Supermarketing: Getting Published!

I totally forgot I never actually posted this here!

What feels like a lifetime ago, I was working on a series of blog posts I called Supermarketing.

I wrote a whole bunch of them and even had a big schedule for uploading them. Then, I posted one and everything went quiet on that front.

What happened?

Well, the agency I was working for at the time caught wind of the concept and fell in love with it! They pitched them to website It’s Nice That and they eventually got gathered together and published!

I mean, I work on between three to five kids magazines every month nowadays so getting something published is less of a big deal but that was HUGE deal to me a couple of years ago.

So please, feel free to click THIS LINK and have a read of what was called Supermarketing, but became “Caped Creatives: Superhero comics and making it in an agency”!

 

Supermarketing: Secret Identities

Almost every superhero ever to exist has had a secret identity. Spider-Man is secretly Peter Parker, under the mask Batwoman is really Kate Kane, Superman puts on his glasses and disappears into Clark Kent. The list is almost endless. When you work in marketing, you join those hallowed ranks. Your name becomes a secret identity, the brand your mask and cape.

Review: Lobo #1

Sorry, Not Sorry

Lobo has always been one of DC’s most interesting characters. Starting his life as a generic space bounty hunter in Giffen and Slifer’s Omega Men #3 way back in 1983, but did not stay that way for very long. Over time, the character got more humorous, more over the top and more outrageous. Lobo as most people know him came into form with Bisley and Grant’s ‘Lobo: The Last Czarnian’ miniseries, solidifying his backstory and placing him firmly as the premier parody character of the 1990s. Brash, rude and ultraviolent, Lobo was meant to be a parody of the dark excesses of 90s comics, drawing from the likes of Wolverine, Cable and the Punisher as influences. Over time, Lobo became a popular character in his own right, appealing to both fans of the parody and fans of the characters he was designed to parody. He existed within the DC Universe, but was a true wildcard, allowed to do pretty much whatever the writers wanted him to do for the sake of a laugh. Lobo destroyed his home planet for fun, has been kicked out of both heaven and hell, eaten a different planet, gone toe-to-toe with Superman, killed Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny and been declared Pope of the Space Dolphins.

What’s All the Hubbub, Bub? ARCHIVE: Wonder Woman and my Crisis of Feminism

This was originally posted on 26/03/2012 on The Bat and the Battle

My original title was this article was going to be ‘Why the New 52 Wonder Woman Series Gets Everything Right’.

But last week issue #7 was released, and while I really enjoyed it, many other readers did not, objecting to new revelations in the Wonder Woman mythos. Reading their criticisms me question myself, made me wonder if I’m a hypocrite calling myself a feminist.

Review: Batgirl #35

#awesome

I am going to say two controversial things about myself. Firstly, I have never been overly fond of the Batfamily. Secondly, I was not a fan of Gail Simone’s run on Batgirl. The first of these is down to Batman’s overall overexposure. While there are elements related to Batman I enjoy (Batwoman), I tire of the side titles getting pulled into Batman’s story and the brooding Mary Sue often bores me unless very well written. The second is just a matter of taste. After reading the first six issues of Gail Simone’s run, I found the tone dour, the villain lackluster and Batgirl herself a little overwritten and silted. I was very ready to never read a Batgirl comic again.

Hello (Again) World!

Hi everyone, long time no blog, eh?

Just a little post to let you know what I’ve been up to, and what’s coming next for this page.

¡Uno! – Green Day (Review)

As Mama Odie said in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, “You got what you wanted, but you lost what you need”. That quote could not be truer when it comes to the relationship between Green Day’s hardcore fan base and the band’s brand new album ¡Uno!

The first of what is planned to be a series of three albums released between now and the end of January 2013, ¡Uno! is billed as a return to a more classic pop-punk sound. Green Day may have picked up a whole new set of fans when they transitioned into an album focused stadium rock act with 2004’s American Idiot, but fans of the old sound still remained. They call for ‘Basket Case’ and ‘Longview’ at every show; they bemoan the appearance of keyboards and violins in the mix, and what they really want Green Day to go back to sounding like they did before.

Comic Reviews- Week of 26th Oct 2011

Superman #2

Written by George Pérez, Pencils and Inks by Jesús Merino

This comic is exactly what I expected from monthly comics when I first considered getting into them. A story-line, mission or adventure that is done in one issue, but plays a part in an overarching narrative. Admittedly, I’ve seen that comics can be much more than this, but its a method of storytelling that works well, and I’m glad that this run of Superman is going with it. This issue deals with Superman fighting a monster that he can’t see,  and how he has to rely on his friends in the media to help him out.

Marvel’s Next Film Hero is Dr. Strange

Strange Tales are being prepared for the big screen

Marvel is slowly rebuilding its expansive, interconnected comic book universe on the silver screen, and it seems that one of their, if you’ll excuse the pun, strangest heroes is on his way to join the likes of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. Marvel have approved a script for a Doctor Strange motion picture written by Josh Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, of ‘Sahara’ and ‘Conan’ fame, and are currently searching for a director.

Nintendo CEO Apologises for 3DS Price Cut

Satoru Iwata is very, very sorry

Giantbomb has provided the English reading internet with a translation of one of the oddest open letters a large company, let alone a game developer has ever released. Nintendo CEO himself, Satoru Iwata has responded to the fan backlash over the 3DS’s recently announced price-slash with a letter of apology to fans.