The Comic Haul

I haven't been to the LCS in a while, but I still have a backlog of books that I have yet to throw on the ol' blog so, without further ado, here we go-go-go...

Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods #1: The man in the hat is back. This is probably the best Indy mini-series to come out in some time. As much as I loved the fact that Dark Horse was publishing anything Indy related a few years ago, some of the efforts put forth were less than stellar in either the writing department, the art department, or, in some case, both. With Tomb of the Gods, DHC has a winner. Rob Williams concocts a plausible adventure for the intrepid archaeologist and Steve Scott's artwork is very much up to the task of balancing character likenesses and well-paced action storytelling. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the next four issues will play out.

Detective Comics #846: "Heart of Hush", as a story concept, doesn't really grab me by the lapels and scream read me, but I've been liking what Dini has done with this book and, having given up on Morrison's title, think I'll stick with Detective for a while and see how comfortable I get. I'm loving the art by Nguyen which I've praised before in other reviews, and the fact that Catwoman will be making this series her home when her monthly gets the axe is yet another reason to check in every 30 days.

The story itself? Too early to tell, I'm afraid. Hush has a secret hospital of zombies, it appears, Batman and Catwoman start hanging out and that's pretty much it unless you want me to talk about the ads. Still, the atmosphere is good, so far, and I'm anxious to see what Dini does with a 5-part storyline after so many onesies and twosies. It's worth checking out.

Robin #170-173: Hey, when did this series get good? I've been a fan of Robin for a long time (that always sounds weird when I say those words in public) but haven't had any reason to check out Tim Drake's or Dick Grayson's monthlies for many years. A few weeks ago I picked up a trade of some of the Adam Beechen and Freddie Williams stories at my local library, just to see what they were like, and found myself really enjoying them. So, when Chuck Dixon (the guy who launched the series 175 issues ago) returned to the character and the book with issue #170, I had to check it out.

I'm liking where the character is at. I'm liking the fact that Dixon is bringing back things that have been absent, like the long-dead Spoiler and Ives (another supporting character), yet maintaining the feel that this guy is older than when he first wrote him. He has matured, things in his life have changed and it's a tangible thing when you read these stories. I hear Chuck may be leaving the book but I'll give it a few issues post-Chuck to see if the tone stays right for me, or if things go out of whack again and I drop it like a hot potato.

By the way, loving the Freddie Williams covers, too!

Final Crisis #1-2: Okay, I'm liking the issues as I read them, but I'm simultaneously not caring, one way or the other, where this is going or how it fits into the greater scheme of things. I generally like Morrison's writing and I rarely have any complaints about J.G. Jones, so I'm not at all surprised that I'm not outright rejecting this whole event, but I think I'm just Uber-Evented out, you know? I'd rather see these guys doing something with an obscure character off in the corner somewhere, like when Morrison took over Animal Man or Doom Patrol. The DC Universe as a concept just doesn't interest me on this scale, anymore. Less with the 'widescreen' comics, I think.

I know I'm shooting myself in the foot when I say I'll keep buying for the next couple of issues because, really, we vote with our dollars, but when I see the huge stack of these comics sitting at my LCS, I can't help but think my contribution is not being felt. So, at least I can sleep at night.

John Constantine: Hellblazer #245: I think Jason Aaron and Sean Murphy wanted to pay tribute to the Jamie Delano/John Ridgeway era Constantine because this issue has all the hallmarks of that period of the book. For starters, John is nowhere to be seen for 99% of the story. Instead, we focus on a group of documentary filmmakers who are trying to get the skinny on Mucous Membrane, John's old punk band from back in the day. Over the course of the issue we see the slow decay of the group as they all go progressively mad and start doing things that, in some cases, will make you wish you didn't eat that sandwich before sitting down to read.

The end of the story (called "Newcastle Calling", by the way) has the single appearance in the issue of our John and he is buying a train ticket to Newcastle, leaving you, the reader, with the cliffhanger ending.

I've been enjoying this book since Andy Diggle took it over a handful of issues ago, and I think it's fair to say that, despite having big shoes to fill, Jason Aaron does an admirable job here. Sean Murphy's pencils were an added bonus, changing up the look of the book for a couple of issues. Manco's art is a good fit for the series, but after a while it all starts to get muddy and blend together. Besides, even at Hellblazers height of popularity, it has always been able to shift between artists and writers for different takes on the character and this is no different.

Anyway, I look forward to the conclusion (which I know is out, I just haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet) and I'd recommend it to anyone out there who likes a little slow-boil psychological horror with a dash of gross-out thrown in for flavour.

The Batman Strikes! #46: Yeah, you can feel this series winding down. #50 will likely be the final issue so I'm kind of glad this story by Russell Lissau and Christopher Jones stuck closer to the dynamic that fans of the show saw in seasons three and four as opposed to the 'All-New Justice League' show it became in season five. In this issue, Killer Croc gets a crush on a news reporter and Batman, Robin and Batgirl have to save the day. It's not Shakespeare, I know, but it was a pleasant diversion and a welcome return to a format that doesn't undermine the main character in his own book. If the next four are like this the series will go off on a high note, as far as I'm concerned.

Badger Saves the World #1: I consider Nexus to be one of the finest comic books to have ever graced the medium, so it kind of surprises me that I can find so little to like in Mike Baron's other 'famous' creation, The Badger. His appearances in the aforementioned Nexus have always been enjoyable, but the solo stuff I've seen just doesn't grab me, you know? Sometimes the satire and the strangeness of the book just seem forced, and the storytelling...well, off. I know that it's supposed to be manic and fun and zany, but I'm just not buying it. To quote Mr. Horse, "No sir, I just don't like it".

If I ever run across another issue in a dollar bin or see something online, maybe I'll give it another try. In the meantime, I'll stick with Horatio, Dave, Sundra, and the residents of Ylum for my Baron fix.

Will Eisner's The Spirit #13-16: I really wasn't sure what I would think of the post-Darwyn Cooke Spirit series but, I have to say, Evanier and Aragones are writing good stuff that feels very much in line with what Eisner was doing with the character, and Paul Smith is a Godsend of an artist. There have been a couple of other pencil jockeys to take a crack at Denny Colt since Cooke's departure (Risso, Amancio, and Ploog being three worth mentioning) but something about Smith's clean lines and superb storytelling give this book just the right feel to be nostalgic yet carrying the look of The Spirit's world forward.

I'm enjoying it, I'm keeping it on my pull list and so I'm sure DC will cancel it. Maybe they'll hang on to it for a while since the movie's coming out.

Legion of Super-Heroes #42: Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss. Like back in the old days when I bought my books off a spinner rack, and I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes of my favourite monthly comic books. That's the mentality I had when I started picking up the Jim Shooter Legion of Super-Heroes. I thought I'd give it a try because it looked fairly promising. Like it was trying to be classic without tossing out the any of the new stuff that the creators before this had established, and, it should be noted, that the artwork of Francis Manapul's was not entirely unpleasing to the eye. Fast forward a few months when I find out that Shooter's run is just temporary. That he's essentially killing time until the Final Crisis event has its way with the characters and then DC plans to relaunch the book later with a new creative team and direction. So, when I look at the last couple of issues, which feel very much like Shooter is either lost or spinning his wheels a little, I get miffed because I now realise that it's not just a brief lull in the story, it's useless filler to pad out the remainder of Shooter's run.

