Write Club!

This Space Closed - Moved to Tumblr

2011-03-18T09:59:00.002-04:00

Hello all.
Welcome to Write Club. This blog was the home to Write Club in the first two years that we set up the podcast to talk about writing, art, comics and all that jazz.

Now we're transitioning into a new direction and focus, and with that comes a new home. Check out Write Club on Tumblr.

But as long as you're here, why don't you check out our previous podcasts and our articles.

Expect new interviews and podcasts discussing art and writing with a focus on Brooklyn and NYC events over on our Tumblr. And if you'd like to get involved or have something you'd like help promoting please just let us know.

Thanks for checking us out and giving us a listen.

"We're Back!" V. 3, Ep. 7

2011-02-02T06:56:00.003-05:00

So, it took a while. It took some planning and some soul searching. It took some realization that doing this podcast was something that we enjoyed doing, as long as we were doing it the way we wanted to do it. So, we're back. Perhaps a bit leaner and meaner, but back nonetheless.

This podcast covers the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival that took place back in December, specifically the LYNDA BARRY AND CHARLES BURNS IN CONVERSATION program.

Kurt and I are planning on doing at least 3 podcasts a month, more if time allows, and we're pretty psyched with some of the things we have planned.

Enjoy the recording, and as always comments are welcome via email here: Write.Club1@gmail.com, Twitter here @Write_Club, or in the comments section on this post.

Comic Reviews -- Week of Dec. 29

2011-01-02T13:14:00.013-05:00

DC:
Batman: The Dark Knight #1:

This is Bruce Wayne doing what he does best -- being a detective. Much of this issue seems to be character filler. There's a heart-to-heart with Alfred, Batman kicking the crap out of Killer Croc, and a surprise ending. This seems to be all exposition, leading in to the bigger plot which will be doled out in small pieces. It's not bad, it's not great. It's a strong Batman comic, and it leaves readers curious as to where it's going. I liked a lot of this issue -- particularly Batman's cleverness and resourcefulness. I'd like to see Batman kick more ass in future issues, but I don't think that's something we have to worry about. David Finch has a good handle on how to write Batman, and I'm sure the series will only get better from here.

Misc:
Nemesis #4 (Icon -- Millar & McNiven):

The first page of this issue is possibly the best thing about the entire series. When Blake Morrow reveals whom he believes Nemesis to be, I thought, for a moment, Millar had pulled a fast one over us. But this is Mark Millar writing, and instead we get a deus ex machina moment where Millar somewhat reveals the true identity behind Nemesis. And boy is it stupid. The story makes no sense once you find out who the villain actually is. The simplistic explanation of how a random person could possibly know so much about one man is so contrived that it seemed as if Millar got to this moment in the book, and then ran out of ideas so he had to invent an answer for the problem. What was more saddening was that there's a teaser for Volume 2 of Nemesis. This is a textbook example of "How Not to Write Comics." Pick it up for your reference shelf.

Echoes #1 (Minotaur -- Fialkov & Ekedal):

I wasn't sure what to expect from this. I flipped through it before buying it, so unfortunately I saw the last page before I read the story. Even knowing that, I was gripped by Echoes from beginning to end. Echoes is the story of a man who's father is dying while his wife is close to giving birth. On his deathbed, Brian's father tells him to go back to their old house and look in the basement for a box. When he does this (while he's dealing with psychotic delusions simultaneously), Brian discovers a horrifying secret, and one that I won't ruin here. Rashan Ekedal's art -- just black and white pencils -- work superbly here. I can't imagine the atmosphere being captured as well had this been done in color. There are enough plot elements, and character quirks to keep readers hooked. I have my own thoughts on how the title of the story relates to what will eventually happen, and I'm immediately drawn to Brian as a character, so I hope things work out for him. I'm not holding up much hope of that, however, because Joshua Fialkov has woven such a moody story that I can't see this ending up happily. And I think I'd be okay with that.

Bannen's Book of the Week
Detective Comics #872:

I was about halfway through this book before I remember that Scott Snyder was writing about Dick Grayson and not Bruce Wayne. This isn't a bad thing -- in fact, I think it speaks to the earnestness with which Scott Snyder is writing Detective Comics. He seems to understand the tonal differences between Bruce, Dick, Tim, and even Damien (although he's not present yet -- but I pray Snyder gets the opportunity to write him in). This issue is much like a train going downhill without brakes. Once it gets going, there's an urgency to the writing, and one that really captures the mania of the situation in which Dick finds himself. Jock needs to be commended for his art in this issue, particularly the last three pages where Dick is trapped in an horrific auction run by a psychotic auctioneer. Snyder must feel like the proverbial kid in the candy store, handed the keys to one of the greatest kingdoms in the DC Universe. So far, he's doing a great job. He's playing it cool now, developing character and story rather than going full on with the toys he's just inherited. I spoke highly of Snyder's American Vampire series, but seeing as that was an original idea, I didn't know what to expect. So far, I'm beyond impressed. This is a great series, utilizing the cornerstones laid by Grant Morrison. The story moves along quickly, gives us some nice character moments (particularly between Dick and Barbara), and ends with a great cliff-hanger. If you're looking for a time to get into Batman, it is now.

Rick Lacy: Back to School!

2010-12-06T23:26:00.000-05:00

Rick Lacy: Back to School!: "Class will be in session starting January 2011! Hey everyone, my private character design class at Bergen Street Comics www.bergenstreetc..."

KGB Bar - Live Comics Reading

2010-11-29T17:18:00.005-05:00

On Sunday Night I dropped by KGB Bar in the East Village to check out the vaguely listed Comix and Graphic Novelists. About the Series: KGB Bar Sunday Night Fiction. The KGB Bar Sunday Night Fiction showcases the finest in contemporary fiction from new and emerging writers.

I knew Emily Wernet had done a turn back around when I reviewed her comic 'Moonlighting', but other than that I hadn't heard of it or where I could get info. Afterwards I stumbled across Tom Hart's blog, the organizer and teacher of cartooning, which provided me with the names of the night's artists and their spots on the web.

Just as an aside, I have one of Tom Hart's 'Hutch Owen' books and I really dug it, one of my first indie cartoonist books I ever bought.

So I stumbled in with my girlfriend Laura Lee (on our third anniversary, and yes, that's months thank you), grabbed a Baltika, a huge Russian beer that is, and we tried not to stand in the way. I had no idea who was going to come out, but I recognized Alex Robinson in the corner, so I knew this would be good.

(I love Box Office Poison and have a sketch inside my copy, hell yeah.)

First up came Lisa Hanawalt, who you can meet tonight at Desert Island Comics in Williamsburg as she signs at her launch party for I Want You #2 and her window display at Desert Island.

She warmed up the crowd with her twisted lists from Bad Pets, to Awesome Hats, and How To Tell Martha Stewart's Drunk. Her art style is a wonderfully chaotic balance of fine line illustration and madcap absurdity, bordering on the grotesque at times, though always able to provoke, often into laughter.

Next up was Mike Dawson who was sitting over by Alex Robinson, and I guess that makes sense as they have very similar sensibilities.

He read a selection from his comic Troop 142 which is about as accurate a portrayal of young male life in America as I've seen. It's juvenile and possibly even nonsensical, but absolutely genuine and pure in its delivery of innocence as it lingers for those last few years before being a teenager truly kicks in.

Then there was a brief intermission so we could grab more beers. After we were settled in, then came the closer...Kate Beaton ladies and gentlemen!

I mean, if there's a cartoonist out there that has more buzz on them besides Kate Beaton, well then point them out dammit! From her Aquaman which has made the rounds on Tumblr, the Gatsby's, the Mystery Solving Teens...I mean, just go to her site and prepare to lose at least an hour as you take it all in. It's consistently funny, in the art style, and delivery of every punchline. You know what's even better than that though? Having Kate herself deliver the lines. Her voice, perfectly gravelly and deadpan as she hits every beat, knowing her strips through and through.

This was definitely a great event that I'd like to see more often than just every three months. Let me see what I can do, maybe wrestle up a venue, certainly know enough artists that'll show their work. Hmmmm...

In the meantime, check out these artists, as all are very top notch indie creators, and come swing by Desert Island tonight and say hello.

K

Twitter

Lisa Hanawalt

Mike Dawson

Kate Beaton

CASANOVA Review

2010-11-11T15:15:00.002-05:00

CASANOVA
by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba

What the FUCK did I just read? It's like old Marvel 'Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD' comics thrown in a blender with Grant Morrison's 'Invisibles' then trying to repaint Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius books. Granted it's all done with Matt Fraction's indelible wit and chock full of chunky ideas and action packed segments.

It's an attractive hardcover, with a 60's-70's vibe plastered all over it, from the trippy color palate and stark design, to the moody Paul Pope/Nick Cave-ish face of Casanova himself. It's quite unlike any other book out there in packaging, if not concept, but it comes with a hefty price tag of $24.99. Is it worth that?

Not really. The gags and action are quite awesome, and the general concept of a time swapped thief turned superspy caught between various warring factions, well that's just all kinds of awesome, tossing in all the things I love. But it really tries to be too clever. The plot is all over the place and I find myself trying to work out what happened and it really is nearly incomprehensible.

And I'm a well trained comic book reader here folks, with twenty years of experience, so I know what I'm talking about. The story has its moments, and the clever ideas are indeed quite clever, and mostly well executed, but the rest inbetween, that little thing we call the plot, it's about as flimsy as it comes.

It reminds me a lot of Fraction's earliest comic, 'Rex Mantooth' from Planet Lar/AIT, which featured a giant talking gorilla supersecretagent in a tuxedo that was illustrated by the lovely Andy Kuhn, and was also chock full of fun (especially the annotated Mantooth which has a running commentary beside each page). But where that was goofy and played it, I feel like Casanova wanted to be taken a bit more seriously, and it falls short.

Granted it does play with the spy tropes and throws in a lot of comic book idioms, but really it's just a big mess of a story with tasty bits. Now, the artwork is quite stunning, and even though the single color shading throughout took some getting used to, it was cool to see something new and when it worked, it worked well. I never was lost to what was happening visually. Just I didn't quite follow the leaps in logic and story structure.

Now, similar critiques could be made about Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius stories, which I love more in theory than practice, but at least he was out there doing it first. Instead this story feels like a cross between a failed pulp novel and an old SHIELD pitch for Marvel with a few hip ideas swiped from today's more polished and esoteric writers.

This isn't a Fraction bash-fest mind you. When the man is on, he's on. His work on Iron Man started rough but rose to brilliant levels, and the previously mentioned 'Rex Mantooth' was thoroughly enjoyable. Maybe I just had high expectations from the concept for the story (sexy superspy sci-fi pulp) and the reviews of it from friends who've read it.

All in all, it wasn't NOT worth reading, and it does set things up in the end (the rather blunt and abrupt ending that wraps up NOTHING) that could potentially make for a really cool second attempt at telling this type of story, but this arc I would consider a failure, and as all spies know, failure will not be tolerated.

I give you all license to kill this book from your reading list.

K

Warren Ellis' "On What Comics Can Do"

2010-11-04T12:57:00.002-04:00

Warren Ellis has long been a champion of the power of the comic format, and has often delved into the--sometimes very technical-- act of creating a story using words and pictures. His GLOBAL FREQUENCY series was somewhat of an exercise in matching specific types of stories with specific artists, and a well done exercise at that. In fact, Ellis goes to great lengths to match all of his projects with artists that he feels maximize the storytelling.

Explaining why comics are important to people who have only a passing knowledge can sometimes be frustrating, but Ellis is in the process of breaking down the distinctions between comics, prose and film. He posted this bit on his site Warrenellis.com.

For the last three months or so, I've been working piecemeal in spare time on a short booklet about writing comics. Here's one small piece of it, the beginning of a section:
In what ways are comics not like film, you ask (in my head)?
Illustration creates a suspension of disbelief.
If Art Spiegelman’s MAUS had been filmed first, it would have had an audience of maybe three people at Sundance. Because the moment everyone trooped on wearing their mouse masks, any larger audience would have lost it and left giggling. Only in the space of cartooning could that conceit work. Not least because we’re already aware, when we come to cartooning, that we’re looking at someone’s processed and hermetic perception of the world. The great success of MAUS is that the mouse faces make us let our guard down, and so we’re hit by the horrible truth of that book from an unprotected angle.
There’s a page I often cite in these conversations, from the 1974 comic MANHUNTER by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson. It’s an entire Jason Bourne sequence in a single page. In a Marrakesh alleyway, Damon Nostrand is in a car attempting to run down Paul Kirk and Christine StClair. Kirk pushes StClair to cover, rolls under the speeding car, draws a knife, tears it through the car’s petrol tank as it passes over him, gets clear, lights a match, touches it to the trail of petrol the car leaves, the petrol blazes down the alley to the car, the car explodes, and then they do three or four lines of dialogue while watching Nostrand burn to death about how it’s horrible but really he was a bit of a git and completely deserved it. One page. Employing “camera angles” and compositions that even now the likes of Paul Greengrass would go blind trying to replicate.
Also: a curling, snarling Peter Kuper piece can sear the page with its anger in a way that no photorealistic artist will ever be able to communicate. A room drawn by Eddie Campbell will be more real than any snapshot, because his line is almost like handwriting, and has human breath upon it. Dash Shaw’s work may look rough on first look, but stay with it, look at how he conveys the essence of an idea in every panel, and you’ll realise how hard he sometimes works to evoke an entire world with so few elements.
All of which is to say you’re not necessarily hemmed in by realism, or naturalism of any kind. This is a field that combines, on the one hand, the novel and the poem and the slogan and the news story, and on the other hand every stop from pointillism to cave painting. Understand comics as the marriage of word and picture, as simple as that, and you’ll get a sense of how broad the medium’s reach really is.
I’m currently driving my FREAKANGELS artist Paul Duffield mad by making him draw a sequence partly inspired by the main titles of Gaspar Noe’s ENTER THE VOID. Which is all typography and signwork.
Comics are not film. Film can do some things we can’t. But we have a far larger toolbox.

What do you think? How are comics different than film? How are they different from prose? Let us know in the comments.

Write Club! "Piethos!" V. 3, Ep. 6

2010-11-02T23:02:00.017-04:00

Write Club can't always be about comics, right? Right! So in this episode Tim & Kurt take the podcast out into the streets of Brooklyn to cover a Slice Magazine reading event.

The event, coordinated by Slice's resident blog czar and online editor, C.A.B Fredricks was your basic head-to-head reading competition featuring the best and the brightest up & comers of the indie publishing world!

photo courtesy of Amy Sly

PIETHOS! A Reading, works like this: Five independent literary organizations were chosen, each selected a champion, and presented a challenge for an opposing organization. Each reader had about one week to compose a story in answer of their challenge. The prize? A FRESH BAKED APPLE PIE!

The event was held at LEGION bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Listen to the event here:

And now, THE READERS, with visual aids and in order of appearance:

Liz Matthews (Slice Magazine)

photo courtesy of Amy Sly

Liz's story involved some visual aids. To get the whole experience, click on each link as she prompts the picture in her story.

Window

Breakfast

Leaves

Corey Eastwood (Book Thug Nation)

photo courtesy of Amy Sly

Kate Axelrod (Featherproof Books)

photo courtesy of Amy Sly

Martha Raoli (Canteen Magazine)

photo courtesy of Amy Sly

The Prize:

photo courtesy of Amy Sly

Now Dear Write Clubbers, after listening to the event, who would YOU have chosen to win the nommy pie?

Comic Reviews

2010-10-24T13:26:00.006-04:00

MARVEL:

Amazing Spider-Man #645:

This issue of Amazing Spider-Man is noteworthy in that Spidey spends almost the entire issue kicking the crap out of his rogues. Most of his attacks are contrived situations -- his villains happen to be in the right places at the wrong times. But still, Mark Waid knows how to write a cool story. My two favorite moments: Spider-Man tears down a dockside warehouse by pulling the beams apart underwater; Spider-Man chases the Chameleon through a mansion, only to pull him through a wall. All of this is because Peter thinks Norman Osborne and Lilly Hollister's baby is dead, and he thinks he's responsible. The truth will out, obviously, but where others have found this series to be growing stale, I still see it as a continuous solid outing.

