These things I think....film & page edition

Hello and welcome!

I have a lot I'd like to cover since I've been gone for quite some time.

First..... Lots of different news items in the last couple of months about WB's big "Superman v. Batman: Dawn of Justice".  Jason Momoa was cast as the trident wielding Aquaman which makes for an interesting choice just from the basic look.  While Arthur has typically been a blonde fella Momoa is definitively not that with a more exotic look.  I'm excited for the casting, but I hope that they do not take too many liberties with the core story of the character.  There have also been recent set shots of Henry Cavill in Clark Kent garb, and a studio shot of him in front of what appears to be Gotham city.  Lot of little tidbits, but no main encore at this point.  Newsworthy, to this blogger at least, is that director Zach Snyder has stated he has no interest in delving into Batman's origins.  I'm happy that someone has finally had the courage to say "hey everybody knows the story of the god damned Batman if not they have the internet".  While I have my concerns about this project I'm excited to see what a polished, grizzled, war-worn Batman looks like.  The additions of the Bat-family will really open up the WB cinematic universe to ample opportunities for new film ventures.

Second....  The scoundrels over at Latino Review have a juicy rumor about the finale of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" with regards to Mark Ruffalo's Hulk.  I won't go in to spoiler territory, but suffice to say it would make for a very interesting Hulk solo film.  I quite enjoyed "The Incredible Hulk" and I think it is criminally underrated in it's place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  I attribute this to the fact that Edward Norton was shown the door and the role was recast for the first team-up masterstroke.  As with all Latino Review news I wouldn't put money on it's voracity, but it makes for interesting conversation.

Third... A short time ago on a movie set not so far away Harrison Ford broke his leg while filming the highly anticipated "Star Wars: Episode VII: The Search for more Money." I'm clearly a Ford fan from my "Indiana Jones" hero worship, but I have to say I think the poor guy is snake bit (pun so not intended).  Seems like every movie that requires action ends up with the poor guy in traction, or he gets sick on location during the filming.  The early word was that the injury would possibly delay the project again, but it appears that JJ Abrams and crew are going to try to work around and get some other things done while Ford is out.  Early reports are that Han Solo will be a main focus in this first entry into the new trilogy.

Fourth.....  On the page there are a lot of interesting things going on.  At Marvel the big hit, in this blogger's opinion, is "Original Sin".  Written by Jason Aaron this epic focuses on the impacts on the Marvel universe after the Watcher is murdered and someone uses his eye to release a plethora of deep, dark secrets.  After several big event outings with Brian Michael Bendis Marvel gave the keys to Aaron and so far he has hit a home run.  He has introduced new and unheard of pairings (Doctor Strange and the Punisher for example) and put them in otherworldly settings to investigate the Watcher's death.  Aaron's wit and respect for the history of the Marvel library comes through in his work. For instance, during one tense interrogation scene (with Hulk & Wolverine as the interrogators) the subject asks "what is this the good cop bad cop routine?" To which Logan replies "More like the Stab Cop Smash Cop routine".  Lots of good nuggets like that and other new editions to the canon make it a totally worthwhile read.

A lot more hit and miss with DC as production issues delayed the "Nightwing" and "Forever Evil" finales to the point that they started spoiling the ending to their own event in a sneak preview of the stellar first issue of the Johns/Romita Jr./Janson "Superman".  Bleeding Cool ran the original edition of the final "Nightwing" in an art only form and I found it to be superior to the finale they ended up going with even with no dialogue.  As I said "Superman" was pretty awesome out of the gate, but I always have to approach the big, blue, boyscout with cautious optimism because his success doesn't seem to last.  Scott Snyder is winding down his "Zero Year" opus before Batman is kicked five years into the future in conjunction with "Future's End".   I'd like to read "Batman Eternal" and "Future's End" but there is no way I'm buying a weekly comic.  It would be really awesome to see Snyder add on to another Frank Miller work with a supplement to the "Dark Knight Returns" (much like "Zero Year" is an addition to the phenomenal "Batman: Year One"), but I imagine that is wishful thinking at this point.

