Hello and welcome to a special 05/17/2015 edition of The Comic Shop Blog!
Before I get started on a really brief review I wanted to cover a few administrative topics really fast. This format is going to be going away as soon as I get squared away with podcast equipment that I can use competently. This was just a decision I made that will make what I do more inclusive and have opinions other than my own. I have several ideas for show topics and segments, but I won't move forward with the Shopcast until I return to work from my current FMLA. I think it will be a lot of fun as I have had a handful of fun people offer to come on to discuss different things. So please stay tuned for that.
I do have a couple of topics that I want to cover with this blog before I shut it down, so keep checking for those as I will post them when I have time.
Mad Max: Fury Road Review
There isn't much that I can say that hasn't been said at this point, but I will give it the best try I can. I will start by saying that Charlize Theron is the absolute stand out in this movie as Imperator Furiousa. Her portrayal of the powerful war rig driver is simultaneously stark, terrifying, sympathetic, moving, and powerful. There has been a lot of manimist backlash that Furisoa is in many ways more integral to the plot than the titular character, but I have to say that it kind of fits the wandering kung fu style anthology that the Mad Max story seems to be transforming into. Without Max Furiosa could not have achieved her goal of redemption and creating a new start for Immortan Joe's treasures. With a sequel tentatively titled "Mad Max: Furiousa" it seems like the character will find herself in another difficult situation that requires the help of the post apocalyptic maurader.
My second favorite performance in the movie comes by way of Nicholas Hoult's War Boy Nux. The journey that he goes through hits a lot of high points. He goes from a hyped up pawn on Joe's chess board to this beautifully tragic and sympathetic character. It is a wonderfully written and wonderfully acted character arch for Nux. I can't say much more about it, but it is something to see play out on the screen.
Tom Hardy is a very good replacement for that other guy in the role of Max Rockantasky. He is not given a lot of lines of dialogue, but he absolutely shines on screen. While he spends the first act in bondage he more than makes up for it in the later parts of the film (Although his most badass scene happens off camera.) With the promise of more action to come I was more than satisfied with what we got out of Max this go round.
This film is a combination of summer blockbuster and art house cinema. It has tons of creativity & potential, so much so that you forget that at it's base it's an extended two hour chase scene. The thing that is missing now with so many of these franchises is that they are lacking in movies that can stand on their own. This entry into the "Mad Max" franchise could more than stand on it's own as a solo entry into a new film franchise.
In all my reviews are almost always overwhelmingly positive, so consider the source but I would say that "Mad Max: Fury Road" is a must see on the big screen. I can't wait to see whatever comes out of the mind of George Miller next!
Thank you for reading and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Avengers Assembled: the good, bad, & ugly and other comic related tidbits
Hello and welcome to the 05/03/15 edition of The Comic Shop! A very happy early May the 4th to you all!
So all formalities out of the way "Avengers: Age of Ultron" lets get at it!
The Good:
Two things that really stood out to me as phenomenal when watching this movie and they were the absolute high points for me as a fan of storytelling & narrative.
The first is that screenwriter/director Joss Whedon used Hawkeye to establish a passenger for the audience to experience the movie through. While the team is comprised of many different people most of them have superhuman to near superhuman capabilities while Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye is "a guy with a bow & arrow." It was quite a clever gambit on Whedon's part to set up Hawkeye as a father with 2.5 kids and shacking up with Velma from the "Scooby Doo" movies. The end result is that he becomes the most Avenger that is most easy to relate to. He's nothing superhuman he's a guy doing his job like a police officer or a soldier. The archer has no higher aspirations than to do his duty and get back home safe to his family. Without this emotional human tether this movie could've faded even further into the "big, loud, stupid, unmemorable fight scene after unmemorable fight scene" of summer movie purgatory. This narrative raises the stakes in the final climax of the film, and makes the events that transpire all the more heart wrenching by putting our view into this world in danger.
The second is that there is a very clear distinction made early that this film is the anti- "Man of Steel". There is a very clear emphasis throughout the film that protecting the people near the scene of the action is what is of the utmost importance. In fact part of Banner/Hulk's story arch is that he feels extreme guilt for his battle with "Veronica" and how it endangered people, but we will get more into that later. I really felt that it makes those final climax scenes all that more important to realize that these are real lives that matter, and to see the struggle that these heroes face to ultimately do the noble thing when they have other clearly dangerous matters at hand. I don't say this to be flip about "MOS", but I think it also served as the antithesis of the original "Avengers" where we saw very little care or concern for the city & citizenry of New York in the final battle.
There are a lot of strong performances in this movie, but I have to say that Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch was the most riveting for me. Getting a little bit into spoiler territory, but when she returns to battle after having a minor mental breakdown she absolutely starts incinerating Ultron drones and it gave me as much joy as when Hulk smashed the giant snake transport in the original "Avengers". I wanted to jump out of my seat and scream "HELL YES!" It is wonderful to have such a powerful female Avenger who can absolutely hold her own and wreak her own brand of chaotic ass kicking.
James Spader's Ultron was a performance that weighed heavily upon me, because I openly questioned why he was making jokes for most of the movie. After thinking more about his relationship with Tony Stark it made sense to me that this AI would be a bit of a smartass.
Obviously the usual players like Chris Evans' Captain America, RDJ's Iron Man, Scarlet Johanson's Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo's Banner/Hulk, and others turned in their normal solid performances. It was really cool to see Don Cheadle suit up as War Machine and join the team in the final battle, and it was nice to see Sam Mackie back as Sam Wilson to tease the plotline for the next Captain America solo outing.
Visually this movie is very beautiful to look at in 3D, and all the vocals are very clear and concise. I thought Paul Bettany's Vision was especially a work of art as I couldn't tell if it was makeup or prosthetics when he finally made his onscreen debut. He is a very neat character visually, and I am very interested to watch him grow in the future of the Avengers film franchise.
One of the stronger points of Scarlet Witch's characterization was that they did a wonderful job explaining her powers, and then showing the different levels that the worked on. The different fever dreams that she caused the Avengers to have were especially poignant and powerful images.
There is a lot of good humor in this film and while it can be a bit too much at times it seems that Whedon strikes a decent balance between the comedy and drama so that either doesn't become too overpowering for the viewer. In a meta sense he actually uses Hawkeye as I discussed earlier to poke fun at the absurdity of the whole affair, which I found quite fun.
The Bad:
The film's biggest plothole is easily either it's disregard or ignorance of the events of the finale of "Iron Man 3". While that movie may be no one's favorite in the Marvel catalog it is disrepectful and damaging to blatantly ignore the fact that Tony Stark had already decided to quit being the man in the suit. When this movie picks up he's in suit stomping out Hydra bases with the rest of the team. There is NO explanation of how or why he decided to get back into the suit, and for me that is quite a plot hole to just leave hanging. Something that could be explained away in 2 lines of dialogue is instead a distraction from the main narrative of the movie.
I was not a fan of the Black Widow-Banner/Hulk romance. Not for any comic reason, but just that I felt that it was unnecessary and it took time from other things. It did nothing for the plot other than to possibly set up tension in the next movie, and set up one of the more comical bits of dialogue. Hopefully the Russo Brothers will not feel the need to pick up on this useless contrived romance.
Speaking of pointless. Thor's vision quest was literally a commercial for the "Infinity Wars" movies to come. I wish when he went in that cave of reflection they would've just shown the trailer for the upcoming two-parter as it would've achieved the same end.
The Ugly:
As far as we know this is the last time that Joss Whedon will handle this team of Avengers. The contracts for Evans & Downey Jr. are coming to the end, and they will likely be replaced on the team one way or another. It was fun with these two movies and I'm sure it will be great with the Russo's back at the helm, but it's always cause for concern when one creator sets something up and hands it off to someone else.
I think at this point the question also has to be asked "why are they continuing with solo films with established Avengers?" Sure newbies like Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Ms. Marvel, and others deserve a right and proper introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but are there really things that Thor, Cap, & IM don't need the Avengers to deal with? It sure would've helped to have the team's help when Tony was getting his ass handed to him in "IM3", or when Thor was trying to save an entire universe in "Thor: The Dark World". I'm not saying there is anything wrong with solo sequels as "The Winter Soldier" is probably my favorite Marvel movie, but I think the stories would be even better with the Avengers team on the case. In fact why call it "Captain America 3: Civil War" if it's going to feature Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, and others? Why not "Avengers: Civil War?" Just my opinion on the subject as it appears that these solo films are nothing more than a cash grab if they have no impact on the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In all: I have to give this movie about an 8.5/10. It's not perfect, but it is of good quality for the summer movie season. The bad stuff doesn't weigh it down too much and it actually accomplishes quite a bit.
