when niggas bite, i clap

yo, Disney ripped off my mans and them! my boy Cal Slayton worked on a Champion of Children story with us back in the day, plus he's a generally cool cat, so i can't let slide the blatant biting by Disney... this new toon they got comin' out straight jacks its steez from Cal's art on Shades of Blue. now, before you gullible son's a guns cry coincidence, be advised that movie studios CONSTANTLY dig through comics catalogs like diamond's PREVIEWS for possible properties to option (i have been contacted more than once in the past)... and apparently they use it for a freakin' style guide as well!
BOOOOOO, Disney... BOOOOOOO!
yo CAL! call you a tough, smart lawyer, homey!
-gM

Radio Stations got me Sick like Chemo Patients...

Beat The Speakers Up by Buff 1 from upcoming album There's Only One
-gM

MTV's Hottest Rappers (yawn)...

okay, so i stumbled onto MTV's Hottest Rappers show...
according to the show, "rankings were based on lyrics, flow, impact on the game, success and swagger." so their list was:

01. Kanye West
02. Jay-Z
03. Lil Wayne
04. Rick Ross
05. Snoop Dogg
06. 50 Cent
07. Lupe Fiasco
08. Young Jeezy
09. Outkast's Andre 3000
10. T.I.
01. Kanye West
02. Jay-Z
03. Lil Wayne
04. Rick Ross
05. Snoop Dogg
06. 50 Cent
07. Lupe Fiasco
08. Young Jeezy
09. Outkast's Andre 3000
10. T.I.

these lists clearly show the need to have different categories of rappers.
comparing rick ross with Andre makes my head hurt...

i'm about lyrics, not hoopla... so half these dudes don't appeal to me at all.
and snoop isn't writing his own lyrics anymore, so he's fired. rapping without writing is just play-acting, and i can't respect that.

plus, too much weight is placed on "swagger": how they look in videos, how many concert tickets they sell (white girls are buying lotsa rap tickets, people!), how scared i'd be if i met them on the block (this category is hurting lupe, an obvious nice guy). what does any of that have to do with rapping?

but i guess i'm just a hater.
okay, so to play nice with others, i'll rearrange:

01. Outkast's Andre 3000 (mastery of rhyming bordering on greatest ever)
02. Jay-Z (rhymes deserving of respect, but hustling skills surpass rhyming skills)
03. Lupe Fiasco (most original voice of this era where biting is allowed, even encouraged)
04. T.I. (dope. period)
05. Black Thought (i am not enough of a hater to put him at #2, but he probably belongs there... a PURE SPITTER)
06. Nas (when his album drops, it'll shake up the top 5)
07. Wayne (raps dope half the time, wack the other half... but most improved. props young 'un!)
08. Common (beneath Wayne? ugh... i hate making lists...)
09. Kanye West (overrated, but makes his own beats, which hasta count for something)
10. pick any of the other cats i dropped off. they're all the same to me (except snoop. he's DQ'd for usin' ghostwriters...)

Angel:Revelations

it was a good week for the X-men. i went to the comic shop this week, and i bought a ton of comics. good comics. i don't read a lotta X-Men books these days, but among the books i got was Giant-Size Astonishing X-men (concluding the storyline of the ghettoManga Award nominated team of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday), which was really good (more on this later i think), but i'm really here right now to say that if you went to the comic shop and didn't pick up the first issue of Angel: Revelations by Roberto Aguierre-Sacasa and Adam Pollina, GO BACK NOW!!! i don't know why Marvel has picked now to do a Year One treatment of the most neglected of the founding class of the X-Men, but they knocked it outta the freakin' park on the first at bat.

After a long, productive stint in illustration and design that included work on the movie Terminator 3, video games like NBA Street 2, James Bond: Golden Eye, Def Jam: Vendetta Wrestling, God of War, and other numerous high and low profile projects, X-Force artist Adam Pollina makes his triumphant return to comics for the best reason there is: Love. "Marvel is allowing me a wonderful opportunity to simply draw, and hopefully make art in the process. I had to first leave comics to fully appreciate just how much creative freedom our industry allows an artist. I won't ever take that for granted." Pollina explained in a great interview with Newsarama from Heroes Con in Philly.

