The Comic Rack

Coming Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:37:00 +0000

Hey everyone, it has been a long time and for good reason. I got a new job and have a new addition to our family, and it has kept me from blogging for a long time. I also got a new computer last week, so my nightmare with my old Compaq laptop is over permanently.

Soooooo.... I am gonna start blogging again regularly. I know, I know, no one is actually checking this blog anymore, it is considered dead, blah blah blah. So I am going to start fresh with a new one. Check me out at http://comicsweekly.blogspot.com.

Instead of the grind of a daily blog, I am going to post a couple times a week and keep it mostly to previews, reviews and the fun stuff like random movie clips. What's a blog without random movie clips?

See you all soon.

ComicGeek

No news ain't good news

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:47:00 +0000

I broke my computer somehow, so it's probably going to be a few days more until I get back to posting. See you soon.

If you thought the Sinestro War was almost over...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:53:00 +0000

I saw the original cover for Green Lantern Corps #20 on Newsarama and really thought nothing of it. I tend to skim through those and only occasionally get really excited about something 3 months down the road. But then I went to The Straight Poop, which is GLC artist Patrick Gleason's blog, and he posted the hi-res, and much larger, version of the cover.

Seeing Mongul with a yellow ring on is terrifying. If you don't remember who Mongul is, how about a little refresher course, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Mongul possesses extraordinary superhuman physical attributes. He demonstrated that he actually was stronger than Silver Age Superman himself. In addition, he was invulnerable to nearly all forms of physical harm. Superman at one time did defeat Mongul, by going all out with speed and strength and heat vision, but fell into unconsciousness immediately afterwards. Mongul also seemingly had the capacity to create dimensional-inversion cubes, designed to prevent escape by warping their interior reality and absorbing any power used against them from within. Whether this was an actual power or merely a sophisticated technological device remains unclear but it general believed to be technological device. He also seemed to possess a limited capacity for telepathy, and the ability to teleport himself across even interplanetary distances.

If you read the entire Wiki entry you'll also find out (like I did) that the Mongul that is currently ruling Warworld is actually the son of the Pre-Crisis Mongul that I knew of growing up. And while the original Mongul was toned down in terms of power, supposedly his son has all of the power he had before, which is what is listed above. Typical Dc to muddy up good characters with a bunch of bullshit tampering, but whatever, give him all that power plus a yellow ring and he is simply terrifying.

The best part of his backstory though is this:

In the meantime, he sought his sister, Mongal, to settle family squabbles. The heroes broke free and used a teleporter to transport Mongul and Mongal to their home planet. Stating family to be a weakness, Mongul punched off Mongal's head.

WhySoSerious.com

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:23:00 +0000

I have kinda avoided saying anything about WhySoSerious.com to this point because viral marketing campaigns are usually good for a cheap laugh and not much more.

However, the people working on the Dark Knight movie have consistently done some good work (here, here, and here and I think I am missing one, too), but up to this point there was really nothing to talk about concerning WhySoSerious.com.

Now there is. Kinda. SuperHeroHype.com reports that the candle on the site is actually burning down day by day, and anticipates that something is going to happen on Halloween.

The only real problem with this movie, so far as I can tell, is that it is being covered so extensively in blogs and other various websites. It is hard to look at sites like SHH! and not see a new Dark Knight entry every day. So please don't come here expecting the same, because it just isn't going to happen. However, when there is something fun or interesting, I'll link to it at the very least. Enjoy!

CG

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:25:00 +0000

That title kinda sounds like a straight to video X-Men cartoon, doesn't it? Well, according to Variety.com it will be the name of the new Wolverine motion picture. The movie is scheduled to drop on May 1, 2009 directed by Gavin Hood and starring Hugh Jackman as Logan, and Liev Schrieber as a young William Stryker. If you remember, Stryker was played by old dude Brian Cox in X2.

Pic explores the claw-wielding character Wolverine's violent and romantic past, and his complex relationship with Victor Creed and the ominous Weapon X program, as well as his encounters with other mutants.
Hood will start shooting in Australia before moving to New Zealand and, later, to New Orleans. Latter location is a clue that the storyline might include New Orleans-based character Gambit, who is able to make objects explode and was a professional thief before joining the X-Men.

Sounds good to me... so far.

