Busy week over here. Knocked out multiple sketches and dug my heels deeply into an Ushers rewrite. Keep reminding myself that the original exists and I shouldn't be afraid to change things. That's my new mantra. Kinda clunky, but whatever.
I gotta cut down on my monthly selection of new comics. I will try to list all the books I'm reading.
Marvel Comics
(Ongoing)
New Avengers
Mighty Avengers
Avengers: The Initiative
Dark Avengers
X-Men: Legacy
Uncanny X-Men
Wolverine: Origins
Dark Wolverine
Wolverine: Weapon X
Thor
Hulk
Incredible Hulk
Captain America
Daredevil
Fantastic Four
Punisher: Max
Secret Warriors
Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Avengers
(limited)
Ultimate Comics Enemy
Siege
Siege Embedded
Fall of the Hulks
Marvelous Land of Oz
DC Comics
(Ongoing)
Action Comics
Adventure Comics
Superman
Superman: World of New Krypton
Supergirl
Batman & Robin
Justice League of America
Justice Society of America
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
The Flash
Doom Patrol
(Limited)
Darkest Night & spinoffs
Independents
Die Hard: Year One
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe Origins
I guarantee I'm missing something here. It's gotten to the point where I look forward to hearing that one of my books has been cancelled, because that means I don't have to buy it or feel guilty for not buying it.
I got issues. That should be the name of my blog. I Got Issues. Holy Shit. I think we got it.
Done, rebranded.
MotD: District 9
The minute I saw the trailer for this movie I was super excited to see it. Sure enough, I screwed up and missed it in the theater then had to sit here and listen for everyone to rave how good it was while I waited for Netflix to send it to me. Waitings over fools, this movie was cool. I love the concept and the ease with which they presented it. The nonchalance commonplace that the humans treated the Prawns was what sold it for me. No spoilers here, but recommended with the highest rating. Fantastic Sci Fi.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Back Scratching
South Side hijinx this weekend. Putting in quality home time watching the dog. Gives me time to catch up on reading!
I can't recommend enough the comic magazine Back Issue put out by TwoMorrows publishing. I've been reading this book since about issue 9 or so, it comes out bimonthly (That's every two months to you nimrods). It's on around #37 or so and while some issues are hit or miss, the overall concept is tops.
It's a Black and White pub devoted to comic books of the 1970's and 80's. That's my wheelhouse right there. Funny because I didn't really start getting into comics until 87 or so, but immediately, my collection looked backwards to the past. In fact, that's the best part about collecting comics, the history.
Each book builds on the other, whether you like it or not. The fans demand that this is so. You can get an entirely new creative staff on a book, taking it in a totally new direction, and your fans will absolutely hold you to a throw away line, 3 issues before the writer came onboard, where Nightcrawler said he hated anchovies. In your book you have him eating anchovies. BUSTED. You fucked up. And the awesome thing is, the reader is right. It certainly isn't important in the story, but they're right. Any time a creator dismisses continuity, they immediately sound sour grapes, because they didn't do the homework, or didn't have the talent to use the past continuity to work their story around.
This is really, in my opinion, the strength of the 70's and 80's creators. These were the first generation of fans graduating to creators and they respected the shit out of continuity. They made a point of not contradicting things, and if they did, they included an explanation in it somewhere in the script. I admire that. That feels like they're respecting the medium and the readers.
So, this veered off into a discussion why that era is awesome. I'll talk more about Back Issue tomorrow, but read it, it's a great mag!
MotD: Ace In The Hole
Kirk Douglas is a pimp! I had heard about this movie when the Criterion disc came out last year and it didn't disappoint. He plays a newspaper reporter, looking for a big story. When he comes across a man trapped in a cave in, he seizes upon the opportunity to milk it for all it's worth. A true visionary film into what the media would become 50 years after the film. The circus that develops just ruins him, after elevating him first and deluding him into thinking he's getting exactly what he wants. I recommend this movie very strongly. It's really, really a good film.
I can't recommend enough the comic magazine Back Issue put out by TwoMorrows publishing. I've been reading this book since about issue 9 or so, it comes out bimonthly (That's every two months to you nimrods). It's on around #37 or so and while some issues are hit or miss, the overall concept is tops.