Finally..... Lot of great things going on now for comic fans!  Pretty soon "Arrow" will return to the small screen along with "Constantine", "Flash", "iZombie", and "Gotham".  Not to mention "Marvel Agents of SHIELD" season two, and the first season of "Agent Carter" as well.  We also have two more summer blockbuster releases with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" set for August releases.  We are living in an unprecedented era for comics and related media and I encourage you dear reader to live it up to the fullest.

Thanks for reading and I will catch you next time at The Comic Shop!

"SNIKT" "SNIKT" super short "X-men: Days of Future Past Review" (Spoilers)

Hey gang welcome to an abbreviated edition of The Comic Shop!  Trying to write this while my son is sleeping so forgive me if I'm a little unorganized in my thoughts.  I would like to address a lot of things on the page and coming to the screen, but that will have to wait for another day.

To get me out of the house my wife had me go see "DOFP" with a friend, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the finished product of this film.  Things that at the outset that I thought I would hate like Evan Peters' Quicksilver were actually pretty entertaining.  His prison break scene was one of thing that stole the show for sure.  I continue to be in absolute man-love with Michael Fassbender as Magneto.  Casting does not get much better than that, and as much as I've rallied against X-men solo movies I would plunk down $10 to watch Fassbender play Magneto all by his lonesome. 

I would like to give credit to the director of this film, but I'm going to hedge on that because he has some serious pending legal troubles that I'd like to see pan out before heaping praise upon him.

While this was by no means a faithful adaptation of the source material it was an entertaining and fun journey that served the absolute purpose of making "X-men: The Last Stand" a distant memory.  Kudos for Fox and company wiping the Ratner off of their rug, and having one of the biggest Memorial Day openings in history. 

While I'm usually a J. Law fan I kind of got the feeling that this was a paycheck job for her.  She didn't seem too enthused in doing anything other than delivering lines.  I could be wrong, but we all know that she has other aspirations that do not involve wearing blue body paint and pasties.

Otherwise McAvoy and Jackman really carried the film with emotion and range.  There was a TON of character development for Xavier in this film even though it was character development in reverse.

I would recommend this movie because it is that good, and it is that entertaining.


That's all for now...check me out next time at The Comic Shop!

Spoilery "Amazing Spider-man 2" review

Hello & Welcome to a surprise entry to my blog! No baby yet equals lots of nervous energy for your humble blogger.  In the interest of brevity I'm going to keep this review to three distinct classifications: the good, the bad, & the ugly.

The Good:  The lead acting in "ASM 2" is spectacular (beware there are puns a plenty coming). While I had my qualms with Garfield's "Spidey Humor" in the first go round, I found him to be more of an asshole than charming, he absolutely nails it in this go round with the character. His delivery is top notch & shows some comedic flair. His chemistry with Emma Stone is one of the more endearing facets of the movie, but it unfortunately is not something to look forward to in future installments.

I also quite enjoyed the overall tone of the movie which shed some of the darkness from the original, & some of last summer's entries into the superhero movie genre. It was light, hopeful, & has the humor and color that seems to be lost by some Hollywood studios.

The Bad: You should know this already but the "dumb Aunt May" routine was a distraction and undermined everything they tried to accomplish with Sally Field's take on the maternal figure. I also never really "bought in" to the whole Parker's parents mystery. I know it was taken from the comics, but the dead parent angle has been done to, well, death in superhero movies.  I'm hoping this is the last we see of the Parker parents.  The final bad for me is that Gwen's death would've been more powerful, poignant, & tragic if it had occurred like the comic from the bridge. In this instance with the added twist of having the "I love you" webbing still in play. I didn't not care for a central figure like Gwen being killed by a hailstorm of CGI sprockets & clock parts.

