Comic book adaptations are everywhere lately and most of them are massive mega budget blockbusters, but what some seem to forget is that others in that field are done with much less budget, no superheroes, more ingenuity, a ton of creativity, and a tank load of talent. Let’s go over some of them here that are either less known, less seen, or seemingly have been forgotten. Starting with the Queen! Continue reading
Please introduce yourself.
My name is Lia Scott Price and I am the creator, filmmaker, author and artist of the vampire horror-action comic books and animation series called Vampire Guardian Angels. I turned guardian angels into a new breed of vampire in the vampire genre, a hybrid of a serial killer, guardian angel, and vampire, and I am a character in my comic book series and animation. I’ve also directed and acted in my Vampire Guardian Angel films.
There’s no bigger an X-Men fan online than Comic Book Girl 19. The web personality has made her claim to fame from online personality to bonafide geek goddess by providing insightful, lucid, and very controversial opinions about comic books and pop culture in general. Among some of the biggest pop culture dynasties, Comic Book Girl 19 is one of the most passionate X-Men fans around. Like me, she hates the movies, but loves the X-Men comics and longs for a day when we can finally see them adapted properly on the big screen. “Epic History X-Men” has nothing to do with the movies, and is in fact about a certain stream of storylines and character arcs involving the X-Men.
Comic Book Girl 19 and director Tyson Wheeler have their cut off point, and end episode three of three with the “Dark Phoenix Saga.” The massive science fiction arc was penned by Chris Claremont and is one of the most complex, complicated, and unusual storylines ever put to the comics. And Bryan Singer actually is going to try to simplify it for one or two films. That aside, “Epic History X-Men” is a fantastic and very entertaining documentary where Comic Book Girl 19 and her sidekick Robot lay out the events of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and explain the storyline’s nuances and emotional strong points as thoroughly as possible.
Though the series as a whole could just being Comic Book Girl 19 sitting in a chair and laying out every point of the storyline, she and director Tyson Wheeler switch up the monotony by adding splashes of panels from the comic books. They also animated a lot of the panels, and even add their own voice overs and great sound effects, all of which really add a flavor and excitement to an already enthusiastic host. Comic Book Girl 19 loves the X-Men, and she seems to have a ball describing every storyline, from Jean Grey returning as the Phoenix, the big rumble with the X-Men and an erotic mutant organization called the Hellfire Club, Wolverine taking down a whole army of guards single handedly, to Jean’s eventual transformation in to the dark side as the Dark Phoenix which ultimately split the team apart.
Comic Book Girl 19 even takes the time out to introduce her favorite X-Men: Dazzler. Dazzler is a light controlling mutant that Comic Book Girl 19 has fought for, defended, and consistently taken scrutiny for favoring over everyone else in the comics, but makes a darn good case for the character’s significance to the “Dark Phoenix Saga.” What’s punctuated through most of Volume 3 is that the “X-Men” isn’t just a series about young people going on adventures. It’s a long and very unique consistent epic about people with extraordinary powers from various ethnicities and nationalities fighting for humanity, and learning that they themselves are human, in the end.
Though considerably low budget, “Epic History” volumes 1-3 garners some bang up production with excellent voice work. They’re undoubtedly very exciting, entertaining, and heartfelt glimpses in to only some of the most important storylines in one of the most unique and original characters in comic book lore. Comic Book Girl 19 treats the material with great reverence and will likely leave you seeking out the books and appreciating the characters so much more. Suffice it to say I had more fun with the third chapter than I did with “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
“Epic History X-Men Volume 3: The Dark Phoenix Saga” is now available on Vimeo On Demand.
The one downfall about “From Comic Books to Television” is that realistically a documentary about EC Comics should be longer than an hour. I mean this is EC Comics, one of the biggest influences for many horror icons, and it deserves more than fifty six minutes for audiences. EC Comics is a powerful force in horror and continues to spawn horror fans to this day. That said, “From Comic Books to Television” is a nice and entertaining look at the legendary run of EC Comics. Beginning life as Educational Comics and eventually transforming in to Entertaining Comics, “From Comic Books to Television” explores the creative explosion of EC Comics, and how it managed to change the comic book medium for better or for worse.
Well how about that? Someone finally gets it. Morgan Spurlock has become one of the most notable documentary directors of all time and thankfully with “Comic Con Episode 4” he chooses to spotlight an area of the world that garners a lot of attention and acclaim and yet rarely gets looked upon with much respect. It’s so easy to kick at fan boys in today’s pop culture storm because they’re simply the easiest targets around. But what Morgan Spurlock accomplishes with the help of Stan Lee and Joss Whedon, is depict fan boys in a light we rarely ever see: human. In the grand tradition of films like “Trekkies,” Spurlock spotlights the entire comic con experience from multiple angles to allow the general audience to explore that comic con as a whole is not just a simple gathering of fan boys across the world, but a testament to hard work and for some, a day that decides the rest of their lives.