Overall, I still enjoy it when I do pick it up, but all the anticipation for it, as well as the fun of it, has been sucked out for me. There is probably a half-dozen issues or more to the Shooter run, so we'll see how it goes.

FCBD X-Men: I finally got around to reading this story and all I can say is, "Ugh!" This is why I will not be buying a regular X-Title any time soon. Carey's story is dull and his new X-Character, Pixie, less than engaging. This 'joining the team' story tries to be a new "Welcome to the X-Men, Kitty Pryde, Hope You Survive the Experience" but falls dreadfully short. Considering I dropped Carey's Ultimate FF recently, I shouldn't be at all surprised that I didn't enjoy this issue at all. Add to that Greg Land's art which makes my eyes bleed and I won't be peeking around Xavier's Institute for another couple of years, to be sure.

Amazing Spider-Man #555-557: This is the first time in a looong time that I've been able to buy, read and enjoy a mainstream Spider-Man comic book and this makes me glad. I have no interest in the whole "Brand New Day" brouhaha, but if it means that for short little bursts during the year I can enjoy Chris Bachalo's pencils on my favourite Marvel super-hero, I think I can live with it. Also, Zeb Wells wrote a Spidey that was quick-witted, a little hard-done-by, and utterly human which was, ultimately, the driving force to me actively seeking out all three issues so I can enjoy the whole story. Fun stuff.

I'm not sure if Wells and Bachalo will get another crack at the web-slinger anytime soon (I think it's McKone and Slott right now?), but I'm crossing fingers.

Later!

mike

Hey, Kids, Comics!

I was looking at the Diamond Shipping List for July 30th and thought I would do what many other bloggers have done before me and tag those items that I think are worthy of note. The legend below will explain how I'm going to lay this sucker out.

Bold is what I will grab for sure.
Italics mean it's something I want, but won't necessarily pick it up right away.
Regular text indicates something that has caught my eye but is either too pricy to be reasonable, or I would only pick up as an impulse buy.

JIM BUTCHERS DRESDEN FILES #4 (OF 4) WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
BATMAN GOING SANE TP
REIGN IN HELL #1 (OF 8)
SKRULLS VS POWER PACK #1 (OF 4)
MUMMY MOVIE PREQUEL RISE & FALL OF XANGOS AX #4

That's all she wrote, folks. I don't make it down to the comic store as often as I would like, but I think I will keep this little exercise up until I become thoroughly bored with it.

Cheers!

mike

Pondering More Indy...

The Sunday Times conducted an interview with George Lucas regarding his upcoming Clone Wars movie, but the real interesting bit that came out of the piece (from a Indyphile's perspective) was this little bit here:

"Really, with the last one, Steven wasn’t that enthusiastic. I was trying to persuade him. But now Steve is more amenable to doing another one. Yet we still have the issues about the direction we’d like to take. I’m in the future; Steven’s in the past. He’s trying to drag it back to the way they were, I’m trying to push it to a whole different place. So, still we have a sort of tension. This recent one came out of that. It’s kind of a hybrid of our own two ideas, so we’ll see where we are able to take the next one."

I'd be curious to know which parts of the film were Spielberg and which were Lucas inspired. I'm guessing all the Sci-Fi elements probably came from George, we all know Shia was Steven's doing...I think I'd have to go and see the film again to really break it down.

Still, I've always upheld that I would continue to watch and love Indy even if he was 80 with a cane and dealing with life in 1971. I just enjoy the character that much, moreso than the adventures themselves. That's partially why I'm such a fan of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, too. I don't need Nazis and death-defying stunts, seeing what makes the guy tick engages me.

Anyway, it's a decent interview and worth checking out.

Later!

mike

Spreading the Ditko Love

The Comics Reporter has a nice interview with Blake Bell, author of The World of Steve Ditko. If you've ever read and/or loved a Ditko comic, this is a book you should really check out. The interview is also something you should really check out.

Have I ever steered you wrong?

mike

Belief Does Not Appear to Come Easily

Looking at the overall response to The X-Files: I Want to Believe, both critically and commercially, after only a single day of release, it appears that Chris Carter's return to the franchise that made him a household name is a certifiable flop.

Personally, I think it is still too early to see how things will play out for the film despite a lackluster $5 million opening night. Seeing as how The Dark Knight is still going strong and stealing almost everyone else's thunder, if I Want to Believe can hang on for a few weeks before slipping off the radar, it may still make its money back and turn a small profit. Hope for a green light on a third film is not completely dashed, just stretched to its uttermost limits.

I think the most damage to the movie is going to come from critics who seem to be very much in on the X-Files hate. I'm not sure which show they were watching 10 years ago, but the movie I saw last night was very much related to the show I watched religiously and loved, even after they switched leading actors. I know I sound like an apologist at this point, but considering how many downright lazy reviews I've read over the last 24 hours complaining about how uncool the new movie is and picking at it like a festering scab, I think I sort of have to be. I don't know what everybody else was expecting. A bigger, bolder storyline, I'm sure, with lots of monster stuff and flashlights in the dark. The two leads shouting their names across a gulf of shadow as the villain of the piece stalked one, or both, of the heroes?

Didn't we see that before? On the small screen? For 9 years?

After reading Roger Ebert's review of the film (which I expected to be exceptionally harsh but who is, in fact, the only 'esteemed' reviewer to date to actually get the picture) I think what people are ultimately missing is the whole freaking point of the movie.

He goes on at length describing the plot and points out how silly it all sounds, which is fair, but the part that truly stood out to me was this section here:

"The movie lacks a single explosion. It has firearms, but nobody is shot. The special effects would have been possible in the era of "Frankenstein." Lots of stunt people were used. I had the sensation of looking at real people in real spaces, not motion-capture in CGI spaces. There was a tangible quality to the film that made the suspense more effective because it involved the physical world."

He also goes on to competently address the film's themes and, surprisingly, compares what is essentially one of the three biggest failures of the summer (Speed Racer and Meet Dave being the other two) to one of the most successful movies currently around, The Dark Knight:

"What I appreciated about "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" was that it involved actual questions of morality, just as "The Dark Knight" does. It's not simply about good and evil but about choices. Come to think of it, Scully's dying child may be connected to the plot in another way, since it poses the question: Are any means justified to keep a dying person alive?"

And lastly, Ebert closes off with this:

"The movie is insidious. It involves evil on not one level but two. The evildoers, it must be said, are singularly inept; they receive bills for medical supplies under their own names, and surely there must be more efficient ways to abduct victims and purchase animal tranquilizers. But what they're up to is so creepy, and the snow-covered Virginia landscapes so haunting, and the wrong-headedness of Scully so frustrating, and the FBI bureaucracy so stupid, and Mulder so brave, that the movie works like thrillers used to work, before they were required to contain villains the size of buildings."

And that, my friends, is the most articulate (and possibly accurate) critique of the new X-Files film that seems to be taking a lot of flack for no othewr reason than the fact that it survived long enough in people's minds to warrant coming back for another go.

I'm genuinely curious to hear what others think about the film and the response it is getting in the media. Feel free to comment.

Believe Again!

mike

X-Files: I Want to Believe Reactions

Hit the first matinee at the local Galaxy theatre because I knew I would not be able to wait until 7 or 10 o'clock tonight. I woke up a little unfocused and found it difficult to work, figured the movie would galvanize everything for me.

Despite being in the middle of the afternoon, getting into the X-Files mood was pretty easy. Once those lights went down and the music and images started rolling, whoo-baby, I was locked in for the next couple of hours.