Pollina and Aguirre-Sacasa create a rich, eerie debut for the 5 issue Marvel Knights mini which expands and delves into the origin of Warren Worthington III, the high-flying Angel. the story frames the dawn of the Mutant Age in spiritual terms, as a young girl's visions foretell the formation of the Uncanny X-men, attracting a mysterious priest-like hunter who presumably will be the series' villain. "Really, it’s an expansion of the origin that was a back-up feature in X-men #54" explains series writer Aguirre-Sacasa, "But that was a five-page story and this is five issues, so the canvas is a lot, lot broader, and we could really make this Warren’s definitive, defining origin story."
obviously, this will be collected in a TPB eventually, but i can't help but recommend getting your hands on Angel: Revelations right now! i'm definitely gonna be copping the monthly issues as they come out this summer, and Revelations is getting the highest recommendation, being put on the BEG-BORROW-STEAL list for the summer!
holla!
-gM

about Hillary's Assassination Comment

-gM

Ray Allen is in the BUILDIN"!!!

Celtics all-star guard Ray Allen finally found his stroke to help sink the pistons in Boston last night.
they lead the Pistons 3-2.
-gM

keep your eyes peeled...

i'll let ya'll know when it's ready. till then, peep his blog.
peace,
-gM

Subway Angel

i drew this joint for this dude Subway Surfer who does ill caricatures... on his blog he invited artists to do their own caricatures of him, and i took a stab at it. let me know what you think, fam!
peace,
-gM

Grand Theft America

A Ruthless Terrorist Organization Determined To Rule The World

nah, i'm not talkin' about Halliburton... there's a GI Joe flick in the works. here's a sneak peek of the chick playin' the Baroness in the hit eighties toon revival. No, that's not Remi Ma (NOTE: shooting people in cartoons, movies, and video games=cool, in real life= not so much), it's Sienna Miller.

So You Can Know It's not Just ME...

XXLMag finally caught up to what i BEEN sayin' and gave props to 2-time ghettoManga EmCee of the Year, Bavu Blakes. peep
-gM

whoever Watches The Watcmen better take a Bathroom Break First!

well, director Zach Snyder (300) has finished shooting the adaptation to Alan Moore's opus Watchmen, and expects the film to be over three hours long. whatever other tricks he used to get the most densely-written graphic novel this side of Acme Novelty Library down to three hours, the studios have announced that the pirate comic-within-a-comic Tales of the Black Freighter will be adapted as a straight-to-DVD animated feature and released less than a week after Watchmen hits theatres. the DVD will also feature Under the Hood, a documentary-style adaptation of one of the text vignettes from the comic... still, he's gonna hafta pull a metric ton of storytelling tricks outta his sleave to get this to work well enough to make it worth the effort... and money! remember, this will have an R rating as well... (more)

The Terminator targets Bruce Wayne, Sorta

The unrelenting killin' machines from the future should'a killed John Connor in the 80's... 'cause once he grows up into all-around badass Christian Bale (American Psycho, The Prestige, Batman Begins), it's a wrap. yeah, Bale has signed on to play the messianic John Connor in three (count 'em, three) Terminator sequels, starting with Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, directed by McG (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, We Are Marshall).

Italian Director reinvents Spidey

in a shocking turn of events, Sony Pictures sold the rights to the Spiderman movie franchise to a small Italian company, who gave the new director a free hand to reinvent Spidey as he saw fit for a new generation of fans! Tobey MacGuire, fed up with constant script revisions, left the franchise and was replaced by Jack Black who... okay, i'm kidding, but this mess is funny! props to my number one ATLien, goldiGold for puttin this on the Jungle 45 blog...
holla!
-gM

You Entered Into the Realm of Dice RAW!!!

is it just me, or has Antonio McDyess been born again hard? this playoff season, he's eclipsed every last one of his all-star teammates, and often the other team's best players as well. for example, last night Dice Raw lead all scorers with 21 points while snatching 16 boards to help his Pistons put the grown man business to the Celtics, evening the best o' seven series up at 2 all.

playing the unlikely hero, a 33-year-old McDyess rejuvenated his career by linking up with these Pistons in '04, one year late to get in on their last NBA title... but he hasn't let anything stop him from getting his bang on this post season.

