Hello and welcome to the 02/18/15 edition of The Comic Shop!
Just a few entries to go until #50! Not sure what I'm going to do for it, but it is a significant milestone for me that I have kept with this for as long as I have so I feel like celebrating. On to today's entry....
Confession....... I stopped watching "Gotham" at the midseason break. It's all a matter of opinion for sure, but the show just doesn't meet criteria for something that I want to make time for. These superhero tangent shows in general don't give me the warm & tingle in my nether regions. Agents of SHIELD took a good long while to for me to warm up to, but I think I've pinpointed why I prefer the full out superhero content of shows like "Arrow", "Flash", or even "Daredevil".
It all goes back to a Frank Miller quote about how he approached writing superheroes, "I don't need to see sweat patches under Superman's arms. I want to see him fly." I apply this philosophy in my approach to determining if anything is worth my time. What makes superheroes interesting is not their origin or their villains origins, but that they have extraordinary skills and abilities and they continue to choose them to do good for mankind. I don't need to see Cobblepot rise through the ranks to appreciate why he is a pragmatic sociopath. As I've said a million times I would've much rather seen a "Zero Year"/"Year One" hybrid adaptation in the "Arrow" style. I think it would've been a feather in the cap of WB/DC TV and further helped them to cash in on the Dark Knight. They didn't choose that course of action and I'm fine with that, but I will not be speaking anymore about this show until I invariably binge-watch it when it comes to Netflix. Then under article II of The Comicstitution I reserve the right to completely flip-flop my opinion.
As I posted on FB (https://www.facebook.com/thecomicshopblog/)....Wednesday night's episode of "The Flash" entitled "Fallout" was easily the best episode of the series so far. There was so much accomplished in the name of moving the plot forward, and teasing some future potential events. Just an absolute packed-to-the-gills hour of television. I would still be a fan of all of these hour-long dramas going to the "Breaking Bad" - "Sons of Anarchy" route of having only 13 episodes per season. There is still a LOT of filler to make up 22-23 episodes, but it's a relatively small complaint as I am really enjoying the ride with the CW shows so far.
Movie news......Gina Carano, and Morena Baccarin have been added to the cast of the upcoming Fox film "Deadpool". That will make for two very appealing additions for the fellas in the audience. I'm sure there will be more casting announced soon.
Young Actor Kodi Smit-McPhee will don the blue paint and teleport through walls as Nightcrawler in "X-men: Apocalypse". It is truly unfortunate that Alan Cumming and Director Bryan Singer had a falling out of some kind as Cumming was one of the true standouts of the first run of X-Films. Time will tell if this young man has the same charisma in the role.
Not much else I want to touch on at this time.....hope you all remain safe as we continue to have sub zero temps and annoying snowfall here in the midwest and all around the country. Happy Reading and see you next time at The Comic Shop!!
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Thursday, February 12, 2015
"No matter how far back you pull a bow string it can only move....forward"
Hello and Welcome to a brand new edition of The Comic Shop!
I have to get a tiny bit of business out of the way first here before we get to the topics as they come to me. My "WB/DC WTF?" post is now pretty much irrelevant with the decision by the brass to include Black Adam in the main cinematic plans.
My reservations still remain about leaving the superb Stephen Amell & Grant Gustin out of their movie plans. My main bone of contention is with their choice in Flash, Ezra Miller. I really don't know anything about him, but I do judge a book by the cover now and again. In all fairness I wasn't the biggest Gustin fan until I saw his fun portrayal of the Scarlet Speedster on the tv series. We will see what happens, but I'm still waiting to be impressed.
First....I was fortunate enough to be able to meet Neal freaking Adams on Wednesday night at a LCS. He was a barrel of laughs and it was a real honor to meet a man that has meant so much to the comics industry. His team with Denny O'neil on Green Lantern/Green Arrow and later on Batman helped to reinvigorate the comic industry after it got lost in the camp of the 60's. If you want to meet the other half of this dynamic duo Denny O'neil will be at the Indiana Comic Con in March.
Second...You might have heard by now but Sony & Marvel have come to an agreement regarding the use of Spider-man in future MCU movies. Andrew Garfield will have to like lasagna and hate Mondays on his own time because he will no longer be donning the red & blue spandex. I'm sad to see him go, but I think for the purposes of the films and to cultivate the future of the MCU they need to skew younger with whoever they cast as Peter Parker. I'd be okay with Sony running an Ultimate line with Donald Glover as Miles if I'm just spitballing as well. It will be interesting to see what this opens the door for. Agent (Flash Thompson) Venom jet setting the galaxy with the Guardians? Norman Osborn donning the Iron Patriot armor? The possibility is there for several efficient uses of a shared universe.
Third....I mentioned it on my FB page, but I think it's really cool how involved Ryan Reynolds is in the production of the forthcoming "Deadpool" movie. I'm not the biggest fan of the merc with the mouth, but I thought that Reynold's performance in the abysmal "X-men Origins: Wolverine" was one of the few high points. The released test footage did a bit to whet the old blogger's appetite also.
Fourth...Rumors abound on upcoming movie projects. One that seems to carry some water is that Angelina Jolie is being wooed to put her talents to use behind the camera for the upcoming "Captain Marvel" project. It is said that Marvel is set on having a female director for the film, so make of that what you will dear reader.
Fifth....Big changes coming at the Big Two in the coming months as Marvel sets their sights on a new iteration of the "Secret Wars" franchise & DC has their next crisis disguised as the continuity altering "Convergence" event. I'm hoping to not be retconned out of too many of my hard earned dollars, so I'm staying on the fence as much as possible with both of these events.
Discussion Point......However you may feel about the Marvel/Sony agreement to bring Spidey into the Avengers fold I have to say that I hope X-Men/FF stay with Fox. Not that everything that they have done with these two franchises has been particularly great mind you, but I think it gives more opportunity for other properties to shine. We are very fortunate to live in a world where we get two to three of these big summer superhero movies every year. I don't know if we would ever get movies like "Guardians", "Ant-Man", or "Captain Marvel" with X-men and FF under the Disney banner. Even more I doubt "Iron Man" would've been their first foray into filmmaking.
Fox has their own continuity and they more than proved they can make good movies with "X-men: First Class" & "X-men: Days of Future Past". Of course we'd like to see faithful adaptations of "Old Man Logan" or any other number of Marvel comic adaptations, but if we look back honestly none of these films have been particularly faithful. Those properties going back to Marvel would mean starting over at square one, and Joe Pesci help me if I have to see another damn origin story!!
Maybe our best hope is one day both studios will reconcile their differences and make a kickass "Secret Wars" movie. Only time will tell.