I was doing some reading the night before re: the soundtrack (which kicks-ass, by the way) and accidentally read what I thought may be a spoiler. Wasn't going to let it ruin the experience for me but it turned out not to be true. The soundtrack piece is worth checking out, though. Click through here to read it.

Stand alone episode was definitely the way they should have rolled on this one. If they went with a mythology episode, die-hard Philes like me would be happy but we'd never get a third movie out of Fox because it wouldn't make any money. Simple but within the X-Filesian realm thriller played out nicely and allowed for maximum character development.

God, I missed these characters. I didn't know how much until they started hanging out together on screen again. Man, I thought Indiana Jones was going to be the tentpole movie for me but I was so wrong. And yeah, I know Dark Knight will make me get religion but the pure, raw, nostalgic feeling of seeing Mulder and Scully together again after 7.5 years...it was pretty f***ing cool.

Lots of really neat easter eggs in the movie for fans to find, plus a 'blink-and-you-miss-it' cameo by Carter himself. Seeing things like Nutter's Feed (named for amazing series director David Nutter), the vodka and OJ on Mulder's table, the names Gilligan and Shiban on Mulder's Cell phone...I just gobbled all that stuff up. It was great eye-candy that didn't jump out and say, "HEY! Look at me, do you remember me from the series?"

A character or two from the show do make an appearance which, again, was rewarding without being obtuse.

Well cast movie. Really. Connelly, Peet and Xzibit were all really good in their roles. Callum Keith Rennie did an equally good job. Hell, it wasn't until the third or fourth time I saw him that I realized it was him.

Hmmm, not sure what else to say other than, "I sure liked it a whole lot".

Go see the movie.

Listen to some of the tunes on the player below.

Believe Again.

mike

I Still Want to Believe

I'm watching "Sanguinarium" from Season 4 right now as I type this in preparation for the X-Files movie which premieres in a few scant hours. A wonderfully greusome episode about black magic and plastic surgery. The opening teaser actually counts as one of my favourite X-Files moments but, unfortunately, I couldn't find a link to it anywhere. Oh well, those of you who know the episode know what I'm talking about, right?

Anyway, I can't tell you how excited I am to be seeing this thing tomorrow. I know everyone is feeling pretty lackluster about the whole thing, but I'm just looking forward to seeing old friends, do a little catch-up, you know? If the movie turns out to be kick-ass, all the better. Heck, I just want it to make enough money so that we can get the true finale to the series mythology with the conclusion of the colonization plotline. I believe 2012 is the set date. Only time will tell.

Next up is "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man" so I gotta go. I'll post some thoughts after I see the movie.

Believe Again!

mike

Ultimate FF Actually Pretty Marginal

About a year ago I started buying the Ultimate Fantastic Four series by writer Mike Carey and artist Pascual Ferry (at least, those were the guys on the title at the time). It was the Silver Surfer storyline and I was jazzed about the new movie coming out, and a combination of being a slave to hype and the monthly comic doing everything it could to drive me away from it, I chose the Ultimate version of Marvel's first family to latch on to for my first family of Marvel fix.

After picking up the first issue or two (#42 & #43, I think), I went back and started reading the earlier issues from the beginning. When they initially launched the title, I didn't want anything to do with it, partly because I was skeptical regarding anything Ultimate, partly because it was Bendis or Ellis or Millar and Hitch and I was tired of these big 'widescreen' event comics, and mostly it was because they reintroduced the team as teenagers. Something about that ticked me off.

Still, after reading the first few issues, I saw something in it that was dynamic, interesting and not without its charm. Sort of the same reaction I had to reading Ultimate Spider-Man for the first time. I decided to continue catching up while picking up the newer issues and do so until the newer stuff no longer interested me.

As of issue #53 I'm officially done.

Not only am I having tremendous amounts of trouble with the artwork of Tyler Kirkham, but the stories by Carey have lost all their momentum. What originally felt like a slow, interesting building up to the cosmic cube storyline eventually fell horribly flat when it finally hit its climax with the return of Thanos to the book and the Four to Earth. Bad dialogue, bad storytelling, bad art and bleah characters finally killed this thing for me. And it's strange because it sort of came out of the blue. I mean, I wasn't truly happy with some of the issues in the late forties, but they were still readable. And Carey's other work still engages me whenever I run across it.

Go figure.

Anyways, the good news is that, with UFF, The Batman Strikes,and Teen Titans, Go! all getting (or having gotten) the axe (by me or their respective publishers), and with Whedon's Runaways storyline completed, there's a spot or two now open on the ol' pull list that I can fill with stuff that I enjoy. I've been picking up Chuck Dixon and Chris Batista's Robin and I've really been digging it, so...

Later!

mike

Mornings with Meiko

I discovered this artist through MySpace when I got the automated 'add friend' request, but after listening to her stuff for a bit I think I really dig it. My wife says it reminds her of Feist (a name we don't mention in this house) but I get a little Fiona, a little Cat Power...maybe even a smidge of Edie. There are a few things jumbled up in there that blend together well.

As the link below states, click on through to listen to some of her stuff.



mike

Spielberg Vanity Fair Interview

I thought it was a decent read. It was part of the "Keys to the Kingdom" interview that appeared in the February issue of Vanity Fair, but obviously it's the parts that didn't make it into the main piece.

If you know anything about me, you know that those are usually my most favourite parts.

Anyway, go here if you're curious about Spielberg's thoughts on the new Indy film, Frank Darabont's rejected version of the script, and other Spielberg flicks.

mike

Birthday Shout-Out

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

Favourite X-FIles Moments #4

Finally, a non-shipper post!

This next clip is from an episode I just watched called "The Field Where I Died". It's from season 4 and this opening clip is one of the more powerful moments in an episode filled with many. The direction of Rob Bowman is unmistakable with the lighting and the movement, and Duchovny, without doing much, gives a performance full of pathos.

Judge for yourself...



Believe again!

mike

Favourite X-FIles Moments #3

For someone who is most definitely not a 'shipper' (someone who desired a love/sex relationship between Mulder and Scully on the show) I'm kind of posting a lot of relationship type scenes here, aren't I? That may be a result of the availability of cool non 'shipper' scenes on YouTube, though. I'll keep looking until the 25th.

This particular scene is a nice quiet one between the main characters after Scully has a rather poignant solo adventure (written and directed by Gillian herself) where she is forced to examine her life and the choices she has made over the course of it. I like these quiet scenes between these two actors because they have so much chemistry and play off of each other so well. It helps when they're well written, too.



I'll try and step up the posts leading up to the film's release.

As always, I'm curious which episodes/moments are perhaps your favourites. Don't be shy. Feel free to share.

Believe again!

mike

Checking Back in, X-Files Style

I haven't made an X-Files related post in a bit so I thought I would clean out some bookmarks and remedy the other situation at the same time.

The A.V. Club has an interview with Chris Carter from this past April where he discusses the show and the film.

Comic Book Resources has a quick chat with Frank Spotnitz about the upcoming X-FIles comic book 'revival' courtesy of DC Comics and Wildstorm.

And, if you go check out the official site for the film, there have been some updates and changes like the Blog, the clips from the film, desktop wallpapers and the usual 'official' stuff. Just to check out the opening clip to "I Want to Believe" should be worth the trip.

There's a cool Mulder and Scully clip there, too.

Believe again!

mike

The Comic Haul

I'll probably be brief this time around, as it is late and I'm tired, but I wanted to get some of these posted.

