Everyone loves a Cinderella story in Hollywood: when a bunch of audacious amateurs make a movie on a shoestring budget and it catches on with the movie-watching public. George Romero, Sam Raimi, and Kevin Smith were able to tap into the zeitgeist and used their glorified home movies to propel them to great success in the world of cinema.

Ninjas vs. Zombies doesn’t quite have that same je ne sais quoi that Night of the Living Dead, Clerks, and Evil Dead had, but it comes oh so close.

Writer/Director Justin Timpane and his crew of what I’m guessing are his college drinking buddies have stitched together a collection of well-worn tropes into a comfortably predictable, yet deeply entertaining film. If talent borrows and genius steals, then Timpane and crew are very talented amateurs. They grew up with Buffy, Clerks, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and they wear those influences on their sleeve (Joss Whedon is explicitly thanked in the credits).

The acting is wildly uneven. Some characters deliver their lines rather flatly. Others chew the scenery with reckless abandon. Fortunately, Timpane gives the lion’s share of screen time to the villain of the piece, Eric (played by PJ Megaw). He plays an evil undead sorcerer that falls somewhere between Lord Voldemort and The Mayor, and his over-the-top, mustache-twirling energy is infectious. I was also planning to praise Daniel Ross for having a gift for comedic timing, but then I saw his IMDb page and found out he was a working voice actor both before and after this film. Still, as the comic relief, he sells his recycled dialogue with gusto, and these two actors do a good job of carrying the film.

The fight scenes are actually pretty good in this movie. Most American-made martial arts movies rely on a technique dubbed chop-fighting, where the actors’ inability to throw a convincing punch is covered up with gratuitous editing. Here, the actors appear to have had some martial arts training, since that was probably cheaper than hiring stunt doubles. Their fights are well-choreographed, particularly in the third act.

This film has apparently been on the festival circuit for a few years, but has only recently been released on DVD. Is it worth a rental? Absolutely. Is it worth owning? Perhaps, as this DVD lends itself to many a night of drinking games with friends (any line stolen from the works of Whedon or Smith, any time the film comes so close to passing the Bechdel test only to fail at the last minute, etc.). Plus, for what is essentially a 90-minute You Tube video, these folks show a lot of potential, and deserve support from their own (i.e. Geeks).

Recommended.

EDIT: Lest I forget, Check out the official website, http://www.nvzmovie.com. There, you will find news about the upcoming sequel, Ninjas vs. Vampires, as well as information about the upcoming comics adaptation, published by Azure Press. Much like the film it draws inspiration from, what it lacks in polish it makes up for in heart. Expect a review of the entire series once it is completed.

Scary, huh? And this is the good guy.

Haunt is what would happen if Casper decided to stop putzing around in his mansion, took a bunch of steroids, then went out and fought crime.

Haunt is the brainchild of the combined creative juices of Robert Kirkman and Todd McFarlane.  Kirkman has taken over the writing of Haunt while McFarlane does the inks (which is a pretty big deal).  Waaaaay back in the day, McFarlane did art of Spider-Man but went on hiatus to create Image comics and write the amazing Spawn (also, opening his own toy company or film and animation studio.  You know, day to day things, really.)  Originally both Greg Capullo and Ryan Ottley were on board for the art, with Capullo as page layout artist and Ottley as interior penciler.  Although after issue five, Ottley decided to stop working on Haunt so he would have more time to focus on his other projects (like Invincible).  Since issue six, Capullo has taken over as Haunt’s full time artist.

The basic premise of Haunt is that Daniel Kilgore, a washed-up Catholic priest, is being haunted (go figure) by the spirit of his recently deceased brother, Kurt Kilgore, who was a secret agent/assassin/professional bad ass.  Daniel is the only person who can see or hear Kurt’s spirit which leads to a lot of hilariously awkward moments throughout the comic.

The sole reason that Daniel doesn’t assume he’s gone off the deep end is because when he and Kurt combine (much like Voltron), he is covered in a suit of strange gooey material that acts as a second skin and can stop bullets. Daniel quickly finds that he is going to need every advantage this suit can offer as life shifts in the fast lane of the “shit gets crazy” highway.

The artwork for Haunt is masterfully done.  The whole series has a very grungy look to it, which really helps set up the general atmosphere of the comic. This isn’t a comic about sunshine and rainbows (Unless you count the blood and oil mixing together on the ground as a rainbow).  On that note, the violence and gore in the comic are exceptionally well done, which is important considering the profuse amount of both–one often leading to the other.  The fights/action often left me saying “wait, what?”, not the confused kind of “wait, what?”, but instead was the HOLY SHIT HE JUST JUMPED KICKED A MAN OUT OF A CAR AS HE SHOT THE DRIVER IN THE CHEST! sort of “wait, what?”.

This happens more than you would think...

Suffice to say, the fights scenes in this comic are bad ass in its purest form.  Which brings us to the ensuing post-combat gore that paints the pages of Haunt (quite literally).  NOTE: This is not a comic for those with a weak constitution.  If organs, blood, and severed heads bother you; you probably won’t enjoy this very much.  Especially considering that, in eight issues, Daniel decapitates seven people… with his bare hands! Oh, did I forget to mention that the suit gives him razor sharp claws as well as allowing him to be bullet proof? Yeah.

The panel layout from issue to issue and page by page in each individual comic is really what brings the whole thing together. When we first meet Daniel, he is a paying a prostitute (by leaving money on the counter, hehe), walking out, then lighting up a cigarette.  And then, almost as an after though, there’s a panel of him blowing smoke into the air where his clerical collar can be seen.  As if to say “here is a man who hires prostitutes and loves to smoke.  Oh, by the way, he’s also a priest”.

On an month to month scale, there are issues that go into further detail about other important characters in Haunt who are intricately connected to Daniel and Kurt.  Many of the same page layouts are used for important events that span over a series of issues.  It sort of gives the feeling that every thing that happens is connected in some way, shape, or form; which added a level of depth to the story that made not getting sucked in almost impossible.

Overall, I throughly enjoy the series and would recommend it to any who like action-packed comics where “shit gets real” every few pages.

This is how the con looked, felt, and tasted like.

Wizard World Chicago… probably the most confusing convention I’ve ever been to. Not on a programming scale or anything like that, but on an energy scale.

This year’s WWC (technically called Wizard World Chicago Comic Con) was packed with Star Trek nerds and stars, Battle Star Galactica nerds and stars, professional wrestlers, people with barely any movie career, tons of merch, tons of artists, people trying to sell me stuff, and god damn Rod Blagojevich.

Seeing that this convention wasn’t really focused on comic books at all, and I truly believe it’s a sham that Wizard still called it a comic convention, I didn’t have much to check out and “report” on.

Nonetheless, there were some cool booths and shops, as well as one real publisher and a few small time publishers around.

More after the break.

My weekend at the con started off on Friday. My friends and I made it in to Chicago around 5ish and hit the con for a few hours. We got a good feel of the place, saw some artists, bought some comics/action figures. It was a good time. I spoke with the creator of The Oblongs, Angus Oblong, about some things with the show as well as a cool t-shirt (which I bought on Saturday). I saw some of the Trek stars (Avery Brooks, Walter Koenig, Brent Spiner, John De Lancie) and laughed at the WWE and Playboy “celebrities,” as well as was confused as to how some of the people who were in the Star Wars movies can live with themselves milking their minor/semi-major roles.

Then came Saturday. The big day. I arrived around 11:30am, smoked, met a Suicide Girl, then sat down and caught the last 20 minutes of the James Marsters panel. He was a super cool guy. Honestly. Really down to earth and willing to talk about anything and everything. I have to top my hat to him.

