Underpants on the Outside

New Avengers #54

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:20:00 +0000

I read New Avengers #54 this past weekend, which is the culmination of a few plot lines, all in one issue. It was fun to see things start to get wrapped up as other stories are being spun out. Leaving things dangling is a real pet peeve of mine, so it's fun to see the writer (Brian Michael Bendis) actually wrap up a few things here.

The search for the next Sorcerer Supreme is concluded, and Jericho Drumm, aka Brother Voodoo (and his ghostly brother) has been chosen and accepted.

The deal between The Hood and the Dread Dormammu has also been played out, as the New Avengers alongside Brother Voodoo and Damien Hellstrom fought off The Hood, then Dormammu in the middle of New Orleans.

The fight was pretty cool, but I really am missing both Lenil Yu and Jimmy Chung on this book, as the art has gotten darker and more static since their departure.

So now the story of Brother Voodoo, sorcerer supreme begins. The war of words in the media between Ronin and Norman Osborn continues, and the fight between the New and Dark Avengers builds up a little more.

The team continues to lack a certain chemistry for me, though. It's not about the moments of levity or down time, but rather in the way they fight. I think they need to get a little more organized, and start using tactics a little more interesting than "dog pile the bad guy!" They need their own "Fastball Special", as it were. I mean, guys like Spider-Man and Luke Cage might not have tons of team work behind them, but Wolverine and Ms. Marvel should. Same for Ronin and Mockingbird.

Despite that small gripe, this series continues to be a must read for me, and is what I consider the flagship title for the Marvel Universe.

Draw! Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Draw! Magazine has a new blog here on Blogger.

I've always liked Draw!, and I hope that the content on this blog is just as good as the mag. The last issue had features on Bryan Lee O'Malley and Guy Davis, of Scott Pilgrim and BPRD fame, respectively. Cool sketches, behind the scenes stuff that's really fun to read and reread.

Just can't get going

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:35:00 +0000

It's been rough trying to keep going 'round these parts. Sorry for the delays.

Just a quick review today.

Tank Girl: One has been a very interesting read, starting right at the beginning of her creation. Hewlett was a very gifted artist almost right off the bat here, and it's easy to see that the strength of the character comes from his amazing line work. It's inspiring, and it made me want to draw (and ape his style for a few sketches).

The writing is less than stellar, very indie, and adolescent.

The book itself does do a few things that make me all weak in the knees. Mat-finish on the cover is my favorite thing ever for a graphic novel. It feels better to hold than a glossy cover. The art is remastered and very crisp, and the print quality is top notch.

The storytelling is short, sporadic, and crude. The art is sharp, crisp, and stylish. The features in the book are decent, with a good amount of coverage on the back story behind Tank Girl. You can see why she caught on in this volume; she's cool, tough, dressed funky, hot as hell.

Thanks go out to Hewlett for inspiring a generation of girls to dress like his heroine. I know I'm in his debt.

Quick hits

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:36:00 +0000

I read "New Mutants #2" and "Wolverine: Revolver" last night.

NM#2 was a bit of a let down, not enough action, too much decompressed storytelling. This was not the new mutants book I loved as a youth. Time to pick up the pace.

Victor Girschler, who is a good pulp fiction writer, penned this Wolverine one-shot. It was cool, I guess, but sort of generic. Probably would have fit better in the old "X-Men Unlimited" book. It was sort of the opposite of New Mutants this week, all flash, no meat.

Kick-Ass #6

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:44:00 +0000

I just read "Kick-Ass" #6 last night.

I like Kick-Ass. I like Mark Millar and I have always like John Romita jr. I'm just not sure how much I liked this particular issue.

JRjr draws mobsters like no one else. Eversince his work on "Punnisher: War Zone", I have thought that gritty, street level heroes were his forte. He's okay on X-Men and Spidey, but Romita does suits and blood like no one else in the business.

I thought the inking by Tom Palmer was a little overly loose on this issue. I think Romita needs tighter inks in order to prevent the art from looking sloppy.

I like this series, but I'm seeing more and more decompression in the writing and the art, and I think that they could pack a little more into each book to help pick up the pace. the first couple of issues kept the tempo high, but it's been slacking up lately. Millar has written high-action, yet dense comics before (see the first six issues of The Ultimates), so I don't know what he's trying to do here. I would guess that he's having a tough time filling 22 pages of script, and it feels like he's cheating here, and pulling 17 pages and drawing them out.

