Gimmick. By Felix Serrano – Robot Dialog #18

January 25, 2011 Felix Serrano 18 Comments

There are so many little things floating around and nothing really major going on, so this week I’ll throw in my 2¢ to some of the little things.

This week marks the end of two things. First, and foremost a fond farewell to Wizard Magazine. Wizard was a driving force in keeping companies like Image alive. It catered to the inner geek while poking fun at the hardcore fanboy. For me it was the replacement for Marvel Age which was awesome for it’s time. It’s glossy paper, high production value and exclusive material made Wizard the must have for any comic book fan or pro. We’ll miss you pretty shiny glossy cover comic mag. =(

The most memorable death in comics for me was Jean Grey’s. Claremont and Byrne knocked Uncanny X-men #137 out of the park. There was no press coverage, and if you weren’t reading X-men you had no idea what was going on. Fast forward to 1992. I remember watching the news here in NY on Channel 11 which was Wpix at the time. There was a quick story on the death of superman, but this was a bit different. A comicbook store in the Newport Center mall in Jersey City, NJ decided to hold a memorial service for the Man of Steel. As the reporter reported the video camera panned across the mall and showed the area where the services were being held, then in a flash of surreallity; there they were. Like crying buffoons in a Disney movie, our very own Michael Davis embracing and comforting his former assistant Rick Desilva aka Breez Evahflowin. That’s when I felt comics were starting to push the media and pop culture envelope. The point of this is the not so memorable death of one of the Fantastic Four. If you’ve flipped through any of the larger national papers then you might have come across an article which announces the member who dies in the book. I normally wouldn’t have a problem with this, but I do since THE BOOK ISN’T OUT YET! Granted it comes out tomorrow (Wednesday Jan, 26th) but still, is Marvel that hard up for sales? Or are the deaths of 9 US troops just not good enough for headlines these days? But I digress, ***SPOILER ALERT*** Johnny Storm will be back. Just like Jean grey, Superman, Batman, The Flash, Angel, and Spock; to name a few. In the meantime while they sort out what alternate reality the next Human Torch will come from or why Galactus will reemerge with Johnny Storm as his new herald we’ll probably be stuck with that metal bastard from the 70’s again. Thanks H.E.R.B.I.E, you made the Fantastic Four suck in the 70’s.

Lastly, big news for ladies in comics. NBC has green lit the pilot episode of the Wonder Woman TV series with David E. Kelley attached to the reboot. That should be interesting. And just incase you live under a rock, Anne Hathaway will be Catwoman in the next installment of the Batman franchise. I don’t know about you guys, but I think she’s a perfect fit for an Adam Hughes style Selina Kyle. No?

-F