Jun 05 2017

Many Marvel Digital Comics On Sale

Wonder Woman may be all the rage at movie theaters right now, but Marvel is ruling the roost (what does that even mean?) when it comes to digital comics. Why? Big sale! Read on, true believers.

Marvel Comics

When I say “sale” I do mean sale. Like, these are some super cheapo prices for Marvel digital comics. No idea how long these prices will last.

X-Men:

First up — X-Men Epic Collection: Second Genesis. This is the beginning of the X-Men that most people know and love, the team with Colossus and Storm and Nightcrawler. Also Banshee, but he doesn’t last that long, which is too bad because I like him. Wolverine joins soon after, and we all know how popular that guy is. Bottom line: 528 pages for $3.40. SERIOUSLY. Go buy now.

Next — God Loves, Man Kills. This is a famous comic (technically Graphic Novel, since it has the “Marvel Graphic Novel #5” tag) that I don’t think I’ve read. I will now though, because it’s 96 pages for 80 cents.

Infinity War:

Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” movie comes out in 2018 (!!!) but before that you can read the comics the movie is based on.

First up is Infinity Gauntlet (1991) and then Infinity War (1992). “Gauntlet” is 256 pages for $2.20, “War” is 400 pages for $4.00.

Other stuff:

Marvel’s first ever Graphic Novel, The Death of Captain Marvel, might be the best comic of its era. Why? Because it is about what the title says. No more no less. I have this digital edition already and I can honestly say it is amazing in every way. Written and drawn by Jim Starlin, this is a serious book without being maudlin. And Marvel has managed to keep Marv dead all these years, which is impressive. (Carol Danvers, the original Ms. Marvel, now goes by Captain Marvel, and she’s the one you’ll be seeing on the big screen in 2019. If you have no idea what that sentence means don’t worry about it.) Bottom line: 128 pages for 80 cents, one of the best comics ever. GO BUY NOW.

Photo of Jim Starlin at the Wizard World comic...

Photo of Jim Starlin at the Wizard World comic convention, Chicago, Ill. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s a ton more digital comics for sale. I’ll add to this list when I can. Click the links and just go exploring. Or just check out Amazon’s top sellers in Comics and Graphic Novels, which at the moment are all Marvel stuff because of the sale. Remember, I have no idea how long the sale is going on, so don’t get mad at me if you click and find out the price has gone up. Buy now! Now now now! That’s I’m gonna do.


Dec 10 2016

Spider-Man: Homecoming Trailer

Here is the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer. If you are a Geek Gold Card member, prepare to make little nerdy noises.


Where to begin? So much to like.

  • He’s young. This is the first on-screen Peter Parker we’ve had that is actually the age of the original character, which is 15. Yes. 15. Even if one were to dicker over the exact age, it was clear that he was in high school, making him, at best, 16, 17, whatever. While both Tobey Maquire and Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of the character had him in high school, neither actor was as young as the current Peter/Spidey, one Tom Holland, seen already in Captain America: Civil War. It is SO MUCH FUN to see a kid playing Peter Parker as a kid. (Holland is 20 but looks younger.) Next summer (July 2017) we get a whole movie of this. Yay! (No disrespect to Mr. Maquire or Mr. Garfield, both of whom were very good.)
  • Iron ManRobert Downey Jr. is in the movie. In one of the many versions of Spidey in Marvel Comics, Tony Stark plays the role of mentor to Peter Parker. We got a taste of this in Civil War. We get another taste in the trailer. The movie will have more. There is even a peek of the two fighting side-by-side. Eee. (That’s a little nerdy noise.)
  • It looks like Ganke but it’s not. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought that Peter’s friend in the trailer was Ganke. Ganke was/is (I can’t keep track) Miles Morales’ friend in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics. Miles Morales is a different version of Spider-Man who was in a different universe but now isn’t. Because comics.
  • Web wings. Spider-Man sometimes has webbing on his arms, or as Peter once referred to himself in the comics, “ol’ web pits.” In the movie, these apparently give Spider-Man the ability to glide. Not fly. Glide. Love it.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for this stuff. I’ve been fully into the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the beginning. I never thought Spider-Man would be a part of it. Now he is. I am happy.


Nov 10 2016

Daredevil Digital Comics Sale

Amazon is having a Daredevil digital comics sale. There are other titles available, but the ones I’m interested in are Daredevil.

Picture of Gen Con Indy 2008 in Indianapolis, ...

Picture of Gen Con Indy 2008 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Note: the guy above is not Daredevil, because Daredevil isn’t real. Good costume though.)

For some reason Daredevil lends itself to amazing story-telling. A blind lawyer who can kindasorta see and has ninja-like skills? Sure, why not? But seriously, these are literally some of the greatest comic books ever written/drawn.

