If you haven’t signed up to win the first season of Get Smart at Jason Whiton’s Spy Vibe, I’m willing to certify you as crazy! What are you waiting for? You only have until Saturday! Details follow:
Two ways to enter:
ONE- visit SET COUNTDOWN #4 on the Spy Vibe Blog site and post your memory of Get Smart or Thunderball. Don’t need the Get Smart DVDs? Post your memories (we want to hear them!) and indicate that you don’t want to be included in the drawing.
TWO- Send your movie memory to me at jason@spyvibe.com.
The winner will be chosen from a random drawing on March 21st
Throughout the past month, my fellow COBRAS have been presenting their takes on costumed adventurers who crossover with the espionage genre. This week, I’m taking a look at some of my favorite super-hero spies, unveiling a character one at a time from the banner above. In case you missed an entry, so far we’ve seen:
…And to wrap up the first ever COBRAS themed month, we unveil our last superhero-spy, Nick Fury, AGENT OF SHIELD!
Fury was originally the star of his own World War II comic, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, drawn in the beginning by comic legend Jack Kirby (Dick Ayers later took over) and written by Stan Lee. The comic debuted in May of 1963, but in December of that year, an older, contemporary Nick Fury showed up in the pages of the Fantastic Four, working as a special agent for the CIA.
It wasn’t until August of 1965, however, in Strange Tales #135, that the superspy version of Nick Fury that we’ve come to know and love debuted. These stories too were initially by Lee and Kirby, but in issue 151, a new artist came on board — Jim Steranko. Steranko’s unique approach to the material, drawing on pop art, psychedelia, and film, created a new visual language for comics that, if it seems a bit tame today, is only because of the lasting influence Steranko has had on the medium.
Instead of attempting to fully cover the entire history of Nick Fury, I thought I’d visit the wonderful ComicArtFans.com, and share with you what I thought were the ten best Nick Fury pieces I saw from sketch collections there. Stay tuned to the end for details on the first ever Mister8.com contest!
Next, a series of tributes to Steranko’s style from some of the best artists working in comics today. First, Bruce Timm (who defined the style of the past twenty years of DC Comics animation), from the collection of Matt Zitron:
I didn’t include any other “head sketches” in this post, but I’m really drawn to the sharp linework by Lee Bermejo in this piece from the collection of Jake Bell:
Nick Fury by Lee Bermejo
Here’s an imagined team-up of Fury and Dynamo from the THUNDER Agents by artist Daryl Banks, from the collection of Michael Rankins:
Nick Fury and Dynamo by Daryl Banks
And last, but certainly not least, is a sexy, Bondesque look at Fury and Black Widow from artist Paul Gulacy, from the collection of Murray Roach:
Nick Fury and Black Widow by Paul Gulacy
One thing I noticed in my browsing is that, despite being a popular character, the “Ultimate” version of Nick Fury (an alternate reality Fury based on the appearance of Samuel L. Jackson) was underrepresented in the sketches I saw. To make up for this dearth of Jackson Fury, here’s the final scene in the film Iron Man that made comic fans stand up and cheer:
CONTEST!
In honor of this, our 75th post, we’re having a contest that will yield prizes for five lucky Mister8.com readers!
To enter, simply post a comment on this post, or send an email to mister8@mister8.com with your name, email address, and the answer to the question: Who is your favorite superhero-spy, and why? It doesn’t even have to be someone we discussed this week!
The top five responses as chosen by a team consisting of myself and other COBRAS members will receive a Marvel promotional item, a magnet bearing the new logo of SHIELD as seen on this comic cover:
SHIELD logo
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! The top three responses will receive a personalized Nick Fury sketch by yours truly. I may not be Steranko, but I promise quality work!
The contest will end at midnight, May 1, 2009, and winners will be announced a week later, on May 8, 2009!