I ended up speaking with Mike Wolfer at the Avatar Press booth–one of the only real publishers there–and had some of my Gravel comics signed. We had a nice talk about how working with Warren Ellis is and how Gravel came to be.

More walking, more smoking, more talking.

So, there were these DBZ mini-statues...

I ran into Michael Golden and talked to him for a bit, which was cool seeing that I only met him in April at C2E2 and he remembered me (*blushes*).

I missed out on the Adam West panel, but managed to catch a few minutes of the William Shatner panel which was pretty fun. He seemed like he would be a cool guy, save the fact that I’ve heard he’s kind of a bastard. Nonetheless, he was funny and he got the nerds a-sweating. I had to ditch out on that panel to make sure my nose didn’t implode from the smell.

Throughout the day, a friend of mine was getting pictures and autographs from all of the Battlestar Galactica actors that were there (Aaron Douglas, Michael Hogan, Rekha Sharma, Michael Trucco, Kate Vernon), and it was cool to see them out of costume just being people–corny to say, but I’m being serious. Same with the Star Trek actors (specifically Brent Spiner). Sadly, Patrick Stewart wasn’t there–or I didn’t see him–as promised. Nonetheless, Shatner held down the fort. The Trek guys were having fun joking about forging Shatner/Stewart’s signatures.

And really, that was the weekend. Nothing crazy, no crazy announcements. Just a con full of nerdy stuff.

Maybe I’ll go next year… we’ll see.

Edit: Meant to mention that Rod Blagojevich was there… I talked with a few Chicago-based comic booths and all of them were pissed at Blagojevich being there. It was a whole “get the press at WWC” thing, but still. A former politician has no place at a convention. He was meandering around the con shaking hands with the celebrities. From how I hear it, James Marsters was put in an awkward place as Blagojevich showed up at his signing. Blagojevich… what a dick.

Admit it. This would look awesome on the side of someone's van.

Like many comic-book geeks, I have a touch of gamer in me. Unlike many tabletop gamers, I never had much interest in D&D, or fantasy in general. If I was going to pretend to be something I wasn’t, I would much rather be a superhero, a Jedi, or a samurai than an elf or a wizard. So why would I pick up a copy of Dungeons and Dragons #0?

First off, IDW puts a lot of care into their licensed properties. The first Doctor Who miniseries was written by one of the writers of the relaunched TV show. The G.I. Joe titles are guided by the creator of the Joe mythology, Larry Hama, and attract top flight talent like Max Brooks. With the exception of the excellent Kill Shakespeare (expect a review once the first collected edition comes out), IDW’s best comics are based on popular brands.

Second, the core D&D title is going to be written by John Rogers. If the name sounds familiar to comics fans, it’s because he co-wrote the most recent Blue Beetle series (and co created the character of Jaime Reyes). TV viewers may know him as the co-creator and show-runner of Leverage, one of the most entertaining shows on TV right now. Even old-school Dungeon Masters might recognize him as a contributor to The Manual of the Planes. Oh, and he co-wrote the first Transformers movie, but nobody’s perfect.

Finally, it was only a dollar. I’m always willing to gamble a dollar on something.

So, on to the comic. The first story was written by Rogers and drawn by Andrea Di Vito. It captures the feel of a D&D session, as the archetypal party (human fighter, halfling rogue, etc.) kills monsters, looks for treasure, and bickers amongst one another. A fun non-story, but it gave me pause. Bree Three-Hands, a loopy thief who is attracted to shiny things, shares a personality with Parker, the resident cat burglar on Leverage, which makes me wonder how many recycled ideas we’ll see over the course of the series. Di Vito’s art is unimpeachable though.

The second story is a preview of the upcoming Dark Sun miniseries. Writer Alex Irvine went in a different direction, focusing on the popular setting (a desert wasteland reminiscent of Arrakis or Barsoom) rather than the characters. For that reason, artist Peter Bergting proved a good choice, since he did an excellent job with the backgrounds, effectively rendering claustrophobic holding cells and vast unforgiving deserts. His characters seemed a tad stiff, though. Nevertheless, this six-page story makes the miniseries look promising.

The rest of the book features a page about IDW’s plans to utilize the license, short bios and interviews with the creators (the full interviews can be found here), and even 4^th Edition stats for a Young Black Dragon (Rogers promised that the series will have stats for the heroes and villains, which is pretty cool).

All in all, I did not regret spending that dollar, and I expect that not only will players and Dungeon Masters be entertained, but they’ll find a lot of useful material for their campaigns as well.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

Jumping on the bandwagon of the rest of the “cool kids” of the world, I sat down in 3 weeks and read all six volumes of Scott Pilgrim.

Here are my ratings of volumes 1-5:

• Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
  • Good gracious, this book made me giggle. 8/10
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
  • Joseph? You’re my favorite. 9/10
• Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
  • This ex-gf nonsense is getting a bit old. 7/10
• Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
  • Ninja fights and strange lesbian-ness. Yeah, okay. 7.5/10
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe
  • Was there a point to this one? Oh, the ending. Okay. 6/10

So, I was kind of in a downer mood when I jumped into volume 6 because I wasn’t the biggest fan of volume 5. Nonetheless, Brian Lee O’Malley managed to keep me reading to the point where I couldn’t stop reading from cover to cover.

More fun and spoilers after the break.I have to wonder how Mr. O’Malley is feeling right now. A movie, an animated series, and praise from nearly everyone over this whole series. He’s gotta be rolling in the dough.

But I digress.

The one thing I can say about this series is best said by my buddy Brian: “Scott Pilgrim is that right amount of nerd to where people like us can appreciate it, but it doesn’t alienate the commonfolk.” And that’s just what this volume 6 is all about. Scott gaining levels, experience, grabbing 1-Ups, all scattered through the pages creating comedy in a pseudo-dramatic world.

One of the finer moments of the comic

This book seemed to be a continuation of the fifth volume where things just kind of happen for no reason, and it manages to be relevant plot. It’s a strange thing. Characters mingle in and out of the pages and story for a while. It’s strangely metaphoric for Scott’s state of mind and how he is living his life. I’m not sure if that was intentional, but, like I said, it seems like a continuation of the previous volume and I really wasn’t a big fan of it.

Once you get into the thick of the story, Scott finally manages to get back into living life and everything kind of goes apeshit. A slew of relationships crop up in Scott’s world: Envy shows up again, things with Kim end up in a funky place (though, that kind of happened in the last book, too), Knives is continues to be Knives, and Stephen Stills is gay.

The one thing I didn’t like about this GN was the sudden crazy evil Scott moment. Talking to Kim, he just kind of bursts into this fight with himself and it was just too… out there. Not to say I’m not one for metaphorical character development, but this was just goofy. I guess the real complaint here is that “shit got real” and for me, this comic isn’t a real story; it’s campy and fun.

For the most part, this volume was pretty well done. The ending was something I could deal with–though I thought for a moment he was going to end up with Kim–and the big, final battle with Gideon was just great. It had my gut wrenching when Scott was getting beat and had me cheering when he started kicking ass. I can point my reasoning for feeling this way on Gideon’s unbelievably evil ways. He truly was evil. It wasn’t campy, he was a villain, not a bad guy. It was a great twist on the whole “evil exes” idea in this series.

The art, as expected, was great and terrible. Everything is simple and fun when it’s 1-2 characters in a panel, but as soon as O’Malley adds in 4, 5, or 6 characters I almost get lost. Not to say his art is horrible, but it can be a bit confusing when there are masses of people given that they’re all drawn very similarly (example: can you tell Young Neil from Scott? I couldn’t for a split second).