Batman #40: Endgame Review
I don't know how to really do this without getting into spoilers, so SPOILERS people. When we last left our heroes Batman, the Bat-family, and most of his rogues gallery waded through the huddled, infected masses of Gotham to try to get some of Joker's spinal fluid to get a cure for the poison that he used. As it turns out the whole "final" battle was a bit anticlimactic in an effort to set up the real final battle between Batman and the Joker. This is because the only way to extract a cure was to tap into a final dionesium deposit in the caves under the city. As writer Scott Snyder confirmed both men knew entering the cave that they would not be leaving alive. The final battle was fantastic as the two wrestle with their issues while pummeling one another. After Joker is killed by falling rock, a dionesium sample is extracted and removed from the cave Batman finally decides to lay down for a nap next to his longtime "friend".
I thought this was a really great arch that lived up to the "Endgame" name. This is how I think most Batfans knew things would eventually have to play out as Batman would eventually have to end Joker to preserve life in Gotham. It was refreshing to have a creative team that didn't embrace the constant will-they-or-won't-they of the history of the characters. Snyder & Capullo once again blazed a brand new trail and did it their own way, and I enjoy them all the more for it.
That's all for today folks! I'm sure there is more that I wanted to cover, but I'm ready for an eight hour nap. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and your continued support!
See you next time at The Comic Shop!
So all formalities out of the way "Avengers: Age of Ultron" lets get at it!
The Good:
Two things that really stood out to me as phenomenal when watching this movie and they were the absolute high points for me as a fan of storytelling & narrative.
The first is that screenwriter/director Joss Whedon used Hawkeye to establish a passenger for the audience to experience the movie through. While the team is comprised of many different people most of them have superhuman to near superhuman capabilities while Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye is "a guy with a bow & arrow." It was quite a clever gambit on Whedon's part to set up Hawkeye as a father with 2.5 kids and shacking up with Velma from the "Scooby Doo" movies. The end result is that he becomes the most Avenger that is most easy to relate to. He's nothing superhuman he's a guy doing his job like a police officer or a soldier. The archer has no higher aspirations than to do his duty and get back home safe to his family. Without this emotional human tether this movie could've faded even further into the "big, loud, stupid, unmemorable fight scene after unmemorable fight scene" of summer movie purgatory. This narrative raises the stakes in the final climax of the film, and makes the events that transpire all the more heart wrenching by putting our view into this world in danger.
The second is that there is a very clear distinction made early that this film is the anti- "Man of Steel". There is a very clear emphasis throughout the film that protecting the people near the scene of the action is what is of the utmost importance. In fact part of Banner/Hulk's story arch is that he feels extreme guilt for his battle with "Veronica" and how it endangered people, but we will get more into that later. I really felt that it makes those final climax scenes all that more important to realize that these are real lives that matter, and to see the struggle that these heroes face to ultimately do the noble thing when they have other clearly dangerous matters at hand. I don't say this to be flip about "MOS", but I think it also served as the antithesis of the original "Avengers" where we saw very little care or concern for the city & citizenry of New York in the final battle.
There are a lot of strong performances in this movie, but I have to say that Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch was the most riveting for me. Getting a little bit into spoiler territory, but when she returns to battle after having a minor mental breakdown she absolutely starts incinerating Ultron drones and it gave me as much joy as when Hulk smashed the giant snake transport in the original "Avengers". I wanted to jump out of my seat and scream "HELL YES!" It is wonderful to have such a powerful female Avenger who can absolutely hold her own and wreak her own brand of chaotic ass kicking.
James Spader's Ultron was a performance that weighed heavily upon me, because I openly questioned why he was making jokes for most of the movie. After thinking more about his relationship with Tony Stark it made sense to me that this AI would be a bit of a smartass.
Obviously the usual players like Chris Evans' Captain America, RDJ's Iron Man, Scarlet Johanson's Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo's Banner/Hulk, and others turned in their normal solid performances. It was really cool to see Don Cheadle suit up as War Machine and join the team in the final battle, and it was nice to see Sam Mackie back as Sam Wilson to tease the plotline for the next Captain America solo outing.
Visually this movie is very beautiful to look at in 3D, and all the vocals are very clear and concise. I thought Paul Bettany's Vision was especially a work of art as I couldn't tell if it was makeup or prosthetics when he finally made his onscreen debut. He is a very neat character visually, and I am very interested to watch him grow in the future of the Avengers film franchise.
One of the stronger points of Scarlet Witch's characterization was that they did a wonderful job explaining her powers, and then showing the different levels that the worked on. The different fever dreams that she caused the Avengers to have were especially poignant and powerful images.
There is a lot of good humor in this film and while it can be a bit too much at times it seems that Whedon strikes a decent balance between the comedy and drama so that either doesn't become too overpowering for the viewer. In a meta sense he actually uses Hawkeye as I discussed earlier to poke fun at the absurdity of the whole affair, which I found quite fun.
The Bad:
The film's biggest plothole is easily either it's disregard or ignorance of the events of the finale of "Iron Man 3". While that movie may be no one's favorite in the Marvel catalog it is disrepectful and damaging to blatantly ignore the fact that Tony Stark had already decided to quit being the man in the suit. When this movie picks up he's in suit stomping out Hydra bases with the rest of the team. There is NO explanation of how or why he decided to get back into the suit, and for me that is quite a plot hole to just leave hanging. Something that could be explained away in 2 lines of dialogue is instead a distraction from the main narrative of the movie.
I was not a fan of the Black Widow-Banner/Hulk romance. Not for any comic reason, but just that I felt that it was unnecessary and it took time from other things. It did nothing for the plot other than to possibly set up tension in the next movie, and set up one of the more comical bits of dialogue. Hopefully the Russo Brothers will not feel the need to pick up on this useless contrived romance.
Speaking of pointless. Thor's vision quest was literally a commercial for the "Infinity Wars" movies to come. I wish when he went in that cave of reflection they would've just shown the trailer for the upcoming two-parter as it would've achieved the same end.
The Ugly:
As far as we know this is the last time that Joss Whedon will handle this team of Avengers. The contracts for Evans & Downey Jr. are coming to the end, and they will likely be replaced on the team one way or another. It was fun with these two movies and I'm sure it will be great with the Russo's back at the helm, but it's always cause for concern when one creator sets something up and hands it off to someone else.
I think at this point the question also has to be asked "why are they continuing with solo films with established Avengers?" Sure newbies like Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Ms. Marvel, and others deserve a right and proper introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but are there really things that Thor, Cap, & IM don't need the Avengers to deal with? It sure would've helped to have the team's help when Tony was getting his ass handed to him in "IM3", or when Thor was trying to save an entire universe in "Thor: The Dark World". I'm not saying there is anything wrong with solo sequels as "The Winter Soldier" is probably my favorite Marvel movie, but I think the stories would be even better with the Avengers team on the case. In fact why call it "Captain America 3: Civil War" if it's going to feature Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, and others? Why not "Avengers: Civil War?" Just my opinion on the subject as it appears that these solo films are nothing more than a cash grab if they have no impact on the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In all: I have to give this movie about an 8.5/10. It's not perfect, but it is of good quality for the summer movie season. The bad stuff doesn't weigh it down too much and it actually accomplishes quite a bit.
Batman #40: Endgame Review
I don't know how to really do this without getting into spoilers, so SPOILERS people. When we last left our heroes Batman, the Bat-family, and most of his rogues gallery waded through the huddled, infected masses of Gotham to try to get some of Joker's spinal fluid to get a cure for the poison that he used. As it turns out the whole "final" battle was a bit anticlimactic in an effort to set up the real final battle between Batman and the Joker. This is because the only way to extract a cure was to tap into a final dionesium deposit in the caves under the city. As writer Scott Snyder confirmed both men knew entering the cave that they would not be leaving alive. The final battle was fantastic as the two wrestle with their issues while pummeling one another. After Joker is killed by falling rock, a dionesium sample is extracted and removed from the cave Batman finally decides to lay down for a nap next to his longtime "friend".