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.

I'm sorry to see this book go but it was probably time for it to move on.

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.

Check this one out if you aren't already. Definitely worth the $3.

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...

I mean, it's a fight sequence.

6 more issues to go. #3 is on the 'to read' pile so we'll see if I keep buying this one beyond that or issue #4.

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.

Later!

mike

You're Welcome?

So I'm cruising around the Internet and run across this on Amazon. The page is from a TwoMorrows publication called The Best of the Legion Outpost and reprints articles and artwork from the fanzine that most fans of the Legion of Superheroes should already be familiar with.

The thing that surprised me, though, was if you read the 'Editor would like to thank...' column at the far right, you may see my name listed among a couple dozen other people who have had a far more pivotal role in Legion history than yours truly. To be perfectly honest, I can only guess as to why I'm listed. Having run a Keith Giffen focused website in the past and done several interviews where we discussed the Legion, I'm thinking that this is likely why I'm sitting next to Mike Grell, Steve Lightle, David Micheline, George Pérez, Dave Cockrum and all the others. Still, I wonder what I could have contributed to thius particular publication.

I do recall being contacted a while ago by someone from TwoMorrows and asked for a scan of the cover to the Woodgod story that Keith drew over a Bill Mantlo story(Marvel Spotlight, perhaps?), so that could perhaps be the case.

Maybe I should just buy a copy and find out what, if any, connection I have to this book.

If anyone out there perhaps knows, feel free to fill me in. I'd love the skinny.

Later!

mike

High Fidelity

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).

The most entertaining bit of the experience so far has been her exasperated astonishment regarding how clueless men are. Now, granted, the guys in High Fidelity aren't Joe Everyman, but they represent most of the people I know, have known, and myself. So, yeah, when she asks me, "Are men really that clueless" I have to say, "mm-hm". It's embarrasing to cop to it, but Rob, the main character of the book, is very much a part of me, as I'm confident he is a part of many, many individuals. We are that lost, angry, passionate, disillusioned, and messed up when it comes to the realm of women.

Watching the movie used to frustrate Jen because it reminded her too much of the qualities in me that drove her nuts. Kind of a Catch-22 situation for her because she likes the movie on other levels, so I get blamed for that, too.

I can live with that.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to be spreading the Nick Hornby love and am looking forward to see what she retaliates with. I know she's a big Ian Rankin fan, so it is very possible that she'll fling some D.I. Rebus my way. We'll see.

Later!

mike

The Indiana Jones Comic Book Revue #2

All books are rated on a 0 to 5 Fedoras system.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #3
(Marvel Comics Group)

Written by: Denny O'Neil
Pencilled by: Gene Day & Richard Howell
Inked by: Mel Candido & Danny Bulandi
Cover by: Richard Howell & Armando Gil

"Here I am again, doing what I seem to do best; making it up as I go along!"

Dateline 1936

"The Devil's Cradle" picks up immediately after the events in the second issue with Indy jumping out of Edith Dunne's ill-fated aircraft. He lands in an undetermined location, described in the story only as 'a mountain'. After landing, he stumbles upon a small mob who are trying to hang an unarmed man. Naturally, Indy intervenes and escapes with the man only to find themselves running afoul of the American military led by Colonel Bulldog Hannigan. They give both groups the slip and then the man leads Indy to a cave where he and his grandfather, Prospero, have been living.

The cave sits below a rock formation known as The Devil's Cradle, and in the cave is a pool of water that is integral to the work being done by Prospero and his grandson. They are working on an elixir that grants long life but the military, believing the rock formation will eventually destabilize and roll down the mountain to the camp below, wish to destroy the Devil's Cradle. This appears to be no skin off Prospero's back, because he intends to blow the thing himself using dynamite. When Indy protests, there's a scuffle and Prospero's enhanced strength helps him physically beat Indy into submission.

Indy wakes up tied to the rock with the explosives ready to go off and escapes only to be captured by the military who think he is a traitor and a saboteur. Another escape leads Indy back up to the Devil's Cradle where he prevents the army from discovering the well, stops Prospero from destroying the army camp, and once again saves Prospero and his grandson from armed thugs. Following this, having no further quarrel with Indy, Prospero and his grandson lead Indy off the mountain helping him get back to civilisation and ending his adventure.

This is not one of the best comics I've ever read, but it wasn't one of those books where you read a few pages and you know that, despite your love for the character, you'll never manage to continue reading, either. It's a little stiff, sometimes pointless, and often downright silly. Still, I can't completely condemn this one. Had it come first in the series, expectations may have been a bit lower and it would have had an easier time passing muster for me.

I think O'Neill never truly found his footing in the Indiana Jones universe. Granted, he wasn't given a whole heck of a lot of time to do so, but in interviews with the man he admits to not having a good time writing the stories and welcomed the opportunity to leave the series. The artwork by Day and Howell is decent but never really grabs me by the collar and gives me a shake, if you know what I mean. There are some nice moments, like the double page spread in the cave, but overall an uninspired offering from a great artist like Gene Day. And in case you were worried I would leave the other artist, Richard Howell, free of criticism, fear not! Howell's contributions were more than a little stale and unsatisfying on several levels.

To be honest, I think this issue suffers mostly from following immediately after the very entertaining two issue debut by Byrne and O'Neill (who clearly was scripting over Byrne's existing outline on issue two). It was a tough act to follow, in my opinion and, had I been buying the series at the time, I don't know if I would have continued beyond this issue. The Coming Next Issue blurb of "Next: Stonehenge" might have drawn me back for number four, but there's no guarantees.

Favourite X-FIles Moments #2

Before I go on to the next clip, I just wanted to touch on the last clip from "Quagmire". Imentioned in that post that I wasn't sure who wrote that particular act but I've since learned that it was an uncredited effort by the amazing Darin Morgan, writer of episodes like "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", "Humbug" and "José Chung's From Outer Space".

No wonder it's a favourite moment of mine and many other X-Philes.

Now, the new clip is from the Chris Carter directed and written episode, "Post-Modern Prometheus". It's the conclusion of the episode and features a somewhat uncharacteristic musical number with our heroes, the episode's creature, and Cher.



I love the scene for it's strangeness and for it's touching character bits between Mulder and Scully. I'm no shipper but this was a sweet moment that you wouldn't normally see on the show and it sort of stands out to me because of it.

Believe Again.

mike

Update: I just watched this video and it appears to be fan made and features the entire song rather than the abridged version used in the episode. The ending is still the same as in the show, but you have to endure other scenes to get through it, not to mention Cher's singing.

I'll maybe post the corrected version sometime.

Viva la Bono?

I'm sorry, but I saw this ad the other night and I couldn't help thinking that Chris Martin is trying to be Bono. The movements, the voice, imagery...you decide:



Later!

mike

"27 Jennifers"

I married a Jennifer, and love the music of Mike Doughty. The two appear to be a great match:



mike

George Said It Was Supposed To Be A Serial...

I just loved this too much to not post it...



mike

I've Had Worse Days

Just a short little post for a change. I just wanted to come on and point out that, today, I finished reading Dr. No, and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for the first time.

Not a bad day, really.

More on Indy tomorrow.

mike

Favourite X-Files Moments

From the episode "Quagmire", Mulder and Scully have an honest moment while stranded in the middle of a lake:



The rest of the episode is pretty pedestrian, but this bit of dialogue between the two characters is some of the most interesting, funny and truthful in the whole series. Amazing that it came from a writer who only did two episodes total, this one and another called "Revalations". It's possible that, like any other show, this section was written by one of the producers or Carter himself, but until I hear otherwise, kudos to Kim Newton for hitting these two guys perfectly.

