Hello and Welcome to the 10/21/14 edition of The Comic Shop!
Lots of big comic news hitting the web here in the last few days as mega-distributor Diamond has released previews for what's coming up in the next few months. Big news for "Iron Man", "Uncanny Avengers", "Batman & Robin", and many more. I won't go into it here, but suffice it to say there are plenty of interesting twists coming up, and the info is out there on the web if you want to know.
First.......As you know my last column was regarding my first impressions of Fox's superhero entry "Gotham". I have to say as we sit here after 5 weeks with another 15+ episodes to go I am still on the fence. It's not a bad show and the plan is rather ambitious to try to go ten years with this cast and this premise. I just don't get this obsession with having to have everything be relative in storytelling now.
Not every character has to know one another, and our hero and villain don't have to be old friends to tell a powerful story. Sometimes mystery is good, sometimes it's good to have a stark contrast in ideals & upbringing, & many times the most real danger is what we do not know. Gordon doesn't have to be involved in the Wayne investigation to make the show go.
I also would've been happier with a 20-something Bruce traveling the world while a late 30's Gordon struggled with the corruption in the GCPD. It's a small criticism, but I think it's something that would've made for a more compelling show. What we have gotten to this point is not really that clever and more or less a paint by numbers picture of who will become what villain/hero.
One of the common defenses is that "It's not a Batman show...it's about Gotham". That's not a bad defense, but it has a big hole in it when Bruce and Alfred are shoe horned in to every episode. Like the with the Ballonman and Bruce made the not so subtle realization that Ballonman was a bad vigilante because he killed people. It would've been even more compelling for the creators of the show to have the origins of Gotham itself play a pivotal role in their storytelling. It's just my feelings on it at this point and it is just an opinion.
Second....In contrast I am in absolute love with what they are doing with the new incarnation of "The Flash" on television. It's not the drab, dark, superhero story that we have come to expect from WB. In contrast it is bright and a lot of fun. Grant Gustin was absolutely wronged by the big wigs at WB when they passed him over to play Flash on the big screen, but I digress. This is a fantastic show that introduces a lot of new characters and concepts to the DCTVU, and is a contrast to the dark world of "Arrow" (not that I'm complaining). I am only left to wonder which character they will choose as the third figurehead of this powerful CW alliance. Here's hoping for GL because the three shared so much time and friendship in the pre-52 universe, but it could be difficult to do GL on a TV budget.
Third....Arrow returned for third go-round and it was fantastic as usual. Brandon Routh has stolen the show early on as genius, billionaire, playboy Ray Palmer. Ollie's journey to becoming a true light and hero continues to be the driving force of the show, and each week brings with it a little more character evolution. Along with Mr. Queen the city itself is going to be changed from the Starling name to Star City as it was in the comics. While New 52 Ollie is operating out of the Emerald City, Seattle, Star City played home to the vigilante billionaire for years.
Fourth....It has come to my attention that some of the things that I have suggested on this blog have come to pass (the return of pre-new 52 continuity, x-men television show, the rumored punisher netflix series, and others). So to anyone reading this and benefiting from it in the words of Paulie from "Goodfellas" "Fuck you, pay me".
Fifth.....RDJ has really agitated me in his tour of support for his new film "The Judge". In sequential days he claimed he would return for "Ironman 4" if.....Mel Gibson Directed....if.....Howard Stern produced....that negotiations were underway....and finally that superhero movies were reaching a point of over saturation. This is a man who's career was revitalized by his success as Tony Stark in Ironman, that has made a LOT of money from his appearances in Marvel movies, and has continued to ask for more. I'm not saying he owes the fans anything, but it would be nice if he could just not jerk us around so much.
Sixth....Breaking the BvS rule here, but the Jena Malone news has got me fired up again. <pulls out soap box> WB knows what they are doing. It's as simple as that. Not everyone has to do their movies "the Marvel way". This is a company that has managed the likes of "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings/Hobbit". They understand how to manage their properties and to make them successful. I know that I have complained about their decisions in the past, but I even have to remind myself sometimes that WB has been around a long time and they have the benefit of experience. They have a bonafide leading man for the Justice League going forward with the A+ star/Director of "Argo" and "The Town", and the leading man of current hit "Gone Girl" in Ben Affleck. I believe in Ben and I hope that you will too.
Seventh.....This one is straight from the rumor mill, but you may have seen by now that Sony has suggested that if "Sinister Six" does not perform well at the box office that they will use that film to reboot Spidey so that he could cross over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spidey, but I think they should not hesitate to make this move. It would bring a proven winner to the Marvel Universe and it would help to legitimize Sony's endeavors. Also it would finally prove to Avi Arad that he is a moron, and that's just good for everybody.
I know I had more to discuss, but I'm spacing on what that might be. Pull list is a little light the next few weeks, but I will be back some time in November to discuss issues as always.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
"Gotham": First Impressions and other morsels
Hello and welcome to an unscheduled edition of The Comic Shop!