Everybody loves Spidey..... "Spiderverse" came to a satisfying conclusion this week. I have to say I had my doubts about this event and even mulled sitting it out; however, it really was an engaging story with a satisfying conclusion. I won't ruin anything, but I think an investment will be made in my future in the entire collection of this web-head event.
From the Quiver of Arrow...."Canaries" may have been one of the best "Arrow" episodes I have seen yet. I was not impressed by this season at the beginning, but I feel that there has been a lot of weight added to the weekly happenings. John Barrowman's Malcom Merlyn, Paul Blackthorne's Quentin Lance, Katie Cassidy's Dinah Laurel Lance, and Colton Haynes' Roy Harper all were burdened with a heavy share of emotional baggage. Capt. Lance falling back to his chair without a real word said with his daughter had the humble blogger by the heart strings. Oliver (Stephen Amell) continues to define what it means for him to be a hero, and he still struggles to understand his relationship with those closest to him. Like I said pre-mid season break I was falling out of love with the show, but I'm back in a big way now.
In a Flash....The show is still a blast to watch; however, I would caution the producers to take their time and get Gorilla Grodd right. I was not blown away by his first appearance, and I hope that it was a tease to a full reveal as the big bad in season two. I have absolute faith in the crew being able to pull it off, but Flash has a cadre of villains that they can fill in episodes with until they can feature Grodd proper.
That's all for today! The countdown continues to the 50th edition of The Comic Shop! Thank you for joining in! Thank you for reading and thank you for your continued support! This is strictly because I enjoy it, and I apologize if my english/grammar is not always AP style. See you next time at The Comic Shop!
I have to get a tiny bit of business out of the way first here before we get to the topics as they come to me. My "WB/DC WTF?" post is now pretty much irrelevant with the decision by the brass to include Black Adam in the main cinematic plans.
My reservations still remain about leaving the superb Stephen Amell & Grant Gustin out of their movie plans. My main bone of contention is with their choice in Flash, Ezra Miller. I really don't know anything about him, but I do judge a book by the cover now and again. In all fairness I wasn't the biggest Gustin fan until I saw his fun portrayal of the Scarlet Speedster on the tv series. We will see what happens, but I'm still waiting to be impressed.
First....I was fortunate enough to be able to meet Neal freaking Adams on Wednesday night at a LCS. He was a barrel of laughs and it was a real honor to meet a man that has meant so much to the comics industry. His team with Denny O'neil on Green Lantern/Green Arrow and later on Batman helped to reinvigorate the comic industry after it got lost in the camp of the 60's. If you want to meet the other half of this dynamic duo Denny O'neil will be at the Indiana Comic Con in March.
Second...You might have heard by now but Sony & Marvel have come to an agreement regarding the use of Spider-man in future MCU movies. Andrew Garfield will have to like lasagna and hate Mondays on his own time because he will no longer be donning the red & blue spandex. I'm sad to see him go, but I think for the purposes of the films and to cultivate the future of the MCU they need to skew younger with whoever they cast as Peter Parker. I'd be okay with Sony running an Ultimate line with Donald Glover as Miles if I'm just spitballing as well. It will be interesting to see what this opens the door for. Agent (Flash Thompson) Venom jet setting the galaxy with the Guardians? Norman Osborn donning the Iron Patriot armor? The possibility is there for several efficient uses of a shared universe.
Third....I mentioned it on my FB page, but I think it's really cool how involved Ryan Reynolds is in the production of the forthcoming "Deadpool" movie. I'm not the biggest fan of the merc with the mouth, but I thought that Reynold's performance in the abysmal "X-men Origins: Wolverine" was one of the few high points. The released test footage did a bit to whet the old blogger's appetite also.
Fourth...Rumors abound on upcoming movie projects. One that seems to carry some water is that Angelina Jolie is being wooed to put her talents to use behind the camera for the upcoming "Captain Marvel" project. It is said that Marvel is set on having a female director for the film, so make of that what you will dear reader.
Fifth....Big changes coming at the Big Two in the coming months as Marvel sets their sights on a new iteration of the "Secret Wars" franchise & DC has their next crisis disguised as the continuity altering "Convergence" event. I'm hoping to not be retconned out of too many of my hard earned dollars, so I'm staying on the fence as much as possible with both of these events.
Discussion Point......However you may feel about the Marvel/Sony agreement to bring Spidey into the Avengers fold I have to say that I hope X-Men/FF stay with Fox. Not that everything that they have done with these two franchises has been particularly great mind you, but I think it gives more opportunity for other properties to shine. We are very fortunate to live in a world where we get two to three of these big summer superhero movies every year. I don't know if we would ever get movies like "Guardians", "Ant-Man", or "Captain Marvel" with X-men and FF under the Disney banner. Even more I doubt "Iron Man" would've been their first foray into filmmaking.
Fox has their own continuity and they more than proved they can make good movies with "X-men: First Class" & "X-men: Days of Future Past". Of course we'd like to see faithful adaptations of "Old Man Logan" or any other number of Marvel comic adaptations, but if we look back honestly none of these films have been particularly faithful. Those properties going back to Marvel would mean starting over at square one, and Joe Pesci help me if I have to see another damn origin story!!
Maybe our best hope is one day both studios will reconcile their differences and make a kickass "Secret Wars" movie. Only time will tell.
Everybody loves Spidey..... "Spiderverse" came to a satisfying conclusion this week. I have to say I had my doubts about this event and even mulled sitting it out; however, it really was an engaging story with a satisfying conclusion. I won't ruin anything, but I think an investment will be made in my future in the entire collection of this web-head event.
From the Quiver of Arrow...."Canaries" may have been one of the best "Arrow" episodes I have seen yet. I was not impressed by this season at the beginning, but I feel that there has been a lot of weight added to the weekly happenings. John Barrowman's Malcom Merlyn, Paul Blackthorne's Quentin Lance, Katie Cassidy's Dinah Laurel Lance, and Colton Haynes' Roy Harper all were burdened with a heavy share of emotional baggage. Capt. Lance falling back to his chair without a real word said with his daughter had the humble blogger by the heart strings. Oliver (Stephen Amell) continues to define what it means for him to be a hero, and he still struggles to understand his relationship with those closest to him. Like I said pre-mid season break I was falling out of love with the show, but I'm back in a big way now.
In a Flash....The show is still a blast to watch; however, I would caution the producers to take their time and get Gorilla Grodd right. I was not blown away by his first appearance, and I hope that it was a tease to a full reveal as the big bad in season two. I have absolute faith in the crew being able to pull it off, but Flash has a cadre of villains that they can fill in episodes with until they can feature Grodd proper.