I thought this was a really great arch that lived up to the "Endgame" name. This is how I think most Batfans knew things would eventually have to play out as Batman would eventually have to end Joker to preserve life in Gotham. It was refreshing to have a creative team that didn't embrace the constant will-they-or-won't-they of the history of the characters. Snyder & Capullo once again blazed a brand new trail and did it their own way, and I enjoy them all the more for it.
That's all for today folks! I'm sure there is more that I wanted to cover, but I'm ready for an eight hour nap. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and your continued support!
See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Monday, April 20, 2015
Getting Personal: Your guide to the Marvel/Fox kerfuffle
Hello and welcome to the actual 4/20 edition of The Comic Shop! I have a feeling Bluntman & Chronic might not be able to put a stop to Cock-knocker's shenanigans until some point tomorrow.
Anyhow....
Marvel has revealed some significant changes to it's upcoming line-up. Among the more noteworthy of these are the cancellation of the "Fantastic Four", the death and replacement of Deadpool, & the new title "Uncanny Inhumans" that is clearly taking the place of another long running "Uncanny". Even more controversial than this was the decision to retcon Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver)'s parentage to remove Magneto.
Most of the vitriol about these changes is born out of the fact that they are the direct result of Marvel not wanting to have anything to do with properties that Fox currently owns the rights to.
As I have said before it is a shame that the two sides couldn't work something out because they have a license to print money at this point. Whether Disney/Marvel agrees with the direction that Fox is going with FF/X-men or not a good capitalist would pocket the money from the merchandising, and go on with their lives. Instead they chose to give the middle finger to people that spend money monthly to keep up with their favorite heroes.
At this point I feel like I have to say DISNEY HAS EVERY RIGHT TO PROTECT THEIR SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT. I may not agree with their course of action as a business, but I will not say it is not without merit. Making Wanda and Pietro Inhumans boosts the marketability and the identity of one of the lesser known Marvel properties instantly. I am a huge comic fan, but I honestly think Black Bolt is the only Inhuman I can name off hand. Add to that Johnny Storm joining the lineup of the Inhumans in the new "Uncanny Inhumans" title, and that is another character that people know and identify with. So no the entire F4 clan isn't going into a black hole never to be seen again as we probably thought when the cancellation was initially announced.
Fox refusing to allow Marvel to use the word mutant in their movies kind of started this whole thing in my opinion. As Marvel had to get creative to use characters THAT THEY OWN AND HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO USE IN AN AVENGERS MOVIE by referring to Quicksilver & Scarlett Witch as "the age or miracles" or some such B.S. It makes every bit of sense to make them Inhumans with the group being promoted Marvel wide from their own anticipated movie, the "Agents of SHIELD" are uncovering Inhuman technology, and as I said the appearance of the twins in "Avengers: AoU".
I am trying my best to see both sides of this, but at the end of the day the easiest way to reconcile it as a fan as that these two uses of the twins take place in different universes in a multiverse. In one universe the original parentage might remain with Magento being their father while in the other Magneto does not even exist. I believe Dan Slott even said on twitter that all movies are elseworld tales...let the comics be comics...let the movies be movies and just try to enjoy the overall experience. Or as one clever Redditor wrote "why would you want to watch a direct adaptation of shit you've already read".
These changes open up the door to a whole new plethora of opportunities for creative and unique storytelling. Comics are one of the most progressive and ever changing forms of media in existence. That's why my personal philosophy is to embrace the changes and find good things about them because they will either be something I look back fondly upon (Superior Spider-man), or they won't last that long anyway.
Just food for thought...I don't expect people to agree with me, but thanks for reading! Thanks for your continued support!
See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Anyhow....
Marvel has revealed some significant changes to it's upcoming line-up. Among the more noteworthy of these are the cancellation of the "Fantastic Four", the death and replacement of Deadpool, & the new title "Uncanny Inhumans" that is clearly taking the place of another long running "Uncanny". Even more controversial than this was the decision to retcon Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver)'s parentage to remove Magneto.
Most of the vitriol about these changes is born out of the fact that they are the direct result of Marvel not wanting to have anything to do with properties that Fox currently owns the rights to.
As I have said before it is a shame that the two sides couldn't work something out because they have a license to print money at this point. Whether Disney/Marvel agrees with the direction that Fox is going with FF/X-men or not a good capitalist would pocket the money from the merchandising, and go on with their lives. Instead they chose to give the middle finger to people that spend money monthly to keep up with their favorite heroes.
At this point I feel like I have to say DISNEY HAS EVERY RIGHT TO PROTECT THEIR SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT. I may not agree with their course of action as a business, but I will not say it is not without merit. Making Wanda and Pietro Inhumans boosts the marketability and the identity of one of the lesser known Marvel properties instantly. I am a huge comic fan, but I honestly think Black Bolt is the only Inhuman I can name off hand. Add to that Johnny Storm joining the lineup of the Inhumans in the new "Uncanny Inhumans" title, and that is another character that people know and identify with. So no the entire F4 clan isn't going into a black hole never to be seen again as we probably thought when the cancellation was initially announced.
Fox refusing to allow Marvel to use the word mutant in their movies kind of started this whole thing in my opinion. As Marvel had to get creative to use characters THAT THEY OWN AND HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO USE IN AN AVENGERS MOVIE by referring to Quicksilver & Scarlett Witch as "the age or miracles" or some such B.S. It makes every bit of sense to make them Inhumans with the group being promoted Marvel wide from their own anticipated movie, the "Agents of SHIELD" are uncovering Inhuman technology, and as I said the appearance of the twins in "Avengers: AoU".
I am trying my best to see both sides of this, but at the end of the day the easiest way to reconcile it as a fan as that these two uses of the twins take place in different universes in a multiverse. In one universe the original parentage might remain with Magento being their father while in the other Magneto does not even exist. I believe Dan Slott even said on twitter that all movies are elseworld tales...let the comics be comics...let the movies be movies and just try to enjoy the overall experience. Or as one clever Redditor wrote "why would you want to watch a direct adaptation of shit you've already read".
These changes open up the door to a whole new plethora of opportunities for creative and unique storytelling. Comics are one of the most progressive and ever changing forms of media in existence. That's why my personal philosophy is to embrace the changes and find good things about them because they will either be something I look back fondly upon (Superior Spider-man), or they won't last that long anyway.
Just food for thought...I don't expect people to agree with me, but thanks for reading! Thanks for your continued support!
See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Sunday, April 19, 2015
So many things to go over......
Hello and welcome to the pre 4/20 edition of The Comic Shop! I know I've been away for a month and missed talking about quite a few things, but other obligations popped up as you understand. On to the comic talk ya?
Daredevil Review: I don't know what more I can add to the discussion that isn't already out on the web. I'm a long time fan of hornhead and his ongoing is one of my favorite comics to date. There have been so many epic stories told about Matt Murdock and his alter ego by luminaries like Frank Miller, Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis, Ann Nocenti, Kevin Smith, and so many more. Netflix & Marvel have teamed up to bring us the most action packed, entertaining, and compelling superhero television show to date.
One of the things that really appealed to me about the series was how it fit within the MCU while it also would've functioned fine if it was a standalone. We really only know that it takes place within the bigger MCU because of sparse mentions of "the incident" and other little nuggets.
"The incident" or the "battle of NY" as we might know it continues to have a lasting impact on the fictionalized NYC. So much so that much of the villainy are roaches that came out when the light was off take as much as they could. Much like post 9/11 people did profit off of incalculable destruction and chaos. In this story a lot of those people set the framework of the criminal underworld.
That's all I want to say about it, because as I said there isn't much I can add to the discussion. That said just watch it because it is great. The fight choreography is beautiful, the acting is very good to great, & the 13 episode format is the perfect form for superhero storytelling.
Movie Stuffs.......
I don't think I can do justice to the amount of new that has hit in the last month. Here in the last week we got a new peak at "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice", and "Fantastic Four". I will say I'm trying to hold judgement on "SW" and "BvS" simply because one is coming at Christmas and the other is in 2016. There is still a lot of time to change and adjust things between now and then. "FF" to me looks like a neat sci fi movie with a very loose grasp on the initial concepts of the superheroic group. I know that I would like to see all three, but I want to try to keep positive and not get too deep into things so suffice it to say I'm looking forward to all three.
Comic Stuffs....