DC:

Superman #703:

I'm still enjoying Superman's trek across America. This story is a bit more cliched than others, however, and the moral is shoved down readers' throats. But, It's still more interesting than watching Superman try to battle some alien menace in Metropolis while at the same time dealing with his "marital issues." I think what Straczynski really wants to do is retcon Superman's previous fifteen years. Since that's damn near impossible, this is the next best thing.

VERTIGO:

American Vampire #6: Stephen King has stepped aside after completing his five issue run so now Scott Snyder is the primary creative force behind American Vampire. How'd he do? Check below for a further review.

ICON:

Nemesis #3:

I can't even clearly review this piece of shit. Here are some "highlights:" Nemesis kidnaps Blake Morrow's son and daughter, makes Morrow admit that his son is gay, then he uses Morrow's son's sperm to impregnate Morrow's daughter. Oh, and he "rigged [the daughter's] womb to completely collapse" if they attempt to abort the child. Seriously -- RIGGED A WOMB TO BLOW?!? This is the shittiest piece of shitty shit to ever get shit out.

Superior #1:

Now, while Nemesis may be a steaming pile, I actually enjoyed Superior. Superior is the story of Simon Pooni, a boy with Multiple Sclerosis who is granted a wish by a space monkey. Again, I can't make this shit up. But the difference here is that where Nemesis is all about flash over substance, Superior has heart. There's a lot to like here -- Millar is writing a story that most people can relate to. How many comic book fans wished, at some point, for super powers? Imagine if they were granted, but not to any douchebag on the street. Instead, they're given to a boy who has every reason to own them. What will he do with them? We'll have to wait and see. But Millar admits that Superior is more "family-friendly," despite the book being littered with four letter words. This is a vast improvement from the work he's been doing in his other comics, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Simon does with his abilities. And by the by, Simon Pooni is the name of a guy who won an eBay auction, the proceeds of which went to buy a bus for a school with special needs students. So Millar isn't a complete asshole -- just a guy who shouldn't be given too much "ego space."

Bannen's Book of the Week:

American Vampire #6

My pick this week is Scott Snyder's Vampire/Western/History of America book. We still have the continuous issue of the barons of industry fighting the simple folks of the frontier. This time, we're pushed to 1930's in the middle of the depression, and we're introduced to another character: Cashel McCogan. He's the new chief of police, replacing his father who was killed two months prior. The morals have shifted slightly -- there are undercurrents of the evils of drinking, gambling, prostitution, and much of the issue is devoted to the frustrations small towns faced when big businesses came in and built large structures like dams, bridges, or factories. Snyder writes Cashel as part rancher and part bad ass. He uses bucolic phrases like "You and yours," but still maintains an air of control. The story feels big, and I imagine that Snyder must feel like he can sprawl a bit more, now that he's got a full twenty-two pages to play with. This is a great beginning -- Snyder still uses Skinner Sweet (who is easily one of the coolest comic creations), and Rafael Albuquerque still provides the beautiful images to go with Snyder's story. Where readers may have been interested to see if the story loses any of its "oomph" with the departure of Stephen King, I can assure it doesn't. It still has just as much bite as before.

Book Club Review: One Hit Wonder by Charlie Carillo

2010-10-20T16:12:00.003-04:00

In our celebrity saturated society even those thought long forgotten, idols from our youth who glimmered for just a summer, leaving us with a singular hit song that resonated in the public sending ripples through the pop culture pool, even they become relevant and interesting once more.

In Charlie Carillo's new book One Hit Wonder, we follow Mickey DeFalco, a Queens native who hit it big with his sappy yet melancholy ballad 'Sweet Days' as he returns home an utter failure and total has-been. In his shoes we feel what it's like to be loved and adored for that one contribution to people's lives.

An aging fan hooking up with her teenage fantasy. Bitter former classmates still toiling at menial jobs at home. The girl that was loved and lost, inspiring those epic refrains. These are the people around Mickey that marvel at his achievement and fall from grace. They hold him at a distance, as something other than themselves.

Through flashbacks we're shown even more moments of awkward celebrity. From playing a cruise ship to kids birthday parties, no indignity is spared, and Mickey just casually walks his way through each of them, only passionate and excitable when clinging to his last shreds of dignity.

There's something to Mickey's boy-like demeanor and passive aggressive nature that really shines in the prose. This feels like a real person who could neatly slide into our pop song past. His parents are peppered with sentimental details that make them so true to life. You can see their past as Mickey grew up in their home.

The whole book is littered with truths. About life, love, family. Just lines tossed out here and there that feel like universal truths, spit out by a wiseass Queens kid in a 38 year old's body. The concept of hitting bottom and trying to resurface, flailing about in inconsistency of actions, taking the easy route when available, this is how people behave.

And then there's lost love. Idyllic in memory, which taints all reality about him, making it all a joke, another tragedy heaped upon the pile. How do you react when all you want is the girl, but instead are given fame and fortune? You self-destruct of course. Spiral to the bottom and find yourself again.

The book is very well written and consistent in its tone, with more than a few twists and turns that feel like the randomness of life, rather than the structure of plot. Not to give spoilers, but there is a happy ending there, but it may not exactly come as you'd think it would.

I have yet to read Carillo's other novels, but from this book I imagine he's got more than just this one song to offer.

Check out Charlie Carillo's website or his other book RAISING JAKE.

Free Comic of the Week: Vision Machine by Greg Pak

2010-10-16T17:59:00.002-04:00

A new feature I'll be having up here on the blog is to present the best of free comic books available online.

First up is Vision Machine by Greg Pak. You can read the comic on Comixology or download the PDF.

Greg Pak has an exclusive interview up on Comics Alliance where he mentions that not only are you able to download/read the comic for free online, but eventually there will be a free print version available as well.

Which is really interesting, having a book put together by money from the Ford Foundation and put out under Creative Commons license which means anyone can expand on the universe created within the pages or is able to remix or mashup the story however they see fit as long as the original source is credited. Truly free creative information. The article also has a lot of interesting points about digital comics and creator royalties.

Which leads me over to another article discussing ICv2's number crunching of digital sales which is ultimately summed up as:

"While the news for print was less than positive, with manga sales facing an estimated 20% drop in 2010, the news for digital comics was very good indeed, with Griepp projecting that digital comics sales would see a more than ten-fold increase this year over last."

And:

"But while manga and graphic novels decline, the real energy and growth has been in digital, which has expanded from a $500,000 market in 2009 to an estimated $6 to 8 million dollars in 2010, a more than ten-fold increase. Quite simply, digital comics are "the fastest-growing part of the comics business," said Griepp."

It's interesting seeing this comic going out into the public, with its theme of free creative information with a donation based payment setup and the Orwellian Big Brother aspect of controlled information. I'm eager to find out which direction both the story within the comic and the story of the growing digital distribution and the role that this free comic plays in that.

K

New York Comic Con Mini-Cast: Day 1

2010-10-12T09:17:00.000-04:00

Day 1:

This is a short one folks! Kurt, Tim and later Phil, take a walk through the con and are struck with a volley of emotions. The British are killed, and Tim & Kurt ask "What's it all about?"

Luckily they're saved by a girl named Gabby.

Intro: "Four Colored Universe" Metasciences

Outro: "Write Club Theme" Scott St. Pierre

New York Comic Con Mini-Cast: Day 2

2010-10-12T09:16:00.000-04:00

Day 2:

Tim is joined by Pete Lenz, who is having fun. Then Tim tries to find the screaming women, and when that doesn't pan out Pete, Tim and Phil head down to the basement to check out Anime Fest. Apples are eaten, smiles are shared, and perhaps the oddest interview I've ever done takes place.

Seeing as how this is a major comic event, I thought I'd check out Marvel's Cup O' Joe panel. That kicks in at about 7 minutes, and therein you'll hear about some of Marvel Comics upcoming plans. This, of course, was a slide show, so you will not be able to see what they're talking about. Here are some bullet points:

Marvel to publish at least two CrossGen titles. From the images it looks like they'll be SIGIL and RUSE (penned by Mark Waid).

Brian Bendis and Michael Oeming will be putting out a creator owned, all-ages book named TAKIO.

Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev team up to reinvent MOON KNIGHT.
Marvel + ESPN? I don't know either.
A teaser of a web-series about Marvel editor Steve Wacker auditioning for the Broadway play based on SPIDER-MAN. I think it's called SPIDER-MAN: WTF am I doing on Broadway? (JOKES!)

Intro: "Kingdom Come" Jay-Z

Outro: "Write Club Theme" Scott St. Pierre

New York Comic Con Mini-Cast: Day 3

2010-10-12T09:15:00.001-04:00

Day 3:

LAST DAY OF COMIC CON NY 2010! We start this off with Phil Gelatt, and you can tell that the con has taken its toll on this strong, strong man. We then chat with Nikki Cook about her upcoming book, MEMOIR, written by Ben McCool.

After that we catch up with Reilly Brown to discuss his con sketches and his new ALPHA FLIGHT project. And, finally, Rick Lacy appears on the scene to detail his plans to take his life down to zero, and then build it back up to 11.

If you understand the plan, please let me know.

We end with a haunting scene at the AnimeFest. In my mind, I'm still there.

Intro: "I Am the Law" Anthrax

Outro: "Write Club Theme" Scott St. Pierre

Comics: the Con

2010-10-11T20:35:00.004-04:00

written Sunday night at 7pm.

At Botanica, drinking Happy Hour drinks, the con weekend over before it ever began. Boston is probably back in Massachusetts by now, Reilly on his way back to Hoboken, Doug'll be back in Utah by tomorrow, and Khoi (with Heather & baby Gideon) are probably driving back to Pennsylvania at this moment.

I spent all day at the Comicon on Friday which just wore me out. I spent Saturday napping, then went out to the MTV party, after drinking in the New Yorker with Boston, mocking TV shows and spitballing ideas. The MTV party was surreal watching as comic celebs all drunkenly danced to hip hop.

I left with Boston and his friend to hit up the East Village where we fit in some dancing time at Beauty Bar before being denied entry into Lit and winding up at Remedy Diner. I was well and sober by the time we came downtown so the grumpiness took over.

I had talked it over with Tim for a bit before, about how we're these mid-level professionals who have done some comic work but not anyone with any pull or weight. And we're far from fan boys who're blowing money on show exclusive books and statues and toys, waiting on line for an autograph from so and so. Whatever happened to the fun of comics?

I imagine I would only enjoy a con again if I had a small child that I could walk around in costume. For now, I'm making face time with some cool people who are friendly aquaintances but not quite friends. Just biding my time until my books come out and can really join the gang of creators that I know.

My girlfriend's galley copy of her book came out today and she signed free copies. What must that be like for her? After being the sole creator on an epic 192 page graphic novel and having it put out by Abrams, one of the more legit publishers out there, here it was, her first comic come to life. I'm so proud to be with her.

I tried not to let my melancholy affect her, but it came out. It just frustrated me to not be able to soak up all the con had to offer and feel invigorated. To be able to acknowledge that the industry is growing and so every show gets bigger and bigger. Why can't I look into that crowd and see anything positive?

All I see is sadness, loneliness. Imagination packaged as product and slapped with a price tag. Looking to my future I see long weekends hocking my wares to an inclusive audience jaded by an oversaturated market. Please buy what I helped create. Give me money so you can distract yourself for a moment. Live someone else's adventure for a snippet of time.

Why can't I look at it as enjoyment of entertainment? Maybe because I don't enjoy it anymore. Every comic I read is research. I've dissected the medium to the point where I see all the behind the scenes movements, and so I never let myself be absorbed by the story.

That just sucks. I've loved comics to the point where it became my identity, then I assumed it needed to be my career, because what else would I do? After crafting a graphic novel I know fully what goes into creating every single comic page. Something someone will pass over in a minute or less.

But hopefully the sum of the parts will be more long lasting. I can really only believe that the total story will move someone, inspire someone, at the very least entertain someone. I don't know though, is that enough? Is that what I want? To spend so much time creating something that people will consume like a snack?

I want to make a bigger impression upon the world. To write something of substance that makes a difference. I know that through story and characters you can make a bigger impact rather than straightforwared dry instructional text. But when it comes to making a living, getting paid for your work, you need to think of the market, the audience's money, and giving them what they want.

The fine line between honest artistic expression and formulaic fluff entertainment, that's what I have a problem with. I just can barely afford to feed myself, let alone spend money on something that I'll read once, so any story put out there needs to be epic. Though new stories need to be created all the time to feed the pop culture machine as it reaps the dreams of people, nuturing the dreams of others.

Maybe I'm overthinking it. Okay, I'm definitely overthinking it. But I'm a writer and can not help it. I'm spending so much time crafting ideas into words and putting them down, let alone convincing artists to illustrate those ideas to get them out there. I need to question motives and reasons.

Then comes the idea of validation. Would readers, building an audience, give me something I'm missing? I know you're supposed to just focus on creating and not worry about how it'll be received, but would knowing that people read this make me feel any different?

It actually does. I have heard some mentioning that people have read my blog and it kind of makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time. What's the correlation between needing to express myself and needing it to be read? Where does that leave me? Either as a repressed overthinker or an emotional exhibitionist.

I don't know. I guess I just want my ego to be stroked because my self-esteem as a creator is drastically low. Well, I should explain. I love my work. I think my writing is genius and among the best work I've read. The fact that people rarely proclaim anything about my writing to me makes me doubt that.

But I try and bleed honesty on these pages, tapping out truths with every keystroke. I strive to understand something so fundamental it can only be summed up as "Why?". Why create? Why write? Why put something else out there when so many people are trying so hard to as well? What do I have to offer that's unique?

Do I have anything to offer that's unique?

I guess that's every artist's question at some point. For awhile you do what you do without thinking too much about it, then at some point you want a career and then wonder, how can I get paid for this, should I be paid for this?

I would like to be paid for writing stories.

K

Comic Con: The Purchases

2010-10-11T12:14:00.002-04:00

The stuff from Left to Right:

Red Dead Redemption deck of playing cards, Dungeons & Dragons comic (which I actually kind of enjoyed, also it was free), The first two Nikolai Dante books (SIGNED!), Mike Zagari's HUMAN ON THE INSIDE (issues 1 & 2 Signed! I NEED issue 3, hurry Mike!), Issues 2 - 5 of DOGEM LOGIC, Eddie Campbell's ALEC omnibus, PAGE BY PAIGE by Laura Lee Gulledge (SIGNED!), MEGAGOGO mini-comic by Hunter Mahan.

New York ComicCon 2010: PHOTOS!

2010-10-11T11:53:00.001-04:00

Dark Night of the Soul: New York ComicCon 2010 Edition!

2010-10-11T11:25:00.002-04:00

This year’s New York Comic Con was a time of rough re-evaluation of our lives as creators. Those of us who straddle the line between full blown “made it” comickers and sideline, plugging-your-goods in every conversation aspirants, seem to have hit upon existential hard times at this most recent nerd-fest. While the convention hall was packed, seemingly despite the current recession, many of the writers and artists that I’m acquainted with didn’t sell as many books or sketches as they had hoped they would. Many shared booth space at two or three different booths, and everyone I spoke with—showing good common sense—waited until the last day, day of deals, to purchase anything.

Kurt and I, while wandering the hall at the very start of the con, felt a certain air of un-fulfillment with the rampant flood of imagination and commercialism that flowed around us. We’re two writers who have had mini-successes with doing that thing that we love to do: He with writing and self-publishing his almost finished original graphic novel THE LEGEND OF LIQUID FURY and his upcoming Comixology web-series; and me with the work I’ve done for Dark Horse comics, and Sterling’s ALL-ACTION CLASSICS series, and while we’re both extremely proud of our work, we can’t help but feel a certain sense of longing for more exposure.