If you are wondering who Liev Schreiber is, he has been in a number of movies, though rarely in a starring role. His most memorable role was in The Manchurian Candidate as the brainwashed Presidential candidate. However, if you want to see his nastier side, and what you can likely expect from him as William Stryker, check out The Sum of All Fears. In that movie he played Mr. Clark, who to any Tom Clancy fans out there is the preeminent badass. Mr. Clark is also the leader of Rainbow Six, the spec-ops squad from Clancy books that so many video games have been made out of.

For those who haven't been paying attention to the details leaking out, this movie is being made by alot of the same people responsible for the last X-Men movie. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing, but either way the best part of any of the X-movies was always Wolverine so there is a good chance this is going to be worth seeing.

CG

Marvel's "Holiday Gift" to us

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:20:00 +0000

Poking around the Marvel site today and saw that for this Christmas, Microsoft is going to package Marvel Ultimate Alliance with new Xbox 360's.

The fan-favorite action-RPG that let's you form your own playable team from over 25 of Marvel's finest heroes (and villains, thanks to the Gold Edition!) will be included as a free bonus with Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 Elite consoles! That's right folks, FREE!

Want Mr. Fantastic to fight alongside Dr. Doom? Spidey and Venom? We wouldn't go that far here at the House of Ideas, but "MUA" let's you go for it! So unless you want coal in your stockings, we suggest adding the spectacular new bundle to your wish list ASAP and you'll be Wall-crawlin' and Hulk-smashing faster than you can say "Gobble Gobble" (we know you just said "Gobble Gobble")!

The problem with this is at least two-fold. First, they advertise the Gold Edition, but it doesn't come with the Gold Edition. The Gold Edition was a scam anyhow. They added 4 new heroes and 4 new villains but didn't add anything to the game at all. No new achievements, no new levels, no new cut scenes. And it cost $60. Now you can download the characters over Xbox Live, but it's going to cost you 1600 Microsoft Points which will cost you about 20 bucks. Either way though, you aren't getting that this Christmas with your new Xbox 360. You are getting the original one, with fewer characters than this press release leads you to believe. That means no Dr. Doom, Venom or Incredible Hulk.

And secondly, if you are a "Marvel Gamer" as the headline suggests, why the hell has it taken you an entire year to buy this game? It was released last Thanksgiving. Now don't get me wrong, if you don't own this game and consider yourself a Marvel Gamer, and you don't own a 360 and you regularly have relatives who spend $400+ on you for Christmas, then this is for you. Otherwise, I don't see this doing well at all.

I loved Marvel Ultimate Alliance, it was the first game I got for my 360, and I played the shit out of it night and day, beat it three different ways (which is cool that you can do) and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't played it before, so don't think I am just being bitter here.

But you know what would be a better "Holiday Gift for Marvel Gamers"? How about more info on the Marvel MMORPG that is being made? How about another add-on pack for MUA? How about a movie property game that doesn't suck? How about a Howard the Duck game? See, there is a lot they could do, but they really half-assed it with this.

CG

Star Wars live action TV show

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:59:00 +0000

According to Variety.com, we will see a live action Star Wars TV show sometime in the near future. This is separate from the Clone Wars animated series he has been planning for awhile now.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Force may soon be coming to a television near you.
George Lucas said Tuesday he is planning a live-action television series spinoff of the "Star Wars" film franchise.
Lucas told The Los Angeles Times he has "just begun work" on the series, which will not include the films' major characters Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader.
"The Skywalkers aren't in it, and it's about minor characters," Lucas told the Times.
Lucas wouldn't reveal details, but joked that the series would be about "the life of robots."
Lucas already has another television series in the works. Lucas Animation has been working for months on the computer-animated "Star Wars: The Clone Wars."

This is going to make every Star Wars fanboy/cosplayer come out of the closet, strap on their stormtrooper helmet or grab the nearest lightsaber, and go stand in line for auditions, their god is putting out a casting call. Ok, I admit I don't have a stormtrooper helmet (yet), but this actually sounds like it could be good. As long as they don't make it into some kind of Dawson's Creek/Buffy/Star Wars freakish-type hybrid, that is.

CG

Waiting on Wednesday - 10/15/07

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:58:00 +0000

Bit of a new format than when I did this previously. Waiting on Wednesday is going to be short form with the Release Reviews being more in depth, which only makes sense. I have more to say after I have read it, of course. Also, not gonna be a lot of linkage to Marvel and DC like before, if you are buying comics and using the internet, I think you can figure it out for yourself and save myself a huge hassle. Hope you like it.