Daredevil by Frank Miller

The Frank Miller/Klaus Janson comics should be required reading for everyone. For now, I’ll have to settle for sales such as this one and hope that causes more people to read the comics. The Brian Bendis/Alex Maleev books are also damn good. For me, the Miller stuff is better, in part because it blew my mind when I was a kid, but also because I think it’s just better. No disrespect to Mr. Bendis or Mr. Maleev, who are obviously insanely talented. It’s just… these comics… wow. Got me where I live when I was a lad, and reading them now, they still do.

There might be some other stuff available as well. The DD books (digital books, via Kindle) are half off. $9.99 is a freakin’ bargain for a collection of comic book epicness. Poke around and see if there’s anything you like. Comic books, especially great ones like these, are an excellent distraction from reality. You know what I mean.

Online shopping from a great selection at Marvel Featured Collections Store.

Source: Amazon.com: Marvel Featured Collections


Aug 23 2016

Warning: More Superhero Posts To Come (But It’ll Be About Parenting Too)

I know this is DaddyTips.com, but I think there are going to be more superhero posts to come. You have been warned.

Danger Will Robinson

This will not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me or anyone who reads this site with even moderate regularity. I mean… well, I’ll let the picture say a thousand words.

Me and The Avengers movie.

Personally I prefer The Avengers. Have I mentioned that lately?

In case anyone is wondering, the phrase “Me and The Avengers DVD Combo Pack = happy dad” is still true. I could watch that movie almost any time. Luckily there is a steady supply of other stuff to watch, some that even doesn’t have superheroes in it like Stranger Things. (Stranger Things is all the things, by the way. I’ve already watched it twice. It’s good the second time around, in case you were on the fence about watching it again.)

Deutsch: Zentrale Heterochromie: Grüne Iris, u...

Deutsch: Zentrale Heterochromie: Grüne Iris, um die Pupille herum jedoch ein braun-gelber Ring (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(The image above is totally unrelated and is included just to freak you out a little.)

I will be doing a better job of tying the superhero stuff into parenting and related topics. Not that this is necessary. To paraphrase Whit Honea from way back when we both blogged for Babble.com, superhero movies are relevant to a parenting blog because I’m a parent and I like superhero movies. (Whit’s kind of awesome; check him out here, and also everywhere.) I also watch them with my kids. The values they impart are important. Not that it’s all about values. It’s also about fun, and sharing something fun. The world is a rough place. There’s a reason it’s called “escapism.” But while escaping, it is worth noting that sometimes there are good values being imparted. Acceptance of others (Vision and Scarlet Witch). The complications of friendships (Captain America: Civil War). How awesome and weird it would be to have super-powers at age 15 (Spider-Man). OK, that last one isn’t really a value. But those three are all from the same movie. I’ve got more than that, trust me. Because with great power, there must also come great responsibility. (Ahem.)

Face front True Believers! Welcome to the DaddyTips age of Superhero Parenting! Trust me, it’ll be a fun ride.


Jul 17 2016

Marvel Digital Comics Sale at Amazon

Marvel digital comics sale at Amazon. Doctor Strange, Thor, X-Men, Iron Man, Howard the Duck, lots and lots of stuff. Check it out, true believers.

Marvel Digital Comics Sale at Amazon

Source: Amazon.com: Featured Sale Titles


Apr 15 2016

Doctor Strange Trailer (And Some Thoughts on The Comics)

By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth, they actually did it. Here is the new Doctor Strange trailer.

Doctor Strange movie

Looks like fun, yeah? I’ll give you a few thoughts of my own; if you want a moment by moment Doctor Strange trailer breakdown check out this video at IGN.

(Note: Marvel/Comixology/Amazon is having a sale on Doctor Strange digital comics — 99 cents each. Check ’em out here.)

So. Doctor Strange. What’s his deal? He’s got magic powers, lots of nifty mystical items that he uses to protect Earth from inter-dimensional nasties, and… I don’t know, he’s cool. Not a traditional superhero like Iron Man, Spider-Man and the rest.

Splash page for the "Doctor Strange"...

Splash page for the “Doctor Strange” story in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963). Art by Steve Ditko. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On a personal note, the first “real” comic book I ever read was an issue of Doctor Strange. I’d been reading Richie Rich, Casper, Archie, that kind of stuff. One day my dad said, “It’s time for you to read some real comics,” and handed me a copy of Doctor Strange. My little boy mind was blown. The first thing I remember is how much smaller the lettering was. That was true for all “real” comics (read: Marvel and DC); Richie Rich, et al, were aimed at very young readers and had simpler dialogue and storylines… and larger lettering. The next thing I remember is the splash page. One big image, full of colorful details, with Doctor Strange himself looming large over it all. I think he was looking out of a window, but it’s possible he was sitting in a chair with stuff drawn around him. I’ve been looking for that issue for years and I think I’ve found it, although I can’t remember what number it is at the moment. I also don’t remember the story. But I do remember how I felt. It was basically my comic book Bar Mitzvah. No more little kid comics for me. Now I could read the good stuff.