That's all for today! The countdown continues to the 50th edition of The Comic Shop! Thank you for joining in! Thank you for reading and thank you for your continued support! This is strictly because I enjoy it, and I apologize if my english/grammar is not always AP style. See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
To buy or not to buy that is the question...
Hello and welcome to The Comic Shop 02/04/15 edition!
I won't be hitting on the news items today as I have tried to keep up with them on my Facebook page for this site. I will say I thought the "Daredevil" trailer set my expectations even higher for the finished product in April. While I would've loved to see the proposed noir take on film I think this will be a suitable substitute. This is the perfect character for Marvel/Disney to try their hand at dark & gritty with and that seems to be the route that they are taking. Here's hoping Frank Castle shows up at some point in Hell's Kitchen.
I took a gander at my pull list for this week and the two titles stared back at me menacingly. "Grayson" and "Green Arrow" have been so hit or miss for me as a fan. If you take Batman out of consideration these are two of my all-time favorite Dark Knight substitutes. Oliver from his inception was a lighter take on the dark crusader with his Arrow-car and Arrow-cave, while Dick Grayson was what Batman could've been if he had a mentor to steer him down the right trail. There have been some amazing things done with both characters. I would put the O'neil/Adams & Lemeire/Sorrento runs with the Emerald Archer up against almost any other creative combo out there. Meanwhile there have been some fantastic "Nightwing" stories, whether with the "Teen Titans", "The Outsiders", in his own title (one year later among others), or even in his time as Batman.
Both of these characters have had their titles cancelled and rebooted several times. Hell, Ollie was relegated to back-up story status for some time. So what is a fan to do? Do we continue to support the characters to make sure that they have a title? Or do we vote with our dollars to get a change in the character from the publisher all the while risking cancellation?
Despite my humble funds I have continued to support these two even if I'm not exactly thrilled with their current creative direction (albeit I am warming up the "Grayson"). I am not sure; however, if I want to continue handing over money like a fool and getting kicked in the crotch for my effort. The art in "Green Arrow" is inconsistent, the storytelling has been extremely forced, and it's not at all in the same vain as the previous creative direction. Like I said with "Grayson" I am warming up to it, but the nonlinear storytelling can get a bit frustrating kind of like reading a Grant Morrison run.
In the end I'm probably the idiot for continuing to support something that treats me so bad, but I'm still holding out hope things will get better.
That's all for tonight see you next time at The Comic Shop!
I won't be hitting on the news items today as I have tried to keep up with them on my Facebook page for this site. I will say I thought the "Daredevil" trailer set my expectations even higher for the finished product in April. While I would've loved to see the proposed noir take on film I think this will be a suitable substitute. This is the perfect character for Marvel/Disney to try their hand at dark & gritty with and that seems to be the route that they are taking. Here's hoping Frank Castle shows up at some point in Hell's Kitchen.
I took a gander at my pull list for this week and the two titles stared back at me menacingly. "Grayson" and "Green Arrow" have been so hit or miss for me as a fan. If you take Batman out of consideration these are two of my all-time favorite Dark Knight substitutes. Oliver from his inception was a lighter take on the dark crusader with his Arrow-car and Arrow-cave, while Dick Grayson was what Batman could've been if he had a mentor to steer him down the right trail. There have been some amazing things done with both characters. I would put the O'neil/Adams & Lemeire/Sorrento runs with the Emerald Archer up against almost any other creative combo out there. Meanwhile there have been some fantastic "Nightwing" stories, whether with the "Teen Titans", "The Outsiders", in his own title (one year later among others), or even in his time as Batman.
Both of these characters have had their titles cancelled and rebooted several times. Hell, Ollie was relegated to back-up story status for some time. So what is a fan to do? Do we continue to support the characters to make sure that they have a title? Or do we vote with our dollars to get a change in the character from the publisher all the while risking cancellation?
Despite my humble funds I have continued to support these two even if I'm not exactly thrilled with their current creative direction (albeit I am warming up the "Grayson"). I am not sure; however, if I want to continue handing over money like a fool and getting kicked in the crotch for my effort. The art in "Green Arrow" is inconsistent, the storytelling has been extremely forced, and it's not at all in the same vain as the previous creative direction. Like I said with "Grayson" I am warming up to it, but the nonlinear storytelling can get a bit frustrating kind of like reading a Grant Morrison run.
In the end I'm probably the idiot for continuing to support something that treats me so bad, but I'm still holding out hope things will get better.
That's all for tonight see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
A metric ton of news and some quasi reviews....
Hello and welcome to the 01/28/15 edition of The Comic Shop!
Lots of big news in nerd culture this week!
First.....The trailer for Josh Trank's "Fantastic Four" made it's debut. I have to say it doesn't look all bad, but I think your humble blogger will wait for word-of-mouth and professionally written reviews before I plunk down my small fortune to see it.
Second....Just announced tonight "True Blood" actor Mehcad Brooks will snap pictures as Superman's no. 1 pal Jimmy Olsen on CBSs "Supergirl". I don't know enough about the young man to make a determination, but from the results of "Arrow" & "The Flash" this group knows what they are doing in putting these projects together. In all honesty I'm not the biggest Supergirl fan, but I am looking forward to this series.
Third....Paul Feig confirmed the new Ghostbusters this past week by announcing Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the new titular Busters. I don't anticipate even seeing this in all honesty, but I'm sure it will be good by today's comedic standards. Feig's "Bridesmaids" was a runaway hit, and I found it quite enjoyable. I still find this less offensive to my nerd brain than the Ghostbusters 3 ideas that Akroyd was peddling. I'm glad this is the alternative I guess.
Fourth...As a huge Indiana Jones fan I would love to see Chris Pratt put on the fedora, and swing a whip into the next Indy adventure. He's quickly become a legit action star while maintaining his family friendly loveable doofus Andy Dwyer persona from "Parks and Rec". I'm less thrilled by the prospect of this being called a reboot, because in all honesty I feel that is wholly unnecessary. With the Jones movies being based on early cinema serials there is no need (in my mind) to explain continuity changes and the like.
Fifth.....Actor Tyreese Gibson (F&F movies, Transformers series) is petitioning WB hard to play a Green Lantern in a future film. In all fairness to Mr. Gibson I hope WB simply says "pass". This is an actor with limited range and it's not difficult to see that he essentially plays "loud smartass guy" in every movie.
Sixth....I'm as huge a Batman fan as anyone. That said I hope they do not use up an Affleck appearance in "Suicide Squad". Not that it wouldn't be cool to see Batman in the movie, but WB needs to get away from the stigma that they can't do anything successful without Batman involved. "SS" would be a great opportunity for a standalone project to prove that WB can be viable with it's plans for an ongoing shared universe.