Batman & Robin - This series kind of went out with a whimper IMHO. The superpowered Robin storyline petered out relatively quickly. I can't imagine that was the initial play, but we will see what happens when the new post-Convergence titles pick up.
Amazing Spider-man - While "Spiderverse" delivered in many ways and was very entertaining the follow up seems sort of phoned in to me. I still really enjoy what Slott has brought to the table, but I think it may have been to his benefit to sit out a few issues after penning the "Spiderverse" epic.
Daredevil - As Waid's run draws to a close it seems like he's building toward a grand exit with a new villain, and a new status quo for an old villain.
Flash - I'm in the minority that I have enjoyed the post Manapaul run with the scarlet speedster, but even I can admit that it can get a bit absurd with some of the speed force stuff. That said I thought the series left on a perfect note before a 2 month hiatus. The reintroduction of Professor Zoom made me pretty excited to pick things back up later this summer.
That's all I really have for today. I'm working on some topics to cover in the interim while I'm not buying comics, and I will definitely have post season discussions coming for both "Arrow" & "Flash" so be on the lookout for that. Take care and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Daredevil Review: I don't know what more I can add to the discussion that isn't already out on the web. I'm a long time fan of hornhead and his ongoing is one of my favorite comics to date. There have been so many epic stories told about Matt Murdock and his alter ego by luminaries like Frank Miller, Ed Brubaker, Brian Michael Bendis, Ann Nocenti, Kevin Smith, and so many more. Netflix & Marvel have teamed up to bring us the most action packed, entertaining, and compelling superhero television show to date.
One of the things that really appealed to me about the series was how it fit within the MCU while it also would've functioned fine if it was a standalone. We really only know that it takes place within the bigger MCU because of sparse mentions of "the incident" and other little nuggets.
"The incident" or the "battle of NY" as we might know it continues to have a lasting impact on the fictionalized NYC. So much so that much of the villainy are roaches that came out when the light was off take as much as they could. Much like post 9/11 people did profit off of incalculable destruction and chaos. In this story a lot of those people set the framework of the criminal underworld.
That's all I want to say about it, because as I said there isn't much I can add to the discussion. That said just watch it because it is great. The fight choreography is beautiful, the acting is very good to great, & the 13 episode format is the perfect form for superhero storytelling.
Movie Stuffs.......
I don't think I can do justice to the amount of new that has hit in the last month. Here in the last week we got a new peak at "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice", and "Fantastic Four". I will say I'm trying to hold judgement on "SW" and "BvS" simply because one is coming at Christmas and the other is in 2016. There is still a lot of time to change and adjust things between now and then. "FF" to me looks like a neat sci fi movie with a very loose grasp on the initial concepts of the superheroic group. I know that I would like to see all three, but I want to try to keep positive and not get too deep into things so suffice it to say I'm looking forward to all three.
Comic Stuffs....
Batman & Robin - This series kind of went out with a whimper IMHO. The superpowered Robin storyline petered out relatively quickly. I can't imagine that was the initial play, but we will see what happens when the new post-Convergence titles pick up.
Amazing Spider-man - While "Spiderverse" delivered in many ways and was very entertaining the follow up seems sort of phoned in to me. I still really enjoy what Slott has brought to the table, but I think it may have been to his benefit to sit out a few issues after penning the "Spiderverse" epic.
Daredevil - As Waid's run draws to a close it seems like he's building toward a grand exit with a new villain, and a new status quo for an old villain.
Flash - I'm in the minority that I have enjoyed the post Manapaul run with the scarlet speedster, but even I can admit that it can get a bit absurd with some of the speed force stuff. That said I thought the series left on a perfect note before a 2 month hiatus. The reintroduction of Professor Zoom made me pretty excited to pick things back up later this summer.
That's all I really have for today. I'm working on some topics to cover in the interim while I'm not buying comics, and I will definitely have post season discussions coming for both "Arrow" & "Flash" so be on the lookout for that. Take care and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
#50....a landmark issue! Excelsior!
Hello and Welcome my dear friends to the 03/18/2015 edition of The Comic Shop!
I say this a lot, but thank you all for your continued support.
This blog came about because "Superman: The Movie" and weekly trips to the comic store inspired my young mind. Comics captured my imagination and gave it license to go places. It made me appreciate the art of storytelling and the skilled craftsmanship of the actual art. After many failed attempts at doing comic art I decided that the words on the page might be the only avenue into the medium that I loved. I have practiced many different writing styles and this blog serves the dual purpose of keeping my mind going and allowing me to vent in my own forum about comics and comic related issues.
From the continued publishing of TCS I have developed ideas for several different comics the first of which I introduced as "Vendetta". There are a couple of others that I'm still kicking around, but my goal as of now is to get "Vendetta" off the ground and go from there. This is the last I will speak of my project until I have something concrete, but it goes without saying that TCS would not exist without the continued support of all of you wonderful people.
IN THE NEWS
First........ DC's June solicitations have created a bit of a stir with regards to the post-Convergence status quo. A bunny-eared, mech-suit, gun-carrying Batman would be a good jumping off point for this discussion as the solicitation promises an "ALL-New Batman". In Snyder we trust, but what in the actual f*ck is this?! I hope upon hope that it will be good and very short term, but it looks like the folks at DC are really excited about this. Superman looks to be doubling down on denim with his new look, and as much as I'd like to complain about it the look kind of fits with the aw shucks farm boy that he is supposed to be. Wonder Woman's new look seems to be in direct response to a little girl that wrote DC to ask why WW always had to fight in her underwear, and good for DC for putting some pants on Diana. Flash looks to be more in line with the ultra-popular television show. I have to say I am most excited about everything "Green Arrow" coming up. They finally ditched the goggles again!!! They also have brought in novelist Ben Percy (who wrote the "Terminus" arc in "Detective Comics") and artist Patrick Zircher (Iron Man, Nightwing, Thunderbolts, and others) as the new creative team. In a reddit discussion Percy promised "no tv show characters and he would be following more of what Lemire did".
Not to be outdone Marvel's solicitations essentially confirmed the cancellation of over 30 ongoing titles (http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/03/18/33-marvel-comics-will-be-cancelled-for-secret-wars). I would hope this does not mean a slew of new #1 issues in the wake of their upcoming "Secret Wars" event, but given the trend by the big two right now it would not surprise me in the least. As a fan of the animated series I am very interested in the upcoming "X-men '92" title as it will pick up where the show left off. It'll be interesting to see if they can pull of Jim Lee quality art without the services of Jim Lee.
Second......... In the television world the upcoming "Arrow/Flash" spinoff show added "Prison Break" actor Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave thereby reuniting him once again with Wentworth Miller's Captain Cold. The show has been described by producers as a "love letter to team-up movies like Ocean's 11" so however that translates to television I'm interested to see.
Third........... Indiana Comic Con was an absolute blast for your humble blogger! Lots of credit to the people that organized the event as it was better than last year's show by leaps and bounds. Not having to wait in gigantic lines or pay ridiculous fees are always a check in the plus column. The longest line that I waited in was to meet Mike Grell, but it was worth it. Denny O'Neil and Mark Waid were both incredibly friendly and humble. I complimented Waid on "Daredevil" and he immediately said "well Chris Samnee is such an incredible artist". That is the definition of professional in my book and a fun little anecdote about the creative process.
REVIEW TIME:
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters: With a couple of light weeks on the pull list and a little bit of extra money in my pocket meant that I could finally pick up a trade that I had been wanting to read. This is a fantastic run albeit only three issues long. The story chronicles Oliver's journey from Star City to Seattle, and along the way he sheds some of the more campy parts of his character. Gone are the boxing glove arrows from his quiver, and they are quickly replaced with something much more dangerous. One of my favorite parts of this book is the japanese archer Shado. I think she is an amazingly interesting and diverse character. I would love to see DC utilize Shado in an Elektra-type role in her own solo series. While her New 52 characterization is, in my opinion, the lone low spot in Lemiere's run it is something that could be easily tweaked with a dreaded retcon. All credit to Mike Grell for having the vision to make such a fantastic character and such an interesting comic run for GA.