That longing is a large part of the reason that this website, and the Write Club Podcast was born. So that we would have a forum with which to discuss our works and our opinions on work currently out there. The comic industry is so small that all one needs to do is to attend a handful of meet-up events, in-store signing, or drinks nights and chances are you’ve been in the presence of a majority of up-and-comers and likely two or three mainstream professionals, not to mention a slew of editors and other behind-the-scenes people, but just having face time isn’t enough. One must be producing work in order to really meet on common ground. One will, more than likely, be producing work just to appease oneself, because the comic industry, as previously mentioned, is a small one. In other words, you may labor for years on a project that is as much a part of you as your own heart, but still never gain mainstream recognition. The two big companies (Marvel & DC) are pretty much the only game in town, and they tend to hire from within, and further, hedge their bets by employing only known and published talent. Therefore, the best way to get published is to already be published, and while this may seem inherently unfair and counter intuitive, it is a system that works for them, and works well. Consider how many years a writer stays loyal to the company of their choice. It stands to reason that if you’re a good writer, and you’re offered the chance to write for the Big 2, and you continue to be a good writer, you’ve got a job for life.

Anyway, this is what weighed on our particular minds. You may be feeling the same, or you may be feeling the opposite or something in-between, but chances are this recent NYCC left an impression on you that previous cons have not. If it did, or did not, I’d love to hear how your con experience played out.

Write Club! "MOOREatorium" V. 3, Ep. 4

2010-10-05T21:48:00.016-04:00

The big brains behind Write Club tackle the life, work, and reputation of outspoken and ofttimes problematic comic legend Alan Moore. If you haven't listened to the previous episode, where Tim Mucci interviews Moore, you may want to do so; it does come up and you will be tested.

Kurt Christenson, Phil Gelatt, and Tim Mucci discuss Alan Moore.

Intro: "Oh Somba!" Electrelane
Outro: "Write Club Theme" Scott St. Pierre

What do you think of Moore? Let us know in the comments!

Write Club! "Alan Moore!" V. 3, Ep. 3

2010-09-15T06:43:00.015-04:00

This is what happens when the theme of the next issue of Slice Magazine is Villains: You get a crazy idea in your head that just won't leave. At the last Slice Magazine editorial meeting I was asked if I wanted to contribute an interview for their upcoming Villains issue, issue 7. I'm pretty sure they asked me because A) I'm into comics B) I'm into comics C) Most, if not all of my friends are either into comics also, or work in the comic industry.

As soon as they announced the theme I immediately knew who I wanted to interview. I wanted to talk with Alan Moore. I tried to get such a crazy idea out of my head, I mean...Alan Moore? Me? How could that happen?? Suffice it to say, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. I had a great spin on the interview, I'm a tremendous fan of Moore's work, and here was the perfect reason to try and contact him. So I set to work. Moore doesn't have an agent, he doesn't have any official representation, so I just sent out an email to pretty much every publisher he'd ever worked with. Blanketed the field, and heard nothing back.

Until. Until some nice folks at Avatar emailed me and told me that they'd forwarded my request to Top Shelf comics, which is his main publisher here in the US. Not long after, Chris Staros over at Top Shelf emailed me back to let me know that he'd contacted Alan with my request, and that I should be hearing something soon. Let me pause for a moment here to say how awesome Chris Staros is, because he is. In all of my communications with him he's been nothing but friendly, and professional. A true gentleman. Eventually I was contacted by Mr. Moore's assistant editor at his magazine Dodgem Logic, Joe Brown, and Mr. Brown said that Alan would love to speak with me. He gave me a time and a date. I threw up. Well, almost, because I had about a week to prep.

Background: One of the first comics I can remember reading (and understanding) was Swamp Thing #40, which was about this woman who was a werewolf. The central idea was that werewolves and women both cycle with the moon, and it was horrifying, and sad, and human, and amazing. And written by Alan Moore. Alan Moore is pretty much responsible for my comic book obsession.

So, I had a week to prep to talk to one of the most influential figures in my life.

Here is the result. Write Club and Slice Magazine presents Alan Moore:

Alan Moore: The Architect of the Blackest Night

2010-09-04T07:46:00.010-04:00

Recently, DC's Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns, wrote an eight part epic entitled "Blackest Night." The story referred to the Green Lantern oath which states "In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight." Johns took the second part of the sentence, and made a literal Blackest Night, imagining what would be the most horrific thing the Green Lantern Corps would have to deal with. The genesis of this idea came from Alan Moore's short story "Tygers" first published in Green Lantern Corps Annual No. 2 in 1986. But that's not the only thing Green Lantern owes to Alan Moore. In the same story, he mentioned/created a character named Sodam Yat who was said to be the most powerful Green Lantern in the universe due to his Daxamite abilities. Geoff Johns took these two ideas and wrote first, "The Sinestro Corps War," and then "Blackest Night." Both of these ideas, their ripple effects, and their genesis owe themselves to the creative genius of Alan Moore. If not for his work on Green Lantern, the current crew of space police in sector 2814 Could very well have been much different characters.

Alan Moore's influence on the Green Lantern universe begins when he started writing for Green Lantern Corps in the 1980's. Two stories in particular, "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" and "Tygers" played a major role in the development of the current writing on Green Lantern. "Mogo Doesn't Socialize" is a story about Bolphunga, a brute alien who traveled from planet to planet seeking out the greatest warriors so that he could best them in a duel. In this story, he seeks out the Green Lantern Mogo, who is said to be the most feared and mysterious lantern. The reason for this is that Mogo is the universes' first planet sized Green Lantern. In more recent years, Geoff Johns, Dave Gibbons, and Peter J. Tomasi have expanded Mogo's role. It is his duty to control the rings of deceased Lanterns so that they may find new owners. Indeed, he is now the soul of the Green Lantern Corps. Without him, the rings are flightless and the corps would never regenerate. All lanterns travel to Mogo in order to face their greatest fears as he can alter his landscape to challenge anyone. His power, therefore is infinite.

"Tygers," another Green Lantern Corps story, is about Abin Sur, the lantern whom Hal Jordan replaced. When Abin Sur's ship crashed in Showcase #22, published in 1959, he said it was the sun's yellow light which blinded him, and caused his ship to fail. The color yellow became a major hindrance to the green ring, and later became the color of Sinestro's ring and corps. But in Moore's story, "Tygers," it's revealed that it was not the color yellow so much as a deeper-seeded impurity: fear. In the issue, Abin Sur travels to the mysterious planet of Ysmault. There, he meets a world of horrors; disproportionate monsters with no defined features, mangled bodies, and distorted limbs. It's a visual horror (and Kevin O'Neill should be celebrated for making such visuals come to life). Once there, Abin learns of the "Empire of Tears," a place where demons, disembodied monsters, and dangerous minds remained imprisoned by the guardians of Oa. But it is a place where Abin must travel to find a downed spaceship, and save the alien child that survived the crash. Here he meets Quill of the Five Inversions, a humanoid being who speaks the closest to truth on the entire planet. After helping Abin find the baby, he tells him of a prophecy, a "final catastrophe" where the enemies of the Green Lantern corps will rise against them and destroy them. Quill tells him, "Sodam Yat, a Daxamite hailed as the ultimate green lantern, will perish battling the lobe-spawn. The planet-form Green Lantern named Mogo will be the last to fall, as Ranx explodes a blink-bomb in his core. And after that, there will only be the demons, dancing in the ruins of Oa to the rhythm of drums bound with taut blue skin." The images are horrific and concrete. They also serve as the basis for Geoff Johns' "Blackest Night" series. Abin eventually leaves the planet but not until Quill has poisoned him with a lantern's biggest weaknesses: fear and doubt.

It is these two themes that serve as the basis for "Sinestro Corps War" and "Blackest Night." "The Sinestro Corps War" is Geoff Johns' second act in what he called his "Green Lantern Trilogy," the first part being "Green Lantern: Rebirth" where he reversed the ills of the past, saving Hal Jordan from a life as The Spectre. The reason for his fall was an impurity known as Parallax, a fear construct which found its way into the green battery. Once Hal vanquished Parallax from the battery, he returned to his normal safe and became, once again, the universe's greatest Green Lantern. "Sinestro Corps War" follows a few plot threads introduced in the regular Green Lantern series. Specifically, Sinestro uses fear to create his own group of followers, all of whom sport yellow power rings. It is fear that allows them to create constructs and kill Green Lanterns. Fear and doubt play key roles here because the lanterns fear death, and doubt their ability to overcome fear. At one point, Hal and Kyle Rayner both become hosts for the Parallax entity because they allow fear into their hearts. By working together, the Green Lanterns save the Earth from a fear invasion.

But "Blackest Night" continues Alan Moore's prophethetical vision in "Tygers." The prophecy Quill mentioned comes true, and the Blackest Night comes upon the Green Lanterns. Here, the key themes are inevitability and death. In "Tygers," Moore explores the idea of fate as a weakness because if one hears that ones fate is not pleasant, a seed of fear is planted. This seed is a weakness of the Green Lanterns, and leads them to destruction. Death is also an inevitability, and this is really where "Blackest Night" takes form. Any character who has experienced death is at risk of fear, and if they weaken, the black lanterns win. It is only through celebrating life that the Earth is able to defeat the lanterns of death. Since the rings are based on willpower, it is up to the lanterns to rely solely on them. It was this moment of weakness that caused Abin Sur's demise, and it is what saves Hal Jordan. He strength and resilience are what save him, and help him destroy Nekron, the leader of the Black Lantern Corps. But where Abin failed, Hal survives.

No one can say with any certainty that without Alan Moore, the Green Lantern universe would be completely different, because that would be a logical fallacy. But, I think any fan can say, with a strong degree of certainty, that Alan Moore's scope, his depth regarding mythology and characterization has indeed played a role in how Geoff Johns crafted his Green Lantern trilogy. The one thing that Green Lantern has on its side is its world of infinite possibility. In a never ending universe, the number of characters and the number of possible situations grows exponentially. And therefore, one must look beyond what is accepted and expected. A writer must be willing to move his characters into possible uncomfortable situations in order for them to grow. Moore made Abin Sur more than just a footnote in Green Lantern history. He created two of the greatest characters in Green Lantern history: Mogo and Sodam Yat. Lastly, he broadened the horizon for any other writer of Green Lantern. Much like Hal Jordan, Alan Moore is a man without fear. As Abin Sur says in Showcase #22, the first appearance of Hal Jordan as a Green Lantern, "It is our duty . . . when disaster strikes . . . to pass on the battery of power . . . to another who is fearless . . . and honest!" John Broome wrote these words in 1959, twenty-seven years before Alan Moore would craft "Tygers." Little did he know he was speaking of one of Green Lantern, and even comics' greatest writers.

Comic Reviews: Weeks of July 28, Aug 4 & 11

2010-08-19T05:42:00.006-04:00

DC:

Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1: Why does DC feel the need to include Ma and Pa Kent in almost every story about an alternate world of Superman? This time, the entire El family is survives the trip to Earth, and they go on to become a rich and powerful family -- but they need to send their son to live with humans? And DC seems intent on daddy issues because this book is chock full of 'em. You can see where this is going because the story always ends the same way, with Superman becoming the Superman we know: a good person with a good heart and good morals. Yawn. This is why Superman is struggling to keep readers interested. DC never tries anything new (although Straczynski and Cornell are trying -- and doing well if you ask me). If you folks want to read what I think is the best Superman Elseworlds story, pick up "Superman: Speeding Bullets." THAT, my friends, is a good Elseworlds. This is canned and predictable and disappointing.

Action Comics #891: Paul Cornell's Superman story (starring Lex Luthor) is a surprisingly well written tale. Read below for a greater description on what is easily one of the best things to come out of the Superman in the past few years.

Batman: The Widening Gyre #6: Whereas I enjoyed the mystery revealed in Grant Morrison's Batman story (where the Joker was posing as the British detective Sexton), the final page of Kevin Smith's Batman story made me angry. Batman is the world's greatest detective and he couldn't figure out this mystery? I don't buy it, and neither should you.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #1: There's a lot going on with Guy Gardner, and for fans of the character, Emerald Warriors is the comic for you. Guy is front and center, and the rest of the corps takes a supporting role. There's a bigger mystery here, but if you're not familiar with what's happen in the GL Universe in the past two years, this story wouldn't make sense. Tomasi is taking tips from Geoff Johns in terms of creating rather than answering questions and this series may get frustrating after a while. But Peter J. Tomasi is easily one the best writers on staff at DC, so I would keep an eye on Emerald Warriors. Green Lantern has the most interesting band of supporting characters, and the story will make good use of them.

Marvel:

Ultimate Spider-Man #13: Painful to read, frustrating to watch, and incredibly written. This is the best story to come out of Vol. 2 of Ultimate Spider-Man. Plus, Mark Millar needs to see how a cliff hanger is done. The final page of this issue gave me goosebumps. It must get boring to read continuously positive reveiws, but Bendis keeps continuously writing incredible stories.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #6: It's great that this series wraps up just as Ultimate Avengers 3 begins because it's like seeing one piece of shit connected to another. Ultimate Avengers 2 was just an awful story. Millar wants to take the badasses of the Ultimate Universe and show what happens when you make them heroes. They play by their own rules. They do what they want. And they get the job done. (Cue AC/DC and shots of things exploding.) I enjoyed The Ultimates 1 and 2, so it's painful to see how far Millar has fallen. I asked my comic shop guy about this. He seems to think that when Millar is under pressure to turn in a story on time, he turns in mediocrity. So, we should give him no deadline? I don't think so. Millar wants to be a loose cannon, and right now he's soaring on his ego. But Ultimate Avengers 2 doesn't do anything to add to what was once an impressive resume. And if you thought this series was bad . . .

Ultimate Avengers 3 #1: . . . pick up Ultimate Avengers 3 #1. Mark Millar's idea of an Ultimate Avengers comic is to create an "ultimate" take on a 616 character, then have them create a NEW team to fight a new problem. The issue here, however, is that the problem has already been introduced in X-Men #1. Vampires. (Pause for crickets.) Plus, Steve Dillon's pencils are nowhere near as engaging as Leinil Yu's. The one positive is that we can look forward to another train wreck over the next six months. If they're not good, at least they're entertaining in their awfulness.

Misc:

Murderland #1 (Image -- Scott & Hahn): Violent, and hella entertaining, Murderland surprised me. First, David Hahn's art is incredibly clean and really off sets the violence. Stephen Scott's story is deep, introduces a new type of superhero, and creates a brand new mythos. What impressed me most about Murderland is that I had no idea what it was about (and still don't fully). It seemd like a spy story until the last six pages. Then, it became something completely different and that was when I became hooked. If every issue is this impressive, I'll continue to follow the series. I'm curious to see where this goes, so I know I'll be picking up issue #2 of Murderland.

Driver for the Dead #1 (Radical Comics -- Heffernan & Manco): at $4.99, Driver for the Dead is pricey, but is both story and art. The main concept is this: Alabaster Graves drives a special hearse, and his purpose is to bury bodies that have been cursed, infected, or vampiricized. And it introduces one of the coolest villains: Fallow. Fallow is a cowboy-zombie-demon. 'Nuff said. I was pleasantly surprised by Driver for the Dead. I recommend spending the $4.99 on this. It's worth the price.

Bannen's Book of the Weeks:

Action Comics #891: The thing that makes Action Comics so good is that for once, a writer has tried to do something different with Superman. This time, he's been removed completely from the comic. It's now "Lex Luthor's Action Comics" and I couldn't be happier. It's not so much Luthor pining about killing Superman. It's more about Luthor's quest for the ultimate weapon -- the black lantern -- and the lengths he'll go to get it. This is far more entertaining than any Superman story, and seeing as how in 9 issues, Action Comics will reach #900, I think this is all part of some big plan. I hope the end result of this story is as entertaining as its beginnings. Thank You, Paul Cornell, for injecting life into this stale universe.

Scott Pilgrim vs. Hollywood: a Scott Pilgrim Experience Review

2010-08-12T17:28:00.007-04:00

Scott Pilgrim Trailer redone using comic panels.