In any case, I like the origin of Big Daddy, but I think it could have been better. I think that they could have gone further back in time to see an even younger Hit Girl, and really take the time to flush out their story and characters.

I like the comic, I like the creators and I like the characters, I just think that this latest issue is the weakest one thus far, and it was especially disappointing considering how late the book was. I hope that Millar is able to pick up the pace a little next issue, and that the inks get a little tighter to make the book feel more crisp and sharp.

I also find it very amusing that the movie has already started casting, considering the origin and nature of the characters is only now being looked at in the comic. Millar must be a hell of a salesman.

New Mutants #1

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:16:00 +0000

My favorite comic growing up was X-Men. A close second to that was The New Mutants. To this day, my favorite comic character is Cannonball, and just his presence on a comic cover makes me want to pick it up.

As such, the relaunch of New Mutants, starring all my old favorite characters, was pretty much a lock on my pull list.

I read the first issue yesterday over my lunch hour, and I will say, straight away, that I enjoyed it. This book looks to take the place that Jim Shooter's departure on Legion of Super-Heroes left in my pull list, and has a similar feel to it.

Illyana, 'Berto, Xian, Amara and Sam all make the team, and set up the book against an old X-Foe in Legion, and I'm excited to see where it goes from here. I also like the present, but not overly heavy-handed placement of this book firmly grounded in the current continuity of the X-Books.

The art was nice, but not great. I'm hoping they can get Bret Blevins, even if only for an alternate cover. The story was okay, too, if not fantastic. But the nostalgia was fantastic.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:11:00 +0000

I went to see it last night.

I wish I had something awesome and insightful to offer that wasn't completely covered by the rest of the blogosphere already. The first 5 minutes of the movie really are the best five minutes of the movie, and the rest of the film really just lets you down from the high expectations it set.

The rest of the movie was a convoluted mess. It at times adhered to the continuity of the X-Trilogy, and other times it just chucked it out the window. It had a cool cast, but it watered everyone down so much, that no one got enough screen time to really be cool. This movie needed 4 characters to work: Wolverine, Stryker, Sabretooth and Silverfox. That's it. If this movie was recut, and done to really flush out the characters, then the drama of the action would have been fantastic.

Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson was cool, but "Deadpool" was 9 kinds of lame. Have him in one or two scenes, let him mouth off a little, and then leave the rest alone. He ended up being to this movie what Angel was to X3, just in the way of the real story.

Same goes for Gambit and Blob, who were both there for no good story telling reason. They just ate up screen time that should have been reserved for exposition.

Wolverine says, in the movie, he was the best there is at what he does, but at no point in the film before he says that is there any reason to believe it. He mostly has just moped around and got in his team's way. It would have been nice to see him actually do something that would make Stryker's gamble with the adamantium make sense.

All in all, it had a few bright spots, but I think Wolverine was an exercise in wasted potential, choosing to try and fill the movie with as much "cool stuff" as possible rather than trying to tell a simple story of love lost and revenge.

As far as hero movies go, this one ranks around Blade III, Spider-Man III, and Elektra.

FanFictabulous

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:01:00 +0000

Seriously.

That 70's Show/Galactus FanFic.

My life no longer has meaning.

Who watches what?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:34:00 +0000

I totally missed the Watchmen wave, but I did go see it opening night. Everyone else has said everything there is to be said about it, but I will still add that it amused me to no end that it was rated 13+ here in Quebec.

Keith went to see it at Cavendish Mall (read: Old Jewish people-mall) and said by the time you saw Doc Manhattan in all his...splendor, half the audience had walked out. Glorious.

Mished-Mash

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Just a couple of quick hits this time around.

IDW has relaunched a ton of G.I.Joe books this year, and the first issues were all pretty good. I 've always been a Joe fan, and I quite liked the Devil's Due stuff from 7-8 years ago, but it got a little tangled up there at the end. It was really time for a fresh start.

The three books are all different, and so far the "Cobra" book, staring Chuckles has been the best of the bunch, but they're all good reading and worth checking out.

I also picked up the Oni Press' "True Tales of Roller Derby: Doppelganger at the Hangar", which was wacky fun, but as an announcer for the 'Derby, I'm a little biased to all things involving Roller Skates. Plenty of derby goodness in this book, as it even takes up much of the ad space in the book. Good times.