It's a Black and White pub devoted to comic books of the 1970's and 80's. That's my wheelhouse right there. Funny because I didn't really start getting into comics until 87 or so, but immediately, my collection looked backwards to the past. In fact, that's the best part about collecting comics, the history.
Each book builds on the other, whether you like it or not. The fans demand that this is so. You can get an entirely new creative staff on a book, taking it in a totally new direction, and your fans will absolutely hold you to a throw away line, 3 issues before the writer came onboard, where Nightcrawler said he hated anchovies. In your book you have him eating anchovies. BUSTED. You fucked up. And the awesome thing is, the reader is right. It certainly isn't important in the story, but they're right. Any time a creator dismisses continuity, they immediately sound sour grapes, because they didn't do the homework, or didn't have the talent to use the past continuity to work their story around.
This is really, in my opinion, the strength of the 70's and 80's creators. These were the first generation of fans graduating to creators and they respected the shit out of continuity. They made a point of not contradicting things, and if they did, they included an explanation in it somewhere in the script. I admire that. That feels like they're respecting the medium and the readers.
So, this veered off into a discussion why that era is awesome. I'll talk more about Back Issue tomorrow, but read it, it's a great mag!
MotD: Ace In The Hole
Kirk Douglas is a pimp! I had heard about this movie when the Criterion disc came out last year and it didn't disappoint. He plays a newspaper reporter, looking for a big story. When he comes across a man trapped in a cave in, he seizes upon the opportunity to milk it for all it's worth. A true visionary film into what the media would become 50 years after the film. The circus that develops just ruins him, after elevating him first and deluding him into thinking he's getting exactly what he wants. I recommend this movie very strongly. It's really, really a good film.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Does whatever another director can
Been busy this week with a quick trip to Beantown and some late night debauchery with my 2nd City friends. Good stuff!
So, this week Sony announced that they are rebooting the Spider-Man movie franchise. New director, actors, everything. The early lead is they're putting Peter back in high school.
If there is any franchise that doesn't need a reboot, it's this one. Sure, SM3 had some issues, but if all the major players were willing to come back, how can you not let them? Spidey is a concept in rarified air. Like Batman, it can survive some shitty incarnations. Bat-nipples and dayglo camp couldn't kill Batman and a change of direction won't kill Spider-Man. But why?
Time is so short, there is such a limited window to get stuff like this done, why not go for it if the stars want to? Did Sean Connery quit Bond or did they force him out? I don't feel like doing research on that right now, but if they forced him out, fools, the lot of them!
So, I've been reading early 80's Spidey this week and just enjoyed the shit out of them. Peter is just a perfect character. His standard cookie cutter tale is just so enjoyable. Pete gets in money trouble, someone near him flirts with being a villian, Aunt May has some guilt over Pete, Pete thinks about giving up, he remembers Uncle Ben's lesson and kicks someone's ass, add in some wisecracks and you're set.
That's not a dis either, that's sincerely a complement. Just that scenario alone would be enough to keep any reader entertained. It's a lot like Batman, where a whacky criminal commits a crime, Gordon gets involved, Batman stops a small robbery that leads to a bigger crime, you get the drift.
Not many characters have that archetype built into them. Honestly, not even Superman. Captain America doesn't, nor Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc. I think that's what makes them bulletproof, their stories write themselves, regardless of the authors.
MotD:The Jacket
I remember seeing the trailer for this and being interested in seeing it. I was wrong. Wasn't the first time, just the most recent. ugh.
So, this week Sony announced that they are rebooting the Spider-Man movie franchise. New director, actors, everything. The early lead is they're putting Peter back in high school.
If there is any franchise that doesn't need a reboot, it's this one. Sure, SM3 had some issues, but if all the major players were willing to come back, how can you not let them? Spidey is a concept in rarified air. Like Batman, it can survive some shitty incarnations. Bat-nipples and dayglo camp couldn't kill Batman and a change of direction won't kill Spider-Man. But why?
Time is so short, there is such a limited window to get stuff like this done, why not go for it if the stars want to? Did Sean Connery quit Bond or did they force him out? I don't feel like doing research on that right now, but if they forced him out, fools, the lot of them!
So, I've been reading early 80's Spidey this week and just enjoyed the shit out of them. Peter is just a perfect character. His standard cookie cutter tale is just so enjoyable. Pete gets in money trouble, someone near him flirts with being a villian, Aunt May has some guilt over Pete, Pete thinks about giving up, he remembers Uncle Ben's lesson and kicks someone's ass, add in some wisecracks and you're set.