All-New Hawkeye: One of the movements that I missed out on during the Marvel Now! reboot was Matt Fraction's highly praised run on "Hawkeye". It's something that I fully intend to go back and read as it made a ton of "best of" lists during it's run. That said when I read that Jeff Lemire was taking a swing at Marvel's archer I knew I had to give it a look. My first impression was that I was blown away by Ramon Perez's stunning art, which in and of itself was a selling point. The story is also quite compelling as Lemire balances two separate stories. One of which is about a young Clint Barton escaping a foster home with his older brother, and the other focuses on Clint and his archer apprentice Kate Bishop infiltrating a HYDRA base. I did not realize that Clint is now a deaf character, but it adds some difficulty to his banter with the young Bishop. "All-New Hawkeye" is a really fun book, and it is totally worthy of some money love.
Amazing Spider-man #16: On the heels of something as epic as Spidervere one can imagine that going back to regular Spidey stories was quite difficult for writer Dan Slott. This first entry in the post Spiderverse run came off as a bit of a disappointment to me. There is nothing wrong with the art or storytelling per se; however, I am not a fan of this constantly making Peter Parker weaker physically. The introduction of Silk saw PP openly acknowledge that he was weaker and then as part of the ramifications of Spiderverse he openly states that he is now weaker because he had some "life force sucked out of him". I like for my heroes to have vulnerability, but having to read along as PP struggles to go toe-to-toe with The Iguana is painful. Maybe this is an honest attempt to deconstruct the character to build him back up again, but it is troubling to say the least. On the whole I like Slott and I have faith he will do a good job, but it's hard to see the long game with this storyline.
Green Arrow #40: The final issue of Andrew Kreisberg's run with the emerald archer came to a conclusion. I re-read the entire run and I still did not enjoy it. The forced introduction of Felicity and Mia Dearden was atrocious. The dialogue was horrendous. John Diggle's in particular was degraded to "black guy movie dialogue" like "YEAH" "Let's go kick some A$$" and other idiotic drivel. The art was bad as some characters were not drawn the same from panel-to-panel, and sometimes even the visual storytelling seemed unintentionally non-linear. It's like they got it to the printer and realized they forgot some $hit and just said "f*ck it print it anyway". I try really hard not to be negative in this forum, but I was just so disappointed by this run of comics that I felt it was my duty to share my feelings on the subject.
That's all for today! Sorry that #50 wasn't more special, but I just wanted to keep things as normal as possible. Thank you for reading! See you next time at The Comic Shop!
I say this a lot, but thank you all for your continued support.
This blog came about because "Superman: The Movie" and weekly trips to the comic store inspired my young mind. Comics captured my imagination and gave it license to go places. It made me appreciate the art of storytelling and the skilled craftsmanship of the actual art. After many failed attempts at doing comic art I decided that the words on the page might be the only avenue into the medium that I loved. I have practiced many different writing styles and this blog serves the dual purpose of keeping my mind going and allowing me to vent in my own forum about comics and comic related issues.
From the continued publishing of TCS I have developed ideas for several different comics the first of which I introduced as "Vendetta". There are a couple of others that I'm still kicking around, but my goal as of now is to get "Vendetta" off the ground and go from there. This is the last I will speak of my project until I have something concrete, but it goes without saying that TCS would not exist without the continued support of all of you wonderful people.
IN THE NEWS
First........ DC's June solicitations have created a bit of a stir with regards to the post-Convergence status quo. A bunny-eared, mech-suit, gun-carrying Batman would be a good jumping off point for this discussion as the solicitation promises an "ALL-New Batman". In Snyder we trust, but what in the actual f*ck is this?! I hope upon hope that it will be good and very short term, but it looks like the folks at DC are really excited about this. Superman looks to be doubling down on denim with his new look, and as much as I'd like to complain about it the look kind of fits with the aw shucks farm boy that he is supposed to be. Wonder Woman's new look seems to be in direct response to a little girl that wrote DC to ask why WW always had to fight in her underwear, and good for DC for putting some pants on Diana. Flash looks to be more in line with the ultra-popular television show. I have to say I am most excited about everything "Green Arrow" coming up. They finally ditched the goggles again!!! They also have brought in novelist Ben Percy (who wrote the "Terminus" arc in "Detective Comics") and artist Patrick Zircher (Iron Man, Nightwing, Thunderbolts, and others) as the new creative team. In a reddit discussion Percy promised "no tv show characters and he would be following more of what Lemire did".
Not to be outdone Marvel's solicitations essentially confirmed the cancellation of over 30 ongoing titles (http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/03/18/33-marvel-comics-will-be-cancelled-for-secret-wars). I would hope this does not mean a slew of new #1 issues in the wake of their upcoming "Secret Wars" event, but given the trend by the big two right now it would not surprise me in the least. As a fan of the animated series I am very interested in the upcoming "X-men '92" title as it will pick up where the show left off. It'll be interesting to see if they can pull of Jim Lee quality art without the services of Jim Lee.
Second......... In the television world the upcoming "Arrow/Flash" spinoff show added "Prison Break" actor Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave thereby reuniting him once again with Wentworth Miller's Captain Cold. The show has been described by producers as a "love letter to team-up movies like Ocean's 11" so however that translates to television I'm interested to see.
Third........... Indiana Comic Con was an absolute blast for your humble blogger! Lots of credit to the people that organized the event as it was better than last year's show by leaps and bounds. Not having to wait in gigantic lines or pay ridiculous fees are always a check in the plus column. The longest line that I waited in was to meet Mike Grell, but it was worth it. Denny O'Neil and Mark Waid were both incredibly friendly and humble. I complimented Waid on "Daredevil" and he immediately said "well Chris Samnee is such an incredible artist". That is the definition of professional in my book and a fun little anecdote about the creative process.
REVIEW TIME:
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters: With a couple of light weeks on the pull list and a little bit of extra money in my pocket meant that I could finally pick up a trade that I had been wanting to read. This is a fantastic run albeit only three issues long. The story chronicles Oliver's journey from Star City to Seattle, and along the way he sheds some of the more campy parts of his character. Gone are the boxing glove arrows from his quiver, and they are quickly replaced with something much more dangerous. One of my favorite parts of this book is the japanese archer Shado. I think she is an amazingly interesting and diverse character. I would love to see DC utilize Shado in an Elektra-type role in her own solo series. While her New 52 characterization is, in my opinion, the lone low spot in Lemiere's run it is something that could be easily tweaked with a dreaded retcon. All credit to Mike Grell for having the vision to make such a fantastic character and such an interesting comic run for GA.
All-New Hawkeye: One of the movements that I missed out on during the Marvel Now! reboot was Matt Fraction's highly praised run on "Hawkeye". It's something that I fully intend to go back and read as it made a ton of "best of" lists during it's run. That said when I read that Jeff Lemire was taking a swing at Marvel's archer I knew I had to give it a look. My first impression was that I was blown away by Ramon Perez's stunning art, which in and of itself was a selling point. The story is also quite compelling as Lemire balances two separate stories. One of which is about a young Clint Barton escaping a foster home with his older brother, and the other focuses on Clint and his archer apprentice Kate Bishop infiltrating a HYDRA base. I did not realize that Clint is now a deaf character, but it adds some difficulty to his banter with the young Bishop. "All-New Hawkeye" is a really fun book, and it is totally worthy of some money love.
Amazing Spider-man #16: On the heels of something as epic as Spidervere one can imagine that going back to regular Spidey stories was quite difficult for writer Dan Slott. This first entry in the post Spiderverse run came off as a bit of a disappointment to me. There is nothing wrong with the art or storytelling per se; however, I am not a fan of this constantly making Peter Parker weaker physically. The introduction of Silk saw PP openly acknowledge that he was weaker and then as part of the ramifications of Spiderverse he openly states that he is now weaker because he had some "life force sucked out of him". I like for my heroes to have vulnerability, but having to read along as PP struggles to go toe-to-toe with The Iguana is painful. Maybe this is an honest attempt to deconstruct the character to build him back up again, but it is troubling to say the least. On the whole I like Slott and I have faith he will do a good job, but it's hard to see the long game with this storyline.
Green Arrow #40: The final issue of Andrew Kreisberg's run with the emerald archer came to a conclusion. I re-read the entire run and I still did not enjoy it. The forced introduction of Felicity and Mia Dearden was atrocious. The dialogue was horrendous. John Diggle's in particular was degraded to "black guy movie dialogue" like "YEAH" "Let's go kick some A$$" and other idiotic drivel. The art was bad as some characters were not drawn the same from panel-to-panel, and sometimes even the visual storytelling seemed unintentionally non-linear. It's like they got it to the printer and realized they forgot some $hit and just said "f*ck it print it anyway". I try really hard not to be negative in this forum, but I was just so disappointed by this run of comics that I felt it was my duty to share my feelings on the subject.