FIRST......"Gotham" made it's highly anticipated television debut last week with the second episode airing this previous Monday. I will preface all my thoughts by saying it is EARLY in the life of the show and these are snap judgements and impressions. As with all things I reserve the right to change my opinion based on the strength of future episodes (the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." amendment in The Comic Shop Constitution).
The Good:
I think that overall the performances are on par with most network tv. I think Ben McKenzie carries himself well as Gordon, and he is well suited to carry the brunt of the load for this series. Nobody really stands out at this point per se; however, I did really like the casting of Robin Lord Taylor as a young Oswald Cobblepot. Taylor fits the off beat look of the future Penguin, and it will be interesting to see what develops with his character in the run of the series.
The Bad/Ugly:
My main gripe is that for a series like this the Wayne's are not needed as an integral part of the plot. In my honest opinion I think it does a disservice to have Bruce, Alfred, or even the murder of Thomas and Martha as a central focus in this adaptation.
The thing that makes Batman's origin so powerful is not that it's a mystery that needs to be solved, but that it's a mystery that CAN'T be solved. In several interpretations of the history of Batman "Joe Chill" is a pseudonym for a faceless man. Bruce dons the cowl and wages everlasting war because every criminal is potentially the one that killed his parents. Now obviously this is tweaked with every adaptation of the source material for instance in "The Dark Knight Trilogy" Joe Chill was a flesh-and-blood man that was caught, and in "Batman" Jack Napier would eventually become the clown prince of crime The Joker.
Batman the stoic loner takes on wards like Dick Grayson so that they may find the justice that he never will, so that they do not become a brooding obsessed vigilante like the Batman. In making the Wayne's murder a mystery that is integral to the series the creators have to this point made it a bland intrigue story rather than the origin of the Dark Knight that we all know and love.
In my mind a better narrative for the show would have been to have a twenty-something Bruce Wayne in his travels around the world making sporadic appearances on the show while the main story featured a young Gordon fresh off the train from Chicago fighting corruption in the GCPD.
Like I said it is early in the life of this show and I'm going to give it some honest time, but these are my first impressions and nothing else. Judge it however you wish, because after all this is an opinion piece
SECOND.....I'm mostly done discussing Fox's next adaptation of the "Fantastic Four", but it has been confirmed that in this version Sue will be an adopted sibling of Johnny Storm. Take it as you will.
My honest feeling is that we are just seeing the beginning of an epic pissing contest between Fox and Marvel. As you may have read Marvel is planning on ceasing publication of Fantastic Four in the near future as to not lend support to this project, and there are rumbles they may do that with the X-men as well. I look at this as Fox saying "okay well then we are going to do whatever the hell we want with this adaptation because we can".
Nothing is confirmed at this point, but I think we are starting to see where everyone stands. With a hot property like "X-men: Days of Future Past" hitting the theater last summer one would have expected to see toys, licensed t-shirts, lunch boxes, and everything else under the sun, but because Marvel owns the rights to the license they put the kibosh on that. This all is allegedly due to Marvel wanting the rights back to the X-men & FF properties. Which as you may or may not know only came about because Marvel came on hard times, and needed some quick cash. This lead to the movie rights to X-men and FF being with Fox, and an actual split ownership of Spider-man with Sony.
LASTLY......Depending on your reading habits it could be a light or heavy day at The Comic Book store tomorrow. Lady Thor will be making her debut in the wake of the events of "Original Sin", and Bucky Barnes will become a space ranger due to the same event. Wolverine will continue his march toward death, and the Justice League will fight something or the other. As for your humble blogger I'm looking forward to "Green Arrow" as we pick up with a new arch from the creative team of the successful show "Arrow", and I will trudge through another issue of "Grayson".
Thanks for reading! See you next time at The Comic Shop!
FIRST......"Gotham" made it's highly anticipated television debut last week with the second episode airing this previous Monday. I will preface all my thoughts by saying it is EARLY in the life of the show and these are snap judgements and impressions. As with all things I reserve the right to change my opinion based on the strength of future episodes (the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." amendment in The Comic Shop Constitution).
The Good:
I think that overall the performances are on par with most network tv. I think Ben McKenzie carries himself well as Gordon, and he is well suited to carry the brunt of the load for this series. Nobody really stands out at this point per se; however, I did really like the casting of Robin Lord Taylor as a young Oswald Cobblepot. Taylor fits the off beat look of the future Penguin, and it will be interesting to see what develops with his character in the run of the series.
The Bad/Ugly:
My main gripe is that for a series like this the Wayne's are not needed as an integral part of the plot. In my honest opinion I think it does a disservice to have Bruce, Alfred, or even the murder of Thomas and Martha as a central focus in this adaptation.
The thing that makes Batman's origin so powerful is not that it's a mystery that needs to be solved, but that it's a mystery that CAN'T be solved. In several interpretations of the history of Batman "Joe Chill" is a pseudonym for a faceless man. Bruce dons the cowl and wages everlasting war because every criminal is potentially the one that killed his parents. Now obviously this is tweaked with every adaptation of the source material for instance in "The Dark Knight Trilogy" Joe Chill was a flesh-and-blood man that was caught, and in "Batman" Jack Napier would eventually become the clown prince of crime The Joker.
