The comments, reviews and rantings are for entertainment only. If you are offended then someone else is getting entertained. Welcome to the internet. Have at it. This is where I sound off on what I read in comics this week, and occasionally ramble about other things.
Showing posts with label Dark Horse Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark Horse Comics. Show all posts
THE WALKING DEAD #98 continues the "Something to fear" storyline which will be leading us to issue 100. You know something is up when the person behind the counter is freaking out over the issue with a complete, "I can't believe that happened" look on their face. Yes a main character gets bumped off in this issue and I honestly didn't see that one coming. Its true what Kirkman says about this comic: "No one is safe." The battlelines are drawn between Rick's group and this mysterious Negan. Lately with the group taking out an entire herd of walkers its seemed like they were ready for anything. Granted, Rick's group is still as tough as they come, but its looking like Negan's group is a serious threat. Now we have the loss of an important member of the group, which has me seriously wondering if Rick and the others will be able to hang on to their community in the face of this threat. There's some critics that say the series moves a bit slow, but they certainly can't complain about this issue. Plenty of action, and all of it brutal.
ANGEL AND FAITH #10 is an absolute hoot. The quest to get Giles back takes an amusing turn when we meet Giles' Great-Aunts. These sisters have used every trick in the book to stay young and beautiful, but now with magic gone, the bill has come due. Christos gage and Chris Samnee do a huge gear shift in classic Whedon fashion. When things get really heavy like they did in the last storyline, when its time to turn around and deliver some fun. The sisters are an absolute hoot, as is how Angel and Faith react to them. I had some real laugh out loud moments here. At the same time, we also move along with "Giles Quest". This is a really well done issue. I had a blast with it.
ROCKETEER ADVENTURES 2 #3 serves up three stories again. David Lapham and Chris Sprouse give us a nice story with with Cliff and Betty thinking about their future and what could be. There's a story by Kyle Baker which is better off skipped. The last is by Matt Wagner and Eric Canete which is an interesting retelling of the Rocketeer's history. Sprouse and Canete both really serve up for beautiful art, and this is added to by a sweet pin-up by Eric Powell. I would have liked some more action with this issue. The stories show a lot of love for the character, but now a lot of punches thrown and bullets flying. Not bad, but hopefully we'll get more action next issue.
ZOMBIES VERSUS ROBOTS ANNUAL 2012 came out, and to be honest I only picked it up because Drew Moss drew one of the four stories in there. Sam Keith did art on a story in there too, so that's a bonus. It was interesting in that Keith and the other artists have a really quirky style, and that really made Moss's stand out with his cleaner style. I'm not a big ZvR fan, and this issue isn't going to get me on the bandwagon, but it wasn't bad at all. The "Summer" story was the stand out for me, but of course I'm biased there.
Going the start off with RAGEMOOR #3 which is a completely twisted nightmare of a book. There's absolutely no hope for any of these characters. The two leads Herbert and his servant Bodrick are absolutely screwed. They live in a living castle and the only reason they're still alive is the castle allows it. They can't escape. They can't beat the castle. I'm not sure if Herbert is hapless or just completely beaten by the place he's in. This is beyond "The fall of the House of Usher". This is "The House Fell a Long Time Ago and is not Happy at ALL about the Entire Affair". Combine that with the weird creatures wandering about and its just incredibly creepy. Jan Strnad and Richard Corben have both done a masterful job in creating this impenetrable air of dread and discomfort. This issue center a lot around Herbert and Anoria. He wants her. She wants the poacher fellow who's been around. The castle wants an heir out of Herbert and sees Anoria as the best bet, especially since she's trapped there too. Needless to say, the castle isn't too happy with that poacher fellow. This book isn't for everyone, but for folks like me who studied Gothic literature its fun to spot all the little bit in there that are straight out of the genre. Its a great work, in a really horrid way.
