I just wanted to give a birthday shout-out to one of my favourite actors/personalities in Hollywood, Harrison Ford. Harrison, who proved he can never be too old to play the inimitable Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, turns 66 today.I know he's had a string of not-so-great movies prior to "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" but I'm sure if someone gave him a chance to play another Allie Fox, a la The Mosquito Coast or a John Book (Witness), you might get something more interesting out of the guy. Ultimately, I don't think he needs to take any movie jobs these days. Since he's more of a craftsman than an artist I find that he tends to not search out those juicy little roles in indie films or character parts in bigger movies, sticking to more traditional box-office leading man fare.
C'est la vie, I guess.
Anyway, happy 66th, Harrison. Hope it's a good one!
mike
Serenity #1-3: The story of "Better Days" is brief but enjoyable for fans of the show. The plot is simple and designed to show more about the characters than advance any grand plot or attempting to bridge the television series with the film. This is, at its most basic, a love letter to the fans and the show. I personally would have liked to see a longer story play out (even one more issue would have done the trick for me) but DHC seems to want to stick with the 3-issue arcs so I won't even bother arguing that point. According to editor Scott Allie we have one more of these minis to look forward to. As they say on the show, "Keep 'em flying".
Teen Titans Go! #54-55: The end of the show should have meant the end of this comic book a year or so ago, but for whatever reason DC kept this title running and I've always been thankful of it, even though the quality of the book has slipped somewhat since the show went off the air. In these last two issues Torres gives us a ho-hum story revolving around a Wonder Girl wannabe and a nice wrap-up in #55 with the Titans facing their greatest fears under the onslaught of Phobia. Todd Nauck also puts in some of his best art on the series with the characters looking sharp, the layouts interesting, and the storytelling dynamic.
Fantastic Four #554-557: I originally poo-pooed this storyline but after going back and re-reading the first issue (followed by the next three or four) I've really come to be sold on this book. It's still not exactly how I envisioned Millar and Hitch handling these characters, but they're doing a bang-up job of it so far. One of my early complaints was not wanting to really see the post-Civil War Marvel U since I was never a fan of the event in the first place, but I'm seeing some cool things coming out of this book and the cliffhanger ending of #558 (not technically reviewed herein) has me excited for the next few issues.
The Invincible Iron Man #1: Yet another Iron Man #1, but for all intents and purposes, it's a good one. Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca present an interesting debut for Tony Stark and his armored alter-ego, not getting bogged down in a lot of backstory and moving things forward at a nice pace. Once agian Stark's technology has become a problem and Tony has to face the idea that someone has taken his Iron Man tech and accomplished what he's always feared; they improved on it. Not a bad premise and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out for this first storyline. Also, Salva's artwork, as always, is impeccable. This guy used to be 'okay' back in the day (remember those Claremont FFs?), but over the years he just keeps impressing me more and more. I have issue 2 on my 'to read' pile, so it will likely be in the next set of reviews.
Angel: After the Fall #6-8: Taking a break from their regular programming, these are the interstitial issues that deal with the first night when LA was sent into a hell dimension. What happened in that alley at the end of season 5, where did the characters go, how did they get there and what have they been doing between the series finale and the first issue of "After the Fall"? These are all questions that get answered here and, much like the first 5 issues of the series, this stuff is gold for the Angel fan. IDW is doing a remarkably good job with this series and I'm very much looking forward to the final 5 or 6 issues, even if there will be a new artist.
Secret Invasion #1-2: What can I say, I'm torn. I'm enjoying the idea of this series, I love the artwork by the always entertaining Leinil Francis Yu, but it's moving so goddamn slow I just don't know if I have the stamina for 8 issues of this. Issue 1 was solid, presents the premise promisingly (take that Stan Lee!) and leaves us with a killer of a cliffhanger (pun intended). Issue 2...well...it's a fight scene. Yup, the whole damn thing is one big fight scene with a couple of cuts to show you the Helicarrier crashing and something else I can't remember. Sure, there are a couple of revalations during the fight scene, and yeah, Leinil's storytelling carries the issue pretty much from beginning to end, but...