One person not on the guest list yet, but who will surely crash the party even if he’s not, is that wonderful actor Peter Wyngarde. David, over at Permission to Kill, is in the midst of a Peter Wyngarde festival. He requested other COBRAS members to provide thoughts on Wyngarde, and I offered the following bit of artwork (which I need to recolor — I used a black and white photo for reference, and now need to make his scarf orange instead of blue!):
Peter Wyngarde as Number Two
David has amassed quite an appreciation of Wyngarde, and it’s currently ongoing, so check back for more. So far, he’s covered the following:
“Terse, sardonic, and knowing, Free Agent is a take-no-prisoners exploration of loyalty, duplicity and love. I dare anyone to put this book down after reading the first electrifying chapter.” —Eric Van Lustbader, author of The Ninja and The Bourne Sanction
“An authentic espionage novel with accurate tradecraft and intelligence operatives who act with intelligence. If you like vintage John le Carre, you’ll love Free Agent. Set in the Cold War, packed with history and tension, it’s a must-read for any true spy-novel fan.” —David Morrell, author of First Blood and The Brotherhood of the Rose
If you’ve just asked yourself, “Hey, First Blood like Rambo?” The answer is yes.
ITEM!
Tanner at the Double O Section has been a monster of DVD reviews lately! There are so many that I don’t know where to start — Mission Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, Return of the Man From UNCLE…just go visit the blog!
He’s also been giving information about the latest OSS-117 film. I saw the first of the parody films, and enjoyed it immensely. Much better than Austin Powers, and much more in line with something like No One Lives Forever. Tanner will be seeing the film at an LA screening soon, and we look forward to his review!
ITEM!
Bombard your local library with requests for Wes Britton’s latest book! Give them the information below:
The Encyclopedia of TV Spies
By Wesley Britton
Format: softcover
Pages: 520
ISBN: 1-59393-325-8
Price: $29.95
Publisher: Bear Manor Media
ITEM!
Don’t forget about our ongoing Nick Fury competition. We currently have only four entries and five prizes to give away!
ITEM!
Mister 8, the comic, will resume updates again soon!
We’re happy to announce the winners of our first contest here at Mister 8! These were our top five entries that answered the question (spinning out of Costumed Adventurers Week): “Who is your favorite superhero-spy, and why?”
In the end, I’ve decided that everyone will get the full range of prizes! Which means that the following five folks will soon have a package arriving at their doors containing:
A Nick Fury sketch by yours truly
A S.H.I.E.L.D. logo Marvel Comics promotional magnet
A poster from Jeff Parker’s Agents of Atlas
I’ll be working on the drawings over the next few weeks and will share them here when they’re finished! Thanks to all that entered, and if you didn’t win this time, stay tuned — we’ll have another contest soon!
1st Place: Jason Selinger
The first thing I’d ask in response to the question at hand is, what constitutes a superhero? If Batman is a superhero, then is not James Bond pretty much one as well? Whereas Batman has his utility belt and batarangs, 007 carries a variety of hidden gadgets created by Q-Branch. Whereas Batman wears a scary bat suit, Bond has his costumes as well: a tuxedo, or a scuba suit with a duck hat, depending on the situation.
If being a comic character is the defining feature, then what about Tara Chace (my favorite comic book spy)? She’s much more authentic than even the most recent Bond films that have been praised for their realism.
Hopefully, you’ll consider this more “food for thought” than “devil’s advocate.” If it matters, I also like Nick Fury, so I wouldn’t mind winning a sketch!
2nd Place: Ed Barker
The best superhero spies have to be The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, by far. They serve as a fine legacy to the career of Wally Wood, who I agree with you, is one of the most underrated artists of the silver age of comics. No other book successfully unites the two crazes of the era, spies (like The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) and superheroes (Batman, both in comics and on television) like T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. The death of Menthor remains one of the most interesting and lasting comic book deaths.
3rd Place: Derrick (no last name given)
My favorite superhero spy is Nick Fury, and it has much to do with the work that Steranko did on the book and in how he elevated the artform of comics. Steranko was a bridge between Kirby and the rest of the world of pop culture, and his run on Nick Fury still holds up well today, in my opinion.
4th Place: Stormer
Mine is Nick Fury, and always has been, ever since I was little. I had Marvel Universe cards and I showed my dad, and he told me, “Hey that’s Nick Fury,” and told me the history. Then I went to the comic book shop and found a bunch for 5 dollars and read then and found out that really, he may not have powers, but he linked to nearly all of the Marvel Universe and was an important character in the old comics. He even mentions Man from UNCLE and James Bond, and has a secret entrance in a barber shop, kind of like Man From UNCLE has Del Floria’s. And let’s not forget the Helicarrier, and his flying car, and needle gun — he is the ultimate spy in comics plus he’s huge in comics now. That’s why I like him.