The episode was directed by Kim Manners.

Believe again!

mike

I Want To Believe

Not to take anything away from the Indy Joygasm, but I think I have to throw some love Mulder and Scully's way since my other bestest franchise of all time is returning this summer, as well. I'm going to be posting embedded videos that I run across and some comments as the film release date draws nearer. I'd love to hear any thoughts from other X-Philes out there, too. I haven't had a good X-Files convo in at least 6 years.

The first video is a brief but tantalizing bit off of Entertainment Tonight (that auto-start on the video is gonna drive me crazy as time goes on):

Update - I couldn't stand the "I'm standing on the Top Secret set..." thing anymore so I took the embedded video down. I'm sure anyone who wanted to see it already has.

These next two videos are part of a viral advertising campaign featuring David and Gillian in what appears to be a psychiatrists office:

MULDER


SCULLY


Last, but not least, the official trailer. Similar to the one used at Emerald Comicon (I think it was Emerald) but with a bit more dialogue and not seen through the POV of a shaky fan cam:



I realize that I've posted, like, a weeks worth of X-Files videos just now. Kind of blown my wad, you might say. Whatever. I'm excited. You should be excited, too.

Believe Again.

mike

The Indiana Jones Comic Book Revue

I mentioned a little while ago that I had wanted to do this, and I figured now was as good a time as any to get the ball rolling, so...

All books will be rated on a 0 to 5 Fedoras system.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #1 & 2
(Marvel Comics Group)

Written by: John Byrne & Denny O'Neil
Pencilled by: John Byrne
Inked by: Terry Austin
Covers by: John Byrne & Terry Austin

"...Risky. Risky is the word, Marcus."

Following the success of the first Indy film, Marvel Comics went into the archaeology business with their newest licensed title, The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. To launch the title, Marvel recruited fan-favourite artist John Byrne to bring Dr. Jones' continuing adventures to life, and brought in writer Denny O'Neil to finish the tale when Byrne and Lucasfilm began having problems.

Dateline 1936

The story, titled "The Ikons of Ikammanen", begins when an old student of Indy's, Charlie Dunne, arrives at Barnett College to inform him of a great discovery he made with his sister, Edith. They believed that they had located the temple of the mythical Ikons of Ikammanen, gold statues that were capable of becoming living avengers. In the process of relating his tale to Indy, he is killed by an unknown assassin sending our hero to Liberia in order to assist Edith in uncovering the Ikons location in her brother's absence.

In true Indiana Jones fashion, our hero gets in a few scrapes with the locals (vaguely remiscient of Raiders) and then comes face to face with the local gangster, Solomon Black. Black, who has captured Edith and is enthralled by the idea of finding a number of solid gold statues, tells Indy that if he doesn't find the Ikons for him, he will kill her. Indy, of course, obliges, and bides his time, waiting for his chance to work his way out of yet another complicated situation.

They travel to a mysterious fog-encrusted island (think Skull Island) where they are knocked unconscious by the locals while examinging their discovery, the Ikon's temple itself. The issue ends with Indy and Edith, tied to a large winch and chain and being lowered into a vat of boiling gold. Will our hero finally meet his end?

The second issue, called "22-Karat Doom!", picks up where the last one left off, with Indy and Edith in peril trying to find a way out of their predicament. A combination of Indy's wits, and the convenient intervention of Solomon Black's men, saves the pair from becoming golden statues themselves but they immediately find themselves having to fight with Black's men against the natives in order to make their way back to the beach and the ship they arrived on.

After getting on Black's last nerve, Indy and Edith are unexpectedly saved by a patrolling German U-Boat that launches a torpedo and ends the threat posed by Solomon Black and his gang. Our heroes, who tossed themselves over the side before the ship exploded (along with one Ikon which survived the blast), hitch a ride with the Germans and make their way back to the States. The only catch is that Edith had been planning a double-cross the whole time and was, in actual fact, the assassin responsible for her brother Charlie's death. She wanted some of the fame and fortune and didn't want to play second fiddle to her brother just because she was a woman. Indy gets the last laugh, though, when he uses an inscription he found in the Ikon's temple to bring the one Ikon they saved from their adventure to life. The Ikon attacks Edith and her pilot boyfriend while Indy grabs a chute and leaps out of the plane, into the great unknown.

It sounds a little cheeseball when I break it down like that, but these are actually pretty entertaining Indy comics. When you consider the existing Indy lore (which was almost non-existent) I think Byrne and O'Neil did a bang up job of capturing the whole pulp '30s feel that George Lucas always said he was going for in the movies. Sure Indy was a bit out of character in a few scenes, but it fit the tone and style of the story so I can go out of my way to cut the guys some slack.

I really liked the way Byrne breaks the story into chapters, evoking that Republic serial feel, and the pacing was brisk and almost of another time. Back in the '80s, we didn't have the deconstructionists taking 12 issues to tell a story that Eisner or his peers would have told in 8 pages, but the speed with which Byrne moves through this story is still something else. It was probably a good thing, too, since he wasn't able to really do anything else with the character other than run him through his paces and showcase a few set-pieces.

It's a shame that Byrne didn't stay on beyond issue two since I don't believe that any artist that followed him had the same universal appeal and pulp approach, but the guy was unhappy and that was almost 30 years ago, so what can you do?

Both Byrne and O'Neil have said that they really didn't enjoy working on the book because of editorial interference from Lucasfilm but, despite their working experiences, they managed to produce two of the most entertaining and visually pleasing Indy books I've seen over the past 27 years. I still go back and reread these issues every now and then when I have a craving for some good Indy comics.

Indy High Then Burn

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, with the new movie coming out, the books have been brought back into print and are available at one of my local booksellers. Armed with this information, I headed down to the McNally Robinson and grabbed myself a copy of Caidin's first offering, Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates. I've been enjoying reading it for the last couple of days and decided, tonight, that I would peel off the annoying little price label that they stick on every one of their books. I don't usually have problems with them but this time it peeled the finish right off the back cover.

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.

You can't see it in the picture. It's just over the explosion, though.

Of course, when I brought this up to Jen expecting a little sympathy, it degraded into a fight with her saying some pretty awful things (yeah, I know how ridiculous this problem is, but come on, give a frazzled mind the proverbial shoulder to lean on) and now I'm down here posting about it and checking out how much it would cost to order the last 5 books that I'm missing from Amazon (5 includes the Sky Pirates).

I need to go chill out.

Until next time...

mike

Iron Man Stuff

It's a little funny because I wasn't consciously winding up for the Iron Man premiere, but in the last few weeks I've read the "Extremis" storyline written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Adi Granov that launched the new monthly a while back. This week, I've been reading Iron Man: The Inevitable, by Joe Casey and Frazer Irving, and tonight, I showed the animated The Invincible Iron Man movie to my kids.

Then I find out that the live-action movie was sneak previewing tonight and I'm thinking synchronicity city, here. That, or I've been at this kind of thing for so long that I can't even tell any more when I'm ramping up for something. I just go into automatic pilot, or something.

Personally, I think it was because I started picking up and reading the "Enter the Mandarin" mini-series for Eric Canete's art, but I'm not going to argue the point.

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.

