I’m going to tell you a little something about my mother. Yep. I write about comics and I’m going to lead in by talking about Mommy Dearest. I think deep down my mother had a deep fear that her children were going to turn out to be idiots. From our very beginnings, she was determined to constantly hold us to higher standards. My brother had it worse; she put him in a bilingual kindergarten class just so he could be exposed to spanish constantly. (She didn’t try that with me. She’s still trying to keep me from eating crayons…) At any rate, she would try to slip in educational material into any source of entertainment. My point: she would have approved of Green Lantern: The Animated Series #0.
This comic is going hand-in-hand with the newest animated series on Cartoon Network. I watched the first hour long special. I read the first comic. Let’s do this. Read the rest of this entry »
Who doesn’t like a good buddy-movie? Buddy-cop, buddy-losers, buddy-criminals…chances are, hijinks are going to ensue. Why should a buddy-comic be any different? It shouldn’t. There are still hijinks and assorted shenanigans.
Witch Doctor by Brandon Seifert with art by Lukas Ketner partners Dr. Marrow, a man specializing in the dark forces and the supernatural, with Eric Gast, a veteran serving as a paramedic assisting Dr. Marrow. They go around as part of the Mystics Without Borders program, finding dangerous monsters and demons and fighting them with magic and science. It sounds awesome, right? It is seriously one of the best books being put out by Image. Read the rest of this entry »
You know what it takes for me to be interested in a new comic book? A name. Maybe two. I have trust in creators. Characters? No. All it takes for a character to go south is one writer with “vision”. Screw them and their “vision”. Pretty soon your favorite character is a whiney addict that never worked out their issues with their father. And all you wanted was to see them kick some ass. But find a creator or creative team that appeals to you and pretty soon you’re introduced to new characters, new stories and all the while enjoying it because it’s coming from talent that speaks to you.
Brian Azzarello is on that list for me. If I need to see the darker side of comics, I can turn to this guy. Add Eduardo Risso into that mix and I’m in great shape. So I see their names attached to Vertigo’s Spaceman and see that it’s selling for $1.00 and…well, you know. I’ve gambled more money on less. Read the rest of this entry »
Okay, with all the excitement in the DC Universe, it’s possible our radars have been slightly skewed. So bear with me as I tell you that in the midst of your issue twos, now is a really great time to be reading X-Men titles.
Ah yes, The X-Men. Seems like just yesterday we were all infected with vampirism. I hate to disappoint you, but we’re done with that. And now…the band’s breaking up….kind of. In the aftermath of Schism, Logan and Scott have decided to go their separate ways and people are picking sides. Now, let’s say that you didn’t read Schism (even though I told you to and you totally should). And let’s say you didn’t read the Regenesis One Shot from last week (totally should). You’re going to be fine. Read the rest of this entry »
I love animation. Cartoons are such a large part of my entertainment selection. And, like so many of you, Disney Animation basically structured my childhood. I believed in my dreams, thought animals could be your best friends, believed in magic, and sang at the drop of a hat. Not going to lie to you, I still do that last one. Honestly, when I watch Disney animated movies to this day, all of those points still ring true. So imagine my delight when I found a comic book that generated the same feelings.
Mystic is a CrossGen title that has all the elements of a animated classic. And from what I understand, this new title is not like the original book at all. Giselle and Genevieve are teenage orphan girls that are best friends. Genevieve is a romantic dreamer, Giselle has a rougher, more impulsive demeanor. Living in poverty, they manage to sneak away daily to study the Noble Arts (which, from the name, you can gather is restricted to the more affluent crowd). Through a series of strange events, Giselle is taken on as one of several apprentices to master the magical Noble arts. Genevieve is left behind. Both want to change the world, they’re just going to go about it in very different ways. Read the rest of this entry »
Nervous anticipation. That’s the only way I can explain how I feel about the relaunch at DC. Let’s get this out of the way. I think it’s wonderful. Everything has just felt so stagnant at DC recently. They needed to mix things up a bit. So, I find this extreme move completely remarkable and brave. Fortune favors the bold, people. Let’s kick off the new 52, shall we?
I wish I was new to comics. I’d really like to see if this book had the desired effect of generating interest for new readers. Personally, I can’t imagine why it would. Justice League #1 was genuinely uninspired. No real cliff hanger, no real spark. Could it be that I’ve just been trained to expect those things? Desensitized to the awesomeness that is superhero team ups? It’s possible. I remember having that awe as a kid; maybe the new reader would feel that same way.
But let’s be realistic here. It’s the first issue and I feel that it fell short. But let’s look at it from that new reader’s perspective: We learn that the general population is not a fan of super-powered individuals. We learn that Batman, Green Lantern and Superman have never met. We learn that Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) is a cocky jerk. And that’s it. So what?
