Kerrpow!

As a writer, my main concern in writing this blog is the way in which comics are written and the direction in which that writing is headed. As such, I never pay too much attention to artwork, sure, There have been some magnificant covers over the years(I'm a particuar fan of Jo Chen's work for the covers of Buffy Season 8) but usually, it's the writing I care about, not the art. Until now... Eariler this month, UK manga distrubutors Tokyopop released a new graphic novel called "Orange" with full colour artwork by an artist called Benjamin. I've haven't got around to checking it out yet but, from what I've seen so far it's definately going on my wishlist for the artwork alone, even if the angst ridden story is horrificly unoriginal... Until next time, my fellow Panelhoppers! PS: My love of Naruto continues to grow, so exspect a review in the near future Panelhopper

Hello again, fellow Panelhoppers! As I have previously mentioned, I have something of a love-hate relationship with the Marvel universe: On the one hand, Stan Lee's characters are my childhood icons, forever etched into my brain in their techinicolour costumes and famous poses, and on the other they have refused, time and again, to grow up as I have, remaining stuck in the familiar, safe pattens and plotlines of the good ol' days and, while I know Marvel have good reason to do so, this behaviour has begun to bother me; particularly when Marvel's contempories seem so open to change. However, it seems that my fears about Marvel's future may be about to be put to rest...Thanks to Dark Regin. Dark Regin, for those of you who don't already know, has almost completely changed the face of the Marvel universe by allowing Norman Osborune, formily the Green Goblin, to become the leader of the avengers. This event has opened up a whole new set of directions for Marvel writers

Welcome back fellow comic book lovers! After a short hiatus, your faithful servant Panelhopper has returned, filled to the brim with thoughts about the Industry. This week, let us cast an eye over the recurring villian which has menaced the world comics for the last twenty years or so: Adaptation. On paper of course, the marriage of comic books and films is a fantastic idea which delivers maxium payout for minimal effort. Between them, Marvel and DC have a backcatalogue of literally thousands of characters each one coming complete with clearly defined sense of morality, cut and dryed heroes, and long estabilshed iconography and, most importantly of all, a loyal fanbase. All of this means that at least half the work usually put into the pre-production of a summer blockbuster has already been done and all that remains for the studio to do is throw the idea out in to the open sea of eager directors and starving screenwriters that is Hollywood and wait. Simple. Or perhaps not... Since Holl