Why I stopped reading Spider-Man

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:24:00 +0000

Without getting into "One More Day", which is a fun debate, but one I can have elsewhere, I know very clearly why I dropped Amazing Spider-Man.

The promise of impact.

I feel like Amazing Spider-Man has removed the promise to me, the reader, that the events that happen in the book will be important to the character, and through him, important to me.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me in reading comic books either. The death and rebirth of Jean Grey is probably the best example, though there are others. When the reality of "drama" is removed from a comic book, often shown through the death of a character, but not always, then I am no longer as invested in the story telling.

I understand that some people will say that they are able to just digest the new material for what it is, as fun entertainment, and that's great for them, but I don't feel the same way.

Take for example, a television series. Let's use "ER" for this example, as I think it's got a pretty good track record for maintaining it's continuity. If, this season, they had said "Doctor Greene didn't die of cancer, that was his twin brother!" then the reality of the "drama" would be challenged, and it would feel to me that the emotional investment I had made in the events surrounding the death of the character were cheated out of me, and I would feel bad about being a consumer of the television show.

So, as a reader of Spider-Man, or any comic book, for that matter, I feel that there is an unspoken deal between myself and the publisher that I will give them not only my dollars, but an emotional investment in their characters, and in return, I expect fine art and writing, and some care not to disregard the feelings that they've evoked from me previously.

That's not always the case, but I'd like to think it is.

And that is why I stopped buying Amazing Spider-Man.

Spider-Man, in challenging the reality and promised impact of the events that occur within it's pages, broke that unwritten contract with me. It suddenly said "Hey Scott, I know we told you earlier that this was important, but *sike!* it wasn't! We don't think that story we told you before was good enough, so it doesn't matter how much emotion you put into it, we're undoing it all. Hope you give us your money next month." I won't. I dropped the book, and I don't feel bad about it at all.

2009 - The Rise of Cobra

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 19:06:00 +0000

I was in Keith's car this past weekend and I decided that my life actually took a turn for the worse when I was a young teenager and gave up on my original life's goal of becoming a Dreadnok. I believe that had I continued my quest to join a fictional gang of swamp-dwelling, uneducated mercenaries that have a penchant for combining power tools with laser rifles, that I would be happier today. Keith and I agreed that it's not too late for me yet, and that the first steps in pursuit of this dream are to me the dreadlocking of my hair, and the choice to speak like Vinnie Jones 24-7.

Sadly, neither has happened in the week since. I'm sorry Zartan, I've failed you again.

In other G.I.Joe news, there is a new comic out, and I haven't had a chace to read it yet. I need to get my butt to ye olde comic shoppe. Also, the movie is due outin a few months. 2009 is truly the year of the Rise of Cobra.

"A gem of that size answers all my questions." - Zartan, G.I. Joe, the Movie

Top 10 Comic book battles

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:51:00 +0000

CSBG has a new top 25 up here. This is my submission.

10) Everyone vs Everyone else, including Captain Marvel vs Superman (Kingdom Come)
This fight is on my list because of the scale. It was epic. Love Ross or hate him, Kingdom Come became a classic because of this last battle outside the Gulag, with everything on the line. The panel of Superman there alone amongst the bodies of the fallen is iconic.

9) Batman and Green Arrow vs. Superman (DKR)
It doesn't ever get better. Many times before, many times after, Batman and Superman have fought, but it never stacks up to this one here. Messy, dirty, and decisive.

8) the Justice League vs Doomsday (The Death of Superman)
It's sort of a joke nowadays, but I still quite like this arc. Doomsday wades through the JLA, one of the weakest JLA incarnations. Beetle, Booster and Ice get really hurt, and Guy Gardner, Bloodwynd and Fire don't do to well either. Superman steps up to save the day. Doomsday would never again look as imposing, and Supes would be alive again by the end of the year, but the fight was really cool.

7) The X-Men vs the Hellfire Club, round II (Around Uncanny 200-210) Claremont and JRJR.
Again, no way this makes the top 25, but this fight was superior to their first meeting in the Dark Phoenix Saga in many ways. New members are on the team, and the Hellfire Club is ready to deal with the X-Men. Storm is depowered, and then Colossus and is neutralized quickly. Rogue is manipulated into stealing his powers and has to let him go or risk tearing his arm off as Leland sinks him into the earth. Just as the fight gets really nasty, Nimrod shows up. So awesome.