I absolutely loved Bryan Lee O'Malley's 'Lost At Sea', from the teenager angst to the simply beautiful, solemn and quirky artwork, but when his next series, 'Scott Pilgrim' came out I thought it seemed to silly or something, and it never really caught my attention.

Until one day my good friend Reilly Brown said that I HAD to read it. There were just too many similarities between Scott's life and my own. Granted I wasn't an early 20's bassist in Canada, but I was a slacker with a young ex with a penchant for blades, and relationship drama mixed with oblivious comedy sounded about right.

The comic melted my brain. It was an indie book, with characters that just hung out, went to parties, and meandered through their lives. It was a battle book where suddenly a duel would take place with superpowered kung fu. Scott was clueless and yet you couldn't keep him down for long. It was rock'n'roll mixed with subtle video game moments. What was this?

The comic makes you love the characters, from the bitchy Julie Powers, to snarky Kim Pine, to vulnerable Knives Chau. Stephen Stills cowboy shirts, Young Neil's haircuts, and Wallace Wells dry wit, these were all iconic people in Scott Pilgrim's universe, well rounded and each given their moments, their personalities developed organically through the volumes.

Now, I must say, I love Edgar Wright. I've seen his BBC series Spaced at least three times through, and. Shaun of the Dead was brilliant in its skirting of the fine line between horror and comedy. Hot Fuzz was a sophmore dip, but it had tons of fun moments. This was an amazing storyteller of a director with a ton of geeky influences and a plethora of visual tricks.

So when I heard that he was directing Scott Pilgrim vs the World, it was like nothing I've experienced as a fanboy. My favorite superheroes have yet to make it to the big screen, and the closest I got to having one of my all-time favorite graphic novels translated to film well was V For Vendetta, which I quite liked. But this was different.

Here we had excellent source material with loveable characters, fun violent action, and a director that seemed to be perfectly suited for the lighthearted tone this adaptation would need. It features a bunch of actors I really enjoy, and with the teaser images Wright posted on his Flickr all last year while filming, it appeared it was devoutly faithful. Would it live up to the trailer that gave me chills when I first saw it?

Yes. Yes, it did. But do I feel some sort of deflated feeling after following the internet media push that was almost as entertaining as the comic itself? Yes, it's done, out into the ether to be consumed by the masses. In a few weeks it'll be half-remembered, perhaps quoted, inspiring new fans to track down the books, sport Plumtree t-shirts, and maybe start their own bands (like me).

Around Christmas we'll get the DVD release, maybe some rad extra features, behind the scenes, video game samples, etc. I'll pick up the special edition collection of all six volumes, complete with unreleased material as soon as it comes out. And there it'll sit for future enjoyment at a whim.

This time will never be captured again. Like seeing that epic band performance at the coliseum where you got the tour shirt that'll be expensive vintage for futuristic hipsters who were never there in the moment. But there's something about films that makes them timeless, just as we can enjoy classics from the past on Blu-Ray.

Now, as for the movie itself, (I had to explain all the emotions and thoughts involved to properly process my feelings) the first half is perfection. This is Scott Pilgrim's comic/video game universe come to life. The fantastic camera movements, the interactive narration and title cards introducing our main characters, the true performances that sell them as their graphic novel counterparts, it's all there.

The first half is almost shot for shot the introduction, I remembered the exact angle and background when Scott first sees Ramona at the library. I got giddy. Then suddenly new elements pop up, or small bits skipped over (which is flawlessly handled by Wright as he cuts a sharp turn from scene to scene), and then you realize that this is a movie of Scott Pilgrim.

I tried to not be that elitist fanboy that makes mental notes about what's missing and lines that were different, but it popped up now and again. And I told myself that O'Malley hadn't even completed volume six until months after filming had wrapped, so of course it would be different. There wasn't time for Julie & Stephen's drama, or Scott & Ramona to move in together.

And though I had slight problems with the end of volume six, it felt complete, satisfying. So the movie would have to do the same. And logically, I feel it satisfying me, but emotionally, something wasn't there. The fights came fast and frantic in the second half, never really letting Scott & Ramona to settle into being a couple. Those scenes were Scott gets a job or has birthday were what makes them the couple I know them as.

But yes, it's a two hour film so, I try and take it as a complete story, and it works. There's conflict and resolution and we're given an identical ending to the comic really, if not slightly stripped down and amped up for a more one on one style fight. What matters is the spirit is there. Scott earns the power of love and levels up, Sex-Bob-Omb rocks out, and Evil Exs are defeated.

I'd call that a flawless victory.

Ps- you can stream the soundtrack and the score, and my takes on those are that between them both is a solid album, if only the kickass Sex-Bob-Omb songs were on the score. My particular favorite is 'Summertime' which has been stuck in my head for days.

Now, who wants to start a band with me?

To find out how I even got into the screening and reflections on what it must feel like to create something that becomes comsumed by pop culture, check out my personal blog.

You can also see all things Scott Pilgrim (including the video game pitch trailer, the remix videos, interviews and more) over at Write Club's Tumblr.

THOR: Marvel's Return to Greatness

2010-08-03T07:30:00.007-04:00

I have just read the first 12 issues of Thor and the finale, as well as Thor 600 & 601 (going along with Marvel's return to original numbering, the flipside to the constant new issue #1s). This run by J. Michael Straczynski, drawn by Olivier Coipel & Marko Djurdjevic, chronicles the return of Thor and all of Asgard from the post-Ragnarok void that the God's rested in when I guess Marvel didn't know what to do with the character (along with the Avengers) and killed them all off.

JMS does an amazing job resetting continuity while moving the series forward story-wise. Thor is called forth to protect Midgard (Earth) and is once again bonded to Dr. Donald Blake (who are two seperate conscious beings). He's got the gnarled walking staff which he uses to transform into the God of Thunder. And he's brought back into Man's world to re-create Asgard on Earth to reconnect with humanity.

Heimdall, Balder, Loki, the Warriors Three, they're all back (although Loki in female form which works to unsettle and regain trust with the Asgardians just enough to manipulate them all, and later is revealed as a plot to keep Lady Sif from Thor). Everyone is back except Odin.

Though it appears Thor is purposefully not bringing back his father, he tells himself it is so the kingdom may not repeat the cycle of Ragnarok once more. It will be a fresh start for the Asgardians. But perhaps it is because Thor truly wishes to lead, to come into his own, to surpass his father.

To that end Thor journeys via Odinsleep, into the realm that now houses Odin and Surtur, who are locked in eternally repetitious cycles of violence against each other. Here we are told a tale of Bor, Odin's father, and how in defiance of him Odin created man, who his father plagued with monsters and beasts to punish his son and his creation. Odin understands the need for the cycle to begin anew with new leadership.

This tale of Bor also sets up an interesting twist on the origin of Loki and how he came to be adopted son of Odin, the guilty poison let into the kingdom. I won't spoil it past that as it is truly one of the most clever bits in this run. It also sets up the return of Bor who is brought to NYC dis at the hands of Loki, and then beset by Thor, who ends up killing his own grandfather.

A move that allows Loki to place Balder as King (after slyly revealing the truth that Balder is half-brother to Thor), and to have Thor exiled. This brings the Asgardians into Latveria, and Doom experiments on them, and there's a big fight with Doom's own version of the Destroyer suit. It's pure comic book here.

But it also has nice moments of the Gods interacting with humans, and even sets up a heroic death for Bill Jr. (aka William the Third) who fell in love with a female winter goddess. It's pretty well done and you really do root for the character and his death is handled exceptionally well if not blunt. But these are gods here. Depowered a bit on Earth, but gods among mortals.

There's even a bit at the end which makes it so Dr. Donald Blake once again is wounded and left with a limp so he needs the cane. It's all very neatly tied up with a bow, leaving us with a well developed story, an entertaining and engaging return of the great characters from this part of Marvel, and prepares us for Siege.

A small plot hole I found was, what was Loki's plan for Sif, it almost seemed as if he were just using her to distract Thor, or perhaps just using her mortal form to regain trust? I'm not sure, but it wasn't to remove her from him forever. Ahh wait, maybe it was in hope that Thor would use all of Odin's power to drain him somehow? For on his way to save her, Mjolnir damaged from the fight with Bor, he must go to Dr. Strange to repair the hammer by removing the Odinpower from himself and imbue it into his hammer, thereby linking him to his hammer as never before. Hmmm.

Either way, it's great to have Thor back, and the scene where Thor gives Iron Man what's coming to him for the Civil War/Thor clone debacle, and the Captain America memorial, well this really helps build up the need for a return of the Avengers.

Write Club Music Monday

2010-08-02T09:00:00.000-04:00

Central Park Summerstage:

St. Vincent, tUnE-yArDs, Basia Bulat

I’m not a huge music lover. I don’t have a favorite band. I don’t have an artist that I grew up with, was embarrassed of, or saw grow into a full fledged musical genius. I don’t have a band who I followed, went to tiny clubs to see, bought obscure t-shirts of, and watched sell-out to a giant record company and then become less relevant to my personal taste. I’m not a huge music lover. I do, however, listen to music. I’ve always listened to music. At first whatever the parents had on the radio; usually pop, disco, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Yes, Meatloaf…whatever. My dad worked in a record store when I was a kid, so he had a lot of albums. Albums that I never listened to. As I got older I started listening to my brother’s music; REM, The Cure, Morrissey, 10000 Maniacs…whatever was on WDRE (on the radio), or 120 Minutes & Alternative Nation (on MTV).

I can’t say that I ever really got music, though. That is until Tom Waits. That’s a story for another time. Point is, now I’m very interested in music, though I’m still not all that interested in rock shows. I’ve been to them. I go to them, but few and far between. I did happen to go to a show this weekend at Central Park’s free Summerstage series.

I accompanied ArtSparrow, who is way more into music than I am, and the musical line-up was diverse and worthy of exploration.

Basia Bulat

If you had told me that there was a woman/group named Basia Bulat out there, and that I was going to see her perform, I would probably call you a liar to your face. Yet, there I was, at Summerstage, watching a young woman from Canada, a young woman of Polish descent, a young woman named Basia Bulat and her band performing right in front of me.

Bulat’s music is heavily inspired by Americana and Roots music, with almost militaristic drums, melancholy violin, and melodic string instruments like mandolins and auto-harps; I could almost see a lonely and grim cowboy galloping over the plains. It’s American Roots music channeled through a very grateful Canadian, and it turned out to be a great set. But some of these songs, particularly a cover song titled “I’m So Depressed” (written by Abner Jay) fit Bulat like a suit that’s too big. Some of these songs are clothing she needs to grow into, but add a few world-weary years to her vocal chords and she’ll be downright amazing. An accomplished musician for a woman so young, Bulat ran from guitar, to ukulele, to autoharp, to hammered dulcimer, to piano all without skipping a beat. Definitely one to watch!

tUnE-yArDs

While it was probably St. Vincent that everyone else was there to see, ArtSparrow and I came to see Merrill Garbus’ sound experiment tUnE-yArDs. It’s hard to explain Garbus’ music; it’s almost as if Ella Fitzgerald was raised by Riot Grrls and then trained by African Wizard-Shamans. She’s an amazing talent, and I’ve never been to a show where a virtually unknown performer held such sway over both the crowd and her own band. Coming to the stage in blue warpaint, and wearing what looked like her grandmother’s party dress, Garbus created full background percussion and vocals using samples and loops done right there on the spot. She conjured up noises, sound, and melody, all with an infectious grin on her face. Then she brought out the band: A three-piece horn section, a three-piece drum section, and a guitarist. I’ve never seen a band so enamored of their lead until now, they seemed hinged on her every move, taking her cues with ease, adding layers to her layers and creating something simply unique. They also wore warpaint.

I can’t recommend tUnE-yArDs highly enough, and while the album is excellent, I think that one needs to see her perform in person to get the full experience. If even just to see that energy in action.

St. Vincent

If tUnE-yArDs is a band that you need to see live, then St. Vincent is a group that you can safely sit at home and enjoy. I’m almost tempted to say that the allure of St. Vincent seems to begin and end with front woman Annie Clark’s beauty. I suppose I just did say it, and while I’m sure she has a some fans based solely on her looks, she’s definitely got fans based on her musical talents as well; because she’s got those in spades. I just don’t feel like she’s pushing herself enough. Each time it seemed as if she got to the point of full-on rock out explosion she pulled back into the safety of her signature sound; an almost Disney-ish guitar rock. The whole first portion of her set sounded like one long song and the most interesting thing about it was that she was having some trouble with her guitar levels and it was producing a high wine of feedback. Repetitive music, played by distracted musicians. It was about when she brought out a string section, which I can only assume she did to really cement that Disney quality, that ArtSparrow and I left the main field and hit the bleachers to grab some beer and pizza.

A few more songs in the set got better, a bit darker and a little less constrained, as Clark and crew worked out the technical problems. A good performance, but not a great one, and definitely not a headlining performance in my opinon.

At the Mountains of RADness!

2010-07-30T10:46:00.010-04:00

Guillermo Del Toro is an auteur who has a distinct vision, a drive and skill to bring that vision to the screen. His work with Hellboy has been very interesting, especially in regard to the second film. His willingness to use practical effects is something that is quickly becoming a rarity in genre films today. Pan's Labyrinth was an amazing visual feast. A dark fairy tale about escapism, and fear. A grim meditation on how we cannot afford to always see things in black and white, and a monster that wears a human face is just as dangerous as one whose sprouts horns.

Del Toro, as many know, was slated to direct The Hobbit, but has left the project recently due to the amount of time pre-production is taking. This could be a blessing for some of us, especially since it looks like the next project Del Toro may take on is his oft rumoured version of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.

This is probably one of the most complex of Lovecraft's short novels. A great deal of the book concerns itself with the minutiae of Arctic exploration-- what drills these scientists are bringing, what modes of transportation they're taking, their myriad specialties and roles within the group--but this is really just part of Lovecraft's cleverness in telling this kind of story. It's all a set-up, a staunchly realistic narrative that serves to lull the reader into the comfortability of the real, because when this story gets unreal, it goes for broke.

If done correctly, and we've seen nothing but good evidence that Del Toro intends to do the original story justice, then this could be one of those tentpole horror movies. We're already used to the set-up, a small group of people secluded in an isolated and desolate locale, are beset upon by some weird horror. Except this time the horror is something that we've never yet seen in film.

If you want spoilers, read the book.

Back in 2006 Del Toro had this to say concerning Mountains: "The studio is very nervous about the cost and it not having a love story or a happy ending, but it's impossible to do either in the Lovecraft universe." According to statements made by Del Toro, the creature design and effects were started in 2008, and that certain creatures would be so large that we would never see them in their entirety on the screen.

In fact, if you look closely in the goblin market scene during Hellboy 2, and you know what you're looking for, you might just see an Elder Thing or two.

It seems like the studios nerves have been cleared up however, because now James Cameron has reportedly stepped in to back the movie, and it's going to be filmed in 3D.

Some may balk at this, but just imagine stunning Arctic vistas in 3D. Imagine feeling the ice-cold wind on your face as you stare out at the night sky, looking up at a strange abandoned city, a weird and alien city. The barking of dogs in the distance. Imaging the claustrophobia of running full speed through a tunnel under the Earth, your companions going mad beside you as a slopping, gibbering horror courses after you.

Imagine seeing THIS thing in 3D, so big you can't even make out its true shape.

MAN, I'm excited to see this movie already!

Thor Trailer Reactions

2010-07-30T04:58:00.003-04:00

So, hopefully you've all watched the Thor trailer a few times and digested it a bit before they took it off the web. Let us know what you're reactions were and what you think it's all about. But before that, let's check what the stars of the film had to say after seeing the trailer. Natalie? Chris? Ken?

And here's the little snippet we've got on the Thor video game:

A serious teaser there with no gameplay or anything. Well, io9 shows some of the scenery art from the game and tries to guess what it might be all about.

I don't know about you 'clubbers out there, I was hopeful that this movie would be awesome, but now I am psyched to see this!