That's all for today! Sorry that #50 wasn't more special, but I just wanted to keep things as normal as possible. Thank you for reading! See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Award shows, Cons, & other observations submitted for your approval....#49
Hello and welcome to the 03/05/15 edition of The Comic Shop!
We may have some new readers in our midst as I took to my personal Facebook to share that I was nearing post #50. I never started this to be about me and I try my best to keep it that way. I thank you all for your continued support and loyalty because I know I wouldn't be spending time doing this if I didn't have the readership that I do. As comedian/actor/sports radio host Jay Mohr tells his radio audience "It ain't me it's we" and I always try to keep that in mind. Anyway lets get on to the comics & stuff!
First...... I can't say I get too upset about the yearly Oscar snubs for superhero movies by the Academy. I mean it's not like a two time winner is playing Batman. It's not like past nominees like Viola Davis, John Malkovich, Josh Brolin, Jennifer Lawrence, J.K. Simmons, Halle Berry, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Felicity Jones, Marion Cotillard, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Jamie Fox, Willem Dafoe, and many many others have appeared in superhero movies. It's not like a movie called "Birdman" about an actor struggling to define himself outside of his iconic role won best picture or anything.
As you can tell we are wading pretty deep in to the sarcasm, but you get the point dear reader. Unfortunately, Heath Ledger getting a posthumous best supporting win for his role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" may be the high watermark for our beloved genre. Personally, I don't need that validation to enjoy what I enjoy but I'd like to think it was more than just a job for these actors.
When making "The Terminator" Arnold Schwarzennegger referred to the film as "Oh, some shit movie I'm doing, will take a couple of weeks". That film has become one of the cornerstones of his career as he continues to milk that pony for a fifth and sixth sequel.
Simply put I just hope that these professionals remember that our dollars matter even if they are not awarded for their effort.
We could as why these snubs are now a yearly occurrence and one of the most common retorts is that they are not original stories. To which I say "Yes, because AVATAR was so freaking original".
Second.... I'm so very excited that the 2nd annual Indiana Comic Con will be upon us in a little over a week. I haven't traveled to any Cons in the past so this is my 2nd time attending a convention. I absolutely love the atmosphere as I am around like minded people, and surrounded by things that I enjoy. I like to see all the unique and interesting cosplayers. I have no illusions that cosplayers keep the lights on and make these conventions as big as they are.
As a comic collector and aspiring writer I am really looking forward to meeting Mark Waid & Denny O'Neil. I've written about Mr. O'Neil and his run with "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" in the past so I won't go too much more into that. Waid has done almost everything in comics including writing 2 grail Superman books in "Superman: Birthright" & "Kingdom Come", and he has authored my one of my favorite currently running comics in "Daredevil". Hopefully I can get them to sign some comics for me, and maybe I can come up with a couple of questions for them as well. Time will tell.
There is plenty more to see as there are game rooms, panels, celebrity signings & photo ops, cosplay, back issues to go through, and many more things. This is not a paid endorsement it's just something that I am really excited about, because it is real and authentic in that Indiana fans made it happen. Check out the website for more info ( http://indianacomiccon.com/indianapolis.html ).
Third..... A lot of rumors on the movie front this week, but nothing is really confirmed as of yet. Most intriguing was the rumor about Drew Goddard being attached to helm "Spectacular Spider-man", but that has been denied for now. The Russo's signing a first look deal with Sony doesn't necessarily mean anything yet as I believe they are still attached to "Captain America: Civil War". Could be interesting though given their history with Donald Glover (a fan favorite to play Miles Morales: Ultimate Spidey), but time will tell.
Fourth.... Obviously, the humble blogger was saddened to hear about the passing of Leonard Nimoy. As an avid Trekkie/Trekker growing up I loved the green-blooded-bastard as much as the rest of the cast. I absolute loved the sci-fi goofiness of the underrated "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" which he directed and I also just learned he directed "Three Men & a Baby" which is surprising. He also advocated (successfully) for equal pay for his costars Walter Koeing and Nichelle Nichols for their work on "Star Trek", was a devout Jew (who spoke Yiddish), a pilot, and he overcame his own personal battle with alcoholism.
Just an amazing man of many talents and by most accounts he was as nice in person as he came across on the screen. My condolences go out to those that loved him. LLAP Mr. Nimoy.
Wrapping Up..... I haven't got to the actual comic shop yet this week, so those reviews will be posted in #50. We will be taking a look at new issues of "Grayson" & "Green Arrow".
Thanks for reading! Best wishes to you all for warmer weather and don't forget to set your clocks back on Sunday! See you next time at The Comic Shop!
We may have some new readers in our midst as I took to my personal Facebook to share that I was nearing post #50. I never started this to be about me and I try my best to keep it that way. I thank you all for your continued support and loyalty because I know I wouldn't be spending time doing this if I didn't have the readership that I do. As comedian/actor/sports radio host Jay Mohr tells his radio audience "It ain't me it's we" and I always try to keep that in mind. Anyway lets get on to the comics & stuff!
First...... I can't say I get too upset about the yearly Oscar snubs for superhero movies by the Academy. I mean it's not like a two time winner is playing Batman. It's not like past nominees like Viola Davis, John Malkovich, Josh Brolin, Jennifer Lawrence, J.K. Simmons, Halle Berry, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Felicity Jones, Marion Cotillard, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Jamie Fox, Willem Dafoe, and many many others have appeared in superhero movies. It's not like a movie called "Birdman" about an actor struggling to define himself outside of his iconic role won best picture or anything.
As you can tell we are wading pretty deep in to the sarcasm, but you get the point dear reader. Unfortunately, Heath Ledger getting a posthumous best supporting win for his role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" may be the high watermark for our beloved genre. Personally, I don't need that validation to enjoy what I enjoy but I'd like to think it was more than just a job for these actors.
When making "The Terminator" Arnold Schwarzennegger referred to the film as "Oh, some shit movie I'm doing, will take a couple of weeks". That film has become one of the cornerstones of his career as he continues to milk that pony for a fifth and sixth sequel.
Simply put I just hope that these professionals remember that our dollars matter even if they are not awarded for their effort.
We could as why these snubs are now a yearly occurrence and one of the most common retorts is that they are not original stories. To which I say "Yes, because AVATAR was so freaking original".
Second.... I'm so very excited that the 2nd annual Indiana Comic Con will be upon us in a little over a week. I haven't traveled to any Cons in the past so this is my 2nd time attending a convention. I absolutely love the atmosphere as I am around like minded people, and surrounded by things that I enjoy. I like to see all the unique and interesting cosplayers. I have no illusions that cosplayers keep the lights on and make these conventions as big as they are.
As a comic collector and aspiring writer I am really looking forward to meeting Mark Waid & Denny O'Neil. I've written about Mr. O'Neil and his run with "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" in the past so I won't go too much more into that. Waid has done almost everything in comics including writing 2 grail Superman books in "Superman: Birthright" & "Kingdom Come", and he has authored my one of my favorite currently running comics in "Daredevil". Hopefully I can get them to sign some comics for me, and maybe I can come up with a couple of questions for them as well. Time will tell.
There is plenty more to see as there are game rooms, panels, celebrity signings & photo ops, cosplay, back issues to go through, and many more things. This is not a paid endorsement it's just something that I am really excited about, because it is real and authentic in that Indiana fans made it happen. Check out the website for more info ( http://indianacomiccon.com/indianapolis.html ).
Third..... A lot of rumors on the movie front this week, but nothing is really confirmed as of yet. Most intriguing was the rumor about Drew Goddard being attached to helm "Spectacular Spider-man", but that has been denied for now. The Russo's signing a first look deal with Sony doesn't necessarily mean anything yet as I believe they are still attached to "Captain America: Civil War". Could be interesting though given their history with Donald Glover (a fan favorite to play Miles Morales: Ultimate Spidey), but time will tell.
Fourth.... Obviously, the humble blogger was saddened to hear about the passing of Leonard Nimoy. As an avid Trekkie/Trekker growing up I loved the green-blooded-bastard as much as the rest of the cast. I absolute loved the sci-fi goofiness of the underrated "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" which he directed and I also just learned he directed "Three Men & a Baby" which is surprising. He also advocated (successfully) for equal pay for his costars Walter Koeing and Nichelle Nichols for their work on "Star Trek", was a devout Jew (who spoke Yiddish), a pilot, and he overcame his own personal battle with alcoholism.