Batman the stoic loner takes on wards like Dick Grayson so that they may find the justice that he never will, so that they do not become a brooding obsessed vigilante like the Batman. In making the Wayne's murder a mystery that is integral to the series the creators have to this point made it a bland intrigue story rather than the origin of the Dark Knight that we all know and love.
In my mind a better narrative for the show would have been to have a twenty-something Bruce Wayne in his travels around the world making sporadic appearances on the show while the main story featured a young Gordon fresh off the train from Chicago fighting corruption in the GCPD.
Like I said it is early in the life of this show and I'm going to give it some honest time, but these are my first impressions and nothing else. Judge it however you wish, because after all this is an opinion piece
SECOND.....I'm mostly done discussing Fox's next adaptation of the "Fantastic Four", but it has been confirmed that in this version Sue will be an adopted sibling of Johnny Storm. Take it as you will.
My honest feeling is that we are just seeing the beginning of an epic pissing contest between Fox and Marvel. As you may have read Marvel is planning on ceasing publication of Fantastic Four in the near future as to not lend support to this project, and there are rumbles they may do that with the X-men as well. I look at this as Fox saying "okay well then we are going to do whatever the hell we want with this adaptation because we can".
Nothing is confirmed at this point, but I think we are starting to see where everyone stands. With a hot property like "X-men: Days of Future Past" hitting the theater last summer one would have expected to see toys, licensed t-shirts, lunch boxes, and everything else under the sun, but because Marvel owns the rights to the license they put the kibosh on that. This all is allegedly due to Marvel wanting the rights back to the X-men & FF properties. Which as you may or may not know only came about because Marvel came on hard times, and needed some quick cash. This lead to the movie rights to X-men and FF being with Fox, and an actual split ownership of Spider-man with Sony.
LASTLY......Depending on your reading habits it could be a light or heavy day at The Comic Book store tomorrow. Lady Thor will be making her debut in the wake of the events of "Original Sin", and Bucky Barnes will become a space ranger due to the same event. Wolverine will continue his march toward death, and the Justice League will fight something or the other. As for your humble blogger I'm looking forward to "Green Arrow" as we pick up with a new arch from the creative team of the successful show "Arrow", and I will trudge through another issue of "Grayson".
Thanks for reading! See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Friday, September 19, 2014
All sorts of news...
Hello and welcome to the 09/19/2014 edition of The Comic Shop...
I have decided that with changes in my work life and the continued challenge of raising a baby I will likely be limiting these posts to a monthly entry. In the end I think this new time frame will give me a chance to decide what I want to discuss, and to have strongly formulated opinion on the various items. I love writing this blog, but it can be time consuming and I have other concerns at this time. As always I appreciate your continued support, and I will do my best to bring the best entries that I can to the table.
First........ Off of the strength of the "leaked" test reel footage "Deadpool" will be getting a feature film from 20th Century Fox. Given the reaction and the quality of the footage this is not a huge surprise. One can only hope that with the retcon of the Fox X-Universe we can keep Ryan Reynolds as the titular Merc with a Mouth, but ditch the awful characterization from "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". While Reynolds was not a good fit for DC's "Green Lantern" I think he is the ideal candidate to continue to portray Wade Wilson.
Second.....The producers of "Flash" and "Arrow" have announced that the last daughter of Krypton will be flying onto the screen at CBS. It will be interesting to see if this is a stand alone project or if it ties to either the DC movie verse or the DC Arrow-verse. I don't have a lot more to say about it at this point, but it is intriguing to say the least.
Third.....The Russo Brothers have teased that Frank Castle AKA The Punisher has been introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a blink-and-you-miss-it role as the driver of the Penske truck that struck SPOILER when the Winter Soldier threw him from a vehicle. While it seems unlikely that this is the case, because vehicular homicide is not Castle's SOP it is probable that he might show up in an adjacent Marvel One-Shot on a future home movie release. I would still; however, argue that Frank would be the absolute perfect candidate for a Marvel Netflix show because they could do the character justice.
The Comic Strips (Beware Spoilers for Comics Released on 09/17/14).
I took a small stack out of my local comic shop this week with "Daredevil" and "Batman & Robin" (Futures End tie in) on my pull list.
"Daredevil" - This was the start of a new arch with a terrifying new enemy for hornhead. It turns out that the mind control powered Purple Man decided to start a family, but it comes to a horrifying end for the PM and a new powerful group of mind control experts comes to forefront.
"Batman & Robin" - I have made my reservations known about the Futures End event and tie ins, but I have to make a caveat that the Bat books (this and the titular "Batman") were absolutely fantastic. I have made it known that I am a huge fan of "The Dark Knight Returns" and these books are more to the tune of "The Dark Knight Never Left". It is the same level of madness, but he has never quit being Batman. It is disturbing and interesting at the same time to watch him push his body past normal human limits with the use of dangerous science. I still feel that the event and tie ins are wholly unnecessary, but this is a very cool glimpse into the future of the caped crusader.
