Eminem and The Punisher: A Digital Comic Book

wan-tan-soup14

wan-tan-soup14

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/her...nem-and-punisher-comic-book-from-marvel-.html

from the link above:

10:27 AM PT, May 1 2009

Slim Shady -- yes, the real Slim Shady -- is now riding shotgun with Frank Castle.
Above you see the cover for a digital comic book that teams up mercurial rap superstar Eminem with the heavily armed hard-case from the Marvel Universe, the Punisher. The issue was written by Fred Van Lente and drawn by the sublime Spanish artist Salvador Larocca, and the process came with a lot of guidance from Eminem and his manager, Paul Rosenberg, both of whom had intense interest in the project.
The gun-toting partnership started with an XXL magazine photo shoot where the editors suggested that Eminem be presented as a character in the Marvel Universe, which is so red-hot in Hollywood. Mr. Mathers, being an intense comics fan and collector, liked the idea a lot, as did Marvel. The comics company expected Eminem would take the predictable route and ask for claws.
"We thought he might want to do something as Wolverine since the movie is coming out right now, or maybe Spider-Man or one of the classic big names, and we were pleasantly surprised when he said he wanted to do a story with the Punisher," said Michael Pasciullo, vice president of merchandising and communications at Marvel Entertainment. "He's a true fan, and it showed throughout the process."
The first part of the team-up story "Kill You" appears in the June issue of XXL, which is available with two different covers and hits the street on May 5. That same day, part two of the story will be posted as a digital comic book at www.marvel.com/eminem. No word yet on if there are plans for a print edition of the collected story, which is set in Em's hometown of Detroit.
Back from a three-year hiatus, Eminem has a new album, "Relapse," which hits stores on May 19. This is not the first time he's revealed himself as a fan of comics -- he memorably dressed up as Robin the Boy Wonder for his music video "Without Me," although he couldn't coax mentor Dr. Dre to don the cape of Batman.
The 36-year-old rapper asked that either John Romita Sr. (who had a hand in designing the character way back in 1974) or the stylish Larocca handle the penciling for the issue, which "really showed how much he knows and cares about Marvel and its history," Pasciullo said.
"He also requested that the villain be Barracuda, and that's when we knew we were dealing with a real fan," Pascuillo said. "How many people know Barracuda? I think this was really fun for him, and I know it was fun for us."
-- Geoff Boucher



Is this a marketing tool? Is this gonna sell albums? If so, this would have to be the nerdiest strategy yet.
 
lol at calling it the nerdiest strategy yet hahahah...

But seriously. I would read that comic...
 
This is cool, nothing new (Lost Boyz, Busta Rhymes, Wu-Tang and others have already done this) but none the less a good idea. You definitely know he knows what he's up to when asking for Barracuda. Its things like this that keeps Hip-Hop interesting by stepping outside of the norm or doing something that hasn't already been beaten to death. The bridge between Hip-Hop and the world of comic books hasn't been touched on too often and most attempts (not all) that had a lot of potential either disappear or suffer bad marketing or aren't pushed properly (The 9 rings of Wu-Tang) or leave a bad taste after reading (Marvels MAX imprints Cage mini-series). The only book that I've read that had any Hip-Hop connection at all that was done really well was Christopher Priests run on The Black Panther. Boondocks, Static Shock and BlokHedz will hopefully show (have shown) that theres a market that, while not untapped, can still be developed and repped properly.

Now if they can get a Spider-Man and Kanye cross over that would be something (see who catches that one)
 
Dude I'm seriously impressed with the way Interscope is rolling this new Eminem album out. So far, everything has gone smooth. I'm especially loving the way the Eminem brand has embraced the Internet culture.
 
What y'all think of War Zone? I thought it was kinda dope.. When he punched a hole in dudes face, yeaaa bwoooi.
 
Ay, who here remembers the @Large manga? I thought it was sick, I just wish it didn't last 3 volumes... Oh well, there's still Blokhedz. I've yet to read they're volumes, but from the previews and movie trailers, it's awesome.

-Nolij
 
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