Just an amazing man of many talents and by most accounts he was as nice in person as he came across on the screen. My condolences go out to those that loved him. LLAP Mr. Nimoy.
Wrapping Up..... I haven't got to the actual comic shop yet this week, so those reviews will be posted in #50. We will be taking a look at new issues of "Grayson" & "Green Arrow".
Thanks for reading! Best wishes to you all for warmer weather and don't forget to set your clocks back on Sunday! See you next time at The Comic Shop!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Spider-Gwen and Silk reviews....some other stuff too
Hello and welcome to yet another edition of The Comic Shop blog! It's February 26th, snowy, and cold here in the heartland of America I hope wherever you are you are warm and safe reading this. Lets get on to the comic stuff ya?!
First.... Lot more on my pull list these last few weeks than usual. While two weeks ago I only picked up the latest issue of "Batman & Robin" & "Silk" #1 this week I picked up "Flash", "Daredevil", "Amazing Spider-man", "Spider-Gwen" and the penultimate chapter of the "Batman" endgame saga. I'm going to wait to share my thoughts on "Endgame" when we see what the ultimate payoff is to that storyline, but I'm happy to share my thoughts on the others.
Batman & Robin - This book is winding down and it's sad because on the whole it's been a good run. I will say the more fantastical storylines with Batman are not really my cup of tea, but overall it's been good. This week the Justice League was introduced to an unimpressed Super-Robin and they all set off on a mission immediately.
Flash - I had some serious concerns when Francis Manapaul & Brian Buccatello quit writing "The Flash" and moved on to "Detective Comics". The new run has not been without it's hiccups but this current storyline is the fun, sci-fi, extraordinary type of storytelling that us Flash fans have come to expect. In this current storyline Barry is stuck in the very savage land-ish (think X-men) speed force while a future/murderous Barry has usurped his place in the present. I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say this book packs a lot of punch for $2.99 a pop.
Daredevil - Waid has crafted one of my favorite runs with hornhead ever and I'm sad that it is also coming to the end. This issue kicked off his final storyline with DD, and continues to capture the fun, charm, and humorous storytelling that has been present throughout Waid's time with the character.
Amazing Spider-man - This last issue of ASM was the epilogue to the massive "Spider Verse" event. On the whole it was a great event and this was still an entertaining issue. It highlights a problem (albeit a good one) that they have introduced a LOT of spider characters that are infinitely more interesting than Mr. Parker has been for the last few years. This could be a reason why Disney/Marvel is being rumored to discuss a non-PP for their MCU Spider-man. Other than Alpha, which was crap on crap, Superior Spidey, Miles, Silk, Spider-Gwen, and so many more on the great web have been more intriguing than our old buddy Peter. Maybe it is because Author Dan Slott's first tour of duty cancelled out the most interesting character development of PP since his black costume (his unmasking, the subsequent shooting of Aunt May by Crossbones, switching back to the black to become more angry and vengeful, etc.) I still love my ASM, but as you will see I like some of the new character inventions as well.
Silk - I rolled my eyes at this character when she made her debut. "Oh great another character debut in a Spider-man comic that is like Spidey but much more powerful". I'll have to say though the first issue was a fun read as this is a character that is really fleshed out from her introduction. She is in search of her parents that have gone missing since she confined herself to a bunker to avoid the Inheritors, she has a photographic memory so her flashbacks are a part of her narrative, and she works for Fact News (lol) and it's new star J. Jonah Jameson. She has a complicated lust-filled relationship with PP, and is a young woman searching for her place in the world. It was a really great first issue. I'm not sure if I'll keep with it just because of budget concerns, but I would definitely recommend it.
Spider-Gwen - Girl power in full effect with the new big tent pole releases from Marvel. Set in an alternate universe where a radioactive Spider bit Gwen instead of Peter and she subsequently couldn't save Peter from his untimely demise. This is a really cool alt universe tale if there ever was one. In the first issue alone we learn that Capt. Stacy is also alive and well, Gwen is the former drummer of a newly broken-through all girl band called the Mary Janes, & that the media blames Spider-Gwen (that universe's Spider-woman) for PP's death. Also Frank Castle may or may not be a dirty cop, which is different. In all it's not a lot of new groundbreaking ideas, but the execution is there for sure. I love the costume design and I think the creative team has the right voice for the girl superhero. Kudos all around!
Second.... Just broken this evening by Deadline the CW is in the process of developing a third superhero show that will feature Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/Atom), Wentworth Miller (Captain Cold), Victor Garber (Dr. Martin Stein aka the brains of Firestorm), and Caity Lotz (Canary?). After the amazing way that "The Flash" crew pulled off Firestorm I am really happy that it is now possible that we will see him in a starring role. Not really sure what all of these characters will have to do with one another, but it could be possible that it will be a Brave & and the Bold style series. Meaning with "Arrow" and "Flash" so much has been established that this series could be used to fill in the blanks and move forward other characters that have been introduced in the cornerstone series'. Think more along the lines of an anthology.
Third... If you didn't see the gritty Power/Rangers short film on YouTube you are going to have to look somewhere else. Saban has gotten the acclaimed short film pulled for copyright concerns even though it was a non for profit movie. Saban was worried that the dark take would ruin their valuable property. I was a huge fan of the show as a kid, and I really enjoyed the short as it was the antithesis of the original show. That said I can see Saban's concern with a long rumored reboot movie coming up. UPDATE 02/28/15: Both versions of the Power/Rangers short (NSFW & SFW) have returned to YouTube.
Fourth... I loved the new Aquaman look and I have no doubt that it will not be as dark as the initial image. Snyder is 100% style over substance so the sepia toned teaser images were to be expected. If you look long enough on the internet you can find pictures where the color saturation is up to the normal levels to see what it will look like in color.
There were a lot of concern about WW's garb when it first came out as well, but even Supes looks brighter this go round so maybe Snyder gets that is what people want to see.
At this point I'm just really excited to see a Miller-ish Batfleck.
Fifth... Regarding this weeks "Arrow" a lot of vitriol online for the fact that (Spoiler) asked (Spoiler) to be the next (Spoiler). In large part because it was eerily reminiscent of the "Son of the Demon" storyline. To those people I say kick rocks. If they wanted to adapt the storyline for Batman they would've done it by now first of all, and secondly the producers of "Arrow" have made no bones about the fact that the show from it's initial inception was inspired by "The Dark Knight Trilogy". (Spoiler) is not a Batman only villain so it's time to get over the fact that he is on this season of "Arrow".
The Shippers (Olicity fans?) were also up and arms as in this episode Felicity found herself with someone who was decidedly NOT Oliver Queen. While I appreciate how passionate this minority of fans are I applaud the producers for not allowing them to hijack the creative process of the show. Whether they end up together by series end or not I think it's easy to see from any logical standpoint at this point that dark & brooding Ollie is not a good match for comic relief Felicity at this point in time.
Sixth... CBS's "Supergirl" is casting a Superman which gives me the opportunity to ask "What is Henry Cavill doing right now?" One would think that it would be pretty easy for him to film a couple of cameos. In doing so WB/DC could throw a bone to the best part of their multimedia right now barring Batman video games & movies. I speak, of course, of their television universe which to this point has been wildly popular. But what the hell do I know I'm just a life long comic fan that can't get enough of this crap.
Seventh... As I spoke about earlier on my FB page I am currently working out ideas for my very own Graphic Novel series to be tentatively titled "Vendetta". As I can't draw I may run some sort of contest find a fellow collaborator to get this idea off of the ground. What I have so far is that I want to go for a hard boiled/intrigue/globe trotting story. It will feature a former Navy SEAL/some such special ops traveling the world to find his brother who was lost on a classified mission. When he can't get answers from his own government he takes matters into his own hands using his years of training to elude his own government & get into adventures in exotic locales and help people along the way.
As much as I love superhero comics I love the noir storytelling of "Sin City" and others just as much. I wanted to stay away from as many tropes as I could (defending a city, definitely dead family members, etc.)