That's it for today. Unless something changes I will see you around the same time next month. Thank you for your continued support, thank you for reading, and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
I have decided that with changes in my work life and the continued challenge of raising a baby I will likely be limiting these posts to a monthly entry. In the end I think this new time frame will give me a chance to decide what I want to discuss, and to have strongly formulated opinion on the various items. I love writing this blog, but it can be time consuming and I have other concerns at this time. As always I appreciate your continued support, and I will do my best to bring the best entries that I can to the table.
First........ Off of the strength of the "leaked" test reel footage "Deadpool" will be getting a feature film from 20th Century Fox. Given the reaction and the quality of the footage this is not a huge surprise. One can only hope that with the retcon of the Fox X-Universe we can keep Ryan Reynolds as the titular Merc with a Mouth, but ditch the awful characterization from "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". While Reynolds was not a good fit for DC's "Green Lantern" I think he is the ideal candidate to continue to portray Wade Wilson.
Second.....The producers of "Flash" and "Arrow" have announced that the last daughter of Krypton will be flying onto the screen at CBS. It will be interesting to see if this is a stand alone project or if it ties to either the DC movie verse or the DC Arrow-verse. I don't have a lot more to say about it at this point, but it is intriguing to say the least.
Third.....The Russo Brothers have teased that Frank Castle AKA The Punisher has been introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a blink-and-you-miss-it role as the driver of the Penske truck that struck SPOILER when the Winter Soldier threw him from a vehicle. While it seems unlikely that this is the case, because vehicular homicide is not Castle's SOP it is probable that he might show up in an adjacent Marvel One-Shot on a future home movie release. I would still; however, argue that Frank would be the absolute perfect candidate for a Marvel Netflix show because they could do the character justice.
The Comic Strips (Beware Spoilers for Comics Released on 09/17/14).
I took a small stack out of my local comic shop this week with "Daredevil" and "Batman & Robin" (Futures End tie in) on my pull list.
"Daredevil" - This was the start of a new arch with a terrifying new enemy for hornhead. It turns out that the mind control powered Purple Man decided to start a family, but it comes to a horrifying end for the PM and a new powerful group of mind control experts comes to forefront.
"Batman & Robin" - I have made my reservations known about the Futures End event and tie ins, but I have to make a caveat that the Bat books (this and the titular "Batman") were absolutely fantastic. I have made it known that I am a huge fan of "The Dark Knight Returns" and these books are more to the tune of "The Dark Knight Never Left". It is the same level of madness, but he has never quit being Batman. It is disturbing and interesting at the same time to watch him push his body past normal human limits with the use of dangerous science. I still feel that the event and tie ins are wholly unnecessary, but this is a very cool glimpse into the future of the caped crusader.
That's it for today. Unless something changes I will see you around the same time next month. Thank you for your continued support, thank you for reading, and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Thursday, September 4, 2014
WB/DC WTF?
Hello and welcome to the abbreviated 09/04/14 edition of The Comic Shop!
First........
Yesterday was a pretty amazing yet astoundingly frustrating news day. At long last it was confirmed that WB has picked Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to play Black Adam in an upcoming "Shazam" film. This news was welcomed by your humble blogger; however, the accompanying news not so much. WB followed up stating that they had hired Darren Lemke to script the Earth's mightiest mortal film debut.
That wasn't bad, but then it got worse. Warner Brothers in their infinite wisdom has stated that the Shazam movie will have humor and be fun (as it should), and that IT WILL NOT TIE IN TO THE GREATER DC UNIVERSE INCLUDING "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE". Pardon my language but WHAT THE FUCK?! They hire a box office heavyweight like Johnson and then immediately snuff the possibility of him showing up as the big bad in a Justice League movie, or joining the justice league to stave off an ultimate evil. This is just the most recent in a long line of head scratching decisions if we consider the huge popularity of "Arrow" and anticipation for "Flash" and that those were also treated like they weren't part of the greater universe. It makes no sense to me why WB wouldn't cash in on well-liked, and successful properties. Time will tell and this is certainly a snap judgement, but it is frustrating to say the least.
I certainly don't expect them to do everything like Marvel does, but it would be better to have a coherent product that doesn't confuse the masses.
Add to that Evil media Emperor Rupert Murdoch tried to recently purchase AOL/Time Warner, and that it's rumored that Disney may also soon make a bid it's not looking likely that we will see true competition between the studios after all.
Second..........
In keeping with the theme here "Futures End" has crossed over to the individual titles of DC comics. Being the idiot that I am I picked up "Green Arrow", and found that the cliffhanger would be resolved in the "Futures End" weekly comic. Sorry, but that is not going to happen. There are too many other things to pay for each week without having to delve out an extra $2.99 each for the weekly release of "Futures End" and "Batman Eternal". It feels like DC is trying to manipulate their sales numbers by having a weekly title.
