Comic Book and Movie Reviews

COMIC-CON'S COLOSSAL SUPER POWERS

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Comic Book Conventions, huh? You can't beat them. You can't poke them with a pointed stick. And you can't use them as some sort of trampoline for disabled frogs either. But I tell you something, folks. What you can do with Comic Book Conventions, is present them in the following infographic cobbled together by those great guys and girls from...

BuyCostumes.com

Yeah. I'm not stuffing your turkey, pal. When you've the time to spare, please just check out and share the proceeding well-polished picture for the full 411 on San Diego's Colossal Comic Book Convention. Trust me. It's well worth a look or ten.

Nuff said.

GERRY KISSELL - A COMBAT CHIMP WITH CHOPS

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Picture the scene. A small child drawing a picture of two comic book heroes having sex on a piece of paper. When suddenly -- THUMP! -- his bedroom door abruptly swings opens, and in comes sauntering in, the child's father, who swiftly looks at what he drew, and then praises him for it, and criticizes him for it, both in the same breath. Want to know more? Then please, by all means, check out this interview I had with the big child in question, Gerry Kinssell. Trust me. He's one hell of a guy.

Gerry Kissell on Amazon

1) What are your own origins, Gerry? Plus what path did you take in life to get to where you are today? Origins? That is a big question. Okay. Well, I hope you can spare an hour. Ha!

I was born in Illinois, and raised between both Illinois and Arizona along with my six other siblings. My father, well, he kidnapped me when I was 9 and hid out with me in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He hid out with me there from age 9 until I was 17, when I struck out on my own. Though, I continued living there until I was 26, until I joined the army.

I always wanted to be a comic artist. I mean, for as long as I can remember. I grew up drawing. Both my parents, as fucked up as they were, were also great artists. So, I had no choice in what I was going to be. I was screwed, Ha! I was metaphorically born with a pen in my hand. When I was age 10, my dad found a drawing I had done of Robin, from Teen Titans, and I had drawn him having sex with Wonder Girl. It was very graphic. He told me that it was a really good drawing, but then punished me for drawing it. I stopped drawing sexy stuff, however, that didn't stop my brain from being fixated on it, Ha!

I used to draw a lot of comic pages and stuff as a teen. My best friend and I used to sit and talk about comics we would do together. However, My goals of doing comics just didn't happen. I had, had a son when I was 18, so, moving to New York wasn't in the cards, and back then, both DC and Marvel would not hire freelancers unless they were established. You had to move there and become a staff artist. So, my professional art career didn't start until I was age 24, when I started working as the lead artist for Selling Power Magazine.

It wasn't a comic book job, but I did do comic strips as well as spot illustrations. I loved working for them. I did a lot of self help and positive thinking stuff. My first strip for them was picked up by Reuters, and used for their internal news magazine. I was so proud of that. Selling Power Magazine was a fantastic job. But, after a failed marriage, and for other personal reasons, when I turned 26, I left the job and the life I'd known in Virginia, and joined the U.S. Army, where I served as a combat medic.

Being a soldier changed my life, and, it also saved my life. I found myself and learned to have confidence in myself, from being a soldier. Though I was a combat medic, I still managed to do a lot of art for the army. I am proud of the mural I did on a wall in our barracks, of a lone soldier. I continued drawing and painting throughout my service, so I never lost any skills.

When I go out, I was hired by The Federal Way News, in Federal Way, Washington, as their political cartoonist. Around that same time, FXM, Inc., commissioned me to do two Star Trek paintings, which they published as limited edition art prints. Both sold out. Instead of going home to Virginia, I moved back to Illinois, to go to school, and was hired by The Octopus Magazine (Champagne, Illinois) as a staff artist/cartoonist and columnist.

In 1997 I left the magazine and moved to Missouri, because of a job offer as a commercial artist and designer for an internet marketing company. I continued working in the commercial art marketing field until 2010.

In 2010, My buddy Tom Waltz, senior writer for IDW, convinced me to switch to my original love; comics. I was also hired by Dale Dye and Julia Dye (Senior Military Advisers for Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, Platoon, et al) as a cover artist, and have been doing comics and book covers ever since.

2) In your own words how would you describe your style of art and storytelling? Well, I agree with some others who have compared my style to that of Al Williamson. Though he is far better than I will ever be, he was a huge influence on me as an illustrator. I like realistic stuff. I am not a comic book artist, but more an illustrator. I love realism. Don't get me wrong, I love reading superhero/mutant comics. Yet, the stuff I want to draw needs to be based more in reality. The superhero stuff I do is not over the top. I am at heart a restrained artist.

3) What song would you say best represents your style and why? "Go Your Own Way", by Fleetwood Mac and "Shock The Monkey" by Peter Gabriel. Ha!

"Go your Own Way", because, well, I never followed in anyone's footsteps. Though that wasn't by choice. I just never had anyone show me anything. I had to figure everything out on my own, and I have always just winged it and done my best. So, what you see, is not from any education. Though, later on, I did get a few very useful tips from Drew Struzan, who has been a mentor to me, as an adult as well as a great supporter in what I do. I don't show my latest art to my parents, I show it to Drew Struzan. If you don't know who drew is, he is the artist best known for doing the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movie posters.

I think "Shock the Monkey" just describes me, and not so much my art.

4) In roll-call fashion, can you give us a brief run down on your two graphic novels, ‘Endtime’ and ‘Iron Sky’, plus your Lou Ferrigno movie tie-in, ‘Liberator’? Book One of Endtime is part of an anthology series. It is an apocalyptic horror/thriller written by the amazing Tim Kenyon. It's an amazing book, which is why I wanted to draw it. The main character, Jack Kurgan, is a rogue death dealer. Death dealers (angels of death) are part of the bureaucratic big brother world in the alternate timeline story -- that is similar to our world -- but is also very different. Jack senses things are out of joint and he begins traveling from moment to moment in time, trying to piece it together. He knows that something bad is going to happen and he may very well be the only person (if he is even human anymore) that can stop it.

Iron Sky is the prequel to the hit sci-fi action comedy film that came out last year. It explains how the Nazi's got to the moon, and once they got there, all the stuff that happened that leads them up to the events seen in the film. It was written by Mikko Rautalahti (Writer of the hit Xbox horror game Alan Wake) and drawn by me and Amin Amat.

I did the comic art seen at the end of the film Liberator, starring Lou Ferrigno. The creators later came to me, and asked if I'd like to do an actual comic, I said "Hell yes!" I love Lou Ferrigno. He has been a hero of mine since I was a kid. Blue Water is publishing that. It is a super hero action thriller.

5) If you could get any celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you get, and why would you choose this particular person? I have two already; Bruce Campbell and Dale Dye. But, if I could pick someone else...hmmm...Ridley Scott. I love Ridley Scott.

6) If you don't mind me for saying so, stylistically your artwork reminds me of a mix-mash of the Daredevil artist, Alex Maleev, plus the ‘From Hell’ artist, ‘Eddie Campbell’. Out of curiosity, though, what artist inspired you the most to draw? Thanks. Well, as I mentioned before, Al Williamson was a huge influence on me. Frank Frazetta was a huge influence. And Drew Struzan was huge a influence on me as well.

I wasn't into Alice Cooper when I was younger, but I owned two of his albums, solely because of the art done by Drew Struzan. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Frank Miller was a huge influence, as well as Mike Mignola.

7) Can you please tell us a little bit about your up and coming Kickstarter project, ‘Vindicator Inc’? Plus what can you compare this piece to? Vindicated Inc. is a 100 page graphic novel about a Delta Forces operator, John Russell, who was wounded in combat during an ambush, losing both legs below the knee.

He then returns home to mend his wounds (both physical and psychological) having to learn how to walk again with his new prosthetic legs, and through a series of events, finds himself donning body armor and an ballistic mask, and an cadre of lethal weapons, and going to war with organized crime in Seattle.

He has both criminals and law enforcement after him. Because of his prosthetic legs, his identity isn't Vindicated's only secret.

Vindicated is created by me, but, I turned to my writer friends (who are also military vets) to help me develop it; this includes Ernesto Haibi and Robert Scott McCall. The final script was written by best selling author Shane Moore (Apocalypse of Enoch) and myself. For the immense amount of combat, both in the military scenes as well as the urban combat he does in the streets of Seattle, we have Senior Military advisers Dale Dye and Julia Dye, the folks who oversaw the military stuff in 'Platoon', 'Saving Private Ryan' and other great war films. I love working with those two.

This is the first project we have considered using crowd funding on. I think people will want to help, because it's not your typical action story. This is the story of a disabled vet. A man who says, "I am NOT disabled, I am enabled! I am as good now as I was before, if not better."

I intend to also align ourselves with a charity for wounded vets. This is an important issue to everyone involved.

8) What was the first comic book you ever read? And do you still read mainstream comic books today? I don't remember my first comic. But, I remember the first one I bought with my own money. I still own it, and it is even signed by the artist, Bernie Wrightson. It was Batman vs Swamp Thing, 1972.

9) During your time as a creator, what is the one thing that has kept you in good stead? Shame. I really hate being ashamed of not finishing something.

Yeah. I know what you mean, Gerry. Plus I'm sure my readers will too. So go ahead, you know what you have to do. Check out his website, gerrykissell.com, his kickstarter campaign, and his facebook page. Go on. Shift. You know that it'll be the right thing to do.

Gerry Kissell on Amazon

JUSTICE LEAGUE - TABULA RASA

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

In 1951 Robert Wise directed the sci-fi classic, 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'. Sometime in 2004, though, the creators of the Justice League Animated Adventures -- i.e. DC Comics -- decided to amalgamate this movie into their 45 minute cartoon. Here. Check it out. Its amazo-azing, baby!

Justice League - Tabula Rasa

THE STORY:

Salutations, adventure seekers. Have I got one dozy of a question for you!

What lumbering brute do you think has similar looking wings to Hawkgirl, the endurance of Wonder Woman, the speed of the Flash, a power-ring like Green Lanterns, plus the strength of Superman as well?

Yeah. I suppose on a certain level you could hypothesize that the Martian Manhunter does possess some of these abilities. But it's not him I'm referring to, dear reader. Oh no. I'm sorry to state that J'onn's 'telepathic talent' is playing him up at the moment; and he doesn't seem to know what to do with himself. Rather, I'm talking about someone else Lex Luthor inadvertently ran into after his battle with the Justice League.

You see, following this fleeting fight, in haste, Lex goes to the current head of LexCorp -- a lady called Mercy -- for some help in repairing his battle-scorned body-armor. But alas, she can not aide Lex with his plight; all she can do is direct him to one of his old allies instead -- Professor Ivo.

But alas -- again -- Ivo can't seem to help Lex either. He's dead. And all he has left dawdling around in his dusty old laboratory, is a lumbering grey android called A.M.A.Z.O., who can replicate the powers of whomever it comes into contact with.

No. You're not thinking what I'm thinking, are you? Surely Lex wouldn't be cruel enough to dupe A.M.A.Z.O. into fighting the League on his behalf? Possessing their powers one by one for his own nefarious' ends!

Oh, dear! Then that's most probably why what next transpires all kicks off when Batman transforms' a strength into a weakness. As Martian's see the light - the League puts up a very good fight - a villain eventually shows his face - and by his own accord, an android jumps up into deep outer space.

The end. For now.

THE REVIEW:

Now if I was going to be somewhat sardonic about 'Justice League - Tabula Rasa', I'd call this animated adventure a rather predictable tale that was one-half naive and one-half buoyant. Yet, if I was going to be nice about it, I would call it a very delightful stepping stone story which manages to entertain us, intrigue us, and present us with homages and innovations that felt slightly too simple by default.

Well, if you've ever eaten a barbequed-orange before, dear reader, you'd know perfectly well what I mean by this remark. After the first bite you'd say to yourself 'Yeah. It tastes like a warm orange'. Next, after the second bite, you'd then say to yourself 'It's sweet like an orange, but its barbequed aftertaste does give it an extra nice twist'. And then, from then on in, you get used to its flavor, and just savor it for what it really is.

Do you see what I'm trying to get at, folks? This cartoon is like a barbequed-orange. It takes some getting used to before you can get used to it.

Of course I do mean this with all due respect. Because I really did enjoy all of the 'flair' this flick had on offer. Such as: (1) The way A.M.A.Z.O. looked like the robot from the film 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'. (2) How the overall narrative progressed in bite sized portions, with each segment dishing a section of plot a piece at a time. (3) The fact that A.M.A.Z.O.'s original creator, Professor Ivo, was acknowledged in this cartoon. (4) The manner in which the action scenes actually had some pretty decent choreographed set pieces on offer. (5) A.M.A.Z.O.'s jovial tone when he tried to imitate Wally's personality. And (6) How Batman's devious ways initially got the League out of trouble.

On the reverse side of this though, I wasn't too sure about that scene where Batman tried to play the same trick on A.M.A.Z.O the second time around -- I thought that was slightly out of character for him. Plus I wasn't too keen on the Martian Manhunters section of the story either -- because it felt slightly disjointed within the confines of this particular adventure, and it did bother me that his 'telepathic glitch' wasn't also given an 'origin' of sorts.

Still, you can't win them all, can you? So before I bugger off to reviewer land, here are some Amazo-azing facts. (1) This episode first aired on the same day Poland apologized to France for claiming they found newly produced French surface-to-air missiles in Iraq -- the 4th of October, 2003. (2) Amazo and his inventor, Professor Ivo, were created by the writer, Gardner Fox, and the artist, Murphy Anderson, in the comic book, 'Brave and the Bold', #30, June 1960. (3) Throughout his villainous career, this mechanized menace has allied himself with the 'Injustice League', the 'Secret Society of Super Villains', and even the 'Justice League' themselves. (4) During the brief 'Hourman' ongoing series -- which ran at the tail end of the nineteen-nineties -- it was revealed that Hourman was linked to both Amazo and the Justice League member, the Red Tornado, via his own physiognomy. (5) At one time or another, Amazo has also been called: Professor Ivo's Amazing Android, The Android, Timazo, Humazo, and Hourmazo. (6) I kid you not; Professor Ivo once created a son for Amazo -- called 'Kid Amazo' -- who was given the conflicted human guise of Frank Halloran. (7) In the current New 52, it has been alleged that Amazo is somehow associated with the father of Cyborg, Silas Stone. (8) Amazo has starred in numerous television based cartoons, plus a video game called 'Justice League: Chronicles', and the direct to video animated adventure 'Batman: Under The Red Hood'.

Overall 'Justice League - Tabula Rasa' was a fairly decent animated adventure. It was great in places. Predictable in others. But by in large it was a fairly nice cartoon of the Saturday morning variety. Sweet. Like a barbequed orange.