Onto the reviews........Spoilers below
Robin returned to duty in "Batman & Robin" in last week's release. While the book itself is of good quality I have some issue with the death and return of Damian Wayne. Not to mentioned we now have a superpowered Robin that completely invalidates Batman. It's one issue in so I will have to see where it goes, but I am not happy with this current creative direction. As a fan of the Snyder style Batman stories it was hard for me to see the fantastical journey of the Dark Knight making an incursion into Apokolips in the HellBat suit to save his son.
The penultimate chapter of Spiderverse took place in "Amazing Spider-man" and I am still quite enjoying the story. I think if had more money to invest in comics I would buy the tie-ins, but I'm happy with the main narrative from Dan Slott in ASM. Lots of crazy ridiculous things happen, but they all seem to make sense in the web that Slott has woven. Bonus points for the fact that my fave SpOCK is a major player in the ongoing saga.
"Grayson" has taken some getting used to for me; however, I have found the last few issues to be rather enjoyable. It is a bit of odd storytelling, but it is quite good. I would still like to see Dick return to his superhero persona, but I think this might be a good way to make him mean more to a wider audience.
I think that's all I wanted to hit on for today....so happy reading and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Lots of big news in nerd culture this week!
First.....The trailer for Josh Trank's "Fantastic Four" made it's debut. I have to say it doesn't look all bad, but I think your humble blogger will wait for word-of-mouth and professionally written reviews before I plunk down my small fortune to see it.
Second....Just announced tonight "True Blood" actor Mehcad Brooks will snap pictures as Superman's no. 1 pal Jimmy Olsen on CBSs "Supergirl". I don't know enough about the young man to make a determination, but from the results of "Arrow" & "The Flash" this group knows what they are doing in putting these projects together. In all honesty I'm not the biggest Supergirl fan, but I am looking forward to this series.
Third....Paul Feig confirmed the new Ghostbusters this past week by announcing Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the new titular Busters. I don't anticipate even seeing this in all honesty, but I'm sure it will be good by today's comedic standards. Feig's "Bridesmaids" was a runaway hit, and I found it quite enjoyable. I still find this less offensive to my nerd brain than the Ghostbusters 3 ideas that Akroyd was peddling. I'm glad this is the alternative I guess.
Fourth...As a huge Indiana Jones fan I would love to see Chris Pratt put on the fedora, and swing a whip into the next Indy adventure. He's quickly become a legit action star while maintaining his family friendly loveable doofus Andy Dwyer persona from "Parks and Rec". I'm less thrilled by the prospect of this being called a reboot, because in all honesty I feel that is wholly unnecessary. With the Jones movies being based on early cinema serials there is no need (in my mind) to explain continuity changes and the like.
Fifth.....Actor Tyreese Gibson (F&F movies, Transformers series) is petitioning WB hard to play a Green Lantern in a future film. In all fairness to Mr. Gibson I hope WB simply says "pass". This is an actor with limited range and it's not difficult to see that he essentially plays "loud smartass guy" in every movie.
Sixth....I'm as huge a Batman fan as anyone. That said I hope they do not use up an Affleck appearance in "Suicide Squad". Not that it wouldn't be cool to see Batman in the movie, but WB needs to get away from the stigma that they can't do anything successful without Batman involved. "SS" would be a great opportunity for a standalone project to prove that WB can be viable with it's plans for an ongoing shared universe.
Onto the reviews........Spoilers below
Robin returned to duty in "Batman & Robin" in last week's release. While the book itself is of good quality I have some issue with the death and return of Damian Wayne. Not to mentioned we now have a superpowered Robin that completely invalidates Batman. It's one issue in so I will have to see where it goes, but I am not happy with this current creative direction. As a fan of the Snyder style Batman stories it was hard for me to see the fantastical journey of the Dark Knight making an incursion into Apokolips in the HellBat suit to save his son.
The penultimate chapter of Spiderverse took place in "Amazing Spider-man" and I am still quite enjoying the story. I think if had more money to invest in comics I would buy the tie-ins, but I'm happy with the main narrative from Dan Slott in ASM. Lots of crazy ridiculous things happen, but they all seem to make sense in the web that Slott has woven. Bonus points for the fact that my fave SpOCK is a major player in the ongoing saga.
"Grayson" has taken some getting used to for me; however, I have found the last few issues to be rather enjoyable. It is a bit of odd storytelling, but it is quite good. I would still like to see Dick return to his superhero persona, but I think this might be a good way to make him mean more to a wider audience.
I think that's all I wanted to hit on for today....so happy reading and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Let's pretend I posted this 12 days ago....The Second Annual Shoppie Awards!!!
Hello and Welcome to the abandoned Ames store in Mars Hill, Indiana! We spared no expense in our change of venue from the party room at the local TGI Friday's. Lets get on to the most prestigious awards in comics!!!! (Beware there will be comic and movie spoilers..on with the shitshow)
Most Surprising Face Turn of 2014: Our first award of the night goes to a man that has a hairstyle not unlike my own. In 2014 he stomped out crime in a Norman Osborne-ian fashion. The winner of most surprising face turn right from the pages of Geoff Johns' "Forever Evil" event....drumroll....LEX LUTHOR
Most Surprising Heel Turn of 2014: Not a lot of really strong contenders in this category, but Jason Aaron anted up by revealing that Nick Fury had been straight up murdering living planets, gods, and the Watcher himself in the "Original Sin" event. Honrable Mention goes to the Superior IronMan, but it is only a few issues in.
Best Crossover Event of 2014: A lot of potential in this category, but with the humble bloggers humble funds I did not get to read them all. Therefore my favorite and most recommended would be the aforementioned "Forever Evil" event. The "Trinity War" preamble was also relatively good.
Shooting Star Award (for star making performance in a feature film): Strong contenders in this category. Evan Peters was surprisingly awesome as Quicksilver in "X-men: DOFP", Anthony Mackie stole the show as Falcon in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", and Chris Pratt showed he had leading man potential as Star Lord in the smash hit "Guardians of the Galaxy". After careful thought and consideration the committee has deemed that Chris Pratt will take home the hardware this year. Not only did he steal the show in "GOTG", but was the lead voice in the surprisingly awesome (and nominated for Best Picture) "Lego Movie".
The Peanut in the Turd Award (good performance in a bad movie): Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Spider-man in the underwhelming "ASM 2" was one of the few bright spots. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but I think if they would've pulled more focus to Spider-man in this Spider-man sequel it would've been a better received sequel.
The Whoopsie Award: 2015 is the 75th anniversary of the introduction of "The Flash". DC did not realize that this milestone was happening after Superman and Batman in previous years. That is an unacceptable offense for a publisher that has made money off of the scarlet speedsters' television debut and comics. A last minute push of variant covers was too little a mea culpa and does little to relieve the sting of the insult.