The Batman Strikes #45: What would a Batman animated series be without a Gotham Girls episode? Seeing as how they never tried tackling that in the animated series, this issue takes the latest iteration of Gotham's female animated finest and teams them up for a caper involving a Batman and Robin out of town, a trapped Poison Ivy, Batgirl having to set aside her crimefighter impulses to work with Harley and Catwoman, and a not-so-surprising double cross at the end that you can see coming for a mile but is well done. This particular issue of the series was enjoyable but, to be honest, I haven't really had a lot of love for this book for a while now. With the series officially over, I don't see this title surviving for too much longer, either. A distracting read but...meh.
Detective Comics #841: I keep checking back in with Dini's Detective because I keep hoping that it'll just sparkle and shine like the other Bat books don't, especially with Dustin Nguyen on the art! I expected a little more from this issue than I got, still, the two creators do work well together and the twist with the Hatter's ploy was worthy of a good episode of the animated series, so I give it some points for that. Not enough to get me to give this series a monthly commitment, but I wouldn't stop myself from reading one or picking one up as an impulse buy if the cover or interiors grabbed me.
So I'm cruising around the Internet and run across 
I've recently had the opportunity/pleasure to introduce a good friend of mine to the world of Nick Hornby. We were having a discussion about men and their behaviour, especially in romantic circumstances, and I started quoting moments from the film. She had never seen the movie or read the book so I finally just lent her the DVD (which, so far she seems to enjoy) and am making the difficult decision as to whether or not to lend her the book if she asks for it (I don't part easily with my printed matter).
I have been a fan of the Indy novels since I first discovered them lo those many years ago. Part of what I enjoyed about them was the fact that they weren't like the Star Wars books. It wasn't this literary machine just churning out Indy books from all periods, it was the work of, primarily, one guy, Rob MacGregor. He was followed up by Martin Caidin (the guy who wrote Cyborg) and then the last writer to work on the book series, Max McCoy. Although I didn't totally agree with everything MacGergor did in his stories (Indy purists beware, there is a wedding and a tragic end, a la James Bond, which may, or may not, fit in with your vision of the man with the hat) I thoroughly enjoyed the 5 or 6 stories he wrote and always kept an eye out for the subsequent books in the series.
Now, for anyone who knows me, I'm pretty picky with my stuff. And even though I've had this problem before with books I've purchased there (I was pretty ruffled when my Abadazad peeled - grrrr) this one really irks me. Perhaps it's because of how long I've been trying to finish the series, maybe because it's Indy, and maybe because I just need one thing in my life right now that is the way it's supposed to be, I don't know. What I do know is that I'm pretty perturbed about it and I hate to be an idiot and spend another $9 on a book that I already own, but it also burns my butt everytime I see the damn thing now.
Anyway, I just wanted to pop on and say that I enjoyed theanimated version a lot more this time than when I first watched it. There are still a lot of things that irk me about these Marvel D2DVD movies (voice casting is a BIIIIIIG one) but, overall, TIIM was entertaining, did a decent job of giving an updated take on the ol' origin story, showed a couple of versions of the armour, and managed to add a little depth by doing the east vs. west/technology vs. mysticism bit.
Captain America #1-12: I'll freely admit that I started reading the series after the 'Death of Captain America' thing happened, mostly to satisfy my curiosity about how Brubaker was handling the character leading up to, and during, the media brouhaha surrounding #25. After the first issue, though, I was entirely hooked by the intelligent storytelling, a refreshing take on an old character, and the truly compelling and stylish artwork of Steve Epting and Michael Lark. I'm almost done the "Winter Soldier" storyline as I write this and my brain is just buzzing with what these guys have cooked up. I'm really looking forward to where this is all going.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #49: Not especially happy with where this title is going, of late. The departure of Pascual Ferry is still being felt (damn you, Orson Scott Card and your Ultimate Iron Man II) and, despite enjoying some of the relationship bits that Carey is giving us (the break-up of Reed and Sue being the primary conflict in that area) I'm not really digging this whole Red Ghost story very much. Seems a bit like filler. Killing time before hitting the big 5-0, perhaps. This book is officially on probation. If it doesn't improve soon, I think I'll need to drop it.