THE RATING: B

STORMWATCH #20

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Thu, 23 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ STORMING A SALE ]

Say hello to my good friend Lobo. He's a dab hand at playing with his yo-yo. He can perform all the tricks. He never picks up sticks. And once I saw him dancing on a pogo. Yeah. I'm not kidding. He was first, and then came the Writer: Jim Starlin; the Artist: Yvel Guichet; and the Publisher: DC Comics, in April, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this STORY entitled 'Away'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: Under Forecaster's guidance, Stormwatch travel to a war torn planet, and investigates the PSI omissions which are affecting all of reality.
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: No. Not really. But a start is made amidst a flurry of bullets and bashing.
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: The evil mastermind and Lobo take a trip down memory lane, to have a quick glimpse of the last Czarians own origin.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With a battle looming in the background.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Now I liked it when Lobo said 'Fraggin' Crapola!'. And I liked it when Lobo also said ''Now that's the way every fraggin' morning ought to start'. But which phrase it better, huh? Plus how can I decide which one out of the two?

Oh! I know. FRAGGIN' FIGHT!

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) No word of a lie, this adventure has an 'old school' flavour which I really do dig. In many ways it's like an eighties comic book with some nineties sensibilities thrown in for good measure, aided and abetted by the main man himself, Jim Starlin.

(+) I did enjoy how the Weird acted as Jenny's wayward protector, as it makes him appear more of a nurturing character than the token strange-looking hero.

(+) Lobo. Lobo. Lobo. I'm a sucker for Lobo. More please.

(+) At the moment I really do like the new team line up, because it's a very nice mixture of the old and the new.

(+) I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Lobo's revamped origin. As a part of me likes it for its slight innovation. Whereas another part of me just thinks 'why bother?'.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) At a push, the only thing I didn't like about this issue was its slightly block-ish artwork, plus the way in which the team appears more like 'a group of happy campers', than 'a covert action team'. But please note, this is only a minor gripe overall, and not a biggie.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two MUSICIANS .

GENE SIMMONS AS LOBO: Look at the picture provided. Go on. Look. Do I need to say any more than that? No. I didn't think so either.

JIM MORRISON AS APOLLO: Alright. I know that Jimmy isn't blond and is dead. But on a purely esoteric level, I'd say that these two chap's share a certain bold yet poetic vibe.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan' -- John F. Kennedy

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

'THE TIME WARP' THEME TUNE FROM THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW: OK. I have to admit. I've been dying to use this musical reference for quite some time now. But come on. Let's face it. Both this tune and this tale are rocking and entail time travel. So why not?

ANYTHING Else?

Now has anybody caught wind of what that reality-warping mastermind is actually called? You know. His name or something. As of yet I don't think that I have. So just for larks, why don't I have a stab at a couple of suggestions...

The Inhuman Flame -- Hmm? That has a nice ring to it.
The Anti-Man -- Part man. Part politician.
Simon Cowell -- But does he have the X-Factor?
Zigdfstgyhzi -- My Polish cousin from afar.
The Property Specialist -- For all your housing needs.
Doris -- Suits him. Don't you think?
The Flame-haired love-child of the Anti-Monitor and Firestorm -- Could work?
Barbra Streisand -- With just one look she can alter your world.
Geoffrey Longbottom -- OK. I confess. I'm not even trying now.

Anyway. Enough of that silliness. Overall I really did enjoy this issue of Stormwatch. The art was great in places. The story was a mixture of origin and adventure. Plus all in all it's got me intrigued enough to come back next month to see what the hells going to happen.

Sound about right, dear reader? What do you think?

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was an Ice Cream, It Would Be Vanilla in Flavour and Petrol in Aftertaste. Think about it.

JACK THE RIPPER (1959)

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

It has once been alleged that the notorious 'Jack the Ripper' had a sister called 'Jill the Stripper'. Not really sure what her profession was though. Must be something to do with wood restoration or wallpaper removal, huh? I know what. I'll ask the Directors: Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman; or the Actors: Lee Patterson, John Le Mesurier, and Eddie Byrne. But only in 1959, and for about 84 minutes.

Jack The Ripper: The Film - The Book

THE STORY:

One dark and murky night in 1888, a mysterious figure lurking around the streets' of Whitechapel, London, asks a lone-lady if she goes by the name of 'Mary Clarke'. Now when this forlorn-female denies that this is her actual name, in turn, this strange shadow of a man stabs her to death, before disappearing into the foggy streets of old London town.

The man is none other than Jack the Ripper -- whilst the lady in question is his current victim. What Inspector O'Neill (Eddie Byrne) and his American ally, Sam Lowry (Lee Patterson), need to know next; is who is Jack the Ripper?

Could it possibly be someone working at the local hospital perhaps? Because it is has been alleged that this killer does have some sort of anatomical knowledge! But if so -- who? Surely not:

The venerable, Sir David Rogers (Ewen Solon): As this very astute surgeon is rather dapper don't you know. Plus he does sport a very nice-looking beard!
The stoic, Doctor Tranter (John Le Mesurier): Who is both a brash and charitable man in hindsight. Especially when you take into consideration that he has sponsored his new ward, Anne Ford (Betty McDowall), in her more erstwhile pursuits.
The lowly, Clarke (George Rose): As this chap is a disabled porter working at this place of care. Not very nice to look at. Agreed. But he does have a very good heart.

Huh? What's that you say? Jack can't be any of these people? OK then, so maybe he's a pickpocket, a nightclub door-man, or even a drunk lying destitute on the ground? Still, whatever the case may be, that's most probably why what next transpires kicks off when Sam and Anne views the aftermath of one of the Rippers next victims! As a woman points the way - a victim is held at bay - an American can smell a rat - and at the end of the day a misguided doctor goes... sigh... splat.

THE REVIEW:

Now being an avid Ripperologist (click on the following link for more details), you might have thought I'd be very hypercritical about any of the Jack the Ripper movies I've watched. But no. Not really. Half of me always presumes' that the filmmaker's will skip on most of the pertinent details relating to this case. Whilst the other half of me is just glad to watch something relating to 'The Autumn of Terror' on screen!

Well, I'm not normally a very fussy person by nature. However, in this instance... errr... how can I put it? Oh! I know: (1) From a literary perspective, the structure of this 1959 'Jack The Ripper' film is all over the place. It starts off on a killing. It then introduces the two key 'police figures'. Then it showcases the suspects. And after that it goes from another killing, to an arrest, to a release, to a segway, that meanders two and throw until the conclusion presents itself. No. It wasn't focused enough as a tale in its own right. Plus I wasn't very keen on how the numerous characters took centre stage without any logical forethought. (2) Even though I understood on a commercial level why the two main cops in this movie were American, on a visceral level this aspect felt very much out of place. What if the roles whee revered, huh? And it was a couple of Englishmen who tried to solve the JFK assassination! Tonally, this just feels very-very obtuse; particularly when it is placed within the confines' of Victorian London. (3) The two things that I really did enjoy about this film were the set-designs and the conclusion. Now where the sets are concerned -- smashing -- slightly above the usual high standard for a period film made in this era. And where the conclusion was concerned -- yeah -- that was smashing too -- mainly because some of backstory was conveyed, and the final 'chase sequence' presented a very cleaver quandary. (4) By in large most of the actors in this piece did a pretty good job conveying their characters -- especially John Le Mesurier, who seems totally out of character than normal.

OK, before I get carried away with myself, let's have some filmic facts now, shall we? (1) Although the American version of this film credits the American company, 'Embassy Pictures Production', for making it; in actual fact it was made by an English company called 'Mid Century Film Productions Ltd', who released it in the UK on the 28th of May, 1959. (2) This yarn is loosely based on a thesis published in 1924 written by the Australian journalist, Leonard Matters, who hypothesized that Jack the Ripper was a medical man, whose son tragically died from syphilis caught from a prostitute. The name of this book is 'The Mystery of Jack the Ripper', and it was the first non-fiction book about him. (3) Jimmy Sangster, who wrote the screenplay for this film, was one of the driving forces behind the legendary 'Hammer' film studios. (4) One of the main producers on this movie, Joseph E. Levine, also produced the Dustin Hoffman movie, 'The Graduate', and the Mel Brooks film, 'The Producers', amongst others. (5) This picture has been referenced in Gorman Bechard's 1987 horror-comedy, 'Psychos in Love', and Anthony Hickox's 1992 horror-comedy sequel, 'Waxworks 2: Lost In Time'. (6) For all of you location spotters out there, I'm sure you can tell that this film was shot entirely in 'Shepperton Studios', Surrey, England. Ha! (7) Even though this thriller was well remembered because of its $1 million dollar advertising campaign, ultimately, it was deemed a failure in the eyes of its producer, Joseph E. Levine. He once said to the press "We dropped dead in every state! You'd think somewhere, a small town maybe, someplace, it would have done business. But no. That's a record they'll never come close to". (8) The two musicians who composed the score for the U.S. version of this movie -- Jimmy McHugh and Pete Rugolo -- teamed-up with Steve Allen, to produce the following promotional novelty 'Jack the Ripper' song, sung by Nino Tempo.

Overall, this 1959 'Jack the Ripper' film is pretty much a hit and miss affair. The concept was a good one, yet the story and the execution wasn't. Still, you can't win them all, huh? Unless you're Jack. Jack the Ripper, HahAHAhahahaa!

THE RATING: C+

DETECTIVE COMICS #20

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ STRANGLE THOSE SALES ]

Curse that very bad-bird. He's like a funny-looking yet evil-nerd! Or maybe he'll be a geek? Or a creep that is chic? Or quite possibly a stray-sheep from the herd? BAH-BAH! Not unlike the geek-loving Writer: John Layman; the Artists: Jason Fabok and Andy Clarke; plus the Publisher: DC Comics, in April, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 5 questions about this STORY entitled 'King for a Day'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: Post haste, Batman has to stop the newly supercharged Emperor Penguin, before his stranglehold on Gotham City becomes resolute.
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: At first -- no -- not really. But when the other pug-faced Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot, eventually makes him presence known, well, lets just say that he lends Bat's a beak or two.
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: Yeah. Batman gets a stiff neck.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With an incarceration and a reclassification in the works.
WHAT'S THE BACK-UP FEATURE ABOUT: The Emperor expands upon his own origins, whilst he has a short tête-à-tête with the Boss of Blackgate Penitentiary. SNAP! The old Boss.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

I just loved how this issue began. It felt poignant. It felt timely. Plus it was one hell of a read too. Here, check this out...

'By the time Ignatius Ogilvy got into Gotham first Federal, he'd given up all the pretence of keeping his actions and identity a secret. He strolled in with his crew, beat up everybody who even looked at him twice, and gathered more than three million dollars in cash from the vaults. And when he was done, he looked directly at the security camera, smiled, and said "Come and get me, Batman". Tonight... I was more than happy to oblige'.

Wow! Doesn't that read great? It comes across like an 'old-school' gangster film with real chops.

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) Generally speaking, I thought that there were three very surprising story-strands scattered throughout this issue. Firstly, I was stunned by the similarities between Bruce's origins and Ogilvy's origins -- as it did make sense why Olgilvy became who he is. Secondly, the Penguins generosity displayed within the last leg of this book was a very bold take on his mentality. And thirdly, that image of Bruce hanging from a tree sh*t me up something terrible. OK, I knew that he's wasn't going to peg it in this very mundane manner. But still -- Wow! -- What an image!

(+) Hey! While on the subject of images, Jason Fabok and Andy Clarke are really top-draw artists. Honestly, I can't seem to fault them one little bit. Their characters are expressive. Their panelling is dynamic. And all in all -- Wow again! -- To the Max.

(+) On a conceptual level, this story is about the rise and fall of a gangster. And to me, someone who loves such films as Goodfellas, well, this is right up my crime alley, bar none.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) My only slight gripe with this adventure would have to be the overall predictability of it. As soon as the Penguin was released -- I knew he would somehow help Batman out. When Batman was tied-up like a chicken -- I knew he wouldn't get plucked. Plus I knew that this yarn would finish on a satisfactory level, because next issue... err... wait a minute. I think that I leave that for my conclusion.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two MUSICIANS .

GERI HALLIWELL AS EMPEROR... ERRR... WHATEVER: Well, let's face it. This so-called singer and this so-called villain both have wannabe written all over them.

JOE COCKER AS THE PENGUIN: It's a little known fact that when 'The Cock' was a young lad, he would brandish a monocle and say 'Wak-Wak-Wak' an awful lot. Yeah. Honest. Geri told me.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'I need more sex, OK? Before I die I wanna taste everyone in the world' -- Angelina Jolie

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

WANNABE BY THE SPICE GIRL: I tell you what I want, what I really-really want, I wanna -- huh -- I wanna -- huh -- I want to not compare this story to this song. Oops!

ANYTHING Else?

Overall this issue of 'Detective Comics' was fairly good across the board. The art was amazing. The story was both predictable and bold. And the only thing that let it down was the main villain of the piece, Emperor Penguin. I mean; what next, huh? Something like...

Emperor Lane -- After he beats Lois in a writing competition.
Emperor Doo -- After he beat's Scooby to those tasty snacks.
Emperor Jolie -- After he sleeps with Brad Pitt.
Emperor Man -- After he beats himself up.
Emperor Woman -- After he beat's Diana in a swimsuit competition.
Emperor Emperor -- After he fly's over to Korea for a chat with... errr... what's-his-face. That chap with the crew-cut. Dragon Lee.

Huh? What do you mean you can do better than that? Go on then. I dare you. I double dare you with a strawberry on top. Game on.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was a Sandwich, It Would Be a Cheese and Pickle Sandwich with a Slice of Monkey. Samey, yet Different.

PAUL MCCARTNEY REALLY IS DEAD - THE LAST TESTAMENT OF GEORGE HARRISON?

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Are you a fan of conspiracy theories? You know, some strung out and lengthy piece of prose that denotes 'Person A' did something to 'Person B' using 'Item C'. Well, if you are, please be warned about this alternate 95 minute documentary made in 2011 about the 'The Beatles'. You might like it, Yeah-Yeah-Yeah! Or you may not.

Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison

THE STORY:

Now apart from the obvious musical connection, what do you think is the common denominator between the murder of John Lennon, on the 5th of December, 1980, and the attack on George Harrison, on the 30th of December, 1999?

Yes. Of course I know that their respective assailants were bloody bonkers! I'm not a complete and utter fool, dear reader. What I am referring to is a pre-recorded tale that George Harrison has sent to the makers of this documentary whilst recuperating from his brash injuries.

"And what could that possibly be?" you might ask yourself. Well, it's a very intricate tale of times past: involving the death of his old pal, Paul McCartney, and how the M15 tried to cover it up by replacing him with a look-a-like called William Campbell.

No joke.

Regretfully, this ghastly event happened one dark and stormy night in 1966. After Paul had an argument with John at 'Abbey Road' recording studios, resulting in Paul rushing off outside, jumping into his White Aston Martin, and then accidentally crashing his car a long way down the lane. Furthermore, just to make sure that the three surviving Beatles -- John, George, and Ringo -- could protect themselves if this M15 'cover-up' were ever revealed to the public, they 'implanted' clues to Paul's replacement (nicknamed 'Faul') within the songs and the album covers they developed from then on in.

Granted, on occasion, their subliminal musings were spotted by the head of the MI5 -- who was a man named Maxwell. But this didn't stop the fab-four from rocking and rolling. No way! Time and time again, they'd slip a clue within a lyric here, and a message in an album cover there, continuality alluding to the fact that Paul McCartney really is dead.

Still, that's most probably why what next transpires all makes a song and dance when Faul starts to show his face. As Beatles play a dangerous game - a theory turns out slightly lame - a DJ's eventually discovers the truth - and the last will and testament of George Harrison is released to a super-sleuth.

THE REVIEW:

When I first heard about 'Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison?' I honestly thought to myself that this was a good concept to satirize in a film. Not only because the subject matter in question is steeped in some sort of communal history, but it has also been proven by mock documentaries like 'The Rutles' for instance, that you can have 'a joke' with the Beatles, without being too disrespectful in the process.

However, once I eventually sat down and watched this project -- nah -- 'disrespectful' is the only word I could use to define it.

Listen: I am a big Beatles fan (click on link for their section); and I like to think that I know quite a bit about these down to earth scouser's who've lived one hell of a an extraordinary life. Moreover, I am a big comedy buff too (ditto); and like to think that I'm fairly competent to know the difference between tasteful comedy and distasteful comedy. Therefore, once I eased back and started to assess this film with my pre-existing knowledge, it became blatantly obvious to me that the makers of this movie leaned into the concept to such an extent, they forgot to make it entertaining.

Yeah. I'm afraid so. The narration by a presumed 'George Harrison' was too nasally and annoying at times. Most of the gags were too repetitive and formulaic by default. And even though the history of the group was expanded upon in a very original way, nothing else about this piece was original at all.

Now do I need to go on? Oh! I do? So how's about the back-story and the factual errors associated with this project then? That might appease you just enough until I can come up with a more erstwhile conclusion.

THE BACK-STORY:

The first published rumours surrounding Paul McCartney's 'death' came to light in a Beatles fanzine printed in 1967 -- called 'The Beatles Book' -- alluding to his tragic demise in a car accident at the tail end of the previous year. This then started to escalate a little bit more in 1969, when Paul married Linda Eastman, and the two of them distanced themselves from the rest of the band by moving to a remote farmhouse situated in Scotland.

Yet, it wasn't until a newspaper article published in Iowa -- on the 17th of September, 1969 -- plus a conversation between a Detroit disc jockey and one of his callers -- on the 12th of October, 1969 -- that thing got so muddled in the media, the Beatles then publicist, Derick Taylor, had to refute this allegation by releasing a statement to the international press.

Please note: This film follows very similar lines to what has been said in the aforementioned sources of information. Insinuating that the Beatles tried to point the finger at 'Faul' within their songs and albums.

FACTUAL ERRORS:
Now just to stick the final nail in this film, what now follows are a number of factual errors I come across whilst watching it. (1) Although 'George' stated that he kept a high profile after the Beatles broke-up, the video clip used for this film was taken from a television show he was in two years before the split. (2) Heather Mills was born in 1968, so it was impossible for her to have been in the same car as Paul when he 'died' in 1966. (3) 'Abbey Road' was the Beatles last album; not 'Let it Be'. (4) Paul's Mother died of cancer whilst he was still in his early teens, so she could not have been present at his 'supposed funeral' all those years later. (5) 'Rubber Soul', 'Yesterday and Today', and 'Revolver' were all recorded and released prior to 1966, so they could not have been used by the Beatles to allude to Paul's death afterwards.

THE CONCLUSION:

Now if you haven't guessed by now, I'm not really a huge advocate for 'Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison?'. The jokes are a tad too repetitive. The George-over-narration is very grating at times. The scope of the story is intriguing to follow, yet fails to deliver in originality. And all on all it's one of those satires I thought was going to be a lot better than it actually was.

Heck, the only two aspects about this piece I really did like, were the Heather Mills joke (that did make me laugh), plus the incremental way that 'Faul' was both hidden and revealed to the public a stage at the time (that was very innovative). So overall, I'd have to say that if you are a Beatles fan, be warned, you may like some parts, you may hate others, but remember, never to be like this film's musical representation; which is...

Nuff said.

THE RATING: C

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #19

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ THAT SALE IS MAGIC ]

Has anybody seen my old abode? I placed it somewhere near my old road. Frankenstein hasn't got a clue. Johnny-boy keeps on talking blue. And Xanadu has suddenly changed her zip code. Yeah. She currently lives quite close to the super-dark creative team, comprising of Jeff Lemire, Ray Fawkes, Mikel Janin, plus the Publisher: DC Comics, in March, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this FIRST PART of 'Horror City'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: After a pointless conversation he has with Steve Trevor, John Constantine quickly discovers that his old foes, 'The Cult of the Cold Flame', have swiped his elusive House of Mystery, thus prompting him to recruit Deadman, Frank, Xanadu, and the special guest-star -- Swamp Thing -- to help him retrieve his missing chunk of prime real estate.
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: No. Not really. The entire issue is a big setup for the future. Furthermore, the time is ticking on Constantine’s connection with his house, everyone is stuck in a nightmare, and Swamp Thing is tied down and controlled by... ahem... Skeletor?
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: Yeah.Three things as a matter of fact. The Flash decides to show up because... well... why not? Xanadu appears a lot younger than she used to, just to encourage younger readers to be less ashamed of their tightening pants. And Steve is trying to set up Deadman as a spy, because how else is he supposed to remain relevant in this series?
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With Swampy coming face to face with his Destiny. Ha!

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?
After 'The Cold Flame' plays its trump card and takes over Swampy, Xanadu exclaims “Do you understand?! The Nightmares have taken over!”.

Now to me, personally, this is my idea of a great tagline, because everything is setup so that the next issue is nothing but a disgusting and creepy nightmare-fest I can really dig.

What are the BEST bits about this issue?
(+) Sniff-Sniff! Doesn't the smell of Swamp Thing in the morning just make everything seem a lot better? Nuff said.

(+) Nightmare imminent issue's are fantastic. I can feel my pants tightening already.

(+) Well, if I can’t have Honest Constantine, Scared Constantine is a nice consolation.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) Is it just me, or does 'The Cult of the Cold Flame' sound about as intimidating as a 'Hot Topic-clad' boy-band?

(-) Young Xanadu… err... why exactly? Does making her younger and prettier directly make this book more scary to its female audience? Or more horney to the male ones?

(-) In my opinion, Steve’s appearance in this adventure seems very out of place, especially with the plot going in the direction it currently is.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two REAL LIFE PEOPLE.
ROB SCHNEIDER AS STEVE TREVOR: I can see why many people might find Rob and Steve somewhat useful, yet they're both geniuses in the art of 'overstaying their welcome'. Hint-Hint!

KEANU REEVES AS MADAME XANADU: Wait a minute. Let me tell you what I mean by this match-up before you start f-ing and blinding, folks. Both of these characters are immortal, and are usually in the driest parts of any stories they appear in. Also, in addition to this, you might notice that you'll never see them in the same picture together.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there’s little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear' -- Stephen King

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

'(NOT ADAM)' BY FOETUS: If JLD goes down this dark journey for a while, I'll be stuck recommending the demented tunes of Foetus. Not only are they wrong, nerve wracking geniuses, but their music is just perfect to listen to whilst you watch Constantine fight a blood clone of himself, and Frankenstein take on his own child.

ANYTHING Else?

Overall, I would say that this issue of 'Justice League Dark', set out and achieved exactly what it tried to accomplish in the first place. Tell a story, and set up a premise.

However, whilst saying that, as much as I liked the idea behind Boston spying on the group on Steve's behalf, in the same breath, it did seem a bit wedged in at the end of this issue. Also, I suppose I could say exactly the same thing about the Flash's inclusions too. It was a nice surprise, but... errr... why huh?

On the reverse side of my negativity though, Doctor Destiny... well... what do you people think about his bold declaration at the end of this yarn? Could he be right? And this New52 is an alternate reality warped to his own liking! Or could he be speaking out of his boney ass? And this is nothing more than DC pissing in the wind.

Say no more.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was A Cocktail, It Would Be A Flavoursome One, Dosed With Hope, Fortune, And A Heavy Slash Of Zeal.

*** This post was written by the one and only Freakin' Animal Man.

THE PROTECTOR

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Mon, 20 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Now certain actors and certain directors work so well together, it has been known that they constantly want to make more and more movies within this collaboration by default. However, it has been know that the reverse is also true. As seen in this action packed project Directed by James Glickenhaus; and Starring: Jackie Chan, Danny Aiello, Roy Chiao, and Saun Ellis. It was made in 1985, and lasted for a whole 91 minutes.

The Protector

THE STORY:
Being a cop in the NYPD isn't very easy you know. The hours suck. You can't pee in peace. And you have to use a boat as an auxiliary device when you've run out of ammunition.

Yeah. No kidding! Just take the life of Captain Billy Wong (Jackie Chan) for instance. Not so long after he gets his 'balls busted' by the department for avenging his previous partner's death, Billy, plus his new partner, Danny Garoni (Danny Aiello), are instructed to go to Hong Kong, to investigate the kidnapping of Laura Shapiro (Saun Ellis), by her drug smuggling abductor, Harold Ko (Roy Chiao).

But where could they both be in this oriental province you might ask yourself? What about that massage parlor which massages parts other massage parlors fail to reach? Hint-Hint! Or maybe even alighting by the side of that harbor where Billy and Danny try to gauge some further information from one of Billy's old acquaintances? Splish-Splash!

Yep! That's right. Mister Ko has been spotted at both of these locations. Not that it does Billy and Danny any damn good; because this slippery sod somehow manages to outmanoeuvre them twice: first by pure luck, and then by tugboat.

Still, you don't think that's going to stop this ever loving dynamic duo, do you? Ha! Like Wok it will. And that's most probably why what next transpires all kicks off when the I-Ching is consulted. As a nude drug-den is penetrated - a new partner is exfoliated - a surprise is in store for Billy and co - plus you can say exactly the same thing about the drug smuggler, Mister Ko.

THE REVIEW:
Whilst I was watching 'The Protector', I couldn't help but recollect an argument I once had with an old teacher of mine at school. Well, because I thought certain facts relating to 'Jack the Ripper' were true -- and he did not -- this resulted in a rather strained face-off that concluded on the following day, when I could substantiate my point of view by presenting to him a book I recently read.

Trust me: The teacher wasn't very happy about being proven wrong by one of his very own pupils.

Alright. I'm sure you're wondering to yourself why this tale of times past suddenly popped into my head whilst watching this movie, huh? So to give you a bit of hint as to 'the why', please take note of certain 'key facts' mentioned within the following trivia splurge. (1) Whilst 'Golden Harvest' released this production in Hong Kong on the 11th of July, 1985, 'Warner Bros' released it in America on the 23rd of August of the very same year. (2) Believe it or not, the majority of this film was shot throughout Hong Kong, except for select interior scenes plus the New York exteriors. (3) In Jackie's book, 'I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action', he stated that he broke his hand whilst filming a sloppy choreographed stunt for this project. (4) Because Jackie wasn't very pleased with how the director, James Glickenhaus, captured certain action scenes in this adventure; he decided to re-shoot these scenes again for the Honk Kong version of this film, plus it also prompted him to make the now classic cop-based thriller, 'Police Story'. (5) As implied in the previous fact, the Hong Kong version of this film is a very different experience indeed. These include: The removal of 'random' nudity and 'gore elements'. The addition of a much broader range of fighting sequences. A whole new subplot featuring Sally Yeh from 'The Killer'. A one on one brawl between Bill Wallace and Lee Hoi-shan on the Hong Kong waterfront. Plus many-many more I best not mention. (6) Prior to making this film, Jackie starred in 'My Lucky Stars' with Sammo Hung, whilst James directed a terrorist bent adventure called 'The Soldier'. (7) If you look very closely at the boat chase scene at the very beginning of this picture, not only can you see the stunt driver sitting below deck, but you can also see the shadow of the helicopter-camera looming over the water. (8) In the Japanese version of this flick, you are treated with Jackie's trademark end-credit outtake montage, which is complemented by a country and western theme song.

Now can you guess as to what made me think of my school-time argument I previously mentioned at the beginning of this review, folks? Yep. That's correct. Jackie's disenchantment with how the director of 'The Protector', James Glickenhausaction, executed the action scenes and the overall story.

You see, from my own personal perspective, these are precisely the two aspect that this film is sorely lacking: Jackie's usual high-flying antics, plus how the story needing to be given more 'girth' to make the narrative less systematic, and more enveloping.

I'm not referring to the acting of course: that was just fine at it is. I'm not referring to the personality of this piece either: as I just loved watching the dynamics between Jackie's and Danny's characters. I'm only referring to the scope and the action in this film on it's own merits: that needed an awful lot of work in hindsight.

In my eyes this movie reminded me of your usual run of the mill eighties cop based drama, but with Jackie and an oriental subplot included.

However, whilst saying that, I did find it kind of funny that Jackie swore about four time's too. That was very out of character for him. Plus the nudity felt a bit... errr... unnecessary as well. That was also very out of place. As for the rest of it though -- well -- it was fine I suppose. Just fine. Unlike my ever loving blooper reel, huh?

Not a bad movie. Just not a good one either. Nuff said.

THE RATING: B-

FLASH #19

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ FLASH THAT BARGAIN ]

Barry Allen is in dire straights. He should never have stolen Bill Gates. I blame Iris West. She's always been a pest. Because she's never got on with the United States! Yeah. And neither have the super fast creative team of Brian Buccellato, Marcio Takara, Francis Manapul, or Publisher: DC Comics, in March, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this STORY entitled 'The Stuff of Heroes'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: Whilst trapped inside Iron Heights Penitentiary, a powerless Barry Allen tries his best to prevent the Outlanders from breaking the Trickster out, aided and abetted by a bag full of rogue weaponry, and the sudden arrival of Albert.
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: Well, without giving too much away, let's just say that a not so moving time was had by one and all.
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: DC find the opportunity to plug next months instalment of 'Dial H For Hero'.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With a new villain commencing his super-speed killing spree.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Out of all the pieces of pithy prose scattered throughout this issue, I thought the best bit out of the bunch, was when Barry and Vic were talking to each other up in the Watchtower, and...

BARRY: Every time I step out there as the Flash, I do it with all of these powers at my disposal. But when guys like Batman and Green Arrow go out there, I don't know how they do it?

VIC: So you're saying that there's an upside to being a bullet-proof robot 24 / 7?

BARRY: Did you just tell a joke?

VIC: Maybe.

Ahhh! It's at times like these that I miss the old Wally, Dick, Vic and Gar magic.

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) I did get a kick out of those scenes where Albert seemingly supercharged those weapons by accident. Honestly, I could almost hear the 'D'oh' moment reverberating around him. Ha!

(+) As much as I am a big fan of Francis Manapul's artwork, at the same time, I really did enjoy the art by Marcio Takara too. In many ways his renderings reminded me of Walt Simonson great stuff from back in day. Cool beans, baby. Cool-cool beans.

(+) Even though I found the concept very 'A-Team' in execution, that didn't stop me from enjoying the idea behind a powerless Barry Allen using a bag of rogue weaponry to defend himself with. I personally thought it was pretty neat in the way Barry stuck his hand in the bag and pulled out God knows what whenever he needed. Very... errr... homage.

(+) The Reverse-Flash looks like a pretty cool villain to me. More details below.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) Personally speaking, I felt a bit duped by DC, because the cover on this book implies that the Reverse-Flash is a large part of it, when he's not. Tut-Tut-Tut! Naughty DC. Stop being a greedy money grabbing b*stard.

(-) I found the resolution to the main brunt of this tale kind of rushed in hindsight. It came across like, 'Oh no! **** has super powers. That must mean **** is the main culprit behind these crime. Case closed. Let's go home now'. Know what I mean?

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two WELL KNOWN MOVIE STARS.

NADINE VELAZQUEZ AS MARISSA: Can't you tell Nadine (My Name Is Earl) Velazquez has a special power from that look in her eyes? The eyes on her head, silly. Not the other more... ahem... not so discrete ones.

NOAH CRAWFORD AS ALBERT: I kid you not; Noah (My Name Is Young Earl) Crawford once said to me that he can make things enlarge just by touching them. Granted, he was naked in the shower at the time, whilst I was many-many miles away on... errr... ahem... next!

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength' -- Arnold Schwarzenegger

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

THE THEME TUNE TO THE 'A-TEAM' TELEVISION SHOW: Well, mainly because of the way Barry used the rogue's weapons in this issue, how can I not compare this tale to this tune?

ANYTHING Else?

Now have you wondered who this new Reverse-Flash might be? Huh? What do you mean 'no'? Oh! OK then. Me neither. Still, that doesn't stop me from taking a couple of guesses, huh?

Although Brian and Frances did deny that Wally West is the Reverse-Flash, what they didn't deny is that it's Wally's second cousin from his father-side. Willy West: One part Whale, one part sex-pest.
He's some poor schmuck who cut himself rather badly whilst shaving, before falling into a vat of electro-fied chemicals by the side of his bed. What a yutz!
The Reverse-Flash is in actual fact Vince Vaughn. He's trying to 'De Niro' himself up for his next acting gig in an episode of 'ER: Baghdad'.
One day Dan Dididididido decided to paint the side of 1700 Broadway with some sparkly red-paint, and by accident, the rest of the staff wired his external scaffolding to an electrified pylon twelve miles away. As you do.
The Reverse-Flash is a space monkey from the future, who has come back in time to help DC boost their sales.

OK. I must confess. I didn't take a proper stab at this guessing-malarkey. But then again I suppose what I was trying to demonstrate with this, folks, is that I'm fairly confident both Brian and Francis can pull something special out of the bag, so to speak, thus making this new Reverse Flash a villain that is as pertinent and relevant as the one old.

Fingers crossed. And a fairly good issue too.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was a Well Known Television Series From The Eighties, It Would Be A Slightly More Deadlier Version Of The 'A-Team' and 'Knots Landing'.

RON GEJON PHOTOGRAPHY - SMILE, YOU'RE ON COSPLAY CAMERA

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Apart from the obvious connection, do you know what Jeff Bridges, Peter Sellers, Bryan Adams, and Leonard Nimoy, all have in common? No. It's not that. They haven't all slapped William Shatner in the face with a dead fish. Instead, at one time or another, throughout their respective careers, they have all taken up professional photography. Yeah. I'm not kidding. If you don't believe me, just ask my photographic mate, Ron Gejon, who I spoke to only the other day, whilst slapping some lemon on a piece of Shatner.

1) What are your own origins, Ron? Plus what path did you take in life before you got to where you are today? My parents are from the Philippines. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Went to elementary and high school in Queens, then college in NYC.

In college, I met some people that were looking for a bassist, and to cut a long story short -- too late -- I was enlisted. After a while the drummer of the band, Michael Violago, got bit by the shutterbug. And so because of that, I became his assistant / apprentice.

A couple years passed and his work took him abroad leaving me to handle his usual clients. From there I kept shooting and meeting new people. A majority of what I've learned is thanks to him. He is a great mentor, and I'm super positive that anything I can do he can do better.

Also, I have to mention that one fateful day, while in line for a 'She & Him' concert, I met a fellow geek called Zoë Gulliksen. We spoke for quite a while because we were the first in line. A few weeks passed and through her I met Thor Parker, from Midtown Comics, who was in need for some promo shots for the upcoming NYCC. And I guess that’s when the geeky photography hit me hard.

From there I just took what I knew and ran with it. I've been covering events with Midtown Comics ever since. It definitely makes me feel like Spidey working for the Daily Bugle minus J. Johan Jameson.

Recently, I traveled to the Philippines and had the opportunity to hang out with an epic cosplay photographer, Jay Tablante, at his amazing studio. I really admire his work, and I hope one day to inspire people with my images to the same effect as his work does.

Helping bring characters to life with the help of some very hard working cosplayers makes me feel really happy. These people are the ones that make the magic happen. I just happen to be there to capture the moment and to add my own perspective.

2) In your own words how would you describe your tumblr site? Honestly, at the moment, it's a beautiful mess. I’ve tried to keep constant content flowing through that outlet, but life had other plans to keep me busy. So now, I just take whatever feedback I get from my friends and fans on Facebook, and I usually just post the most commented / liked posts onto Tumblr.

I didn't choose to become a cosplay photographer, but it definitely seems to work well with me, and I thoroughly enjoy it.

3) What have you and learnt about yourself whilst taking pictures? And were their any unforeseen obstacles you had to contend with along the way? I like to think that I've become an even better 'people-person' than I was before, because of the volume of people I meet at cons and various events. And I don't believe I've had any unforeseen obstacles. I'm really lucky to have a family that supports what I do and an amazing girlfriend who deals with my strange sleep schedule, stress, crazy ideas, and all my time spent editing, Ha!

4) If your style of photography was a song, what song would it be and why? Great question! I would have to go with Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”. As with most art forms, you'll get that really great piece, and then you're proud of yourself for a while. But then what? Huh? Now you've got to work even harder to 'one up' your previous works. Sure you can plateau. But it’s always a climb to keep making yourself and your work better.

“Our work is NEVER OVER”.

5) What was the best convention you ever shot at? NYCC has never let me down. I've been attending for 4 years now. This coming one will be my 5th.

I love that they changed the date from February to October in 2000, because it usually lands on my birthday. Meeting celebs and having them sign “Happy Birthday” is always a plus. The people are always great. The cosplayers bring their A-game. And it’s just a geeky good time.

6) Same question as above, but worst convention you ever shot at? I would have to say NYCC again. Not the whole con, but on the main floor proper. It’s a not the best opportunity or place to shoot. The crowded aisles. The red carpet giving off a reddish tint to con goers. And of course, the unusual smells that it has from time to time.

7) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, what person would you get, and why would you want to choose this particular person? The late Mitch Hedberg. His jokes were simple, but his execution was the kicker! If you think too hard you might not be able to grasp the humor. You just have to go for the ride and realize the fun in the simple things. I would've loved to meet him and cover his tours because his energy was just so unbelievable chill and positive.

Here’s one of his jokes: 'Someone handed me a picture and said, "This is a picture of me when I was younger." Every picture of you is when you were younger. "Here's a picture of me when I'm older." Where'd you get that camera man?'.

8) During your time in this field, what piece of advice would you want to impart onto a fellow photographer? Mistakes. They happen. Embrace them and learn from them. There’s that moment when something happens that you didn't plan, yet it makes for the best shot of the day. You go home and figure out what happened and apply it to your next shoot.

Don't stop shooting, and eventually you won't have to think so hard regarding your settings. You'll be able to get a feel for a situation and be able to handle it with ease.

9) If you had a personal credo, what what it be? 'Keep it simple, fun, and positive. But above all, keep it moving'. You never know what you'll get to experience by being at the right place at the right time.

Well, you heard the man, dear reader. So what are you waiting for? A free film with every post? Please visit Ron Gejon Photography today. Plus don't forget to check out some of his great work on facebook, deviantart, and twitter too. Go on. It's only one click away.

STRANGE FRAME - AN ANIMATED FILM THAT IS LITERALLY OUT OF THIS WORLD

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Haven't you ever noticed how certain people seem to have very adventurous lives? One minute they could be on top of a volcano somewhere, whilst the next minute, they could be creating a great animated adventure. HUH? What's that you say? You've already heard about my great pal, GB? Fair enough. Then I suppose you wouldn't mind checkout what he told me only the other day, whilst we were both line-dancing in the middle of an active volcano.

Strange Frame

1) What are your own origins, GB? Plus what path did you take in life to get into this movie making business? I grew up on the East Coast, and did my undergrad in 'Astrophysics' first, then 'Visual Arts and Media Science' second. After I finished school, I moved my young family to the Big Island of Hawaii. Not to search for paradise, but to find community instead. Island culture is beyond karmic: What goes around really does come around… and quickly.

I set myself the task of learning Hawaiian, and during this time, I spent countless hours doing television work on the active volcano, crossing active flows with the U.S. Geological Survey and burning a few pair of boots along the way. Here. Check this out...

I worked with the Hawaiian immersion schools, and eventually did over 100 programs with them from shorts to a feature film. These educational videos allowed me to hone a unique style of cutout animation -- a style that is both artful (taking advantage of my addiction to drawing), and economical (a prerequisite when you live in one of the most economically challenged areas in the country). How I got into the movie business from there was just deciding to do it.

2) In your own words, how would you describe ‘Strange Frame’? And can you compare it to a film or a combination of films? 'Strange Frame' is an experience. As Hendrix once said, "Have you ever been experienced?". It is trying to capture the best of literary sci-fi. Ideas that are severely lacking on screen. The best of John Varley has never been seen on screen. None of the great work of Neal Stephenson or Kim Stanley Robinsonʻs stuff has made it on screen. Plus I donʻt think weʻve really captured any of the ideas of cyberpunk akin to William Gibson.

I think our influences are pretty apparent because our reviewers keep bringing the same ones up: Cowboy Bebop, Blade Runner, Fifth Element, and Heavy Metal.

3) If 'SF' was a single song, what song would it be and why? Just one? Geez! 'Dark Side of the Moon' by Pink Floyd. It is one continuous track, so itʻs not really cheating. It shares so many of the same themes as 'Strange Frame'. The joy of creation, the pitfalls of success, the irrationality of the greater society, madness, and of course, love. The album and movie have a lot of different moods and they both stand outside simple categorization. You have to experience both many times to truly ʻget itʻ.

4) Why did you decide to adapt this story into an animation instead of a live-action film? We had such a grand vision that we could not afford to realize it beyond drawing the images ourselves.

5) What are your own aspirations for this project? Plus how did you cast your voice-actors? I hope that we can continue making movies because there are so few opportunities over here. Really, we live in one of the poorest parts of the country, and our smart kids have little to aspire to. My whole team of animators were youths I trained from the communities nearby, and I hope we can continue to inspire and encourage everyone around here to reach for the stars.

As far as casting goes, because of our very limited budget, we had to rely on the strength of our vision. Our animation is hand drawn and cut-out. We have been providing internships in animation to young adults in one of the most impoverished parts of our State. Our crew is made up of these young people. We did a lot of begging. Jamie Thomason, our casting director, was able to see our vision (thank you Jamie!) and he was able to convey this to the people we wanted for our film.

6) If you could get a well known celebrity – either living or dead – to promote ‘SF’, who would you get, and why would you choose this particular person? Kevin Smith would be great because I think his fans would totally ʻgetʻ Strange Frame. But Jimi Hendrix would be my fave to be involved. Heʻd get Strange Frame too. After all, Jimi did say, "Imagination is the key to my lyrics. The rest is painted with a little science fiction".

7) From what I have seen of it already, ‘Strange frame’ is a very slick production. How was this accomplished? I think it has slick parts and rough parts too. When we started in 2006, we were doing good work with a new process. After 5 years of full time work refining the technique, it got really slick. This style is about drawing the best art you can and figuring out how to cut it out to make the characters move in ways that make them intriguing. The last few scenes we animated (for example the one in Parker and Naiaʻs apartment) are how epic the sequels are going to look… if we get the chance.

8) If you could assign a smell to your movie, what odour would it be, and again, why? Poppies. The smell of poppies. That smell makes me feel high, takes me on a trip. Tim Curry said 'just watching Strange Frame will make you feel high, and it sure is a trip'.

9) If there was a message behind this movie, what would it be, and why would you want to convey it? Choosing family, friendship and love over fame and fortune. Many films have the theme of family, friends and love, but too many of these tie success to fame and fortune. What really matters in life are the people who care about you when youʻre down and out. Not the ones who love you when youʻre on cloud nine.

Ka-Pow, GB! Lovely sentiment, mate. I couldn't have phrased it better myself. Now I hope you've got all of that, dear readers, because you know what you have to do next. Check out strangeframe.com today. And of course, the tweet-tweet / face-face thing too. Go on. Vamos.

Strange Frame

WEBEGEEKS - A PODCAST THAT SAYS IT LIKE IT IS

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Fri, 17 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Picture the scene. You and your buddy are at work, cutting the mustard, and then you suddenly come to the realization that said mustard is well worth spreading all over the internet. So what do you do about it, huh? Make a sandwich? Or devise a great podcast like my make Mike did instead? Yeah. I'm not chopping your salami, pal. Here, check out this conversation I had with Mike only the other day, whilst eating a mustard and salami sandwich on whole-wheat.

1) What are your own origins, Mike? Plus what path did you take in life to get to where you are today? Origins? I moved around a lot as a kid, and Star Wars, SciFi, Comics, and my brother, were always my first set of friends at every location. Ben Burtt (did not realize at 7 he was the person) and Star Wars is what lead me to pursue a career in Audio and entertainment.

2) What inspired you to create the ‘WeBeGeeks’ podcast / website? Ken and I are friends who met at work, and the chats we have at work are legen -- wait for it -- dary. OK. So maybe in our minds. One day we said we should record talks like this and let the world hear it.

3) How did you meet up with your collaborators, Ken, Victoria, Courtney, Eric and Jordan? Ken, like I said above, is one of my coworkers. Jordan is a friend of my family. Plus Victoria and Courtney I met online. Victoria recruited Eric. We're from all over the place

4) If ‘WBGP’ was a piece of music, what would it be and why? I would like to think we would be Floyd-esque. You know, New-Wave, Jazz. With a laid back feel with a story to tell.

5) If you could interview any celebrity – either living or dead – on your podcast, who would you get, and why would you want to choose this particular person? We have already put it out there that we want Kevin Smith by the end of the year. Seth Green would be another. I knew him in his Freshman year of high school, which was right after his summer hit “Can’t Buy Me Love”!

Dead? I think Sir Alec Guinness.

6) If a movie was made about your podcast, what actor would play who, and again, why? Me, I would say Kevin Smith: because we both have a lot of similarities on our influences. Ken, Chris O’Donnell: more for the look than the fact that he can get somber toned like Ken. Courtney, I would have to say Sarah Hyland: that girl next door or country girl. Victoria, I with out a doubt go with Ronda Rousey: Victoria would be our Heavy or first line if ever at a bar or pub. Eric, Ethan Suplee, More from Fanboys. And Jordan, Melissa Rauch: kind of quiet but zingers when needed.

7) What smell would you say best represent your podcast, and why would this be the case? That 'just out of work' smell; because that is when we usually record the show.

8) Off the top of your head, can you name your top five favorite movies and superheroes of all time? Star Wars, Superman, Batman, Teen Titans, and Luke Skywalker.

9) If your podcast had a motto, what would it be? We actually already have one -- Everything but chick flicks and Twilight!

Ha! And on that note, Mike, all I have left to say is 'what are you waiting for', dear readers? Check out WeBeGeeks today! Plus don't forget to follow this great team on facebook and twitter too. Go on. Its well worth a click or fifty.

JUSTICE LEAGUE - ONLY A DREAM

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

William Shakespeare once wrote in his play, Hamlet: 'To sleep perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come. When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause'. My God! What a load of old toss! I'd rather watch this 45 minute animated adventure made in 2004. Wouldn't you?

Justice League - Only A Dream

THE STORY:

Now if you were a member of the over-worked Justice League, who would you stop from breaking out of jail first? A gang of super-powered villains perhaps? Or would it be the crooked con-artist known as John Dee?

Correct. That's what the League thinks too! The gang, right?

However, after Green Lantern and Batman take down Volcana and Firefly, whilst Superman, Flash, and Hawkgirl, beat up Grundy, Luminous, and Copperhead, guess what the aforementioned Mister Dee manages to do to himself in the meantime?

No. Not that. He doesn't take on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe! Although it does look like he could. Huh? Rather, he transforms himself into the skull-faced villain -- labelled Doctor Destiny -- with an ESP machine housed within the prisons infirmary. Furthermore, now that he has the ability to control people's dreams -- as you do -- the bad doc sets his sights on his ex-girlfriend and the Justice League, attempting to take them on, one, by one, by one.

But don't fret though, dear reader. As luck would have it, two of our heroes -- Batman and Martian Manhunter -- are both able to stay awake, whilst the other members mistakenly dose off to sleeps-vile -- leaving it up to them to slap everybody back to reality.

Still, that's most probably explains why what next transpires all comes into play when the dreamers all have a very surreal nightmare. As Batman drinks coffee - a telepathic Martian sticks like toffee - Destiny receives a slap on the head - and at the end of the day the rest of the hero's finally get out of bed.

THE REVIEW:

Ironically enough, whilst I am writing this review on 'Justice League - Only a Dream', I'm starting to feel rather tired. Granted, not so tired that I want to dissolve face down onto my keyboard, praying that the Sandman will take me off to slumber land A.S.A.P.. Oh no. Although I'm not too far off, dear reader! I just want to inform you how good this cartoon is first, OK? And then I can.... zzzzzzzzz

Oh, bugger! What happened? Did I zone out? No. Not yet. Can't do that! I need to at least present you with some facts about the main villain of the piece, huh? (1) Doctor Destiny was created by writer, Gardner Fox, and artist, Mike Sekowsky, in Justice League of America, #5, volume 1, June, 1961. (2) The doc's original origins were very science based; and involved him creating a device that was able to warp reality to his will. Later on though, his origins were updated; and involved his mother -- Ethel, the former mistress of Sandman's nemesis, Roderick Burgess -- giving him Morpheus' 'Dreamstone' to fuel his device. (3) During the course of his many-many battles within the DC Universes, Doctor Destiny has evolved from a mad genius to just plain mad. (4) Even though the doc does pose a striking resemblance to Skeletor -- who is the main villain from 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe' -- you have to remember that he was created over twenty years before Skeletor was. (5) Did you know that Doctor Destiny shares the same name as Queen Elizabeth the 1st, Welsh consultant -- John Dee -- who was once a mathematician, an astronomer, an occultist, and a navigator too? (6) After the death of Superman in the 'Doomsday saga', this pain in the ass perverted reality once again, thus forcing the mourning Justice League to fight him in a dictatorial future not like our own. Eventually he was defeated by a comatose Blue Beetle, who was recovering from the doomed opus at the time. (7) Although it's not too apparent when you look at him, Doctor Destiny has brown eyes, brown hair, and originates from San Francisco, California. (8) Not only has this caped villain appeared in this cartoon, but he has also shown his bony-face in 'Justice League Unlimited', plus an episode of 'Smallville'.

Alright. So where was I? Have I finished writing my review on 'Justice League - Only a Dream' yet? Huh? What do you mean I haven't? Oh! OK. So let me just start off by saying that I really did like watching this cartoon. It was very well constructed as a tale in its own right, and also managed to spread a little personality into the mix as well. Thus making the overall adventure that much more pleasurable to follow.

For instance, I loved all of those scenes where the heroes had some time to shine in the spotlight. Like when Batman bought some himself a cup of coffee to stay awake, or when the 'dreaming heroes' showed their own inner most fears through their dreams. Moreover, I did get a kick out how Batman and Martian Manhunter were the saviours of this tale; both of them staking their ground in their own stoic way, whilst showing the true meaning of the word 'hero' without any additional bravado or 'paraphernalia'.

However, to contradict my positively if I may, there were two aspects about this adventure I wasn't very keen on. Firstly, that whole opening gambit about the 'super-villains escaping' did feel slightly secondary to the main strand of the story, inadvertently giving it that 'get on with it' vibe. And secondly, I thought that the ESP angle to Doctor Destiny's 'origin' were too far removed from his own 'original origins', and felt very disposable within the confines of this very personable adventure.

Still, apart from those two little gripes, overall 'Justice League - Only a Dream' was really good animated adventure to watch. And it supercharged my batteries just enough, I was able to complete this posssssszzzzzzzzzzz.........

THE RATING: B+

TEEN TITANS #19

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Thu, 16 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ A MAD SALE ]

Isn't this cover just MAD? It's so crazy I feel kind of SAD. Red-Robins to BLAME. He wanted the FAME. Just like my dear old DAD. Well, it was either my papa, or the not so youthful creative team of Writers: Scott Lobdell and Tony Bedard; Artist: Eddy Barrows; plus Publisher: DC Comics, in March, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this STORY entitled 'Trigon-Ometry'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: A short while after Red-Robin and Wondergirl play the game 'choke the leader', out of the blue, the Teen Titans are then swept up in a battle against Trigon and his minions.
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: No. Not from the Titans point of view anyway. Ha!
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: Raven enlists Beast Boy to help her papa kick teenage ass.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With the police going, BANG! With Psion going, POW! And with the rest of us going, Oh!

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Alright, I have to confess, I've always been a right sucker for word play. So when I saw that the name of this issue was called 'Trigon-Ometry'... well... what can I say? Most of the dialogue presented in it didn't stand that much of a chance.

My bad.

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) I'm finding Tim Drake's current brash behaviour very intriguing indeed. In fact, a small part of me was more interested by this aspect than the rest of the adventure.

(+) Something else I was very intrigued about whilst reading this book, were those little 'origin snippets' Trigon prised away from the individual hero's minds. Well, I mean, Cassie's Dad seem like an unknown commodity for a start? Plus what about Kid Flash being a renegade from the future?

(+) Wasn't it a hoot to see Gar and Raven on the same page again? Granted, I know that Gar is red now, and Raven is a puppeteer. Still, all the same, I thought it was very nice indeed.

(+) I loved those scenes where Eddy Barrows drew the diminutive little heroes punching the big bag Trigon down! POW! Talk about perspective, huh?

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) My one slight gripe with this adventure was those last couple of pages. One minute Solstice got shot. The next minute Psion killed the police and started his face off with Beast Boy. After that, though, things got a bit muddled. Fractured even. And wasn't very easy to follow as a narrative.

(-) Now how did Superboy know Raven's name, when these two heroes have never met before? Hmmm? Can you smell a plot glitch here? Also, was that Psion? Oh dear! I was way off the mark last time round, thinking that it was Doctor Light instead of him.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two WELL KNOWN MOVIE STARS.

WILLIAM PETERSEN AS TRIGON: Couldn't you just imagine Grissom... errr... I mean William, painted head to tail in red paint, and rampaging across the city like a man possessed. I did. Last night. After I ate too much cheese before I went to bed.

MADELINE ZIMA AS RAVEN: Next, after my Grissom induced dream, I had another one where Madeline Zima kept on touching my mind, and telling me what to do. Well, I think that it was my mind?

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks' -- Mary Shelley

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

'PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE' BY THE TEMPTATIONS: Alright. I confess. I've compared this song to this story because they both have bad papas in them. Still, such is life, huh?

ANYTHING Else?

For a change, I'm going to end this 'Teen Titans' review by proposing possible scenarios to explain away why certain heroes behave like they behave. OK, to begin...

Red-Robin is coping with the loss of Damien Wayne by turning into him.
Cassie's father is actually Owen Wilson, and she doesn't want anybody to know about it.
Kid Flash is not Kid Flash. He's the love-child of Ambush Bug and Jennifer Anniston.
Superboy's costume was created by Marvel.
Red Robin is undergoing trans-genre surgery, and the hormones he's taking have kicked in a little bit too much.
Bunker costume isn't purple; it's just a very warm shade of blue.
Cassie's father is actually a woman called Glen or Glenda.
Solstice listens to the Michael Jackson song ,'Black or White', and gets very confused.

Anyway, enough of that for now. Overall I did enjoy this issue an awful lot. The art was great. The story was above average. And by in large I was somewhat happy with what was on show. How about you, dear reader? Do you think the same as I do? If so, you know what to do. Spam-Spam. Tweet-Tweet. Face-Face.

Bless-Bless.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was an Animal Playing an Instrument, It Would Be a Sea Lion Playing the Violin. Difficult To Envisage.

SPACEBALLS

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Wed, 15 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Now after satirizing the western genre with his movie, 'Blazing Saddles', then continuing this trend with the horror-comedy, 'Young Frankenstein', what do you think Mel Brooks does next? Yes. That's correct. He directs this film starring himself, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, and Joan Rivers. It was made in 1987, and lasts for 96 minutes. Nuff said.

Spaceballs

THE STORY:

Alright. So let me get this straight. A long-long time ago, in a galaxy far-far away, there once lived a very bad man called Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis). Now because this silly sod desperately needed to replenish his kingdoms natural resources, he sets a plan in motion to kidnap the runaway bride -- Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) -- so that he could use her as a bargaining tool to steal the air from her home planet, Druidia.

However, before this imperialist 'Spaceball' was able to accomplish this daring deed, two Winnebago w*nkers -- Lone Starr and Barf (Bill Pullman and John Candy) -- intercept his ploy -- saving Vespa, plus her robotic aide, Dot Matrix (Jansson / Rivers) -- just so they can cash in on her fathers reward, and then pay off the debt they owe to the crime boss, Pizza the Hut (Dom DeLuise).

OK. You got that? Good. I won't be saying that again in a hurry. No matter what the head honcho of Spaceball-1 -- President Skroob (Mel Brooks) -- says. Furthermore, I couldn't give a toss that Lone Starr, Barf, Vespa, or Dot Matrix, runout gas on the way home either. I'm pretty damn sure they can find some help on that barren planet they land on.

Yeah! You know; someone like that wise yet small dwarf, Yogurt (Mel again), for instance. Surely he could point them in the right direction whilst he's selling them a piece of movie merchandising; or showing Lone Star how to use the secret power of the 'Schwartz'.

That's it. I've said enough. I'm not going to say another word except that what next transpires all begins when Vespa gets kidnapped by some silly sod in a dark helmet. As w*nkers show some pluck - plans really do suck - Spaceballs run a muck - and at the end of the day a princess finds out that her prince is a bit of a schmuck.

THE REVIEW:

Now if you're ever thinking about satirizing a movie on YouTube -- or some other type of video based platform -- I urge you to pick up 'Spaceballs' first, OK? As not only is this film very funny to watch. But it also shows you the very simple rules of spoofing a slice of cinema.

Here, check out this five point guide to see what I mean by this:

(Step One) Know Your Playground: Now as any good comedian will know, you have to have a thorough knowledge of the area you are poking fun out of -- back to front -- or else the subject matter in question will have less validity in retrospect. I.E. It will feel too false.
(Step Two) The Story Must Be Simple To Follow: By in large a tale needs to be fairly light in content so that the comedy can be overlaid upon it. That way it's easier for you to integrate the comedy and the story together, thus making the overall project more uniform in nature. I.E. Less jumbled.
(Step Three) Your Actors Need To Be Naturally Funny: Do I have to explain this point? Nah. Didn't think so. I.E. Scary Movie 2.
(Step Four) Keep Things Clean: Comedy always needs to have a clear and bold surface for the pretext to interact with, or otherwise the gags may be lost within a quagmire of artsy fartsy mish-mash of visual effects and camera positioning. I.E. What the f*ck is going on?
(Step Five) You Can't Please Them All: Don't presume that all your jokes will be a 'laugh riot' to everyone who sees or hears them. Sometimes certain people won't 'get' the brunt of a gaff -- which is fine -- just as long as the jokes aren't too 'in' -- if you get my gist.

OK, so with that lesson out of the way with, let's have some filmic facts now, shall we? (1) 'Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer' released this $22.7 million dollar production on the 24th of June, 1987, and recouped $38.1 million dollars back at the box-office. (2) I kid you not; it took the writer / director / co-star, Mel Brooks, approximately six months to compose the screenplay for this film. (3) Without a shadow of a doubt this comedy is jam-packed full of references. These include: a Kentucky Fried Chicken reference, several Star Wars references, a Ford Motorcars reference, numerous behind the scenes staff-member references, a Kafka reference, plus many-many more I don't want to mention. (4) If you look at the name 'Skroob' very closely -- as in 'President Skroob' -- you'll be able to figure out that it's an anagram of the surname of the actor who plays him in this film -- 'Brooks'. (5) During pre-production, Mel Brooks sent the script to George Lucas, just to make sure he wasn't offended by its content. But he wasn't. Not in the slightest. In fact, he liked it so much, his company, 'Industrial Light and Magic', provided the puppets and the special effects for this project. (6) Even after all of the trouble they had to go through to construct John Candy's 'Barf' costume; it still took three people to operate it. John the tail, and two assistant's the ears. (7) According to 'Spaceballs: The Book' -- written by the novelist, R.L. Stine -- the names of the Dinks are: Finky Dink, Blinky Dink, Rinky Dink, Stinky Dink, Pinky Dink, and Winky Dink. (8) Whilst Lorene Yarnell Jansson wore the 'Dot Matrix' body armour, of course it was Joan River's who provided her voice. Also, on a side note, Dom DeLuise provided the voice for 'Pizza the Hutt' too. (9) Although you saw Yogurt promote them in this movie, there was never any official 'Spaceballs' merchandising ever made. This was largely due to a 'fair-use' agreement devised between Mel Brooks and George Lucas.

Now if you haven't guessed by now, dear reader; let me just state for the records that I really do love 'Spaceballs' the movie. To me, its one of those feel good film's I always watch whenever I need a quick 'pick me up' of the silly variety. The jokes are funny -- Got that? The actors are great -- especially Mel Brooks, John Candy, and Rick Moranis. The story told a pretty linier tale -- even if it was on the rather simple side. And the overall spit and polish of this production enhanced the whole project -- bar none.

Heck, I have to be honest with you; I can't fault this movie one little bit. And in my opinion, it is up there with the rest of Mel Brook's satires. Just check this out to see what I mean...

A class comedy. And defiantly one to watch. Say no more.

THE RATING:A

NEW GUARDIANS #19

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Wed, 15 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ WORLD SHATTERING PRICES ]

Whilst Rayner and Baz go all white. Sinestro decides to pick a fight. Everyone tries to bring back Korugar. But no one really gets too far. Unless Carol and the Squirrel call it a night. Wink-Wink! Well, either 'night', or something cobbled together by the Writer: Tony Bedard; the Artist Andres Guinaldo; and the Publisher: DC Comics, in March, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this STORY entitled ''.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: After Kyle senses a disturbance in the force, both he and Carol Ferris fly off into space, and attempt to figure out what the Sinestro is going on.
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: Well, let's just say that Sinestro is no help at all, and neither is anybody else really.
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: Star Sapphire gets misty eyed for 24 pages, and everyone wastes half a book failing to resurrect a dead planet.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With Sinestro running away like a b*tch, and with everyone else doing the 'Alright gang, let’s go stop the bad guys together!' routine.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

After Sinestro puts on the white ring, it said to him 'Host Unsuitable'.

Personally speaking, I see the white ring as an interesting metaphor for this series... because this line says it all.

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) In my opinion Sinestro has been the best written Lantern out of all the New 52 guest stars.

(+) Don't you find a Squirrel-Man-Lantern freaking cool? I do. Action figures please, DC. Come on you money grabbers. You know it's going to happen sooner or later.

(+) Sinestro going Yellow again! Yes! It's about time!

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) Although Carol was the boss of last issue, for some strange reason she's the dillydally damsel that needs a man 24 / 7 in this issue! What gives? Huh? Was it her time of the month or something?

(-) I personally would have liked to have seen something about 'Indigo guy' and Arkillo. Next to Larfleeze, these are the most amusing characters starring in New Guardians.

(-) If you think about how everything in this issue would’ve happened even if Kyle never bumped into Sinestro, you begin to realize this issue is practically pointless.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two REAL LIFE PEOPLE.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY AS STAR SAPPHIRE: Don't trust those occasional moments of badassery, pal! If you put too much trust in KK, you'll get a faceful of 'Pirates 3' -- filled with boring and predictability.

BRUCE LEE AS SINESTRO: Just like Lee in any of his films, Sinestro outclasses everyone around him -- win or lose. They're both in a league of their own.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'There is no mistakes in our world, only happy accidents. Anything you put into this little world will be beautiful' -- Bob Ross (who apparently hasn't visited Korugar recently)

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

'I WANT LOVE (STUDIO MIX)' BY AKIRA YAMAOKA: I’m feeling bad for the orange-ish former-but-soon-to-be-new-leader of the yellow lanterns. If you need some emotional music to help you feel the atmosphere the folks in this issue kind of failed to create, then this is some good stuff to get those 'feels'.

ANYTHING Else?

Yeesh! After praising a lot of the last issue, I was thoroughly disappointed in this one, because nothing stellar took place. Baz, Sinestro, and Kyle pass around a white ring. B’dg and Baz really only turn up to show that Baz’s weird resurrection power isn't some sort of 'God Mode' ability. And Sapphire just bores us with a bland reminder of “I need Hal” and “you can do it, Baz / Kyle!”.

Well, outside of showing that space isn't cold enough to freeze a unringed casual dressed Kyle, nothing was ever accomplished.

Sinestro is forced in this title. He doesn't really expand outside of some anger that doesn't really satisfy the few times he explodes emotionally in the main Green Lantern series. I honestly feel the only point of this issue was to get some the Lanterns closer together and make sure everyone saw Sinestro grab his Yellow Lantern.

That’s fine and dandy, but not worth the $3 price tag…

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Issue Was a Sandwich, It Would Be a White Bread BLT. But the Lettuce is Iceberg, the Tomato is Flavourless, the Bacon is That Pre-cooked Stuff Found Already Packaged, and the Havarti Cheese You Added To Give It Any Sort of Flavour, Just Can’t Carry The Whole Thing.

*** This post was written by the one and only Freakin' Animal Man.

TAI-CHI MASTER - TWIN WARRIORS

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Tue, 14 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Couldn't you just imagine what it must feel like to live forever? Well, not only do you get the opportunity to change your wives as many times are you can change your clothing. But in addition to this, you'll get to star in this martial arts film Directed by: Yuen Woo-ping; with the Actors: Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, and Chin Siu Ho. But only in 1993, and for about 93-minute's. OK?

Tai Chi Master / Twin Warriors

THE STORY:

Ever since Tienbo (Chin Siu Ho) first met Junbao (Jet Li) all those many-many years ago, somehow these two super-strong Shaolin students have always gotten themselves into some sort of trouble.

Yeah. No kidding. When they eventually learned how to fight -- POW! -- They got kicked out of their school for beating up their class-mates. When they attempted to help out the impoverished Miss Li (Fennie Yuen) -- THUNK! -- They inadvertently befriended her renegade pals. And when they intervened with Siu Lin's (Michelle Yeoh) marital distress -- THWAK! -- They ended up hiding in a coffee house from her spouse's toffee-nosed wife.

However, sometime later, when they both take a stab at performing a strong-man act to earn themselves some money, something completely different happens to them by default.

No. They don't start a double-act called Tienbo-Junbao. Tienbo gets recruited into an oppressive war-like regime, thus leaving Junbao behind with his renegade brethren.

Alright. I know what you're thinking to yourself. This peculiar turn of events must surely change the dynamics in Tienbo and Junbao's relationship! Right? Well, they're defiantly bound to butt-heads sooner of later!

But no. At first, things seems be fairly amicable between these two old friends. Going so far that Tienbo even helps out Junbao and the renegade's when they get into a right ruckus at the aforementioned coffee house.

Still, due to Tienbo own hard-lined leanings, that's most probably why what next transpires really kicks off when a massacre is prearranged. As betrayers betray - the Tao shows the way - passions lead to hate - and whilst one super strong Shaolin student dies, the other one follows the path of fate.

THE REVIEW:

Now in all honesty 'Tai-Chi Master' is one of those kung-fu comedy's that set's out and achieves precisely what it wanted to accomplish in the first place -- entertain- entertain-entertain. Yet not only is it very funny, very action packed, and manages to tell a pretty decent story in the process, but it does this whilst adding a very cartoon-like edge to the overall package.

Yeah. Honestly. Try to think of this film as a conceptual mix-mash of 'Drunken Master' meets 'Guilty By Suspicion'; just replace the political edge of the latter movie with the polished sheen of a Hong Kong classic like 'Once Upon a Time in China'. Furthermore, I'd say that the conceptual narrative has a touch of 'Tom and Jerry' and a splattering of ' Cain and Abel' too; deliberately making this movie one hell of a movie to watch.

OK. I know I could go on and compare this film to other such classics of this ilk. But you don't want that, do you dear reader? You're ready for some filmic-facts. Correct? (1) 'Golden Harvest' and 'Dimension Films' released this movie on the 18th of November, 1993. (2) This slice of Hong Kong cinema was referenced in two films made in 2003: 'The Matrix Reloaded' and 'Kill Bill: Volume 1'. (3) When Cine Asia released a UK version of this film in April, 2010, they changed the title from 'Twin Warriors' to 'Tai Chi Master' for marketing reasons alone. (4) Prior to making this action packed adventure, Jet Li starred in 'The Legend 2', whilst Michelle Yeoh starred in 'Supercop 2'. Wow! What a lot of 'two's', huh? (5) The character Jet Li plays in this adventure -- Zhang Sanfeng -- is believed to be a real life 12th century Chinese Taoist priest, who gained immortality through his teachings. (6) I kid you not; the music for the Hong Kong version of this film was composed by Iron Monkey's Wu Wai Lap; whereas the English language version was composed by The Prestige's Stephen Edwards. (7) Yuen Woo-ping directed a sequel to this film in 1996 called 'Tai Chi Boxer' -- just without Jet Li or Michelle Yeoh starring in it. Stay-tuned: a review is in the pipeline. (8) If you look very-very closely at this flick, you'll notice quite a few visible mistakes scattered throughout it. Not only are the wires used very visible in certain scenes, but just prior to Jet kicking that ball against the wall, you can see it explode before the impact.

Now where was I? Oh, yeah. 'Tai-Chi Master'. Or whatever you may want to call it. Wow! What a great film.

For me -- personally -- there were quite a few aspects to this piece that I thought made is a very cool all in all. Firstly, I enjoyed watching the incremental split between the two 'Shaolin brothers', although you could have second guessed that this was going to happen from the get go. Secondly, the comedy in this movie is very bold and animated in places, yet, at the same, it was able to cement it into some sort of grounded framework. Thirdly, I thought that the majority of the action in this piece was just outstanding to sit through, even if it was slightly heavy handed in the wire-work department. And last but not lest, the actors and the overall story really gelled together all the way through this yarn, and never did I once question if something never felt right to me (well, except for when Jet's character went a bit bananas).

Overall, 'Tai Chi Master' is one cracking film. And I'd personally recommend it to anyone who likes some Tom and Jerry with their kicking and slapping. It's that good.

A Jet Li classic. Defiantly one to watch.

THE RATING: A

DAREDEVIL #25

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Tue, 14 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ A KNOCKOUT SALE ]

Is Foggy finally out for the count? And will Matt pay the hospital the right amount? The doctors think not. Whereas the nurses do not give a jot. Unless he'll award them a very lawyerly discount. Wink-Wink! And if not him, maybe these chaps will. The Writer: Mark Waid; the Artist: Chris Samnee; and the Publisher: Marvel Comics, in March, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this STORY entitled 'Sensory Overload'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: Once 'unlucky' Larry shows him the way, Matt (Daredevil) Murdock goes one on one with somebody who has the same abilities as he has: Ikari -- The Fury.
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: Errr? Let's just say that not everything goes according to plan, OK?
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: Yes. I learnt how to spell 'Kusurigama'. Plus we get to see how Stick trained a young Matt all those many years ago.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: Will a man knowing fear.

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

Maybe this is the more sardonic side of me speaking, but I did find it amusing in the flashback scene, where Matt said to Stick...

'I know you want me to jump. But I'm not ready, Stick. Not yet. Thanks for being patient with me'

... only for Stick to then push Matt off of that tall-tall building. Yoinks! Isn't life ironic?

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) I really-really enjoyed that cross-cut scene where we got to see Daredevil and Ikari fighting in the present day, whilst Stick taught a young Matt how to 'fly' in the past. Not only did this extra dimension aide the overall narrative with some extra added substance, but it showed the contrast between the cocky young Matt and the cocky old Matt.

(+) If like me you're a big fan of Hong Kong Cinema, you know that every fight scene tells an actual tale. Yeah. I'm not kidding with you, dear reader. Every move has a counter move and every punch has a block in toe. And do you know what? That's what this adventure has too. Balance within its battles. Resulting in the whole thing to come across as a symphony of swings and stories.

(+) Mark Waid and Chris Samnee are a really great creative team. I can't seem to say any more than that, because whenever I do, for some strange reason I get tongue tied. Blu-blu-blu.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) I suppose at a push, the only thing I can gripe about this issue, is that a large chunk of it was dedicated to a large fight scene, thus diluting the overall story into a situation of events. Apart for that though -- nah -- it was smashing.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two WELL KNOWN MOVIE STARS.

TONY JAA AS IKAI: Well, come off it, who else do you think can beat up Daredevil and make it seem plausible at the same time? Jean Claude Van Damme? Ha! Don't make me laugh.

MICHAEL CERA AS LARRY: Now I came up with the answer to this question by saying to myself 'Who looks young, stupid, and naive, whilst sporting a really permed hair style?'. Yep. That's our Michael.

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow man, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui' -- Helen Keller

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

THE 'WONG FEI HUNG' THEME MUSIC FROM 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA': All the way through Matt's duel with Ikari, the aforementioned theme song was playing around and around in my head, and it had nothing to do with the copious amounts of medication I'm on. Say no more.

ANYTHING Else?

Now I don't know if you've heard about the new 'Daredevil movie revelation' or not. But if you have, you know what this type of thing normally brings to its regular series.

Yep. That's correct. Bye-bye current creative team.

So to prevent this from happening, I thought that it would be a good idea to do something that I recently did over on my 'Savage Wolverine' column. And that is to spread a prayer to keep Mark Waid and Chris Samnee on this book.

OK. You got all of that? Good. Here goes.

Our Waid, who work at Marvel,
Mark be thy Name.
Thy Samnee come.
Thy will be done in rebirth,
As it is in Chris Evans.
Give us this day our daily self-defence.
And forgive us our Foggy Nelsons,
As we forgive those who trespass against Matt.
And lead us not into a cross-over event,
But deliver us from DC.
For thine is the kingdom of Kirby,

The power fist, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Joe Quesada.

Come on folks. Spread the love. And lets make sure those cats at Marvel hear us chant 'Hallelujah' for this amazing monthly read.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was a Martial Arts Film, It Would Be A Splash of 'Drunken Master', With A Drop or Two of 'Herbie Goes Bananas'.

CON AIR

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Mon, 13 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

A mate of mine once said to me 'Did you know that it's statistically proven theres more chances of us dying whilst driving a car, than whilst flying in an airplane?'. Granted, it was a nice little piece of trivia for him to impart onto me. I just wished that he didn't shout it down my bloody ear halfway through this movie Directed by Simon West; and Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, and Ving Rhames. It was made in 1997 and lasted for 115 minutes.

Con Air

THE STORY:

So there he was. One-time military man / present-time parolee, Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage). Strapped down next to his diabetic buddy, Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson), and surround by his fellow-felons and many armed-guards. When suddenly -- BANG! -- the mass-murderer, Cyrus Grissom (John Malkovich), hijacks the plane Cameron's currently on, before he can fly to freedom and his see his wife and child after the eight long years he's been away from them.

OK. I must confess. Cyrus 'The Virus' isn't the only convict who commandeers this flying fortress. Oh no. There's also Nathan Jones (Ving Rhames): the Negro activist that has one hell of an itch to scratch. William Bedford (Nick Chinlund): the very bad man with the very nice beard. Johnny Baca (Danny Trejo): the Mexican rapist who has an eye for the pretty Spanish guard, Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin). And let's not forget Joe Parker (Dave Chappelle): the loud-mouthed punk who bites the bullet not so long after they alight at Carson City.

Yeah. I'm not messing with you, dear reader! This gaggle of goons actually manages to outsmart the authorities by dropping off a couple 'of passengers', plus picking up a few more -- including the sociopath, Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi) -- when they refuel at this very windy location.

Yet, whilst saying that, by this time, two law enforcers -- entitled U.S. Marshal, Vince Larkin (John Cusack), and DEA Agent, Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney) -- both catch wind of what's going on with Cyrus and company. And with a bit of outside help from the aforementioned Mister Po, they find a way to figure out where the airplane in question is heading to next.

Still, that's most probably why what next transpires all kicks off when a gaggle of goons tries to touch down on uncharted soil. As confrontations are bold - a bunny is like gold - Las Vegas here we come - just in time to see a daughter and her Mum.

THE REVIEW:

Now there is one thing you have to pay very close attention to whilst watching 'Con Air'. No. This has nothing to do with Nicolas Cage's bunny. There wasn't anything wrong with that fine creature. Instead, you have to realise that this flick told a situation rather than a story, yet it does it so well, you hardly even notice the difference.

You see, unlike many other 'situation' type films I care not to mention -- such as Bulletproof Monk -- this one just lavishes the screen with so much personality and character, it's very loose pretext appears enhanced in retrospect. Furthermore, because there are so many bold scenes scattered throughout this piece, advertently it bestowed unto us -- the audience -- a very nice and pithy segway to associate with the players involved.

Here, let me tell you what I mean by this in bullet-point form. (1) Now if this film was a piece of cake, Steve Buscemi would most definitely be the icing on top of it. Hand's down. Steve's Hannibal Lecter imitation was so well thought-out, that in that scene where he and the little down were sitting down together and singing, a small part of me expected him to rip off her head with his teeth. (2) Although people like Ving, Nick, Danny, and Dave, all had marginally smaller parts to play in this film; that is not to say they didn't add a lot of flavour and conceptual depth to their respective roles. If you take my previous cake analogy into consideration, I'd like to think of them as the baser ingredients which held everything into place. (3) Of course the standouts for me have to be both Nicholas and the two Johns. I mean -- Wow! -- What can I say? These fine actors just made you believe what they were going through at any given moment. I especially liked following Nick's frustration and eventual resolution with his own family. Honestly. It brought a tear to my filmic-eye. (4) As a situation in its own right, all in all 'Con Air' was a very nice and fun situation to spend some time with. For me -- personally -- it was like seeing a very-very perverse school field-trip, gradually going terribly-terribly wrong. Just swap a bunch of pupils for a bunch of convicts. Ha! (5) Another of the standouts for me has to be the very militaristic background music which was played on occasion. Not only did it elevate the dramatic tension in tone, but it also complemented the mood by default.

Now if you take a brief glimpse at the sentence below, you can most probably guess what I will be doing next. Yes. That's correct. It's time for some filmic-facts: (1) 'Touchstone Pictures' released this $75 million dollar production on the 6th of June, 1997, eventually making back $224 million dollars at the box office. (2) The concept behind this movie was allegedly inspired by a newspaper article about a plane that transports convicts between locations. (3) If you listen to what Cameron Poe says about the letter he receives from his daughter, you'll notice that his 'Jail bird flight' takes place on the 14th of July. In France, this is the exact same date that commemorates Bastille Day: where seven inmates were liberated from a prison. (4) I kid you not; the ballad played during the beginning and the end of this action-adventure -- sung by LeeAnn Rimes, called 'How Do I Live' -- was nominated for a 'Razzie' and an 'Oscar' for 'Worst Original Song' plus 'Best Original Song' respectively. It didn't win either. (5) This film was dedicated to the memory of Phil Swatz, who was a special effect chap that died during production when a 'rigged plane' accidentally fell on him. (6) When the production team caught wind about Las Vegas's intentions of demolishing the legendary Sands Hotel, immediately they arranged for a multiple camera setup to take advantage of the rare event. However, because the camera crews were so well concealed during the shoot -- plus the production values were so high -- local residence called the police when they saw the sight of the planes flying over the Strip. (7) Not only did Nicolas Cage travel to Alabama to perfect his accent for this movie, but he also worked out so much that his body only contained 3% body fat. (8) Now did you get the reference stated by Steve Buscemi's character, Garland Green, nearing the end of this flick: 'Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash', whilst the 'Lynyrd Skynryd' song, 'Sweet Home Alabama', is playing in the background. Particularly when you take into consideration three members of this group died in a plane crash on the 20th of October, 1977, and it was the model Convair 240.

Overall, 'Con Air' is one hell of a great film. Its chock full of action and personality, and is able to tell a rather lavish situation in a very personable fashion. Don't you agree 'Lynyrd Skynryd'?

HELL YES!!!

THE RATING: A

SAVAGE WOLVERINE #4

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00 +0000

[ CLAWS OF COUPONS ]

Do you think theres a cure for death? Or is that it when you take your final breath? Logan doesn't care. Shanna just wants to blow-dry her hair. Whereas the Savage Lands, mealy quotes, Macbeth. Well, it's either this very rustic province, or the Writer / Artist: Frank Cho; with the Publisher: Marvel Comics, in March, 2013.

Using GENERAL terms, answer the following 4 questions about this FORTH PART of 'Savage'.

WHAT'S THE MAIN THRUST OF THIS TALE: Once Amadeus Cho and the tribe attempt to bring Shanna back to life, next, he has to stop Wolverine from setting off a chai.... BOOOOM!
ARE THE MAIN OBJECTIVES ACHIEVED: No. I'm not saying. It might spoil the surprise. Ogga-Ogga!
ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN: We get a quick glimpse of Man-Thing, plus a semi-naked bald-woman shouting at a herded of Giant Apes.
HOW DOES THIS STORY END: With someone ready to, SMASH!

All in all, what is the most memorable SENTENCE OR CONVERSATION spoken in this issue?

When the Chief brought Shanna back to life, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself when...

AMADEUS: Please don't kill the man who just saved you. Bad karma. Now listen very carefully, I need you to focus and answer me honestly -- Do you know who won the super bowl?

SHANNA: What?

AMADEUS: It was worth a shot.

Ha! Now who says a bit of levity can't break the tension every now and then? Oh! The Shaman did. Ops!

What are the BEST bits about this issue?

(+) As I've previously mentioned, I love the way that Amadeus Cho keeps on joking all of the time. It's as though his witticisms can deflate the tense situation he's in, thus making what can be imposing... not.

(+) There was double page spread in this book that literally took my breath away as soon as I saw it. It was the one where a half-naked bald girl instructs a stampede of monstrous Gorillas to attack Wolverine. I mean, what's not to like about that? You have a girl -- a half-naked bald-girl to be precise -- plus some massive monkeys and crude Canadian! It's Nirvana, baby. Pure Nirvana!

(+) Without giving too much away, I really did like how this tale ended. It was... ahem... smashing.

(+) Frank Cho is a God.

What are the WORST bits about this issue?

(-) I suppose the only small gripe I have about this issue, folks, was how it was a mite too linier in approach. All in all it came across a lot like: (Step One): Resurrect Shanna. And (Step Two): Stop Wolverine from setting off a bomb. Not that this is a terrible thing of course. Just a bit too linier. As I said.

Choose TWO CHARACTERS out of this comic book, and then compare them to two WELL KNOWN MOVIE STARS.

ALAN ARKIN: Take a good long look at the venerable actor, Alan Arkin, and tell me he couldn't bring back to life...

CHARLIZE THERON AS SHANNA: ... Charlize Theron with a muck incrusted monster! You can't. Can you? Didn't think so. Ha!

What QUOTE would be appropriate to sum-up this story?

'My sun sets to rise again' -- Robert Browning

What SONG, THEME-TUNE, or MELODY, would complement this tale, as well as add and extra dimension to it by default?

'NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP' BY RICK ASTLEY: If you think about it for a moment or two, this song and this story both share a number of distinct qualities with one another. Firstly, they're both about 'not giving up'. Secondly, they can be perceived as being a bit cheesy by nature. And thirdly, they both make me laugh for completely different reasons. Hehehehe!

ANYTHING Else?

Now I wonder if Frank Cho is able to guarantee to us 'Savage Wolverine' fans; that he will stay on this book for as long as he may live.

Huh? What's that you say? 'Prey'? Fair enough. How about something like...

Our Frank, who work in Marvel,

Cho be thy name.

Thy Savage Kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

As it is in X-Men.

Give us this day our daily story.

And forgive us our DC,

As we forgive those cross-over events.

Lead us away from reboots.

But deliver to us digitally.

For thine is the kingdom,

The power fist, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Ben Ten.

I tell you what, pass this prayer around, and let's see if divine worship can make Mister Cho-Cho train stay on this great-great comic book. Peace.

GIVE IT, IT'S DUES: If This Comic Book Was a Meal / Drink Combo, It Would Be a Can of Meat Soda with a Side Order of Watermelon Burger. Unexpected, yet rather refreshing nonetheless.

BLINKBOX - INSTANT MOVIES AT A TOUCH OF A BUTTON

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Now over the last couple of months, I've joined forces with the great new online movie rental service called Blinkbox. But like a complete and utter buffoon, I forgot to include all of their media paraphernalia as well. You know the type of thing I'm sure. What that are. What they do. And all of that razzamataz. So before I forget to do this again, here, please read the following gumf from...

Blinkbox is the UK's leading on-demand movie streaming service. In fact, according to The Gadget Show, we're the 'Best UK movie streaming service' around.

Founded in 2006, blinkbox is now a proud part of Tesco, which means we're here for the long run. We're 100% legal, so you can rest assured when you watch a movie with us we'll deliver an amazing experience every time on your PC, Mac, Xbox, tablet or SMART TV.

Watch the newest blockbusters months or even years before they become available as part of subscription services such as Lovefilm Instant or Netflix.

Users can choose to rent or buy with prices starting from:

MOVIES: RENT from £0.99, OWN from £3.99
TV SHOWS: OWN episodes from just £1.89

Thank you for your cooperation, The blinkbox team.

OK. Did you get all that? Good. Because on a personal note, I have to say that Blinkbox does provide a very nice service. Well, not only do they have a free film section, but they provide a number of pretty decent films to. So go on. What are you waiting for? Click on one of the links provided and check them out.

KUBLA COMICS - THE ROTTEN TOMATOES OF COMIC BOOKS HAS ARRIVED

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Now I'm fairly sure you've heard of 'Rotten Tomatoes', right? You know, the movie aggregator site which compares movie to movie, actor to actor, and all of that jazz. Well, comic book fans, your four colour counterpart has finally arrived on the internet. Kubla Comics is it's name, and comparing comic books is it's game. Here, when you have the time, please check out this interview I had with Kubla's head-honcho, Ken, whilst aggregating Frank Miller with a watering can and a pair of pliers.

1) What are your own origins, Ken? Plus what path did you take in life to get to where you are today? I love the idea that I have an 'origin'. I wish I could tell you that my home planet was destroyed and I was sent to Earth to fight for justice, or that I was bathed in experimental radioactive isotopes granting me extraordinary powers of time and space, but... no... no such luck.

Although I did like to put on cardboard armor when I was a kid and joust with the other neighborhood kids.

Still, the mundane reality is that I was born and raised in the great woodland known as Maine, went to school in the slightly less-wooded New York City, and then spent the following years traveling all over the world.

A year in Japan, and couple months in Thailand, about 75 countries in all. (At one point, I was shooting a Kalashnikov in Yemen -- at rocks, not people -- and asked myself, "how the **** did I get here?"). When I was done traveling and attacking rocks, I spent the next few years in Boston and California satisfying my creative yen as a fiction writer, game designer, and web entrepreneur. I'm settled in the Boston area now, and my most recent endeavor is the one I'm the most excited about: Kubla Comics!

2) How did ‘Kubla Comics’ come about? Kubla Comics came about at a time when I was looking for my next thing. I had just shuttered my last company, after we had gotten shelled by the bad economy, and was thinking about what I wanted to work on next. My daughter had just been born, and one night, when I was changing her diaper, in my sleepless delirium, it occurred to me that there wasn't a review aggregator for comic books. I thought of how cool that would be, and how much I would use a service like that. The next morning I jumped on the phone with a friend who's a developer and we got to work.

3) In your own words how would you describe this site? The one-line pitch is: "Kubla Comics is the Rotten Tomatoes of comic books". The long answer is: "Kubla Comics is a place to discover comics: what's getting good reviews, what's getting bad reviews, what comics / artists / writers / publishers / reviewers haven't you heard of before that Kubla Comics can help you find". And soon, Kubla Comics will be a community where comic fans can share their thoughts and opinions, can pick and choose their favorite comics / creators / etc. to track and get reports on, and can read funny, insightful, and informative articles plus webcomics.