The "I've Made a Huge Mistake Award": Just an excuse to give Will Arnett an award here. I really enjoyed his work as Batman in "The Lego Movie", and apparently audiences did as well as work is currently underway on a Lego Batman solo movie. Arnett also wasn't too terrible in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" reboot, and he provided some of his droll humor to the movie.
Best Male Performance in a ComicMovie: Going with the safe pick here. Our first double winner of the night.....Chris Pratt! From his role on "Parks and Recreation" Pratt had to drop considerable weight to get himself into heroic shape and he made the necessary sacrifices to do so. He brought a lot of wit and humor to the role, and helped to make something that people weren't sure about into a smash hit.
Best Female Performance in a ComicMovie: Lots of women participated in Comic Movies in 2014, but I felt only one had a consistently strong performance....Scarlett Johansson!! Her role as Natasha Romanoff is portrayed as a strong female lead. One of the refreshing things about "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is that it had little to no romantic subplot. Widow was Cap's teammate and nothing more, and that is not what your humble blogger expected when the casting was announced for the Cap sequel.
Best Comic Run in 2014: This is out of left field and some people may not particularly care for it, but all of this is a matter of opinion. The award for best comic run of 2014 goes to Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino's run on "Green Arrow". It is my feeling that the work of these creators is on par with a duo like Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo "Batman", Mark Waid/Chris Samnee "Daredevil", or Dan Slott/Humberto Ramos, etc. "Spider-man". This comic was a little more under the radar, but in their limited run they accomplished a lot with Ollie. Some of the better stories included "The Outsiders War", "The Longbow Hunters", and Ollie's run-ins with Komodo. While it wasn't a direct companion piece to television's "Arrow" it would be a good pick up for any fan of the emerald archer. I will say that any of the previously mentioned titles would also be a good choice for this award, or even anything with Geoff Johns on it would be good.
Hero of the Boob Tube Award (best in TV): Superhero television is a growing goliath with a lot of new projects coming out in the next year or so. In 2014 the best of the boob tube ; however, was the CW television's "Arrow". The 2nd season really brought the lighting and the thunder to the small screen, and made up for some areas that needed improvement from the first season.
Best Movie: Our final award goes to the best Comic Book Movie of 2014. In my opinion the best comic book movie of the year was "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". While "GOTG" and "X-men: DOFP" were excellent movies in their own right I feel that the Cap sequel accomplished a lot more of the big picture stuff. It was basically a reboot of the Marvel Universe that ensured that we wouldn't be given the same set-up for all of these upcoming "Avengers" sequels. Like I mentioned before there was also a breakout performance, and the refreshing lack of romantic interest in the movie. This movie answered questions that we did not know were even going to be asked. I did not know what to expect going in, and while it wasn't a direct adaptation of the source material it was an excellent alternative.
Thank you all for reading and for your continued support of "The Comic Shop Blog"......
Most Surprising Face Turn of 2014: Our first award of the night goes to a man that has a hairstyle not unlike my own. In 2014 he stomped out crime in a Norman Osborne-ian fashion. The winner of most surprising face turn right from the pages of Geoff Johns' "Forever Evil" event....drumroll....LEX LUTHOR
Most Surprising Heel Turn of 2014: Not a lot of really strong contenders in this category, but Jason Aaron anted up by revealing that Nick Fury had been straight up murdering living planets, gods, and the Watcher himself in the "Original Sin" event. Honrable Mention goes to the Superior IronMan, but it is only a few issues in.
Best Crossover Event of 2014: A lot of potential in this category, but with the humble bloggers humble funds I did not get to read them all. Therefore my favorite and most recommended would be the aforementioned "Forever Evil" event. The "Trinity War" preamble was also relatively good.
Shooting Star Award (for star making performance in a feature film): Strong contenders in this category. Evan Peters was surprisingly awesome as Quicksilver in "X-men: DOFP", Anthony Mackie stole the show as Falcon in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", and Chris Pratt showed he had leading man potential as Star Lord in the smash hit "Guardians of the Galaxy". After careful thought and consideration the committee has deemed that Chris Pratt will take home the hardware this year. Not only did he steal the show in "GOTG", but was the lead voice in the surprisingly awesome (and nominated for Best Picture) "Lego Movie".
The Peanut in the Turd Award (good performance in a bad movie): Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Spider-man in the underwhelming "ASM 2" was one of the few bright spots. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but I think if they would've pulled more focus to Spider-man in this Spider-man sequel it would've been a better received sequel.
The Whoopsie Award: 2015 is the 75th anniversary of the introduction of "The Flash". DC did not realize that this milestone was happening after Superman and Batman in previous years. That is an unacceptable offense for a publisher that has made money off of the scarlet speedsters' television debut and comics. A last minute push of variant covers was too little a mea culpa and does little to relieve the sting of the insult.
The "I've Made a Huge Mistake Award": Just an excuse to give Will Arnett an award here. I really enjoyed his work as Batman in "The Lego Movie", and apparently audiences did as well as work is currently underway on a Lego Batman solo movie. Arnett also wasn't too terrible in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" reboot, and he provided some of his droll humor to the movie.
Best Male Performance in a ComicMovie: Going with the safe pick here. Our first double winner of the night.....Chris Pratt! From his role on "Parks and Recreation" Pratt had to drop considerable weight to get himself into heroic shape and he made the necessary sacrifices to do so. He brought a lot of wit and humor to the role, and helped to make something that people weren't sure about into a smash hit.
Best Female Performance in a ComicMovie: Lots of women participated in Comic Movies in 2014, but I felt only one had a consistently strong performance....Scarlett Johansson!! Her role as Natasha Romanoff is portrayed as a strong female lead. One of the refreshing things about "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is that it had little to no romantic subplot. Widow was Cap's teammate and nothing more, and that is not what your humble blogger expected when the casting was announced for the Cap sequel.
Best Comic Run in 2014: This is out of left field and some people may not particularly care for it, but all of this is a matter of opinion. The award for best comic run of 2014 goes to Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino's run on "Green Arrow". It is my feeling that the work of these creators is on par with a duo like Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo "Batman", Mark Waid/Chris Samnee "Daredevil", or Dan Slott/Humberto Ramos, etc. "Spider-man". This comic was a little more under the radar, but in their limited run they accomplished a lot with Ollie. Some of the better stories included "The Outsiders War", "The Longbow Hunters", and Ollie's run-ins with Komodo. While it wasn't a direct companion piece to television's "Arrow" it would be a good pick up for any fan of the emerald archer. I will say that any of the previously mentioned titles would also be a good choice for this award, or even anything with Geoff Johns on it would be good.