"You only have so many opportunities, and they're limited, especially for me,'' he said, alluding to the litany of injuries that have plagued him since he entered the league. "I'm at the end of my career, and I just feel like leaving everything out on the floor.'' think he's exaggerating? son has played the whole playoffs with a broken nose, and works harder than any player on the court. On a talented team often criticized for coasting, the veteran forward's play stands out

"Dice has been our best player in the postseason, and we're all feeding off his energy,'' says all-star Pistons point Chauncey Billups. "You see how hard he's working, and you can't help but play hard." (more)

-gM

HULK v Tim Roth

Clip from Incredible Hulk

another First for Corance

my ex-roommate, gM columnist, and frequent comics collaborating partner, the elusive and mysterious Corance, already has the distinction of being the first of my friends to have an important role in one of my comics (if you haven't purchased Spontaneous yet, i'm not mad at you, but get with the program already!)... now he's appearing on tee-shirts as well! in my bid to land the illustrating gig on Corance's unauthorized autobiography, i have created new Corencentric swag in the ghettoManga store, including "Behold... I am Corance" (shown here), designed to foreshadow Corance's destiny as benevolent Destroyer of all things.

Code: Perfect

back in the '90s, when Image founder Jim Lee could do no wrong in the eyes of the fans, he launched his little imprint WildStorm, which got its name from his first Image creations WildCATS and StormWatch. Jim Lee (in a stroke of genius) gave the reigns to the exceedingly lame StormWatch over to british scribe Warren Ellis, who proceeded to take the United Nations Superhero team in a new direction, systematically killing off all the members and leaving behind characters he created, eventually growing into The Authority. but as good as The Authority was, the real brilliance was in its embryonic stages as StormWatch.
it was on StormWatch that Ellis- in dark, moody evocative single-issue stories drawn by Tom Raney (clearly at the height of his career!)- really showed me that he was an important writer, exploiting the framework of superhero continuity he inherited from earlier, less imaginative creative teams to etch out the mission statement that would eventually manifest itself in WildStorm books The Authority and Planetary. nowhere was Ellis' ingenuity showcased better than in Change Or Die, where we meet the superhero team so ahead of their time, they were branded villains. no wonder this is where we first meet previous incarnations of Authority team members The Doctor and The Engineer as members of the iconoclastic superteam The Changers, lead by messianic Shazam knock-off, The High.

Foreshadowing Ellis' transition from StormWatch to The Authority (whether he intended to or not),StormWatch members Rose Tattoo and (future Authority skipper) Jenny Sparks were formerly members of the Changers.
Anyways, Ellis' run on StormWatch is flawless, peaking with the opus-like Change Or Die, and (lucky for you) neatly packaged in volumes so you don't have to dig in the crates for single issues (unless that's your thing...). also, it'll throw you smoothly into Relentless, the first TPB of The Authority. if you like heady, sci-fi writing, political and philosophical debate, and steady amounts of ass-kicking, make it your business to cop Ellis's StormWatch trades (start with Forces of Nature,seen above. don't just jump straight into Change Or Die... you're not ready!)...

holla!
-gM

billed as Chucky meets Dolemite, and filmed in NEGROSCOPE!

nah... they're not kidding... they're dead serious.
-gM

Hilarious for all the Wrong reasons...

the Youngest MILF by Lou Draws (no... really!)

i don't think i could possibly express how much i laughed watching this...
-gM

Nas Drops it for Wal-Mart

Nas shocked the entertainment world when he and his entourage showed up to the Grammy Awards in matching teeshirts sporting the name of his upcoming new album, Nigger. if it was a publicity stunt, it seemed to work, landing Nas on the lips of everyone for weeks... including well-known activist Al Sharpton, who organized protests against Nas's label Def Jam.
no stranger to controversy, Nas responded with typical indifference to Sharpton's protests and the general anger the album title seemed to inspire. in fact, he had no intention of changing the title until he was convinced by label exec L.A. Reid that Wal-Mart would not carry the record otherwise.