As far as superhero movies go, Make Mine Marvel!

He is the LAW!

2010-07-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

Out of all of the nerdbait to come out of SDCC the thing that got me most excited is the official casting of the lead for the new Judge Dredd film.

It looks like Karl Urban has been sentenced to play the grim lawman himself, and by Grud I think he's got what it takes. Here are some choice words from the man who will don the red, blue and gold helmet of Mega-City One's top cop:

"If I was to go see a movie called 'Judge Dredd,' and the actor who played Judge Dredd was to take his helmet off and full-on reveal his face and identity, I would puke in my popcorn."

[Urban quotes courtesy of Movieline]

Okay, Karl, wise words. But maybe you're just playing a PR game. Just the slightest bit of research would tell you that the fans were disappointed in the regrettable first film, and that the main gripe was that Dredd removed his helmet. So, what does Dredd mean to you?

"Dredd is enigmatic, the faceless representative of justice. His prevailing attitudes, his strength of moral character, and the strength of his actions are what speak volumes for that character. If you think about westerns...it's akin to getting to the end of 'The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly' and realizing, 'Wait a minute. I didn’t even know the Eastwood character's name!' It’s cool."

Wow. But...

"I’ve been reading Dredd for over 25 years. When I was 15 years old working in the pizza parlor, the manager I worked for was heavily into it, and he switched me on to it. It was interesting for me that at a time when I was a teenager rebelling against all the things a teenager rebels against and doing all the things that one does, one of my heroes was this authoritarian, staunch, hardass representative of the law. "

Drokk. He gets it! Okay, so we've got a pretty big name star in the lead role who understands the character. Who is writing the script for this thing? I mean, the Post-Apocalyptic world of Judge Dredd is pretty specific. It's not Blade Runner, It's not Mad-Max...well, I guess it could be the illegitimate son of Blade Runner and Mad-Max if they had an orgy with Looney Tunes and an Editorial Cartoon.

It's a parody of America, and American life. Overconsumption, needless paranoia and worry, the desire for safety over personal freedoms, the desire to be told what to do, scripted quite humorously through the lens of the amazing (and British) John Wagner. So who is writing this thing, and what does Wagner have to say? Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle is producing the film, and Alex Garland (28 Days Later) is writing it. 28 Days Later was a pretty interesting bit of film; more about what humans will become in order to survive than the tired 'surviving-the-zombpocolypse' drivel. And as per John Wagner, who has read the script?

"While I can't go into detail about the content I can say that it's high-octane, edge of the seat stuff, and gives a far truer representation of Dredd than the first movie. I hated that plot. It was Dredd pressed through the Hollywood cliché mill, a dynastic power struggle that had little connection with the character we know from the comic."

Heartening words from the Dredd master himself. It's still early yet, and if Hollywood has proved one thing it's that they're infinitely capable of turning something simple, something that works, into illegible crap (I'm looking at you Jonah Hex). So, while we mull over all of this info, let's take a look at some of the design work done for the film. Design work which was done by the incredible hand of 2000AD vet Jock:

Thor Trailer Leaked

2010-07-29T06:30:00.003-04:00

iO9 has a leaked Thor trailer, check it out here but be quick, these things don't tend to stick around for long.

Or, watch it below:

I've been very skeptical of the Thor movie, the character has never resonated with me, and I always thought that he was a bit too silly...I mean, a Norse god who speaks in a fake Medieval accent?? My favorite Thor moments have been when he's guest-starring in someone else's comic, because then he's generally silent and imposing.

This trailer though...well, it looks pretty good. The costumes work, the direction looks engaging, the effects look very good; though it was a pretty small aspect ratio, so who knows? When Odin yells angrily at Loki, then casts Thor out, I got chills.

Chills from a trailer. A Thor trailer.

Anyway, here are my predictions, take 'em or leave 'em:

The Asgard scenes will be amazing, but few. The Earth scenes will be cloyingly sappy and slow-moving. The fights will be intense but clumsy. Agent Colson will steal the show.

Check it out for yourself, and let us know what you think!

Nick Cave penning 'The Crow' reboot: Is this a good idea?

2010-07-28T21:35:00.007-04:00

According to the Wrap, the ultimate Bad Seed is working over "Blade" director Stephen Norrington's screenplay, which itself was a new take on the comic book.

Okay, the Proposition was stylistically (and generally speaking story-wise) pretty epic, but it was also boring as hell (Sorry, I'm not a western guy for some odd reason). But I love me some Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I used to sit in the dark in my bedroom, fantasizing about my funeral as 'Lay Me Low' played, and I cut school in my senior year to see the first showing of the Crow with my friends, which left us weeping at not only the loss of Brandon Lee but also the epically sad ending song that is Jane Siberry's 'It Can't Rain All The Time'.

Also, Stephen Norrington I feel had a fluke on his hands with the first Blade movie (see League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, though can the direction be blamed or was it a horrid script?) so I don't know if even Nick Cave could salvage a Crow reboot. But why the hell not let one of the darkest sonuvabitch's take a stab at writing it. Hell, I say we let him direct it too. And maybe even star in it. I'd see that movie for sure.

AVENGERS: a cartoon history

2010-07-28T19:39:00.006-04:00

Okay, so the new Avengers cartoon was released out to the masses today, and after seeing the teaser on the Jeph Loeb video a few weeks ago, I was really looking forward to this. Finally, an Avengers cartoon with a slick look, with the main lineup (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hulk) and one of the main launching projects of the newly Disney acquired Marvel. Then I saw this...

UGH! It looks terrible. The animation is third rate at best, and is barely a step above the previous cartoon attempts the Ultimate Avengers animated movies, which took the amazing grittiness of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's comic Ultimate Avengers and just made it as blah and generic as possible and produced this spectacular piece of crap.

The sequel with Black Panther was just more of the same, so I won't even bother posting that video here. I mean, what is wrong with Marvel? Can't they take a good long look at DC/Warner Brothers' animation projects (Batman, Superman, Justice League, Batman Beyond, Legion of Superheroes, and now their string of animated features) and see that quality animation is always going to win out over rushed, hacked out, sub-par garbage?

When watching the new Avengers cartoon trailer above, I could only really think of the first attempt to put the animated Avengers on the small screen...

Marvel has gotten some animation right but I'll save that for another post, because I have just as much praise to heap upon those works as I have bile and resentment for these.

C'mon Marvel, Disney's got your back, give us the good stuff.

K

More like Hack Snyder

2010-07-28T09:28:00.006-04:00

From the Swipe Files over at Bleeding Cool:

Sucker Punch V. Silent Dragon:

Comic Reviews -- Week of July 21

2010-07-27T19:59:00.005-04:00

DC:

Brightest Day #6: A mystery that just keeps adding more mysteries is as satisfying as a slap across a sunburned back. I want to keep reading Brightest Day to wait for the mysteries to be revealed, but if they keep stringing the readers along, this is just another long con. If you've stuck with Brightest Day, I hope you're feeling the frustration. If you've given up, I don't blame you. Johns and Co. need to start answering questions, and relax on building the mysteries for a while.

Marvel:

Amazing Spider-Man #638: So rumor has it that Spider-Man is going to go back to the way things were before Brand New Day. One cannot ignore the fact that One Moment In Time is OMIT in acronym form. So are they omitting the previous issues' worth of storytelling? Is Marvel bringing Pete and MJ back together? God, I hope not! The thing that's made Spider-Man work this past year is that he's not tied down to any romantic interest. The writer's have been able to focus on the story, and not have to worry about throwing in a line or two about Peter's love who sits on the sidelines and waits for her hub to get home. Amazing Spider-Man: O.M.I.T. is a decent read, but it hearkens back to the less than glorious days of Spidey's past. If this series resets everything, I'd give up buying Amazing Spider-Man for a while. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this plays out.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #5: So there's two Ghost Riders now. And the original Hulk brought his white babes along for the ride. And we've got another lackluster cliffhanger ending. So what else is new? Nothing. This series is like the Godfather Part III of comics. There's a great Simpsons episode where Homer and Mel Gibson remake Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and in the end, they ruin the movie. One of the executives says, "This is worse than Godfather 3" to which Mel replies, "Let's not say things we can't take back." That's how I feel about Ultimate Avengers 2. It's all the same characters as the original Avengers, but it has NONE of the same feel. It's like Mark Millar was running low on cash to fund his ego and his coke habit, and he decided to write Ultimate Avengers 2. Mark Millar gotta eat, yo! I remember my cousin talking about The Dark Knight Returns Part 2, and saying how Frank Miller needed money. I feel like the same thing is going on with Millar right now. He's short on a car payment or something, and this is how he's paying the bills. Truly, this is worse than Godfather Part III.

New Ultimates #3: Here we go! Finally, one of the new Ultimate comics delivers. This time, Loeb tells the story from Valkyrie's point of view, and my God is it incredible. There's an actual narrative thread, a human voice to give life to the series, and an ending that sends chills down your spine. Loeb delivers on an otherwise lackluster series, and I think anyone that's been reading New Ultimates from the beginning will find the heart that Loeb usually puts in his books has returned. Instead of letting the story drive the characters, he lets the characters drive the story. And New Ultimates is the fruit of his labors. And what a sweet fruit it is! If you're not interested in New Ultimates at all, I urge you to pick this up just to see an example of a good comic. It really raises the bar for the rest of the series.

Avatar

Neonomicon #1: This is pretty intimidating. I have to put all my Alan Moore love aside to review his latest creation, a story about the return of Cthulhu. So, as a comic not written by Alan Moore, Neonomicon is an interesting piece. It's got elements of mystery, character quirkiness, and an interesting story to keep readers interested. You may think there's a "but" here, yet there isn't. Even if this story weren't written by Alan Moore, I'd still be praising it. One of the reasons is that the characters have deep flaws that will play out in this series (I think) or they wouldn't be given so much attention. I don't know how many issues are in Neonomicon, but I'm hooked after one. There's a lot going on here, but Moore does a nice job of easing you into the world of Cthulhu creator, H.P. Lovecraft. I think as further issues come out, Moore will hold back less and less, and there will be blood. If you like good stories, pick this up. If you worship Alan Moore the way most comic book fans do, pick this up. If you don't, you should be fed to the Old Ones for your insubordination. (And if you don't know who the Old Ones are, you should read more Lovecraft.)

Ladies & Gentlemen...I Present Your Avengers!

2010-07-25T00:25:00.003-04:00

Iron Man (Tony Stark) - Robert Downey Jr., Clark Gregg, Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) - Scarlett Johansson, Thor (Dr. Donald Blake) - Chris Hemsworth, Captain America (Steve Rogers) - Chris Evans, Nick Fury - Sam Jackson, Hawkeye (Clint Barton) - Jeremy Renner, The Hulk (Dr. Bruce Banner) - Mark Ruffalo, Directcor Joss Whedon, and Kevin Feige

Tons more coverage of San Diego Comicon over on our Write Club! Tumblr

Comic Reviews -- Week of July 8 (Unearthed!)

2010-07-23T08:08:00.000-04:00

MARVEL:

Hit Monkey #1: 1. This comic has a protagonist who is a monkey. 2. This monkey is an assassin. 3. This monkey assassin is being mentored by the ghost of the assassin from whom he learned his skills. 4. Bullseye appears in this comic. 5. Why are you not out the door on the way to your nearest comic shop to buy this?

X-Men #1: A brand-spanking-new X-Men comic, just for your pleasure. The good? Paco Medina's art and Juan Vlasco's inks. They're crisp, and neat. Paco knows how to draw Logan wearing a cowboy hat and holding a beer bottle. His action shots are violent, but fitting. And he plays with the angles sometimes, a trick that accentuates the oddness of Victor Gischler's vampire story. Gischler introduces what I think is a new concept: vampire suicide bombers. They take off their protective gear in the sunlight, explode, and then infect a bunch of other people. That's pretty innovative, and the victim happens to be Jubilee. So the bad? I seems kind of silly. It's like the house of ideas had run out of them. And while I enjoyed the issue, I just don't enjoy the idea. Vampires? Maybe Stephanie Meyer has just ruined the genre, but mutants fighting vampires? Eh, it's not my cup of tea. But the issue is good in that you don't need to know the four year backstory (that's summarized on the first page) to understand what's going on. So while I'm lukeworm on the story, I'm pleased with the work of the writer. A new reader could easily become a new X-Men fan after reading this issue. I just hope it doesn't turn out to BITE us in the end. (As an addendum, I wanted to, but fought the urge to add a myriad of vampire related jokes. I didn't want this review to SUCK.)

ICON:

Scarlet #1: So Scarlet is a girl who's had too much, and been pushed just a little too far. So she starts a revolution, on a small level at first, but then it escalates. I think Bendis is really stretching to make this story work. He's trying to make a not so original idea (one that's been used already in such works as Falling Down with Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall) very original. The direct narration hurts the storytelling, for me anyway, because Scarlet isn't a mystery. She tells us everything she's thinking, directly address us with her concerns, then tries to make an excuse for her crusade. The cops are hypocritic drug users, people are complacent fools, and only she can change the world. I like Bendis better when he writes Ultimate Spider-Man. At least Peter Parker is genuine. Scarlet? Not so much.

Casanova #1: An interesting inter-dimensional type story (ala Fringe), but one that's a little too hectic for an introductary issue. The reader can't really get a grasp of the world he/she is in, so when world's change, we feel just as lost as the main character -- which can be a plus, but in this case, where you're trying to embed the reader in your world, if you don't give him/her enough time to plant his/her feet, he/she is lost. Cassanova can work, but Matt Fraction has to dial it down a bit if he wants readers to stay engaged.

MISC:

The Last Zombie #1 (AP Entertainment -- Keene & Wight): I hate to be super mean, but this is probably one of the least interesting zombie stories I've ever read. When I finished it, I just said, "Meh," and tossed it aside. I can't really tell you anything of substance about the comic. And I think that speaks volumes.

BANNEN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK:

Hit Monkey #1: Daniel Way has taken what at first seemed like a truly silly idea, and made it colorful, not necessarily believeable, but fun to imagine. I want to see the Hit Monkey in a suit, however, and I will be quite disappointed if that doesn't occur. The fact that Marvel is allowing this to creep into their 616 universe tells me that they have a lot of confidence in Daniel Way, and that they recognize Hit Monkey for the commodity it is going to be. I hope two things happen: first, that Hit Monkey has cameo appearances in other comics in the 616 universe, and second, that Marvel doesn't beat this idea into the ground. Hit Monkey is a limited, three-part story. That's long enough to establish a fan base, tell an introductary story, and move on. I'm just hoping they recognize that what makes Hit Monkey interesting is that it hasn't been done before, nor should it be replicated for the next five years. Go buy a copy of Hit Monkey -- take the money you were planning to use on Scarlet and Casanova, and spend it on this instead. It's much more enjoyable.

Marvel Studios: THOR

2010-07-21T19:51:00.008-04:00

By now we've all seen the above image where we get a taste of Kenneth Brannagh's take on the Mighty Thor and Asgard (specifically Odin & Loki), but there have been even more images release showing us just what to expect of what lies beyond the Rainbow Bridge.

Father and son converse in the Halls of Asgard. While the costumes do look a bit too 'superhero movie', I kind of like it. It looks like polished metal (not rubber), with enough of a weird design to it to give the feel of Kirby & Simonson without looking over-the-top.

Okay, so this is the throne room of Odin, and I dunno. It's not bad, it's just a bit...open and golden. Apprently it's on display at San Diego right now. Meh, it's not amazing, but it looks new, something I haven't seen in a fantasy movie before really. Actually, the wide open space of it reminds me of the Asian epic fantasy movies from the past decade.

And is that Loki in his horned helm I see? And on the other side, could that be the Warriors Three? (no doubt the true stars of this film)

But then I saw this pic:

Wow. Okay, that looks pretty cool and this is one ripped actor. And he's lifting Mjolnir. I think I've officially just geeked out for this movie. I have high hopes, but keeping my expectations close to the ches, wait for that first teaser, then trailer, then second trailer with more footage, the TV spot, Superbowl AD, etc. etc.

Until then, Marvel has set up a placeholder page for the movie over at Thor.Marvel.Com.

Here's some articles discussing the movie as well:

USA Today's take on fans approval of big budget films at San Diego making or breaking it.

LA Times' overview of the film and confirmation and discussion of it being shot/shown in 3D

And an Entertainment Tonight behind the scenes look on the set:

Comic Reviews -- Week of July 14

2010-07-21T05:24:00.005-04:00

MARVEL:

Amazing Spider-Man #637: The Grim Hunt comes to an end! And when Spider-Man dons the black costume in this issue, it's much more believable than when he did it to coincide with the abortion that was Spider-Man 3. If fans have been following the series, this is a cathartic release. Peter gets pretty dark at one point, and you're not sure where he's going to go. Because while the "good guys" don't kill people, you're aware that the writers are trying to do something new with the character, and having him snap and murder his enemies would be one way to do that. Plus, there are status quo changes, so the series isn't just a toss off. What's next? One Moment In Time where fans find out what actually happened to Peter and Mary Jane. So if I were you, I'd pick up this issue of Spider-Man as it may be the last breath of the new direction. Because I wouldn't put it past Quesada to get MJ and Peter back together -- and that was the catalyst for the change in the first place.

Ultimate Spider-Man #12: Bendis wants to fuck up Peter Parker's life, and he's doing a good job of it! This is a frustrating issue to read as we know that the Chameleon is behind this, but we're as helpless as Peter. The thing that makes this issue work is the way in which the Chameleon acts. He does what a lot of people would do if they were given the chance to be in another person's shoes -- anything he wants. He doesn't allow Peter to be bullied, completely destroys his personal life, and it looks like he's going to work on destroying his superhero life. This is easily the best written story of Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 2. I am very much looking forward to being frustrated for a few more issues until this arc wraps up.

DC:

Superman #701: I said I wouldn't buy a Superman comic again, but as in comics, nothing stays dead, including my love of Superman. The issue isn't good. But it's definitely doing something new, and that's what makes it worth reading.

MISC:

30 Days of Night & The X-Files #1 (IDW -- Niles & Jones & Mandrake): Steve Niles and Adam Jones so badly want this to feel like an X-Files episode. They throw in little eggs to sway readers, give Mulder his droll delivery and Scully her customary skepticism. But it feels forced. And I know they want it be genuine, but something about this just doesn't click. Mulder and Scully have dealt with vampires before, so that's nothing new, but this issue doesn't feel like 30 Days of Night with The X-Files. It feels like the X-Files. And maybe that's what's wrong with it -- there's no attempt to mix Niles' original idea with Chris Carter's dynamic duo. But this is, after all, a first issue. I will be picking up issue #2, but only out of loyalty.

Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story (Image -- Chamberlain): Sweets is a pretty sweet crime story. There's enough character development to make the players three dimensional, and the mystery is strong enough to carry the issue. Plus, Kody Chamberlain understands that good crime stories need more than a murder. There has to be multiple parties involved, a ripple that causes a flood, and a seemingly random issue that pays off in the end. Sweets has this and more. I think this is going to be a fun read, a great mystery, and it will give Kody Chamberlain a world of attention. These are all good things.

Bannen's Book of the Week:

Superman #701: I'm not saying this is a good comic. It's not, really. But the reason it's my pick of the week is because Stracyznski has managed to do something original with a character that has grown stale because of the notion that he could have nothing original happen to him. JMS' originality isn't in Superman walking across the country to reconnect with the people. That's actually the dumbest part of the story. What works is Supe's dialog and actions. He does things he never should do because he's Superman. Two examples: 1. he tells a jumper that if she wants to jump, he won't stop her, but he wants her to think about happiness, and blahdy-blah. After she comes down, a police officer asks him, "You wouldn't have let her fall, would you?" and in reply, Superman walks away. 2. He confronts a bunch of steretypical drug pushers and sets their stashes on fire. And then walks away. These are not things Superman does. These are things JMS would do if he were Superman, and that is how he's writing this. Superman isn't speaking his own words; he's speaking JMS'. But that's a good thing because Superman NEEDS to do something different, and maybe the thing that's held Big Blue back for all these years is that he's the world's biggest boy scout, and you can't really make a boy scout dark. He stands for truth and justice, not suicidal aid and drug destruction. I will continue to read this because while JMS' Amazing Spider-Man run was disastrous, he tried something new. Superman needs that kind of gamble. Now we have to wait and see if the results pay off.

COMICON EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studio's THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA

2010-07-20T18:28:00.002-04:00

[via Yahoo!]

Discuss.

Your Internet Thing of The Day

2010-07-20T03:07:00.002-04:00

A UFO appears over China, shuts down an airport.

More interesting footage here.

Discuss.

Ryan Reynolds as GREEN LANTERN

2010-07-15T09:47:00.003-04:00

Entertainment Weekly just posted this cover:

What do we think?

Comic Reviews -- Week of June 30

2010-07-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

DC:

Green Lantern #55: I don't know why there's such love for Lobo. He's a tertiary character who has a strange cult following, one that's trying desperately to make a movie of his adventures. I liked Lobo better when writers didn't use him as the Logan of DC. So in reading Green Lantern #55, I couldn't help but see Wolverine in Lobo's place. They're basically interchangeable characters. Now, while Lobo at first appears to be a nod to the fans, it looks like Geoff Johns has more planned for him. He has a few clever lines, but exits the story just as quickly for reasons we're given, but not fully given (a common theme in Johns' writing as of late). The reason to pick this comic up is Doug Mahnke's art. I've enjoyed the comic more on a visual level than a story level. Lobo and Sinestro fight, and believe me, friends, when I tell you that it's the highlight of the issue -- and it's only two pages. Plus, Lobo says what I think a lot of DC fans are thinking right now "Ya can't swing a dead cat without hittin' someone wearin' a power ring anymore." My thoughts exactly.

Batman Beyond #1: I loved this comic. There's something for every Batman fan in this issue. Buy it -- I think the series might be a sleeper hit.

MISC:

Turf #2 (Image -- Ross & Edwards): The premise behind Turf seems like it was dreamed up by a five year old. Vampires, Alien Robots, and snooping reporters. It was taxing just reading three pages of this comic. I like a comic with substance, but excessive narration and dialogue bogs down the flow of the story. It took me three days to get through Turf, and even then I pretty much skimmed the hell out of the last few pages. This is an example of interesting premise, poor execution. After the first issue, I thought I'd give Turf one more chance, so I did. But I won't be buying issue #3.

7 Psychopaths #2 (BOOM! -- Vehlmann & Phillips): See above note about excessive dialogue and narration, and you have 7 Psychopaths. I love the characters, but I can't stand Fabian Vehlmann's need to put as many word bubbles as possible on the page. And they're not quick bubbles either -- they're loaded! The first page has nine panels, and fourteen bubbles. Even the pages with the fewest amount of panels (three) has an excessive amount of bubbles (ten). I'm sure Vhelmann has a lot he wants to say (as the story is pretty in depth), but he needs to cut out the excess and leave only the necessary information. So while I think the series has potential, I need an editor over at BOOM to do more than make a few "recommendations" for improvement. I need you to take a red pen and start slashing. Murder the baby, and I think you'll have a much more interesting story.

Zombies vs. Cheerleaders #1 (Moonstone -- Frank & Glendenning, Hickman and Washington): This was a recommendation from the comic shop guy. It's exactly what it sounds like. Zombies start attacking people at a football game, and the cheerleaders need to save them. This is the part of the review where you hear crickets chirping, and a muffled cough in the background. I can't say I was expecting more, but really I was. With such a silly premise, I expected a lot of clever dialogue and funny situations. But we don't get that. We get a lazy attempt those things, but nothing really of substance. Gimme an N, O, B, U, Y! What does that spell? "No Buy!" Whoo!!

Bannen's Book of the Week:

Batman Beyond #1: While this isn't my first foray into Batman Beyond, it's definitely most most in depth reading. For those of you unfamiliar with the premise, Batman Beyond tells the story of Terry McGinnis, a reformed high school student whose father was murdered by a gang of people known as Jokerz. By happenstance, Terry ends up at Wayne Manor, discovers Bruce Wayne was Batman, and convinces him to let Terry take up the mantle of the Bat. Enough backstory -- the thing that makes this work is Terry McGinnis. Terry is the kind of Batman that most people would be: reckless, emotion driven, and careless to a fault. He's athletic, but not trained the same way Bruce is. He relies heavily on the Batman costume, a futuristic and upgraded version of the traditional gray suit. McGinnis is nowhere near as dark as Bruce, and he doesn't do much to help keep the aura of the Batman alive, but his take on the role of hero is the thing that sells the issue. We're also given a few hints as to what will occur in the series. Not wanting to ruin it, I will just tell you that Adam Beechen doesn't reach too far back into Batman's rogues gallery to find his villain. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending -- I had the villain figured out (or so I thought), as I think most Batman fans would as well. But the last page moved the series beyond its animation framework and into the realm of comic books. If the rest of the series is as good as the first issue, I hope DC makes this a continual project. With Adam Beechen at the helm of course.

Harvey Pekar (1939 - 2010)

2010-07-12T11:44:00.003-04:00

Rest in Peace, Harv. You've earned it.

Comic Reviews -- Week of June 23

2010-07-05T14:43:00.010-04:00

MARVEL:

Amazing Spider-Man #635: This issue really ties The Gauntlet together. I can't really say too much without repeating myself: this is fast paced, violent, and horrific. It touches upon everything that's occurred in Spidey's life in the past year and a half, and even though it's only four issues, I have no idea what's going to happen in the next issue. At the end of issue #2 of The Grim Hunt, something happens that will leave you stunned. It left me stunned, anyway. It was something I didn't expect to see, and it shocked me to see it even more in issue #2 of the series. I just hope the explanation is good, and not a cop out.

Ultimate Avengers 2 #4: So Nick Fury is such a great spy that he makes "sex marks" in Monica Chang's address book? And we're told this because . . . well, I don't really know why. Because it's supposed to add character depth? Make a stronger conflict? Plus, we're told that Johnny Blaze is now a man who was murdered by a group of rich bikers who sacrificed him to get rich quick. In Nemesis, Mark Millar is ripping off The Dark Knight. In Ultimate Avengers 2, he's ripping off Jennifer's Body. In the end, it's revealed that one of the bikers is now the Vice-President. The impact of this revelation is lost, though, as the ends of the issues have been underwhelming cliff-hangers. The series so far has been pretty underwhelming also. But with only two issues to go, there's still a long way to fall, and Mark Millar has proven that he's hitting new depths in terms of his mediocrity. So the fun in reading Ultimate Avengers 2 is to see just how bad it gets. And I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet.

DC:

Green Arrow #1: I'd seen the damn solicits for this issue at the end of every other DC comic for the past two months so when I finally got my hands on issue one, I didn't know if I should feel relieved that I wouldn't be bombarded with previews, or averse to reading it. I guess part of me wanted to hate Green Arrow #1, but in the end, I found it to be a pretty enjoyable opening. I haven't read much Green Arrow, save for Kevin Smith's resurrection of the character, and Judd Winick's continual series. A lot of the background, however, is filled in by the characters as the dialogue closes the gap between the previous series and this one. So in one page, J.T. Krul gets you caught up. I appreciated that, but also found it to be kind of cheap. I think it's necessary for characters to reveal things through dialogue as this saves some needed space elsewhere, but the exposition isn't necessary. The rest of the story fills the mystery in quite nicely. It ties itself in with Brightest Day, so there's the overall question of the forest growing in the now dead Star City center. As with every other issue tied in to Brightest Day, the series prides itself on creating a strong detective story (complete with the murder of a politician, and the introduction of an army of robots whose sole purpose (it seems) is to hunt down Oliver Queen. I smell echoes of iRobot here, and I'm sure, in time, the army will try to take over the city. Regardless of my seemingly luke warm feelings towards this, I think it's a nice set up. I'm not sure it will continue to work unless Krul and crew get the pacing right. It's hard enough to be interested in a tertiary character like Green Arrow, but it's even harder when the writing is flat. Oh, and kudos to Diogenes Neves whose pencil work is the highlight of this issue.

Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #3: Now it's all starting to make sense! Issue three ties the threads from Batman and Robin and Return of Bruce Wayne together nicely. We're starting to see a coherence in the different plots, and where issue #2's art was a sticking point for me, Yanick Paquette more than makes up for it. Bruce is starting to remember, and the incidents from issue #1 come in to play again. I laud the storytelling so much because I feel like other people who would want to create a genuine mystery (which seems to be a common theme here) would do well to study Morrison. He's precise, planned, and rewarding. The last part is particularly important when trying to please your readers. Morrison is rewardings those of us who have stuck with Batman and Robin and Return of Bruce Wayne. Plus, the pacing has really solidified so that the need to know is forefront in this series. And while I dreaded Bruce's return to comics (after the wonderful job that Dick and Damian have been doing), I'm looking forward to how Morrison will work it out. This series has proven that he has a plan in mind, and we should all just sit back and enjoy the ride.

MISC:

American Vampire #4 (Vertigo -- Snyder, King & Albuquerque): I haven't stopped enjoying this series! We're still getting two very strong stories from both Scott Snyder and Stephen King. But Snyder's story is more about humanity, even in those who would seem to be the most inhuman -- vampires. And where some characters previously introduced seems irrelevant to the story, they're taking more and more of a forefront in the current arc. My only disappointment was in seeing Henry suddenly becoming more like the typical masculine hero and Pearl the typical damsel in distress. I've enjoyed the strong female characters of American Vampire and I just hope they're supplanted by the traditional brawling hero. Stephen King's story is more of a shoot out, horror-fest. But it's damn fun to read and damn fun to look at. King's story is sprialing towards its conclusing (which occurrs next issue), and I'm looking forward to the climax of his story as well as Snyder's. They both seem destined for an explosive ending.

Jurassic Park #1 (IDW -- Schreck & Van Dyke): While this might seem like it's kicking a dead horse, the idea of reading a Jurassic Park comic was too good to pass up. The resulting issue is one that is clever, innovative, and rejuvinating to a series that was driven stale with too much flash over substance. If you're a fan of the movie at all, pick this up.

Bannen's Book of the Week:

Jurassic Park #1 (IDW -- Schreck & Van Dyke): This has to be one of the best approaches to a very well-known story. So how does Bob Schreck bring new life to the series? He is definitely a fan of the material and has studied the films well. I say this because Jurassic Park is one movie I could recite line for line from beginning to end. So, to find easter eggs peppered throughout the issue was really rewarding for a long time fan of the movies and the novels. Schreck tells his story through John Hammond's grand children, Lex and Tim. Lex has become the CEO of an all-natural foods corporation, and Tim has become . . . something else. His role is limited, but there's a darkness to the character, one that borrows off of the horrific experiences he saw as a child. Furthermore, Henry Wu (the fertility doctor) is brought back, and it turns out he's in league with a person who was mentioned by name in the first movie, but never shown. It's clever, and it made me feel even better about the material because we know it's in the hands of true fans. The issue ends with the same predicament as all the other stories: dinosaurs are loose and they're killing people. So while that hasn't changed, the rest of the issue more than makes up for it. Now, it's up to Bob Schreck to show how he's going to do something different. If any producers are looking to make a Jurassic Park IV, I hope they're paying attention to this comic because this would be the best way to do it.

Comic Book Reviews -- Week of June 23

2010-07-02T11:08:00.008-04:00

DC/VERTIGO:

Batman Double-Up:Streets of Gotham #13 & Detective Comics #866: Now look. Neither of these issues were bad. It was fun to read a Batman comic written by Dennis O’Neil again, and Streets of Gotham had some great Hush moments. And though I usually love Dustin Ngoyen’s covers...look at Batman’s pose on two covers and tell me that they didn’t come from the same sketch. Then consider that these comics came out on the same week and appeared right next to each other on the rack. C’mon DC. Just...c’mon. You’re not making it very easy to defend buying more than one Batman comic, let alone three (including Return of Bruce Wayne), in one week. More simply put, one bland cover gets under my skin, two bland covers make me want to drop comics.