Hero of the Boob Tube Award (best in TV): Superhero television is a growing goliath with a lot of new projects coming out in the next year or so. In 2014 the best of the boob tube ; however, was the CW television's "Arrow". The 2nd season really brought the lighting and the thunder to the small screen, and made up for some areas that needed improvement from the first season.
Best Movie: Our final award goes to the best Comic Book Movie of 2014. In my opinion the best comic book movie of the year was "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". While "GOTG" and "X-men: DOFP" were excellent movies in their own right I feel that the Cap sequel accomplished a lot more of the big picture stuff. It was basically a reboot of the Marvel Universe that ensured that we wouldn't be given the same set-up for all of these upcoming "Avengers" sequels. Like I mentioned before there was also a breakout performance, and the refreshing lack of romantic interest in the movie. This movie answered questions that we did not know were even going to be asked. I did not know what to expect going in, and while it wasn't a direct adaptation of the source material it was an excellent alternative.
Thank you all for reading and for your continued support of "The Comic Shop Blog"......
Friday, December 26, 2014
Upon further review Jonathan Liebesman's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....
Hello and welcome to an unscheduled appearance of The Comic Shop!
I had a chance last week to check out the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie. While I find it to be an extremely flawed film I think that it got the essence of the "TMNT" franchise right. Let's bang through this movie in the good, the bad, and the ugly style.
The Good:
Nothing will ever change my love of the Jim Henson crafted suits in the original movie. They were the stuff of "movie magic" legend. If you have the old movie on dvd, or pop it up on netflix take a minute to appreciate the tiny intricate details of the original suits. They are a true work of modern day art and should not ever be forgotten. That said, I did not mind the CGI in the new movie. While CGI is a medium that dates itself faster than old school puppets and wires ever could it gives filmmakers the chance to do things with the characters that would be next to impossible for a guy in a rubber suit.
I also like the individual renderings of the brothers, as they now have more personality than before. It's a little thing but it helps to give further definition to the turtles. In previous movies one major complaint was that Raph was the only one that went through any character development, but that is not the case here.
I'm more surprised to be writing this than you are reading it but I did not mind Megan Fox as April O'neil. While she is not the best actress in the world I didn't think she was any worse at the role than Judith Hoag or Paige Turico. In fact April really was given a lead role in this film and helped to drive the events of the movie. They made some really convenient and odd choices about her history with the turtles and objectified her constantly but that will be filed under UGLY and we will get to that later.
Sure the humor was juvenile at best, but it fits what one would expect from a group of teenagers so it wasn't too out of the ordinary. I thought a lot of it was actually quite good considering the source, but I can see why people would take issue with it. A lot of jokes in the original film were more keyed to the adults in the audience, but this version is complete fan service to the young people.
It was cool to actually see them use their weapons and once again that they each had their own particular set of skills. I really like the team aspect that they each brought something unique to the table. It has what we have come to expect from these types of movies with the team dynamic being done so well in "Avengers" & "Guardians of the Galaxy".
The Bad:
Who in their right mind thought casting Johnny Knoxville as the voice of Leonardo was a good idea? While I could say the same about Corey Feldman's Donatello in the original I thought he actually did a good job of getting down the innate humor of the super intelligent turtle. Knoxville's voice was a constant distraction for your humble blogger, and I found it quite grating as the movie continued on. I would hope in future movies they hire a more nondescript actor to voice the lead turtle, hopefully someone that isn't as much of a jackass.
I did not like the character design of Splinter in this movie one bit. He looked like some kind of rat/dog/horse hybrid, and while plausible due to mutation (I guess) the prehensile tail was a bit much. While what I said about the CGI turtles is still true, because we saw Splinter go toe-to-toe with the Shredder, Splinter is a character (much like Yoda) that was leaps and bounds better as a puppet. I can't really explain it, because it's more of a personal preference.
Speaking of the Shredder, I probably would've filed it under good if their original intent was to have the Oroku Sake Shredder in the movie instead of the Eric Sakks (William Fichtner) reinvention of the character. I love William Fichtner as an actor, and I completely expect him to take the Shredder mantle at some point in this new franchise. I just think the way they shoehorned "japanese guy in the shadows" into the movie was cheap and clumsy.
The Ugly:
First.....This is a pretty full category because there are a LOT of things that I had gripes with. The main problem that I had with the movie was that it falls under the pretty common nowadays problem of having the "sin of convenience". Oh, April had the turtles as pets and they were injected by her father and Eric Sakks with alien ooze to concoct a mutagen that would cure a disease that Sakks planned to release in a false flag attack on NYC. I've written here before that I am absolutely fed up with this lazy version of storytelling. It's hard to explain why April cares about the turtles...lets just make them her pets. It's stupid. Granted it's no worse than a rat learning ninja skills from his owner and then happening upon the turtles and the mutagen in the sewer. A LOT of convenience for my tastes, but I try not to nitpick too heavily because the turtles were created to poke fun at the absurdity of comics in the 80's. It's just frustrating for me that they feel it is necessary to create these emotional and relational tethers between characters. Sometimes in life just random shit happens and people have to react to it, and guess what it makes for interesting stories.
Second.... Sakks' dialogue is about the dimmest crap I have ever heard. He literally says "I want you to drain all of their blood even if it kills them". I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure it'll 100% kill them to have no blood. There are many more examples, but this was the first one that came to mind.
Third.... The objectification of April was inappropriate and unnecessary in my mind. We all get that Fox's best attribute is her good looks, but it is not needed in the plot to call constant attention to it. Whether it's Verne (Will Arnett) staring at her ass at an inopportune moment, or April's former pet Mikey oogling her like a horny teen there is wayyy to much of this movie in service to objectifying April's looks.
Fourth...The plot of this movie is an amalgam of the unnecessary parental back story from "Amazing Spider-man", the release of a toxin from a tower to threaten a city from "Amazing Spider-man", the false flag we have the cause & the cure scenario from "Mission Impossible II", "V for Vendetta", and many others. The magic blood from "Star Trek: Into Darkness" also made an appearance. So more or less it seems the writers took all of their ideas from semi-recent movies that they saw.
Wrapping up.....That's all about I have left to say about this film. I have seen sites like Kinja, and Rifftrax call "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" the worst movie of 2014, and I can understand where they are coming from. I will say; however, despite it's faults it captures the essence, and the inherent silliness of the franchise. I went out and bought a cheap copy the week it came out, and I am happy with my decision. Ultimately, dear reader it is up to you what you like and don't like. This was the only remake I saw in 2014 and it was totally worth it for me. Watch it for yourself and make your own decision!
