The Comic Haul - 03/18/09

And here we are with another installment of the getting more regular, The Comic Haul, where I, your intrepid blogging host, review some of the weeks comics for your perusal:



JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER #253 was a pretty enjoyable read and a decent first effort by new writer, Peter Milligan. I've been a fan of Milligan's since his days back on Shade the Changing Man and was happy to hear that he would be replacing Andy Diggle as regular series writer. Diggle brought me back into the fold and with his departure I questioned whether or not I would continue on with the book. Milligan was the perfect name to keep me around for the long haul. I will say that the story of intelligent, and somewhat malicious, biological material (in this case a scab) rings kind of familiar (see latter issues of the aforementioned Shade) but Milligan manages to spin it well, and the addition of John's new girl, Phoebe, gives the whole story a nice little twist. I'm not entirely sold on the artwork of Giuseppe Camuncoli, but given some time I think he'll settle in just fine. Oh yeah, there's also a fine cover by regular cover artist, Lee Bermejo.

GROOM LAKE #1 is a book I knew nothing about until I read last week's Angel: Blood & Trenches. There was an ad in back that showed the cover image and listed the creative team, and my curiosity was piqued. As an X-Files fan from way back, how could I not think of that great episode, 'José Chung's From Outer Space" with the smoking alien and the "this is not happening" mantra? Unfortunately, Groom Lake doesn't really live up to that level of fun and sophistication. To be honest, it's not even fun and stupid. Chris Ryall riffs on Men in Black, X-Files, and every other space-horror-comedy that has come down the pike in the last 10 or 15 years to cobble this one together. Heck, even Ben Templesmith can't save this one. Skip it if it's an option.

THE X-FILES #5 has yet another creative team taking the reins where Frank Spotnitz and Marv Wolfman left off. This time around Scully and Mulder must deal with mysterious underground "demons" in a story that is a bit of a stretch, tonally, for The X-Files. There appears to be a serial killer on the loose who claims to be driven by 'demons' who live in an underworld that is analogous to hell. The police don't have enough information out of the suspect and they ask for a "Spooky perspective", inviting Fox and Dana to check on their guy. They get embroiled in something greater than anyone expected and judging by the cliffhanger ending, there be demons afoot. Either that, or Daphne, Fred and Velma are going to pop out soon and pull the masks off the ghoulies and reveal how the crime was done. In all fairness, Doug Moench does a decent job with the material, it just doesn't feel quite X-Filesey enough. It takes a special hand to get it right. So far, Stefan Petrucha and John Rozum, with an honourable mention for Marv Wolfman last issue, are the closest the comic world has come to finding writers that can do this material and make it feel like the television show. Next issue's the last so we'll see if the series goes out on a whimper or a bang.

SUPERGIRL #39 continues the "Who is Superwoman?" storyline that has been running post New Krypton, and remains one of my top of the pile reads every month. I never expected to be picking up a Supergirl book. I collected it briefly when Peter David was the writer back in the day, but this new Loeb-introduced Supergirl was never my thing and I avoided her like the plague. Enter Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle who do such a wonderful job of creating a character and a world that feels very real to me month after month. Watching Kara deal with her mother's disapproval, the continuing feelings of loss for her father, the trouble she's having being torn between two worlds (New Krypton, where her biological family is, and Earth, her adopted homeworld) and the mystery of this Superwoman character that is causing all sorts of trouble for her are totally engaging to me. This is the level of drama I like to see in a continuing monthly super-hero series. It's just a combination of good writing and great artwork. Grab a copy if you have a chance.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #588 was a book I planned to buy but didn't. Marvel raised the price on the book to $3.99 so I had to opt out of the last issue in the "Character Assassination" stoy. For what it's worth, JR, Jr.'s art looks sharp as ever but I'm just not buying any books that were essentially an impulse purchase that have gone up in price. I can put those dollars towards continuing to buy the 'must-have' stuff.

MYSTERIUS THE UNFATHOMABLE #3 continues to build on the larger story that writer Jeff Parker introduced with the seance in issue 1. Sub-plots continue to develop and become intertwined with the main story wherein Mysterius discovers that a series of rhyming Seussian children's books are actually designed as spell for people to unintentionally code-chant in order to unleash Hell on Earth. Fun stuff. You can practically feel the surprise and irritation Mysterius must be experiencing as he deals with elements beyond his control thanks to Parker's great dialogue and the beautifully comic artwork of Tom Fowler. Every time I see him trying to 'help' a person deal with the supernatural, I imagine it must be not entirely dissimilar to explaining e-mail attachments to my mother. It usually ends with my hand on my forehead and an accompanying slapping sound. So, if you haven't picked up on it yet, this is great stuff. Mysterius is one of those 'give me something new and different' books you always hear people asking for, so give it a try if you haven't already.

And that was the Comic Haul for this week. Comments are always welcome so feel free to throw in your two cents worth.

Until next week, take care.

mike

Tubular Bells

I'm listening to a copy of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 2003 and I've hit that part where the MC announces all the instruments as they are introduced into the song. The track is called "Finale" and is one I generally enjoy. Originally it was done by Vivian Stanshall, and was later redone on Tubular Bells II by Alan Rickman. This 30th anniversary release features John Cleese who pretty much ruins it for me when he chimes in with his unmistakable enunciation. Rather than just enjoying the music for the music's sake, I feel like Oldfield is playing in a cheese shop, or something, and Cleese is there in all his Pythonesque glory.

I suppose the nice thing about this particular piece is that there are several versions of it out there over the years (all by Oldfield) and I can go back to TBII or the original whenever I want and just ignore this one.

Cheers!

mike

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Comic Haul - 03/11/09

And here we are with another installment of the increasingly irregular, The Comic Haul, where I, your intrepid blogging host, review some of the weeks comics for your perusal:





THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAVIOR 28 #1 is my pick for the week. A lot of folks have tried to do a book like this in recent years. They create a Superman analogue or other Golden or Silver Age hero, take him throughout history and show the effects his presence would have politically and on us as a society. I was a little concerned when I heard about this series because of the fact that this idea keeps getting rehashed in one way or another and I wondered why DeMatteis (someone I consider one of the best writers in the field) wanted to explore that idea. After reading Savior 28, I'm glad he did. This is really great stuff. The characters were interesting, the pondering of an alternate comic book history was kept to a minimum, and the pacing of the issue was razor sharp. Good dialogue, good art, great story, what else is there to ask for? I am really looking forward to what DeMatteis gives us next issue.

ANGEL: BLOOD & TRENCHES #1 wasn't perfect and certainly had its problems, but if Dark Horse had been trying stuff like this when they had the license, I think they would still have the Angel license. John Byrne comes in from out of nowhere and gives us a WWI Angel tale that is a fun take on the character and different enough from what is currently going on with the regular series to really stand out. Byrne's art is all pencil work here and he proves that, while he may not be the brightest light in comics any longer, he still has the art chops to knock one out of the park. Everything from the lush background details to the spot-on likeness of David Boreanaz go a long way to making this one of the best looking Angel stories I have ever seen. Story-wise, Byrne doesn't give us anything miraculous but it is a solid effort and he throws in enough detail to show that he was either a fan of the show or he did his research before taking this on. It's definitely worth checking out.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #34 has some very dramatic moments and is clearly building towards something, but my lack of interest in the Lantern universe is working against me, here. The owner of my LCS told me that Green Lantern stuff was just rocking these days and I should try it, so I did. Not so much with the rockin' and I feel pretty firm in my belief that I won't miss much if I skip the upcoming "Blackest Night".

THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #23 is a pretty decent read. I haven't had my hands on an Iron Fist comic since somewhere in the first 6 issues by Fraction,Brubaker and Aja, so I had no idea what to expect, but assumed, foolishly, that there was no way it could be as good as those early issues. Swierczynski does a nice job of creating atmosphere, communicating who these characters are with very little spoken information (also a credit to his art team of Travel Foreman and Co.) and coming in on the second part of a story and knowing exactly where I am and what's going on without 6 pages of exposition is a nice change. I'm seeing this more and more in Marvel books and it's making them so much more accessible than so much of DC's output. After reading this issue, I may consider catching up and continuing on with the book.

BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL #1 was better than I expected it to be, but I'm not sure I'm in for all three issues at this point. I do give it credit for being only three issues. I mean, considering all the crossovers and events in just about every corner of the DCU, and the multi-part R.I.P. storyline that seemed to go on forever, I tip me hat to them for showing some restraint and not milking this one. I should also give Tony Daniel some props for a not-bad job of writing, the first I've seen him do to date. It should be noted that the writing and art in Battle for the Cowl were both clearer and more engaging than any single issue of R.I.P. so maybe I should reconsider sticking around for the next two issues. Worth checking out if you've been a part of all this Batman tomfoolery over the last year, otherwise it might not have much resonance.

ACTION COMICS #875 was a really, really quick read. Still, I've been enjoying the happenings in the Superman corner of the DCU for a while now and this was no disappointment. The first of the all-new, all-Superman-free issues starring the Kryptonian heroes, Flamebird and Nightwing planted the seeds for what looks to be a decent story (or part of one) that will play out over the next 12 months. Kryptonian sleeper agents have been planted on Earth and they work for Zod who has not yet given up on his desire to crush Kal-El and his adopted homeworld. DC is certainly doing something right leaving their mightiest mascot in the hands of Greg Rucka, James Robinson and Geoff Johns.

That was kind of a DC heavy Comic Haul but I honestly didn't go crazy on the Marvels this week. I didn't review the new Captain Britain or Iron Man even though they were on the pile mostly because of time, but if I get a chance I'll run a couple of quickies off.

Until next week, take care.

mike

The Indiana Jones Comic Book Revue #4

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

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #5
(Marvel Comics Group)

Plot/Script by: David Michelinie
Pencilled by: Ron Frenz
Inked by: Danny Bulandi
Cover by: Ron Frenz

"I'm just glad mom isn't here to see this..."

Dateline 1936

"The Harbingers" continues right off the cliffhanger from last issue with Indiana Jones and Karen Mays as they dangle precariously off of a bridge in a commandeered Rolls Royce. As they make their escape they find that they are out of the frying pan only to jump into the fire as the Nazis are waiting for them on the bridge. Indy and Karen leap for the Thames and land on a garbage scow which takes them away from the immediate danger.

What follows is a series of misadventures with Indy and Karen dodging the Nazi menace at every turn while they try to make it to Stonehenge with the crystal artifact. Once there, they hope to see if the carvings that tell of the return of ancient beings to our plane of existence are true. What they find is pretty much as advertised and Michelinie describes it as such:

Above the ancient rock towers of Stonehenge the very sky splits open giving hazy glimpses of things reptillian, simian, canine, insectile, and utterly, utterly unknown!

Indy is tempted to let the beasties out so he can learn their secrets but has a change of heart and smashes the crystal, locking them away to wallow in their otherworldly place forever, not to mention foiling those pesky Nazis yet again.

Although I am never a fan of showing Indy too much of the supernatural, it is a necessary element to telling a certain kind of Indiana Jones story so I'm not going to condemn the creative team for going to the places they did in "The Harbingers". It's not the best Indy story I've ever read, but the characterizations were good, the action was fun, there was a fight on top of a train, and it was, overall, a decent pulp-inspired read. I also think this tale succeeds primarily because it mirrors so much of what made Raiders work: the race against time; the Nazi's around every corner; the ancient artifact that promises wondrous things; and a showy SFX finale with swirly ghost-like apparitions.

I honestly thought I was going to dip down with the rating on this one but I think it could be argued that "The Harbingers" was totally consistent with its predecessor and, therefore, earns three well-worn fedoras.

Hey Kids, Comics! For 03/11/09

Welcome to another installment of HK,C! and a decent sized pull-list.

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 pricey to be reasonable, or I would only pick up as an impulse buy. More than likely I'll read it at some point but not own it.


THIS WEEK'S PULL-LIST

THE AMAZON #1 (OF 3) (I have the original release of this mini from back in the '80s but it's worth picking up if you've never read it.)

ACTION COMICS #875 (I'm not buying them with any regularity, but the Superman books have managed to catch my interest, of late.)

REBELS #2 (Loved #1, looking forward to seeing where it's all going.)

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI 13 #11 (Still one of my favourite Marvel books.)

GHOST RIDER #33 (Not sure if I'm going to be buying past Huat's run but I'll take a look and see if I like it.)

GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #11 (I'm loving what Abnett and Lanning are doing on this book.)

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #11 (I didn't think I would like this once it got wrapped up on the whole Dark Reign thing but Fraction is proving me wrong.)

30 DAYS OF NIGHT 30 DAYS TIL DEATH #4 (Haven't been buying them but they are readable.)

That's it for this week. Have a great Wednesday at your LCS. If for some reason you don't know where that is, try here.

Later!

mike

The Comic Haul - 03/04/09

Sadly, I must apologize to anyone who is paying attention to these posts, but I'm not going to be able to get a Comic Haul out for this week. I have some contract work that I have to get through and it's sucking up a lot of time. Hopefully back on schedule for next week.

Oh yeah, and if you picked up Agents of Atlas this week, you get a cookie.

Later!

mike

Saturday Morning Watchmen

While you're waiting for Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie to open, you can enjoy the Saturday morning antics of your favourite costumed heroes from an alternate 1985 here:



Cheers!

mike

The Spirit DVD Announced

So they've finally announced the DVD release date for Frank Miller's The Spirit (landing April 14th) and it was accompanied by the cover art for the disc which is no less embarrassing than the film itself:





The first thing I noticed is that Gabriel Macht (the film's lead) is squished up in the top third of the image. The next thing I noticed is that Lionsgate would rather sell you this movie based on trashy women with extremely supportive undergarments and Sam Jackson looking like a transgendered hitman, not entirely dissimilar to how they marketed the movie to theatres (which clearly worked so well for them).

I told my wife just a couple of weeks ago while we were in the car and discussing how the movie quietly slipped out of the second run theatres in town, that after all the venom and bile I've spouted regarding this movie, they're gonna sucker me into the DVD purchase anyway because of the inevitable Will Eisner doc they will include, likely on a 2-disc collector's set. Apparently, they're only including the Eisner doc on the Blu-Ray release, though, so I may escape giving them any real money after all.

Later!

mike

The Comic Haul - 02/25/09

In all fairness, I haven't managed to improve my situation time-wise so this week's TCH will resemble the one I did last week. Still, that being said, I kind of didn't mind the format from last week and have been giving it some thought as to how one could refine it a bit and possibly make that the one I use from here on out. I'll keep thinking about it. And now, on to the reviews:



BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #2 was the second issue I bought from this series and the first I read, but seeing as how these are one-off stories, I don't think it really matters. I didn't have high hopes for it as I'm not a fan of the show but I picked it up for my kids who I thought might get a kick out of it. I have also enjoyed most of the DC kids books so there was always the chance that I would get a kick out of it too, but no such luck here. I'm sure it would appeal to my 7 year old immensely but, unlike Tiny Titans or the new Supergirl and Shazam! books, it's all ages appeal is pretty limited.

SUPERMAN #685 was a bit dry for my tastes and suffers from being a purely expository issue to set up the next year of the Super-books. Robinson does manage to not make it a complete bore by giving us some nice moments with Mon-El and the artwork by Javier Pina was pretty solid. I don't know how closely Pins worked with Hi-Fi, the colourists for this issue, but it did feel a bit off, with some of the scenes coming off a little too bright. Maybe they need just to adjust some of their photoshop filters. Overall a decent, if unspectacular, read.

YOUNGBLOOD #8 reminds me why I stopped buying this series after the first issue. It's chaotic and it's bland which is a strange combination and one that doesn't make for good comics. I wanted to like this series when it first debuted because I've enjoyed the talents of Joe Casey and Derec Donovan elsewhere on other books. Unfortunately, I don't see a lot of that talent showing itself 'round these parts. Could be that the Liefeld characters are really limited, could be the stories that Casey is coming up with are uninspired, I don't know. What I do know is that, 7 issues later, I give Youngblood yet another pass.

STAR TREK COUNTDOWN #2 is a surprisingly decent effort from IDW, writers Mike Johnson and Tim Jones, and artist David Messina. Despite the Trek magic being thoroughly tarnished after many years of returning to the proverbial well, and the new film not inspiring me with a great deal of hope for a successful franchise reboot, this mini-series gives me some comfort. It's a prequel, but doesn't appear to have anything to do with the movie two issues in and reads better than most of the comics or novels that have been released over the years, which is interesting. It's also a nice blending of the old and the new with characters like Spock, Picard, and Data making appearances that don't come off like stunt casting, and the new characters, like the Romulan miner, Nero, who manage to fit seamlessly into the existing Star Trek fabric. It is, by no means, a perfect comic book, and the plot bears some similarities to Star Trek VI, but I've genuinely enjoyed reading both the first issue and this one, so I'll probably stick around to see how it ends.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #22, part two of "Earth's Mightiest", doesn't really improve on the first part much, although I seemed less bothered by Khoi Phamm's work here than I was previously. Oddly enough, I think Quicksilver sums up my feelings on the issue best when he refers to the new team that's assembling as "pure chaos". I know there are supposed to be interesting character dynamics forming between Avengers past and present, but the whole thing seems too staged and just isn't working for me. And I don't know who is responsible, but what's up with Quicksilver being back in the green suit? I may stick around for the final chapter just for completion's sake, but I can't guarantee it.

And that's another Comic Haul in the bucket. Looking over the list I think I'd have to vote Star Trek: Countdown #2 as the Pick of the Litter which would be the second time that book has surprised me since picking it up.

Take care.

mike

Decoding "Gethsemane" et al

I'm not sure what the catalyst was, but a little while ago I decided to start re-watching my X-Files sets from season one up with the intention of experiencing the entire mythology, now armed with 20/20 hindsight. As big a fan of the show as I was during its run, by the time things started changing in some of the later seasons (somewhere around 7-9, I'd guess) I could no longer keep track of the most basic threads of the mythology. Not only that, but I didn't quite feel the "Holy Christ!" impact I was supposed to during some of the series' major turning points, and I felt a little bit cheated by that.

I blamed myself, of course. Since I followed the behind the scenes stuff as closely as I followed the on-air show, I always heard or read interviews where the writers all seemed to see how all the little bits of connective tissue were working together. Being in the writer's room would give you that advantage, I suppose. Still, I had to ask myself, could I have paid closer attention? Have I forgotten some precious detail that would act as the Rosetta Stone to all of this hybrid/cloning/invasion/super-soldier gobbledeygook? It's possible, but I know I'm not the only fan who started getting lost when one lie would overlap another lie which would eventually lead to a truth that seemed innocuous but was really a major revelation that you didn't realize was one until much later in the show. The relationship between Mulder and Scully was always tracking fine for me but when we got something like the info dump that was Fight the Future or when the secret cabal was eventually destroyed by the other aliens with the melty faces, so much had led up to those moments by that point that my reaction was very much a surface one and the connective tissue that you knew the writers had in their heads appeared to be missing from a fan's perspective.

So far, 20/20 hindsight viewing has proven to me that knowing the ending, or just the broad strokes, really does help with the earlier bits that eventually lead you there. Watching the mythology track has been really fun and I've finally been able to just sit back and enjoy the episodes rather than trying to put the puzzle pieces together week after week. Knowing what's coming has also left me with a lot of questions about plot points that I'm waiting to see play out, but that's the whole point of the exercise, isn't it?

I have hit one speed bump so far in the form of the episodes "Gethsemane", "Redux" and "Redux II". The season 4 ender and the season 5 opener serves as a restatement of the mythology and attempts to send it off in a direction that will drive it headlong into the first feature film, Fight the Future, but I'm just totally derailed right now. It could be because I've watched it in interrupted bits and pieces, but this real alien/fake alien-Scully Cancer-Kritschgau snitching-Mulder dead-lying to the sub-committee plot is driving me a little bananas. It doesn't feel like it runs together too smoothly and that is actually surprising me a bit because, especially coming off the amazing season 4, I remember these episodes as being huge landmark events for the show and loving them the first time around. There are some beautiful character moments, and thematically there is some interesting things happening, but at this stage, I'm thinking the writers may have dropped the ball as early as this rather than much later on as I'd guessed.

I'll try them again when I have some time on my hands but do it in all one sitting this time. Maybe I'll have a better opinion of it then.

Cheers!

mike

Political Interlude

Jen forwarded an article from the Calgary Herald to me today which discussed the difficulties new Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff will face when combating Liberal distrust and its pariah status in Western Canada. To that end, he has recently visited Saskatchewan to extend some goodwill and claiming that they have, in the past, "fallen prey to the temptation to run against the West...to run against Alberta, to run against the Saskatchewan energy sector. This is not the way to go."

At this point, it's all smiles words and the Liberals still have a lot of work to do before they make any headway 'round these parts. They will also have Alberta to contend with, a long-time Conservative stronghold and Harper's home turf, if they are looking to hold a majority government at some point in the future. No easy feat, I'll tell you. Just to show you how deeply entrenched they can be on their anti-Liberal position, check out my favourite quote from the article:

Responding to Ignatieff's visit to Saskatoon, one Albertan blogged: "What's good for the West is to dig a wide moat to keep Ignatieff and the rest of his Eastern thieves off our money. The only question is, Which side of Saskatchewan do we dig that moat?"

Heh. Jen and I got a good giggle out of that one.

Cheers!

mike

Zombies that Ate the World Animated Short

Last time over on The Comic Haul I mentioned The Zombies that Ate the World #1 released by Humanoids Publishing and Devil's Due Publishing. Well, I managed to stumble across an animated short featuring the characters with an English language track and French subtitles. It lacks the unrefined line of Guy Davis' work, but I gotta say, it does look good.



I've heard that the property is also in talks right now for a feature film, so I'm calling out fingers crossed on that one.

Later!

mike

The Comic Haul - 02/18/09

Man, keeping up with this review stuff has been really tough these last few weeks. I'm going to have to take another angle on things with this edition of The Comic Haul and will try and have things back on track for next week's stash.

The books I would have reviewed are covered below...



The Amazing Spider-Man #587 was good but nothing to write home about. Seeing as this series is working for me one issue and bombing the next, I don't know what to say, really. Likely the next issue won't be very good, but I'm willing to be surprised.

Four Eyes #2 was a long wait but it was worth it. I love this mini-series and you should definitely check it out. This is the first in a three-way tie for pick of the litter this week.

Mysterius the Unfathomable #2 is the second book in the three way tie for pick of the litter this week. I'm just loving what Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler are doing with this mini-series. There really isn't another book quite like it on the stands and if you're not checking it out, it comes highly recommended.

The X-Files #3 came as something of a disappointment this month. I had been enjoying the series up to this point but Marv Wolfman just didn't follow-through satisfactorily on this case. The premise was intriguing, the characters wewre well portrayed, but we've seen the Chinese Tongs in the television series and I sort of felt like they were treading water on this one. Hopefully the next story arc will be more fun.

Last in the three-way tie this week is The Zombies that Ate the World which is great fun and I am always happy to welcome more Guy Davis artwork into my home. It's also nice to see Humanoids getting their stuff out there again after the debacle with DC. If you dig zombies, get your grubby little fingers on a copy of TZTATW at your earliest opportunity.

Runner up for Pick of the Litter would be Robin #183. Funny that the last issue would also be the best issue in months. If this stuff would continue at this level when the series (possibly?) returns, I'd be happy to pick up where they left off. Seeing as how the Bat books are in flux, though, there probably won't be a Robin book to come back to when the dust settles. When it was good it was good, when it was stuck in the middle of the event whirlwind, it was marginal. Went out on a high note, though.

And with that, I am outta here. I'm almost liking the new format (even though it was meant as an ad hoc replacement for the 'older' style. I'd be curious to hear what any of you think or prefer review-wise so feel free to comment. I'll also try to have this all back on track for next week.

Cheers!

mike

More Commentary Thoughts

A couple of days ago I posted the Limey commentary post and it kind of got me thinking about doing something like that on a semi-regular basis. For example, tonight I watched/listened to the Breakfast at Tiffany's commentary with producer Richard Shepherd and, since I was making critical judgments the whole time, I kept thinking I should be coming on the blog and writing it up in a commentary review. It might be interesting to do one every time I pop a DVD into the player and I'm always looking to generate content, so don't be surprised if you see something on it soon.

Cheers!

mike

The Quest Continues

I'll come back and speak more on this later, but I just wanted to put it out there that Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures Season 1 Volume 1 was released on DVD this week and, while not the strongest Jonny Quest material out there, I still kind of like the show for what it is and it doesn't really diminish the old series one bit, so what's the harm?



Later!

mike

Audio Commentary Commentary

As anyone who has spent any time around me will attest, I love audio commentaries. Good or bad, I listen to them all. Not only do I listen to them, I judge a DVDs worth by them all the time. Sure, there may be 3 hours of documentary footage and EPK this and that, but if there isn't an audio commentary, I get a bit chafed. In fact, if a seven minute EPK style featurette is the only thing on a disc, and you just know there should be a commentary, I won't even buy the thing. There are several witnesses who will give a sworn statement to that effect.

I just don't think there is an excuse for not having one. I mean, sure there are cases as with Steven Spielberg who refuses to do them so as not to colour the viewers experience of the film, but come on, those Indiana Jones DVDs could have had George Lucas, Robert Watts, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and any number of cast members chiming in with thoughts on the movies, their experiences making them, and giving a more personal touch to the, admittedly, very good documentaries on the 'bonus disc' of the set. Something like what George did with the Star Wars movies. He is co-creator of the darn franchise, am I right?

I just can't help myself when there is an opportunity to hear a great director discuss the choices he made in his film or, in some cases, defending them. Those instances where the movie is 'bad' or indecipherable are almost the ones I enjoy the best, too. Really, I watch the 'bad' movies more than I watch the good because I can't help but try and figure out specifically what went wrong with them. Good ideas gone bad mean someone screwed up somewhere, right? Is it the filmmakers fault? Is it an accountants fault somewhere further up the studio chain? Alien 3 remains one of my favourite films of all time, so if that doesn't spell it out for you, I don't know what will.

Anyway, getting closer to the point of the whole thing, here, what a lot of people don't realize is that commentaries are an art unto themselves. Not everyone can do them, and most can't do them well. There are giants in the 'field' like Soderbergh, Fincher, Raimi, Campbell, Meyer and Cameron (to name a few) who all do entertaining, informational, anecdotal and educational (is that the same as informational) commentaries, and there is everybody else. On the one hand, you have a group of talented people home schooling you in the craft, and then there is the everybody else category which usually includes people who tell you what is going on in the movie as you watch, are a bunch of actors who can only remember if it was hot or cold that day, and people who get so wrapped up in the movie they're watching that they fail to commentate. Sometimes at all.

To be fair, some of the 'greats' even slip into that bottom category from time to time. William Friedkin can do a mean commentary but his Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen track is like listening to stage direction. John Carpenter is another guy who goes from brilliant commentator (with Kurt Russell on Escape From New York and The Thing) to casual bystander (like on In the Mouth of Madness and Ghosts of Mars). And educational isn't always a great thing either. Some of the Criterion 'historical' commentaries are B-O-R-I-N-G, and I'm a history major. I like to hear about this stuff.

So when I find a good one...no, a great commentary, I like to let people know. Apparently, so does 'The New Cult Canon' from The Onion's A.V. Club. Last week they shone the spotlight on Steven Soderbergh's lean, mean, revenge picture, The Limey, and it's sparklingly brilliant audio commentary. Soderbergh and screenwriter Lem Dobbs share the track and spend the movie's 90 minute running time sparring over choices made and scenes dropped. Anyone who looks at Soderbergh's films knows he's a director that tends to favour economy, and often trims his films down to a razors edge. I remember in the commentary for 2002's Solaris John Cameron recalled a conversation he had with Soderbergh where he told him to stop cutting and to start putting things back in the movie. He had made it lean to the point where it began to hurt the storytelling. Well, Dobbs takes him to task for every cut, every change, every missed characterization and it is entertaining as all hell to listen to. Not only does Soderbergh take the hits, but he gets in some playful, but well executed, shots of his own and which are just as valid because if you've ever seen The Limey, you know there is little to fault it with. To have two guys arguing over a movie you find to be perfect is worth the price of admission.

I will qualify that, although heated, the discussion never gets ugly and the feeling I have is that these are two guys who have different sensibilities but ultimately respect each others work. I could be wrong, but it never feels like they genuinely dislike each other. I mean, this is the second time they have worked together, the first being 1991's Kafka, so there was an obvious draw, there. Then again, they haven't worked since, so...

Anyway, I just wanted to send some props out to 'The New Cult Canon' for covering this cool little bit of cinema that some people may not know about and for giving me a chance to talk, yet again, about my love for the Audio Commentary. If you have time to browse around, there are some good articles up on that site with some good commentary of their own that is worth checking out. I'd also be curious if any of you have any commentary that you just loved hearing.

Cheers!

mike

Hey Kids, Comics! For 02/18/09

Welcome to another installment of HK,C! and a decent sized pull-list.

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 pricey to be reasonable, or I would only pick up as an impulse buy. More than likely I'll read it at some point but not own it.


THIS WEEK'S PULL-LIST

MYSTERIUS THE UNFATHOMABLE #2 (OF 6) (I'm thinking this might be my pick of the week again.)

ROBIN #183 (The odyssey comes to an end but will it be worth it?)

X-FILES #4 (OF 6) (Wolfman's story has been impressing me here.)

FOUR EYES #2 (Finally!)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #587 (Hoping this is better than the last one.)

GHOST RIDER #32 (Tan Eng Huat's last issue so I'm not sure if I'll continue beyond this.)

GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #10 (Still trying to catch up with this one and only a couple of issues behind.)

That's it for this week. Have a great Wednesday at your LCS. If for some reason you don't know where that is, try here.

Later!

mike

Farscape Makes Its Mark In Comics

According to ICV2, BOOM! Studios Farscape comic is selling very well for them. They've hit the multiple printings point with the first two issues and things are looking good for the immediate future. It's kind of nice to see another franchise other than Buffy or Angel able to do well in this post-television-series-conclusion-rebirth-as-a-comic-book market. I'd be curious to know how these new books compare sales-wise with the two issues put out by Wildstorm some years back. I thought the comics were solid reads with great production values at the time (written by Marv Wolfman, I believe, with art by Robert Taranishi?) but clearly did not sell well enough to continue with more minis beyond the first.

Now if I can just finish up the frelling television series so I can actually read the damn things...

mike

The Comic Haul - 02/11/09

My weekend is goofy with stuff to do so I'm going to be unusually brief this week.

R.E.B.E.L.S. #1: I was a little concerned about DC going back to the well with this concept, especially one that was a bit goofy to begin with. L.E.G.I.O.N. served a purpose and was an actual acronym for the Licensed Extra Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network. When they relaunched the series as R.E.B.E.L.S. (Revolutionary Elite Brigade to Eradicate L.E.G.I.O.N. Supremacy) I continued to buy the book but rolled my eyes every time I saw the logo on the stands. I'm happy to say that despite all the things it had working against it, Tony Bedard and Andy Clark pulled off a really interesting issue. I felt like I just got out of the wayback machine and characters like Vril Dox and the Omega Men served some kind of purpose in the DCU. And the way Clark does his stuff, it reminded me of Gary Frank's work on the Action Legion storyline from a ways back. I'm definitely going to keep following this book.

Patsy Walker: Hellcat #5: Another harmless and fun Marvel title. It goes without saying that this mini-series is a total throwaway disposable entertainment kind of package. It will not be considered a seminal work for the medium, there won't be any gritty moving picture crime epics to be made of this, and tomorrow I probably won't even linger too heavily on what transpired in these five issues, but I also can't say that there is anything inherently bad about it, either. The writing by Kathryn Immonen was kooky and fun (there's that word again), the artwork by David Lafuente was dynamic, colourful and easy on the eyes (kudos to colourists Dave and Natalie Lanphear for part of that) and at no point was I confused about the metatextual aspects of the story, nor was I thinking of just about everything else I could be doing instead of reading this comic book. So, lame review as this is, I give Hellcat a pass because it is the literary equivalent of eating a really yummy cookie.

Amazing Spider-Man #586: The secret origin of Menace revealed, finally! Because you demanded it!

Well, the Marvel solicitation lies about the artist on this book because when I got home and opened her up, it was Barry Kitson and not John Romita, Jr. on the art chores, which knocks this one down a few notches for me on the happiness scale. Barry's a competent artist but I generally find his stuff to be bland and I think they went all digital on this one because it just looks wrong. Guggenheim's script was equally uninspired trying to inject drama and shock and surprise when really it was just a lot of standing around and talking about stuff that isn't really that interesting to begin with. By definition this is the Interlude episode of "Character Assassination" so they're even telling us they've put the good stuff on hold for a sec to do this other little thing over there, don't mind us. Dry is the only word to describe this.

Sorry to go out on such a bummer note but I really have to split. I'll try and have something beefier next week. Until then, take care and remember, comments are always welcome and encouraged. Until next week.

Later!

mike

Happy Valentines Day

Cheers!

mike

Sorting Out the DVDs

Okay, so I have to reorganize all of my DVDs because of some new shelving units that we're putting in. Previous to this, I had them all out of their respective cases and put into paper sleeves which were organized in four drawers at the bottom of a shelving unit we've had in the living room for a while. The system worked well for some time but things have been getting a bit tight in recent weeks, and with Jen freaking out over the way my collectible stuff has been spilling over into every room, I couldn't say no to the shift.

What I didn't expect was 1)the sheer volume of DVD cases I had to pull out of boxes and stuff onto shelves, 2)the staggering prospect of having to go through all those paper sleeves and put the discs all back in their respective cases, and 3)all of this inspiring me to download a DVD database program and getting caught up in it for the last 3 or 4 hours.

One of the features on this software that will come in useful for me is the 'lending' tag. I have such a large collection that I'm always lending movies and season sets to friends (you know who you are). Lately, I've lent so many out that I'm finding it hard to keep track of them all, and it would never occur to me to just write them down on paper before sending them out. With this program, I can search all the lent out movies and it will give me a list along with the names of those people whom I've lent them to. Pretty happy about my new toy, if you can't tell.

Anyway, I should probably take one more spin at the logging and then hit the sack before I stay up all night.

Cheers!

mike

Freak-a-Me, Freak-a-You

Although it didn't last long on network TV, one of my favourite cartoons as a young lad was Freakazoid!, a zany super-hero anthology show from the same gang of yahoos what brung you Animaniacs and Tiny Toons. Along with the regular adventures of the titular hero, there were parody ads, other characters like The Huntsman, and one of my personal faves, a Jonny Quest spoof called Toby Danger.

"Aiiieeee!"

If you've seen the show, you get the gag.

Lately I've been introducing my kids to the show through YouTube and the DVDs for season 1, and I'm pleasantly surprised by their reaction. Normally when I recommend a show they might watch an episode or two, never ask for it again because it's not their thing, and then I discover years later that they watch it all the time on TeleToon when they're at their grandparents' house. I can't tell you how many times this has happened. They should just listen to their old man, right? I know a quality animated show when I see it.

Anyway, Freakazoid! is such a strange show I figured it would be a total hit or miss situation and this time it was right out of the park. I mean, it's only been a few days and a couple of episodes but they're already at the begging for more stage anytime we have some free viewing time. Jen is getting a kick out of seeing them repeating and acting out lines and bits from the show. The two clips below are really good examples:





And this last clip is possibly the funniest of them all (but not embeddable, sorry) and went a long way, I think, to selling my oldest daughter on the show. I rarely use the word random anymore because of its popular use, but this gag is the very definition of the word.

Freak Out!

mike

I've Decided I'm Watching the Watchmen

I was very leery of the upcoming Watchmen film directed by Zack Snyder. I wasn't really planning on seeing it and I was pretty sure that if I did it would not be in a first run theatre. Lately, however, I've run across some video journals on iTunes regarding the making of the movie and, I have to say, I'm getting kind of excited. Now, I still do not think Rorshcach should have that gravel in his voice and I do have some surface issues with some of the casting (I'm sure I'll be proven wrong once I see their performances), but the more clips I see from the movie, and from what I've seen of the art direction in the docs, I think this thing has a chance to be a truly great movie. Not just a great comic book movie, I mean a movie that guys in tweed suits will one day refer to as a film. I don't think it will do the same kind of business as something like The Dark Knight, but I do think the viewing public and Warner Bros. will be very happy with Snyder and what he has cooked up here.

For more info, hit iTunes for the production docs, or click through on the widget below to zip over to the official website where there are more goodies to peruse.



Cheers!

mike

Hey Kids, Comics! For 02/11/09

Welcome to yet another weekly installment of HK,C! and a moderately sized pull-list.

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 pricey to be reasonable, or I would only pick up as an impulse buy. More than likely I'll read it at some point but not own it.


THIS WEEK'S PULL-LIST

STAR WARS CLONE WARS #4 (OF 6) (One of the better Star Wars books out there and just as enjoyable as the show.)

BATMAN #686 (My curiosity will get the better of me on this one.)

REBELS #1 (I'll try just about anything that has ties to the old Keith Giffen stuff.)

SPIRIT #26 (One of the better DC titles going.)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #586 (I've been enjoying the story so far.)

ANGEL #17 (I'm eager to find out this series wraps up.)


That's it for this week. Have a great Wednesday at your LCS. If for some reason you don't know where that is, try here.

Later!

mike

Number 9...Number 9....Number 9...

This amazing short film by Shane Acker will soon be a major motion picture produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov.



This is the official trailer for the film:



September 9th also happens to be my birthday. So I get 9 and Whiteout in the same week. Sweet!

mike

The Comic Haul - 02/04/09

Back with another week of The Comic Haul. Let's get to it, shall we?

Agents of Atlas #1: Here's my pick of the litter for this week. AoA #1 is a long time in coming and worth every minute of the wait. Parker does a great job of bringing you into the Agents' world and, as he did in Mysterius before this, gives us a lot of exposition without making a single moment of it boring. Case in point, in this issue we get introduced to Norman Osborn and his interest in the Atlas Foundation, the hidden headquarters of the Agents, a bait and switch plot that introduces you to the powers and motivations of our principle characters and a Dragon eats Man Mountain Marko. How much more could you possibly want? Could it be a back-up story featuring the Agents and Wolverine in 1950s Cuba contending with brain controlling bugs? Yeah, I thought it might. The only negative thing I can say about the book is that Leonard Kirk isn't drawing it but 1)I never want him to leave Captain Britain (unless it is to return to AoA), and 2)Carlo Pagulayan is doing a phenomenal job in his place and looks to be quickly making this book his own. I can only hope that Marvel keeps putting out books like Agents of Atlas. I'll be spending more of the hard-earned cash in the Marvel U if they do, that's for certain.

Witchblade #124: I'll state my bias right off and say that I've never loved this concept or title much in the past. The gothic softcore stuff that Top Cow has been producing for 10+ years just doesn't catch my interest much. It should come as no surprise to anyone, then, when I say that I did not enjoy Witchblade #124 very much and have very few good things to say about it overall. Seeing Ron Marz' name on the cover had me hoping for at least a readable story. I mean, I bought a number of Wetworks issues when JM DeMatteis worked on it, so anything was possible, right? I have my doubts as to whether or not Marz even dialogued this one, to be perfectly honest. I've read his stuff before and it's never been quite this stiff and meandering. There was nothing to draw me in, here. The artwork by Stjepan Sejic had a couple of brief moments of coolness, but just don't think his stuff works well in sequential form. I suppose if you're a devotee of Greg Horn, you may find some appeal in Sejic's work, but I can't come back for another issue after this one. My Witchblade days are done.

Invincible Iron Man #10: I'm not at all happy with the artwork of Salvador Larroca in this issue, which disappoints me a bit. Salva is one of the reasons I still maintain any interest in this book despite slowing down, somewhat, since its initial storyline. Part of the ennui could be a result of how interweaved into the Marvel U Tony's story has become and I've never been a big cross-over summer event kind of guy. I do, however, really like Fraction's portrayal of Pepper and I'll admit that the Tony on the run does have some charm to it. Watching him dismantle his empire in order to keep it out of the hands of Norman Osborn and H.A.M.M.E.R. has its moments. And the 'surprise' direction for Pepper has me kind of enthused for where things may be going. Still worth keeping up with if the cover price doesn't kill me in the end.

Dead Irons #1: It seems to be all the rage for popular artists to 'art direct' but not actually do anything more than the covers and that remains true of Dead Irons, the new horror/western out from Dynamite Entertainment. I really liked the artwork of Jason Shawn Alexander and, I'll admit, he is the primary reason for why I picked this book up. Still, the story by James Kuhoric feels very draggy and, for the most part, fails to even convey what it is you're reading. If you haven't read the solicitation text you may never know it's about a group of brothers and sisters-the Irons-who are all creatures of the night. Three have become bounty hunters and work both sides of the law, while one has dedicated himself to stopping his siblings. I think that's what it is about, anyway. Like I said, it was never entirely clear. The plot, such as it is, moves achingly slow and I almost put the book down twice before deciding to soldier on in order to finish it for this review. As always, I'll keep an eye on the series, maybe try another issue or two in the store and see if it develops its legs, otherwise this one is hitting the pass pile

Amazing Spider-Man #584: This issue was an improvement over the last which surprises me since so much of it is taken up by a slugfest. Normally I criticize books when they forego good dialogue and characterization to have a 22 page smack down, but I'm willing to entertain the idea that I not-so-secretly enjoy seeing Spidey giving or taking a whuppin' because I really enjoyed reading this one. And the way Romita, Jr. draws the whole affair is just sublime. I should also give props to Marc Guggenheim who managed to keep my interest this time around. As evidenced in my last review something about last issue just didn't click with me. It felt like there was too much exposition, too much plot with too little of anything else for someone just tuning in to latch on to and, as a result, I almost passed this one up. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because the second part of "Character Assassination" was much better balanced and could be shaping up to be a fun ride.


Comments, as always, are welcome. Until next week.

Later!

mike

Reimagining the Classics

I stumbled across this while browsing around the internet. I'm not at all surprised that someone has decided to shave 25 pounds or so off of Botticelli's Venus, or any other classic piece of art, and I'm very much aware that Botticelli may have used men as his models as many artists did, but I find the overall idea of this to be repellent. If you are in the market for a reproduction of a classic piece of art, it should be an actual reproduction. Even if you're shifting mediums (yes, 2D painting is different from 3D sculpting) an effort should be made to give the consumer an item that vaguely resembles the original.

I was surprised to see the original blogger later posting an addendum to her original bit qualifying and back-tracking saying that the artist/sculptor probably did not do it for any sexist reasons but was, instead, driven by purely commercial ones. She also pointed out that the head on Michaelangelo's David is oversized so as not to look awkward from 13 feet below where most humans would be viewing it from, therefore art 'tweaks' are performed all the time to make them look more interesting. Hell, they'll even brighten up the colours in Photoshop when they're making their prints so it looks better on your wall.

I call bullshit.

I mean, come on, it's one thing to cosmetically change proportions on David's cranium if you were scaling it down to a desktop sized model, but it would be another thing entirely to enlarge his private parts or discreetly forget to include his pubic hair because these days women shun men with any body hair.

Personally, I'd like to see one of these on a museum shelf, maybe get a whole new demographic coming in.



Later!

mike

Snakes...Why Did It Have To Be Snakes

While this really has nothing to do with Indiana Jones, you can bet this article from Yahoo! News would possibly have left the intrepid doctor conflicted.



This artist's rendition may have been much cooler:





Might have sold a few extra copies of Nature.

Cheers!

"Desolation Row"

I haven't decided yet if I like this MCR cover of the Dylan song "Desolation Row" or not. I don't actively dislike it but I think I'll have to live with it for a while before coming to any real conclusions. It's interesting to hear them going back to a more old school punk style which, clearly, fits the era of the film really well and also with MCR's intentions to go with a more straightforward take on their post-Black Parade efforts. Zack Snyder, who directed the film, did the video as well.

My Chemical Romance - Desolation Row


Cheers!

mike

Hey Kids, Comics! For 02/04/09

Welcome to yet another weekly installment of HK,C! and another fairly large pull-list which I won't be posting covers for, sorry.

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 pricey to be reasonable, or I would only pick up as an impulse buy. More than likely I'll read it at some point but not own it.


THIS WEEK'S PULL-LIST

INDIANA JONES FURTHER ADV OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 (Anything Indy is worth a look and some of these old Marvel issues had some crazy talent on them.)

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #22 (I haven't read an issue in a while but I pick 'em up every month.)

ADVENTURE COMICS #0 (I'll buy just about anything for a buck.)

FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #3 (OF 5) (Just as the other Legion book ends, this one picks up again. Good timing.)

SUPERGIRL COSMIC ADVENTURES IN THE 8TH GRADE #3 (OF 6) (My kids tell me it's a blast.)

MADMAN ATOMIC COMICS #13 (I'm about halfway through the series, now, but I will catch up with this book.)

AGENTS OF ATLAS #1 (I can tell you right now this'll be on my best series of 2009 list.)

EUREKA #1 (OF 4) (Based on the TV series of the same name, my curiosity is piqued.)

30 DAYS OF NIGHT 30 DAYS TIL DEATH #3 (I liked the beginning, might as well read through to the end.)

FARSCAPE #2 (Continuing the story from a show cancelled well before its time.)

I AM LEGION #1 (OF 6) (I already own the Humanoids/DC version of this so I may pass on this until #2 hits shelves, but it's worth a mention here.)

That's it for this week. Have a great Wednesday at your LCS. If for some reason you don't know where that is, try here.

Later!

mike

Things You Should See

There's a new Andi Watson strip over at Tor.com called "Great Uncle George’s Will". Check it out if you haven't already.





Cheers!

mike

Steelers 27 Cardinals 23

Woo-hoo!



So, that was my first SuperBowl on the 42" monitor in HD, that I hosted, with my Dad and brother over for food and football. In all respects I think it worked out well. We had a hell of a lot of fun, the picture and sound were awesome, and the Steelers won the freakin' SuperBowl again!!!

Sometimes things work out pretty darn okay.

Woot!

mike

The Comic Haul - 01/28/09

A bit of an early Comic Haul this week (as well as a shorter one) since I'm crazy booked up this weekend with my Father-in-Law's birthday today and the SuperBowl tomorrow with a bunch of furniture building thrown in for good measure.

Superman #684: For the record I really liked the "New Krypton" storyline that ran across the Superman books for the last couple of months, so I was a bit non-plussed after reading this "Faces of Evil" issue featuring The Parasite. For starters, The Parasite wasn't in much of the issue except for a few pages at the beginning where he wanders around Metropolis whining about how he'd like a Daxamite sandwich. Elsewhere, the Guardian takes over as leader of the Science Police and gives a speech to his crew about how he won't expect anything from them that he wouldn't do himself and Superman visits New Krypton just in time to discover who the new military leader of the Kryptonians is. Cue dramatic music. Overall, this wasn't a bad issue but the whole thing felt like hitting the pause button while you go off to take a bathroom break. There's just not that much going on here and, had this been the only book I ha to read, I would feel a little less than satisfied. Still, there are worse ways to kill 10 or 15 minutes of your day so if you're going to read this one, try it on your coffee break or a short bus ride or something.

Batman #685: Another DC book, another flagship title, another "Faces of Evil" issue, this one by the Detective Comics team of Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen. This is the second part of two, a continuation from the aforementioned Detective where Hush finds himself in Vietnam and at the mercies of one Miss Selina Kyle. Kudos must go to Dini for making Hush, a character I never had much use for, a somewhat interesting villain for the last 6 months or so. It's likely not something that will hold for long but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. I should note that I also liked how Dini handled the Nightwing and Robin guest-appearance this issue. I actually like both of those characters more than the recent portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman so it was nice to see them here. I do wonder, though, does the fact that this story appears in Batman and Detective mean DC is spinning their wheels while Batman/Bruce Wayne is 'dead', filling issues with spacers until Morrison returns to maybe explain what all the R.I.P. nonsense was about? Only time will tell, I'm sure. As a simple no-frills two-parter, though, I really enjoyed this little detour with Catwoman and wish I could see more of these shorter stories from the Bat-books.

Star Wars: Legacy #32: In an attempt to do something new and continuity free with the Star Wars franchise Dark Horse launched Legacy, a series that takes place 40+ years beyond the stuff that fans are familiar with from the various films. Does it work? Sort of. Am I a fan of this? Not really. Although I do like other books from this line (Rebellion & Clone Wars to name two), I found Legacy and this issue's story to be kind of...fanfic-y. Without the usual SW touchstones or links to existing continuity, I just can't be bothered to care for these characters who have descended from the heroes we know, which really hurts a story like "Fight Another Day" because it's a very basic shoot-em-up bad guys doing evil things to the good guys yarn without a hook for a reader like me. Then again, maybe they don't want me as a reader. Anyway, not a bad comic but not really my cup-o-tea.

The Incredible Hercules #125: Everybody and their dog has reviewed this title and heaped mucho praise on the works therein so I figured I'd give it the ol' college try and see what all the hubbub was about. A few pages in I can't say that I was all that engaged, but seeing as how it was the fifth part of a five-issue story arc, I figured it would start to gel after a bit and I should just try to enjoy the story. Which, I'm surprised to say, I didn't. I just wasn't pulled in at any point. Amazons rule the world, men are second-class citizens, yadda-yadda-yadda. By the time I got to the end of the Amazon world-reshaped bit I was all ready to give the book a formal pass but the second I started reading the issue's 'epilogue' things changed. The smile started creeping in on my face and only continued to grow as I went on. All of a sudden, I wasn't drowning in the climax and resolution of a plot I had no stake in but basking in the wonderful characterizations that Pak and Van Lente have brought to bear. Hercules was never a fave character, for me, and I always just accepted him as Avengers muscle back in the day. But here, watching the bitter sting he experiences when he finds out that Namora's heart belonged to someone else is truly palpable and the line, "Ohh! Telepathy! How conveeenient!", when she gets summoned away by the Agents of Atlas, great stuff.

Welp, that looks like it for Week 2 of The Comic Haul. Since the time was a bit lite this week I may try to squeeze in a supplemental post tomorrow or the next day just to beef it up a little. There were a few more books I wanted to review but...such is life.

Oh, and before I forget, I need to come up with some kind of rating system for these things. I haven't been able to think of anything that ties into the Meanwhile... theme and I didn't want to do numbers or letters since so many other folks are doing those. Any ideas or input would be appreciated.

Until next week.

Later!

mike

Things I Thought Were Cool in 2008

I never kept any kind of list for a best of '08 post so I wasn't going to bother with one this year, especially since we're 30 days into it already. While doing my usual rounds of the blogosphere, however, I noticed that writer Rob Williams is saying "I don't swing that way" and doing an extremely belated hodge podge list of his own, regardless of the date. Taking his example (or at least using it as an excuse to generate content) I decided I was going to post a few random things I liked in 2008 posts to highlight the stuff that I remember liking. If I have any fun doing it, I'll maybe squeeze in a few things I remember hating, just for some balance.

It's no secret that not everyone was happy to see the return of Indiana Jones to screens in '08, but this was one Indy fan who enjoyed having the man in the hat back. After a very long drought post-Last Crusade it was exciting to have new stuff to be looking forward to, whether it was the comic books, the toys, the DVDs or the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull itself. I won't bother mentioning the Young Indiana Jones DVDs and the new paperbacks here because they're not exclusive to 2008. The first of the Young Indy sets came out in November of 2007, I think, and the new books don't drop until later this year.

Anyway, having new Indy comics has been a blast, especially in the hands of the aforementioned writer, Rob Williams. Many of Dark Horse's attempts at Indy stories in the past have fallen short of greatness and the Temple of the Gods has been a real trip, even if it's been plagued with delays, and the all-ages Indiana Jones Adventures digest/one-shot was marvellous. Probably one of the best Indy stories I've ever read.

The toys I won't really go on about here since I posted on them already a little while back.

I have yet to get my hands on a copy but a complete soundtrack collection was also released featuring all the music and some never before released extras from them man, John Williams.

And lastly, while the new movie is very much disparaged I had a lot of fun with it and have enjoyed it even more since grabbing it on DVD. The story moves at a quick enough pace that a lot of neat little things get lost as the plot zooms on and I love the callbacks to the last film in Indy's dialogue essentially showing that he's becoming his father. Actually, the shout out to the pilot episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was probably my favourite bit of dialogue in the whole film, believe it or not. And the spit after he mentions Victoriano Huerta, classic.

Overall a pretty good year for Dr. Jones and his many fans.

Cheers!

mike