Gideon. What A Dick.

Overall though, this series did well. I was interested the whole way through and now have a soft spot for Scott Pilgrim in my heart. Of course, I’d recommend this to any fan of nerdy, cutesy comics and definitely to those who are looking to get into comics.

Rating: 8/10

Arcade Fire is back after a three year gap with their third album.  Their full length debut, ‘Funeral’, won critical acclaim as a breakout indie album.  The 2007 follow-up, ‘Neon Bible’, furthered the band’s reputation and won them even more fans.  The new album has been eagerly awaited upon by many.  Did the band live up to the hype or was this album their first misstep?

More review after the break.

My first impression was this is a laid back and low key album.  The rebellious attitude from ‘Funeral’ and the frantic energy of ‘Neon Bible’ are noticeably absent from this album.  That maybe the point though.  The album’s title invokes a sense of listless, hum drum living.  The suburbs, the safe outer ring that surrounds the urban center.  The area of a large city where life imitates Yoda’s invocation of ‘Adventure?  Excitement?  A Jedi craves not these things.’  Rush wrote a similar ode in their song ‘Subdivision,’ a song that would fit both lyrically and musically on this album.  Suburbs are about conformity.  Suburbs are about white picket fences and trips to the shopping mall.

Invariably this album lives up to that image.  There is a circular quality to the album.  Lyrics show up in different songs verbatim.  The music splits its time between indie piano/guitar pop and new wave synthesizers.  The album even ends in the same place it starts, gently fading out to the chorus that drove the first song.  In some ways it is an exploration of the suburbs themselves and in some ways an exploration of what it means to grow-up from the perspective of a generation that knew nothing but suburban living.  There are upbeat songs along the way, but nothing like the frenzied pace of ‘Keep the Car Running’ or the build up of ‘Rebellion(Lies).’

That is not to say the album is bad by any means.  It is a great album living up to what the band has brought before.  A musical exploration of conformity and maturity never sounded so good.  I’ve listened to the album three or four times straight through and I find something new to like each time.  It isn’t an album that lends itself well to singles, it is a single piece of art in its whole.  Keeping that in mind will make the listening experience that much better.

4.5 out of 5 stars
Playability factor: 95%

"'Cause She's The Music MEISTER!!!"

Comic-Con is always a good time, but some years are less fun than others. 2010 was the unlucky year this time around.

I enjoyed myself, and saw some great stuff, but for a lot of it, I just felt like I was going through the motions. Let’s take it day-by-day, shall we?

Join me after the break.

Thursday:

Two of the more interesting panels on this day both revolved around DC Comics. The first panel, “DC Comics Writers Unite!”, featured James Robinson, J. Michael Stracyznski, Gail Simone, Judd Winick, Dennis O’Neil, and Paul Levitz telling anecdotes about their tenures at both DC and Marvel. The second panel, “DC Comics 75^th Anniversary,” was meant to hype an upcoming coffee table book (which looks gorgeous, by the way). The panel, however, featured various creators and publishers from DC’s history, telling some scandalous stories about what happened backstage (most mind-blowing revelation: Julius Schwartz used to smoke pot with beatniks on weekends).

The last panel of the day was the most fascinating, as well as the most educational. “Transcending Trauma: From the Birth of Batman to the Rise of the Red Hood” was the second annual panel put on by Broadcast Thought, three forensic psychiatrists who examine the underlying psychological conditions of various comic book characters. Last year, they discussed the inmates of Arkham Asylum, what their mental illnesses were, and which of these characters would be considered legally insane in the real world (surprisingly, the Joker would go to Blackgate, since he has demonstrated the ability to tell right from wrong). This year, the subject was the effect of trauma on various heroes and anti-heroes, and whether they have healthy coping skills (Batman does; Punisher does not). At the end, they and the audience debate whether or not Jason Todd would have gone bad even before the Joker killed him, and whether or not he could still be redeemed (the jury is still out).

Friday:

My first panel that day was “Batman: The Brave and The Bold.” On the plus side, I got to see an episode from next season, “Emperor Joker,” (adapted from one of my favorite Superman stories, but with Bat-Mite subbing for Mr. Mxyzptlk). It was a bittersweet panel, as they announced that the next 13 episodes will be the final Brave and the Bold shows.

I then caught the tail end of a Marvel Interactive panel (“Marvel vs. Capcom 3″ looks sweet), while waiting for Grant Morrison to speak. Watching Morrison speak is always an enlightening experience. He talked about his career and his future, as well as the future of comics and superheroes. It was a funny, insightful, and inspiring hour. No wonder he will be the subject of an upcoming documentary later this year (clips of which I had the privilege to see in a panel later that day).

Saturday:

Saturday was my concession to Hollywood’s takeover of Comic-Con as I started the day at panels dedicated to two of my favorite television shows: Leverage and The Venture Brothers. Both of these shows are incredibly geek-friendly, though. Leverage’s co-creator, John Rogers, is a comic book writer and a tabletop gamer (He is writing IDW’s “Dungeons & Dragons” comic, combining the best of both worlds). And anyone who has seen an episode of The Venture Brothers can tell you that the show is greatly inspired by Silver Age Marvel Comics (thinly veiled parodies of Dr. Strange and the Fantastic Four are recurring characters on the show).

The other panels that I saw that day were indisputably related to comics. “Taking Back The Knight: Batman in the 70s” featured Neal Adams, Paul Levitz, and Dennis O’Neil discussing their efforts in returning the Caped Crusader to his noir-ish roots in the wake of the infamous Adam West show from the 60s. They pointed out just how different the industry was back in the late 60s & early 70s, and how the indifference of the executives allowed them to get away with murder.

(While I was in this panel, Comic-Con’s first real urban legend was born. Way on the other side of the Convention Center, in Hall H, two friends got into a scuffle over seating. One accidentally got scratched in the face, and asked to be taken to the hospital. Thanks to Twitter and some sloppy internet journalism, this somehow turned into “OMG, someone got stabbed in the eye with a pen in Hall H, purple monkey dishwasher.” Naturally, the empathetic Con-goers had eye trauma cosplay ready within hours. You stay classy, San Diego.)

I closed the day by going to the Fables Forum. Not that much to report, aside from the fact that there will be a second Cinderella miniseries, and that Fables #100 looks like it’s gonna be phenomenal

Sunday:

The high point of Sunday, and possibly Comic-Con as a whole, was Matt Fraction’s panel. Imagine watching this for 15 minutes (trust me, it’s worth your time).

Still with us? Now imagine Bill Hader being on the panel after the lights come back up. It was a pretty magical panel, and the two of them were absolutely hysterical.

I followed that up with a DC Town Hall meeting, where Dan DiDio and Jim Lee showed a trailer for the DC Universe MMO, and engaged in a dialogue with the audience about the future of comics, both print and digital. My vision of what comics should be differed with others in the audience, and I think it was the most constructive panel I went to, as creators, executives, and fans walked away with a better understanding of each other. It gave me hope for the company and the medium.

Outside of a panel setting, I got to talk to Joe Casey and Mark Waid, which was nice, and I now own every Jonah Hex TPB written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti (seriously, one of the best comics on the stands). But, despite all the good things that I saw this year, I still had a bit of a “been there, done that” feeling. I still recommend that all comics fans should make the pilgrimage here at least once in their life, but all things being equal, I think I had more fun at this year’s WonderCon.