6) The Ultimates vs. Hulk (The Ultimates vol1, #6)
A newer fight, comparatively, but I read this issue, and then I read it again. It's great action, well choreographed by Millar and Hitch, and again, there is a feeling of tension here, because I didn't know what was going to happen. The first six issues of this book, capped off with this fight, made me a fan of Captain America like I never was before. Plus, the line "Hilk Smash Freddie Prinze jr.!" is solid. Gold.

5) East Coast Avenger Vs West Coast Avengers (2 part series in the annuals)
Eackos vs Whackos starts off as a baseball game between the two (Thor uses his hammer in place of a bat, for serious), but when The Gamesmaster and the Collector become involved, it turns into a one on one elimination fight to the death. A great fight just to see Hawkeye vs. She-Hulk.

4) Cannonball vs Gladiator (X-Men, with Joe Maduiera on pencils)
Cannonball is my favorite character, and seeing him take on The biggest, toughest guy in the universe in Gladiator was just pure eye-candy. This has no hope of making the top 25, sure, but it's a sentimental pick for me, and I reread this issue often enough.

3) Thing vs. The Champion (Marvel 2-in-1 Annual)
Quite possibly the single greatest comic book ever written in the super-hero genre. The Champion comes to earth to fight our greatest heroes in a boxing match. After easily wading through (through skill, or because they were disqualified for being morons) Colossus, Namor, Doc Samson, Hulk, Sasquatch, Wonder Man, and Thor, the Champion is getting bored with human. Then Ben Grimm, the ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing steps up, and gives the Champ the fight of his life.

2) Dr. Strange, Wong, and the Night Stalkers vs Dracula (The Montesi Formula)
Dracula is powered up, and he's coming. Doc Strange needs his allies to buy him some time to get ready, and they set up a gauntlet for Dracula. Drake, Blade, Wong, and Hannibal King step up, and then easily get stepped on by Dracula, before Drac falls for Strange's trap and a fight on the Astral plain. I love this fight, and I dream of of seeing it live action one day.

1) The X-Men vs the Imperial Guard ( The Dark Phoenix Saga)
Quite possibly the greatest all time team battle to be depicted in comics. Tense drama without gore or ultra violence. A team of heroes really put in their place. When people like Storm and Wolverine are dropped easily, it set such a tone of hopelessness, that as a young reader, I really felt that their back was against the wall, that Cyke and Jean would be hard pressed to hit that two-on, two-out 9th inning home run. When they didn't I was shocked.

Comics and the Giller

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:26:00 +0000

Over in his blog, Bryan Lee O'Malley has a nice letter regarding the nomination of a graphic novel for the Giller prize that I quite agree with.

The Giller was already awarded, but it's still worth noting the argument made here.

Toronto Fan Expo 2008 - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:05:00 +0000

Sophie and I both were pretty beat up by day one of the convention, from walking around and lugging pounds of loot with us. She had blisters, and I pulled something in my hip/ass area, (sure it may sound embarrassing, but I did, and I'll admit to it.) so we just about dropped dead when we got home. Keith had just driven in from Pembroke and was anxious to go out and party, and we were quick to squash those hopes and settled in for a night of sitting around, watching wrestling and playing Soul Calibur 2.

Up early-ish the next morning, the three of us got some breakfast and went beck down to the convention center, generally enthused because a) the con is awesome and b) Keith has a car, so we're not taking the subway there. Sophie becomes less enthused as the soundtrack for the trip downtown consists entirely of a hip-hop mix I had made the week before, and her decidedly metal tastes were left unsated.

We hit the floor of the con again, and quickly discovered that Saturday was much more crowded than Friday had been, and that the distinct tastes of three people made it difficult to keep together on the floor. Keith had purchased a VIP delux pass that would enable him to meet Wes Craven, shake his hand, hug, and so on. Unsure of what merch he would like to autograph, he consistently shot down my suggestion of a VHS copy of "Shocker". I still feel that this would have been a good idea, and according to Keith, someone at the VIP meet and greet had the same idea. I still think he missed out on a great opportunity there.

We scanned the program until coming upon one labeled "Alex Maleev Tells it Like it Is". Time to sit down for a bit.

I'd read Maleev's work with Brian Michael Bendis when they were on Daredevil, and I particularly liked his art during the mob war between the Kinpin and Mr. Silke, and this was enough to sit in for me. Sophie, well, she had blisters, and any reason to sit was good for her. Alex Maleev was a good speaker, despite his hesitation to admit it to himself. He was dryly witty, very frank with his opinions ( I paraphrase him when he said; Copying manga is not art, you have to learn to draw. Go to school.) and oddly, seemingly uninterested in the rest of the comics world.