Marvel Comics

Captain America #31 - Beginning of the second story arc in the Death of Captain America storyline. I figure this is where we will begin to learn who will take over.
Wolverine: Origins #18 - I never realize how much I like this book until it is a week it's not coming out on. If you haven't picked this up yet, you should.
Penance: Relentless #2 - Ugh. I invested all that time and money into Civil War and almost feel obligated to buy this. The first one sucked. What do you think the odds on the second one being better are?

Since I am not an Avengers fanboy (except for New Avengers for the Skrull angle), and the whole zombie thing is over my head, that's all for me and Marvel this week. Next week though looks much, much better.

DC Comics

Checkmate #19 - Enjoying Suicide Squad, but not always sure what is going on? Checkmate has the rest of the story involving Amanda Waller, the benefactor of the SS, and all the other merry characters, powered and non-powered.
Death of the New Gods #1 (of 8) - This limited series is going to continue the story started when Lightray fell to Earth waaaaay back in Countdown #50. Seems like forever, doesn't it?
Countdown #28 - Speaking of Countdown, this series is picking up as we head towards the midpoint. In two more weeks, the title changes to Countdown to Final Crisis. There is too much to even begin to list everything that's going on, so just go get it if you aren't already. 52 the sequel this is not.
Justice League of America #14 - Continuing the Injustice League storyline, Dwayne McDuffie is doing a great job of writing this title. I enjoyed Brad Meltzer on JLA, but it has actually picked up steam and gotten better than it already was in the first year.

Of course there is other stuff coming out this week, but honestly not much. With Octobr being a five-week month, it is spread kinda thin in the middle where we are now. So like Marvel, DC's lineup gets much better next week, too.

CG

Linkblogging is bad for your health....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 04:41:00 +0000

Time for some weekend fluff, and when I don't feel like actually doing anything, what do I do? Linkblogging!!

First and foremost: Go Rockies! There is a chance they will never lose another baseball game. OK, not really, but it gets to feeling that way after a while.

Bunch of stuff at SuperHeroHype.com: Complete schedule of comic-book related movie release dates; Interview with Gavin Hood, director of the upcoming Wolverine movie, where he uses big words like "existential angst" and "emotional complexity"; Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime) tells SHH! that he has been told there would be two more Transformer movies.
Over at Weekly Crisis there is a new feature I think you will enjoy. The Comic Book Character Spotlight will delve in the history of characters that are gaining popularity or being put into larger roles. Very informative stuff, with the first one featuring Sodam Yat of the Green Lantern Corps.
And last but not least, it has been far too long but the time has once again come. Here at The Comic Rack I have always been good for two things: comics and gratuitous photos of beautiful women vaguely linked (but not always ) to comics. So on that note, here you go, my favorite Megan Fox:

Enoy the linkage. I doubt I'll post anything tomorrow, but I should be back Monday with more comic goodness. We'll get back to some previews with one of my favorite features, Waiting on Wedsnesday. See you then.

CG

Green Arrow and Black Canary #1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 19:40:00 +0000

Fair Warning: Spoilers incoming

I had been putting off reading this comic for whatever reason. I picked up GA #75 and have read both the GA Year One series and the Black Canary 4 issue mini, along with all the Wedding crap, and to be honest, it was some of the more enjoyable comics I have read recently. So I am not sure where the reluctance came from. Maybe it was the horrible ending of the Wedding Special with BC stabbing Ollie in the neck as he was trying to kill her. Maybe it was overkill from so many issues of these two being released so quickly, with both mini-series being put out every two weeks instead of every four.

Whatever the reason, it was completely wrong. I just got done reading GA/BC #1 and I am hooked. I even liked Connor Hawke in this issue, despite him being easily my least favorite archer. I always felt he was a poorly placed plot contrivance in response to Kyle Rayner becoming GL, and an attempt to revive/renew the great GL/GA team-ups of the 70's.

The issue, which centers around proving that the dead Ollie is not the real Ollie, shows a darker side of Dinah Lance while she nearly kills some nameless faceless thugs. After that, they get right to the meat of the story and don't stop until the very last page. It's refreshing to have a writer who actually has something to say that fills 22 pages instead of the norm now-a-days which is to spread out an 8 page story into a full issue.