Third....... (Original Sin Spoilers)
Original Sin came to a climax this week and I have to say overall it was not a very satisfying story arch. It felt more like a side dish to the meat and potatoes that will play out over the next year at Marvel. It showed how Thor became disgraced and depowered, and laid the groundwork for other happenings. I enjoyed some of the earlier issues, but I think overall I regret buying the whole arch. Marvel has been great at the big event with "Civil War", "Secret Invasion", "Avengers v. X-men", "Siege", "Dark Reign", and others they changed the landscape and implemented a new status quo. With "Original Sin" it felt like it was an eight issue ad that said "what's new at Marvel Comics!". I think if given the ball Jason Aaron could do a great job in the future I just think this event set him up to fail.
That's all for today trying to keep it short since tonight we are #Back2Football...Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
First........
Yesterday was a pretty amazing yet astoundingly frustrating news day. At long last it was confirmed that WB has picked Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to play Black Adam in an upcoming "Shazam" film. This news was welcomed by your humble blogger; however, the accompanying news not so much. WB followed up stating that they had hired Darren Lemke to script the Earth's mightiest mortal film debut.
That wasn't bad, but then it got worse. Warner Brothers in their infinite wisdom has stated that the Shazam movie will have humor and be fun (as it should), and that IT WILL NOT TIE IN TO THE GREATER DC UNIVERSE INCLUDING "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE". Pardon my language but WHAT THE FUCK?! They hire a box office heavyweight like Johnson and then immediately snuff the possibility of him showing up as the big bad in a Justice League movie, or joining the justice league to stave off an ultimate evil. This is just the most recent in a long line of head scratching decisions if we consider the huge popularity of "Arrow" and anticipation for "Flash" and that those were also treated like they weren't part of the greater universe. It makes no sense to me why WB wouldn't cash in on well-liked, and successful properties. Time will tell and this is certainly a snap judgement, but it is frustrating to say the least.
I certainly don't expect them to do everything like Marvel does, but it would be better to have a coherent product that doesn't confuse the masses.
Add to that Evil media Emperor Rupert Murdoch tried to recently purchase AOL/Time Warner, and that it's rumored that Disney may also soon make a bid it's not looking likely that we will see true competition between the studios after all.
Second..........
In keeping with the theme here "Futures End" has crossed over to the individual titles of DC comics. Being the idiot that I am I picked up "Green Arrow", and found that the cliffhanger would be resolved in the "Futures End" weekly comic. Sorry, but that is not going to happen. There are too many other things to pay for each week without having to delve out an extra $2.99 each for the weekly release of "Futures End" and "Batman Eternal". It feels like DC is trying to manipulate their sales numbers by having a weekly title.
Third....... (Original Sin Spoilers)
Original Sin came to a climax this week and I have to say overall it was not a very satisfying story arch. It felt more like a side dish to the meat and potatoes that will play out over the next year at Marvel. It showed how Thor became disgraced and depowered, and laid the groundwork for other happenings. I enjoyed some of the earlier issues, but I think overall I regret buying the whole arch. Marvel has been great at the big event with "Civil War", "Secret Invasion", "Avengers v. X-men", "Siege", "Dark Reign", and others they changed the landscape and implemented a new status quo. With "Original Sin" it felt like it was an eight issue ad that said "what's new at Marvel Comics!". I think if given the ball Jason Aaron could do a great job in the future I just think this event set him up to fail.
That's all for today trying to keep it short since tonight we are #Back2Football...Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
News & other random thoughts...
Hello & welcome to the 08/21/14 edition of The Comic Shop!
Thank you so much for your continued readership! We are about to pass over 2000 pageviews, which I never thought would be possible. Be sure to share the blog, and feel free to like the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thecomicshopblog?ref=hl . As a wise man once said "Tell your friends about me"....On to the news.....
First.... Chris Pratt dressed up as Star Lord once again to entertain children in a hospital. I do not have a lot to say about this, but that it is admirable that someone in such an enviable position has chosen to use it to be an everyday hero. He has also used his influence to garner participation from his "Guardians" co stars in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Suffice it to say definite man crush engaged from this blogger.
Second...The lovely Evangeline Lilly unveiled her look for the upcoming Marvel "Ant-man" film. While the character Hope Van Dyne is an invention of the film world and left the collective uber-nerds feeling "Lost" it appears that she has taken on a very Wasp-like look. I'm hedging on this project because of the turmoil with the original director Edgar Wright, but I enjoy the work of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas. It's hard to doubt Marvel at this point, because each movie seems to be an improvement upon the previous one.
Third... "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" has opened to a lukewarm reception from critics with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 44%. Not to say that an RT score is the end all be all for whether a film will be good or not, but early reviews reaffirm some of my concerns about the project. Eight years is a LONG time to go between sequels. Not to say it's unheard of, but it does not exactly inspire confidence. That coupled with the death or recasting of some of the ensemble roles (Michael Clark Duncan & Brittany Murphy RIP)(Clive Owen- career DOA) makes this a wait-and-see for this blogger.