We move on to NO PLACE LIKE HOME #4. You haven't seen the reviews for issues 2 and 3 because the shop hasn't gotten them in. Some sort of shipping problem. So I've gone from issue 1 to issue 4. This makes issue 4 the most unintentually hilarious thing I've read in a long, long time. I get through issue one and we meet the three sisters who are all coming back to their hometown. There's some sort of terrible secret there. The sisters seem interesting enough, so I'm going to stay with the title to see where things go. Fast forward to issue four and what do we get right on the first page: a flying monkey. That's right its a flying monkey. Now, you people all know the rule: everything is better with monkeys, so this book is now the greatest thing ever. What's more, its a homicidal flying monkey. Its like Bufkin from FABLES declared "F--- THIS S---, heads are gonna motherf---ing ROLL!" It seems tornadoes ask as portals and sometimes flying monkeys get through to our world, and they're complete pricks. The sheriff apparently ganked one when he was a kid, which is no doubt why they made him the sheriff. So all the good old boys are all "Dear God, no! Not another flying monkey!" The sister that's still running about is all "OMG! Why didn't you ever tell us about the flying monkey?!" Most likely because if they had you'd never ever come back to visit. And the flying monkey? He's all "RAWR!! GIVE ME YOUNG WOMEN AND OLD PEOPLE HEADS!" Well, actually it just goes "SKEEEE!" a whole bunch but the language of the flying monkey is is very utilitarian. Kinda like Tim Allen when he grunts. Means a whole bunch of stuff. The best scene in the whole comic, and yes this is a spoiler, either suck it up, or skip ahead, is when the old hippy with the Pink Floyd shirt opens the door to his house and finds the flying monkey dragging his ol' lady down to the basement. He's just standing there, and she's yelling at him to do something. The old hippy tells the monkey to stop that, but the monkey don't listen, most likely because the old hippy is an old hippy and nobody listens to them anyhow. He finally shuffles over to the basement door, mustering up the last of his old hippy courage and the monkey bursts back out and delivers a big flying monkey pimp slap, and drops the old dude. I then took out a pen, and breaking my long standing rule about writing writing in my comics added the word balloon over the flying monkey saying "SKREE!" which translated from the flying monkey language is roughly: "B----, YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE!" So, yeah, I love this book for all the wrong reasons.
Morning gang. Its Sunday, April 29, 2012, its review day, and this is The Side. As you noticed there was no update on Friday. I was very tired the tale end of the week, and just couldn't find the time and energy to sit down and write. Hit the wall, as it were. Has absolutely nothing to do with NetFlix now having TRANSFORMERS and G.I.JOE cartoon available for streaming now.
COMIX!!!
In recent months, I've railed against things like stupid variant covers, and rebooting entire comic book lines just In the hopes of bringing in new readers. It does seem like sensationalism is being pushed instead of good stories sometimes. Its very frustrating for me seeing the same silliness that absolutely did not work well twenty years ago being repeated now. This brings us to THE GOON #39, which is an issue that is sure to be a collector's item because its the book that guarantees Eric Powell won't be working for DC or Marvel for a while. The last two issues of this comic have dealt with some serious stuff and struck emotional chords. Not this time. Oh no. This issue is on big brutal mockery of every stupid thing certain larger companies have been doing to whore themselves to the media and the masses. Changing origins, changing costumes, gratuitous pantie shots, big gay kissin', characters dying repeatedly and more is all wrapped up in one nice neat little package for use to laugh at. This was my read of the week.
ANGEL AND FAITH #9 wraps up our heroes encounter with Druscilla who is now sane. She had gotten a hold of a demon which can take trauma out of you. You still have the memories, but you don't feel anything about them. This issue is a serious throwback to the old TV series, but in a really good way. It used to be Whedon and his writing staff would have a monster with some specific ability and that would be a plot device for a type of statement about humanity. That's what we have here. Having our pasts and caring about them is what makes us who we are today for better or worse. We definitely get both sides of the coin here as on one hand you have Druscilla whose trauma drove her mad. On the flip side, you have Faith who long time fans have seen go through a huge and tough character arc filled the guilt and trauma and come out the other side a hero. I had been on board with this book, and liked it well enough, but the wrap up to this story really made it shine. I wasn't expecting it, but I should have as Christos Gage really knows his knows his way around these characters. Great stuff.