That's not a dis either, that's sincerely a complement. Just that scenario alone would be enough to keep any reader entertained. It's a lot like Batman, where a whacky criminal commits a crime, Gordon gets involved, Batman stops a small robbery that leads to a bigger crime, you get the drift.
Not many characters have that archetype built into them. Honestly, not even Superman. Captain America doesn't, nor Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc. I think that's what makes them bulletproof, their stories write themselves, regardless of the authors.
MotD:The Jacket
I remember seeing the trailer for this and being interested in seeing it. I was wrong. Wasn't the first time, just the most recent. ugh.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Where the hell was Gargamel and Azrael?
Just returned from Avatar, see MotD below. Crazy good, engrossing, very Cameron-ey. I just don't want to bury the lead. Go see Avatar.
I was gonna comment of the one off issues of Marvel's War of the Kings I read this afternoon, but happened to be at Barnes & Noble and read through the first collection of Boom! Studios' Irredeemable. Dammit. They won me over.
It was a quick read, so for that, I'm not sure if I'm gonna make this a pull list or pick up trades. Most comics these days are pretty quick reads. Decompression will do that. Topic for another post. This collected the first 5 issues of the comic, I put it away in about 20 minutes.
Nothing groundbreaking, but a solid look at the hero archetypes and inversions on the theme. By now, we've seen this before, going back to Squadron Supreme, through Authority and Astro City. We're about to get Mark Millar's Nemesis introduced to the genre as well. All the stereotypes are there. A Batman kinda guy, a Tony Stark kinda guy, etc. The premise is what if Superman turned bad. For real. No mind control, at least no hints at this point, no torn emotions, simply bad.
And it's good. What I liked so much about it was Mark Waid, who I'm a MAJOR fan of, really gave him personal, psychological reasons for turning bad. Waid is playing his cards close to the vest, at least as far as I've read here, but the clues he's given for the transformation are great. He puts you, the reader, into the shoes of Superman and makes you ask "What would I do?"
Plutonian, the Superman analogue, saves a stadium full of people. With his super hearing he hears every comment, including one dude, just one, saying (paraphrasing) "That guys a showoff asshole". Think about your own experiences, when you've done something pretty good or accomplished, you hand it in to your boss, and because he can't be fully appreciative because recognizing your ability somehow diminishes him, he makes a point to nitpick one thing wrong with it. As I typed this, I flashed to a performance review I had once, where my boss was a complete fucktard and ignored the hard work I did, to focus on some bullshit that had he mentioned to me throughout the year, I could have addressed.
See? And that's just a stupid, pointless performance review for a job I don't even have any longer. Imagine if you're Superman and apply whatever insecurity character trait that is to your super life.
You see my point.
There's more examples, each issue Waid shows another way to demonstrate this principle of human flaws within an inhuman body. Good stuff. Recommended!
MotD: Avatar
I'm one of those guys that was turned off by the hype on this, which was telling me that my life was going to change because of this movie. See, I have a rule that anyone who says their favorite movie is something, ANYTHING, that was released in the last 5 years, maybe even 10 years, is a complete film idiot. I totally ignore their opinions from that statement on. If that makes me a film snob then fine, but a good story needs to breathe, it needs to ruminate in your mind and expand in the social conciousness. This doesn't just apply to movies. There's a reason so many artists, painters, writers, etc. are unappreciated "in their time". It's because the really good ones must stand the test of time. You may love a new movie, you can put it in your top ten of a genre for the impact of it, but when you get to that hallowed discussion of "WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME?", these things need to breathe.
Having said that, Avatar is the greatest movie of all time and it fucked my eye sockets with a big blue cock.
Seriously, it looked beautiful, the story was solid, the 3D was amazing, and performances right on. Go see this, don't be a hater like I was. Get off your couch and spend 3 hours with your ass in a theater chair.
I was gonna comment of the one off issues of Marvel's War of the Kings I read this afternoon, but happened to be at Barnes & Noble and read through the first collection of Boom! Studios' Irredeemable. Dammit. They won me over.
It was a quick read, so for that, I'm not sure if I'm gonna make this a pull list or pick up trades. Most comics these days are pretty quick reads. Decompression will do that. Topic for another post. This collected the first 5 issues of the comic, I put it away in about 20 minutes.