Like I said I'm still working out some details, putting together a rough idea of the chain of events, developing character names, situations etc. When that is all done I will post a few pages in a screenplay format that I will then accept submissions on for different artists. Then I will have a face-to-face to work out the creative process and we will go from there if it is a good fit.
I'd like to launch a KickStarter page for this project before 2016, but I don't want to rush anything. I'm not hoping to make a career out of this or even a lot of money, but writing a comic has been a dream of mine that I'd like to see come true. So stay tuned as more details on "Vendetta" will be forthcoming.
I think that's all for today. Thank you for reading! I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
First.... Lot more on my pull list these last few weeks than usual. While two weeks ago I only picked up the latest issue of "Batman & Robin" & "Silk" #1 this week I picked up "Flash", "Daredevil", "Amazing Spider-man", "Spider-Gwen" and the penultimate chapter of the "Batman" endgame saga. I'm going to wait to share my thoughts on "Endgame" when we see what the ultimate payoff is to that storyline, but I'm happy to share my thoughts on the others.
Batman & Robin - This book is winding down and it's sad because on the whole it's been a good run. I will say the more fantastical storylines with Batman are not really my cup of tea, but overall it's been good. This week the Justice League was introduced to an unimpressed Super-Robin and they all set off on a mission immediately.
Flash - I had some serious concerns when Francis Manapaul & Brian Buccatello quit writing "The Flash" and moved on to "Detective Comics". The new run has not been without it's hiccups but this current storyline is the fun, sci-fi, extraordinary type of storytelling that us Flash fans have come to expect. In this current storyline Barry is stuck in the very savage land-ish (think X-men) speed force while a future/murderous Barry has usurped his place in the present. I don't want to spoil too much, but I will say this book packs a lot of punch for $2.99 a pop.
Daredevil - Waid has crafted one of my favorite runs with hornhead ever and I'm sad that it is also coming to the end. This issue kicked off his final storyline with DD, and continues to capture the fun, charm, and humorous storytelling that has been present throughout Waid's time with the character.
Amazing Spider-man - This last issue of ASM was the epilogue to the massive "Spider Verse" event. On the whole it was a great event and this was still an entertaining issue. It highlights a problem (albeit a good one) that they have introduced a LOT of spider characters that are infinitely more interesting than Mr. Parker has been for the last few years. This could be a reason why Disney/Marvel is being rumored to discuss a non-PP for their MCU Spider-man. Other than Alpha, which was crap on crap, Superior Spidey, Miles, Silk, Spider-Gwen, and so many more on the great web have been more intriguing than our old buddy Peter. Maybe it is because Author Dan Slott's first tour of duty cancelled out the most interesting character development of PP since his black costume (his unmasking, the subsequent shooting of Aunt May by Crossbones, switching back to the black to become more angry and vengeful, etc.) I still love my ASM, but as you will see I like some of the new character inventions as well.
Silk - I rolled my eyes at this character when she made her debut. "Oh great another character debut in a Spider-man comic that is like Spidey but much more powerful". I'll have to say though the first issue was a fun read as this is a character that is really fleshed out from her introduction. She is in search of her parents that have gone missing since she confined herself to a bunker to avoid the Inheritors, she has a photographic memory so her flashbacks are a part of her narrative, and she works for Fact News (lol) and it's new star J. Jonah Jameson. She has a complicated lust-filled relationship with PP, and is a young woman searching for her place in the world. It was a really great first issue. I'm not sure if I'll keep with it just because of budget concerns, but I would definitely recommend it.
Spider-Gwen - Girl power in full effect with the new big tent pole releases from Marvel. Set in an alternate universe where a radioactive Spider bit Gwen instead of Peter and she subsequently couldn't save Peter from his untimely demise. This is a really cool alt universe tale if there ever was one. In the first issue alone we learn that Capt. Stacy is also alive and well, Gwen is the former drummer of a newly broken-through all girl band called the Mary Janes, & that the media blames Spider-Gwen (that universe's Spider-woman) for PP's death. Also Frank Castle may or may not be a dirty cop, which is different. In all it's not a lot of new groundbreaking ideas, but the execution is there for sure. I love the costume design and I think the creative team has the right voice for the girl superhero. Kudos all around!
Second.... Just broken this evening by Deadline the CW is in the process of developing a third superhero show that will feature Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer/Atom), Wentworth Miller (Captain Cold), Victor Garber (Dr. Martin Stein aka the brains of Firestorm), and Caity Lotz (Canary?). After the amazing way that "The Flash" crew pulled off Firestorm I am really happy that it is now possible that we will see him in a starring role. Not really sure what all of these characters will have to do with one another, but it could be possible that it will be a Brave & and the Bold style series. Meaning with "Arrow" and "Flash" so much has been established that this series could be used to fill in the blanks and move forward other characters that have been introduced in the cornerstone series'. Think more along the lines of an anthology.
Third... If you didn't see the gritty Power/Rangers short film on YouTube you are going to have to look somewhere else. Saban has gotten the acclaimed short film pulled for copyright concerns even though it was a non for profit movie. Saban was worried that the dark take would ruin their valuable property. I was a huge fan of the show as a kid, and I really enjoyed the short as it was the antithesis of the original show. That said I can see Saban's concern with a long rumored reboot movie coming up. UPDATE 02/28/15: Both versions of the Power/Rangers short (NSFW & SFW) have returned to YouTube.
Fourth... I loved the new Aquaman look and I have no doubt that it will not be as dark as the initial image. Snyder is 100% style over substance so the sepia toned teaser images were to be expected. If you look long enough on the internet you can find pictures where the color saturation is up to the normal levels to see what it will look like in color.
There were a lot of concern about WW's garb when it first came out as well, but even Supes looks brighter this go round so maybe Snyder gets that is what people want to see.
At this point I'm just really excited to see a Miller-ish Batfleck.
Fifth... Regarding this weeks "Arrow" a lot of vitriol online for the fact that (Spoiler) asked (Spoiler) to be the next (Spoiler). In large part because it was eerily reminiscent of the "Son of the Demon" storyline. To those people I say kick rocks. If they wanted to adapt the storyline for Batman they would've done it by now first of all, and secondly the producers of "Arrow" have made no bones about the fact that the show from it's initial inception was inspired by "The Dark Knight Trilogy". (Spoiler) is not a Batman only villain so it's time to get over the fact that he is on this season of "Arrow".
The Shippers (Olicity fans?) were also up and arms as in this episode Felicity found herself with someone who was decidedly NOT Oliver Queen. While I appreciate how passionate this minority of fans are I applaud the producers for not allowing them to hijack the creative process of the show. Whether they end up together by series end or not I think it's easy to see from any logical standpoint at this point that dark & brooding Ollie is not a good match for comic relief Felicity at this point in time.
Sixth... CBS's "Supergirl" is casting a Superman which gives me the opportunity to ask "What is Henry Cavill doing right now?" One would think that it would be pretty easy for him to film a couple of cameos. In doing so WB/DC could throw a bone to the best part of their multimedia right now barring Batman video games & movies. I speak, of course, of their television universe which to this point has been wildly popular. But what the hell do I know I'm just a life long comic fan that can't get enough of this crap.
Seventh... As I spoke about earlier on my FB page I am currently working out ideas for my very own Graphic Novel series to be tentatively titled "Vendetta". As I can't draw I may run some sort of contest find a fellow collaborator to get this idea off of the ground. What I have so far is that I want to go for a hard boiled/intrigue/globe trotting story. It will feature a former Navy SEAL/some such special ops traveling the world to find his brother who was lost on a classified mission. When he can't get answers from his own government he takes matters into his own hands using his years of training to elude his own government & get into adventures in exotic locales and help people along the way.
As much as I love superhero comics I love the noir storytelling of "Sin City" and others just as much. I wanted to stay away from as many tropes as I could (defending a city, definitely dead family members, etc.)
Like I said I'm still working out some details, putting together a rough idea of the chain of events, developing character names, situations etc. When that is all done I will post a few pages in a screenplay format that I will then accept submissions on for different artists. Then I will have a face-to-face to work out the creative process and we will go from there if it is a good fit.
I'd like to launch a KickStarter page for this project before 2016, but I don't want to rush anything. I'm not hoping to make a career out of this or even a lot of money, but writing a comic has been a dream of mine that I'd like to see come true. So stay tuned as more details on "Vendetta" will be forthcoming.
I think that's all for today. Thank you for reading! I'll see you next time at The Comic Shop!
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