5th Place: Ned Kelly
I don’t know if you would class him as a spy, but I am kind of fond of Flash Gordon. He’s an innocent bystander who gets drawn into a battle with a guy who wants to take over the world – like a spy villain.
Fellow COBRAS agent Jason Whiton at Spy Vibe is giving away bushels of prizes in honor of his birthday. Seems a bit backwards, but you get to benefit! All you have to do is leave a answer to questions in the following blog posts to win the prizes offered:
So…I drew this for our fourth place winner, James Stormer. I promised to scan all of the sketches here, but mailed off the prizes to our first through third place contestants last week without remembering to do so. In any case, here’s the sketch that, along with a few other prizes, will be in the mail to Mr. Stormer tomorrow afternoon:
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news? OK. Here goes.
I’m going to be suspending the Harry Palmer Files series for a while, because life is quite busy, and random posts on whatever I have on hand will be easier and less stress than a planned series.
The good news? The good news is we’ll be resuming the Harry Palmer series in December with A CONTEST!
The book we were due to cover next was Horse Under Water, the least-known of the “Palmer” novels due to the fact that it was never made into a film. We here at Mister 8, inspired by Robert Green and Carl Barber’s imaginary soundtrack for such a film (which we’ll be showcasing here), and Kevin Dart’s trailer for an imaginary Yuki 7 film, want to see what you readers could do with the material.
THE DETAILS:
So here’s the challenge: Give us a glimpse of what an adaptation of Horse Under Water might look like. Show us a movie poster, a scripted scene, a theme song, an animation, a trailer, a level from a video game, a comic, a selection from a radio play, etc. etc. We’re not too particular. Just get it to us by midnight EST on Dec. 12th by emailing your submission (or a link to your submission) to mister8 (at) mister8.com! Improve your odds with multiple entries!
This contest is open to anyone in the world, except for yours truly. I’ll be doing solo judging on this one, in case any COBRAS or friends of the site want to enter. I promise to be fair and impartial!
GRAND PRIZE:
Len Deighton Autograph
Above is a rarish sort of item, a Trivial Pursuit Baby Boomer Edition card with the question “Whose spy novels included An Expensive Place to Die and Billion Dollar Brain?” The answer, of course, is Len Deighton, whose autograph is scrawled on the back of the card (the tape is on the plastic card holder, not on the card itself). I recently purchased this from an autograph dealer who wrote: “This would have been forwarded through his publishing house back in the ’90’s and was returned from his residence in Ireland. He has since moved and since arriving in the United States has been to my knowledge next to impossible to obtain.”
OTHER PRIZES:
I’m still working on putting these together, but will likely be a mix of new and used copies of Len’s novels!
THE FINE PRINT:
By submitting an entry, you agree to allow us to display, discuss, and make available for download your material. Shipping will be on me.
We’re closing in on that contest due date of Dec. 12, and I wanted to remind you all to keep working on your entries. By way of inspiring you, here’s a peek at the current leader of the pack:
Horse Under Water poster
THE DETAILS:
Here’s the challenge: Give us a glimpse of what an adaptation of Horse Under Water might look like. Show us a movie poster, a scripted scene, a theme song, an animation, a trailer, a level from a video game, a comic, a selection from a radio play, etc. etc. We’re not too particular. Just get it to us by midnight EST on Dec. 12th by emailing your submission (or a link to your submission) to mister8 (at) mister8.com! Improve your odds with multiple entries!
This contest is open to anyone in the world, except for yours truly. I’ll be doing solo judging on this one, in case any COBRAS or friends of the site want to enter. I promise to be fair and impartial!
GRAND PRIZE:
Len Deighton Autograph
Above is a rarish sort of item, a Trivial Pursuit Baby Boomer Edition card with the question “Whose spy novels included An Expensive Place to Die and Billion Dollar Brain?” The answer, of course, is Len Deighton, whose autograph is scrawled on the back of the card (the tape is on the plastic card holder, not on the card itself). I recently purchased this from an autograph dealer who wrote: “This would have been forwarded through his publishing house back in the ’90’s and was returned from his residence in Ireland. He has since moved and since arriving in the United States has been to my knowledge next to impossible to obtain.”
OTHER PRIZES:
I’m still working on putting these together, but will likely be a mix of new and used copies of Len’s novels!