Nothing groundbreaking, but a solid look at the hero archetypes and inversions on the theme. By now, we've seen this before, going back to Squadron Supreme, through Authority and Astro City. We're about to get Mark Millar's Nemesis introduced to the genre as well. All the stereotypes are there. A Batman kinda guy, a Tony Stark kinda guy, etc. The premise is what if Superman turned bad. For real. No mind control, at least no hints at this point, no torn emotions, simply bad.
And it's good. What I liked so much about it was Mark Waid, who I'm a MAJOR fan of, really gave him personal, psychological reasons for turning bad. Waid is playing his cards close to the vest, at least as far as I've read here, but the clues he's given for the transformation are great. He puts you, the reader, into the shoes of Superman and makes you ask "What would I do?"
Plutonian, the Superman analogue, saves a stadium full of people. With his super hearing he hears every comment, including one dude, just one, saying (paraphrasing) "That guys a showoff asshole". Think about your own experiences, when you've done something pretty good or accomplished, you hand it in to your boss, and because he can't be fully appreciative because recognizing your ability somehow diminishes him, he makes a point to nitpick one thing wrong with it. As I typed this, I flashed to a performance review I had once, where my boss was a complete fucktard and ignored the hard work I did, to focus on some bullshit that had he mentioned to me throughout the year, I could have addressed.
See? And that's just a stupid, pointless performance review for a job I don't even have any longer. Imagine if you're Superman and apply whatever insecurity character trait that is to your super life.
You see my point.
There's more examples, each issue Waid shows another way to demonstrate this principle of human flaws within an inhuman body. Good stuff. Recommended!
MotD: Avatar
I'm one of those guys that was turned off by the hype on this, which was telling me that my life was going to change because of this movie. See, I have a rule that anyone who says their favorite movie is something, ANYTHING, that was released in the last 5 years, maybe even 10 years, is a complete film idiot. I totally ignore their opinions from that statement on. If that makes me a film snob then fine, but a good story needs to breathe, it needs to ruminate in your mind and expand in the social conciousness. This doesn't just apply to movies. There's a reason so many artists, painters, writers, etc. are unappreciated "in their time". It's because the really good ones must stand the test of time. You may love a new movie, you can put it in your top ten of a genre for the impact of it, but when you get to that hallowed discussion of "WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE OF ALL TIME?", these things need to breathe.
Having said that, Avatar is the greatest movie of all time and it fucked my eye sockets with a big blue cock.
Seriously, it looked beautiful, the story was solid, the 3D was amazing, and performances right on. Go see this, don't be a hater like I was. Get off your couch and spend 3 hours with your ass in a theater chair.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Busting the 2010 cherry
Man, first blog of the year and it's already the 9th. December ended up being a battery recharge month for me, which is cool and often necessary. I still haven't found the time/energy/wherewithal to "redesign" the blog for a comic centric purpose, so I'll do what I did in the first place. I'm just going to start talking comics and I'm sure the rest will catch up.
I'll try to keep up a daily schedule on this, but we'll see. If I don't, I won't beat myself up, if I do, you don't beat me up for boring you, ok?
Just read the last two issues of the most recent New Warriors series. This was the series after the Civil War Stamford incident and the reality show version. It lasted 20 or so issues (they're not in front of me so I forget specifics). Apparently, it was made up of all depowered mutants. It hit a couple hot buttons for me, in no particular order....
1. Depowered mutants: I liked M-Day, I like to see the aftermath of that. For noobs out there, basically all but 200 of Marvels mutants (X-Men) had their powers taken from them, and they ain't coming back. So, I was 1/2 way into the last issue before I realized one of the characters I was reading about was Jubilee, former X-Man. I looked back and realized also included was Jono, formerly Chamber, now Apocalypsed up and looking pretty stupid.
My issue here is the old mantra, every comic is someone's first comic. Now, I know, this LITERALLY was the last issue of the series, so I'll forgive them to a point, but in an age where we do have a recap page, can't we do a better job of identifying characters?
2. Time Travel - Man, I loves me some times travels stories. LOVES EM. Alternate worlds, all that shit. I liked the way they did this, using the Sphinx Ka Stone, which is a throwback to the very first NW series. I missed the first couple chapters of it, so story wise I had to come up to speed, but it was easy to follow.