The Ugly: The worst parts of the film for me were the ham-fisted portrayals of Electro & Rhino by Jaime Foxx & Paul Giamatti respectively.  Foxx's "Max" was a spot on copy of Michelle Pfeifer's Selina Kyle & Jim Carrey's Edward Nigma. Excessively cliched characters who may as well have had no dialogue & just walked around with a "loser" sandwich board hanging around their necks. Then they have their inciting event & they are all the sudden cool yet crazy.  It's mind numbingly predictable, & really just a waste of everyone's time. Foxx's Electro was not much better, but it was not bad enough to stick out. I put Giamatti here because his "Russian accent" is less discernible than asthmatic despot Bane's mechanical voice. The final "ugly" has to be the marketing of this film. Wanna see the Rhino in "ASM 2" just watch the commercials, wanna see Chris Cooper watch the trailer, wanna see major plot points watch the commercials, & so on.  It is embarrassing Sony had such little faith in this movie that they gave away much of the $7,$8,$9,$10 ticket price for free on television.  The box office may end up being the final "ugly" for the underrated web slinging affair.

I can't rate Dane DeHaan or Chris Cooper for this. I'm not crazy about the choices they've made with the Osborn crew, but I'm willing to give them another chance.

That's all for now! I hit over 1,000 page views this week so I'd like to thank everyone that's come to see what I have to say! Thank you all!  See you next time at The Comic Shop!

Sabbatical

Baby Leffler is due sometime in the next 4 weeks, so I will be spending my time preparing for his arrival.  I appreciate everyone that has read what I have to say and I assure I will return!

Thank you for reading!

New Comics 04/16 & other news.....

Hello and Welcome to the 04/16/14 edition of The Comic Shop Blog!

First....

Due to budget concerns connected to the impending birth of Little Leffler I was only able to pick up two titles this week.  I had to choose wisely so I went with Scott Snyder's "Batman" and the final issue of Dan Slott's "Superior Spider-man".

I have made my concerns with the current Zero Year storyline very clear in one of my recent posts.  Overall, I have been quite fatigued with the pace of this story and it's overall length.  That said the first chapter of the Zero Year finale reengaged me in the series.  Finally getting to the "boss level" per se gives this issue a downhill running start, and makes it more engaging to me as a reader.  I would definitely recommend picking up this issue.

I have been a real fan of the "Superior Spider-man" storyline from the very beginning.  I am very disappointed to see it go, but I think it was brought to it's natural conclusion.  I will say I was a lot more emotionally invested in the events of issue #30, and issue #31 honestly fell a little flat at the end.  Obviously I'm being very vague, but I certainly do not want to spoil the Superior happenings for anyone.

Second...

Couple of news items from Marc Webb's "Amazing Spider-man 2" today.

First, one of the initial reviews of the movie was not favorable likening the second entry to the "Batman and Robin" of the Spider-man franchise.  One of the main sticking points for the reviewer was the corny humor which I have expressed my own concerns about with the "dumb Aunt May routine" that we have seen in the tv spots.  While reviews are a subjective prose it does send up a red alert when the early ones are not favorable from a nerd friendly source like IGN.com.  I will still see this movie, but thankfully there are such a thing as matinee prices.

Secondly, several news outlets are reporting that there will be an "X-men: Days of Future Past" stinger at the end of "Amazing Spider-man 2".  This isn't due to any intellectual property sharing between the studios, but because Fox allowed Marc Webb to do this follow-up instead of "500 Days of Summer 2". 

Third.....

It's been a couple of weeks now, but as the Indy fan that I am I would be remiss to not address the rumors surrounding the future of that character.  Several media outlets reported a few weeks ago that Disney would be interested in casting hollywood favorite Bradley Cooper in the title role for future installments.  The more I think about this possibility the more I am honestly open to it.  I think that despite "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" being a huge disappointment it did bring Indy's story to a close.

Future film installments could borrow from the "Young Indiana Jones" television show and have an elder Indy (played by Ford in this version) recounting stories from his younger days to his grandchildren to set up the new adventure with Bradley Cooper.  I think doing it this way would placate the Ford fans, and introduce Indy to a new generation.  One thing I continually bitch about; however, is that I would hope that they use more practical effects in future Indy installments because they are what made the original trilogy so very special.

Fourth....