P.S. I took some time on Xmas day to get into the first issue of IDW's mega TMNT-Ghostbusters crossover event, and I loved it. I will have to give IDW some of my money love in the future to catch up with two of my favorite things from my youth.
Happy reading and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!!
I had a chance last week to check out the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie. While I find it to be an extremely flawed film I think that it got the essence of the "TMNT" franchise right. Let's bang through this movie in the good, the bad, and the ugly style.
The Good:
Nothing will ever change my love of the Jim Henson crafted suits in the original movie. They were the stuff of "movie magic" legend. If you have the old movie on dvd, or pop it up on netflix take a minute to appreciate the tiny intricate details of the original suits. They are a true work of modern day art and should not ever be forgotten. That said, I did not mind the CGI in the new movie. While CGI is a medium that dates itself faster than old school puppets and wires ever could it gives filmmakers the chance to do things with the characters that would be next to impossible for a guy in a rubber suit.
I also like the individual renderings of the brothers, as they now have more personality than before. It's a little thing but it helps to give further definition to the turtles. In previous movies one major complaint was that Raph was the only one that went through any character development, but that is not the case here.
I'm more surprised to be writing this than you are reading it but I did not mind Megan Fox as April O'neil. While she is not the best actress in the world I didn't think she was any worse at the role than Judith Hoag or Paige Turico. In fact April really was given a lead role in this film and helped to drive the events of the movie. They made some really convenient and odd choices about her history with the turtles and objectified her constantly but that will be filed under UGLY and we will get to that later.
Sure the humor was juvenile at best, but it fits what one would expect from a group of teenagers so it wasn't too out of the ordinary. I thought a lot of it was actually quite good considering the source, but I can see why people would take issue with it. A lot of jokes in the original film were more keyed to the adults in the audience, but this version is complete fan service to the young people.
It was cool to actually see them use their weapons and once again that they each had their own particular set of skills. I really like the team aspect that they each brought something unique to the table. It has what we have come to expect from these types of movies with the team dynamic being done so well in "Avengers" & "Guardians of the Galaxy".
The Bad:
Who in their right mind thought casting Johnny Knoxville as the voice of Leonardo was a good idea? While I could say the same about Corey Feldman's Donatello in the original I thought he actually did a good job of getting down the innate humor of the super intelligent turtle. Knoxville's voice was a constant distraction for your humble blogger, and I found it quite grating as the movie continued on. I would hope in future movies they hire a more nondescript actor to voice the lead turtle, hopefully someone that isn't as much of a jackass.
I did not like the character design of Splinter in this movie one bit. He looked like some kind of rat/dog/horse hybrid, and while plausible due to mutation (I guess) the prehensile tail was a bit much. While what I said about the CGI turtles is still true, because we saw Splinter go toe-to-toe with the Shredder, Splinter is a character (much like Yoda) that was leaps and bounds better as a puppet. I can't really explain it, because it's more of a personal preference.
Speaking of the Shredder, I probably would've filed it under good if their original intent was to have the Oroku Sake Shredder in the movie instead of the Eric Sakks (William Fichtner) reinvention of the character. I love William Fichtner as an actor, and I completely expect him to take the Shredder mantle at some point in this new franchise. I just think the way they shoehorned "japanese guy in the shadows" into the movie was cheap and clumsy.
The Ugly:
First.....This is a pretty full category because there are a LOT of things that I had gripes with. The main problem that I had with the movie was that it falls under the pretty common nowadays problem of having the "sin of convenience". Oh, April had the turtles as pets and they were injected by her father and Eric Sakks with alien ooze to concoct a mutagen that would cure a disease that Sakks planned to release in a false flag attack on NYC. I've written here before that I am absolutely fed up with this lazy version of storytelling. It's hard to explain why April cares about the turtles...lets just make them her pets. It's stupid. Granted it's no worse than a rat learning ninja skills from his owner and then happening upon the turtles and the mutagen in the sewer. A LOT of convenience for my tastes, but I try not to nitpick too heavily because the turtles were created to poke fun at the absurdity of comics in the 80's. It's just frustrating for me that they feel it is necessary to create these emotional and relational tethers between characters. Sometimes in life just random shit happens and people have to react to it, and guess what it makes for interesting stories.
Second.... Sakks' dialogue is about the dimmest crap I have ever heard. He literally says "I want you to drain all of their blood even if it kills them". I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure it'll 100% kill them to have no blood. There are many more examples, but this was the first one that came to mind.
Third.... The objectification of April was inappropriate and unnecessary in my mind. We all get that Fox's best attribute is her good looks, but it is not needed in the plot to call constant attention to it. Whether it's Verne (Will Arnett) staring at her ass at an inopportune moment, or April's former pet Mikey oogling her like a horny teen there is wayyy to much of this movie in service to objectifying April's looks.
Fourth...The plot of this movie is an amalgam of the unnecessary parental back story from "Amazing Spider-man", the release of a toxin from a tower to threaten a city from "Amazing Spider-man", the false flag we have the cause & the cure scenario from "Mission Impossible II", "V for Vendetta", and many others. The magic blood from "Star Trek: Into Darkness" also made an appearance. So more or less it seems the writers took all of their ideas from semi-recent movies that they saw.
Wrapping up.....That's all about I have left to say about this film. I have seen sites like Kinja, and Rifftrax call "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" the worst movie of 2014, and I can understand where they are coming from. I will say; however, despite it's faults it captures the essence, and the inherent silliness of the franchise. I went out and bought a cheap copy the week it came out, and I am happy with my decision. Ultimately, dear reader it is up to you what you like and don't like. This was the only remake I saw in 2014 and it was totally worth it for me. Watch it for yourself and make your own decision!
P.S. I took some time on Xmas day to get into the first issue of IDW's mega TMNT-Ghostbusters crossover event, and I loved it. I will have to give IDW some of my money love in the future to catch up with two of my favorite things from my youth.
Happy reading and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Tales from the SpiderVerse and other news of little importance
Hello all and welcome to the 12/16/14 edition of The Comic Shop!
As I mentioned last week the 2nd annual Shoppies are on their way before the year is out so keep an eye out for that.
First....The web (pun unintended) has been set abuzz with rumors and tidbits from the hacked Sony internal e-mails. Much of that news that has gotten fanboy ears to perk up for miles around has to do with discussions to create a shared universe in which Spidey could be an Avenger. While I think it would be a great get for Disney/Marvel I will remain cautiously optimistic.
There are a lot of concerns that would need to be addressed, and Sony would have to get their house in order immediately to have a successful partnership. There was also talk that Avi Arad would have to be dismissed before Disney/Marvel would even enter discussions with Marvel.