The thing is they all have that hollow, What If? problem. Any change inevitably leads to the worst possible future ever. EVERY one. Someone dies today? They never end up being the Hitler of tomorrow, nope. They're the Gahndi of tomorrow and with his abscence, we're all fucked. I'm sure there are TT stories where the future is better off and the heroes have to go back and have to reverse something they did, because it is against their ethics, leading to a shitty future. I just can't think of one offhand. I'd like to see that.
3. Final Issues - I LOVE FINAL ISSUES. I have an odd, sadist streak in me that for a long time, when I wasn't super completist and only had a few issues of various books, I immediately grabbed the final issue of the comic. I remember I had the last issue of Dazzler, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Nova, and the list goes on. There's something appealing to me about seeing the end of the story. It's like a huge spoiler, and this was pre-internet mind you. I just wanted to know how it ended.
Anyone have their favorite final issues?
MotD: 15 Minutes
I don't know how I missed this movie. I knew it existed, but hadn't heard great things about it. I know why too. It's 2 hours long, and should have been 1 1/2. The climax was the DeNiro story (I won't spoil it here) and then it runs on for about 25 minutes or so which just feels like it's dragging out a not subtle point. I can't imagine how the director/producers didn't realize this. I'm sure they did, perhaps they wanted to give Ed Burns more of a focus, as he was a big up and comer at the time. And he's good in this, I liked it a lot actually, but that last 30 minutes just KILLS the rest of it. KILLS it entirely. Lots of names in the movie, they're all good, but damn, missed opportunity.
I'll try to keep up a daily schedule on this, but we'll see. If I don't, I won't beat myself up, if I do, you don't beat me up for boring you, ok?
Just read the last two issues of the most recent New Warriors series. This was the series after the Civil War Stamford incident and the reality show version. It lasted 20 or so issues (they're not in front of me so I forget specifics). Apparently, it was made up of all depowered mutants. It hit a couple hot buttons for me, in no particular order....
1. Depowered mutants: I liked M-Day, I like to see the aftermath of that. For noobs out there, basically all but 200 of Marvels mutants (X-Men) had their powers taken from them, and they ain't coming back. So, I was 1/2 way into the last issue before I realized one of the characters I was reading about was Jubilee, former X-Man. I looked back and realized also included was Jono, formerly Chamber, now Apocalypsed up and looking pretty stupid.
My issue here is the old mantra, every comic is someone's first comic. Now, I know, this LITERALLY was the last issue of the series, so I'll forgive them to a point, but in an age where we do have a recap page, can't we do a better job of identifying characters?
2. Time Travel - Man, I loves me some times travels stories. LOVES EM. Alternate worlds, all that shit. I liked the way they did this, using the Sphinx Ka Stone, which is a throwback to the very first NW series. I missed the first couple chapters of it, so story wise I had to come up to speed, but it was easy to follow.
The thing is they all have that hollow, What If? problem. Any change inevitably leads to the worst possible future ever. EVERY one. Someone dies today? They never end up being the Hitler of tomorrow, nope. They're the Gahndi of tomorrow and with his abscence, we're all fucked. I'm sure there are TT stories where the future is better off and the heroes have to go back and have to reverse something they did, because it is against their ethics, leading to a shitty future. I just can't think of one offhand. I'd like to see that.
3. Final Issues - I LOVE FINAL ISSUES. I have an odd, sadist streak in me that for a long time, when I wasn't super completist and only had a few issues of various books, I immediately grabbed the final issue of the comic. I remember I had the last issue of Dazzler, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Nova, and the list goes on. There's something appealing to me about seeing the end of the story. It's like a huge spoiler, and this was pre-internet mind you. I just wanted to know how it ended.
Anyone have their favorite final issues?
MotD: 15 Minutes
I don't know how I missed this movie. I knew it existed, but hadn't heard great things about it. I know why too. It's 2 hours long, and should have been 1 1/2. The climax was the DeNiro story (I won't spoil it here) and then it runs on for about 25 minutes or so which just feels like it's dragging out a not subtle point. I can't imagine how the director/producers didn't realize this. I'm sure they did, perhaps they wanted to give Ed Burns more of a focus, as he was a big up and comer at the time. And he's good in this, I liked it a lot actually, but that last 30 minutes just KILLS the rest of it. KILLS it entirely. Lots of names in the movie, they're all good, but damn, missed opportunity.
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