Looks like we'll be trying to hit a matinee with the kids for the live-action on Sunday so I may have more to say regarding Tony Stark in the very near future. The movie is getting rave reviews (yay, Jon Favreau) so expectations are high, now. Let's hope it's not a stinker.

mike

The Comic Haul

I've been into the comics again.

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.

Nothing too deep but a fun read, nonetheless. I'll definitely raid the back issue bins for more Maze Agency in the future.

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?

I may as well have grabbed it for Nguyen, though, seeing as he seems to have brought his A game to the book while Burnett just kind of spins his wheels for a couple dozen pages and leaves you with little to want to come back for. He may have been taking the advantage of the opportunity to decompress his writing since he doesn't have to wrap everything up in 22 minutes, but I'm just not sure there's enough in this issue to bring me back for #38. Maybe if I catch it in a bargain bin I'll take a chance on it and see. Until then, I'm sad to say I'll probably leave it in a holding pattern.

Hmmm, now that I've brought it up, I should go and dig out my old Casey/Nguyen Wildcats books. It's been a while since I've looked at those.

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.

I was pleasantly surprised as this was something I could follow despite my ignorance regarding who these characters were and what their place in the larger scheme of things is. This was an issue that would have kept me going for a few more months to see where J.M. was planning to take the series but, alas, the book is no more. Oh well, at least I'll have three more issues to peruse with no more obligation to buy and features J.M. teaming up once again with Keith Giffen.

How bad can it be?

That's all for now, folks. More, as usual, when the time comes.

mike

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!

I mean, really, what else is there to say?

mike

"The Doomsday Machine" - Behind the Scenes

I don't have a lot to say about this video other than the fact that it's kind of cool that the original writer of the classic Star Trek episode decided he would give some background on how he became involved with the show and give some commentary on the new remastered version of the episode done by CBS Digital.

I'm not a huge fan of this remastered Trek that they're peddling right now, but some of the new work being done is very nice and I can understand the impulse to want to go back and fix some things up. That being said, I love my old Trek, analog control panels and all. Every last ridiculous nut and bolt of it.

Anyway, here's writer Norman Spinrad...



Later!

mike

My Favourite Videos #6 (With the Video Finally Fixed)

It's been a while since I posted one of these, but I've been trying to get into the two most recent U2 albums for the last couple of days (I've been trying for years, if you must know) and while talking to my brother about it he reminded me of this video which I love dearly for various reasons.

Possibly the last great video from U2, "Stuck in a Moment" features football, John Madden, in-jokes galore, great direction, and Brendan Fehr as the ill-fated kicker aptly named, Paul Hewson (Bono's secret identity for those of you who don't know).

After a failed kick, losing the game to the opposing team, Hewson is doomed to relive the tragic defeat over and over again (by the way, the video is buggy in my browser so if you have problems, you'renot the only one).



There's also an international version of the video directed by Kevin Godley (who has a few U2 videos to his credit) which is almost as good, but doesn't have that extra little 'oomf' that pushes the US version to the Faves list. Here's a peak at it:



One thing I like about both videos is the fact that in the first, Bono seems more like himself in the early '90s, sporting the Fly duds and sunglasses and full of pathos. The second video seems to be reminiscient of a pre-"Achtung baby!" Bono, just arriving in Berlin with his suede coat, shoulder length hair and looking earnest. Considering the faux Bono that has been milling about for the last few years, it does my heart good to get a glimpse of an old friend, however briefly.

Until next time!

mike

From the Back Issue Bin

For whatever reason, I decided to read Avatar's first licensed Stargate SG1: P.O.W. comic book series tonight and thought I would post some reactions to it.

I remember being really excited when I first heard about this title. Stargate SG1 was, at the time, my favourite sci-fi show on TV and being a fan of The X-Files comic and the original Buffy comics (published by TOPPS and Dark Horse, respectively) I figured this would be one more 'expanded universe' that I would get to play in. Once the issues came out, though, I never bothered tpo pick them up. I don't know if it was finances, or an overall dislike of the art style (it could have been both, really) but I left them on the rack and didn't pick up my first Stargate issues until "Fall of Rome", where the addition of Roman gods to the mix was too tempting to resist.

Anyway, enough history.

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.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of this plot, which feels hackneyed and contrived, but I was still willing to go along for the ride if it was paced well and the characters were true to their TV counterparts. This was something Kuhoric did not do. I'm not sure how much of the bad pacing should be credited to Guedes, but the dialogue was stiff and often felt like it was cut and pasted from moments in the show. The jokes that O'Neill spouts are trite and there was just nothing organic about the way any of these people behaved.

I wouldn't often dare to say this (in the likelihoodthat someone actually called me on it) but I could have dialogued this better than Kuhoric. Given some time (and deep imersion in the subject matter) I may even have been able to come up with a better storyline, too, but for arguments sake, I'm going to stick with just the dialogue.

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...

On a side note, Kuhoric did his best to weave the story of the feature film into the narrative (for which I give him props) but it ended up coming off kind of stilted and felt more like he was trying to kill pages off with what has come before rather than coming up with some original story to fill those in.

I gotta say, I did not like this mini-series, despite (or possibly because of) having an appreciation for the source material and wanting this to be good. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone except maybe the most die-hard fan who wouldn't be totally turned off by it in the end. If I was wanting to make a good impression on a new reader, or someone looking for a proper Stargate fix, I think I would probably throw them one of the later minis, just to be safe.

Later!

mike

Young Indy - The Adventure Continues...Sort Of

What's a week without some Indy news, eh? I just caught this article on StarWars.com regarding the third season that wasn't for The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. As a fan of the show, I find it fascinating, but for more general Indy fans it's likely just a curiosity since they probably don't view the shows as canon, anyway.

The geek in me loves the new timeline, though.

mike

Reported Cult Activity

Just got back from seeing The Cult in town. It was a powerful set with a mix of some of their new tunes mixed with classics from previous albums. Jen enjoyed the show up to the point where she couldn't breathe from the smoke and was practically deaf from the noise. We left the show about a half-hour early, though, so we didn't get to see the end or the encore.

Jen says that she saw "Fire Woman" and "Sweet Soul Sister" performed live and that's all she really cared about. That and she bought a purple Cult bunny-hug/hoodie.

I might post a show review later.

mike

Exorcising The Heretic

I picked up Exorcist: The Beginning today which, I think, officially completes my Exorcist collection. I have the 25th Anniversary edition of The Exorcist as well as The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen, I have Legion, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist and now, The Beginning (I also include Blatty's non-Exorcist film, The Ninth Configuration, in that list because of its continuation of thematic elements introduced in the first Friedkin directed film).

Even though I consider Dominion to be the Blatty approved prequel, I wanted The Beginning almost for academic reasons. The fact that they were both born of the same idea, share many cast and crew members, but are completely different films, is something that intrigues me. I also wanted to hear Renny Harlin talk about the making of his version in the audio commentary, so it was one of those things I always knew I'd pick up someday, and that day just happened to be today. I think Renny's version is worth $5.99.

Astute readers will probably notice that I did not include The Exorcist II: The Heretic in the list above. To be honest, I do not consider this to be a part of the series and have no desire to ever see it, even though I've heard that seeing James Earl Jones in a giant locust suit is worth the rental (see this review if you need something to back that decision up). I try to stick to the Blatty approved material and The Heretic was only approved insofar as Warner Bros. asked him for a sequel, he said he wasn't interested, they asked how much it would cost to do one themselves, he gave them a ridiculous number and they said SURE!