Other discussions concerned possibly letting Spidey's rights go back to Marvel, which would still put a superhero with 5 movies to his name back to square one, but I digress.
Probably the juiciest tidbit to come out of the email hack was that Andrew Garfield reportedly was supposed to have shown up to meet investors, but called one hour prior to the meeting to cancel. He was then essentially fired. I hope it comes out that this is not the case, because despite a lot of the faults of the ASM movies Garfield was a solid PP/Spidey in my opinion.
We will see what happens, but I would not count on seeing Spidey sling a web in "Captain America: Civil War" or any other Marvel movie any time soon.
Second.....I have a long tradition here at TCS of being dead wrong about things. I have to say that the mega-Spidey event "Spider-verse" is no exception to this rule. While I was dismissive of it at the outset I picked up the issues to keep my run from TASM #700 going. When I actually read the books I was blown away by a lot of what Dan Slott had brought to the page. This is an actual good event of significance, but most importantly IT IS FUN. Books like this are the reason why I love comics, and continue to read and collect as a 30+ year old man. Like I said the story has serious consequences; however, Slott does not take that fact too seriously in the storytelling. It is a self-aware story that stays away from the Christopher Nolan trap of having to constantly remind everyone how important the story they are reading/watching is.
One example of what I consider fun is when Miles Morales teams up with a young version of Peter Parker to travel through a portal to a universe that is.....The 1960's Spider-man cartoon. "I guess that's the Bugle right there" "How do you know?" "It's the only building that has any writing on it". I'm not one to LOL or overact to things in comics, but this had me in absolute stitches. Just the subtle humor to poke at how absurd the whole thing is. Point being that there are a lot of "events" in comics now, but so far this one has been the right amount of bang for this blogger's buck.
Third.... This may just be the Dad in me, but I saw a post in a comic collecting site where a guy paid $10-$15 to go to see the new Hobbit movie on the off chance that there was a "BvS" trailer. If you pay that much to watch something that will likely be free the next day you are a M-O-R-O-N. I feel like this is something that you shouldn't need to tell another adult, but in case you were wondering yes that is idiotic.
Fourth.... Don't forget in this holiday season that comics, trades, statues, figures, cards, etc. all make really great gifts. You win twice by buying these from your LCS because they are small businesses that will only survive as long as we support them. Let's make sure our local comics guys have a very happy holiday!
Fifth.... It appears that Barbara Gordon's move to Burnside was not without controversy. The transgendered community is outraged by the characterization of a new villain that happens to be transgendered. While Gail Simone was praised for the way she brought in a down to earth "normal" character who was revealed to be trans the new creative team was thrashed because they revealed a fake Batgirl to be a glittered, mascara masked, walking stereotype of a transgendered person. DC has issued a public apology even though segments of the community have stated their support. I really don't have an opinion on the subject.
In the end I think if we focused more on getting to know one another as people instead of determining which groups define us I think our world would be a much better place (this is my Miss America Speech BTW).
Wrapping up...... That's all I really have for today. I will probably get one more post in before the end of the month. Excelsior to you all and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
As I mentioned last week the 2nd annual Shoppies are on their way before the year is out so keep an eye out for that.
First....The web (pun unintended) has been set abuzz with rumors and tidbits from the hacked Sony internal e-mails. Much of that news that has gotten fanboy ears to perk up for miles around has to do with discussions to create a shared universe in which Spidey could be an Avenger. While I think it would be a great get for Disney/Marvel I will remain cautiously optimistic.
There are a lot of concerns that would need to be addressed, and Sony would have to get their house in order immediately to have a successful partnership. There was also talk that Avi Arad would have to be dismissed before Disney/Marvel would even enter discussions with Marvel.
Other discussions concerned possibly letting Spidey's rights go back to Marvel, which would still put a superhero with 5 movies to his name back to square one, but I digress.
Probably the juiciest tidbit to come out of the email hack was that Andrew Garfield reportedly was supposed to have shown up to meet investors, but called one hour prior to the meeting to cancel. He was then essentially fired. I hope it comes out that this is not the case, because despite a lot of the faults of the ASM movies Garfield was a solid PP/Spidey in my opinion.
We will see what happens, but I would not count on seeing Spidey sling a web in "Captain America: Civil War" or any other Marvel movie any time soon.
Second.....I have a long tradition here at TCS of being dead wrong about things. I have to say that the mega-Spidey event "Spider-verse" is no exception to this rule. While I was dismissive of it at the outset I picked up the issues to keep my run from TASM #700 going. When I actually read the books I was blown away by a lot of what Dan Slott had brought to the page. This is an actual good event of significance, but most importantly IT IS FUN. Books like this are the reason why I love comics, and continue to read and collect as a 30+ year old man. Like I said the story has serious consequences; however, Slott does not take that fact too seriously in the storytelling. It is a self-aware story that stays away from the Christopher Nolan trap of having to constantly remind everyone how important the story they are reading/watching is.
One example of what I consider fun is when Miles Morales teams up with a young version of Peter Parker to travel through a portal to a universe that is.....The 1960's Spider-man cartoon. "I guess that's the Bugle right there" "How do you know?" "It's the only building that has any writing on it". I'm not one to LOL or overact to things in comics, but this had me in absolute stitches. Just the subtle humor to poke at how absurd the whole thing is. Point being that there are a lot of "events" in comics now, but so far this one has been the right amount of bang for this blogger's buck.
Third.... This may just be the Dad in me, but I saw a post in a comic collecting site where a guy paid $10-$15 to go to see the new Hobbit movie on the off chance that there was a "BvS" trailer. If you pay that much to watch something that will likely be free the next day you are a M-O-R-O-N. I feel like this is something that you shouldn't need to tell another adult, but in case you were wondering yes that is idiotic.
Fourth.... Don't forget in this holiday season that comics, trades, statues, figures, cards, etc. all make really great gifts. You win twice by buying these from your LCS because they are small businesses that will only survive as long as we support them. Let's make sure our local comics guys have a very happy holiday!
Fifth.... It appears that Barbara Gordon's move to Burnside was not without controversy. The transgendered community is outraged by the characterization of a new villain that happens to be transgendered. While Gail Simone was praised for the way she brought in a down to earth "normal" character who was revealed to be trans the new creative team was thrashed because they revealed a fake Batgirl to be a glittered, mascara masked, walking stereotype of a transgendered person. DC has issued a public apology even though segments of the community have stated their support. I really don't have an opinion on the subject.
In the end I think if we focused more on getting to know one another as people instead of determining which groups define us I think our world would be a much better place (this is my Miss America Speech BTW).
Wrapping up...... That's all I really have for today. I will probably get one more post in before the end of the month. Excelsior to you all and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
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