And then Quesada decided to pick at that slowly healing scab. Enter One Moment In Time. Even the title brings up horrific, sleepless nights caused by OMD. But enough introduction. Let’s see how the first issue of this thing holds up.

My reaction when I first heard about OMIT back at C2E2 this past spring was a strange mix between excitement and complete dread. Oh sure, there are so many questions I want answered about what exactly happened during OMD. So many questions. But at the same time, I just started to get over the events of OMD. Just started to really enjoy the new Spidey status quo. And then BAM! Let’s bring OMD back up. But, this review is not about my feelings about the events of OMD, it’s about OMIT and I can’t say this comic is really any more than just average.

First off, nearly half of the comic is reprinted material from ASM Annual #21, which really bugs me when I payed $3.99 for extra pages, only to find out they aren’t new pages. In his defense, however, Quesada does do a fine job intertwining the reprint material into the story to help move the story along. However, I question if it was really necessary or just a way to pad the book. It helps new readers, sure, but it could have easily been done a better way to keep the book at the $2.99 price point we have all been enjoying. On top of that, Quesada’s writing just doesn’t really pop. His characters feel flat. There is barely any emotion in a comic that should, based on the subject, be all about emotion. No one here seems to be acting and reacting like a normal human would in the situations. And that, really, is where this comic falls short.

As for the art, I won’t even bother commenting on the reprint material. You’ve either seen it a million times or you can go find a review of ASM Annual #21. In addition to the reprint material telling the backstory of Peter and MJs wedding, Paolo Rivera takes on the art duty filling in the gaps in between the pages of ASM Annual #21 to tie the story in with the current happenings in ASM and set up the reason why the marriage never happened. His art is the real highlight of this book. His previous work on ASM has been great, and here, he continues that, but also does an amazing job keeping the same look and feel as the art from the annual. Personally, I would have rather seen him redraw scenes from the annual than to reprint the material, but I’m not the creator, so I guess my opinion doesn’t matter.

Then we come to Quesada’s art. Along with the writing duties, he takes the reign on the art for the pages in the present. I’ve really enjoyed his art before, but here, it’s just very mediocre. Both Peter and MJ end up with some really odd looking facial expressions which completely take you out of the book. MJ, particularly, looks very homely, and not at all the super-model/actress that she should be. The only good thing that can be said about these pages, in my opinion, is the work of the colorist. The colors are vivid, bright and completely save the otherwise terrible art. I wish I could tell you who did it, but the art for these pages are just listed as Joe Quesada, Danny Miki & Richard Isanove. So who knows what mix of penciling, inking and coloring these guys did in their collaboration.

My recommendation: if you’re already picking up ASM and/or are a long time reader, you’re probably going to want this issue anyway, just to keep up with the story. If you have a passing interest in ASM and/or the events of OMD, I would say wait for the trade. If you don’t read ASM, now is NOT the time to start. Wait for this to get sorted out and then start picking it up. It’s bound to get better when this crap is done.

More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!

Reviews of 4 of this week’s new comic releases:

• The Walking Dead #74
• Irredeemable #15
• Red Robin #14
• Batman & Robin #13

...Or like this?

Show of hands: Next year, do you think Wonder Woman will be dressed like this...?

Let’s get the elephant out of the room right now:  I loathe the new costume. Call me a rigid traditionalist if you must, but if DC is going to update an admittedly impractical and anachronistic costume, they should replace it with something less bland and more modern. I can just imagine Tim Gunn seeing it for the first time: “Biker jackets and black tights? Is it 1994 again already?”

Now that we’re past the publicity stunt, let’s talk about the issue itself. Like Superman #700 from a few weeks ago, this comic consists of short stories and pin-ups, begins with a story by the outgoing writer, and ends with a prologue of J. Michael Stracyznski’s upcoming story arc. Expect a few spoilers, and maybe some more whining about the costume after the break…

The stories that open the issue are light and fun. After a thoughtful essay by Lynda Carter, the dream team of Gail Simone (ending a stellar run on the title) and George Perez cram a company-wide crossover into 7 pages that highlight each creator’s strengths (Perez’ knack for drawing epic battle sequences with tons of characters; Simone’s irreverent sense of humor and biting dialogue). Next, Amanda Conner writes and draws a cute exchange between Wonder Woman and Power Girl. Those are followed up by Louise Simonson and Eduardo Panisca’s story, which pretty much exists to put forth the notion that Wonder Woman is easily Superman’s equal.  Each of these stories highlight the importance of Diana in the DC Universe, be it her ability to inspire every heroine in the DCU, her infinite compassion, or her singular ability to stare down divinity.

The last two stories are the most important, from a continuity standpoint at least. Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins bridge the gap between established canon and what will be the new status quo in a few brief pages that don’t really make a lot of sense. Finally, JMS and Don Kramer give us a taste of what to expect from their tenure on the title, as well as our first look at the new costume in action (from MANY angles; I’m guessing Kramer is an ass man). The issue closes with a cliffhanger, and a text piece by Jim Lee (designer of the offending costume) and JMS explaining their reasoning behind the change.

Now,  JMS has taken great liberties with established heroes before, most famously Spider-Man. It didn’t always work, but it usually did. That said, what I read about Stracyznski’s plans did not excite me at all (Most Wonder Woman writers destroy Paradise Island when they run out of ideas; the fact that he’s starting from that point is not encouraging). I have no problem waiting for the trade from here on out.

One last thing about this issue: between each story, you can find plenty of pin-ups from great Wonder Woman artists past (Adam Hughes, Phil Jimenez) and (hopefully) future (Jock, Greg Horn). Not one of them drew her in the new costume. Read into that what you will.

Recommended for the curious, otherwise save your money.

A face only a comics fan can love...

What Has Come Before: A hideously scarred bounty hunter roams the Wild West and kills outlaws in a manner that is usually ironic, always gruesome, and often awesome.

I am a recent convert to Jonah Hex. I absolutely love what Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti are doing with this title. Nearly every issue is a self-contained story (with an occasional two or three parter). The rotation of artists forces the writers to tell stories that play to the strengths of that month’s artist, which helps to keep the title from feeling stale. And each issue is full of action, violence,  and some wonderfully twisted humor.

Since DC is expecting an influx of new readers due to the upcoming movie (and this review, of course), they commissioned Palmiotti and Gray to write an original graphic novel that touches on the past of this mysterious gunslinger. To draw this book, they hired Tony DeZuniga, who co-created Hex back in the 70s. The result is something truly special.

In this book, we learn more about Hex’s past (which was only recently shown in the comics), and we actually meet some of his family. Typically, attempts to make a total badass more sympathetic end up doing more harm than good to the character. That said, Gray and Palmiotti pull it off here. The book has touching yet unsentimental moments that add depth to the character without making him look weak. Still, these touching scenes only serve as breathers between some heinous acts of brutality committed by Hex and El Papagayo, one of Hex’s few recurring enemies. And the showdown between the two rivals at the end is stomach-churning, but in the good way.

The art may put some people off here, since DeZuniga’s heyday was nearly 40 years ago, and his work may not be polished enough for today’s readers. Personally, I think that DeZuniga’s rough, messy lines help to sell the dirty, uncompromising world that Hex lives in, and (like the hero of our story) the ugliness comes back around and becomes oddly appealing after a while. And while the interior art may not be to everyone’s liking, the cover is absolutely gorgeous. This book would look good on anyone’s bookcase.

Sure, DC hopes that the movie is a huge hit, and that audiences will want to buy anything with the Jonah Hex name on it. For a tie-in product, though, I believe that a lot of care went into the making of this hardcover. Palmiotti, Gray, and DeZuniga have told the definitive Jonah Hex story, and I hope that the movie is even half as good as this.