It felt like a generic comic book movie. Something that tries to cast its net to catch everyone and inevitably ends up catching no one. Sure, it has funny line after funny line so you think you’re having a good time. Then there’s the tip of the hat to those in the audience that are seasoned in the character’s lore-maybe a joke about Darkseid that only a few people will chuckle at. And you feel fairly positive during the whole experience only to walk out of there feeling like you just wasted your time and wondering where was the substance?
Sadly, that’s my feelings toward Justice League #1. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee delivered a product that was nice to look at but just was in no way fulfilling. You can market this baby all you want, gentlemen. It was simply empty calories. But the good news is: the general population (especially kids) love empty calories. Maybe that’s just what you were looking for.
Stay tuned for our feelings on the rest of the 52. We’re in this for the long haul. Fingers crossed.
I don’t mean to blow your mind here, but did you know Marvel released a Captain America movie this summer? Yeah, it was sort of hard to miss. But you know what? I liked it. A lot. It was everything I needed it to be. There was, however, a bit of a hang-up for me. Captain America and Bucky are friends and around the same age. I completely understand the Bucky and Steve dynamic in the movie. I understand why it needed to be that way for the movie. No one likes plucky kid side-kicks anymore. People want sexy stars. And the only thing better than one pretty boy heart-throb is two pretty boy heart-throbs. Keep adding them to the machine and you’ve got a teen sensation and before you know it, the years add up and you’re getting kicked out of Menudo. But…I digress.
Let’s turn down the Latin heat and get back to comics. The Cap and Bucky dynamic fascinates me. It’s taken so many different approaches-from original inception to modern day dual-Caps to same-age movie personas. But I like it when Bucky’s a kid. And I like it when he’s more than just a lovable ball of enthusiasm. For example, I like Bucky in Captain America & Bucky #621. Read the rest of this entry »
Kids. Kids. Kids…kids. As far as oppositions go, they’re the worst. Right? I mean, you can’t really fight them. If they’re good, you can’t help but being in awe of them. Creepy kids are really unsettling. Plus, it’s evil in a cute little package.
On the flip side, kids as allies sort of suck too. You can’t really expect too much out of them. You don’t know if they’re mature enough to mentally handle the situation. You want to protect them. They can be annoying. It’s just sticky business no matter what side you’re on.
So the X-Men have been dealing with this since they started. They’re based out of a school. Mutants are facing continuous backlash and when big problems strike, they always end up digging their recruits out of the kiddie pool.
X-Men: Schism is just like that. It just makes the bad guys young. And creepy. And good at being evil. Children trying to take over the world. Sonsabitches. Read the rest of this entry »
Here we are in the midst of Marvel’s Spider-Island event. Now, I don’t know about you but it seems, as of late, the only reason to plug on through the events is the side stories. We get to see some fringe characters in a mini-series format and they really shine. They’re becoming a bigger pull for me than the event itself. Granted, it’s early yet (and I did actually enjoy Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man #667 for Part 1 of Spider-Island) but I’ve found my star of the event.
Cloak & Dagger by Nick Spencer with art by Emma Rios. This is the first issue in this three-parter and I’m already wishing it were an ongoing series. Read the rest of this entry »
I like The Punisher. And I think of the stereotype of the person that likes The Punisher and I tell myself I’m not like them. You know, the guy that walks around in The Punisher t-shirt and talks tough and claims he would be just like The Punisher going around shooting people with complete lack of remorse. I tell myself I’m different but I’m lying to myself. I am that guy. I don’t have a Punisher shirt but I pride myself on having the level of crazy it would take to throw down some street justice. But if my FPS history is any indication, I’d probably just take an automatic and twirl around shooting anything that comes into view. In short, I’d be a terrible Punisher. But I’d like to think I’d be good. So I live vicariously through Frank Castle. Read the rest of this entry »
I think people watch reality television to feel better about themselves. You look at the t.v. and say, “Wow. At least I’m not like that.” or “At least my life isn’t that.” or “At least I don’t have to do that.” I, personally, find the garbage depressing and infuriating. Instead of boosting my self-esteem, it makes me hate humanity and inevitably ends with me feeling punchy. In the literal sense. Filled with the desire to punch. If I want my self esteem to go up, I know what I can do. I can read a Criminal story.