"I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages," Nas said in a statement. "The streets have been waiting for this for a long time. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it." the record is currently Untitled (although i think he should just call it simply The N Word), and scheduled to drop July 1st.
holla!
-gM

Kimbo Slice, nigga!

Kimbo Slice v. Ray Mercer in the Octagon...
-gM

"You got guns, I got guns. meet me at the corner store..."

submitted by
Corance, aka
The Holy One
of the Mighty ghostWerks Crew

You'll know the author, Kenichi Sonoda, from his previous creation, Gunsmith Cats, which was a detective/action thriller full of gun fights & car chases. When he put 'Cats on hiatus and came back with the giant robot wet dream Cannon God Exaxxion (Dark Horse), I was skeptical. But, I took a chance. After all, he was good at one type of action, he might be good at another.

Welp, it's fire! What can I tell you? The premise is pretty basic sci-fi stuff: Aliens are invading, Earth's gotta fight back, you got giant robots, I got giant robots, etc. Sonoda raises the bar, however, by mixing in concepts of imperialist colonization, heroism, & the collateral damage of war. Plus, he works in a-lot of projectile physics that seems like stuff he probably wanted to get into in Gunsmith Cats but couldn't because of the scale.

Of course, giant robots increase the physical scale exponentially. Now, he can do things like shoot a 4096mm bullet from a rail gun half way around the world, or have a human sized robot fire a single gage shot-gun which carry rounds that weigh a pound each. He also uses the special anatomy of an alien invasion story to explor aspects of colonialism. The main character, Hoichi, whos nick-name is Gun(yeah, that's cool), experiences the rounding up & execution of humans, & the characters make direct references to Earth's colonial history. And, of course, there's lots of big manga-tits for those who like that... Gun's grandpa is a genius/perv who creates these obnoxiously proportioned androids.To conclude, Cannon God EXXaXion is on point.
Cop it!

-gM

Eagle Eye trailer

Khalid put me on... this looks HOT!
-gM

new Hellboy Poster

fresh promo for Hellboy II: The Golden Army by Drew Struzan, courtesy of CHUD.
-gM

happy Birthday, Fool!

today's Mr T's birthday, Fool!
he was born May 21st 1952...
RESPECT!

holla!
-gM

Dare gets endorsement deal

ghettoManga is able to confirm that Darius Davidson, star of DARE! the adventures of Darius Davidson has indeed landed an endorsement deal with emerging hipHop clothing label Ziontific.

Speculation has been flying around here at the gM offices as to whether the diminutive risk-taker would be featured in the new gM Quarterly magazine...plus, there have actually been rumors that Darius would be featured in his own solo book. "I don't know about all that," teased the young star "but i'm just tryin'a promote this clothing line right now. after that, we'll see..."
Rumor has it, the bigwigs here at gM are trying to work out a deal to reprint early Dare appearances from The Champion of Children Afterschool Special and ghostWerksComics #1, and the early webstrips from the now-defunct ghostWerkscomics.com. we tried to reach the guys at the new site (www.ghostWerks.com) but they were not available for comment.
at any rate, Ziontific has rolled out a few new designs for the public at its online store, and expects to have more stuff ready for the summer convention season.
holla!
-gM

Feeling Blue?

click the pick to buy one of these shirts (other colors available)

Universal Magnetic B-Boy, Ziontific

t'shirt design i'm working on featuring Dare...
stay tuned!
-gM

Church Boy with a Fila Sweatsuit in Every Color...