Fourth....November solicitations started a bit of a firestorm with an alternative cover for an upcoming issue of Spider-woman as drawn by former erotic/soft core artist Milo Manara. I'll spare you the pictures, but it was quite upsetting to a number of paying customers as the cover featured Jessica Drew baring her assets to the city (and also quite a shovel face IMO). Make of it what you will, but I can't speak to a woman's point of view on something like that.
Fifth.... Dark Horse has released a trailer for the upcoming "Prometheus: Fire and Stone" which will be the first in a series of books ("Aliens: Fire & Stone", "AVP: Fire & Stone", and "Predator: Fire and Stone"). While I thought the "Prometheus" film was quite entertaining it was one of those movies that is so filled with holes you can't look at it the same way after you think about it for five minutes. That said I love comics, and I love that they are crossing over these franchises so I might give it a cursory look.
Sixth....Vince D'Onofrio has shaved his head and looks to be a fantastic Kingpin for the upcoming "Daredevil" Netflix series. D'Onofrio appeared at the outset to me to be an odd choice, but now I'm looking forward to his portrayal of the nefarious Wilson Fisk. As you can tell from my Frank Miller list I'm a big DD fan so I'm hoping Marvel hits another home run with this project.
A final note...I will be keeping my "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice" speculation/discussion to a minimum until we at least see a real trailer for the project. I have found often in my life that reading too much about a movie beforehand can really ruin the experience, so to that end I will not participate in ruining it for my readers.
The Comic Strips - Beware Spoilers for comics released on 08/20/14
This week's pull list was a bit lean for your humble blogger with just "Daredevil" and "Batman & Robin" being purchased.
Daredevil - This issue was the continuation of a tie-in to the "Original Sin" event that features Murdock traveling to a newly hostile Wakanda to rescue his nun mother Sister Maggie. I've noted before that I'm a huge fan of what Mark Waid has done with DD; however, this issue lacked any kind of satisfying conclusion and was more or less a PSA for postpartum depression. As noble as that may be it's not exactly why we pick up comics.
Batman & Robin - Another chapter in the "Robin Rises" saga unfolded, but in actuality not a whole lot happened. In truth this single issue just completely deballed the "Death of the Family" event from last year by having Batman apologize the the Bat-family, ensure them of total truth in the future, and then embark on a suicide mission to Apokolips to rescue/resurrect his son. The total truth thing gets thrown to the wolves when the dead-to-the-world Dick Grayson shows up to have a PB & J and offer to help with Bats mission.
That's all for this week...I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Thank you so much for your continued readership! We are about to pass over 2000 pageviews, which I never thought would be possible. Be sure to share the blog, and feel free to like the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thecomicshopblog?ref=hl . As a wise man once said "Tell your friends about me"....On to the news.....
First.... Chris Pratt dressed up as Star Lord once again to entertain children in a hospital. I do not have a lot to say about this, but that it is admirable that someone in such an enviable position has chosen to use it to be an everyday hero. He has also used his influence to garner participation from his "Guardians" co stars in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Suffice it to say definite man crush engaged from this blogger.
Second...The lovely Evangeline Lilly unveiled her look for the upcoming Marvel "Ant-man" film. While the character Hope Van Dyne is an invention of the film world and left the collective uber-nerds feeling "Lost" it appears that she has taken on a very Wasp-like look. I'm hedging on this project because of the turmoil with the original director Edgar Wright, but I enjoy the work of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas. It's hard to doubt Marvel at this point, because each movie seems to be an improvement upon the previous one.
Third... "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" has opened to a lukewarm reception from critics with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 44%. Not to say that an RT score is the end all be all for whether a film will be good or not, but early reviews reaffirm some of my concerns about the project. Eight years is a LONG time to go between sequels. Not to say it's unheard of, but it does not exactly inspire confidence. That coupled with the death or recasting of some of the ensemble roles (Michael Clark Duncan & Brittany Murphy RIP)(Clive Owen- career DOA) makes this a wait-and-see for this blogger.
Fourth....November solicitations started a bit of a firestorm with an alternative cover for an upcoming issue of Spider-woman as drawn by former erotic/soft core artist Milo Manara. I'll spare you the pictures, but it was quite upsetting to a number of paying customers as the cover featured Jessica Drew baring her assets to the city (and also quite a shovel face IMO). Make of it what you will, but I can't speak to a woman's point of view on something like that.
Fifth.... Dark Horse has released a trailer for the upcoming "Prometheus: Fire and Stone" which will be the first in a series of books ("Aliens: Fire & Stone", "AVP: Fire & Stone", and "Predator: Fire and Stone"). While I thought the "Prometheus" film was quite entertaining it was one of those movies that is so filled with holes you can't look at it the same way after you think about it for five minutes. That said I love comics, and I love that they are crossing over these franchises so I might give it a cursory look.