Highly Recommended.

I will follow these heroes into Hell itself.

What has come before: Six years worth of comics that had the name Avengers on the cover, but bore no resemblance to the 40 years of Avengers comics that came before those.

Deserved or not, I’ve given Brian Bendis a fair amount of grief for his Marvel output in the last few years. Sure, Siege may have been underwhelming, but at least it tied off some of Marvel’s more annoying plot points (Goodbye Lex Luthor-lite, aka Norman Osborn), and freed us all from any more comics starring the Sentry (for now). I say the end justifies the means, especially if that end is Avengers #1.

This is the Avengers comic I have been waiting six years for. It features a team of A-list heroes fighting epic battles against the biggest threats to the Marvel Universe (Welcome back, Kang; how I’ve missed you). It is new reader friendly, with plenty of bits for longtime fans to chew on (the spread on pages 4-5 are a shout out to both Avengers fans AND Bendis fans). And the art. Oh my God, the art.

John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson are arguably the highest profile art team at Marvel. By placing them on this title, Marvel appears to have committed to making Avengers their flagship title. And they definitely brought their “A” game. Romita draws as if he was possessed by the ghost of Jack Kirby himself, creating highly stylized work that still tells a clear story. And Janson (Romita’s longtime inker) makes it all “pop”. Throw in Dean White’s bold primary color palette (eye-catching without being garish) and the end result is a comic that feels like the comics I remember falling in love with.

So the slate is clean, Bendis. I’m back in. Don’t abuse my trust.

Me (left) & the girlfriend (right) Photo: opacity

6 hours of driving, 4 hotel rooms, 120+ comic books, TPBs, autographs, standing in line, eating fast food, ordering pizza, sleeping, coffee, Slim Jims, panels, disappointment, anxiety, awesomeness, and lots of damn walking.

That was C2E2 for me.

It began on a Friday, ended on a Sunday, and I wouldn’t change a minute of it. I met a ton of awesome people (writers, artists, web comic dudes, and other random people) and I realized–like I always do at comic conventions–that I love comics with all of my damn heart.

Do I have comic news? Not really. Do I have some cool stories? Definitely.

Check more after the break.

First off: Let’s talk about the panels and announcements.

I didn’t sit in on the DC panels and I only went to two Marvel panels: Cup-O-Joe and X-Men. Neither were outstanding and neither were 100% boring. It was just mediocre. I felt like there wasn’t anything really interesting to say at either of these panels.

The Cup-O-Joe panel was all about the Avengers titles and the only thing of interest to me was the Secret Avengers by Ed Brubaker–which I am going to buy and want to know more about–but it was barely touched on and then they went to Q&A. Of course, Joe Q. avoided all questions that could have had “real” answers.

I left early.

The X-Men panel explained the whole X-Men promotions with She-Hulk, Blade, Spider-Man, and Elektra. It turns out this new series, titled X-Men, will begin with a story about Vampires. (The night before I heard that Mark Millar was super pissed about this idea, but it’s all been redacted on his part) I’m pissed because it means that I’ll probably be buying yet another X-Men title. I’m guessing this title will fail… or maybe I’m just pissed at Marvel for trying to pull more cash out of my pocket for my favorite universe-within-a-universe.

The Q&A for this panel was pretty good. Lots of good questions (all of which I DIDN’T take notes because on Sunday I was dog tired by 2:45pm). Peter David took the cake with this panel, though. He had the best answers to 90% of the questions asked–seeing that he and Marjorie Liu were the only X-writers there. He had the whole universe at his ready and all anyone else could answer was “Wait for the end of Second Coming” which was getting old after the first 10 questions.

Second off: The guests at this convention were fantastic.

All in all it was a good convention. I talked with a lot of writers and artists (Peter David, Fred Van Lente, Alex Ross, Geoff Johns, Gene Ha, Michael Golden, Garth Ennis, Jacen Burrows, Ben Templesmith, Christos Gage and many others). Every single one of them were great guys. Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows especially. It could have been the very pretty lady by my side (see above), but nonetheless, they were great.

And kudos to the webcomics writers/authors who showed up. The guys at the SMBC/Cyanide & Happiness booth were both hilarious and awesome.

All in all, it was a pretty good con. My first Wizard World Chicago is still probably my favorite, but this one had it’s moments of sheer brilliance–specifically when Peter David gave me his inside scoop on what’s to come for X-Factor (issue #207 is all I can say).

Did you go to c2e2? What did you think? Give me some info I maybe (probably) missed!

Joss Whedon, director of "CHUD 2099"

As you’ve no doubt already read on Twitter, Facebook, various RSS feeds, and half the Internet at large, Joss Whedon is in final talks to direct Marvel’s upcoming “Avengers” movie, slated for release May 4 2012.

Whedon is, of course, well known for his various Whedonverse series’, as well as his runs on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. Rumors abound of his potentially reworking the Avengers script to some extent, as well.

Geeks are rending their shirts like pre-pubescent Beatles fans. I, for one, am one part excited, one part hedging my bets completely.

The Pros:

Whedon works magic with ensemble casts and the Avengers are, canonically, the largest rotating ensemble in the Marvel Universe. One challenge would normally be proper introduction to the audience, but these characters will be very well established by the time this movie comes out. He can focus on character chemistry and story nuance, which is his best and largest strength.

He’s worked with Marvel in print before, so he knows how their main print editorial feels about their properties. Whedon will likely go into this with a great deal of confidence coming from meetings with authors, editors, and the inimitable Stan Lee.

The “Whedon” name is pure nerd-bait, so fanboys of all flavors will start camping their local theaters some time around August 2011. My only problem with this will be the damned Willow/Inara/Scarlet Witch fan-fiction that I am sure will be gracing 4chan in the coming months.

The Cons:

“Serenity” was his only film, and it was pretty weak compared to the original material. Yes, yes, I know, he was trying to wrap up an entire universe in 119 minutes, but he killed off Book too soon, the action lagged in the third act, and Wash’s death seemed to be put in place to try to make up for this.

We don’t know Whedon’s Avengers. Of course, it’s way too soon to tell what that vision is, but it’s hard to contrast the movies like Incredible Hulk and Iron Man I with “Angel’s” puppet episode, or even “Buffy’s” deadly dramatic “Mom” episode. His work on Astonishing and Runaways had some really great moments, but there were many times it dragged on a bit more than I would have liked.

Joss Whedon is a surely master of his own domain, but this movie is definitely not that. He has proven to be a consistent George Lucas (think “skinny-Elvis” Episode IV, not “fat-Elvis” Episode I) on the small screen, but it’s really easy to imagine him letting the tremendous news coverage, movie producer passive-aggression, and general cinematic pressure of the project completely get to him. He’s gone to battle with producers (read: FOX) time and again because of creative issues. While we’ve (infrequently) heard nothing but praise from his usual stable of actors, he’s going to be dealing with Hollywood A-List for the first time. Egos could very well collide.

Well?

Well, basically, I am torn. Whedon’s most recent TV outing, Dollhouse, surprised me with its elegance, especially in the second season. His runs on Astonishing and Runaways, as I said, were disappointing; they lacked pop, verve, and zazz. But, against all odds, I liked Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

Will I see it in theaters? Absolutely. But I’ll be getting my popcorn with extra trepidation.