The Maze Agency #1: I've always meant to pick some of these up because, like everybody else, I've loved Adam Hughes since his days on Justice League and I've always heard good things about his collaboration with Mike Barr on this series. Overall, I wasn't disappointed, but I also wasn't blown away by this opening tale. I would have liked to see Barr give us a cliffhanger ending to the first issue and bring us back in #2 for the resolution, but the real reason I showed up in the first place was to see some early Hughes work, so I'm not going to be too picky. Admittedly, it was pretty neat to see some of his early layouts pre-JL just to see how he has developed as an artist over the years.
The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #12: A nice little spotlight on Timber Wolf, but it's pretty clear from the last few issues of this series that nobody is quite sure what to do with this book or these characters. I think the change in direction between seasons 1 and 2 of the TV series has left the creative teams of the monthly in a bit of a lurch but, in all fairness, LOSHIT31C is not suffering as badly as some of DC's other kid-oriented books. I haven't read the latest issue yet, but I plan on hanging around for a few more before making my final decision on whether or not to keep up with this one.
Superman/Batman #37: Hey, I've said it before. Not all of the books I read are new, yo? Anyway, I picked this one up because of the writing talents of Alan Burnett who has made me very happy in the past with his work on the Batman animated series and its various spin-off films. The art of Dustin Nguyen is nothing to sneeze at either, being a fan of his stuff from back in the Wildcats 3.0 days, but in all honesty I grabbed it for Burnett, what can I say?
Wetworks #12: I'll grab just about anything off the shelf with J.M. DeMatteis' name on it so it's no mystery why I picked up Wetworks starting with #10, but after a couple of issues I was seriously considering dropping the book like a hot potato. The whole Mother One dies and is resurrected story had me so lost in a tangle of familiar themes but in a completely alien environment and wrapped in an impenetrable backstory with confusing layouts and characters I didn't know (not to mention covers for the three issues that have nothing to do with the interiors). DC has saved me the trouble of questioning myself in regards to continuing or not since they cancelled the series as of issue #15 (a move I'm not at all surprised by) but I will give credit to the creative team for putting together a decent little vignette of a story with #12.
The series itself ran three issues and was written by James Anthony Kuhoric and illustrated by Renato Guedes with colours by Nimbus Studios. Story-wise, the plot is pretty simple. Jack O'Neill jumps through the gate chasing one of the series baddies who used to be an ally and friend to him (also something of a surrogate son). Everyone wants to go through and recover him but the Goa'uld have left behind a device that jeopardizes Stargate Command. There is also the added threat of the Goa'uld getting information about the SGC through torturing O'Neill with a device that will drag the desired info out of his mind.
The artwork by Guedes was something else, too. The strange painterly look is likely the fault of Nimbus (based on the look of Guedes's pencils as well as his straight pencil & ink work seen in the convention specials that Avatar produced) but his characters are still extremely stiff and his overall storytelling ability is limited in these three issues. I ran into several jump cuts that kill the flow of things and panels that make me shudder with their lack of imagination all serve to kill this story before it ever really gets off the ground. I think I probably made it three or four pages in before I knew this was going to be a bad trip, so I'll give him credit for the opening action sequence. Once they get into the SGC, though, wooo...
What's a week without some Indy news, eh? I just caught 
I picked up 
I've read my share of Stephen King books in my time (who hasn't) and seen my fill of movies based on his books and short stories. Everything from Carrie to The Mist which is sitting in my bag recently rented from the local Blockbuster, have passed these eyes, and I count reading It, Cycle of the Werewolf (which was beautifully, and I mean, beautifully illustrated by Berni Wrightson) and Pet Sematary as landmarks in my youthful experiences with horror fiction.
Well, I stumbled across the first two issues of Marvel Comics' Dark Tower books and figured for a buck a piece I should see if it lives up to the impossible hype it has been receiving. I think I was a half-a-dozen pages into the first issue when I realised that this stuff was dynamite. Not only had I never seen more superb Jae Lee artwork in my life, but Peter David has never read so perfectly, either. It reminded me of when I was initially given the first volume in The Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger by my long-time chum, Brad. He was a big King fan at the time and, along with Eyes of the Dragon (which I've yet to read), told me that I would be remiss if I didn't check this book out.