It was his blunt manner that made the talk awesome. More so than other comic artists I've met, he was not shy about his ego, and while that might put some people off, I thought it at least showed some confidence in his work. A good parallel I think would be to compare him to hockey player Alex Kovalev, who doesn't play at modesty when talking about his skill. Maleev was very sure of himself, and that too, even if it rubs you the wrong way, makes for an interesting speaker. Keith is a longstanding fan and occasional practitioner of cockiness, so he was 100% won over.

Maleev spoke about growing up and studying in Bulgaria, getting his degree in Fine Art, and coming to the United States and sort of unwillingly getting into comics. He also told the crowd he was a certified ski instructor, and if anyone had any skiing questions, he could probably answer them better than comic-related ones.

When asked what character he would like to redesign if he could, he said "Spider-Woman" as if he'd been thinking about it for a while. He told us he'd put her in a black costume, with a big white spider on the chest. A couple of days later, I stopped by his table with a couple of issues of West Coast Avengers that had Spider-Woman II on the cover, to show him that there already was a Spider-Woman in a Venom-esque outfit, and in a dry and non-plussed fashion, he only said "See, I was right. It does look better." Awesome.

We also managed to catch a screening of "30 Days of Night: Blood Trails", which was a cool, short prequel to the movie that had a lot of the introduction from the original comic which was left out of the Hartnett film. Gory, but fun eye candy. After this, we had to run off to get food and catch a Roller Derby match.

More to come.

"Wanted"

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:03:00 +0000

I went to see "Wanted" last night with my friend Ali. She wanted to see Wall-E, but couldn't make it in time, so "Wanted" got the nod in it's place.

I confess, I haven't read the Mark Millar/JG Jones comic book yet. I will eventually, I'm sure, but I cannot compare the movie to it's source material yet, and will have to give my opinion of the film based solely on it's merits.

It has few merits.

This movie was a mix of "Shoot Em Up" (Gun fights!), Alias (Assassin training montages!), and a Gatorade commercial (What have you done today?!?). Also, the whole movie, I just couldn't get the voice-over from "Counter-Strike" out of my mind, just shouting out "Head-shot!" at every turn. Angelina Jolie was bland, and the main character, whom the audience was supposed to empathize with just turns into a jerk by the end, and his last line makes you feel as if you've wasted your time and effort in caring about his plight.

It was a cool concept that was poorly executed, and had too many brain-splattering gun murders. Though there was one saving grace, and that was hearing Morgan Freeman say "Kill this motherfucker!" Solid gold. I want it as my ring tone.

All in all, this was the least enjoyable summer comic movie adaptation. I'd have rather watched The Dark Knight, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk or Hellboy II a second time than this. Skip it.

Toronto Fan Expo 2008 - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:20:00 +0000

I swear, just sitting down to write something around here is a magnet for other work to arise. Either there is some technological advance that detects when I'm blogging, or this page is just plain old cursed. In either case, I expect today's entry to conjure up all kinds of distractions so that my writing it will take place over the next several hours, rather that the fifteen minutes I would normally take.

Aside from that, I was talking about Fan Expo. This was my second convention experience, the first being in my hometown of Montreal when Fan Expo came up here, about six or seven years ago. That con was a lot of fun for me, and I had a great time chatting with Darrick Robertson about Wolverine and art and such, but the con on a whole was a failure and Fan Expo will never come back here.

Sophie had been to San Diego before, but she didn't really get to enjoy the full experience, and was dragged around by her travel companions.

So we both had high hopes for Fan Expo 2008.

After DC Nation, we decided that sitting in on a panel was far superior to wandering the con floor lugging around the heavy loot we had picked up earlier (which included a page of original art by Jason Armstrong from "Lobster Johnson: the Iron Prometheus"), and we made sure to line some up for the next day before giving up and going of in hunt of food.

More to come, and maybe some photos, next time.

Toronto Fan Expo 2008 - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:59:00 +0000

I had meant to get around to writing about this right away, but life gets in the way.

I went to Fan Expo 2008 in Toronto this year with my friends Sophie and Keith. It was a great con, and I had a great time. I'll try to put down as much as I can remember here.