Sixth....Vince D'Onofrio has shaved his head and looks to be a fantastic Kingpin for the upcoming "Daredevil" Netflix series. D'Onofrio appeared at the outset to me to be an odd choice, but now I'm looking forward to his portrayal of the nefarious Wilson Fisk. As you can tell from my Frank Miller list I'm a big DD fan so I'm hoping Marvel hits another home run with this project.
A final note...I will be keeping my "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice" speculation/discussion to a minimum until we at least see a real trailer for the project. I have found often in my life that reading too much about a movie beforehand can really ruin the experience, so to that end I will not participate in ruining it for my readers.
The Comic Strips - Beware Spoilers for comics released on 08/20/14
This week's pull list was a bit lean for your humble blogger with just "Daredevil" and "Batman & Robin" being purchased.
Daredevil - This issue was the continuation of a tie-in to the "Original Sin" event that features Murdock traveling to a newly hostile Wakanda to rescue his nun mother Sister Maggie. I've noted before that I'm a huge fan of what Mark Waid has done with DD; however, this issue lacked any kind of satisfying conclusion and was more or less a PSA for postpartum depression. As noble as that may be it's not exactly why we pick up comics.
Batman & Robin - Another chapter in the "Robin Rises" saga unfolded, but in actuality not a whole lot happened. In truth this single issue just completely deballed the "Death of the Family" event from last year by having Batman apologize the the Bat-family, ensure them of total truth in the future, and then embark on a suicide mission to Apokolips to rescue/resurrect his son. The total truth thing gets thrown to the wolves when the dead-to-the-world Dick Grayson shows up to have a PB & J and offer to help with Bats mission.
That's all for this week...I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Monday, August 18, 2014
A Book to Kill For...my favorite Frank Miller stories so far
Hello and welcome to the 08/18/14 edition of The Comic Shop!
After my last post I want to reiterate that I always welcome well-thought-out responses to my various topics. After all I am more than willing to participate in the debate/discussion and I never want to give the impression that I do not value the opinion of others as much as I value my own. A lot of our contemporary problems could be solved if people were more willing to hear out the other side and try to understand that not everyone has the same upbring/values/experiences/views/environment/socioeconomic background/etc. I am as guilty as anyone else at being stubborn about opinions that I hold, but I always try to at least hear what the other side has to say.
With the impending release of "Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" I thought it might be fun to look at my favorite Frank Miller stories that I have read.
So on to the column.....Let's be Frank....
1. The Dark Knight Returns - This novel was a watershed moment for comics in that it showed publishers that there was in fact an adult audience. Published on gloss paper and released in maxi-series format "TDKR" was a turning point in the marketing in comics (along with "Watchmen" and other comics of the time). "TDKR" features an older Batman that returns to action after a long absence to rid Gotham of the new scourge of the mutants. He also has one last fatal tussle with the Joker, and beats the ever-loving hell out of the big blue boy scout. I've written at length about how much I love this book before so it goes without saying this is my unquestioned number one.
2. Born Again - What is the secret identity of a superhero worth? If you are a junkie/prostitute/ex-girlfriend of Matt Murdock it's worth an arm full of heroin. When the Kingpin gets his hands on the information all hell breaks loose. With a premise like that "Born Again" is one of the more fantastic Daredevil books. Truth be told "Daredevil" is not even in the book until the 3rd act, but this story sets in motion the "I'm not Daredevil" narrative that was the cornerstone of hornhead storytelling for decades. The events of "Born Again" also laid the groundwork for Kevin Smith's stellar "Guardian Devil" story several years later.
3. Wolverine......When Marvel comics decided to give Wolverine his own title there were a lot of options for writers, but they chose Frank Miller. Frank introduced a lot of new concepts for the character including placing him in Japan, his catchphrase "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice", and introduced characters like Yuriko, Mariko, and the Silver Samurai. This story was picked from with some liberty taken to craft the narrative for "The Wolverine" film that hit theaters last year.
4. That Yellow Bastard.....My favorite of the "Sin City" stories features Detective Hartigan fighting to protect the innocence of a young girl in a city filled with Sin. This was an integral part of the original "Sin City" film with Bruce Willis playing the aforementioned Hartigan.
5. The Hard Goodbye....Another story from the "Sin City" feature film this one features Marv avenging the death of a prostitute "Goldie". Equal parts Rasputin and hard boiled storytelling this is one of the better narratives in the "Sin City" universe. In truth I became more of a fan of this story after Mickey Rourke brought it to life on screen. Bonus points for the fact that Frank Miller played a tainted priest in the live action adaptation.
6. Batman: Year One.....The follow up to "TDKR" this story showed Bruce Wayne's first adventure as Batman, and gave a full blown origin to the caped crusader and Jim Gordon. I have mixed emotions about this book, because I like that it is the set up for the dark and brooding tone featured in "TDKR". My issue with it is the pacing, which is extremely slow and frustrating. It still makes the list though because of what it means to the origin of Batman and Gordon as I mentioned before.