I won't go into details or review the book or anything like that, but I will say that even though I may not have a desire to go out and read every piece of the man's fiction, this piece of non-fiction memoir/seminar/affirmation has done wonders for getting my juices flowing (not to mention being a brisk and entertaining read, to boot). Strangely enough, having someone telling you not to be a fool and just write ended up being some of the most helpful advice I've been given, of late. It sounds retarded, I know, and there were some writing techniques of his that he shared in the book that were also of great value to me, but writing is such a lonely endeavour that you just have to be reminded from time to time that it isn't all a collossal waste.
Now, I've been waiting for this movie for some time (many of us who watched and loved Donnie Darko have been) and I have to say that after months and months of watching it get beat up by the media and go through recutting and release dates being pushed back and none of my local cineplexes running the film, the DVD has foinally arrived to mixed response. In some ways the movie is exactly what I expected and so many ways it is very much not. The trademarked Richard Kellyisms are all there (the satire, the sci-fi, the high-concept, ensemble cast and the socio-political commentary) but they are organized in such a way as to make the film almost totally impenetrable. I read the three graphic novels that comprise the prequel trilogy and still had a hard time following certain sequences. Sure, it sort of comes together in the end in a somewhat understandable manner, but on the whole it feels like the movie fails in paying off the 144 minute running time.
I picked up Stargate: Atlantis Season 1 many months ago and watched a couple of episodes before putting it back on the shelf. It's not that I didn't like the show, I just got it for a really good price and I had seen the entire first season so I wasn't in any hurry to revisit the show. I checked out a few of the commentaries and features and there you go.
The Umbrella Academy #4-6: I really enjoyed this series and was happy to finally catch up with the issues that I had missed. Gerard Way came out of nowhere and surprised everybody with how entertaining and just plain great the story was and Gabriel Ba's artwork is beyond compare. I don't think I would go so far as to call these characters the heroes of the 21st century as Grant Morrison does on the cover blurb, but they're certainly more interesting than most of the claptrap currently out there on the stands. 
Youngblood #1: One of the greatest things to happen to the Image super-hero universe was to have Alan Moore come down from on high to take over the writing chores on WildC.A.T.s and than to have that effort followed by the ever-capable Joe Casey. They brought something to the Imageverse that it hadn't really seen before in any long-term sort of capacity on one of its bigger books - a real writer. Both of these guys gave some street cred to these upstart third-generation X-Men clones and started a trend that continues to this day, sometimes successful, sometimes not-so-successful.
Legion of Super-Heroes #37-39: The last time I bought a Legion #37 Giffen and the Bierbaums were writing it, Jason Pearson was drawing it and they blew up the Earth.
The DVD pictured at right is the new original DC Animated film, Justice League: The New Frontier, based on the comic book of the same name created by uber-talent, Darwyn Cooke. I've been waiting months and months for this puppy to come out. I loved the comic book and when I heard that they were going to make it an animated film, my brain lit up with the possibilities. I will also go out on a limb and admit that part of my motivation for going out and buying the Superman: Doomsday disc when it came out (the first DC original animated movie) was to see the New Frontier preview that was included there as a special feature, so you can maybe see how I'm kind of jazzed about this whole thing.
Fantastic Four #554: When I heard that Bryan Hitch and Mark Millar were taking over the World's Greatest Heroes, I think my reaction resembled a rousing "woo-hoo!" I think the last time I'd been tempted to pick up the FF's monthly book was when Carlos Pacheco was doing the book. Since then, I've resorted to grabbing issues of the Ultimate FF to get my FF fix since nobody else was writing the series in the way it was meant to be done, with the four heroes tackling fantastic cosmic problems, straddling inner and outer space, and behaving like a family, warts and all, throughout their adventures.
Star Wars: Dark Times #5-6: Part of getting back to the LCS was catching up on titles I'd sort of left behind in the middle of a storyline, like Star Wars: Dark Times. Grabbing #5, the end to the "Path to Nowhere" storyline, and #6, the beginning of the "Parallels" story, I was reminded why this was the only Star Wars book that I would not only pick up regularly, but go out of my way to obtain it.
I was surprised to find out about the passing of artist, John Alvin, the other day. Part of the reason for that was just the sheer shock at yet another death in the industry following so closely on that of Roy Scheider and Steve Gerber, but also because I was literally just watching him talking on the Blade Runner Ultimate Edition DVD and he seemed perfectly fine. I guess you can never really see a heart attack coming, but to turn around and hear of his passing was just a little shocking.