Which brings me to my next heaping of praise for this comic. The creative team is simply awesome. Judd Winick has not always been my favorite, he usually seems like just another comic book writer, but I like I said above, the pacing and the plot were spot on for this story. It helps when you have a good artist behind you, and he definitely does in Cliff Chiang. Chiang's artwork is very smooth and at times feels old fashioned despite being fresh. There aren't a whole lot of unnecessary lines, and he doesn't need to exaggerate the action in the scene, it is just there. If it sounds like I am gushing, it is because I am. I was in awe on the penciling and the coloring on this entire issue, it felt realistic, but cartoony at the same time. Don't know how, it just did.

Back to the story, with appearances by the entire JLA, and more specifically Batman and Hal Jordan helping to figure out the mystery, this issue sets up an all out attack on the Amazons that are holding Ollie hostage. I am not sure how he is there, since men can't set foot on the island, but no doubt the Amazons are in some deep shit. The old saying goes "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" and something I was told once upon a time also fits, "Don't fuck with a woman on her wedding day". Or this happens.

Wow. Just wow.

CG

We've seen this before...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:19:00 +0000

Marvel seems to be worse at it than DC, but no matter who does, the most annoying thing currently being done in comics is the Misleading Cover. Annoying? No that's no the right. Wrong is more like it. Nothing pisses me off more than buying a comic with a kick ass cover on it and then reading through the entire thing only to realize that it never happens.

We went through this before with a couple of World War Hulk covers (Ghost Rider #12 and Heroes for Hire #11) and the latest example is this week's New Avengers #35. Here's the cover and the ad, which I have shown before, that they have been using for the last month or two to hype this particular issue:

And what do we get for the entire issue? A bunch of third rate villains trying to organize and beating the crap out of a third rate Avenger, Tigra. No Wolverine, no symbiotes (until the last page and then it is a crappily drawn mish-mash of heroes and vaguely recognizable symbiotes) and sure as hell no Wolverine/Symbiote killing machine as both the ad and the cover clearly show.

Other Marvel News

So the new Captain America has a new costume, drawn by Alex Ross, and every comic website is reporting it as if they were the first to find out, even though the info has been readily available on Marvel.com for the last couple days now. And to be honest, I have seen nothing new about it other than what Marvel released.

So why am I blogging about it? Glad you asked. I want to know who everyone thinks is going to be the new Captain America? When is Steve Rogers coming back? (We all know he is.) What should happen to Rogers when he does return, and in turn what should happen to the new Cap?

Update: Within minutes of hitting the post button, I found an interview on CBR with Ed Brubaker and Alex Ross, which you can find here. Enjoy!

Update 2: Dummy me, I forgot to actually put up a picture of what the new costume looks like, even though you have all probably seen it already. So here ya go!

Oops, that was the last new Alex Ross design. See if you can tell the difference.

Yeah real original Mr. Ross. Here's a better view of what to realistically expect for the new Cap.

CG

Welcome Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 23:36:00 +0000

I just know that all 5 of my readers are going to come flocking back at the news that I have made my triumphant return!

Yeah right. Anyhow, I need to get myself reacquainted with the blog, so I am going to take time once again and show you all around. There isn't much new, but some of the old stuff is still pretty damn cool if you ask me.

The Comic Book Project @ Columbia University

First things first. The Comic Book Project @ Columbia University has been removed from the Comic Charities list. Why? Because fuck Columbia University for supporting terrorism, that's why. I don't preach politics, but I refuse to even attempt to turn one person on to a place as vile as that.

Who Wants to be a Superhero?

Will never be mentioned again. It proves every bad thing I have ever said about Stan Lee and is a disparagement to all things comic book related. Such potential, such a failure.

The big orange thing on the right

It's the universal symbol for RSS. If you don't know what that is and use the interwebs for more than 5 minutes a day, you need to learn. Now. Go do it, we'll all wait here for you.

Back? Okay, click on the big icon and subscribe to my feed, courtesy of Feedburner. It will keep you updated every time I post more magnificent bloviations such as this.

Table of Contents

This is like the coolest little piece of Javascript I came across. Click on it and it shows a link to every single post I have ever made. Just try it once, it really is helpful.

The Good ol' Blog Roll

I said yesterday that there were some link requests festering in my email, and I took care of them today. What I realized is that except for one, they should have all been left there to continue to fester. Quality is obviously not a huge concern for some bloggers.

However, I want to point out the one I did add - Weekly Crisis. I have not been a regular reader, but I have run across his site quite a few times. Well put together site, intelligently written and not full of a bunch of crap like over-sized RSS icons, Tables of Contents and.... ummm never mind. Just go check it out for yourself.