One news item and one rumor from Disney/Marvel's "Daredevil" Netflix series.  The news item is that the studio confirmed that they do in fact own the rights to the Kingpin himself Wilson Fisk.  I think it would be smart to start incorporating mentions of Fisk right away in the Marvel Cinematic and Television universe.  He is a big baddie that the Marvel Universe is sorely lacking as we have seen heavyweights like the Mandarin and Red Skull be underutilized.   Rumor-wise Michael C. Hall (my personal favorite for Matt Mordock/Daredevil and formerly the star of "Dexter") said that he would be open to starring in the first installment of the Netflix Defender's series.  Hall has the physique and the acting chops to pull off Hornhead, and I would hope he would join the Avengers for future adventures.

Fifth..... "FOREVER EVIL SPOILERS"...................................................................................................................................................
















 So, post-Forever Evil the "Nightwing" title will be cancelled and replaced by a new ongoing called "Grayson".  A news item this week confirmed that much like Bucky post "Fear Itself" the world will be left to believe that Dick Grayson is dead as he adjusts to his new life as a super spy.  I am a long-time fan of Dick Grayson, and I have followed him from Robin to Nightwing to his time as Batman with much fanfare.  I have a bit of trepidation about this move, but I am more than willing to give it a chance.










That's all for today!  For you rasslin' fans check out my Wrestlemania XXX breakdown over at my new blog site Turnbuckleblog.blogspot.com!  It will in all likelihood be a monthly publication because I invest a lot more of my time and energy into comics, but if that is something you are in to please be sure to check it out!  

Ultimate Warrior R.I.P. & Comic News...

Hello and welcome to this week's third edition of The Comic Shop....

First....I was saddened to hear about the untimely passing of Jim "Warrior" Hellwig better know by his WWF/E moniker The Ultimate Warrior.  My Dad took me to Wrestlemania VIII when I was a young fella.  The thing that saved an abysmal main event that night was the return of the Ultimate Warrior (mainly because there was a lot of speculation that he had died). 

Now you may be asking yourself "why talk about a wrestler on a comics blog?" I think for a couple of reasons it is important to talk about.  First, Warrior was a very broad & bright character much like what we find in comics, and second there is an important life lesson that we can learn from his passing. 

Speaking of comics the "Warrior" comic has skyrocketed in value since his passing.  So what lesson can we learn from Warrior?  The main thing I took away is that no matter what we do on this earth we will have to one day pay a price.  Steroids, stimulants, obesity, and many other things can overwork and overtax the heart.  Unfortunately, I had a great uncle who passed in his early 50's from a massive heart attack, and my very own Paternal Grandmother passed at 59 years of age due to complications from smoking for several years.

We live in an era where modern medicine will protect us to a point from the consequences of our poor health choices, but we have to work in tandem with them.  To meet them halfway so to speak.  Warrior may have not done steroids for years, but his increased body mass and years of drug abuse likely contributed to his death.  I often worry about the adverse effects of my own choices.  How has basically abusing stimulants like caffeine, weight loss drugs, energy drinks, my time smoking, and other poor choices adversely impacted my ability to see my unborn son grow and mature into a man?

I don't say these things to scare anyone, but it's important to take inventory of our daily decisions to make sure that they don't negatively impact our future.

It's tragic that Warrior died, and it's not because he was a big wrestler or a known personality.  It's because that although he leaves behind a legacy he has two daughters left without their father.


THE COMIC STRIPS.....

First....Word is that Fox is interested in having Jennifer Lawrence star in a Mystique solo film.  As much as I enjoy J. Law I hope this does not happen.  The X-men have a deep and diverse roster; however, time and time again Fox has chosen to make their movies the "Wolverine, Prof. X, Magneto, Mystique, Storm" show.  If we are going to do solo films let's focus on characters that either have not been introduced into the Fox universe (Cable for example) or characters that have had one moment in the sun and not been brought back (Deadpool, Nightcrawler for example).

Second...Staying with Fox Bryan Singer has stated that 2016's "X-men: Apocalypse" will incorporate elements from the "Age of Apocalypse" storyline.  It's hard to say what those elements will be; however, this blogger is hoping that the film focus will remain on the young X-men established in "X:Men: First Class".