Blackbird Fly (interlude) and Me by the Lifesavas.

it was the KIDS!!! they called me MISTA Octopus

Sam L has been the surprise villain in the best superhero movie that was never a comic (Unbreakable), a hero in the best superhero animated film that wasn't either (The Incredibles), and the most powerful man in the free world in a superhero comic (the Ultimates) that influenced at least one Marvel movie franchise (hint: go see Iron Man again... and THIS time, stay after the credits!). now, Jackson has been cast as The Octopus, the arch nemesis of The Spirit (in the upcoming film of the same name), flagship character of the greatest comics legend you never heard of... the late, great Will Eisner. the film, which is directed by comics icon Frank Miller, will be out in 2009.
until then, peep the teaser, and look forward to seeing more trailers here.


be easy,
-gM

Just Call It SHIELD

yeah, that's Captain America's shield under Tony's left arm...
get your geek on!
holla!
samax.
-gM

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

yes, I am...
-gM

Davey D and Immortal Technique pt 2

powered by ODEO

Urban Sprawl

i was wandering poking around on the internet and found this comic called Urban Sprawl, which strikes me as a futuristic sci-fi comic about New World Order, urban decay, mysticism vs technology, and ninjas from Africa! sounds good to me!
i'll see if i can get a review copy of the Ashcan they are pushing so i can give you the heads-up, but for now, peep some concept art!
holla!
-gM

Davey D and Immortal Technique

powered by ODEO

Smith and Maybury Score BIG with Underwater Epic!

another book i got my hot little hands on at CAPE was Aqua Leung, the story of a shy young boy who discovers he is the heir to the throne of Atlantis. once young Aqua gets there, however, he finds his homeland in shambles, and himself carted away into slavery. after he gains the respect of his jailer, Aqua embarks on an epic journey to capture nine scepters that will consolidate the sea kingdoms and allow him to avenge the savage murder of his father the Octopus King and take his place on his father's throne.
Aqua Leung is Tolkienesque in scope and proportions, but thankfully, not pace. writer Mark Smith (Amazing Joy Buzzards) wastes no time, moving the narrative at a lively pace, but slowing down when appropriate, creating a nice rhythm. the art by Paul Maybury (Party Bear) is fresh and whimsical, and colorist Russ Lowery controls the mood of the book masterfully.
i wanted to buy this book since i first heard of it a few weeks ago, but was still surprised at the quality of the writing and art. the idea is for Aqua Leung to be the debut of a series of 200 page OGNs, which i hope works out for them, because this creative team is really, really onto something here!
holla!
-gM

Karma Incorporated gets props!

i bought the Karma Incorporated Vol 1:Poor Mr. Wilson TPB at CAPE... and it's freakin' awesome! the book stars a quartet of troublemakers who will give anyone you want the worst day of his life... for a small fee, of course! written by Dave Hopkins (Astronaut Dad, Antigone, Mine All Mine) and illustrated by Tom Kurzanski (Sasquatch), the book has personality for days. the shifty squad of grifters at Karma, Inc. mess around and take the wrong case, which leads them down a twisting turning path that threatens to give them what they've given so many: the worst day of their lives!

Karma Incorparated does a great job of explaining the concept, establishing the characters, and sinking them hip-deep in serious trouble so fast i wasn't able to put the book down once i started reading! each character has deep, dark secrets that lurk just beneath the surface, many things being only hinted at in this book. i can't wait to read more!
holla!
-ghettoManga.com
comics.hipHop.news.art.culture

It's Gettin' Dark...

would the country's most powerful woman settle for Veep?
the media has been trying to close the coffin on Hillary Clinton for weeks. Last night's results (in which we saw Obama win a landslide in North Carolina and Hillary win by the slightest of margins in Indiana) may have provided the first nail. Pundits on MSNBC and CNN have been singing Clinton's swan song at least since she failed to crush Obama in Texas.
they really only let up to go watch the clowns at the Rev Wright circus, but now they are back to reading the eulogy for Hillary's presidential hopes. now, they are on the Hillary for Vee Pee bandwagon.
many considered Hillary/Obama - the so-called "dream ticket"- to be the solution to the Democrat's recent presidential woes when Hillary was the presumed favorite, but after what has been a rough primary for the Clintons, the question of whether Hillary would even want to be vee pee at this point is a valid one. "It's something that this party is going to have to think very seriously about in the next few weeks," according to Harold Ford Jr, former congressman and chair of the Democratic Leadership Council. all this is of great concern for the democrats, who feared a lengthy primary could destroy the party if the battle became too nasty. getting the combatants to run together -in what one MSNBC pundit called a "Marriage of Convenience"- could repair the vast majority of the damage done in the primary, say those who favor the move.
we'll see...
-gM