Wait. Stop. Let’s get things in order here:

Turf appealed to me back in February when I was looking through my Previews book. It was a story being told to be about the mafia in New York City paired with none other than vampires and aliens. How cool is that? And then I saw that Tommy Lee Edwards was on the book and got all excited. I looked at the author (Jonathan Ross) and shrugged. “This could be a great comic,” I thought. “It’ll be cool looking, at least.”

Three months pass.

I walk into my local comic shop and this is in my stack. I open it up and get anxious to read it as it looks real wordy. Oh well, the art is fantastic. When I finally sat down to read this comic I was not even close to being prepared to taking in it’s brilliance. Somehow I survived.

More after the break. *mild spoilers abound, dear reader*

Going into this comic I had no expectations. I knew the art would be great but I had no idea who Jonathan Ross was. After some research, it turns out he’s quite the big shot in England. Who’d have thought, a British guy writing stories about the 1920s mob and vampires and aliens? I honestly didn’t. So I started. I decided to make the journey into a world created by a man who I had never heard of. I had the faith.

First the mob, then vamipres, now aliens?!

Opening this comic and seeing page after page of dialog and inner monologue… it overwhelms you. It feels like a Chris Claremont or Alan Moore book. It’s intimidating. It’s something you just don’t see very often–save a Warren Ellis book or two. Nonetheless, I persevered and dove into a world where speakeasies were all the rage and the mob had New York City cut into clean portions.

The story in the beginning was slightly confusing. Characters would run together in my mind. Blame it on the summer cold I have, but every mobster seemed the same–from the boss to the cronie. But maybe that was the point? In my head, here are the characters:

1. The chick reporter trying to get the inside scoop & her photographer
2. The vampire (Vampir in the book) boss
3. The vampire brother who’s a problem
4. The mob boss who died
5. The mob boss who’s trying to play detective (who is sort of our hero…?)
6. Cronies
7. Some aliens

That’s it. Not to say there isn’t some good character development in the first issue, because there really is, but it was weird trying to take so much in from one issue. We had a ton of characters all over the place doing so much it takes you over at some points. And this comic is something like 32 pages long. It’s a doozie. But as you read on and on, you get a good grip on things. Now, I may sound really negative saying all of this, but believe me when I say that all of the craziness and characters and plot and subplot are very well put together. Everything is well written and laid out to perfection, just like a good comic book should be.

Here's a little violence for you.

Ross’ story telling is very unique in today’s comic book world. He’s building a story using a good combination of word and art, rather than relying on one or the other. Developing character after character leaving no stone unturned regarding the plot is his method of story telling. It’s not like anything I’ve read in the last few years. I have to admit, this comic took me quite a while to read, but like a good book, you don’t realize how much time has passed because your mind is just in another world. This is the sign of a good storyteller.

But did I mention the art? Tommy Lee Edwards astounds you as you page through this comic. I loved his stuff back in Marvel 1985 and man, he hits the nail on the head with Turf. From massacres to alien space ships to mansions to downtown New York. This guy does it all flawlessly. Edwards’ art is simply stunning from cover to cover. Not a bad panel in the issue.

And although I did complain about some character running together in my head, the art was not the problem for this. Not at all. Each character is unique, each face is it’s own person wholly. Each building has it’s own life force. Each panel is a perfect capture of this drawn world created by the artist. The more I read this comic, the more I appreciated and fell into this world.

End all: I would recommend this comic to any person out there looking for something new. Like I said, this comic book is unlike anything I’ve read in a long, long while and it really deserves a good sit down by anyone who appreciates comics. If your local show has it, pick it up and take a gander and then buy it because you’ll really be glad you did.

It's a bloody massacre

He wasn't actually here for WonderCon; he wandered in off the street. The homeless problem in SF is staggering...

WonderCon is the middle child of the Comic-Con family. If San Diego is the overachieving oldest child, and APE is the free-spirited art school student, WonderCon is the slacker that is perfectly happy just doing its own thing. And I, for one, prefer it that way.

For one, I was pleasantly surprised that most of the panels were actually comics-related. Sure, I saw a panel about Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and got to see the Series 5 premiere of Doctor Who (which was exceptional), but almost all other panels had comics as their primary focus.

Plus, unlike Comic-Con, I was only unable to get into one of the panels I wanted to see. People may have complained about how crowded it was on Saturday, but it was a leisurely stroll compared to the lightest day of Comic-Con foot traffic. And San Francisco was not ground to a halt in the wake of WonderCon, although I do feel a small amount of power knowing that my people and I control an entire city for a week.

Anyway, on to the highlights:

• In his hour-long panel, Ethan van Sciver gave some pretty good insights into how to break into comics, and how quickly an animation deal can completely fall apart. Bonus points for being completely unburdened by tact, and that made for an entertaining panel.
• Got to meet fellow Cyb.org Cory Ringdahl, and found out that it is possible to like someone who is absolutely wrong about almost everything.
• Heard about the upcoming Larfleez Christmas Special, and saw Geoff Johns commit to doing an Atrocitus Valentine’s Day one shot if the upcoming one-shot sells well.
• There was a panel called “Comics Writers Unite!” James Robinson, Jimmy Palmiotti, Judd Winick, Gail Simone, Johns, and Greg Rucka told anecdotes about the business, and the craft of writing (Winick’s “baby-killing” admission refers to the pain of sacrificing great “bits” in service to the overall story).
• Speaking of killing babies, James Robinson’s spotlight panel was full of out-of-context gems:
  • “I just love killing kids!”
  • “I enjoy the feel of Dick… oh, maybe I shouldn’t say that!”
  • “…and because England is a drinking nation, I would meet them down the pub.”
• In more serious news, he announced his plans for JLA, and an upcoming Shade series.
• And did I mention that the Doctor Who Series 5 premiere was awesome?

As always, I left with a suitcase full of graphic novels, a few pics, and some pretty good memories. Go next year, if you can.

It is sharing equal time with the wall and the floor near a convenient hutch of unloved condiments. I have crossed my outrageously long legs to avoid being chewed through by this dense, rabid throng of cackling robots and shy comedians.

Having spent years strolling the streets of various urban sprawls, I have the instincts of a back alley stray: cultivated boredom surrounds the calculating eyes of a mink in a dog kennel; a backpack, two decades old and just starting to thread, appears casually limp beside my reclining frame; my own water bottle (never drink the water in a landscape this bright, bleak, and sweaty); my papers are in order.

Ah, my papers. I am tired. I have been shuffled through a dramatic, confusing, half-understood series of events, all to exchange one set of identification for another. It’s like Brazil, but the costumes aren’t as good.

Lizard-brain forces of personal survival snap my eyes open at any close noise. I fear being trampled to death by any number of land porpoises, trailer hippos, or storm troopers. I further fear having to talk to them.

Once fully rested, I slowly pat my pockets, making sure nothing’s come loose. I’m already mentally unhinged enough, I am certain. No sense losing my wallet as well as my mind.

I’m scratching around on my iPhone, pinching and pulling information like a doughy nipple, trying to Solve the Mystery of where to go next, when a shadow looms overhead. I look up. Good lord, what a sight. Three grown men dressed in colors of eye harming brightness, Space Aged fabrics stretching in ways only the Information Age can answer for.

Two of them, one in green, the other in blue, are exchanging low volume, mumbling notes on any number of dark projects, heading to an unassuming door marked “103″. Their clear leader, whose pink unitard will involve medical personnel to eventually remove, is the owner of the cold shadow cast over me.

Just my luck. Goddamned Power Rangers.

His booming, nasal voice is shaking his Pink Ranger helmet. I look over to the Green and Blue Rangers, who have taken their helmets off. I look at them. They are two handsome, thoughtful men who appear ill at ease in this outlandish getup. They look at him. It is clear the Green and Blue Rangers respect him, but that respect is tainted by a legacy of subtle dread.