I hate all the people in Criminal. Nobody is a good guy, but everyone’s getting screwed. Just like reality television. But, instead of watching them engage in dumb ass competitions, you get to watch them kill each other. Call me crazy; I find it cathartic. Read the rest of this entry »
I hear this all the time: “There are no original ideas anymore.” Often times it’s referring to the entertainment industry. Movies, television, etc. And that’s a horrible thought, don’t get me wrong. We don’t necessarily want to be consuming and regurgitating the same stuff over and over. (Eww) But honestly, not everything needs to be original. Plenty of people enjoyed West Side Story without complaining about its parallels with Romeo and Juliet. I didn’t get angry that Lion King was too much like Hamlet. Remakes can be acceptable too. For instance, I really dug The Coen’s True Grit. I even have an obsessive love of cover songs. And this is how I see today’s book. An awesome cover song.
It’s Trailblazer written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and art by Jim Daly. A person turns mob informant and is thrown into the witness protection program. Okay, could be the plot to Sister Act. No. He’s a hitman. Okay, could be The Whole Nine Yards. No. They hide him by sending him back in time. The Janus Project? Eh, nobody read that book. So the story has been told before and the song has been sung before. So long as you put your own spin on things-I’m ready to hear it.
Trailblazer is another self-sustained one shot from Paperfilms (The Tattered Man, Random Acts of Violence). Whenever I read Palmiotti and Gray, I feel like I’ve seen a movie. A movie that has trimmed a lot of the unnecessary fat and just wants to hit all necessary points. And after all that, you just look back on it and say, “Yeah. That was fun.” Loveable, loner anti-hero Jacob Mills kills criminals for a living and gives a lot of the money to the orphanage he grew up in. That character works in the modern era just as well as he would in the Old West. Slap a star on his chest and he’s good to go. Meanwhile you have just a sliver of a love story and a whole lot of shooting. It’s a Western. Simple as that. Palmiotti and Gray know Westerns. Read the rest of this entry »
You will hear people say “Love stories suck.” Not true. Boring love stories suck. Monotony sucks. The regurgitation of the same plot line sucks. Love stories can be great. They just need to offer something different. Sometimes it even involves vampires. Now, avoiding the topic of the vampire phenomenon sweeping the world, let’s just try and ignore that pop culture nugget. I’m here to talk about Undying Love. A story of a human man in love with a vampire girl and their desperate journey to break her free from her vampire-like chains.
So we’ve got vampires and Chinese folklore with a love story wrapped up in a horror book. John falls for a Chinese vampire girl named Mei. In order to break the curse of the vampire, you have to kill the source vampire-the one that bit her. But then you have to worry about the one that bit him. And it just seems to build from there. Somewhere out there is the mother/father of all vampires and John seems fairly set on hunting them down so he and Mei can be safe. In issue #3 we see the way these two first meet. It’s very romantic. American soldiers in the Syrian desert come in contact with a traveling band of vampires that are trafficking young, vampire girls as sex slaves. Mostly everyone is brutally murdered but these crazy kids find each other and make a run for it. Just warms the cockles of the heart, right? Read the rest of this entry »
There’s been a lot of chatter about comics here lately, hasn’t there? Summer movies, deaths, events. A whole lot has been going on. Everyone is talking about the big DC reboot. Panic is rushing through the hearts of the readers. And you know what? I love it. More over, I love #1s. There’s just something about first issues. It’s the beginning of some adventure. I need no preparation, I don’t need to read a bunch of trades to get caught up. I’ve got my reading pants on and I’m ready to go. I’m just kidding. I don’t wear pants.
So you come to me and say, “Here’s a self-contained story with brand new characters but it’s still copacetic in relation to Marvel’s continuity.” And I get these big-ol’ child-at-Christmas kind of eyes and my heart flutters. You then tell me, “Oh, and it takes place in the thirties. Kind of a pulp fiction/horror/seedy murder tale.” And my eyes have tears of joy and I’m slipping into cardiac arrest. And then you hit me with, “Patrick Zircher will be drawing a bunch of pretty girls and scary stuff in it too.” And then I collapse. From pure elation. Read the rest of this entry »
“They are strong. They are on guard. They are Alpha Flight.”
Yaaaaaaay! Alpha Flight’s back! Maybe you’re thinking “Oh, that Auburn. Always being sarcastic and feigning joy.” Nope. I’m truly stoked. I think Alpha Flight is great. Everything I know about Canada, I’ve learned from them. (And GKS-but Ryan can’t turn into an arctic fox, so Alpha Flight wins again.) They’re so diverse and in touch with nature. They’re like the after-school special of super heroes. We’ve got a mutant with a mental illness, an openly homosexual mutant, a dude that can change into a Sasquatch, a guy and his wife in battle suits that died but came back, an amphibian woman that also died and returned, a representative of the First Nations that also died and returned, and a Canadian-fauna themed metamorphmagi. Super sweet. Read the rest of this entry »