7. Daredevil Comics.....As a more general entry I own two trade paperback collections of Miller's first run with hornhead. While it starts out kind of rough you can tell while reading when Miller got more creative control. The stories take a darker turn, and he introduces characters like Electra and Bullseye to the story. Once again Miller built the framework for how Daredevil stories would be presented for future decades with this run.
In full disclosure I have not read "Ronin", "Man without Fear", and I refuse to read ignorant bile like "Holy Terror". I do; however, intend to read the first two at some point in the near future.
In a related story the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (which were created to quasi-parody Ronin and Daredevil stories from Frank Miller) movie won two weeks in a row at the box office. While "Guardians of the Galaxy" continues to rake in the cash (now over $200 million) it somehow has not beat the mixed reviewed turtle flick.
That's all for today!
See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Sunday, August 3, 2014
The FF reboot is in the can...
I've written at length about this before, but please spare me your complaints about Michael B. Jordan. He & Kate Mara are likely the best members of the cast speaking generally.
I fully support this not because I have "liberal" allegiances (I Dont), or that I'm PC (I'm not), or white guilt or whatever dismissive garbage a person would want to attribute this to.
It is an accurate representation of the families of today rather than the "nuclear family" from the 60's when these characters were introduced. If director Josh Trank wanted to make a FF film based in the 1960's I would agree wholeheartedly, but he's not so I don't.
Let's not pretend that these studios are 100% loyal to the source material on anything. I mean I didn't see a giant squid at the end of "Watchmen", but I, not unlike many of my comic loving brethren glossed over it because it wouldn't sell to a wider audience. In my rational this is no different in that it's a tweak that could play to a wider audience. It's not a given, but there is reason to believe that it could impact the box office.
As "fanboys" it can be hard to digest the idea that not everything the studio does is for us. It's hard to pan or praise this project without seeing a single film cell. I will say the production model of a Thing was leaps and bounds better than anything they've done in the past.
It is not my intention to get on the soapbox on this issue, but it gets a little old as a comic fan to get lumped in with the ignorant bile that is spewed when casting news like this comes out. I get a little embarrassed for people that react by saying "when do I get my white so & so?" Don't worry one day you'll get a white superhero on film other than; Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, the Fantastic Four, He-man, Dick Tracy, Nick Fury (Hasselhoff), the Lone Ranger, the Punisher, Green Lantern, Star Lord, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Green Arrow (TV), Flash (TV), most Agents of SHIELD (TV), Agent Carter (TV), Wolverine, a few of the X-men...and so on.
As I said I do not intend to be negative or condescending, & it appears now that fans have become more accustomed to these cosmetic changes. I did not see as much of the negativity flooding the net when Jason Momoa was cast as Arthur Curry/Aquaman or when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson teased being cast as Shazam. For that I give the fanboys credit, because those casting choices are very different than their comic lineage.
I will try to keep it more positive in the future, but it is tiring to hear & read so many complaints about a second-tier hero being played by an underrated actor in a movie from a studio that many people already hate.
Thank you for reading & I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
I fully support this not because I have "liberal" allegiances (I Dont), or that I'm PC (I'm not), or white guilt or whatever dismissive garbage a person would want to attribute this to.
It is an accurate representation of the families of today rather than the "nuclear family" from the 60's when these characters were introduced. If director Josh Trank wanted to make a FF film based in the 1960's I would agree wholeheartedly, but he's not so I don't.
Let's not pretend that these studios are 100% loyal to the source material on anything. I mean I didn't see a giant squid at the end of "Watchmen", but I, not unlike many of my comic loving brethren glossed over it because it wouldn't sell to a wider audience. In my rational this is no different in that it's a tweak that could play to a wider audience. It's not a given, but there is reason to believe that it could impact the box office.
As "fanboys" it can be hard to digest the idea that not everything the studio does is for us. It's hard to pan or praise this project without seeing a single film cell. I will say the production model of a Thing was leaps and bounds better than anything they've done in the past.
It is not my intention to get on the soapbox on this issue, but it gets a little old as a comic fan to get lumped in with the ignorant bile that is spewed when casting news like this comes out. I get a little embarrassed for people that react by saying "when do I get my white so & so?" Don't worry one day you'll get a white superhero on film other than; Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Hawkeye, the Fantastic Four, He-man, Dick Tracy, Nick Fury (Hasselhoff), the Lone Ranger, the Punisher, Green Lantern, Star Lord, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Green Arrow (TV), Flash (TV), most Agents of SHIELD (TV), Agent Carter (TV), Wolverine, a few of the X-men...and so on.
As I said I do not intend to be negative or condescending, & it appears now that fans have become more accustomed to these cosmetic changes. I did not see as much of the negativity flooding the net when Jason Momoa was cast as Arthur Curry/Aquaman or when Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson teased being cast as Shazam. For that I give the fanboys credit, because those casting choices are very different than their comic lineage.
I will try to keep it more positive in the future, but it is tiring to hear & read so many complaints about a second-tier hero being played by an underrated actor in a movie from a studio that many people already hate.
Thank you for reading & I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
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