Well that's about it. Have a good idea for an addition to The Comic Rack, let me know in the comments. I have been known to blow up the entire blog to change one or two minor things.

CG

Summer comics "events" and catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:55:00 +0000

So I was trying to think about just what it is that has made my desire to blog about comics become a chore, and I think I finally realized what it was this morning.

I was reading Green Lantern #24 this afternoon and I couldn't quite remember exactly some of the stuff they were referencing in this issue. It doesn't help that comics publishers all but refuse to reintroduce the Editor's info boxes that were a staple of comics for so many years. For example, it would say *See GL #19 - Ed. in a little box buried in the corner of the panel somewhere, and you would know to go back to that issue to get the whole story if you had missed it. This led me to do two things when I was a kid:

Look for back issues in my grandma's basement or at the book store, since I had no concept of a comic shop back then, and
Spend countless hours trying to figure out the who the hell Ed was and why was he the authority on comic book back issues.

I was a troubled child. But anyhow...

What finally struck me was that I have Summereventitis. Bad. I love the Incredible Hulk, I named my son Logan after Wolverine (true story, I'll tell the whole thing someday soon about my sickness in naming children), and I am a huge DC fanboy, but despite all that I just completely lost my edge trying to keep up with all of them. To me it all ended up as World War Endangered Countdown Corps every damn week.

It totally out of hand, and I am not nearly original enough to believe I am the first person to ever notice this. In fact, I have read transcripts of both companies discussing it at comic-cons. It just never affected me until the last couple months.

It just seems like all I talked about every week was the same revolving storylines from the different events. Blah blah blah the Hulk kicked some ass, blah blah blah we still have no clue how to cure mutants, blah blah blah Sinestro wants to destroy the Green Lanterns. I actually took World War Hulk titles off my pull list altogether. What's happened in the last 5-6 weeks? Not much. Again, the Hulk kicked some ass and is using MSG as a gladiator arena. Whoop de frickin do. (Interesting note - "frickin" is somehow not tagged as misspelled.)

So do all of you want to hear the same ol' same ol' week after week? I didn't think so. So for the most part I am going to avoid droning on and on about events until there is actually something to talk about.

Green Lantern #24

And surprisingly I have something to say about GL #24. Follow along in your own copies. What? You haven't been buying this event? For shame. Of the four major events it is the only one that doesn't seem gratuitous. But this month's ish has a glaring error and is predictable as anything you're going to read in the near future. So without further ado.... spoiler alert.

OK I don't have room for all the panels involved in this, so you'll have to trust me on this. Kylellax goes after Hal Jordan's brother in Coast City, and while breaking the sound barrier to get there, Hal's ring reports it is at 0.5% power. After plowing into Kylellax, it reports it is at 0.0% and Hal reverts to his civilian clothing. Parallax notices this and consumes Hal and for some dumb reason is now yellow instead of green like he has been. Still with me?

Here's where it gets a but convoluted. Hal is inside Parallax with Kyle... in uniform. He gives him some crap about sticking together or whatever other cliche they felt like inserting there, and then Guy Gardner says "You see that, John? It's a green light!" And then this happens:

Whaaaaaat? OK we all saw this coming, because Kyle started reappearing in Countdown like 4 weeks ago post-Parallax! Good timing on your stories DC....

But seriously, is this the best that Geoff Johns can do? I personally have enjoyed almost everything he has done recently, but this is weak as hell. If Hal's ring was at 0.0%, then how the hell did he pull this off? And doesn't it kind of diminish what could have been a truly "special" moment for Hal and Kyle, who have never really been the best of friends?

If I am writing this scene, I have Hal's power ring run out, and keep it that way. Then have a "moment" like they had, but end up having Kyle's willpower become strong enough to defeat Parallax. His willpower has never been his strong point considering he is the only GL ever chosen for reasons other than enormous willpower, so it would be fitting and a stepping stone for him to become an even better GL than he is.

Then they would have popped out all gooey, given Guy an uncomfortable man-hug and flown off to kick some yellow alien ass.

I guess that's why I blog and Geoff Johns writes comic books. But whatever, it was still lame.

Endangered Species

Raise your hand if you think Marvel will not eventually find a cure for Scarlet Witch's hex?

You in the back, put your hand down, you're a retard.