And I did. I have a nice collection of books that I bought at the local candy store/newsstand, because you could buy comics there when I was a kid. (You still kind of can, it just isn’t as common.) I didn’t keep those comics in very good shape, which in some cases is a bummer — my Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Daredevils would be worth a few bucks, as would my copy of the original Wolverine mini-series (which you can get for less than six dollars via Comixology). But instead of bagging and boarding everything, I read the hell out of my comics, because they were awesome. (Those Daredevils in particular are probably my favorite comic books ever.)

Back to Doctor Strange. His book went in and out, and I didn’t buy it that often. It’s possible that the local candy store didn’t always have it in stock even when it was being published. In addition to not being a traditional superhero, I don’t think he was as popular as the big names. He did found one of my sneaky super teams, The Defenders. The original core group of Defenders was Doctor Strange, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and The Incredible Hulk, quickly followed by The Silver Surfer. Basically a bunch of really powerful dudes who don’t play well with others, hence the term “non-team”. Later Defenders mainstays included such popular characters as Hellcat, Gargoyle, and Nighthawk. Also Valkyrie. Never heard of them? Join the club. (Marvel is doing a Netflix series called The Defenders, which I’m sure will be fun but doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with The Defenders’ comic books.) The Defenders hung out at Doctor Strange’s Greenwich Village mansion, known as The Sanctum Santorum, while constantly making a point of telling readers that they were NOT a super-team like The Avengers. I liked those comics a lot. Something about the idea of a group of semi-outcasts and/or angry people and/or loners teaming up only when it suited them really appealed to me.

I also always dug the good Doctor on his own. His job, Sorcerer Supreme, was to defend Earth from mystical threats. Sometimes he gets help from other Marvel heroes, but usually he doesn’t, because he’s the only one who can do what needs to be done. This led to some wonderfully trippy artwork, first by the legendary Steve Ditko (written by the even more legendary Stan Lee) and later by lots of other people.

The thing that made me the happiest in the trailer was seeing Doctor Strange’s Astral Form. (When Tilda Swinton punches him and it looks like a ghost pops out of his body.) It works like this: Doc leaves his body behind, defenseless, and his spirit floats around and does stuff. He can travel faster this way, but he can’t touch anyone and most people can’t see him. (One notable exception, if memory serves, is The Hulk. Because comic books. UPDATE: I just read some Doctor Strange comics from the 80s, and in those stories Doc can allow people to see his astral form if he wants them to. Again, because comic books.) It’s something that for various reasons I always found fascinating, so to see them do it in a live action movie had me making little nerdy noises.

So there you go. The Doctor Strange trailer. Looks like Marvel might get it right again, taking a character that isn’t well-known and putting said character into a big-budget blockbuster movie that doesn’t suck. Here’s hoping.

Read some comics:


May 08 2015

Avengers: Age of Ultron Link Roundup (Ongoing) – UPDATED

Now that Avengers: Age of Ultron is finally here, and I’ve seen it (twice), I can start reading about it until my eyeballs fall out. This page will have an an ongoing list of links to some of what I’ve read that I found interesting.

Me and The Avengers movie.

Personally I prefer The Avengers. Have I mentioned that lately?

UPDATED 5/11/15 (new links after the break; you can tell they’re new because they say NEW LINK.)

As you know, I frickin’ LOVED The Avengers, the first one. To say that Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t quite as good as the first film is like saying I’m shorter than Shaquille O’Neal. Or, to ever-so-slightly borrow a joke from the movie, that this blog post will be shorter than a Eugene O’Neill play. Bottom line: it was a lot of fun, Joss Whedon did a nice job of balancing all of the myriad demands of a film with a ton of characters and future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to promote, and I’ve already seen the movie twice and would gladly see it again.

As expected with a summer blockbuster, especially a follow-up to a film as great as The Avengers, the Interwebs are filled with articles and blog posts and charts and click-bait about all things Ultron. I went on Rotten Tomatoes planning to read a few reviews. I got as far as one before being sucked into a rabbit hole (maybe I should say tesseract instead) of Age of Ultron related topics.

Oh, the obligatory Spoiler Alert from this point forward. I’m not going to bother watching what I say about the movie, although this isn’t a review and odds are I won’t reveal anything particularly important. But if you haven’t seen the movie yet and prefer to do so without knowing anything about what happens, stop reading now. Then come back. Don’t worry. We’ll wait. Read more »