Joe the Barbarian #6: It’s hard to review this issue without just repeating what I’ve said in past reviews. So to keep it brief, I’ll just say that if you’re not reading this series you’re really missing out. Even if you find yourself experiencing a bit of Morrison-fatigue as of late, Joe the Barbarian is worth it for Sean Murphy. Though Morrison is handling the script and story, a lot of the actual storytelling weight and world-crafting weight rests on Murphy’s artistic vision. It’s also important to note the ubiquitious Dave Stewart, for doing such beautiful work with the colors of this diabetic-fantasy.

IMAGE:

King City #9: Not only is King City fun to read, it’s also just damn fun. Brandon Graham always adds a bit of something extra to every issue, and this most recent issue features his most ambitious add-on yet. Inside King City #9 you'll find a connect-the-dots page and a full-on board game, cut-out pieces included. It’s also got a sci-fi cat named “Earthling,” some of the best nerd puns and in-jokes around, all wrapped in Graham’s signature graffiti-cartoon style. Remind me again why you’re not reading King City?

Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark #1: Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark is pretty much exactly what one would expect from a comic called Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark. Actually, it’s exactly what you’d expect. It grew from a joke/conversation between Robert Kirkman, Jason Howard, and Ryan Ottley, which tells you something about how awesome it is to work in comics. Reviewing this seems a bit futile as you’re either going to be into a comic like Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark or you’ll think it’s incredibly stupid (or both). So instead, I'll just summarize: the book is actually two separate stories, one about the Sea Bear, one about the Grizzly Shark. The Grizzly Shark story is funnier than the than the Sea Bear making it the superior of the two, but we'll never really know 'cause they never fight! C’mon! At least on SciFi we get to see the Mega-Shark fight the Giant Octopus.

MARVEL:

Avengers #2: Seeing as it’s written by the same guy and features at least two of the same characters, I’m not sure why I’m not quite as harsh on Bendis’ Avengers as I am on New Avengers. Maybe it’s because despite one or two shake-ups, the New Avengers are essentially the same team they’ve always been. Maybe I’m just a sucker for John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson. Maybe I’m just a sucker for Thor. Maybe I feel like we only need one Avengers team, so why not go with the A-List team? Whatever the case, I actually like where Avengers is going...for now. My main fear is that the team is just too damn big (again), and that the book will eventually crumble under it’s own character weight. How do you give equal time to Thor, Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Captain America, Hawkeye and Spider-Woman? I mean, holy hell. It’s a bit ridiculous. That being said, it’s kinda cool that this story seems to be tying into that Next Avengers animated film.

Wolverine: Weapon X #14: Ah-HA Aaron! It turns out that not only is your “Tomorrow Dies Today” arc an homage to Terminator, it’s also an homage to Robocop. Well played sir. Well played indeed. Since this is then penultimate issue of this arc, I’ll keep it brief (a theme of this week’s reviews) and give it a bit more once the story has concluded. I will say that this was one of the better issues of the arc, mainly because it was told from the perspective of a Deathlok.

GATTS BOOK OF THE WEEK:

DARKWING DUCK: THE DUCK KNIGHT RETURNS #1 (BOOM-STUDIOS; Ian Brill, James Silvani, Andrew Dalhouse): This comic is everything it should be: funny, fast, and full of fowls. Darkwing Duck has always been a great take on the Batman/Masked Avenger genre. Though less iconic than The Tick, I'd argue that Darkwing Duck is just as funny. This first issue really gives me hope that the story will thrive in the comic book format. We catch up with Drake Mallard a year after the final flight of Darkwing Duck. Now Mallard is a busy working schlub for Quackwerks, the all-powerful corporation that took over St. Canard with the help of their all-seeing Crimebots. That's right: the terror that flaps in the night is fighting a corporate police state. (For those of you who are counting, that's two Robocop homages in one week!) Between this and The Muppet Show, Boom is proving to be the publisher to beat when it comes to the all-ages comics.

Whom Shall you Telegram?

2010-07-01T16:48:00.000-04:00

Game Club: Little Big Marvel!

2010-07-01T10:00:00.001-04:00

Little Big Planet, one of the best games on Playstation 3, is getting even better: Marvel character kits are coming next week, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say this pack will be much cooler than the Pirates of the Caribbean pack from a while back. I mean, look at the Adorable Iron Man!

If that weren't enough, here's The Thing:

And there's gonna be a level pack in which you fight Magneto! As soon as the level pack is released, I'll be cooking up my own Marvel level, and seeing what I can do to submit it to Youtube.

The complete roster:

•Captain America •Daredevil •Doctor Octopus •Elektra •Ghost Rider •Green Goblin •Hulk •Invisible Woman •Iron Man •The Human Torch •Magneto •Mystique •the Punisher •Roque •Spider-Man •Storm •The Thing •Thor •Venom •Wolverine

Write Club! "Digital Dilemma" V. 3, Ep. 2

2010-06-30T10:00:00.004-04:00

Tim and Rick Lacy settle down to have a nice chat about Digital Comics, prompted by DC Comics boldly throwing their cowl into the new-media millennia. Tim & Rick are soon joined by the original digital barbarian himself, Phil Gelatt, and then things get interesting.

Digital comics, Independent film, Marvel Short movies, D&D with pornstars, and playing games in the world of H.P. Lovecraft. Nothing's off the table for Write Club!

Intro: "Chin Music" Future of the Left
Outro: "Write Club Theme" Scott St. Pierre

Tighty-Spidey Tuesdays

2010-06-29T10:00:00.001-04:00

Continuing from a previous post...

It's really strange, I know, but seeing Peter Parker in those little white briefs brings me back to when I was a kid reading Spider-Man. I loved Spidey in the 80's, I was right there for Kraven's Last Hunt, and the Mad Dog Ward. I saw the rise and fall of the Hobgoblin, caught the tail end of the symbiote arc, and punched out right before Venom made the scene.

I was all-in as Spidey had fun adventures, frightening and weird adventures, and heartbreaking ones as well, but nothing brings that nostalgic feeling back more than seeing Peter Parker in his underwear! Maybe it's that, despite the fact that Pete can lift a bus over his head, move so fast he can't be hit, is super-smart and can crawl on walls, he's still a dude like me and you. He's still got to put on his underwear in the morning.

There comes a time in every man's life when he's got to choose whether he's a boxers or briefs guy, and it seems to me that Spider-Man has made his choice.

And so, it is here that I begin Write Club's newest feature, Tighty-Spidey Tuesdays! A series dedicated to exploring a certain superhero and his choice of underwear.

And yes...I am fully aware of how creepy this is.

Comic Reviews -- Week of June 16

2010-06-28T16:00:00.002-04:00

MARVEL:

Amazing Spider-Man #634: So this is what all the fuss was about! For the past year, Spider-Man has been beaten and bloodied, worn down and tested. The purpose is revealed here: The Kravens are trying to resurrect their father. But to do so, they need to kill a few spiders. And seeing as how Peter Parker is no longer the only "Spider" person out there, a lot of people need to die. The writers tried to throw a little "Knightfall" action into this by making Peter suddenly have a cold, but it plays no major role in the story (yet), so I wonder if it will be dropped just as soon as it was introduced. But, one thing Joe Kelly has been able to do (that no one else seems to have been able to do) is capitalize on the whole "Clone Saga" story. Every Spider-Man fan (and pretty much every comic book fan) knows the debacle of the mid-90's that involved Spider-Man potentially being a clone. A laborious story was drawn out, and in the end, it was revealed that he wasn't. It has set the tone for epic story failures, so it's nice to see Kelly reference it in a way that puts an interesting (plot-wise) spin on it. I wonder if people who haven't followed Spider-Man that past year could get into this. It seems to be a gamble, especially when comics are always trying to recruit new readers. But if the "Grim Hunt" delivers on its set up, I think Marvel may have found a way to make up for the clone saga.

Ultimate X #3: I'm enjoying these vignettes. Jeph Loeb spends most of each issue of Ultimate X introducing us to one more mutant player of the Ultimate universe. This time, I think it's Archangel, but I'm not sure, having never read an issue of Ultimate X-Men, nor a 616 X-Men story. So while I can't speak to how Loeb alters the character, I can speak from the viewpoint of a fan who has no background with the X-Men's long history. Ultimate X adds one more player, then, and as the series moves forward, it's shaping up to be a great story. Wolverine's son turns out to be just like his father -- in that he's got the hots for Jean Grey. There's a great moment when Jimmy Hudson (Logan's son) wakes up with his head resting against Jean's chest. Arthur Adams gives us his viewpoint, and both Jimmy and Jean's reactions. It's a testament to the heart of the series. A good story is just that until it has interesting characters, and Loeb has really found a way to give these characters life. What's even nicer is that while Ultimate Avengers 2 and New Ultimates continue to stink up the shelves, Loeb is at least able to inject some soul into this series. For those of you disappointed with everything else the Ultimate Universe has to offer, you should read Ultimate X. It will fill that lonely space in your ultimate heart.

DC:

Brightest Day #4: This issue feels like it takes a break from the pressing mysteries it has introduced, and instead stalls, in some ways, at advancing the plot. One thing that's paid off, though, is that Geoff Johns said the character Dove would be extremely important. We get a bit more of that here, but not enough to really explain anything. As usual, the frustration is building because we're getting no answers for all of our questions. For the first time, however, I feel like Johns and Tomasi have laid out their plans for each issue: a few pages on Blackest Night character A, a few on Character B, and a few on Character C. It's a nifty formula, but it doesn't give the story enough time to develop, especially when the authors know their plans, and how much time they have to fulfill them. My concern with Brightest Day (which despite my gripes is an excellent series) is that they may lose readers if they don't give them a reason to hang on. Hopefully, as the first arc comes to a close, we'll be given at least a few nuggets to keep us sated for the long road ahead.

LEGO Games We Want To See

2010-06-28T12:26:00.003-04:00

From the moment I first played the original LEGO Star Wars game, I was in love. How could such a silly idea be so good? And it was good - so good, it almost made me forget how terrible the prequel trilogy is. Successive entries in the LEGO game franchise have been great as well, but I was a little disappointed to find out the next installment would be LEGO Harry Potter. I could list a TON of movies that would make great LEGO games - in fact, I'll do so right now!

MOVIES THAT WOULD MAKE GREAT LEGO GAMES:

LEGO Goonies (hands down the best idea I've ever had)
LEGO Back to the Future
LEGO Die Hard Trilogy
LEGO Kill Bill
LEGO TRON
LEGO Aliens
LEGO X-Men
LEGO Blade Runner
LEGO Complete Career of Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes, including LEGO Kindergarten Cop)

However, once I started that list I realized the real fun would be in imagining the worst possible movies for a LEGO game. And so, without further ado:

MOVIES THAT WOULD BE TERRIBLE GAMES BUT REALLY FUNNY TO SEE AND/OR WERE FUN TO PUT THE WORD LEGO INTO THE TITLE:

The LEGO English Patient
Lost in LEGO Translation
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless LEGO
The Silence of the LEGOS
When LEGO Harry Met LEGO Sally
A Room with a View of LEGOs
Pride and Prejudice and LEGOS
LEGO Brokeback Mountain
LEGO Casablanca
What about Bob's LEGOS?
Gone with the Wind... and LEGO
To Kill a LEGO Mockingbird
Dumb and Dumber, LEGO and LEGO-ER!
Twelve Angry LEGO Men
LEGO Field of Dreams
The Ten LEGO Commandments ("PHAROAH, LET MY PEOPLE LEGGO!")

These are just the few that came to me off the top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty of others. What do you think? Leave your best or worst LEGO ideas in the comments and put my list to shame!

Superman #700

2010-06-28T10:59:00.002-04:00

Whereas Batman #700 was one story by one writer that took place across three different time periods, Superman #700 was three stories by three writers from three different time periods, and the disconnection was pretty clear throughout. The first story served to wrap up Robinson's run on the title, and the story was mostly a heartfelt welcome home for Supes. There were several pages of Lois and Kal enjoying pillow talk and taking a fly around Metropolis, and on the whole, it didn't feel like any sort of milestone, and that's probably because Robinson is leaving, and not continuing on. The second story was "a story out of Superman's past" but was really "a story out of Robin's past," since the narrative point of view was that of the Boy Wonder. Bruce Wayne took a night off for some Wayne Enterprises event, and Robin had explicit instructions to do his Geometry homework. When some gun runners pop up on radar, Robin tries to stop them, but after he's captured, Superman saves the day. I was left thinking this story was very out of place, and that it was filler so they could jack the price up to $4.99. I would rather have had a poster gallery.

And then there's the J. Michael Straczynski prologue that sets up his run on the title, in which Superman is going to be like Kain from Kung-Fu and walk across America. Lots o' writers complain about writing for Superman, because it's tough to do something original with the character. I think JMS has a really cool idea that should yield some interesting plot lines. The story stems from Superman being out of touch with the world since having left for all of his New Krypton stuff. I'm really excited to see where this story goes, but since this was all setup, I feel like the whole issue was pretty unnecessary. All of the JMS stuff can be summed up on the title page of the next issue, and I didn't need the other two stories. So, while I was bored here, I will be back for the next one.

I really hope Superman walks through my hometown.

Comic Reviews -- Week of June 16th

2010-06-24T14:49:00.004-04:00

IMAGE:

Shuddertown #3: So far, Shuddertown is a good enough crime comic about a drugged-out detective trying to solve a string of murders, murders that were seemingly perpetrated by dead people. While I like Shuddertown well enough, there's honestly not a lot to compel me to keep reading, and it's irregular release schedule is not helping. I’m not one to bitch too much about shipping schedules as it doesn't pertain to the quality of a comic, but when it comes to books that depend largely on a character-heavy mystery, a regular schedule does matter. It's hard to enjoy a story when you have to try and remember what happened a month or two ago before giving in and digging out the previous issues (Oni's Stumptown is plagued by this problem as well). When you can’t remember what happened in the last issue (or the one before that), you're less inclined to stick with a story. David Lynch movies aside, it's hard to be both confused and entertained at the same time. Unfortunately, I’m worried that by the time the next issue of Shuddertown hits the stands, I’ll no longer give a sh*t about the mystery, which is really the heart of the book. At least Adam Green's atmospheric art is pretty, although quite obviously modeled on specific people. If you buy Shuddertown #3, don't be surprised to find yourself staring James Gandolfini in the face.

MARVEL:

Amazing Spider-Man #633: In an what was an otherwise ho-hum week for comics, Amazing Spider-Man #633 was probably the only comic that really delivered on all levels. First off, Chris Bachalo is an incredible artist. He manages to strike a perfect balance between chaos and control, infusing a manic urgency into his otherwise characteristically cartoon style. The resulting pencil-work lies somewhere between Ralph Steadman and Genndy Tartakovsky. It’s perfect for Amazing Spider-Man, making any arc that Bachalo draws an instant favorite. In this final “Gauntlet” offshoot arc, “Shed,” the Lizard returns to prove once again that he is one of Spider-Man’s most dangerous enemies, and not just because he can murder a lot of people (his own son included); it’s clear that more than any other villain, the underlying conflict between the Lizard and Spider-Man stems from Spidey's unrelenting hope that he can rehabilitate the scaly scientist. After the events of "Shed," it's abundantly clear that even he can't save Curt Conners. The Lizard has always been a favorite villain of mine, and to see him come back in such a horrifically monstrous fashion is really what I was hoping to get out of his appearance in “the Gauntlet.” I’m not so sure about his new “Lizard-people-control” powers, but I’ll save that discussion for another day. All-in-all, something tells me that this shockingly bleak Lizard story will ultimately overshadow the long-hyped “Grim Hunt.”

New Avengers #1: Ok New Avengers. I came back. I came back to your party. I know, I know. I said I wouldn’t. But I’m here. Unshowered, unshaven, ready to give us another shot. So whaddya got for me?