This brings us to THE ACTIVITY #3 & #5. I can't review #4 because its classified. That and I didn't get it in, which I'm hoping to remedy soon. I said in my review of the first two issues that this comic is filling the hole in my soul left by an absence of QUEEN AND COUNTRY stuff. These two issues really put a point on that because both series are spy-fi, but neither is stupid spy-fi. There's no gratuitous action. There's no guarantee of success. This isn't James Bond with buckets of gadget saving the world in a tuxedo. Issue 3 gives us an insight as to some of what happens when an operation goes completing tango uniform. You don't get all the details, and good on Edmondson for that, because the story isn't about the operation itself. You get a lot of information about the resumés of the characters, and you see how they handle it when things go bad. They aren't larger than life, and this really grounded the characters for me. It did get a little heavy-handed with the "war is failure" bit, but I understand it since if these guys do their jobs right then wars don't get started. Issue five has our team in a Thailand prison getting interrogated. You also get more of Weatherman's history and how he was brought into the team. Again Edmondson doesn't throw in every last detail, because you don't need them all. This is a comic for intelligent readers who are capable of filling in the blanks for themselves. This way a storyline which could have been stretched out for two or three issues can be wrapped up neatly into one issue with no filler and we don't really lose anything. Its compressed storytelling that moves fast, kinda like GLOBAL FREQUENCY in that regard. The ruslt is a comic that you can pick up from any issue and be fully up to speed. I'm loving this comic.
MUSIC!!
I was clicking through the radio stations and actually caught this tune. Ain't nothin' like Jerry Reed.
That'll put a spring in your step, or at least make a fella feel better about his current situation. See y'all Wednesday.
Whew. It's Friday, March 30, 2012, I'm a self imposed deadline beatin' motherfrakker and this is The Side. Had to pick the kids up after work on Wednesday as The Missus had a doctor's appointment. Work ran a little long, but I got them and made it all the way across town for their gymnastics class and they were only a few minutes late. But that meant I couldn't pick up my comics on Wednesday.
So I got them yesterday between after work. Still got to Karate on time. Got them read. Banged out the reviews, and here we are. LIKE A BOSS!
Thus is my commitment to you.
Also this will probably the only time I use the phrase "like a boss" in reference to myself.
COMIX!!!
THE WALKING DEAD #95 is part three of "A Larger World" and I'm finding out exactly how apt a title this is. Rick, Michonne, Andrea, Glenn, and Carl (who didn't stay in the house this time either) have gone with Paul to see the settlement he's from. There's still a lot of trust issues Rick's having with the entire situation. We get only the tiniest view of things at the hilltop before learning that the place has its own drama going on. Our cast of survivors have found themselves in someone else's story, and it seems like they're arriving as things are coming to a head. Its become obvious that just because there are other groups that have found means to survive and somewhat thrive life its still very treacherous. This book continues on a very interesting path as far as being a study of society. Very came into the series as society was in mid-crumble. Now we're well on the way of seeing it rebuilding. The groups of survivors are very much like tribes, and now that we've gotten to a point of having a successful tribe, we're into seeing how these tribes deal with each other. This story arc is seriously picking up steam on the way to issue 100 and I'm very eager to see what's coming.
MORNING GLORIES #17 revolves around Jade and Ike. You get a lot of backstory on Jade. The book continues to give pieces to the puzzle that is the story, but for the life of me I still haven't figured out the shape of it. There's a continues sense of "this whole thing makes sense somehow". Everything feels significant, but its a mystery as to how it all fits. That's probably why I'm incredibly hooked on this book. This issue in particular centers around Jade and Ike talking. No huge danger to them. No direct threats. Just two interesting characters having an incredibly interesting conversation. The dialogue is word porn on a Whedonesque scale. This book really isn't for everybody, and I know some people with excellent taste who just don't like it, however this issue is exactly why I'm on board. Not only is the puzzle hooking me in, but these characters are so great to watch. If you haven't read this comic, give this issue a look. If you dig these characters, you're just getting a small dose of how god this title is.