Sophie and I went to two panels on day one; The DC Nation panel with Dan Didio, Ethan Van Sciver and Keith Giffen. Dan was on his game for the panel, which was nice as some interviews I had heard him in, he was pretty grating, but this time, he was playful and having a good time with the crowd. Ethan was defensive when I asked about the need to bring Barry Allen back, but when we mixed it up a little more over on the CBR forums, I think I got a clearer picture of why he wants Barry back, even if I don't agree. He said:

"[Fans] miss him. Barry Allen ushered in the Silver Age with Showcase #4. He's a neat character, with his ironic twist of always being late in his personal life as Barry, but having the superspeed secret ID of Flash. He raised Wally. He's a different personality, has some slightly different ideas about crimefighting than Wally West, though."

Dan spotted A guy dressed as Namor in the crowd and pulled him on stage to sit next to a thoroughly weirded-out Keith Giffen.

There was a lot of talk about Aquaman, his constant reboots, and how everyone has a great idea to relaunch him. DiDio basically agreed that Arthur works best in a team setting.

Lastly, the crowd sort of turned on Marvel, and began pandering to DC, starting questions off with lines like "Marvel sucks, but why does DC..." Dan got control of the crowd and kept the focus on DC. In a very candid moment, DiDio explained what he throught DC could do better to help out the fans, and that was to stop rebooting the characters as often as they do, saying that he thought it created a distance between fans and the characters when every few years, the heroes are reinvented.

All in all, it was a great panel, and Dan DiDio stood out as funny and sharp.

More to come.

Who should be a New Avenger

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:11:00 +0000

This post is spoiler-rific if you're not up to date on the New Avengers.

I came back to the Avengers just as the new Captain Britain joined, only to have the team disassembled.

I understood the team's dynamic until after Civil War.

As a writer, this is not the team that I'd like to write. From the outside looking in, there are reasons I can see for wanting certain members on the team, and then there are members there that I'm not sure I'd want.

That's what I'm talking about. The writer is their god in this case, so why have this particular group here?

Doc Strange: He adds credibility to the team, gives them a big gun. Also, he ties very nicely to the Illuminati, which let the team get involved in WWH. As a plot device, he works by giving the team anonymity and transportation.

Spider-Man: He's a fan favorite, and he adds a certain skepticism to the team by questioning their path. He is also a corner of the MU in and to himself. His skills are unique.

Luke Cage: I never read much Power Man before this run, so my experience with him was basically that Punisher story where Frank was turned black and they teamed up. As a story device though, he's the driver. He pushes the team in a certain direction, and keeps the story going.

These three, I get. They're the New Avengers that make the book what it is. They're tools in the hands of the writers.

Wolverine, I've decided should be on the team because he gives the writer one unique aspect to use. He knows that they are on the wrong side of the law and all that it implies. Luke Cage acts as if he's still a super hero, and that's fine, but Logan gives him contrast. Sure he's got claws and a healing factor, But that's not why he should be on the team. He's there because someone needs to be asking "How many laws should we break to fight the good fight?" That makes for good storytelling.

Honestly, I've been disappointed with Clint thus far as Ronin. As an old school Avenger, I'd really like to see some righteous indignation on his part towards the Mighty Avengers. He's the one who would lip off at Captain America when he thought Cap was wrong, and really, I'd expect more of that for Tony Stark and the Mighty team. I'd like to see him go past that too, and get irrationally angry now and again. I think that there's something there worth exploring, and if Bobbi turns out to be a skrull, maybe that's the kick in the pants he'll need to get pissed off again.

That leaves Echo and Danny. I like Iron Fist. He's got his own book, and I don't think he's got enough to do around here except be Luke's confidant. Echo, I think, is a Bendis vanity project, and I've never been able to get what she's doing here, other than because the writer thinks she's cool.

So yeah, I think that Strange, Luke, Spidey, Wolverine and an angry Clint have a place on the team, because they contribute to the book being readable. I don't think Eco and Iron Fist are adding anything to the book right now other than as bodies. I said on the CBR message boards that I think that the real Hank Pym would be an interesting addition to the team, and let us find out what happened to him while he was being replaced by a skrull. I would also like to know more about what happened to Tigra, after the Hood and Jigsaw beat the fur off her. Maybe even Firestar or *gasp* The Scarlet Witch.

In any case, I'm interested to see where this is going.

Red Sonja Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Cinemablend and CBR are reporting from the San Diego Comic Con that they've announced a new Red Sonja movie for 2009, starring Rose McGowan in the titular role, and directed by Robert Rodriguez.