A possessed Dr. Strange you say? Alright, so far I’m on board, that sounds fun...oh...oh wait, what’s that? Page upon page of superhero banter? The same banter we've been reading for years? Luke Cage/Danny Rand banter. Luke Cage/Wolverine banter. Luke Cage/the Thing banter. Luke Cage/Wolverine/Victoria Hand banter. What's Wolverine doing on this team again? Banter banter Hawkeye is back in his costummmzzzzzzz*snort*hmmmmegamancupcakesandicecreamvideogameszzzz*zzzzzzz....

Whahuh? Oh sorry. Passed out for a second there. Are they still bantering? Oh the bantering is over. Whew. Wait, now they're spelling out their motivations for us? As part of a conversation? Again? As if we hadn't been following them for years? Alright well, I'm gonna go now, but do me a favor and let me know when Remender's Doctor Voodoo comes back. Until then, hand me that bottle of tequila. I'm just gonna go stretch out under this blanket.

I see London, I see France

2010-06-24T10:28:00.003-04:00

So, Marvel's been releasing bits and pieces of of art for the new Spider-Man storyline One Moment in Time, which seems like it'll bring the whole Brand New Day Storyline to a conclusion. Maybe? I don't know.

What I do know, in looking at the art that's been trickling out, is how much I've missed seeing Peter Parker in his tighty-whiteys!

I'm serious, growing up and reading Spider-Man in the 80's, it was almost a staple that you'd get a few panels of Pete walking along a wall in his apartment in his underwear.

I'll have to see if I can dig up some more images. Spidey-Whiteys could be a new meme!

Futurama Rebirth!

2010-06-24T05:06:00.006-04:00

Following in the footsteps of the mighty animated television program Family Guy, the comeback kid that proved that fans can indeed resurrect their beloved shows, FUTURAMA is back on the air. Matt Groening's bastard stepchild of a show never came close to the success of The Simpsons, but it was a show that I enjoyed for all the science fiction tropes they spoofed, and after catching a lot of reruns on Cartoon Network, well I was eager to see this series come back to the future.

Futurama

Thursdays 10pm / 9c

New Episodes on Comedy Central

www.comedycentral.com

Futurama New Episodes

Ugly Americans

I was able to obtain a sneak preview of the first two episodes to review for you 'Clubbers out there. There's good news, and bad news. The good is it's all the same voice actors, the show looks and feels exactly the same, and all the ridiculous sci-fi cliches are there. The bad is that the humor isn't.

Well, I did laugh out loud a few times, but at the random lines. The 'jokes' just felt really forced and almost dumbed down considering the quality of punchline we usually get in The Simpsons or classic Futurama episodes. I can only assume it's because they're getting back into the swing of things after a seven year hiatus (not counting the four straight to DVD movies, which I can only assume were released to test the market's waters).

That said, I was entertained throughout. The first episode had some fun moments as a few in-jokes of their "rebirth" are tossed about, and we watch the entire cast reborn through SCIENCE! (you'll see what I mean) From there it jumps right into robot dopplegangers, the science of death, and the limits of love. (for real!) The second episode was a bit more groan worthy, but maybe that's because I don't love Zap Brannigan. It really did have its moments though.

Here's the first 90 seconds of the first new episode:

Preview - Interstellar Fugitives

www.comedycentral.com

Futurama New Episodes

Ugly Americans

Funny TV Comedy Blog

Phew, that was not unlike traveling through time & space! So, another animated classic was revived after Cartoon Network re-aired the episodes. I think this sets a great precedent, that fans, or their money anyways, can make a difference in what stays on the air (after years and years of fanboys & girls trying desperately to save doomed shows, from Millennium to Moonlight).

And really, it's good to have new episodes to look forward to with this gang. Fry has really grown on me, much like a fungus, and the humor will hopefully improve as they get a few more episodes in and get comfortable again...if Comedy Central doesn't kill it again before that.

If you've never seen Futurama before or you just want to catch up on what you missed during the five season the show ran, well Comedy Central has provided this hand Recap-O-Rama video for you.

Futurama

Thursdays 10pm / 9c

Recap-O-Rama: 5 Seasons in 7 Minutes

www.comedycentral.com

Futurama New Episodes

Ugly Americans

I kept this review spoiler free, but after you watch the episode, feel free to leave comments below on what YOU think the future holds for Futurama.

You can get a ton of more behind the scenes material over at Comedy Central Insider's Countdown to Futurama blog posts.

Special extras: Live action Futurama film? Futurama mini-figures from Kid Robot. Lego Planet Express.

Get some Class with Rick Lacy!

2010-06-23T14:00:00.000-04:00

This Saturday, June 26th will be the start of Rick Lacy's Private Character Design Class hosted at Bergen Street Comics!

In this class Rick will be covering basic to advanced techniques for character design in animation, comics and video games. Plenty of drawing will be expected so come prepared! This is a great chance for aspiring artists to study outside the classroom with like-minded, local artists. Meet seasoned professionals and acquire new skills from their personal artistic arsenal. This class will meet every Saturday from 9am - 12pm and run for 8 weeks. We'll be meeting inside the illustrious halls of Bergen Street Comics, Brooklyn's latest asylum for the comic collector.

Rick Lacy has been a character designer and story artist for Adult Swim's the Venture Bros, TMNT on FOX, Hellboy Animated and Star Wars: The Clone Wars with Dark Horse Comics. He also publishes his own title, called Labor Days with Oni Press. His most recent venture is with Gameloft NYC in the role of designer and animator. With this class you are guaranteed to get a full fledged education in the art of character design, meet professional artists working in the industry and create finished pieces for your portfolio. A great opportunity for everyone!

Space is limited, so please email Rick at ricklacy [at] Gmail [dot] com, or send a message over to Write Club, for enrollment details and to view the course syllabus. Or go in to Bergen Street comics and reserve your spot today!

Write Club Funnies - WE ARE WRITE CLUB!

2010-06-23T11:00:00.000-04:00

More Write Club Funnies...

Comics and Drugs!

2010-06-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

Strange objects granting their users powerful abilities is not out of place in the comics world; Steve Rogers took a serum to become the apex of human achievement known as Captain America, Rick Tyler crunched Miraclo pills which gave him the super-abilities he needed to become Hourman, even Batman popped a vein with some venom when necessary. In the comic world these methods are often the means to an end, in the real world it's known as drug use. And it's illegal.

Now, to be fair, Venom proved to be harmfully addictive and Batman went cold turkey. Miraclo, the "miraculous vitamin" also had its addictive properties so Tyler had to kick that habit, though later he resorted to a special black-light that would activate the residual traces of Miraclo in his system. Probably sweating and shaking in a back-alleyway somewhere.

While those are, generally the most popular, I thought it would be interesting to run through a few of the other, lesser-known comic book drugs:

In homage to Captain America we've got the Anabolus Serum, invented by Dr. Anabolus it was intended to create a legion of super soldiers. Anabolus tested it on a K-9 corps. puppy thereby creating Rex the Wonder Dog.

In usual fashion, Anabolus was killed soon after, and was therefore unable to replicate the serum. Crazy foreign doctors and their serum compound memorization skills.

Who could forget the Bio-Restorative Formula invented by everyone's favorite would-be plant-man, Alec Holland? Instead of being able to use his invention to turn deserts into forests, he got it all over himself and blew up. He then became the creepy monster-fighter Swamp-Thing.

At least until Alan Moore got his hooks into him and changed him into a...well...maybe I shouldn't spoil it for you!

We all love to be scared, but psychologist Jonathan Crane takes it to a whole new level with his Fear Gas. Oh, and also dressing up like a freaked out Scarecrow as well.

Crane uses his Fear Gas to terrorize the inhabitants of Gotham City, at least up until a man dressed as a freaked out bat hits him in the face.

Mutant Growth Hormone is a drug extracted from a genetic mutant in the Marvel Universe. It was invented by Dr. Hank McCoy, also known as The Beast, and is responsible for his azure hirsuteness. MGH has been recently making the rounds as it has become a popular street drug which gives the non-powered powers, and ramps up the abilities of already powered characters.

I couldn't find any pictures of characters using MGH, so here's a cool picture of Daredevil, who doesn't use drugs, but beats up people who do.

The Terrigen Mists are a time-honored and traditional part of the Inhuman's culture. Much like Ayahuasca is to the Peruvian Indians, except Terrigen causes the Inumans to randomly mutate and gain super-powers.

Non-powered humans that breathe in the mists gain abilities for a time, and depowered mutants regain their abilities for a little while.

Of all the crazy drugs in the Marvel Universe, ZAP takes the cake. Not so much for its effects, which seem to be psychotropic in nature, but where it comes from. ZAP stand for Zootoxic Acid Psychogalvanide, and it comes from the hypothalmic fluid of the extinct Madripoorian Spider Monkey. I mean...WHAT!?

It appeared in Wolverine #32, and apparently when further refined it becomes yet another power granting drug, this time called Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt causes death in one hour.

So, in the comic world taking drugs gives you incredible strength, speed and endurance, sometimes at the penalty of death, but most likely just uncomfortable addiction, or a profound change in morphology.

In real life taking certain drugs can give you the feeling of incredible strength, speed and endurance, sometimes at the penalty of death coupled with a prolonged and wasting addiction, or profound change in morphology.

In the morally simplistic realm of comics drug addiction always has an immediate and intense benefit, and is generally pretty easy to kick. Unless you're a bad guy. Then you probably O.D. and die.

Got any favorite comic book drugs that I missed? Chime in and let me know about them!

Marvel to Debut Short Character Films

2010-06-21T17:32:00.019-04:00

Not films about Wolverine, or Puck or their other short statured characters, but short films that will debut before their big tent-pole features. Those scoopsters over at Latino Review have it on good information that Marvel might be introducing some of their lesser known characters to movie-goers in short film form, so I put the question to some of the Write Clubbers laying around the clubhouse today:

Who, out of the Marvel 2nd string stable, would you love to see on the big screen in this format?

Write Clubbers? GO!

***

Kurt:

I want to see Heroes for Hire and Dr. Strange. Over the top martial arts action, maybe do it up 70's style with a grindhouse feel. Dr. Strange should be quiet, understated, yet be a total mindf@#k. They really should experiment with tone with this, think outside the box.

Jon:

Kurt, did you see this?

Patrick Dempsey wants to play Dr. Strange. So...that's going on.

For my money, I'd love to see a Captain Britain and M1-13 short (big surprise right)? You wouldn't even need much of an intro, just show the team f*cking up monsters and Dracula. It could really be filmed as a horror/fantasy short. They could film the story around him finding Excalibur, and include fun team-based stuff like the Black Knight feeling tormented by the Ebony Blade's blood lust. Plus, the Mindless Ones would be really easy monsters to film. Anything with the John Lennon Skrull and Pete Wisdom would make me happy enough. There's a buddy-cop team for the ages.

I know that Vampires are overdone by this time, but that scene in "Vampire State" where Dracula launches vampires at Britain from the goddammed moon is just too good. Plus you could throw some Blade action in there as a tease for the planned Blade reboot. That being said, I really think the Mindless Ones would make for a creepier and more ambitious short.

Alan:

After the double debacle of X3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I think ol' Hugh Jackman should be limited to ten minute shorts, and they should have no dialogue and be brutal, R-rated affairs. This, of course, will never happen, because Marvel/Disney will never make an R-rated anything.

These little films will only help the hype machine, but I think the best way for Marvel to handle them is to make them be crossovers with appearances by the big boys, like Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Edward Norton. Remember, not everyone who saw Iron Man has read the Armor Wars and knows why Tony is such a dick to Hawkeye sometimes, and seeing Robert Downey Jr. will help newbies understand that this is a big, shared universe, and I think that's the whole point. Get 'em in for Iron Man, get them to come back for Black Panther.

This project does raise a number of questions, like, since these are "secondary" characters, and they are limited to ten minutes each, what kind of actors will Marvel get for these characters? I imagine they'll be of higher caliber than a SyFy original movie, but who knows (Ben Affleck Matt Murdock, I'm lookin' at you).

Ugh, I'm still pissed about that one.

Tim:

I think this is actually a pretty great idea. If we get a nasty, violent little Moon Knight short out of it I'll be happy.

PLUS that huge Iron Man audience who would have never seen Khonshu's Avenger will be clued into one of the strangers characters in the MU. Also short films aren't restricted the way a huge 3 hour epic summer blockbuster is, you don't need character arcs, you don't need to pay off on plot threads, for the most part you just throw a bunch of provocative images and ideas at people and they're hooked.

I also don't think they should limit themselves to live action. Doctor Strange might come out kinda silly as a dude in a blue tunic and a porn-stache, but if it's a bad-ass animated short you can do a ton of mystical mind-blowing insanity that will make total sense (on drugs)!

Rick:

I certainly think that any movement into furthering this Marvel Movie Universe is a cool idea, I'm just not sold on this 10 minute mini-movie tacked on to the bigger film. After 20 minutes or so of trailers I don't wanna sit through another 10 minute film since I came to just see Thor.

I believe a better avenue would be a web series. Hosted on a new website, linked to youtube, twitter, FB and anywhere else. A sort of mini-movie universe that exists solely to promote the lesser knowns. It would be an easy catalogue to build and promote a fledgling audience. Then package it per series ender and sell on DVD! WHAK! Marketing! Hosting a web series website would also allow for additional material to help get the word out on these minor characters. Production photos, hero diaries, mini games, diggity do....

I don't really care who gets a 10 minute mini spot or not, though, I guess I would like to see the absurdity of fishscale briefs brought to the big screen (Namor).

I suppose an argument would be lack of big monetary gain. But this is Marvel/Disney. They have shit-load of money and would make a profit on DVD sales and advertising.

Matt:

My first thought was how much better comic books might be suited to short film anyway, since they tend to be episodic in nature. When most people read a comic book, they are starting the middle somewhere, enjoying a segment of a story without having to know what happened before or comes after. The short films should definitely not try to start at the beginning and cover origins or anything, just drop us in the action.

My second thought was that it also might be a fun way to explore the Marvel alternate universes that probably don't need a full length movie. A Marvel Noir short anybody?

***

Well, that's the chatter around the Clubhouse. What do you guys think? Who would you like to see star in their own 10-minute short film?

Write Club!

This Space Closed - Moved to Tumblr

"We're Back!" V. 3, Ep. 7

Comic Reviews -- Week of Dec. 29

Rick Lacy: Back to School!

KGB Bar - Live Comics Reading

CASANOVA Review

Warren Ellis' "On What Comics Can Do"

Write Club! "Piethos!" V. 3, Ep. 6

Comic Reviews

Book Club Review: One Hit Wonder by Charlie Carillo

Free Comic of the Week: Vision Machine by Greg Pak

New York Comic Con Mini-Cast: Day 1

New York Comic Con Mini-Cast: Day 2

New York Comic Con Mini-Cast: Day 3

Comics: the Con

Comic Con: The Purchases

New York ComicCon 2010: PHOTOS!

Dark Night of the Soul: New York ComicCon 2010 Edition!

Write Club! "MOOREatorium" V. 3, Ep. 4

Write Club! "Alan Moore!" V. 3, Ep. 3

Alan Moore: The Architect of the Blackest Night

Comic Reviews: Weeks of July 28, Aug 4 & 11

Scott Pilgrim vs. Hollywood: a Scott Pilgrim Experience Review

THOR: Marvel's Return to Greatness

Write Club Music Monday

At the Mountains of RADness!

Thor Trailer Reactions

He is the LAW!

Thor Trailer Leaked

Nick Cave penning 'The Crow' reboot: Is this a good idea?

AVENGERS: a cartoon history

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Your Internet Thing of The Day

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Harvey Pekar (1939 - 2010)

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Comic Reviews -- Week of June 16

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Superman #700

Comic Reviews -- Week of June 16th

I see London, I see France

Futurama Rebirth!

Get some Class with Rick Lacy!

Write Club Funnies - WE ARE WRITE CLUB!

Comics and Drugs!

Marvel to Debut Short Character Films

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