I am struck by how puzzled they both appear. They wear the faces of men who have clearly enjoyed the fruits of their labors, but are stuck in situations they’re not sure they should be in. They must be corporate, I figure.

The Pink Ranger turns his back to his minions, in the direction of 103. His first step catches my backpack; his second, in an attempt to catch himself from the foibles of the first, lands hard on my bottle of Aquafina, bursting it instantly. It sprays on me, the condiment hutch, a passing steampunk, and the Pink Ranger.

He is livid.

He pulls off his Pink Helmet with some difficulty and fumes. If the atmosphere in this crap palace weren’t so tightly controlled, I would see steam from his nostrils.

“I fully understand your concern over your water bottle. I can assure you that we will make every effort to not smash your beverage should we walk in front of you in the future.”

His words, curiously, boom without malice, but instead with the bored efficiency of someone used to turning accidents into company policy.

As he enters 103, the Blue Ranger hurries past, trying not to be late “again“, as he puts it. I quickly ask the Green Ranger about potential reimbursement for my now evaporating water. “Sorry,” his smile apologizes, “we can’t talk about that until 2011. Read Brightest Day #0. All your answers are in there.”

The door closes. I am damp, and now a little chilly. My discomfort will be remedied with a brisk walk outside, so I stand up. As I’m moving to the escalator, I suddenly remember where I’ve seen that Pink Ranger’s pink face before.

Is that…is that Dan DiDio?

As I’m riding up, I shake my head, shuffle the weight of my backpack, and sigh. WonderCon.

This is the first issue; a one-shot.

What you need to know: Mutants across the world have been cut down to a mere 198 (well, 181 now according to this current issue) thanks to good ol’ Wanda Maximoff (see also: House of M). The kicker is that no new mutants have been born since then. Out of the blue, BAM, a mutant is born. And every group of bad guys you could think of who has tried to kill off the X-Men finds out. So what happens? Cable ends up finding this girl first–knowing with his memory of the past from his future–that she will save mutantkind. Then what does he do? He jumps into the future to save her, but Bishop follows. Why? Well, Bishop has to kill this girl, as she caused his past in his future to be a terrible place. For 18 years (3 years worth of comic books) the chase through time between Cable & the baby (who ends up with the name Hope) and Bishop goes on, and now Cable and Hope are back. As for Bishop… you’ll need to read Cable #24 to find out.

This is where we’ll start things. *spoilers abound*

So, this whole issue is revolved around finding Cable & Hope. As soon as the X-Men find out he’s back from the future, Scott Summer assembles teams of X-Men to fly around everywhere to find them. And things are pretty bad ass as Cable is playing the avoiding game with some bad guys from some earlier issues of the current series of X-Force known as The Sapien League. The X-Men end up on the trail of Cable and kick some major ass and we finally see the X-Force in Wolverine/X-23 coming out in front of the other X-Men characters.

I won’t give away the ending of this issue, but I will say it’s the start of a nice wrapper in this whole overarching story us hardcore X-Men fans have been buying into the last 3 years.

X-23 is brutal and Nightcrawler is not pleased.

The beauty of this issue is that all of the secret X-Force stuff is starting to unravel as the things the X-Force team has been trying to keep under wraps is falling apart and these killer baddies are targeting the mutant populace with force. The X-Men are falling apart in a sense as they separate themselves to deal with all sorts of threats against them as well as trying to find Cable and Hope.

What I like about all of this is that this is going to be an interesting aftermath to witness. I can sort of see the direction Kyle & Yost are going with this. It’s going to be painful and inspiring. Just like every big crossover like this, it’s going to “alter the state of the X-Men forever” and I’m really hoping it does. I would be really happy if five years from now, things don’t get ret-conned (as many awesome X-stories have before) just because this whole devastating ending doesn’t work with what new writers want to do with the characters and teams in the X-books. We’ll see.

And if I can have one complaint about this story right now, it would be that with all the stealthy stuff Cable and Hope have been doing for the past 18 years, how hard would it be to try to talk to someone easily accessible to Cable and ask, “Where are the X-Men?” because it feels like he’s just moving for the sake of moving. In the issue, Cable manages to hide himself from all sorts of radar (including Cerebra) and yet every time we see him in the issue, he’s running with Hope trying to get somewhere unknown to the reader. I’m sure more will be explained later, but right now I’m scratching my head thinking, “Doesn’t Cable know the X-Men move to San Fransisco and then to Asteroid M? or in his future did he only know the ending to this story?” Again, we’ll see. That whole “I know the future but I don’t know this” thing kind of bugs me. I’ll deal with it.

For now, this story looks good. I love the Kyle/Yost stories (from New X-Men to X-Force) so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this. I have a feeling this will be one of their better stories.

The X-Men know how to kick a lot of ass mid-car-chase

This canned meat has clearly gone bad.

The story ties into Peter “Past Professional” Parker‘s current woes, both financial and romantic, without turning Peter into a used tissue factory. As you can imagine from the cover there, Juggernaut is a prime factor, but he’s really more a plot device that leads to the next stage of this arc.

Stern has been around basically forever, and is credited with a significant amount of work for Marvel. His writing has significantly improved since his Hobgoblin days. His understandable command of continuity comes into play in this book, but he doesn’t let it drown out the story. If anything, he allows that past continuity to provide a sweet logical backdrop.

Weeks’ art has a definite taste of Romita Jr lines, Romita Sr action, and old world framing. He makes it his own, though, with individual faces, dynamic action shots (including a throw-away panel of Spidey hoisting a mugger over a streetlamp which is simply delightful), and precise staging. I need desperately to see him do more new Spider-Man work after this arc.

The issue brings my favorite elements of the character into play: street-level heroism, Peter’s all-around cleverness, and his normal observations of mundane situations. The story moves along at a crisp pace without feeling crammed together. It’s like every panel is expanded inside a more compressed overall issue.

The very best part, of course, is the subtle interplay of the infamous Parker luck with what really is the Spider-Man luck. Example? Sure! Spider-Man pursues various leeds and gets the stench of drunk-guy on his costume, which Parker needs to clean at the local laundromat. Parker is then late for his lunch date, but winds up getting valuable leads for Spider-Man. This sort of thing is weaved expertly throughout the story, and makes it a joy to read.

If you haven’t picked up an issue of Amazing Spider-Man recently, this is the one to dip your toe into. The frankly unexpected ending promises a mind-curdling blow out in the next installment, and I’m just the tiniest bit giddy with excitement.

More info on what’s reviewed after the jump!

A review of Nemesis #1 (http://bit.ly/aOQzCn) + My thoughts on what the Kick-Ass movie needs to have in order to be any good.

More powerful than an oversized logo...

What has come before:
“Rocketed to Earth from a dying planet, he was born with powers far beyond those of mortal man. Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Able to bend steel with his bare hands and change the course of mighty rivers. Who, disguised as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way.”

That’s all you really need to know to enjoy this one-shot, containing a handful of short stories by various writers and artists that I have never heard of. Most of the stories are “man on the street” stories where the average person crosses paths with the Man of Steel. Others feature flashbacks to Clark’s childhood, or Clark taking care of Lois while she’s home sick. It’s certainly not action-packed, but the stories are mostly poignant, often touching, and sometimes very funny. Plus, it gives some fresh, upcoming voices in the industry a chance to play with the shiniest toy in the DC toybox.

Highly Recommended.