THE FINE PRINT:
By submitting an entry, you agree to allow us to display, discuss, and make available for download your material. Shipping will be on me.
MAKE is teaming up with the Penguin Group to present The Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest!
All of you adventure-seekers and gadget lovers out there are invited to join in. If you were Alex Rider, what gadget would you want in the upcoming adventure “Crocodile Tears”? Design your dream Alex Rider gadget, inspired by an everyday object (i.e. an iPod, toothpaste, a pen). The winning gadget will be built right here at the MAKE Labs. Send us a schematic of what your gadget is made from and how it works. (Your schematic can be a diagram, a drawing or an explanation by you). Remember that the winning gadget will be inspired by an everyday object that one could realistically build (as much as we wish we could create a pair of scissors that could fly us to the moon)! The contest begins on November 17, 2009 and will end at 11:59:59 p.m. PST on December 22, 2009
How to Enter
To enter in the Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, click on the “Enter Here” link below. The contest is open to entrants ages 8-18. If you are under 14 years old, you will need to provide your parent/guardian’s email address so they can provide consent for you to enter the contest. The entry form will ask for a description of your dream gadget, as well as a Flickr URL that links to a schematic (diagram, drawing, photo, etc). As well as filling out the form, we ask you to post any schematic images to the Alex Rider Flickr Group
A signed collection of hardcover Alex Rider novels
iPod nano with a personalized message from author Anthony Horowitz
A backpack full of goodies and gadgets from the Maker Shed
The opportunity to have the winner’s dream gadget produced in MAKE Labs and featured on Make: Online
Runner-Up Prize (two winners):
A signed hardcover copy of Crocodile Tears
An Alex Rider t-shirt
And if, like me, you’re too old to enter, you can still check out the entries at the Alex Rider Dream Gadget Flickr group. Looks like some great designs have already been posted….
On the left is the Man From UNCLE: Birds of Prey Affair, a two-parter published by Millennium Comics in 1993. The copies I have are signed by the second issue’s co-writer Terry Collins (with the signature dated 1994).
On the right is Queen & Country: Operation Red Panda, the last (until the forthcoming novel kicks off the franchise again) chapter in the life of SIS agent Tara Chace. This is signed by the artist on the book, the talented Chris Samnee (see our artist spotlight on Samnee).
HOW TO WIN:
Entering the contest is simple. Simply send an email to giveaway@mister8.com with the subject “MAY MADNESS GIVEAWAY” and the following information in the body:
Name
Mailing Address
Your prize preference (”MFU” or “Q&C” will suffice)
Something you’d like to see us discuss in a later post at Mister 8
…It’s as simple as that! The deadline for entries is one week following the contest, on Wednesday June 16, at 11:59:59 PM EST. Names will be entered into two numbered lists, according to prize preference, and winners will be chosen by a random number picker. Giveaway winners will be notified by email and have their names posted on the site, along with their future post idea (so by entering, you hereby give me the right to publish this information) on Friday, June 18. International entries are welcome!
Mister 8 is a blog about secret agents, spies, international crime-fighters and other characters and tropes of spy fiction, and an occasional comic featuring the titular Mister 8 and his work for DOS. This blog is published as often as the author can muster the energy to do so, and content ranges widely from talk of TV shows and movies, to scans of out-of-print comics, to tabs and chords from the great spy themes.
We welcome any feedback, either via the comments section of each post, or through our contact page!
Field Reports
* Unseen I Spy scripts leaked
Debbie Mazar, better known as “Tatia Loring” on the I Spy forum, recently got her hands on some unproduced scripts written by Ernie Frankel, and, while she can’t share the scripts themselves, is posting her copious notes for the rest of us to peruse! Up first: “The Day They Gave the Bride Away”.
* CBR spotlights Christopher Cool
Greg Hatcher at Comic Book Resources’ Comics Should Be Good blog takes a look at young adult novels today, including a lengthy look at Christopher Cool, a character created by James Bond comic strip writer James Lawrence.
* Saint book out soon
Wes Britton writes: Ian Dickerson’s long- awaited book on The Saint is coming, and you can pre-order an autographed copy with your name listed in it. Dr. Who books are also at: http://www.hirstbooks.com/television.html
If you haven’t signed up to win the first season of Get Smart at Jason Whiton’s Spy Vibe, I’m willing to certify you as crazy! What are you waiting for? You only have until Saturday! Details follow:
