GEEKS UNITED

What A Lovely Way To Burn

2010-12-27T19:35:00.004+08:00

A year that saw Brendan McCarthy doing an amped-up tribute to Steve Ditko by way of a Spiderman-Dr.Strange team-up is not a bad one for comics at all,much as it was the same year Nemesis and other assorted vainglories were loosed upon us.

The Eagle Has Landed

2010-11-16T20:21:00.002+08:00

Wisit Sasanatieng does superheroes. Magic words.

God Almighty

2010-05-06T12:12:00.002+08:00

As 'nuff said as 'nuff said can get. Kenneth Branagh don't fail us now.

Wolf Like Me

2010-01-25T12:06:00.004+08:00

And it finally comes to a close, spreding out its 7 issues over 3 years, more or less. One of the finest comic books of 2008 and 2009 and 2010,then. Title kills the TV on the Radio nut in me.

Twikki's Return

2009-12-06T23:01:00.002+08:00

Probably crap.

Fight of the Century

2009-08-09T18:08:00.004+08:00

Adam West is still the Batman to beat.

Michel Gondry directing the new Green Hornet movie - - and Jay Chou as Kato - - -is what boosts its stock but it's in the bag if it's anywhere near as fun as this. You can almost forgive Seth Rogen being in it.

Dig Bruce Lee beating the shit out of Burt Ward.

You Make Everything Groovy

2009-08-09T16:34:00.003+08:00

Not excited by Tim Burton's Alice for some reason.

But this actually makes me a little teary.

That Seth Rogen is nowhere near this thing is proof that God is looking out after us.

Asterios Polyp

2009-08-09T16:15:00.005+08:00

I've always been a fan of David Mazzuchelli and his never showy, always vigorous,defiantly old school drawing style. He was on the cusp of mainstream superstardom after Born Again and Year One. But he left all that to do . . indies. No spandex.no mutants, no continuity, no crossovers, no action figures. And no money. His writing cohort, Frank Miller, pretty much did the same but with significantly more perks.

Asterios Polyp ,then.

Quite possibly the Mazzuchelli masterwork we've waited years for. Looks like there's enough here for an entire pull list.

Also, not a single silly superhero for miles. That could well be the biggest perk of all.

Ummm... part 2

2009-06-25T10:02:00.002+08:00

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

The ships of the Fire Nation looked awesome!! I'm excited to see the Waterbenders!

Ummm . . .

2009-05-24T12:12:00.001+08:00

Watching the Watchmen

2009-05-23T15:51:00.003+08:00

Watchmen
Directed by Zack Snyder
Written by David Hayter and Alex Tse
From the Comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

"There are things that we did with Watchmen that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can't." - Alan Moore

Alan Moore was right. Zack Snyder's Watchmen is an epic redundancy. A doppelganger stitched together with hubris and airplane glue but hollowed out, bereft of soul. A dummy twitching on the lap of a ventriloquist with no voice to throw so he throws someone else's. An impostor bursting at the seams with all the digital pretty that money can buy licking your eyes over and over and over until you give and have its baby - - -I looooove you, Zack Snyder's Watchmen ! You're so sooooo pretty! - - - as if the whole point of steeping yourself - - - and to a virulent degree at that - - - in both the lore and the form of comic books is to someday see them blown up at 24 fps, as if the whole point of comic books is to be glorified shooting boards for comic book movies, as if the whole point was not the comic books.

None of this is puritan fanboy outrage, mind - - -there's no blasphemy in getting a comic book movie wrong. And are there still puritan fanboys out there and if there are, have they been out of the house lately? And no, this isn't a disappointment funk,either. Exasperated as I am about lowering my expectations to armor myself from deficient over-hyped blockbusters, it would have been profoundly foolish to come to this with my head in a more heightened space so I expected little from Zack Snyder's Watchmen and got exactly that.

Superheroes, for ages the hot ticket of comic books , have become the hot ticket of theme park cinema. And Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen is only the Citizen Kane of superhero comics. Viral and monolithic but unfilmable - - -that was the recurring prognosis. Too colossal. Too grim. Too dense. Too expensive to mount. A whole litany of too's. But the most crucial "too" is the most neglected out of it not being readily apparent: too self-contained. The nine panel grid was not for the hell of it. The work fed off its medium. This was not Iron Man or Batman or Hellboy where Favreau, Nolan, Del Toro - - -dork, craftsman, genius - - - took characters from another medium then retroactively folded them into theirs. Watchmen demanded more taking apart, more toil, more translation. The last thing you want to do with it is use the comic book as a shooting board. That's the first thing Zack does.

And who is Zack Snyder exactly? What's his aesthetic? What's his stance? He undercranks his fight scenes. That's it. That's my only peg on him as a filmmaker. That's everything he has to say about the world: combat is like ballet when slowed down. Does anybody making a popcorn movie need to say anything about the world? No, but that's just it, Zack's not making a popcorn movie anymore, is he? And before you pull out that haggard art vs.entertainment card - - - Zack sort of said that, not me. Only he doesn't really do much. He undercranks the fight scenes - - -he would. And bloats them into set pieces that go on and on and on- - -when short and sharp and shocking is what they are. He also makes the superheroes super - - -missing the whole point that, apart from the glowing blue dick of Dr.Manhattan,these were little more than kooks empowered by a silly costume and the balls to wear them. He shortcuts his nuances with some of modern cinema's most painfully obvious musical cues - - -The Times They Are A Changin' during the rather wonderful opening montage showing how . . .um, the times are. . .um, a-changin'. Duh. Mason Hood is peripheral. Ozymandias becomes a fascist caricature. The gigantic squid is 86'd - - -well, that one I can let slip. He upsets the dynamic. The feel is off. The plot is lost. Oh, he nails Rorsharch - - - but only a buffoon would not nail Rorsharch and Zack isn't a buffoon by any measure, just in over his head.

His Watchmen is a glorified motion comic. Epic. Redundant. And that's my beef,really. Everything I take from his movie I've already taken from the book. Or maybe I don't. I just fill blanks in my head. That sequence with Dr.Manhattan striding across Vietnam rice paddies shooting death rays from his hands to decimate Cong had me palpitating,sure. And there are about half a dozen other sequences here that do that,too - - - and those undercranked fight scenes of his do have a supple beauty even if they have no bearing, make no sense. Thing is, they all had me palpitating on the page, where they also had the conspirational throb of context. Here, they're just money shots. Eyecandy. Digital pretty licking your eyes over and over and over.

And this, those of us grumbling in the corners are told, should suffice. Shame, that. Know what, maybe this is a bit of puritan fanboy outrage . Having steeped myself in the lore and the form of comic books to a virulent degree, I think I've earned the right to great expectations when a comic book movie rolls into town, to demand more from them than just the fleeting thrill of being gangraped by the digital pretty and to not settle for something just because they got Night Owl's costume right. * *

Batman In Thailand

2009-04-25T14:39:00.001+08:00

Awww. . .

2009-04-14T17:28:00.002+08:00

Looking for Clues

2009-02-23T22:43:00.003+08:00

Given the obsessive-compulsive interconnected density of the Lost universe - - -and the obsessive-compulsiveness of its fans, myself included, in sifting for clues amidst the seemingly random matter- - - it's not that easy to dismiss the recent sight of Hugo reading a Spanish-language edition of Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step as just Brian K. Vaughan indulging in a bit of cameo self-advertising.

This particular arc ,after all, was about returning astronauts on an Earth radically and eerily changed and the race among factions to receive them. Before that, somebody was reading a Green Lantern comic with a polar bear in it and look where that led to.

So. Red herring? Or easter egg?

The First Warrior Princess

2009-02-16T11:43:00.005+08:00

Finally! I would have loved a live-action movie though.

From the DVD's website: When the Amazon princess Diana [Keri Russell, Waitress, Felicity] escorts pilot Steve Trevor [Nathan Fillion, Waitress, Desperate Housewives, Firefly] home to the United States after his crash-landing on the mystical island of Themyscria, she must also deal with the ambitions of the Greek god Ares [Alfred Molina]. Ares intends to use an ancient artifact, the Hand of Rage, to plunge the world into a centuries long war that will also ensure his revenge against Themyscria’s Amazons. To save her people and the world, Diana must become Wonder Woman.

And the trailer:

Robotech: Live!

2009-01-31T11:19:00.002+08:00

The movie was originally planned to be based on the Macross Saga. Here are a few updates (from: "Anime Expo 2008: Robotech". Anime News Network (2008-07-05) and Spider-Man & Smallville Writers for Robotech")

"During the Robotech Panel at Anime Expo 2008, the involvement of Tobey Maguire and Lawrence Kasdan was confirmed, with Kasdan writing the script for the live action movie. Tommy Yune also revealed that the movie is planned as a re-imagining of the original Robotech universe (with new updated mecha and character designs) and will take place several years in the future, departing from the original cartoon's 2009 setting. As of November 2008, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are the set writers for the film."

Movie designs leaked out. Designs for the Zentraidi Mecha looks absolutely cool!

Beyond Hollywood said that Tobey Maguire will produce but may not star in the movie. There are rumors that he'll be Rick Hunter.

IGN's Top 50 animated series of all time!

2009-01-31T11:10:00.003+08:00

There's actually a 100 but I got tired. Here's top 50.

50. SuperFriends
49. ThunderCats
48. Duckman
47. Pinky and the Brain
46. The Jetsons
45. Gargoyles
44. Battle of the Planets
43. Samurai Jack
42. The Powerpuff Girls
41. Tiny Toon Adventures
40. Batman Beyond
39. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
38. Naruto
37. Space Ghost Coast to Coast
36. Superman: The Animated Series
35. Avatar: The Last Airbender
34. Robotech
33. Schoolhouse Rock
32. Liquid Television
31. Muppet Babies
30. The Spectacular Spider-Man
29. Speed Racer (1967)
28. Home Movies
27. King of the Hill
26. The Critic
25. Robot Chicken
24. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
23. Transformers
22. The Real Ghostbusters
21. Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003)
20. Justice League Unlimited
19. G.I. Joe
18. DuckTales
17. Animaniacs
16. The Maxx
15. SpongeBob SquarePants
14. Cowboy Bebop
13. X-Men
12. The Ren and Stimpy Show
11. The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
10. Neon Genesis Evangelion
9. The Flintstones
8. Futurama
7. Family Guy
6. The Tick (1994)
5. Beavis and Butt-head
4. South Park
3. Looney Tunes
2. Batman: The Animated Series

1. The Simpsons

Button your eyes!

2009-01-30T12:49:00.002+08:00

Well, kids, February 6 is the release date of Coraline (Neil said it's "handmade form Portland.") The movie can be seen in 3d and I am hoping IMAX will feature it as soon as possible! Here's an interesting ad:

And Neil Gaiman said he liked this trailer best:

Mr. Darcy, you kill me.

2009-01-30T11:17:00.002+08:00

From Chronicle Books:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies features the original text of Jane Austen's beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C. E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen's classic novel to new legions of fans.

Jane Austen is the author of Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and other masterpieces of English literature.

Seth Grahame-Smith is the author of How to Survive a Horror Movie and The Big Book of Porn. He lives in Los Angeles.

Disco 2000

2009-01-27T21:09:00.004+08:00

I so want to own this comic. if I get my hands on it,I promise to love it forever. I love it forever now.

You Make My Heart Sing

2009-01-27T20:47:00.003+08:00

God forbid studio twats fuck this up.

Belated

2008-12-28T12:48:00.002+08:00

Clicky to embiggen.

The End of the World Is Nigh

2008-12-27T12:34:00.004+08:00

Tae na nga ang Twilight - - - it's a fucking chick flick, whaddya expect? - - -gagawan pa ng ABS ng panibagong tae.

Tae galing sa tae.

Spock with Klingon

2008-11-27T11:20:00.001+08:00

yeah

2008-11-20T13:24:00.000+08:00

Frak Heroes

2008-09-17T10:33:00.000+08:00

I think I'd rather be watching this than that Tim Kring turd.

My Comic Year (Without Annotation . . But Hey, I Got Pictures!)

2008-07-29T00:08:00.010+08:00

In light of the Eisner turnouts, here's my own shortlist of highlights from 2007, which I never got around to last January for reasons I'd rather not get into. Glad to see Eisner agreed with some of 'em. There were not-bad, not-great exceptions - - - Walking Dead and Thunderbolts come to mind - - - but mostly my comics year was one of more zombies and superheroes, of abominable flatness, of myopic visionaries, of more zombies and superheroes, of denser and duller continuity,of letdowns and kissoffs and heartbreaks none of which stung but gave off a chickenshit pffft, of Mark Millar's self-aggrandizing hyperbole, of more zombies and superheroes . Then these eleven beauties happened. Only wish I could whip up a few words to say about the lot 'cause they deserve it. But I can't.

My favorite comics of 2007, then, incidentally the best comics of 2007 as well. Alphabetically.

20th CENTURY BOYS Naoki Urusawa

THE ARRIVAL Shaun Tan

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD Mark Waid & George Perez

I SHALL DESTROY ALL CIVILIZED PLANETS! Fletcher Hanks

THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, David Aja

ONE MORE DAY J.Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada/ SENSATIONAL SPIDERMAN ANNUAL Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca - - - Not a typo, this.

THE PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP: THE TRIAL OF COLONEL SWEETO AND OTHER STORIES Nicholas Gurewitch

THE SPIRIT Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone

SUBURBAN GLAMOR Jamie McKelvie

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: APOCALYPSE SUITE Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba

'Nuff said. Excelsior.

Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

2008-07-28T19:33:00.003+08:00

We'll all find out in January 2009, when Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert team up for this particular Batman story arc.

*SQUEEE!* ^_^

Eisner 2008 Winners

2008-07-28T13:38:00.002+08:00

Best one shot for me is Matt Fraction's Sensational Spider-man Annual #1. Agree with The Umbrella Academy (though wouldn't mind if Nightly News won) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (then again, Immortal Iron Fist should've) wins though. Brubaker's Captain America is one of the year's best titles bu his Uncanny X-men sucks ass, so it's a toss between Joss Whedon and Brian Wood for me. Which reminds me, no DMZ win yet? Everybody loves Y: The Last Man; Naoki Urasawa’s Monster was another sorry miss for best continuing series. We better see Locke & Key in next year's awards. Your thoughts? Here are the winners:

Best Short Story: “Mr. Wonderful,” by Dan Clowes, serialized in New York Times Sunday Magazine

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): Justice League of America #11: “Walls,” by Brad Meltzer and Gene Ha (DC)

Best Continuing Series: Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan, Jr. (Vertigo/DC)

Best Limited Series:The Umbrella Academy, by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)

Best New Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, by Joss Whedon, Brian K. Vaughan, Georges Jeanty, and Andy Owens (Dark Horse)

Best Publication for Kids: Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, by David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Publication for Teens: Laika, by Nick Abadzis (First Second)

Best Humor Publication: Perry Bible Fellowship: The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories, by Nicholas Gurewitch (Dark Horse)

Best Anthology: 5, by Gabriel Bá, Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon, Vasilis Lolos, and Rafael Grampa (self-published)

Best Digital Comic: Sugarshock!, by Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon

Best Reality-Based Work: Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso (Center for Cartoon Studies/Hyperion)

Best Graphic Album—New: Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, by David Petersen (Archaia)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Strips: Complete Terry and the Pirates, vol. 1, by Milton Caniff (IDW)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books: I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets! by Fletcher Hanks (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material: I Killed Adolf Hitler, by Jason (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan: Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White, by Taiyo Matsumoto (Viz)

Best Writer: Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Criminal, Daredevil, Immortal Iron Fist (Marvel)

Best Writer/Artist: Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #18 (Acme Novelty)

Best Writer/Artist—Humor: Eric Powell, The Goon (Dark Horse)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team: Pia Guerra/Jose Marzan, Jr., Y: The Last Man (Vertical/DC)

Best Painter or Multimedia Artist (interior art): Eric Powell, The Goon: Chinatown (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist: James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse); Process Recess 2; Superior Showcase 2 (AdHouse)

Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, BPRD, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cut, Hellboy, Lobster Johnson, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse); The Spirit (DC)

Best Lettering: Todd Klein, Justice, Simon Dark (DC); Fables, Jack of Fables, Crossing Midnight (Vertigo/DC); League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier (WildStorm/DC); Nexus (Rude Dude)

Special Recognition: Chuck BB, Black Metal (artist, Oni)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: Newsarama, produced by Matt Brady and Michael Doran (www.newsarama.com)

Best Comics-Related Book: Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean, by Douglas Wolk (Da Capo Press)

Best Publication Design: Process Recess 2, designed by James Jean and Chris Pitzer (AdHouse)

Hall of Fame: Judges’ Choices: R. F. Outcault, Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson; Voters’ Choices: John Broome, Arnold Drake, Len Wein, Barry Windsor-Smith

Other Awards

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Paul Levitz

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Cathy Malkasian

Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing: Archie Goodwin, Larry Lieber

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailing Award: Atom! and Portlyn Freeman of Brave New World

The Island Did Not Jump

2008-07-28T10:37:00.004+08:00

Shakeup on the flashbacks and flashforwards will make it so you won't know when events are happening.

The castaways on the raft with Faraday are kaput. Faraday's probably not.

The immortal Richard Alpert will be seen barefoot in the very near future.

Vincent the dog survives 'til series end.

Oh, and the island did not jump.

That's as much as they'll let you know about Lost Season 5.

That ain't much.

But with no more Wire coming, January can not come fast enough.

Shield Yourselves

2008-07-27T13:00:00.006+08:00

The operatic , hopped-up, almost surreal evil twin of The Wire has been prone to slippage since Season 3, with the reek of contrivance and the amount of corn getting a bit too rank for comfort in Season 6, but next to David Simon's untouchable masterpiece, The Shield is the cop show you should be watching. And very little TV approximates its thick sense of doom.

And now it's coming to an end,too.

Knowledge

2008-07-26T12:08:00.003+08:00

I've been voguing on Knowing ever since it was name-checked as Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko follow-up. The vastly underrated Alex Proyas just wrapped a few weeks ago and is deep into post with it.

Here's the lowdown: schoolkids put drawings in a time capsule and 50 years other it gets cracked one and one of the drawings turns out to accurately and anally predict every major disaster since and some that haven't happened yet. Voltage for geeks, goes without saying, despite being a Nicolas Cage movie.

Oh, and Rose Byrne's in it. Can't wait.

AMBUSH!!

2008-07-25T21:32:00.003+08:00

I just read Ambush Bug Year None #1. Warning... Here's the side-effect:

God Speaks . . .Again

2008-07-21T02:10:00.006+08:00

Alan Moore, yes that Alan Moore, on his favorite show on TV:

"The Wire is the most stunning piece of television that has come out of America, possibly the most stunning piece of television full-stop.

(It's) grown-up television! It's novelistic. You get to find out about all these tiny different aspects of Baltimore, to build up a huge picture of the city with all of its intricacies — from the wharf side, to the kids in the projects, to the power structure with the boardrooms and police department and governor's office. And it's got some great writers: It's got George Pelecanos and David Simon. And so many wonderful characters, Bubbles, Omar.

So yeah, everything else looks pretty lame next to The Wire."

Also thinks South Park is the bomb.

Oh,if only the rest of the planet would listen, Mr. Moore, and stop watching Gray's Anatomy.

Also on Heroes, from some other interview: "I was persuaded to watch (Heroes) by people who said it nods to Watchmen but God, what a load of rubbish! It's a late-70s X-Men at best and full of terrible ideas and characters who've all been done to death. Beyond death. And the writing shows such contempt for the viewer. The climax, a man who is going to explode is carried off into the air by his brother... did anybody bother to compare the effects of a groundburst with an airburst nuclear explosion? I'll take the former over the latter, thanks. This is supposed to be the sort of thing that superhero stories are good at. I tell you, if we are ever threatened with a scenario like that in real life I hope the superheroes aren't American because we'll be sunk."

Oh and some nice words he has to say on the 300 movie: "Racist, homophobic and sublimely stupid."

Heh.

More here.

Keep On Trekkin'

2008-07-19T11:10:00.000+08:00

Watching the Watchmen

2008-07-18T08:46:00.000+08:00

Over and over. The Watchmen trailer. Gasp.

Bianchi Does Ellis

2008-07-02T13:52:00.001+08:00

Lipton Meets Hell

2008-07-02T11:11:00.001+08:00

Robotech!

2008-06-24T08:52:00.005+08:00

News from Scifi.com. Good or bad? It could go either way - but Tobey Maguire as Rick Hunter...that is good news! And I wonder who will play Minmei?

Kasdan To Adapt Robotech

Veteran screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan has been hired to write Robotech, Warner Brothers' feature-film adaptation of the anime classic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Akiva Goldsman and Chuck Roven are boarding the project as producers, joining Tobey Maguire and Drew Crevello.

Robotech was a 1980s cartoon series from Harmony Gold USA and Tatsunoko Productions. It was re-edited and re-dialogued to combine three Japanese anime series to give the producers enough episodes to air as a daily syndicated series.

A sprawling SF epic, Robotech takes place at a time when Earth has developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Mankind is forced to use the technology to fend off three successive waves of alien invasions. The first invasion centers on a battle with a race of giant warriors who seek to retrieve their flagship's energy source, known as "protoculture," and the planet's hope for survival ends up in the hands of two young pilots.

Robotech extends Kasdan's return to the fantasy genre that began last year, when he was tapped to pen the Clash of the Titans remake for Warner and Thunder Road. Kasdan wrote the screenplays for Return of the Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark before writing The Big Chill and Grand Canyon.

Toy Con 08

2008-06-16T11:01:00.005+08:00

Thor, Wilmer, and I just went nuts....

REVOLTECH Transformers: Hot Rod and Starscream

Custom Barbies by Chaz Coloma of Action Figures Philippines . He gave me Ms. Marvel.

Galactus. Not so gigantic but better than the cloud.

Kingdom Come Reactivated Superman

I got Wonder Woman (JSA) at the Con

Sensie Kakashi

Who watches the watchmen?

2008-05-28T10:25:00.013+08:00

Before the Marvel's Registration Act, there was the Moore's Keene Act. All costumed vigilantes were banned unless they work for the US government. Sounds familiar, right? So here comes the Watchmen film. Much to Moore's disappointment, I guess. Still, I am excited as usual. The director, Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead) seems serious in keeping true to the graphic novel.

The Minutemen are, from left: Silhouette, Mothman, Dollar Bill, Nite Owl, Captain Metropolis, The Comedian, Silk Spectre and Hooded Justice. (That's Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian! The lovable and oh-so-cute Denny Duquette of Grey's Anatomy as a killer and rapist.)

And look at the locations - straight out of the comic!

The Watchmen will be shown next year and the pictures of the sets and characters almost makes me believe that this will be a perfect film. There are also plans to release a direct to DVD animation of the "Tales of the Black Freighter" (The raft made of corpses ... BLEH!!) which will include a documentary on Hooded Justice.

Most Wanted

2008-05-26T11:03:00.003+08:00

The Wanted trailer that we all should see. It's in Russian and it kicks ass. (Two Millar references in one entry, sorry.)

Click here!

Endings and beginnings

2008-05-24T10:37:00.009+08:00

X-Factor #31

Peter David and Pablo Raimondi delivered. Mutant Town is burning inside an impenetrable barrier. This is the end. This is depressing. This feels very symbolic of how mutants are continually being marginalized and the remaining ones have lost hope after the events in Messiah CompleX. But life goes on for X-Factor, as they were - as always - attacked by a villain that have a personal vendetta against them. Arcade wanted to destroy X-factor and raze the Middle East Side or Mutant Town to the ground. The team did what they felt they needed to do – to continue to help people and save lives. It’s sad that the people they saved were ex-mutants who were trying and failing to find meaning and motivation to continue living.

Valerie Cooper and the fire fighters were outside and they were doing their best to get through the barrier as they watched people burn to death. She called SHIELD and asked for assistance from Iron Man and the Avengers but she couldn’t get through. Emma Frost’s words to Tony Stark and Carol Danvers in Civil War rang true again – Where were you when we needed you? When Genosha was burning? When the children were murdered?

X-men Divided We Stand 2/2

The first installment of this limited series followed the young kids from the Xavier Academy/New Xmen who did not know what to do with themselves now that the school is gone. This issue told stories about tying up loose ends from various X-titles.

Hank McCoy went back to the Mansion to clean up - he burned confidential medical records, grabbed personal belongings, closed down his computers and lab, and said goodbye to the place where he grew up.

We caught up with Alex Summers after the Emperor Vulcan Mini-Series - he's in prison with Lorna and the rest of the Starjammers. To further torment him, Vulcan told Alex that the Xmen were no more.

Illyana Raspuntin has a new resolve to get her soul back after the New Xmen arc where she saw that there were people who still cared for her. Forge’s story filled-in-the-blank of how Bishop was able to follow Cable to whatever timeline he was in. Bishop practically beat him up and stole his time travel tech. This left Forge with renewed determination to protect whatever is left of the mutants by protecting the "present."

Last is Nori and Moonstar deciding what to do next - I have often wondered what happened to Nori - she was the leader of the New Xmen and why was she not chosen to be in Young Xmen I don’t understand. The experience left her confused and full of self loathing for her failure to save friends and teammates. Her conversation with Moonstar ended up in a depressing note. Moonstar told her not to lose hope as there will always be a new day. Nori had the last word though, she said, that night will always come.

I glad that Marvel did this. Of course there were no “complete stories” here. If you don’t follow the various X-titles you’d be lost in three out of the five stories and would probably be bitching about how the stories were disjointed and incomplete. But maybe this is a ploy to tease people to go buy the trades of New Xmen, Emperor Vulcan, and follow the on-going Cable arc. I don’t know. I’m just glad that at least I know what happened to Alex, Illyana, and Nori and I’m looking forward to what happens next!

Birds of Prey #118

Tony Bedard has taken over writing BoP - he has written excellent stand alone issues after Gail Simone left. This is another great stand alone issue that will have repercussions in the future.

Misfit was kidnapped by the Dark Side Club - it seems that the New Gods incarnated in human forms (no explanation has been given yet) with Darkseid as a black guy call Dark Side. He ran the thunderdome-like arena where kidnapped superheroes fight. (Reminiscent of the JLU animated series arc and the JSA arc). Misfit and Black Alice were both kidnapped and of course they fought to the death! These two have been fighting for Oracle’s undivided attention since they met but the Dark Side DNA and blood tests of both of the girls came up with a surprising twist... They're related!

Nicola Scott's art is excellent as usual - my favorite was the panel where Black Alice borrowed the powers of Etrigan and when she teleported with a villain (using Misfit's powers - she always warned people that she couldn't teleport others with her) and the woman exploded to bits and pieces.

And even if Manhunter only played a bit part it was nice to see her around the DCU.

Go To Hell

2008-05-19T11:06:00.003+08:00

Why frothing over Iron Man was a waste of spit. Because you have this superhero movie to drool over proper. Only droolworthy one for miles.

This is so going to rock.

I'm A Believer

2008-05-13T10:35:00.002+08:00

When the timecode hit 0:35, a slight chill ran up my spine.

Heroes And Villains

2008-05-12T12:19:00.004+08:00

Can the worst TV show of 2007 get back on its feet?

God, I hope so.

Teaser doesn't show or tell us much,though. Doesn't even tease much. And the visual mnemonic's a little too Chip Kidd/Final Crisis. Oh well,better than that shampoo commercial they ran for Season 2. Better than the godawful Season 2. Better than nothing.

Astonishing!

2008-05-08T10:01:00.003+08:00

Lookee look!!! Previews of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men! With huge intergalactic bullet fired towards Earth with Kitty Pryde in it, the Avengers and FF are pitching in to save the world. Cassaday's drawings are awesome!

This page is funny... heh!

God Speaks

2008-04-27T18:46:00.003+08:00

Alan Moore on Hollywood: "Any kind of involvement with Hollywood is a waste of my time and there is no amount of money that can compensate for that. I think the industry is an embarrassment on all sorts of levels but sure there are bad comics, bad books and bad culture so it’s not just films that produce an overwhelming majority of unwatchable rubbish but films that are unwatchable rubbish cost $100 million. That is the budget of an emerging third world nation, which is the point where it goes from being merely tasteless to being kind of evil."

Dig That Bolan Riff

2008-04-24T15:09:00.005+08:00

No longform manga since Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira rocked my planet harder than Naoki Urusawa's 20th Century Boys - - - except maybe his Monster, which I haven't read yet. Moviebound for years now, a teaser's out at fucking last. And a teaser it is. Superlative use of that T Rex riff notwithstanding, it isn't much . . .but if you've read the manga or if you're not in kindergarten anymore, this will make you drool more than that potentially sucky kid's movie with Robert Downey in red armor coming to brand us stupid in a few weeks.

New York Comic Con 2008 Day 3 - The Stack

2008-04-21T13:07:00.001+08:00

New York Comic Con 2008, Day 2 - Artist Alley and More!

2008-04-21T11:29:00.001+08:00

New York Comic Con Day 1: Milo Ventimiglia, Grant Morrison

2008-04-21T11:23:00.001+08:00

Under . . .

2008-04-07T11:18:00.003+08:00

It’s the week I read Secret Invasion . . .although slog would be more apt. Skrulls- - -feh. I also picked up Echo and . . .ummm . . .I’ll be kind . . . it’s OK . . . but the strain shows. Terry Moore doesn’t wear superhero sci-fic well . . .least not yet but I'm not sure I’m fan enough to be up for this ride. Then I pick this up. No secret - - -unless you’ve been living under a rock on a moon
- - - that Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son. So, it's genetic. Locke & Key is promising ,give it that- - - and Gabriel Fernandez’s art is a must.

It’s a good day when you can read comics without stumbling over a superhero (although Brave & the Bold ain’t half bad) or a zombie.

Kick In The Gut

2008-04-04T18:23:00.005+08:00

My second and third favorite comics of 2008. Thanks be (or not) to Torrent, I've read (or tried to but couldn't finish) nearly everything that's come out so far and these, plus Lucha Libre are the only new titles worth the trouble so far. Add Suburban Glamour and you have the only titles worth the trouble period - - sorry, Grant Morrison's Batman, ya ain't as stupefying as the rest and I luv ya but not enuff. Annotations forthcoming, if I ever get in a cheery enough mood.

Millar outdoes himself,sort of. Who'd have thunk?

To live in hell

2008-03-31T22:06:00.006+08:00

After the Fall: Angel Season 6
Written by Brian Lynch and plotted by Joss Whedon
Art: Franco Urru

The first thing that came to mind was CROSSOVER!!! Imagine Angel, Spike, and Buffy together again! Unfortunately, Angel is published by IDW while Buffy is published by Dark Horse. I have no idea why Joss allowed this to happen. Anyway, the series is set to be a canonical continuation of the Angel television series, and follows the events of that show's final televised season: which showed Angel’s gang charging towards—oh just all the demons in LA. I hate endings where you don’t know what happened to the heroes you have become so attached to. I filled the void by reading all Angel books that I could get my hands on.

So when Season 6 came out…No need to state the obvious. There are five issues out and available at your friendly comic book shop. If you don’t want to be spoiled leave now and no harm will befall you….

Imagine Los Angeles in HELL. The whole city transported to hell! Wolfram & Hart literally sent the entire city to hell in retaliation to what Angel and his gang dismantled the demon cartel in LA. In Hell, demons gained more power and they divided the city into territories. Angel is in trouble since he got pissed off at a demon and killed him—he sorta killed-off the son of a demon-mafia leader. Angel, on a dragon continues to rescue citizens from the destruction and sends them to Connor, Gwen, and Nina for sanctuary. Meanwhile, the ghost of Wesley is now an incorporeal representative of Wolfram & Hart – since the contract with W&H extends after death, and Gunn has been turned into a vampire—how ironic, no?

Spike has a harem of humans and demons and he’s with Illyria whose powers have gone bonkers – she’s time jumping as n the series. Spike and Angel fight of course. After a series of surprising reveals they spring the biggest… Angel got wounded during the fight and he is not healing fast because he is human. THEN I HAD TO WAIT A MONTH TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!

The demons will keep on killing humans to avenge the demon that Angel killed and to stop this Angel dared ALL the demon lords of the city to send their champions against him at the same time. . The battle begins with Angel and all his friends at his side—including Groosalugg, Conner, Gwen, and Nina thanks to Lorne's last minute rousing (By the way, Lorne controls one city district where everything’s sunny and rosy and happy!). In the meantime, Gunn and his vampire gang demolished the W&H building. Wesley was in a “meeting” with his W&H bosses and when he arrived Spike said that Angel didn’t tell him that Wesley would be there. Enter Illyria… she saw Wesley and she transformed into Fred! NOW THEY WILL MAKE ME WAIT FOR THREE MONTHS!

Next month they will be publishing a three-issue arc about “The First Night” – focusing on what happened exactly after season 5 ended. I am of course very interested in knowing what happened but my God, why do creators have to make me wait after how issue 5 ended! Lynch’s story-telling and pacing is excellent. The art—ummm, I like the art of Buffy Season 8 better. But the cliff-hangers are a bitch.

Divide and Conquer

2008-03-28T14:50:00.002+08:00

Marvel's Secret Invasion will be out next week. The build-up towards the event has been uneven - there are some good issues on both New and Mighty Avengers but nothing mind blowing or exceptional. Bendis and other writers have at least created an atmosphere of paranoia among the superheroes. How can you win when you can't organize your ranks?

I still BELIEVE

2008-03-28T13:03:00.003+08:00

July 25...

Pafetra - video powered by Metacafe

Monsterism

2008-03-11T16:21:00.006+08:00

Prone to shifting shape still - - - or maybe not, I'm a little fond of this one already - - -but this draft's as spot-on a sum-up as you'll get.

Match 25's the Tuesday after Easter,people. And you all will be there.

Free food, free beer, free art and the jams will run long and sweet and knock your socks off. What's your excuse?

More later.

Colonial 1

2008-03-11T12:11:00.009+08:00

The Luxury Liner, Intersun, was converted to the President of the Colonies' personal carrier after the second Cyclon attack. It became Baltar's harem in Caprica 2 until Roslin claimed it back. Thor and I found a Titanium die-cast 3-inch replica in Toys 'R Us. Dodo, meron ka rin!

Watching out for the Watchmen

2008-03-09T18:57:00.008+08:00

The first pictures from the movie are out! Cool, no?

Silk Spectre

Ozymandias

Nite-Owl

The Comedian

And my favorite, Rorschach

Cable Is Wireless

2008-03-09T16:09:00.006+08:00

This time tomorrow, The Wire stops being the Best Show on TV.

Series finale is airing in a bit.

And revisiting the last four seasons these past few weeks has made me even more of a fan, if that's possible.

Best Show on TV, indeed.

And better than what? You name it - - - X Files. Lost. Galactica. Dr.Who. Miami Vice. The Prisoner. Six Feet Under. The Shield. Deadwood. The Sopranos. Star Trek. Walker Texas Ranger. Jojo A All The Way. And some days, sex.

Two words: Omar rocks.

Push and Pull

2008-03-07T12:23:00.011+08:00

PULLED

ECHO #1, Terry Moore Strangers in Paradise is one of the absolutes of comic book history and quite possibly the best of everything that’s ever been written about love. Sonnets included. Most people just don’t know it yet. And it is mind-boggling how it all came down to one creator—the lyric, the art, the painful and joyful dissection of longing: Terry Moore. So, Echo #1. It’s different and it is good. It reads like a superhero book, a down and out almost divorcee accidentally gets rained on by putty pellets, a result of a government weapon experiment gone menacing. Details are planted and I’m beginning to like Julie already. Definitely on board.****

JUSTICE LEAGUE THE NEW FRONTIER CLASSIFIED #1, Darwyn Cooke Trinity origin! Titans together! And Wonder Woman’s breasts on fire! It’s predictably good all around. What’s surprising though is the Black Canary and Wonder Woman team-up that delivers the funny. It’s not a necessary read but when did we care about necessary, right?****

TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE #3, Amy Wolfram, Karl Kerschl, Serge Lapointe, and Steph Peru Got on board this title mainly for the art—rest in peace, Mr. Peru—and as always, it’s worth the cover price. But it’s turning out to be as fun as the cartoon with subtle characterizations that work. Batman and Robin’s relationship was succinctly defined in one panel, and that’s quite an achievement. ****

PUSHED (Spoilers!)

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SEASON EIGHT #12, Drew Goddard and Georges Jeanty What the fuck? Drew Goddard, with Jane Esponson, wrote Conversations with Dead People, one the best Buffy episodes in its 7-year run. It’s purely a character piece with a few genuinely frightening moments so I was looking forward to his arc on this title. While the writing is funny, with a few well-planted surprises, the biggest surprise was totally, glaringly, out of character. Okay. I’m calm. When you get Buffy to sleep with another woman, that’s just. Grr. Not calm. See if it were Captain Janeway, I wouldn’t be surprised because somehow, flirting has been implied with Seven of Nine. But with Buffy, zero. Maybe it’s a dream sequence, just like Xander said. Will get back on this when the arc finishes, but for now, it’s disgruntled much. **

Game On!

2008-02-28T01:10:00.003+08:00

Spoilerish. You have been warned.

I'm not sure which excites me more - - - Olmos saying "Only question is, what year is it?" or Kara Thrace saying "We're going the wrong way."

I'm sticking with "In Season 4, everybody dies."

Bring it the fuck on.

It's a set up

2008-02-23T10:44:00.011+08:00

MIGHTY AVENGERS #9 BM Bendis, Mark Bagley. Bendis got lazy. He thought he could fool me into liking his Mighty Avengers if he put three spreads of the Avengers fighting Doombots. Well, he almost did, I get hypnotized by spreads and pretty colors. But after reading the last page, I realized that the dialogue balloons were completely useless (since nothing significant was said) and that you could understand the story easily (since nothing much happened). To make sure that I buy the next issue, Bendis threw in a cliffhanger. I wonder how the battle in Latvia is connected to Secret Invasion?

NIGHTWING #141 Peter Tomasi, Rags Morales and Michael Bair. Bruce Wayne is filthy rich! Nightwing is setting up in New York and in order for him to be able to get around the city fast he needed strategic bases. He sent the addresses to Bruce and he bought all the buildings for Dick in a snap. Nothing much happened in this issue in furthering the story of the mystery of the body thieves but Tomasi wrote little special moments that satisfied my geeky heart. The JSA and JLA all pitched in to build his new HQ. Imagine having John Stewart as you architect! I was wondering when a Titan would come over and help him then Wally shows up. They shared a beer and talked—Tomasi and Morales succeeded in making the moment special.

BIRDS OF PREY #115 Sean McKeever, Nicola Scott, and Doug Hazlewood. PERFECT! Like Avengers and Nightwing, the BoP issue is setting up the stage for the big story in the arc. Avengers overdosed on fights and Nightwing was character driven but I missed the brawls. McKeever told a “set-up” story where characters evolved, the story moved forward, and there were fights! The Huntress and Lady Blackhawk went to go after Shark and they found his hide-out on a deserted island. In a few pages, Lady Blackhawk’s history with the villain was told and that Helena’s loyalty and respect for her has grown. They also fought giant eels and a damn big fish with big teeth. Oracle is still obsessed with trying to find out where their last operation in Metropolis went wrong. She enlisted Black Alice and Misfit threw a tantrum over what she believed was favoritism. Charlie was angry that Barbara considered another kid like her a Bird of Prey while she wasn’t considered to be an official agent. Just as Barbara and Lory were at the verge of a breakthrough on the case they were working on, Charlie teleported in to fight Lory. Meanwhile, Helena found Zinda drugged and transformed into an evil bitch. PERFECT!

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #4 Chuck Dixon and Julian Lopez. Batgirl is back and Green Arrow hates her guts! (Come to think of it she’s the X-23 of DC – raised as an assassin and all but I think X-23 have more social support than Batgirl.) Anyway, after being betrayed by his kung fu master and how he and his family were hunted down by the league of assassins (the Black Canary and Sin arc) Green Arrow’s hate and distrust of Batgirl is completely understandable. The thing is Batman didn’t tell Ollie that Cassandra would be part of the team. It was typically manipulative of Batman. I have a problem with Ollie becoming a match to Cassandra in a fight. Cassandra was trained to read body language instead of verbal language—thus she could anticipate moves. Pretty much like Midnighter but without the enhancements—just human abilities but so honed and perfect that Batman once wondered if she was a meta. Unless, she was letting Ollie win so that he will feel better. Thunder is still hanging around Grace and the supposedly top secret Outsiders hideout. I don’t understand why Batman allows this. Maybe he has a plan for her, I don’t know why he didn’t put her on the team but he lets her hang out at their HQ. The reformatted OMAC is interesting—it can imitate anyone, George Clooney or Brad Pitt. I wouldn’t mind having one of those.

The Tao of Steve

2008-02-17T18:07:00.005+08:00

To echo an obit worth echoing.

Steve Gerber made me uncomfortable.

I couldn't last more than a few pages inside his comics before I came cowering back to safety like a whipped junkyard dog to my comfy, banal superheroes. This was,of course, in my callow and foolish days as a kid geek when superheroes were the end-all and be-all of comics.

But Gail was right. Gerber was his time's cutting edge. Not so much bookish like Gaiman but druggish and fuckedupish like Morrison.

I'm much older now, a little wiser and superheroes do suck eggs most of the time and they get suckier each year. I do go back and reread my old Gerber comics - - - not much else good to read anyway. Howard the Duck. Some Man Thing. Some Omega the Unknown. And he still makes me uncomofrtable. But this time, uncomfortable is a good place.

RIP, Mr.Gerber.

Valentines in the 31st Century

2008-02-14T15:44:00.002+08:00

This will definitely get the girls. Heh. More from here. :-)

Steve Gerber, 1947-2008

2008-02-13T18:24:00.004+08:00

One of the best thing to ever come out of Countdown was Countdown to Mystery: Doctor Fate. I've been enjoying it immensely, loving the flow of the prose it's a crime not to read it out loud. I will miss reading Mr. Gerber's stories.

Good night, sir.

Here's what Gail Simone had to say in the Newsarama board:

Dammit. Just dammit.

Some of you know of my adoration for this man. He's one of the few creators that I idolize so highly that I got stage fright actually talking to him.

Steve was Alan Moore and Grant Morrison before those guys were themselves. He always had a spin, an askew way of looking at everything, that made every story feel new and fresh and unique. Like we were party to something special. When he wrote a character, he showed you their secret side.

He made you feel like you were getting away with something taboo when you read one of his stories, no matter what the subject was. With Steve, the guy on the title wasn't the star, the WRITER was the star, just by virtue of his overwhelming talent and viewpoint. In a time when 'weird' was frowned upon, Steve owned the word in comics, in the best possible way.

A couple years ago, out of the blue, and I have no idea how he got my email address, he wrote and said this to me:

"Gail, I'm currently reading your BIRDS OF PREY stuff from the beginning.

I hope to hell you have some idea how good you are.

Steve Gerber"

I am telling you, it's hard to imagine a kind word before or since that knocked me out of the chair like that. I was sure it had to be a hoax. That this guy, this hero of mine, would write something like that to a total stranger, it boggles my mind still.

I had to write back something like, "Uh, you do know that you are STEVE ****ING GERBER, right?"

We corresponded often in the next couple years, Steve always gracious, always generous, always funny, and always very humble about his place in comics (despite my constant protestations to the contrary). We talked about craft, we talked about the industry. He sometimes spoke about his health, but I never heard him complain. It was just the life he had, and he always hoped for the best. But it was clear that his health was pulling him under.

Last year, I got the chance to live a dream and work with him a little bit, writing a tie-in Black Alice comic to his Helmet Of Fate series. I have to say, I don't think I've ever felt the pressure to do a good job as much as I did on that book. For the readers and for myself, but also because letting Steve down was simply inconceivable. I'd rather hide in the closet forever.

I will carry his kind words with me the rest of my life.

Just a couple weeks ago, when I heard he'd gone back to the hospital, I offered to ghost write an issue of Dr. Fate so he could get some rest. He said he'd take me up on it, at least at the brainstorming stage. And he sounded very optimistic. He was concerned about something that might take him off the donor recipient list. I told him I had my fingers and toes crossed for him.

We never got to that brainstorming session. In a way, I'm sad, but in another way...who could really ever ghostwrite for Steve, even with the best of intentions? I never read a Steve Gerber story that didn't move me in some unique way. He combined brains and heart and a deadshot eye for the absurd in a way that is often imitated, but rarely achieved.

If you're going to have a legacy as a writer in comics, I think that's a pretty damn good one to leave behind.

Love you, Steve. Thank you for everything.

Gail

Le Freak

2008-02-08T23:47:00.001+08:00

Ellis does Ballardian gangporn gone batshit. I think. I fucking hope.

For free of charge. Warren,you are a great person.

Cooler Than Borbah

2008-02-08T23:04:00.000+08:00

Something tells me my first favorite comic of 2008 has just arrived.

And it's got toys. Yowza.

Batslap

2008-02-06T10:28:00.000+08:00

X-Machina

2008-02-05T13:34:00.000+08:00

This one actually looks promising. And I hope they go the JLU route and go crazy with the character appearances. The series seems to begin with the deaths of Xavier and Jean Grey. Trailer here.

New God On My Shelf

2008-02-03T23:59:00.000+08:00

Mandoll abstinece broken.

Poorer now . . . but damn , if that bugger doesn't look handsome as fuck on my shelf. Keep me away from the new Animated Spawn figures, though. No more savings to dip into.

Royal Rumble

2008-02-01T12:11:00.002+08:00

New Avengers Annual #2

Hood’s injustice gang is back! They pulled an unbelievable prison-break to free their members who were arrested during the bank heist a few issues back. How they pulled this off wasn’t shown – that would have been interesting because according to a SHIELD agent reporting to Commander Hill, 17 men were killed. These guys want pay-back from the rogue Avengers. They beat up Tigra to tell them where the secret hide-out is. She said, “Everyone in the Initiative knows but they just can’t prove it.” And why? The favorite story-telling tool of Marvel of course – MAGIC! (*SIGH* and I am again reminded of One More Day)

I like Bendis’ New Avengers – they’re gritty, witty, and desperate. My sympathy's always with the underdog. When they win a fight, they don’t take it for granted or are all cocky about it. They tend to their wounded, some are still angry and tightly-wound up, Dr Strange is drained, Logan is hungry, and Spidey’s still bothered about who among them is Skrull. Then Hood’s gang attacks. I liked it that Spidey’s first instinct is to get the Jessica and Luke’s baby away fast. Jessica flew after him and almost decked him for taking her baby. With the baby safe and out of the way, Spidey went back to help fight. Pagulayan draws this time and fight scenes were excellent. The numbers were against the New Avengers, even with Tigra showing up to help. When all seemed lost… the team was saved by…. MAGIC! Ms Marvel and the SHIELD storm troopers arrive after the fight and Carol decided to let the team go – “They avenged the 17 men …”

The story ended with Jessica finally doing the most logical but extreme hard thing to do… “Please I want to register… help me protect my baby.”

I enjoyed this issue – even with the “magic ex machina” thing. I was emotional when Jessica and her baby were shown together outside the Mighty Avengers HQ, begging to be let in. One more thing – Spiderman – he’s still in black , he’s still the Spidey we knew before OMD. I miss him much.

Mighty Avengers #8

Privileged and polished. This is how they seem after reading New Avengers. Their personal angst is petty, immature, and ridiculous. Still, Bendis writes funny quips for all of them in thought balloons. Yeah, some people find this irritating – I find it funny. The team fights a choke-full-of-Manhattan-Venom_virus-
affected-population. The Venom virus spread even to some of the Avengers team – Natasha, Jessica, and the Giant Janet. The New Avengers came to help but except for Luke Cage, all were infected. I think Bendis just wanted to play around with Venom Wolverine, Venom Dr Strange, Venom Iron Fist and so on. Cool, though.

They don’t get saved by magic – with Tony and Hank around – science was the solution. Again, it was Carol who decided to let the New Avengers get away. (She might as well join the team!) Highlight was when Tony saw that Hawkeye – Clint – with the New Avengers. Tony was surprised and hurt that he joined them.

Avengers: The Initiave #9

The comic book reminds me of New X-men – students learning to be heroes. Adding Taskmaster to the “faculty” was a brilliant idea. The guy could fight – makes me wonder how he got defeated by the Avengers. He provides no-nonsense combat-training. It fits his name, really. While training an MVP clone bites the team in the ass. I like Slott’s writing here – his humor shown in his run is She-hulk is a bit muted but that’s fine and Caselli’s drawings are beautiful.

Ant-man's on the team - I wonder, will he be the jerk as he was was written by Kirkman? Oh, and there’s a Skrull on the team!!!

Prototype Optimus In Embryo

2008-01-31T02:54:00.000+08:00

How To Write Comics

2008-01-23T11:53:00.000+08:00

Old news. But still. Warren Ellis on how Joss Whedon learned to write comics and how you can,too:

"I met Joss Whedon once. He told me he learned to write comics by studying some Alan Moore scripts his editor provided to him. They scared the hell out of him, as I recall. Alan writes massive scripts. I mean, he's got his own hole in a forest somewhere, and it's a mile across and denuded of anything that can be pulped into paper. Now go and read one of Joss' comics -- or use Bit Torrent to steal it off the internet, the way I did. (It's okay -- I was going to get Marvel to send me a copy, so I wasn't going to pay for it anyway.) (Yeah, yeah. Shut up.) It doesn't read like Alan's work, does it? He took what he needed from it -- how to pace comics, how to isolate moments, when to punch and when to go quiet -- and put his own voice on top of it. That's how to do it. Joss went on from that meeting to write an introduction to a Planetary collection wherein he made fun of my beard. And Alan's."

And something for artists to chew on as well. Same source.

"When Watchmen was released, comics companies were deluged with submissions done in nine-panel grid featuring vigilantes who say "Hurm" a lot. Seriously. This was still happening by the time I got into the business, and I saw some. No-one, however, wanted a crack at creating the kind of huge complex structures and relationships of Watchmen. No-one used the tools to went their way in and out of people's lives like Alan Moore, and no-one used the frame like Dave Gibbons. They just lifted the surface. This is how it always goes with the big influential works. Too few people look at the guts of a thing. You don't get to be Frank Miller by drawing a nice picture of Daredevil. You get to be Frank Miller by spending ten years studying Will Eisner and B Krigstein pages and working out for yourself just what makes them good."

The Final Frontier

2008-01-23T08:48:00.000+08:00

We all know that JJ Abrams will be at the helm of the 11th Star Trek movie. We all know Zachary Quinto will play Spock:

Here's the rest of the cast:

Chris Pine as James Kirk
Karl Burban as Bones McCoy
Zoe Saldana as Uhura
Simon Pegg as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
John Cho as Sulu
Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov

And here's the new teaser trailer:

I am so excited... Damn the stupid MMFF - this will be shown January next year not Christmas this year...

Black Rock Revisited

2008-01-18T13:27:00.000+08:00

O di ba astig?

A Brand New Day

2008-01-10T19:25:00.000+08:00

I just have to know what happens next. Yes, even with the crappy ending of One More Day. I want to know how the creative team will handle the stupid decision to erase MJ and Pete's marriage (It's suppose to change the ENTIRE MARVEL UNIVERSE not only the events in Spide-man - but no...) The Amazing Spider-man will be on sale 3x a month and here's the status quo according to issue #546:

Nobody knows Spidey's secret identity. As in no one - not Daredevil or the Avengers. He is unregistered. According to the writers, "some people seem to recall that Spidey unmasked himself during the Civil War but no one quite remembers whose face was under the mask."

Web-shooters are back. Web fluid is home made and webs dissolve in an hour.

Pete's unemployed. He is broke and is living with Aunt May.

Gwen stays dead. She was still murdered by Green Goblin and Pete still feels guilty over her death.

Harry's alive. He lived in Europe for years but now he's back. He doesn't remember being the Green Goblin - but according to the writers, Pete remembers that he was GG. Harry and Pete are still BFF. Harry does not talk about his father. He's dating Lily Hollister, NY City's District Attorney's daughter.

MJ moved to California to be an actress. She and Pete dated and were very serious but why they broke up is still undisclosed. I heard that she's a super-hero, the licensed super-hero of NY, Jackpot. There's a short story included in this issue on Jackpot, drawn by Greg Land - OK I'll give him a break since MJ is supposed to be a model but does he have to draw women in ALL FRAMES posing like models no matter what they are doing?

Issue 546 takes its time... Dan Slott told a story of "a day in the life of an unemployed Peter Parker." A bit slow. The highlight was the confrontation between Peter and Jameson which resulted to JJJ having a heart attack. Heh! Finally.

Shaolin Batman

2007-12-28T22:00:00.000+08:00

La lang.

Belated

2007-12-27T10:37:00.001+08:00

Merry Merry, geeks!

Santa Claws,heh.

Christmas Loot!

2007-12-27T09:33:00.001+08:00

Thor and I went to the 2nd Christmas Toy and Collectible Fair and a trip to Comic Odyssey. Needless to say we went and emptied our wallets!

New Frontier Series 2 : Batman, Dr Fate, Martian Manhunter, and Flash
The rest in the picture are from Series 1

Finally the rest of the Authority minus Jack Hawksmoor. Thor bought Apollo last June.

Elseworld Counterparts from Red Son with JLA Superman and Batman and Son's Batman bought earlier this year. Terry Dodson's Wonder Woman was a Christmas gift from Thor.

Thor's picks - He's still admiring the packaging.

Crappy picture but this was the most expensive action figure I bought. This was a Christmas wish come true! I also got a couple of cheap busts that are locally made.

Yep. It was a happy Christmas!

One More for Baltimore

2007-12-24T21:42:00.001+08:00

It hasn't won an Emmy but critics have unanimously anointed it the greatest show on TV. And that's not just some dim, brash Mark Millarish hyperbole. This is one of the few times they're so right, it's scary.

The Greatest Show On TV, then. Coming back for one last go-around. Bubbles is clean, Marlo's pissed, Omar's on the prowl ,Clay Davis is still full of "sheeeeeeeeeeeeit", McNulty's drunk again and Avon Barksdale's back. Hallelujah, motherfuckers.

January 6,2008. Miss it and you lose.

Go To Hell!

2007-12-23T19:38:00.000+08:00

There's Hideo Nakata's Deathnote movie, L:Change the World. And there's this.

The only two superhero movies y'all should wait for next year, no more, no less.

I suddenly couldn't care less about that Iron Man movie - - -but Christopher Nolan gets a ticket sale from me.

Found

2007-12-17T12:30:00.000+08:00

Season 4 is upon us. January 31.

2007-12-14T10:24:00.000+08:00

There will be spoilers

The X-men and mutant kind have faced near extinction before through genocide by humans, a virus, or people from space or the future wanting to kill-off everyone with a mutant gene. Usually everyone got cured, the killer/s neutralized. After M-day, 91% of mutants lost their mutant gene, there’s no “enemy” to fight or a virus to find a cure for, and no problem that science or magic can solve. For two years, mutants know that they slowly dying off and in that time different X-titles have been setting up characters and events for the Messiah Complex. Through bad and good writing I have stuck with the titles. My investment is big. Thus, my expectations for this event is high and so far it has consistently delivered fantastic story-telling.

Madrox and Layla are sent 80 years to the future where mutants are kept in concentration camps (where we learn that Lalyla's mutant gene "comes and goes"). Rictor goes under cover among the Purifiers because he would not register as a mutant anymore. The New X-men led by Surge went to attack the Purifiers as payback for murdering their friends. They almost did not make it out alive. Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Angel, and Emma Frost (at least in spirit, her body’s back at the Xavier’s) fought the Marauders where Kurt got mortally wounded and Logan found out from Gambit that the baby was with Cable. Predator X (the monster made by the people who created X-23 and is reinforced by Mercury’s well…mercury) is tracking the yummiest monster treat around which is of course the baby.

Scott and Xavier are still butting heads with Xavier asserting that he should lead and that Scott has been making wrong decisions. Scott has assembled X-Force: Wolverine, X-23, Caliban, Warpath, Hepzibah, and Rahne to track Cable and the baby with order to kill Cable if necessary to ensure that the baby is in their hands.The Reavers led by Death Strike is also after Cable.

Xavier’s was leveled to the ground by the O*N*E* Sentinels who were taken over by sentient metallic goo. Sentinels wanting to kill mutants is old but they pulled it off because for a long time O*N*E* Sentinels were written to useless in protecting the kids in the Institute – they were harmless, manned by stupid soldiers – it caught me off guard.

In my opinion, Batman War Games was one the most well executed cross-overs ever since the tone of the story-telling and the art was consistent throughout different titles, writers, and artists. Messiah Complex is at par and more. Brubaker, Yost, Kyle, David, and Carey are all in their top form as they write great fight scenes but they do not forget to delve into the characters’ self doubts, fear, and anger and how these affect their decisions and actions. The artists have all been great. So far, I cannot predict how they will resolve the story – or maybe that is me refusing to think ahead. I don’t want anything to spoil the ride.

All Across the Universe

2007-12-13T14:52:00.000+08:00

GREEN LANTERN #25
Written by Geoff Johns; Art by Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver and Oclair Albert; Variant cover by Gary Frank

Minor Spoilers. Major Spoilers are blocked off.

Come to think of it, the plot-bloated but emotionally resonant Infinite Crisis feels like a prequel to Geoff Johns’ dark oeuvre The Sinestro Corps War, which is as much a story of Sinestro recruits Superboy Prime and Cyborg Superman as it is the fall and rise of the Green Lantern Corps. What started out as the best major event opener in DC’s convulsing superhero history has finally wrapped up in Green Lantern #25 and, well, it kept me coming up for air most of the time. A solid 30-minute read it will take you about the same time (or longer) to admire the details of the art. Reis’ pencils are breathtakingly cinematic. Pace perfect. A bloody valentine to space operas.

Geoff Johns has always been more about the story than the concepts. And Sinestro Corps War, he expertly tells. Watching him weave a universe-full of story threads into a clear action-driven, morally-centered epic is simply a wonder. It could have been messy (Countdown) or choppy (Infinite Crisis), but this one is just one smooth ride to a GL mythos-shattering finale.

The Green Lantern Corps books are independent from the main title but I did find them more interesting. More theoretical, more adventurous with its inventions. Hal will live through this war, I’m sure, but the battle in Lantern Mogu had me guessing the outcome. Gibbons and Tomasi made the corps more heroic than superheroic, just your ordinary (space) cops (Zaido!) making a living. And they have the world to lose.

I’m still reeling from the magnitude of it all—there’s nothing more I want to do than finish the last two tie-ins (GLC Corps epilogue and the ION special) before giving the series another read. But as it is, the Sinestro Corps War is this year's best. Nothing even comes close. And with the lethal force activated in the power rings and the birth of the blue and black lanterns, 2009's Blackest Night just can’t come faster enough. ****1/2

A night in Gotham

2007-12-01T11:10:00.000+08:00

As usual guys…. Major Spoilers….

Crime Bible: Five Lessons in Blood #2 Written by Greg Rucka; Art by Jose Saiz

Greg loves Renee. Really! Her characterization throughout the years have changed, improved, and in some ways became more flawed. Renee is tracking down the crime-bible-cult from 52 and has gone undercover as a customer in a brothel run by the cult. Mr. Rucka slowly built up to the dilemma of people who have gone deep undercover—will she be completely part of that world (sex, drugs, alcohol, murder and the like) or not? From all the movies I have seen on police going undercover (Donnie Brasco, Infernal Affairs) you cannot help but be dirty or else blow your cover. This is a big issue in the DCU as seen in JLA Elite—it is necessary to go deep but impossible to stay immaculately clean. Renee working alone is in a worse situation—she has no support or back-up and she is deeply lonely. The woman offering a respite to this is a temptation too big to resist.

Gotham Underground #2 Written by Frank Tieri; Art by J. Calafiore and Jack Purcell; Cover by J. Calafiore

Well, they’ve gone and done it. There it was—a full page of Spoiler stalking Robin. O well, let’s see where this one will go. The Gotham gangs are organizing themselves—those who are not led by metahumans or costumed villains. They want to re-claim Gotham. Meanwhile good old Batman is deep undercover as Matches Malone in a state penitentiary. He wants to investigate what is happening to the villains who have disappeared so he got himself arrested and sent to jail. I would have thought he’d be smart enough to know that if the Suicide Squad is involved, he wouldn’t find the villains in jail. That big neon clue should have led him to Amanda Waller! Anyway, he left Dick and Tim in charge while he is away. Dick decided to do some investigating on his own by creating a-la Matches Malone alter ego. He is his father’s son (or he just ran out of original ideas).

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder #8
Written by Frank Miller; Art and Cover by Jim Lee and Scott Williams

Wow! This is the coolest Joker ever! It’s not unbelievable that a sane woman would want to have sex with him (well, as long as she didn't know beforehand that he will kill her after the hot sex). Dick is changing the Goddamned Batman. The jerk found himself starting to care… awwww! But after how he was characterized the change in attitude is too fast for me. Dick's first costume and name – The Hood – was funny. He based it on Robin Hood (at first glance I thought it was Ollie)! He looked like a little Speedy with arrows and all.

Life During Wartime

2007-11-24T22:04:00.001+08:00

Galactica Razor
Directed by Felix Alcala
Written by Michael Taylor

Frak me if the postapocalyptic sturm and drang of Ronald Moore's Battlestar rejig isn't still the seismic motherlode of current longform sci-fic TV- - - as opposed to shortform sci-fic TV, which is what Doctor Who is, which is every bit as grand so far. Nowhere near series best, though, this recursive, supersized episode flashing back to the brutal goings-on aboard the Battlestar Pegasus under Admiral Helena Cain's watch means to hinge everything so far - - - the new signposts to where Earth is, New Caprica, the Baltar trial, the four new unmasked Cylons, the return of Kara Thrace and the repercussions of what she brought back with her, that Bob Dylan song and what it means- - - with its looming final leg and is so vigorously co-dependent on at least the last two seasons that it has no autonomy as a piece, is so of a piece , really, that rookies to the mythos - - -essentially a spacebound Book of Exodus but so much more than that - - - should back off and boot up with the pilot, suck in that aura of haggard doom then work their way here before all the backstories and foreshadowings and reveals start to pack brunt and bristle. The choir of geeks it preaches to, though, is bound to shudder with glee - - -at what was going on between Cain and the Number 6 she had on board, at the old school Cylons and what they're guarding, at the eleventh hour revelation that darkens everything to come. It isn't so much the severity of the sociopolitical mirror this new Galactica holds up to the world as we know it post-911 but the way interpersonal dynamics mutate under such conditions that resonate more with me- - - less the space opera than the space soap opera. Cain has one line epitomizing her venomous temperament that somehow nails, too, what the show, at its core, is ultimately about: “Sometimes we have to do things that we never thought we were capable of, if only to show the enemy our will. When you can be this for as long as you have to be, then you’re a razor. This war is forcing us all to become razors. If we don’t, we don’t survive, and then we don’t have the luxury of becoming simply human again."

What the hell happened to "rest in peace?"

2007-11-23T09:53:00.000+08:00

I cannot believe that there are rumors going around that DC might bring Stephanie Browne back (Spoiler/Robin). The poor kid who died trying to prove herself to (Goddamned!) Batman. His bad handling of Stephanie should have disqualified him to become Tim's adoptive father - if only child services had any idea! I would sic social workers to kick his ass!

I have mourned Stephanie. Project Girl Wonder is asking for a same memorial case like the one Jason Todd has. (Unless the bastard was lying when he told Stephanie at her deathbed that she really was Robin.) See? People have moved on! They have accepted her death! I've had enough of resurrections.

Star Wars

2007-11-20T23:18:00.000+08:00

Not yet done with the third Galactica season?

Back off then.

Otherwise, partake.

Season 4's looking to be seriously fucked up.

L Is Coming

2007-11-17T11:16:00.001+08:00

Spinning off from the obscenely massive Deathnote movies is L, which stands to be the finest thing to emerge from making a movie franchise out of the terrific Ohba/Obata manga.

Why do I think so?

Four words.

Directed. By. Hideo. Nakata.

February 9 2008. And a fuck, yeah to that.

Maskarados

2007-11-15T18:24:00.000+08:00

Bong's an OFW in Singapore. And my prostitute gigs have been murder - - - not least of which was/is the snakeman. So,Askals 2: Hulog Ng Langit and a certain amazon with a fetish for popping pebbles and magic words currently languish in a limbo of our own making.

Komikon with no new work from us does feel a little off, like running with a game leg. But no small thanks to the belated return of Reno's Tabloid Komiks,you'd hardly notice the limp.

Ask me, the scrap of Maskarado fanfic we've got in there, Sa Mamihan Ni Ah Long, is Bong's finest hour. I kid you not. Makes me smell good, at least. Josel Nicolas has new stuff in it, too. Oh , and this also emerges from hiding. Cover alone's worth your milk money, children. Massive apologies to Reno for not finishing the short story I promised I'd do. Work has been brutal.

Nuff Said

2007-11-13T12:18:00.001+08:00

Isn't she a little short for a rebel princess?

2007-11-12T08:09:00.001+08:00

Kristen Bell dressed as Slave Leia in Fanboys. (Trailer here.)

Truly, some images require no further elaboration...

The Mutancy Meme, Part 2: Do the Evolution

2007-11-12T07:02:00.000+08:00

Being the second installment of an essay on the subject of Mutancy as Meme in the (Mainstream) Marvel Universe. Part 1 is here.

Borrowing from Gladwell, one may posit mutancy as a kind of "social innovation", in the fictional culture of the Marvel universe. So, over time, it should (theoretically) gain acceptance within the broader population, down an echelon of levels:

... from a limited number of "early adopters" (the first batches of the X-Men and the rival Brotherhood of Mutants),

Giant-Size X-Men

... and from them to "tertiary adopters" (the younger New Mutants; and even later, Generation X, who probably came of age with the experience of mutancy as a fairly common occurrence),

... then to "quadranary adopters" amongst the general non-mutant population, etc.
This diffusion of "the mutancy meme" within 616 society follows (appropriately enough) the self-replicating nature of a virus, as it spontaneously adapts to its host bodies.

This process was further egged on by the paradigm shifts taking place in the "real-world" comic industry that keeps the X-men franchise in business. A handful of innovative writers started to recognize that mutancy's central tenets needed to be retooled and updated to fit the increasing complexities of a globalized world. Unstable trans-national boundaries and the spread of information across the world marketplace made the over-simplistic tropes of past decades now seem like hoary clichés -- was it honestly conceivable that a large and potentially influential minority would remain despised and marginalized forever? Not likely.

Nevertheless, it would be an uphill struggle to present mutancy as a respectable condition, when the species' most prominent radical terrorist group, the Mutant Liberation Front, looked as hokey as this sorry bunch:

Something urgently needed to change. And so, after the line-wide "Revolution" campaign in 2000, we began to see a more nuanced vision of mutancy. Mutants are still hated and feared by the public at large, but they're also the subject of much fascination and envy. They're marketed, branded, and commercialized, in the same way the mainstream culture has deigned to adapt specific aspects of other minority cultures (the design sensibilities of queer aesthetics, for instance; or the macho posturing of black American hip-hop).

Joe Casey introduced the X-Corporation as a way of establishing mutant presence in the realm of transnational business -- a concept that was sadly never fully realized (in the Marvel universe, anyway). Meanwhile, Brian Bendis conceptualized the synthetic Mutant Growth Hormone as a lethal means for humans to simulate the mutant experience, mimicking the advent of "designer drugs" in the 'real world'.

But perhaps nobody redefined the scope of mutancy quite like Grant Morrison, over the course of his run on New X-Men. Yeah, I know -- the hype! But you know what? It's almost entirely deserved. Srsly.
Let me count the ways:

And that doesn't even begin to cover individual figures like Sublime and Xorn, each of whom are inspired by the key themes of the franchise, in their own unique ways.

Of course, all of this would soon be undone by the (completely misguided) advent of House of M, and the resulting Decimation storyline. But i'll save that for my next installment...

Dreamcasting #1: Justice Society of America

2007-11-11T19:51:00.000+08:00

I have an on-again, off-again relationship with the Ultimate Central message board. It started out as a discssion forum for Marvel's Ultimate line, when the imprint hadn't lost its sense of novelty yet. Lately, however, enthusiasm for Ultimate continuity has waned, and it's become (yet another) general-purpose comic discssion board.

Anyway, one of the regular features at UC is a bi-weekly Dreamcasting game (two, actually -- one strictly for comic-derived franchises; another for broader geeky interests, like remakes or novel adaptations). I thought i'd share a few of my older entries from previous Dreamcasting rounds.

Of course, I'd highly recommend that you offer suggestions, if you think you've got better choices than mine (and I have no doubt that you do). So without further ado, I give you...

The Justice Society of America

THE PREMISE

1958: The Good Soldier, the Scientist, the Working Class Hero, the Detective, the Industrialist, and the Magician join forces, using their abilities to stop a Cthulu-esque extra-dimensional evil summoned by an Immortal Villain, temporarily sealing both in a pocket universe. As a result, they are forced to unmask before a fearful public, due to McCarthy-era paranoia.

2008: OUr aging heroes run a Hogwarts-style academy to train future government-registered superheores (including the proteges and successors of many of their old collegues). The Immortal Villain somehow reenters our world; seeks revenge; punks out an entire field team of younger heroes. The surviving Old Guys show the kids how its done, Silver Age style.

Straightforward, no-frills superhero action. Light on complex plotting; big on heartfelt world-saving and retro macho bombast.

THE VETERANS

Alan Arkin as The Flash.

Anthony Hopkins as Green Lantern.

Harvey Keitel as Wildcat. Working-class tough guy with nine lives, portrayed by veteran of street-level Scorsese films.

Christopher Walken as The Sandman. Former teen sidekick turned eccentric billionaire with a passion for sleuthing.

James Cromwell as Dr. Fate. Timothy Leary-esque oddball. Adept at chaos magicks.

THE STUDENTS and TRAINERS

Don Cheadle as Mr. Terrific, 21st century version of the sagely negro. Thinks in quantum mechanics, speaks in ebonics.

Maria Bello (Coyote Ugly, Thank You For Smoking) as Power Girl.

Jake Busey (The Frighteners, Contact) as Hourman.

Olivia Wilde (Alpha Dog) as Stargirl. Relative unknown to play the untested Stargirl. Wilde also played lesbian hellraiser Alex in season 2 of The O.C.

THE VILLAINS

Rip Torn as Vandal Savage, immortal gentleman-rogue.

Gabriel Byrne (Stigmata) as Mordru, would-be trans-dimesnional conqueror.

If you want to see the casts picked by other users, click here.

Hope and fear

2007-11-10T13:00:00.000+08:00

Messiah Complex: Chapters 1 & 2

Ed Brubaker and Billy Tan

It has been a while since the last X-Men event. I have been religiously following the various X-titles. I have dropped only one - Excalibur - because I just couldn’t get my head around what was happening to Captain Britain. The thread that was common in all the titles is dealing with the aftermath of M-day—I recently re-read Grant Morisson’s run in New X-men and I better understood the fear and frustration that the remaining mutants felt. During Morrison’s run, the extinction gene in humans has been activated. Homo sapien was slowly but surely being replaced by Homo superior.

In wars around the world that were motivated by tribal rivalries and grudges and where the hate for the “other” was so deep that conflicting parties aimed for genocide, children were targeted first. Kill-off the next generation and there won’t be replacements for soldiers/militia who were killed in battle. Targeting children also caused despair and hopelessness among the adults – leading to a demoralized people losing the will to live. This was palpable in the X-titles. Stryker’s cult killed of a bus load of de-powered students and murdered around three students (with powers). The apathy of the humans, the government, and even the other super heroes was blatant – some parents did not even claim their children’s bodies, not one parent demanded justice for the death of their children, no investigation was conducted by the authorities, and when Ms. Marvel came to the Institute to inform the faculty and the kids that another student was dead, they asked her where was the Avengers when Stryker was murdering the children. She had no answer.

McCoy’s desperate and useless search for a “cure” was a sign that the adults were slowly giving in to hopelessness and to the prospect that they were the last mutants. The X-men’s lame stand on the Registration Act was another symptom of the hopelessness – why bother when they have their own problems – when they were being targeted not only for registration but for extermination.

Thus, the birth of a new mutant is everything to the X-men. Ed Brubraker’s Chapter 1 of the Messiah Complex was very well written – I was kinda traumatized with his run last year in Uncanny X-men. With the Cerebra overloading because of the birth, the Purifiers and the Marauders both scrambling over the baby and practically erasing a town from the map (murdering the children first), the urgency and gravity of the situation was established. Chapter 2 focused more on getting the different X-teams together, setting aside differences and grudges, and setting up plans of action. The tension of who will lead the team was tackled. This is the first major crisis where Xavier is present after recovering his powers. He wanted to lead but since Xavier left the X-men in the end of Morrison’s run, Scott has effectively led the X-men and the Institute with Emma Frost. For the first time, Xavier doubted his place among his X-men and this was perfectly presented and drawn in one page with only one overheard dialog from Scott.

A plus point for me is Billy Tan's drawings of Jaime Maddox, Rictor, and Layla Miller—my beloved X-factor. It has been two (three?) years since House of M where Layla Miller first appeared and in Billy Tan’s drawing she has grown up and is a teen-ager. In X-factor, Layla didn’t look like she aged since M-day. Tan’s Wolverine, Colossus, Angel, and Nightcrawler were awesome in the skirmish with some Marauders. Also, the four X-men executed the fight and interrogation with solid team work that made me want read the fight sequences again (the details are excellent!). So far, I am extremely satisfied and excited. Next week, it’s Peter David and X-factor. Yuhoo!

Waiting to Exhale

2007-11-10T12:49:00.001+08:00

Astonishing X-men #23

Joss Whedon and John Cassaday

“I am diamond, Ms. Pryde. I am by definition, my own best friend.” – Emma Frost

The verbal fencing between Kitty and Emma are always the highlight in an issue of Whedon’s Astonishing X-men. Sometimes I forget that Scott Summers has balls—I seem to be always connecting the character with doubt and self-pity. Whedon reminded my why he is the leader of the X-men. Summers’ plan of misdirection and strategic plays and positioning were flawless. The final part of the plan was classic and it made me put the comics down carefully and cheer! Scott just let go and the anal retentive man that he is, that was a breakthrough. Cassaday’s drawings were detailed and marvelous especially his Wolverine and the tortured Scott Summers.

Supergirl #23

Kelly Puckett, Drew Johnson, and Ray Snyder

It started out good—Batman was testing Kara by sending her a gift. It was lead lined so she didn’t know what was in it. Of course she opened it! Inside is a note that said, “mistake.” Then Batman called to tell her show stupid she was. Funny. Then a portal opens and she was brought to…somewhere and there was Superman fighting with the Green Lantern Corpse (presumably during the Sinestro War). I liked that detail that the Corpse were speaking in their own languages and because no one was addressing Supergirl, she didn’t understand any of it. Then she was sent on a mission where she would shadow a Sinestro ship in deep space. She needed to stay exactly 10 meters away from the ship.

Again, I appreciated the detail—Superman told her to hold her breath—she will be flying through the vacuum of space and she has two hours before she asphyxiates. Then follows 10 pages with no dialogue with Supergirl shadowing the ship, becoming bored, tying up her hair, becoming paranoid of being detected, being forced to “dip” in a sun, overcoming the impulse to press the panic button that was given to her, being detected and shot at, needing to breathe, and finally hitting the panic button which opened a portal that brought her back to a disappointed Superman and Corpse. She lost the ship. She was sent home. Then she realized something that for the life of me didn’t make sense.

Did I like the issue? I liked the panels with-out dialogue (Thor would be expecting that) because it was evocative and well executed but on the whole, the plot was confusing. What was happening? Why was Batman testing her? *SIGH* I want this title to be good because Supergirl is one of three of the solo heroine titles in DC. These are my Barbies!

The Mutancy Meme, Part 1: (Not So) Secret Origin of the Species

2007-11-09T06:11:00.000+08:00

What makes you think
you can cure our disease?
Maybe its just our biology
Maybe its time to make room
for another species
This is the 21st Century!
"Modern Day Catastrophists",
Bad Religion (1993)

In the past decade, Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell has become an established talking-head of pop sociology, largely due to the unexpected success of his book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. In it, he details how "social epidemics" take place, bringing about radical, sudden and often chaotic shifts in the state of affairs within a particular social network.

Indeed, Gladwell's theories apply rather neatly to the changing perception of mutant society within the fictional Marvel universe (MU) from the start of the new millennium onwards -- at least within the continuity designated as "616" by loyal fans.

However, I'm jumping the gun here. Before I get into that, a quick recap...

When the concept of mutants was first developed in the MU, it was simply a matter of people born with a unique genetic quirk -- an "X" factor -- that bestows them with amazing, frequently dangerous powers (usually manifested during adolescence). In all likelihood, the whole "Children of the Atom" schtick was probably a timely, catch-all narrative device that allowed creator Stan Lee to free himself of the responsibility of writing elaborate origin stories for each character with superhuman abilities. However, as part of the concept, Lee decided that these mutant youths should deal with all the usual mundane teen bullshit that "normal" kids go through, ostensibly to better cope with everyday realities, in the face of their overwhelming power. And so that proto-Hogwarts -- the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters -- was created as the home-base for the nascent X-Men.

When the X-Men series was revived in 1975 after prolonged hiatus, subsequent writers made a conscious effort to use mutancy as a kind of narrative short-hand for discussing the prevailing social and ethical mores of the era. Advances in the field of genetics and theories of evolution led to the concept of mutants as homo superior -- the next step in the progress of evolution. And this, in turn, informed the separatist agenda of totalitarian arch-villain Magneto. He is depicted as a Jewish holocaust survivor, and father to a pair of half-Roma (gypsy) children, definitively announcing their outsider status within 'proper' Western society. Like the veterans of so many resistance movements, the spurned victims had embraced the megalomania of their oppressors, seeking to establish an insular society of Nietzchean uber-men.

In contrast, Professor Charles Xavier advocated his MLK-esque "dream" of a quasi-utopian world of harmony between mutants and 'baseline' humans, echoing the Civil Rights disputes of the previous decade, whose legal repercussions were only starting to be felt across the fabric of everyday American society.

Interspersed within this over-arching framework were allegories of multiculturalism (including the creation of a handful of culturally diverse -- if tokenistic -- mutant adults), ghetto isolationism (via the deformed, sewer-dwelling mutants known as the Morlocks), environmental conservation and neo-Darwinism (by way of the Savage Land, a verdant jungle landscape where dinosaurs have survived extinction). It was all very topical, but couched in the visual and textual language of "soft" sci-fi and four-color pulp adventure.

As the 80s wore on, the series had largely grown out and franchised, on the strength of heavy character development and over-dramatic soap opera dynamics. But it also gradually lost its focus on mutancy as a theme, with memorable but non-topical epics (the Dark Phoenix Saga), intergalactic campiness (the Shi'Ar, the Starjammers) and quasi-mystical themes (Inferno, the Shadow King).

Mutants were still hated and feared by a world that refused to understand them -- but it was mostly in a vague, general, foreboding kind of way. Still, you'd get the occasional return to form -- such as the one-shot graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills, which inspired Bryan Singer's second X-Men film, and threw religious fundamentalism into the mix. But for the most part, the mutant-as-outsider leitmotif receded into the background, usually invoked during single tales as a metaphor for everything from the nascent recognition of Gay/ Lesbian/ Bisexual/ Transgendered identity, to the difficulty of living with AIDS (by then, already a burgeoning epidemic).

Which all leads me back to Gladwell's Tipping Point...

Black Rock

2007-11-02T20:14:00.003+08:00

Christopher Reeve as Superman. Jim Carrey as Riddler. Patrick Stewart as Xavier. Ron Perlman as Hellboy. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan. Thora Birch & Scarlet Johannson as Enid & Rebecca. Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar. And . . .that's it.

Perfect comic book casting is so rare. But . . . look!

Born to play the part? Bit of an understatement, that. Count me officially excited about the Shazam! movie more than any other superhero movie being made right now. Except maybe the Deathnote spin-off L.

Helps to be a Rock fanboy, too. Which I am.