Third...."Arrow" is well known for their abundance of clever easter eggs, whether, it's art in the Queen gallery by Curtis Swan, or the voice of Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin), Marc Guggenheim and company have packed each episode with a lot of little clever tidbits.  Evidently an upcoming episode will be no exception as the Green Lantern is supposed to be referenced for the very first time in the Arrow-verse.  Here's hoping Hal and Ollie set off on a cross country learning experience akin to Denny O'neal & Neal Adams 70's run with the Emerald Bros.

Fourth...I have been no fan of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", but I have to admit that post Jaime Alexander's experience in the Sif episode the show has become remarkably more entertaining.  This past one tied into the exploits from the hit movie "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and was excellently cut to fit into the narrative from the film. 

Finally...One thing I neglected to mention in either of my "Winter Soldier" reviews was how much I enjoyed that they actually gave Cobie Smulders' Agent Maria Hill something to do.  She has largely been used as an exposition piece in her previous outings, but in this film she has some good action.  Very happy to see that happen for Nick Fury's long-time number two.

That's all for today...working on topics for a new column so please submit suggestions to the Facebook page...thank you all again for reading and see you next time at The Comic Shop!

Spoiler-filled "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" review

Hello all and welcome to the Spoiler-laden "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" review here at The Comic Shop!

For the purposes of this review I will be speaking mainly about the character development that I have seen out of this movie and "Iron Man 3" that will lead to where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going in and after "Avengers: Age of Ultron".

As we know from the events of the Cap sequel SHIELD as we know it is no more.  This makes it much more incumbent upon Earth's Mightiest Heroes to defend and avenge the earth.  Shell-head and Cap are the two central figures in this film universe & in Avengers history in general.  While Thor is important as well I would argue that his last film entry is a self-contained story that had a beginning, middle, and end.

Cap & Iron Man have a lot in common when you really consider their history.  Cap wanted to make the world a better place he was scientifically altered to become a living weapon and an unstoppable force.  Tony Stark wanted to make the world a better place so he engineered a suit that helped him to become a living weapon and an unstoppable force.

Furthermore in the film franchises both of these characters have come back from the dead in a manner of speaking.  Cap was frozen for decades and then thawed to become a man out of time and a hero for a new generation.  Tony made a sacrifice play to end the Chitauri invasion.

The two heroes reacted to these events very differently.  In "Iron Man 3" we saw Tony Stark inch further and further away from his Iron Man persona over the course of the film.  We even saw him develop an intelligence source that allowed him to not be in the suit at all for it to run.  This says to me that he no longer has the desire to be put in a position to make a sacrifice.  If the reports are accurate Tony will take over as Ultron's creator in the "Avengers" sequel, and if that is true this would make absolute sense.

In "The Winter Soldier" we saw Steve Rogers throw himself further and further into his mission.  It was quite noticeable that the status quo love angle was not shoehorned into the plot of the movie, and I found that refreshing.  It also shows where Cap's mental state is in the cinematic universe.  While Black Widow tried repeatedly to get Cap to open up and go out socially he denied the opportunity again and again.  To me, this shows that while he is open to understanding this world he finds himself in he's not entirely ready to assimilate and become a part of it.  I think a big part of this is because he has shown time and time again that he is more than willing to make the sacrifice, as he attempted to yet again in "The Winter Soldier".  This give's Rogers a lot of places to go in future Captain America films, because we have yet to see him assimilate.

This stark contrast between the characters should also serve to further the underlying animus that is almost standard for these two legacy Avengers.

I will definitely say that I appreciated that there was not a ton of melodrama in "The Winter Soldier".  As I noted there was no real romantic interest to speak of which again I found really refreshing.  The main source of overt drama was the final climactic scene with Cap trying to save his life-long friend through allowing Bucky to beat him to a pulp, but it was an effective way to end the film.

As a fan of the Winter Soldier character I am looking forward to the journey that Sebastian Stan is going to take from brain-washed assasin to a hero in his own right.

That's all for now...I'm sure I will add more after my second viewing but these are my main thoughts right now.