A. Lee Martinez's Blog, page 70

Getting Ridiculous

I know I have a tendency to complain about the state of modern superhero comic books, but once in a while, something really shows the wonder of what comic books can do.  Superheroes don't have to be stupid, and they don't have to be dark to have something interesting to say.  And in illustration, I offer Fantastic Four #579.  The story opens with Reed Richards giving a thoughtful speech to an auditorium of scientists.  I'd love to quote the speech in its entirety, but not sure how that jibes ...

On Writing: Originality

For the record, I have only seen one episode of Lost.  Didn't care for it.  Shows like this just aren't my bag.  Maybe I just get bored too easily.   Maybe it's not very good.  Or, most probably, shows like Lost thrive upon becoming a cultural phenomenon and I've never been very good at being swept away in cultural phenomena.  I'm a loner, a rebel.  I walk the mean streets alone, with only my righteous fists and keen wits to see me through the dark.

I have nothing against cultural phenomena.  ...

The Zen of Pteradax

Hey, hey, I'm back from Monpoc 2010 in beautiful Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Wow.  What a blast.  Really, it might be hard to imagine, for all you non-gamer, non-kaiju fans, to understand, but it was a fantastic weekend of fun, gaming, and grown men reproducing flawless imitations of giant monster battle cries.  Or maybe that last one was just me.  Regardless, it was awesome.

I'd like to give a heap of credit to Covenent Games (http://teamcovenant.com/) who created a great experience.  And, of course...

The Last Tempation of Devil Dinosaur

Recently, I bought Marvel's Devil Dinosaur Omnibus.  It's a hardcover reprint of the entire original Devil Dinosaur run.  It's not quite as impressive as it might sound considering that there were only nine issues.

Devil Dinosaur was one of the last comic creations of legendary creator Jack Kirby.  It wasn't a bad comic.  In fact, I think it's quite charming.  But, even at the time, it seemed a bit old-fashioned.  The series stars a red dinosaur and his primate companion, Moon Boy.  While the ...

Other People's Toys

A. LEE MARTINEZ FUN FACTOID:  I almost wrote an Iron Man novel.

This was a few years back when the original Iron Man movie was about to come out.  Or maybe it had just come out.  Little hazy on the details, but I remember that some tenative steps were taken between me and a publisher to write an Iron Man novel.  It wasn't going to be an adaptation, but rather, an original story.  I even wrote and submitted an outline.

I don't quite remember the exact details of the story I had in mind, but I...

In Which, I Address the Underfolk

Four blog entries in four days?  What madness is this?  I haven't checked, but I'm fairly positive that this must be some kind of record.  I just might be the greatest internet blogger of all time!

And A. Lee Martinez wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer...

So I've just heard through the grapevine that Dreamworks has optioned Monsterpocalypse.  By the Divine Energon of The Mighty Robot King, why am I just hearing about this now?  More importantly, why am I not involved in this...

Punisher Monster Mash

A third blog entry in as many days?  You betcha.  This time, I promise not to be too negative or preachy.  This is going to a be a fun one.  I'll try to keep it brief too.  Want to get a little more editing done before bedtime.

So The Punisher is now a Frankenstein-style monster in the mainstream Marvel Comics.  It's pretty weird, but considering it's one of the few mainstream Marvel Comics I'm enjoying, I can live with it.  It helps that I am a big monster fan, and that anything with...

In Which, I Overthink Superhero Movies

Here's a question.  Can a story succeed and fail at the same time?  The answer is a resounding YES.  I should know since I am a moderately successful comic fantasy writer who doesn't consider himself as such.  Yet the writer I imagine myself to be clearly isn't the writer many folks think of me as being.  Lots of wonderful, thoughtful fans will tell me how funny they find my books.  You'd be hard pressed to find a positive review of anything I've written that doesn't mention the humor...

Monday Musings

Ah, another Monday, another day when I put random thoughts out into the ether.

Saw Iron Man 2 today.  Blah.  Not a bad movie, but not very good either.  Like most superhero sequels, it's way too heavy on plot, too short on creative superhero action.  It's not that I need to have a giant robot attack every five minutes (although that would be sweeeet), but for a movie about a guy named Iron Man, there really wasn't much Iron Man.  Add to this that the movie's plot is almost identical to the...

Chances Are . . .

Just how many times a day is Law & Order on anyway?  Can't we just give it its own network and be done with it?  Really.  I'm totally cool with that.  I'd probably even watch it.  Meanwhile, I can't get a single Knight Rider rerun.  Where's the justice in this universe?  Sure, I could spring for the DVDs, but should I have to?  Isn't it odd that we have so many more hours of television available to us yet it seems like we have less and less variety.

This is my primary complaint with Syfy...