There is no suspense here at all. Mutants are Marvel's gravy train, and they aren't going away. And I have found myself sort of offended that they think we are dumb enough to believe that lie and place some kind of importance on an 8 page back story that they are using to sell comics like X-Factor and New X-Men that no one ever buys otherwise. It was a good premise to begin with, but they have just led us along on a wild goose chase courtesy of Hank McCoy, and to be honest, I can't remember a time in all of this that I said to myself "Wow I didn't see that coming..."

So in closing, fuck Endangered Species. I'll download the Archive Edition when it is over and find out what happened then. I am just tired of spending $3 on 8 frickin pages.

I'll get into World War Hulk and Countdown this weekend sometime. See you then.

CG

Jumping back in

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:11:00 +0000

So the question for me is where do I start... again?

I want to blog, I like blogging, but every time I sit down to post, I just don't have much to say.

If any one has any secrets to keeping up near daily blogging, I would love to hear them. Otherwise, my posts may just suck for awhile until I get back in the swing of things. Hope there are still a few of you out there.

There have been a few people who have requested links that fell on deaf ears because I wasn't checking my email, but I will hopefully get those up in the next few days.

CG

PWND!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:45:00 +0000

There are moments in comic books that have me literally sitting on the edge of my seat and I wanna cheer, laugh, scream, whatever. I usually realize I am in a room full of my family when this happens and suppress myself, however, I couldn't help myself this time.

Thor #3... Thor is severely pissed off when Tonk fucking Stark shows up to tell him to move Asgard (now in the middle of Nebraska or Iowa and some corn field ridden state). If you remember, Stark and Reed Richards created the Thor clone which killed Goliath in Civil War, and somehow the resurrected Thor has caught wind of this.

Stark in his infinite (Skrully) wisdom decides to fire first. The result:

My wife and kids were really looking at me funny this time. And then I had to explain to them why someone who they thought was a hero is actually a huge douche bag. Fuck Tony Stark. No really. And Robert Downey, Jr. too.

Also in this issue, I saw an ad for New Avengers that caught my eye. My I am a little behind on some of this, but I am actually excited for this title again.

Wolverine + Venom = Bad Fuckin' News for someone. Be interesting to see who is on the receiving end of a bundle of alien symbiote hate and adamantium laced fury.

CG

$12 movie worth seeing

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 16:09:00 +0000

Transformers is coming out to IMAX which is news to me, but good news at that. I saw this the first day it came out and nothing his summer even came close to being as awesome as it was. Total action figure porn. Speaking of porn and IMAX, here is still the #1 reason to go see this movie, and an even better reason to go see it on a 50 fucking foot tall movie screen while wearing goofy glasses you wouldn't be seen dead in outside of IMAX.

CG

Blogging is a marathon....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:51:00 +0000

I learned this the hard way and ran out of breath very quickly. I have a passion for sharing my viewpoint with people and blogging fulfills that. However, daily blogging is not for me. So for the two people left reading this (Thanks Mom!) I will be back soon. I'll warn you now, there will not be weekly reviews, previews, blah blah blah, but my own unique (some say snarky) point of view will return.

I got a little caught up in how many readers I had and felt a false sense of enslavement to people I had no clue if they cared or not. I checked my site stats daily (sometimes two or three times a day) and felt intense pressure that I created for myself to meet imaginary demand. So no more of that bullshit. If you like what you see let me know, if you don't, tough shit. Leave me a comment, drop me an email, whatever, but The Comic Rack is going to be what it is going to be, and that is an outlet of my spirit for all the world to see. Oh yeah and comics. Lots of them. And girls. I like the girls. The girl on the right is Hayden Pantiesomething, honestly who cares, she's hot. She's from Heroes, but I don't care, all that matters is she just turned 18 and I can stop feeling guilty (if you know what I mean).

Hope to see you all soon.

ComicGeek

Mike Sterling is going to hell!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:03:00 +0000

Mike Sterling at Progressive Ruin is going to hell, with the first strike against him found here, and his second strike below...

And a blank one for you to do the same...

Enjoy!

CG

Waiting on Wednesday - 7/24/07

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:58:00 +0000

A bit of an abbreviated version here tonight. One Marvel, one DC. There aren't tons of good comics coming out this week, so it'll be a cheap week, and I can afford to finally buy The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen, and maybe I can finally write that article on What the Hell is Going On With Jimmy Olsen.