I wasn't even prepared to accept Dominion as canon until Blatty saw a screening of the film and thought it was pretty darned good, giving Schrader and his little film that wouldn't die the Exorcist thumbs up.

So, if anyone has any reasons why they think I should be giving The Heretic a try I'd love to hear them. Until then, however, I'll consider my Exorcist collection complete.

Later!

mike

Stephen King's Multiverse

In the foreword for The Gunslinger, Stephen King talks about writing an epic. He said that he, like so many others of his time, was completely smitten with Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and knew that he wanted to create something like it, but different enough that it would be his and not just a copy. To quote the text he says:

...although I read the books in 1966 and 1967, I held off writing. I responded to the sweep of Tolkien's imagination...but I wanted to write my own kind of story, and had I started then, I would have written his. That, as the late tricky Dick Nixon was fond of saying, would have been wrong. Thanks to Mr. Tolkien, the twentieth century had all the elves and wizards it needed.

After re-reading the book, and exploring some of the other works of King (I know, I said I wouldn't, so sue me) I realized that, despite trying his best to not write a Tolkien-esque story with halflings and dwarves, he was, in fact, doing something very similar to another popular fantasy writer of the time, Michael Moorcock.

Moorcock is well known for creating his famous Multiverse and all the myriad characters who inhabit it. From Elric of Melniboné to Jerry Cornelius, Moorcock's characters have weaved in and out of each others stories for the last 40 years, with some characters even sharing a common aspect of a single entity, The Eternal Champion. From the Wikipedia entry:

The Eternal Champion, a Hero who exists in all dimensions, times and worlds, is the one who's chosen by fate to fight for the Balance; however, he often doesn't know of his rôle, or, even worse, he struggles against it, never to succeed.

All the incarnations of the Eternal Champion are facets of each other, and the Champion may also be aided by a companion, who, like himself, exists in various incarnations. Likewise the Champion is often associated with one romantic association that is possibly an aspect of an eternal figure. Other characters in the various books have occassionally crossed over from one universe to another, although it is unclear what their status in the multiverse may be.

From what I've gleaned about The Dark Tower series is that King has created a very similar fictional construct, one in which he is able to explore all sorts of possibilities, including bringing in characters from other books (like Randall Flagg who debuted in The Stand but also appears in The Eyes of the Dragon and The Dark Tower series).

Anyway, I know I'm not the first one to see this, and it's not huge news or anything, but it's the first time I'm thinking of Kings work as a larger piece of interconnecting fiction. As a huge fan of Moorcock and his Multiverse, this appeals to me a great deal.

That's all I have to say on that subject for now. I apparently have a date to read some Prince Caspian to a couple of troublemakers before bed so I'm off to do that.

Later!

mike

On Reading the King

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.

Still, I would never go so far as to call myself a fan. I didn't seek out the man's work, nor did I look forwrd to the next Stephen King 'joint', as it were. I never questioned the quality of his writing as I was sure that he remained a proficient author who likely had only improved in the many years since I stopped paying his books any mind. It was simply a matter of my interests waning, and possibly a smattering of literary snobbery as I may have convinced myself that popular thriller/horror novels couldn't possibly have anything to offer.

I should also qualify that my position on King hasn't changed insofar as I'm going to seek out everything of his that I haven't read and gobble it up until I can't stand it anymore. I'm still not compelled to read From a Buick 8 or Hearts in Atlantis or Dreamcatcher or The Long Mile or Rose Madder and countless others.

So, why the heck am I writing this post, you may be asking yourself?

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.

It seemed interesting. I mean, King doing a western was certainly a change of pace, and a fantasy western at that. Plus, the book was really short and, as anyone who knows me will attest, getting me to read anything that I'm unfamiliar with is always easier if the book is a short one. And, in all fairness, it was interesting but it came at a point when I was moving on to other stuff and I was finding King's work to be a little long-winded and over-descriptive to continue on with it.

It's kind of funny, then, how the comics rekindled my interest in The Dark Tower, which led me to get a copy of The Gunslinger, which had two interesting and well-written forewords to the text in it, which is where I first heard of King's memoir, On Writing, which I then went out and found and read in a couple of sittings.

It was pretty decent timing, too, because I had recently finished reading Nick Hornby's Songbook and I was still in the mood for something non-fiction that was written in the author's voice. I'm trying to get myself back into the habit of writing regularly again (and not just the interviews and articles but proper fiction and screenplays) and I found Hornby's essays to be somewhat motivational. Granted, I was pretty tired of his particular voice after a day or two of Songbook but I still needed something that was a conversational piece.

Enter Stephen King's On Writing.

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.

The bad side of this is that I'm now feeling like every minute I spend at work is time I could be writing something, but maybe having that obstacle also helps fuel the desire to be doing the work. Absence making the heart grow fonder and all that jazz.

Well, I'm off to go and put something down on the ol' pages.

Later!

mike

...and Teaser

Okay, this blurry, choppy, bootlegged little teaser has given me goosebumps like the Indy image from a few months ago did. The pictures I have seen from the set have been lackluster and unable to really spark the imagination, but this teaser from WonderCon has me excited, now.

Apology Is Policy!

mike

X-Files 2 Poster...

I'm equally excited and wary of this sequel that comes possibly 5 years too late to mean anything to us die-hard fans of the series, especially since it purports to not have any bearing on the alien colonization mythology that was left greatly unresolved at the end of season 9. Still, rumours say that this story may revolve, or just involve, Scully's son, William, who she gave up near the end of the series in order to give him a normal life (and for those of us who watch, William is anything but a normal baby).

Anyway, I just caught this image of the teaser poster and am cautiously giddy with excitement for July 25th.



Trust No One!

mike

Spirit Worries

The more I see of Frank, and the more I hear about this film, the more I worry. I experience a slight, uncomfortable tightening of the sphincter while listening to Miller talk about this project.



Form your own opinions. I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Later!

mike

Indy Fans, Check This Out

I don't think I've blogged about this article that Vanity Fair ran last month (or was it 2 months ago) and I ran across the online version of it sitting in my bookmark folder so I clearly intended to. Anyway, I figured I should post it, have one less bookmark to worry about and bring joy to those Indy fans who have yet to see this piece (in its entirety) with the accompanying Annie Liebowitz photos.

Later!

mike

Foo Fighters Setlist 03/27/08

1. Let It Die
2. Pretender
3. Times Like These
4. Breakout
5. Learn to Fly
6. Cheer Up Boys, Your Makeup’s Running
7. This Is a Call
8. The One
9. Stacked Actors with a long drum solo from Taylor Hawkins

Acoustic Set on Smaller Stage In-the-Round

10. Skin & Bones
11. Marigold
12. My Hero
13. Cold Day in the Sun (ft. Taylor Hawkins on drums & vocals)
14. But, Honestly
15. Everlong

End Acoustic Set

16. Monkey Wrench
17. All My Life

Encore

18. Big Me (feat. Jessy Green)
19. Long Road to Ruin
20. Best of You

Watching the Foos

I'll be hitting the Foo Fighters concert tonight with my brother and his new beaux. I'll post some comments on it later tonight, perhaps.

Later!

mike

Plissken by Watson

Who would have thunk it. John Carpenter and Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken by Andi Watson. Not only was it an unexpected thing to run across, but it's also awesome to behold. Go check out Andi's sites and books.

