Best Articles of 2013 Compilation

Here are the most best things I wrote this past year.  I think this averages out to one great piece per week.  I am pleased by this.

COMIC BOOKS

The Strange History of Marvel Comics’ ULTIMATE ADVENTURES with Hawk-Owl and Woody

Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy, Pt.1

Milligan and McCarthy, Pt.2

Jeffrey Brown on VADER’S LITTLE PRINCESS, A MATTER OF LIFE and More

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES 21st Anniversary

Paul Pope on BATTLING BOY

GRENDEL Retrospective with Matt Wagner, 1

GRENDEL Retrospective, 2

Fantagraphics Reprints Crockett Johnson’s BARNABY

Nick Offerman of PARKS AND RECREATION talks AXE COP, Comics and More

BONE Creator Jeff Smith on Self-Publishing

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD Creator George Romero on EMPIRE OF THE DEAD

Jonathan Hickman and Mike Costa on GOD IS DEAD

Priest and Bright on the Return of QUANTUM AND WOODY

TOYS!

The Many (Toy) Faces of Sylvester Stallone

How to Build Your Dragon: Putting Together Mattel’s MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Classics Granamyr Toy

Tracking down the ADVENTURE TIME Marshall Lee Plush Toy

Sillof and Patton Owsalt’s FASTER, EMPIRE!  STRIKE!  STRIKE!

Masterpiece Transformers Soundwave

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Caldecott Winner David Wiesner on MR. WUFFLES

Jhn Agee (LITTLE SANTA) and Loren Long (OTIS)

A look at the musical MARY POPPINS and P.L. Travers’ original books (done in Feb., before SAVING MR. BANKS came out)

Jan Brett on CINDERS

Phyllis Rowan’s THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY

THE DARK IS RISING Author Susan Cooper

In Memorial: E.L. Konigsburg, Author of FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER

Zilpha Keatley Snyder on BELOW THE ROOT

Weird Picture Books That I Enjoy

More Weird Children’s Books: The Mushroom Planet, Chicken Trek, Suzuki Beane and More

LOCAL NORTH CAROLINA ARTS

Nice Price Books in Carrboro to Close

SERENA Author Ron Rash on NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY

Craig Zobel on Directing COMPLIANCE

Golden Age Bakery Puts Comics on Cookies

Elizabeth Strout on THE BURGESS BOYS

TV Production in NC with HOMELAND, BANSHEE, UNDER THE DOME and More

INSPECTOR LYNLEY Author Elizabeth George Visits

Attempting to understand CATS in a local production

Local Produce Delivery Startups

COMICS I WROTE:

Unseen REGULAR SHOW Script: “Bad Grammar”

My REGULAR SHOW story “Sombrero World”

Interview on “Sombrero World” in USA Today

Another Interview on “SomBrero World” in the News and Observer

My ADVENTURE TIME Story “Grocery Time” (Pt.1)

My ADVENTURE TIME Story “Grocery Time” (Pt.2)

FREE COMIC: “Decaffeinated” with Thomas Boatwright

MISC. TV

Shows You WON’T See This Fall

31 Loose Ends from Season 4 of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

Dean Norris Talks BREAKING BAD and UNDER THE DOME

Hugh Dancy on HANNIBAL: Season One

Why I Heart Megatron: A Transformers Post

400 or so SIMPSONS Quotes

More than 60 BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD Videos

The anniversary of the end of ST. ELSEWHERE

My Strange Obsession with LAW & ORDER: SVU

MISC. ESSAYS/ORIGINAL COMPILATION POSTS

THE HEARTBREAK KID, SAVE THE DATE and other films for singles on Valentine’s Day

Thunderbirds are Go(ne): A Tribute to Gerry Anderson

Miami Connection: All 230+ Things I Love About this Film

https://zacksmithwriter.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/400-or-so-simpsons-quotes/

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EX MACHINA Retrospective with Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris and More, Part II

By Zack Smith, Newsarama Contributor
posted: 18 August 2010 01:57 pm ET

Read Part one by clicking here

Part II of our special three-part tribute to Wildstorm’s Ex Machina with writer Brian K. Vaughan, artist Tony Harris, colorist JD Mettler and editor Ben Abernathy continues today, with more insights into the book’s creation and a ton of behind-the-scenes art from Tony Harris.

But first, a quick tribute from one of the book’s fans, Patton Oswalt Click here to read that and the interview !

 

Patton Oswalt on SERENITY: FLOAT OUT

Patton Oswalt: Making SERENITY’s WASH the “Anti-Han Solo”

By Zack Smith

Fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly have gotten the chance to learn more about their favorite characters in Dark Horse’s Whedon-approved comics.  This June, we’ll get to learn more about Serernity pilot Hoban “Wash” Washburne in Serenity: Float Out, a tale where the “leaf on the wind”’s friends come together to recall tales from his storied life.

Float Out’s script is by noted comedian, actor and genre fan Patton Oswalt (the art is by Patric Reynolds).  Oswalt is quickly becoming a ubiquitous presence in film and TV; in addition to his star turn in the black comedy Big Fan,  and his latest album, My Weakness is Strong, this past year has seen him do guest and recurring roles on Caprica, Dollhouse, The United States of Tara, Community, The Sarah Silverman Program, The Venture Brothers, Flight of the Conchords and more.  

He’s also a major fan of comics and film who occasionally writes about his favorite works online, and hosts screenings and panels at such events as Comic-Con.  Oswalt’s talked to Newsarama a few times in the past about his comic and TV work, and when he had a few minutes out of his busy schedule, he took some time to chat Float Out with us.  Along the way, we also discussed his thoughts on comics and TV, and the evolving state of popular culture from someone with a unique perspective as a creator and fan.

Read the full interview here!

 

Sean Phillips on BLAST OF SILENCE

SEAN PHILLIPS ON THE BLAST OF SILENCE DVD

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by Zack Smith

As artist on the Eisner-winning Icon series Criminal, Sean Phillips has paid tribute to classic noir books and films with both his detailed, expressive artwork on the book’s main stories and his illustrations for the single-issue-only backup essays. But a recent DVD release has given him a chance to go back to the series’ roots – and help bring a legendary lost crime film to a wider audience.

Full story here!