4) If this site was a piece of music what would it be and why? How about an old school Kubla Comics mix tape? Side A - Before Kubla Comics: "Help!" by the Beatles; "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2; and "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" by The Smiths. Whilst on Side B - After Kubla Comics: "Just What I Needed" by The Cars, "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure, and "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode.

5) What was the first comic book you ever read? And do you still read mainstream comic books today? Comics entered my life through a huge stack of books handed down to me by my older brothers. And what a stack it was -- Archie, Richie Rich, Sgt. Rock, Justice League of America, Batman, Superman, Avengers, Spectacular Spider-Man, Iron Man, Creepy and on and on -- it was like a greatest hits of late '60's to late '70's comics.

So, there's no one comic that hooked me, it was more like a sledgehammer of comic awesomeness. But there definitely was a moment when I became an active collector, and that was when I got my first comic subscription in the mail. And one of the first comics I remember getting in the mailbox was 'Uncanny X-Men #165' with the brilliant cover by Paul Smith of Storm transforming into a cockroach... I mean... Brood. Those Claremont / Smith issues rocked my little world and made me a fan for life.

As for going to a store and buying a comic, this wasn't the first, but I very distinctly remember cross-country skiing across a frozen lake in Maine so my best friend and I could buy comic books off a rack at a general store. As I spun the rack, the canary yellow cover of 'Alpha Flight #1' jumped out at me. I had no idea who these strange characters were pushing aside Captain America and Spider-Man, but I knew I wasn't leaving that store without it.

As for mainstream comics, yes, I still read a ton. Mostly Marvel. But a respectable amount of DC too. One of the reasons I started Kubla Comics was so that I could find out what good Indie books are out there. I've always been able to stay on top of the big Two, but I've found it's much harder to keep track of all the amazing small publisher stuff.

6) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote ‘Kubla’, who would you choose, and again, why? Kubla Comics celebrity spokesperson would be Morgan Freeman in full-on, ultimate authority, voice-of-God mode. He's the man that tells you we've got you covered. Plus, he was Easy Reader on Electric Company, starring alongside word-balloon Spider-Man. Omnipotent deity, literacy advocate, and he hangs out with Spidey...he's the perfect spokesman for Kubla.

7) How easy is it for somebody to submit a review to your site? And what are the procedures for doing this? We track reviews by review site, so if someone finds a review site that they don't think we're tracking, they just have to let us know about it. Email and tell us which site we're missing. We'll check the site out, and, if it passes muster, add it to our collection schedule. (Passing muster, by the way, means vetting the site to make sure the reviews are well-written and thought out). If someone feels we missed a review about a single issue or graphic novel, again, they can just email us and let us know about it.

8) Do you have any amusing stories you can tell us about your site? My designer didn't know what social media we were going to go with, so he put a link to OkCupid on the site as a placeholder. In the frantic back and forth of final tweaking, the site was live for a few days before we realized that we had an online dating service as one of the ways we encouraged people to share Kubla Comics.

My wife and his girlfriend didn't find it quite as amusing as we did. Ha!

9) If your site had a motto what would it be? Our tagline is: "the ruler of all comic book reviews" with the word 'ruler' meaning both leader and measurer. Our motto? I would say it's something like: "Support the best comics from the best creators". We feel pretty strongly that Kubla Comics helps you do that.

Wow! Thanks for that, Ken. I bet my bottom dollar that most of my readers will check out Kubla Comics, plus follow you on Facebook & Twitter too. So go on, pal. what are you waiting for? A monkey eating goldfish? Skat. Skat. Skat. Ha!

ANTI AI CHAN - A COSPLAYER WHO'S JUST BEING HERSELF

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:00:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be draped in some brave and bold outfit for all in sundry to see? You know, like a hero of sorts. A token of what one person can become in all of their multi-colored glory. My mate Steff doesn't. Because when she's not sitting at her office desk, or playing silly buggers on the computer, she's out and about, strutting her stuff like any good cosplayer should. Here, please check out this conversation I had with her only the other day, whilst we were both playing silly buggers on our computers.

1) What are your own origins, Steff? Plus what path did you take in life before you got to where you are today? I was born and raised outside of the LA area and was able to branch out of that town when I attended college in San Francisco, which is still my current home. I love the hustle and bustle of city life and I've found that there's always a story when you ride on public transit.

I've always been a creative person, and growing up, I would doodle, write stories, craft, etc. Creativity is something that I've just always known for. In fact, you know how people get a mix of creative/academic as well as physical abilities/sports ability? Yeah, well, I have no physical abilities; it's all creative. If someone throws a ball at me, I flail my hands and hope it doesn't hit me in the face. It's a miracle I can even walk and not fall over.

2) How did you come up with the name ‘Anti Ai Chan’? I actually came up with it over ten years ago. It was an original character I made and it just kind of stuck. I won't bore you with the details of the character, but back then I thought it was super clever. Now... I might rethink it. Ha!

3) What is your ‘regular’ job? And does it in any way shape or form aide you as a Cosplayer? I work at a tech company as a coordinator in HR -- aka, I essentially schedule everything for the company. It's a desk job which does nothing for my creative endeavors other than fund it. However, I'm hoping to go back to school to get my Masters in filmmaking.

4) How did your friends, family, and work-colleagues first react to the news that you're a Cosplay model? Well, I wouldn't really call myself a model; that just seems too glamorous for what I do (pretending I'm a fictional character and making stupid faces). I started cosplaying in 2003, and my first costume was with my mom who already enjoyed costume making. Clearly, it wasn't much of a shocker to the family when I started sewing too. Most of my friends are involved with the hobby, or at least into nerdy activities, so they think it's great. Even my co-workers are curious about the hobby. They love that I'm so creative and I was a hit at the annual Halloween party.

The only truly negative responses I've received have been from relatively shallow people or those who lack the ability to have fun in their own lives. They really ought to lighten up.

5) How do you decide what Cosplay costume to wear for a convention? And who makes them?
I wish I could say, I just cosplay all the characters I like, but then I'd be sewing nonstop! I start off by asking myself 'what characters do I like the most, or relate the most with'. These are usually my favorite characters, so this isn't tough. I then think, can I pull this character off? Do I have the body type? Do I have the sewing/wig/prop skills to make everything? I always want to change myself as a cosplayer, but you walk a fine line between a challenge and something that's just a bit too far out of your league. Once I've narrowed down the list, I look at my convention schedule and try to plan things out from there. Of course things change, yet it helps to have a game plan for these thing.

6) What have you learnt about yourself as a Cosplay model? And were their any unforeseen obstacles you had to contend with? I've learned that I look awful in pink hair and that if you wear a cup in your pants, people will want to touch it!

But seriously, I've learned a lot! Besides the obvious skills needed to construct a costume, I've learned that I'm more stubborn that I would have thought. If I say I'm finishing a costume for a convention, it's getting done. God himself cannot stop me from making and wearing said costume to the convention. And oh boy, has he tried! It may not be 100% done, but I will go without sleep for as long as possible to get something wearable out of a pile of fabric. I'm not sure if that's admirable or crazy, but I'm hoping for the former!

7) What was the best / worst convention you ever attended? Most of my best conventions have been because of the people I've met or spent time with. Off the top of my head, WonderCon 2010 was amazing, because we had a full Dethklok group and we were mostly in character through the whole day. The whole thing was just hilarious, and I spent it all with my boyfriend and our close friends.

Because I base my convention experience so much on the people, I can only remember one con that made me really upset. It was Anime Expo 2008. The staff were very rude and threatened to confiscate my props because of a rule that wasn't even in their weapon's policy! The entire situation just wasn't handled very well on their part and put a damper on the whole con.

8) What would be your dream Cosplay gig and outfit? I would say my dream gigs as a cosplayer is being invited to cons and helping companies promote, which I've already done! I was invited to be a cosplay guest at Anime Fannatiku last year and helped DC promote their Ame-Comi figures at SDCC. Both experiences were simply amazing. Words cannot express my emotions around those moments. I would love love LOVE to do things like that more often.

As for a dream outfit? I've actually been crossing those off my list recently! When I started cosplaying, there were tons of costumes that I wanted to make but knew I wouldn't be able to execute properly. I tried with a few, but I wasn't 100% happy with them. Two years ago, I remade my Nurse Witch Komugi costume and was thrilled to finally have the costume I always wanted. This year I'm making an outfit from Cardcaptor Sakura that I've loved since grade school. I guess if I really had to pick something, it would a Gundam. Like, a 40 foot tall Nobel Gundam. That would be fabulous.

9) Has there ever been an outfit you just did not like wearing? And if so, why? Comfort-wise, a lot of them! Usually because of the restricted mobility, or it's too warm/cold for the weather. I love my Hit-Girl costume, but when I wore it to SDCC 2011, I was melting! For the most part, because I love the character so much and worked long hours to make the costume, I don't mind if it's uncomfortable. Cosplay over body!

10) Do you have a credo you live by? Be yourself! I know it's very generic. But in a hobby such as cosplay, where people constantly judge you, it's important to always be true to yourself. Someone thinks you only cosplay for attention? Doesn't matter. Someone thinks you're a fake geek? Doesn't matter. Someone says ugly things about you? Doesn't matter. Someone starts drama? Doesn't matter. If you stay true to who you are and what you know to be right, the cools kids will stay and the haters will leave. Be positive and be you!

Wow! I couldn't have put it better myself, Stef. Don't you agree, dear readers? Yeah? So what are you waiting for? When you've got the time please check out some of our Stef's great designs on her facebook page or her twitter stream. Go on. You know that it'll be a blast.

JUSTICE LEAGUE - HEARTS AND MINDS

noreply@blogger.com (Jay Andrews) — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

If you had one of the most powerful weapons in the known universe in the palm of your hand; what would you do with it? Use it for good? Use it for bad? Use it to shave with every second Sunday of the month? Or use it like some of the chaps seen in this 45 minute cartoon made in 2004? Go ahead. Make a choice. You'll never know, one day it may come true.

Justice League: Hearts and Minds

THE STORY:

Excuse me. But do you know where the Green Lantern Corp member, Katma Tui, is please? Her compatriot, Kilowog, would like to know where she is. Especially since they both got separated when Despero's guards -- also known as the Legion of the Third Eye -- kicked their collective asses on the ravaged planet known as Ranstad-7.

Huh? What's that you say? You don't know who Despero is? Well, he's from Kalanor. He's purple. He's big. He has an extra eye stamped in the middle of his forehead. And he has enslaved a whole nation with the destructive force of the Flame of Py'tar.

Don't fret though, dear reader. Katma's one time pupil -- Green Lantern John Stewart -- does manage to catch up to her not so long after Kilowog travels to Earth and asks for his help. Furthermore, John also meets up with an underground resistance that's in opposition to Despero's tyranny too.

Yeah. It was just before he gets briefly captured by some of one-eye's guards' amidst his search. And quite some time after he loses his nerve and his colleagues in the Justice League eventually catch up to him.

Still, that's most probably why what next transpires kicks off when the Flame of Py'tar goes nova, thus prompting the resistance and the League to step up their game. As Lanterns train hard - a betrayer plays his card - Justice is ready for a fight - and at the end of the day everybody in the world sees a bright new light.

Oh! Isn't that nice!

THE REVIEW:

Now normally I just love watching these episodes of the 'Justice League'. They're full of character. They tell a story. Plus they throw little nods and winks to comic book continuity here and there. However, in the case of this particular story -- 'Hearts and Minds' -- I seem to have enjoyed it, except for one single fact... the story is a bit laboured in content.

Here, let me explain to you what I mean by this by playing the advantage / disadvantage game.

ADVANTAGE:

(1) The interaction between the Flash and Kilowog was just priceless in this tale. In many ways their dynamics brought back many memories for me from the Giffen / Dematteis era of the League. (2) Wasn't it nice to see the Martian Manhunter save everyone at the end of this adventure for a change? Usually he's treated as Mister 'Allergic to Flames' that always seems to patch people up, or sound off their troubles to. (3) The sexual tension between John, Hawkgirl, and Katma Tui, was just electrifying to watch. I particularly got a kick out of that scene where the girl's flirted / bullied John one after another. Boy! That really made my loin's stir! (4) Yes. There was a Kyle Rayner reference in this yarn. Kat threatened John that he might replace him if he didn't buck up his ideas.

DISADVANTAGE:

(1) My main grumble with this cartoon was how the overall narrative was constructed. To me, it flimflammed between the Despero and the Katma sub-plots so much, that the validity of the overall threat appeared diluted in retrospect. Not having any sort of 'impending doom' hanging over it. (2) Another thing that felt very disposable within the confines of this tale; was how John lost 'his will' for no apparent reason whatsoever. Again, this segment of the story never seemed to hold any sort of substance to me. Feeling like a 'Come on -- just get on with it', piece of plot. (3) As much as I like Despero as a villain, and as much as I liked some of his conceptual origin inserted into this show, at the same time he just came across like a very plain 'villain of a month'. Very one dimensional. (4) There wasn't enough of the Justice League in this adventure. Simple as that.

Hey! While I am in a bullet-point type of a mood, why don't I present to you some bullet-point GLC facts, OK? (1) The Green Lantern Corps were created by writer, John Broome, and artist, Gil Kane, in Showcase #22, September, 1959. (2) It is believed that the self appointed leaders of the Corps, the Guardians of the Universe, were a part of the first intelligent life forms that populated our Galaxy -- from the planet Maltus. They were also created by Broome and Kane, and made their first appearance in Green Lantern #2, 1960. (3) The Guardian's were initially led to devise a 'Universal Police Force', because one of their 'Maltusian brothers' -- Krona -- accidentally unleashed the Anti-Matter universe into our own universe; inadvertently making it older than it really was. (4) When their previous robotic peacekeeping force -- known as the Manhunters -- suddenly turned rogue, the Guardians formulated the Corps to be their more sentient replacements. (5) It has been revealed that the Guardian have two hereditary off-shoots. The first are called the Zamarons: Who've created the Star Sapphires. And the second are called the Controllers: Who've created the Darkstars. (6) There have been many-many different Earth Green Lanterns in out time. Such as: Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, Kyle Rayer, Jade, and Simon Baz. (7) Including their present day DC-New incarnation, plus their prior DC-Old incarnation, there was also another Green Lantern Corps comic book series that ran from 1986 to 1988 -- lasting 24 issues -- taking over from the second series of Green Lantern. (8) Even though the Green Lantern Corps have patrolled the DC Universe for over three billion years now, during that time they've only spawned one movie, one cartoon, a number of Justice League inspired spin-off shows, plus a shed load of action figures too.

Overall 'Justice League - Hearts and Minds' was a bit of a lop-sided animated adventure in my eyes. Those bits they were good were really good. And those bits that were bad were really bad. Still, like I always say, you can't win them all, can you dear reader?

THE RATING: C+