Later!

mike

Nearly Thwarted by the Six Feet Under Packaging

A couple of weeks ago I bought the first season of Six Feet Under at the local Wal-Mart for a mere $18. I finally got around to opening it up tonight and found it to be a frustrating and complicated ordeal. I mean, I've heard of gimmicky packaging before but HBO must have broken out their rocket scientists to develop this one.

I couldn't find a picture of it online, so I'll have to see if I can take one myself and slap it up on the blog for those of you who do not know of what I speak.

Essentially, the set is packaged in such a way as to recall a casket, I believe, and sits horizontal with a base and a lid. The lid is supposed to flip upwards and, as it opens, lifts the DVD case out of the box revealing all the HBO goodness inside. You then remove the DVDs (packaged in the same book-like flip-open case that anything not in a thinpak is generally sold in), watch the discs you want and, if you're smart, do not replace them in the 'casket'. Just keep them open and free, it'll be much easier for the next time you want to watch them. Once you've watched the whole series and featurettes, then you put it away until the next time you wanna wrassle with the absurd thing. Beyond wrecking the packaging, opening and closing the thing is just a pain in the ass. It's a good thing the show's so good otherwise I (and, I'm sure, many others) wouldn't even bother with the thing.

Not much of a post, I know, but something that really irritated me when it took me 30 or so minutes to figure the damn thing out (that includes the time I spent surfing the internet looking for images of an opened case for clues).

Later!

mike

Early Thoughts on Southland Tales

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 knew going in that I would have to do some work on my own, that I would have to read the prequel trilogy and hit the website and dig through additional sources to fully appreciate the movie, but on a basic sit down and watch a show for a couple of hours level, Southland alienates the viewer almost from the outset with its wealth of backstory that you're never really given a glimpse of, the awkward dialogue being delivered by Dwayne Johnson and Sarah Michelle Geller, and the often improvisational nature of Kelly's shooting style (I don't know how much of it was improved, but seeing as how half the cast are ex-SNL alumn, I'm thinking a bunch).

Is there method to the madness? Perhaps. Is this gleanable upon a single viewing? Certainly not.

I want to like this movie, and I'm willing to put the work into it to see where it takes me as a viewer and as someone who appreciated the technical side of filmmaking, but I'm not reccomending this one for everyone. Unless you're already a Kelly fan, this may not be appropos for you.

More on this story as it develops.

Later!

mike

Stargate Defective Disc Blues Cured

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.

Fast forward a few months and a friend from work asks me to borrow the discs. No problem because I'm not watching them, so I give them to her and everything is business as usual. Then I get a call from her a bit later telling me that disc 5 is the same as disc 1. They're labelled properly, but the actual information on them is identical. Having no receipt, and being many months from the purchase date I was worried that I would not be able to get an exchange or satisfaction of any sort.

I had this problem before with my Ultimate Superman set, and Warners was nothing if not accomodating, so I hit the internet hoping to find a customer service line for MGM to contact. I discovered that this was a common problem, got a number and was raring to go. I still thought of calling the local London Drugs where I purchased the set just in case, possibly saving me some time and effort in getting the thing replaced.

Well, I just got off the phone with the salesman and he was aware of the problem and had no issues with me coming in and exchanging it there. Not too shabby.

I'll be heading over there later today and hopefully have the whole thing resolved quickly.

Later!

mike

The Comic Haul Redux

I never got to finish the previous Comic Haul and I've picked up even more comics since then, so I'm going to try and get some of those out of the way, review-wise.

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.

I'll also add a bit of a post script and say that since picking up this book I've also come to enjoy Way's band, My Chemical Romance. The main point in referring to that here is to emphasise that, although there are some definite stylistic similarities (a la the James Jean covers and the murky, theatrical, gothic vibe that it shares with The Black Parade), this comic book exists wholly outside of My Chemical Romance's rock'n'roll world. This is not some tie-in book like a KISS comic and, so far, there have been no coy references to ideas MCR presents in their music and vice versa. I think that is a definite strength of this series, especially in its first arc, and a well thought out choice on Way's part. I think I wouldn't mind it so much the second time around, but I'm not clamoring for it, either.

Anyway, check this book out.

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.

A little ironic then that Casey's previous work manages to overshadow his current debut on a new Youngblood series for upstart comic guy, Rob Liefeld. I picked this first issue up hoping to have something fresh and dynamic, political and fun, but there are just a lot of recycled ideas here, unfortunately. Some of them we've seen Casey implement before on other team books like the aforementioned Wildcats, others just seem overdone and clichéd, none moreso than the super-hero as celebrity set-up. Casey tries to give it some colour by adding the reality TV show into it, but that was just seen over in Civil War with the New Warriors and the team as a government-sponsored and created entity who exist to be more of a PR stunt than protectors of freedom was done over in The American Way a couple of years ago.

And that's just before dragging Peter Milligan's X-Force into the mix.

What can I say, I was disappointed. I think my feelings mirror those of the main character, Shaft, who seems equally unconvinced that this story and team are going anywhere. When he was playing in Jim Lee's sandbox, Casey gave us something we could chew on, but here we're just seeing more of the same old same old.

There's a very good chance I will not bother with issue 2.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #48-49: I don't know if I have anything more to say about this series other than I miss Pascual Ferry. Carey's writing stays sharp, the stories stay interesting and I'm willing to give Mark Brooks a chance before officially bitching and moaning for Ferry to return to the title instead of moonlighting over with Orson Scott Card on that ol' Iron Man book.

I have numbers 49 and 50 on the read pile so expect to see more UFF in future Comic Hauls.

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.

This is a little less grand but still more entertaining than I ever thought it could be, especially with Jim Shooter on writing chores.

So often the companies will bring back the old guard to try and revive that ol' '70s or '80s magic, and so often it fails miserably. Claremont's multiple returns to the X-Men, Wolfman's recent run on Teen Titans, and I'm sure if I hit a Google search I could drum up a few more. My point is, Shooter being back on Legion had disaster written all over it for me, but it's actually a pretty good read. It's very entry level, as far as Legion stories go, but I'm going to stick around and see where this all leads. The characters intrigue me, the art by Francis Manapul is nice to look at, and it does feel good to be picking up this book again after sooooo long a hiatus.

If you were ever a Legion fan, try an issue or two of this. You may not be disappointed.

The Spirit #11-12: I'm still trying to get a handle on this book. I love Darwyn to itty-bitty pieces, and think Will Eisner's Spirit stories are some of the best comics ever produced, so I'm confused as to why this series doesn't fire on all cylinders for me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but maybe I'm reading it wrong. Maybe I'm hanging on to Will tighter than I think I am which colours what Darwyn is trying to do.

I think after I get through 13 and 14 I'll have a better opinion, just because I'll see how someone else would have done it.

Still, each issue is a dream to look at, particularly those title pages.

Welp, that's it for tonight. More when I have time.

Later!

mike

Never Thought I'd See the Day

Despite being a popular film series, the Indiana Jones merchandising machine has never been on the same level as the Star Wars one. Indy collectables, comics, and toys just haven't had the same market penetration due either to lack of effort or interest by all parties involved.

But then I ran across this today:



Warms the heart it does. When you get Lego sets based on you, you've finally made it into the mass market. Add to this the Lego Indy game that's coming out, the revolutionary new Indy game from LucasArts, and the new comics from Dark Horse and you've got a movie/franchise that's finally getting its due and fans who, I'm sure, will be thrilled to have some merchandise to hunt down and legos to build.

Later!

mike