They can run, but they can't hide from the Fox News legal team...

What has come before: Doesn’t matter. It’s all gone now.

In this book, writer/artist Bob Fingerman imagines a nuclear holocaust where he and his wife, Michele are among the few survivors. As they wander the irradiated wasteland that was once New York City, they run into many of the character archetypes that you would expect in a post-apocalyptic setting: mutants, zombies, cannibals and demagogues. What makes this story different from most dystopian tales is that the Apocalypse is played for laughs. And more often than not, it succeeds as a comedy.

Refreshingly, Fingerman avoids turning himself and Michele into Mary Sues. He depicts himself as a bit of a jerk from page one, but is somewhat redeemed in the reader’s eyes by his unwavering love for Michele. The more impressive trick may be how he keeps from filtering Michele through love’s lens and depicts her as a three-dimensional character with positive qualities as well as flaws.

OK Go's latest album

Album:  Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

If nothing else OK Go will be know as the band that did that treadmill video.  Admittedly I downloaded the single for that song, ‘Here We Go,’ and left it at that.  Then at the end of last year Amazon listed the whole album ‘Oh No’ for five dollars and after listening to previews I decided to go ahead and download it.  I was pleasantly surprised at how catchy the album was.

When this album was released I had some download credits to burn.  Apparently ‘Oh No’ made enough of an impression on me as I downloaded this one with no hesitation and no prior information.

Review following the break.

I’ve listened to the album several times now and I’m still wrapping my head around some of it.  The music itself is straightforward, the real questions revolve around some of the choices the band has made.  I can’t say the band it taking it in a new direction.  This is their third full length album and only the second one I’ve listened to so any discussion around ‘direction’ would be presumptive at best.

After listening to the first two or three tracks the first time I wondered if Prince had gone through another name change.  Roughly the first half of the album sounds like late 80′s Prince.  In doing some research later I have found that this was quite intentional on the band’s part.   In this they absolutely succeed.  It could be argued they are ripping off a sound, but I believe they are paying heartfelt tribute to Prince and putting their own touches in the music.  I can get behind that, especially if it is done right and they do it right for the most part.

Then the album takes a left turn towards Albuquerque. Track 9 ‘Before the Earth Was Round’ is pretty minimal affair highlighted by Auto Tuned vocals.  Track 10 takes on a piano and guitar driven ballad.  Track 11 ‘Back From Kathmandu’ takes a page straight out of the late 60′s Beatles catalog.  The last two tracks on the album, ‘While You Were Asleep’ and ‘In The Glass,’ brings the band full circle employing sounds that would blend in quite well on their first album.

So how does the change up in style affect the over all structure of the album.  To be quite honest I was not impressed with the album the first time I listened to it.  Where they paid tribute to Prince works well, but it didn’t immediately grab me as something that I would want to listen to repeatedly.  Of the last four tracks ‘Back From Kathmandu’ was an immediate favorite, but the other tracks were forgettable.  Having listened to it a few times since then it has grown on me.  However it doesn’t rank high on replayability in my book.  There are a few tracks that I will come back to, but on the whole the album kind of leaves me in a kind of listener’s limbo not really liking or disliking it.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Playability factor:  60%

Mysterio! The Gauntlet! Dan Slott! Oh my!

After not reading comics for almost two months, I finally went and picked up all of the comics I hadn’t bought and in this monstrous stack was Amazing Spider-Man #618. Penned by Dan Slott with art by Marcos Martin, this was the issue I have been looking forward to for months (since I heard word of it back in August) that was apart of Spider-Man’s “The Gauntlet.”

In case you haven’t been keeping up with Amazing Spider-Man, what’s been happening is this: all of Spidey’s old villains have been coming back… with a vengeance. The thing is, they’re not coming back to get Spider-Man, but they’re coming back to do what they do best: do selfish things. So far, we’ve had Electro, Sandman, Rhino (2.0) and this weeks baddy–Mysterio.

It’s been all very good so far, but this week’s issue… I wasn’t feeling it so much, which is a huge surprise since I have an absolute love for Dan Slott’s Spider-Man. But let’s talk more after the break.

*some minor spoilery after the break*

As I said, I was very excited for this issue. Mysterio’s coming back. Who couldn’t be excited for that?

Well, let me first just say that this issue was all over the place. We had ties in to Mr. Negative, the Maggia mafia family, Aunt May and J. Jonah Sr., cyborgs, and all sorts of crazy things. Could this be the intention of the author? Perhaps. Is Mr. Slott trying to mess with us only to build to a bigger picture? Perhaps.

A cyborg? In a Spider-Man book?

Nevertheless, it was nearly confusing how off the wall some of these twists in the story were. First of all, I’m not a fan of this whole “Aunt May and JJJ Sr. are back, oh wait they’re not” plot point that some of the authors have been using. It’s really random and sometimes pointless. Dan Slott used it to further the story, but it felt really out of the blue to me and could have been left for another story arc.

But without giving away much more story, I will say I am interested to see where this all goes. The one thing I will say is that the twists and turns of the story weren’t so random that it didn’t make sense (see: Batman & Robin #4) and the whole tie together with Mysterio adds some subtle explanation as to what may be going on with pretty much everything–which is probably the best feature of writing with Mysterio involved.

The only serious issue I have with this issue is that there is too much going on. This isn’t an issue an old fan of Spider-Man can just pick up on a whim to get back in the game. Yes, the pre-text to the issue helps explain something of what’s going on, but as of this week, I’m not sure how this all ties together. My guess is that a person who would pick up this issue because of the cover wouldn’t get what’s going either and won’t get the next issue.

Of course, I’ll be keeping up with this series because it’s Spider-Man and Dan Slott and you really can’t go wrong, but we’ll see… we’ll see.

Oh, and there was this thing that happened with Martin Li...

All snark aside: This cover is absolutely gorgeous.

What has come before: technically nothing, since this is a prequel.

The folks at Top Cow have been doing a lot to try to lure new readers and lapsed fans back into the fold. They have been tying up dangling subplots in their comics in preparation for fans jumping (back) on board. They have been offering trade paperbacks at the introductory price of $9.99.Finally, they have been releasing the occasional one-shot like this one, a tale of one of the previous bearers of the Darkness in the late 19th century.

There’s a very mild spoiler in this review, so let’s meet up again after the break.

The art in this comic is exceptional. Marvel fans know that Jorge Lucas is great at drawing superheroes. Here, he proves that he can draw anything, as this comic features demons, Victorian-era prostitutes, burning buildings, and psychedelic hallucinations. And it all looks alternately horrifying and beautiful.

That said, I found the story a little thin. Writer Rob Levin is trying really hard to channel the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft here (the cover blurb actually says “Lovecraftian Horror!”, but I’ll blame that on the editors rather than Levin himself). The first few pages are mired in exposition, and the story doesn’t really seem to get started until halfway through the comic. Plus, the comic felt a little preachy (Drugs BAD! Infidelity BAD!). Personally, I would have liked some more information about the Darkness itself, and I’m a little surprised that Levin, a longtime editor of said comic, wouldn’t indulge potential new readers in this manner.

I will mention one other thing that I enjoyed about this issue: Top Cow’s willingness to draw attention to the creators rather than the characters. There’s a page that tells you what the writer and artist’s next projects are, so you can follow their work if you enjoy it. Plus, there’s a text piece about Lovecraft himself, as well as recommendations about which stories of his to start with. Encouraging comics fans to read more classic literature deserves a shout out, so good on Top Cow for that.

So to sum up: if you like ghost stories, or if you read comics primarily for the art, then this is worth a look.