Incredible Hulk #108

After some serious ass-kicking by the Green Giant, the utter destruction of New York City, pretty much every hero in America and beyond trying to take him down, we finally return to the Incredible Hulk's own book. It has been awhile since we caught up with Amadeus Cho and here we find out what he has been up to, along with all the others who have decided to stand beside the Hulk.

Cho and the others though find themselves face-to-face with the Warbound and it has never looked like the two groups had any intention off getting along. While World War Hulk has been very good in my opinion, this is where the crossover is really going to shine. They have done a good job of setting up all these supporting characters, whether new (Amadeus Cho) or old (Rick Jones). Hulk Smash only goes so far and for this to really be a great event, the Hulk's own series should be the centerpiece.

Green Lantern Corps #14

It must be "summer-crossover-itis" because these really are what I think are the two best books out this week. In GLC #14 the slaughter of the Green Lanterns by the Sinestro Corps continues, with ~~Katma Tui~~ Soranik Natu returning to Korugar and finding a little surprise, which I showed a glimpse of the other day here.

The thing I haven't figured out yet is that in the Sinestro Corps Special, there was a big reveal at the end showing Kyle Rayner as Parallax, Hank Henshaw a.k.a. Cyborg Superman and Superboy Prime standing next to Sinestro, and what have they done with this killer (literally) lineup? A big fat nothing. OK, not really nothing, we saw Parallax already, and I know it is only the third part this wek, but with sch a formidable lineup of really villainous people, I expect instant gratification of the killing kind.

That's something that really is great about a book like Green Lantern Corps, you have a completely unlimited supply of characters to kill. You kill a GL, the ring searches for another instantly. Kill someone in the Sinestro Corps, it does the same thing. Then there are the Manhunters. Nameless, faceless bad guys who no one could ever have an emotional connection to. Yes, I love carnage. And I would have to say that is probably the main reason why this book has always been one of my favorites. However, someone important has to die soon to justify this event. I just don't think that Kyle becoming Parallax is enough to justify all this. John Stewart biting it? Anyone? Maybe Kilowog?

Enjoy your Wednesday, and I will see you all back here Thursday night with some Release Reviews.

CG

Hulk vs. Bizarro #11: GET BACK OUT THERE

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 22:34:00 +0000

GL Corps #14 art

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 23:56:00 +0000

I have always liked seeing before and after looks at comics. There is something about sketch work that is so much more full than the finished product, but at the same time, to see the added brilliance from the coloring and inking is interesting too. It is almost like two entirely different pieces of artwork, but yet the same...

Courtesy of Patrick Gleason's blog (sketch page) and Newsarama (completed page). Enjoy!

CG

Laura Vandervoort as Supergirl

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:13:00 +0000

Blogging is easy and quick when you keep finding great pictures that are on-topic and comic-related. This is the actress Laura Vandervoort in character as Supergirl on Smallville. I went into more detail about her here.

Man, there are so many ~~lewd~~ ~~perverted~~ ~~I hope the elastic fails on that top~~ great things I could say about this picture, but I think I will just let it speak for itself.

CG

Iron Man movie photo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 03:41:00 +0000

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This one is maybe only about 200 though. It's cool to see a still from the upcoming Iron Man movie, but irritating to have to wait for the good pictures of him in full costume. Oh well. Here we have Robert Downey, Jr as Tony Stark in what appears to be a photo of him testing out the Iron Man suit. You can see the core glowing under his wife-beater (very Tony Starkish...) and apparently this Iron Man is a cheap ass because his lab is in a kitchen.

If the comic book Iron Man wasn't such a douche, maybe I would look forward to this movie more than I currently do. And as far as starting the blog full time again, I wish I was. I just have some time and miss doing this more regularly. Maybe soon. Sign up for my RSS feed and you'll know when I post something. Anyhow, until then, see you sporadically.

CG

Zuda Comics postcard

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 02:52:00 +0000

Just got this in my email, if you signed up at Zuda Comics you did, too. If you didn't, it is from none other than Jim Lee. Enjoy!

CG

Hulk vs. Bizarro #10: Three's Company

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:02:00 +0000

Though my regular snarky comments on comics may be on hiatus, I felt I should still post HvB, as it was easily the most popular feature. Also, Spencer should be starting soon, I sent him the info and added him in the permissions, so give him a hard time. Enjoy the first HvB appearance of Grimlock from the Transformers!

CG