More "Sword ans Sorcery" is always welcome, chain-mail bikini's not-withstanding.

Batman and Shortpacked, once more

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:56:00 +0000

The Dark Knight

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Lauren and I went to see "The Dark Knight" on Friday, opening day, which is unusual as I rarely see the superhero movies until the crowd dissipates ever since I was stuck in the front row for X-Men 2.

But we went to a quiet theater outside of the downtown core and got good seats easily.

Simply put, the movie was awesome.

Seriously. If you haven't seen it, you should. It won't let you down.

You should also stop reading here as I'll be getting spoiler-y from this point on.

The feel of this film follows very closely to that of its predecessor, Batman Begins, and with the exception of Katie Holmes, the cast is reunited with director Christopher Nolan. The solid transition of creative vision from the first film allows it to skip ahead of the introduction of the principal characters, and in order to keep the pace high, Nolan also decided to skim quickly over who Harvey Dent and the Joker are, trusting the viewers to figure it out as they go.

Everyone gets their moments in the movie. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox get some great one-liners, as does Michael Caine as Alfred. Bale is better as Bruce Wayne in my opinion, still flaky and extravagant, but not as over the top as in the first film. Ledger's Joker is iconic, and scary, and will redefine the character in other media undoubtedly (much in the same way that Hugh Jackman changed the look and feel of Wolverine after the first X-Men movie), but Aaron Eckhart really has the choice role in this film, getting to stretch his chops in a wide range of emotions, and culminating in his transformation into Two-Face.

There's been a lot of talk about Heath Ledger and academy awards, and while I agree that he was a great Joker, I think more credit should be given to scriptwriters David Goyer and Christopher Nolan for giving him choice lines and creepy plots to work with. The Joker that they wrote was dark, disturbing, and actually funny at times, in a way that made you uncomfortable in laughing along. Kudos to them.

Joker's plans are genuinely upsetting. He is beyond reason, and he works on the theory that was presented in Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke", that everyone is one bad day away from losing their mind. The idea of saying on television "Someone in Gotham will kill this person in the next hour or I will blow up a hospital." is frighteningly effective, in that the public, now full of fear, weighs the life of one man against that of their loved ones in the hospitals, and they proceed to riot and several people decide that the life of one is not worth the risk.

Harvey Dent wins you over. His campaign slogan of "I believe in Harvey Dent" is true, and as he progresses, you do see in him the chance for Gotham City to turn the corner. So it makes the fall of Dent and the birth of Two-Face truly tragic, as you see the true loss of a good person to the dark madness that he was driven to, and more darkly, you understand him when he goes and murders five people. Eckhart has a really solid role here, and he shines through it, playing both the shining knight and the broken man equally well.

Harvey Dent loses everything, and you can see why he's lashing out. As he struggles with what has happened to him, you ask yourself what would you do if you were in his place, if the events of your life spiraled out of control and you were to lose all that you loved. How long could you go before you snapped too, especially in a world like that of Gotham City. You ultimately end up believing in Two-Face.

The movie itself is fast paced, very tense, and keeps you anxious and nervous about what's going to happen next. It takes from the comic books what it needs, and when it makes changes, it does so carefully, adding to the quality of the story without taking away from the mythos. I can say that it is as perfect as a superhero movie can get.

Comic Book Movies in the Pipeline

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:42:00 +0000

Wired blog has a good list of comic movies in production or pre-production for the next few years that's worth a look at.

Some that have me the most excited are Wolverine, Scott Pilgrim and Whiteout.

Michael Turner

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:39:00 +0000

Comic artist Michael Turner has passed, at age 37 after a long battle with cancer.

Thirty-Seven is just terrifyingly young. My condolences to his family and loved ones.

Kick-Ass #3

noreply@blogger.com (Scott) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:10:00 +0000

I've spoken about Kick-Ass before, but I didn't really like the first issue. I stuck it out, if only because I really dig the John Romita jr. art, and issue three finally paid off a little. The first two books really beat up the protagonist, so it was nice to get past that and see him shine a little, as I find it's hard to read a book where the one character you like gets knocked around all the time without ever winning.

The book still needs some meat, however. with essentially only one character, the plot thus far has been about him fighting, and that's just about beginning to wear thin. Issue #3 is a step in the right direction, but the art will only be able to be a draw for so long.