimore Comic Con returns, at which point I'll spend more money and have even more to read.

So I came up with a plan.  I made a reading list.  I've got a list of comics, trades and graphic novels that I've got to read in order to be able to attend next year's Baltimore Comic Con guilt free.

This week; Spider-Man Noir

Preview - Cowboys

Graphic novels can be a tricky proposition.  More often than not, the terms "graphic novel" is erroneously used to describe a collection and repackaging of individual comic book issues that comprise a single story arc.

Cowboys, by Gary Phillips and Brian Hurtt, is an actual graphic novel, in that it's not a collection of issues.  It's the tale of two undercover agents, one a cop and one from the FBI, who are working opposite sides of the same case.

The Vault - What I Want to See Live

(Welcome To The Vault, where we at F&S give you a glimpse at stuff that never made the cut for whatever reason. Maybe it was crap and we knew it. Maybe the timing felt off. Maybe Chet forgot to schedule it and by the time we noticed it was no longer relevant. Who knows. The point it you get a chance to see "what could have been."

Also we get content for the blog without having to make any effort.)

Kid 'N' Play, Issue #1 (review)

It occured to us that our Comic Book Section section has been neglected so we decided to go into the vast Fish And Spaghetti library.

Because we're so proud of the Fish And Spaghetti library, we were certain that any book we grabbed would be a gem so we agreed to blindly grab the first thing we saw and review it for you.

Unfortunately we grabbed Marvel Comics' Kid 'N' Play, Issue 1.

Monday Pop Quiz

This video was posted because...

Hold On A Second...

So these 10 weeks or so have been really fun and positive, so the blog is going to be undergoing some re-construction/maintenance to better entertain you.

We'll be back soon with a new layout, new video columns, more snappy commentary on pop culture and a few things that some people are either going to love or hate.

Watchmen: Review

It’s difficult to “review” the Watchmen movie.

Considering the source material: a 23 year old comic book that wears the crown of “Greatest Comic Book Story Ever Told” by pretty much any serious comic reader and comic book insider alike, there isn't much room to critique it.