Carpe Mortem

I obsessively collect Deadpool comics, but don't actually read them. Got about fifty. I did read the Sin City series before the movie came out though because a friend was into it.

Wellp, I've said all I can about comics. As you were.

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RoxyRollah

But there are sooo many good graphic novels...

Graphic Novels:For when you want people to think you actually read.

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The Batlord

WTF? Angela from Spawn is now a Marvel character. Apparently she was co-created by Neil Gaiman, and after a years long legal battle that Gaiman just won, he sold her rights to Marvel. I'm amused and stoked at the same time.

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RoxyRollah

say what

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The Batlord

Gaiman Returns to Marvel, Brings "Spawn's" Angela - Comic Book Resources

I don't want to give anything away to anyone who might actually read it, but she's about to drop a bomb on the Thor universe.

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skyline

I'm really not a fan of action/super heroes so I never really bothered with comics, after I was recommended I Kill Giants I began to take the medium a little more seriously. It's not at all what you'd expect, the story follows a social outcast with a highly overactive imagination. It does have it's share of teen angst as you'd expect but as the pieces come together the story becomes increasingly tragic.



Perhaps the best graphic novel I've read is Dave Mckean's cages, it's about a painter who moves into an apartment next to a Jazz performer and a retired author. It critically examines creativity and the arts and for some reason, religion. Apart from the surreal story and characters perhaps the most interesting aspect of novel is the visuals, whose style changes dramatically throughout the novel from highly detailed paintings to photography to chaotic line drawings, a technique used to portray a night out with the dialogue becoming harder and harder to decipher and the lines becoming more erratic, bleeding into the surrounding panels. Definitely something to pick up if you're interested in the arts.

Deviouz

So there's a good chance we'll see a Spawn feature in one of the Marvel comics you reckon?

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The Batlord

I doubt it. From how it sounds, Gaiman and MacFarlane are not at all on good terms. MacFarlane tried to take a few of the characters that Gaiman came up with (including Angela) and not pay him for them. Then there was a big legal battle and now Gaiman finally has full control over her, so I don't imagine there is any talk between either of them about anything, let alone a crossover. And I think Marvel is... uh, can you retcon a character from another company? Anyways, it looks like they're retconning her so that she'll fit in with Thor's universe.

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LoathsomePete

It's not the first time characters have jumped around from publisher-to-publisher, I mean Leonard the Duck was suppose to be the original Howard the Duck but in hiding from an evil corporation he escaped, they even did a crossover with Erik Larson's Savage Dragon and Spider-Man.

It's kind of funny how that legal battle began because the early Image Comics guys really sucked at writing legal contracts, but I suppose having been dicked around by Marvel and DC with character rights for so long, it only makes sense to go in the exact opposite direction. This is also when McFarlene unwittingly showed everyone he had far more interest in merchandising Spawn then he did actually writing it.

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Last.FM
101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

The Batlord

Yeah, but like I said, this isn't a crossover. She's gonna be straight up Marvel and I imagine have no connection to Image and Spawn anymore. She's owned 100% by Marvel and has no legal connection to Todd MacFarlane. If anything this is more like Captain Marvel (DC) or Green Arrow being put into DC after having their original companies bought out. And I can't think of any thing like that since the forties or fifties or whenever that happened.

From what I've gathered it's actually MacFarlane who sounds like he was trying to screw over Gaiman. He commissioned him to create/co-create (not entirely sure) a few characters, and then claimed sole ownership so he could not pay Gaiman any royalties (or whatever the equivalent in comics are).

And I can believe that MacFarlane doesn't really care about the comic anymore. Now that I'm older I see the artwork and concept of Spawn as being fun and cool, but kind of gimmicky in it's supposed grittiness. Not that I'm taking away from the character elements of the series. Spawn's relationship with his wife and his general isolation from the world is easily one of the most compelling stories in comics. I listened to the audio-commentary on the old Spawn HBO cartoon and he definitely talks about getting away from the more "comic book" elements as time went on. He sounds like he basically wanted to turn Spawn into an urban legend kind of Batman character. You might notice that you saw a lot less of his costume from the second season on, mostly just his cape. Even the white part of his mask was generally covered in shadows. And more and more of the enemies tended to be humans with human motivations and goals and not necessarily with any kinds of powers.

I get the feeling he's actually kind of embarrassed by the comic bookiness of his earlier work. Although, given how the second season of Spawn was easily the best I can't fault his instincts.

Anyone interested in Angela's introduction into Marvel should check out the current "Thor and Loki: The Tenth Realm" series. She showed up I think in the last issue of the Age of Ultron series, but apparently more as a teaser than anything else. This series is definitely her real introduction.

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