ANGEL AND FAITH #8 is solid stuff. Drusilla has returned and is surprisingly sane. She has a way for people/vampires/whatever to away with painful emotions. This is the same time as Faith's father returns to cause Faith some trouble. We have Nadira dealing with survivor's guilt over losing her fellow Slayers to Pearl and Nash. Faith is dealing with some nasty "daddy issues". On the surface it seems like Drusilla is offering a great fix, but there's always a catch to things like this. I've got some ideas as to where this is heading, but lately things have been going in unexpected directions with the "Buffy-verse". Solid issue, and keeping me on board.
MUSIC!!!
I wish I was classy enough to dance like this.
That's going to be it for me today. I'll likely be talking about Batman on Sunday. Be prepared.
Its Friday, March 23, 2012, and this is the Side. Y'know, many of us go through our days thinking we're the stars of our own little shows and that somehow things are just revolving around us. I spent yesterday tired, and kinda irked at the lady at the convenience store around the corner that for whatever reason refuses to listen to me and simply goes along her overly pleasant business.
Then I find out that my mother-in-law was in a car accident, and when they gave her a CAT scan in the ER they found something. This led to an MRI and without going into too much detail she'll be seeing an oncologist today. Perspective.
COMIX!!!
THE GOON #38 tells us the story of Kizzie The Iron Maiden, a woman with strong ties to The Goon. This is an excellent read telling the story of a plain, but strong, woman with big dreams but stuck in a small town. Its a very thoughtful piece and while you get to see Kizzie achieve her dreams on some level you really get smacked in the face with how tough a life this woman has. Its a really good character study. Typically this is one of those comics that is a hoot and half, but this issue is one that shows that Eric Powell can do a lot more than deliver laughs and creepiness. He really knows how to hand good human drama as well.
HEART #4 wraps up the series from Blair Butler and Kevin Mellon. In the previous three issues we watched Rooster rising up through the ranks and it looked like he was poised to make a run at the welterweight belt. This issue shows how he deals with getting stopped cold and sees that his dream of MMA glory isn't going to happen. In short be see a cocky young fighter grow up. I've been a fan of MMA for a long time and this is a story I've seen play out repeatedly. You see some young up-and-comer and he's the next big thing. Everyone figures he's going to be huge one day. Then he suffers a tough loss and he's just not the same. Its not a matter of injury, its a matter of psychology. They're getting in deeper waters and its tougher, and while they've still got the guts to get in the cage they start playing things a little more cautiously. They go from contender to gatekeeper. This is a really gutsy story for Butler to tell. It would have been so easy for her to go the easy route and have Rooster overcome his tough loss come back and win the belt. She definitely didn't go the easy route and as a result, she made an excellent story that really rings true.
RAGEMOOR #1 is a narrative that I would have expected straight out of Doctor Bob Geary's Gothic Literature course from my time at JMU. This book is creepy and that eerie feeling of the numinous is felt in every page. This is a serious horror book. The black and white is perfect for helping to set the tone of dreariness and desperation. We get the classic notes of the solemn man warning his visitors of the place's evil and how they really should not stay, and of course they don't listen. Herbert is the caretaker/owner of the castle Ragemoor and gives the twisted history of the place. He seems like a very noble fellow placed in a horrible situation he can't escape. I'm greatly looking forward to see how this story continues.
Throwing things in reverse we have THIEF OF THIEVES #1. Yes, I know I reviewed the second issue last week, and no, this isn't some bizarre Hickman-esque time travel thingy. I couldn't get my hands on issue one previously but now have a hold of a second printing. Issue two showed us a lot of the reasons why Redmond left the life of a thief. The first issue we get the lead up to him announcing his retirement. We also get to see how he met his assistant, Celia, and a good look at his last job. This is a really great book. Very clever writing, and top-notch artwork. Both the issues at are out are solidly character driven and not heavy on the action, but reward patient readers with a great story about a very interesting character.
ROCKETEER ADVENTURES vol 2 #1 features a trio of really fun stories. Marc Guggenheim and Sandy Plunkett start of with a great story of how folks deal with a vigilante who falls out of the sky and into their lives. Peter David and Bill Sienkiewicz follow up with a great parody story in which The Rocketeer gets more than a little "Daffy". The brilliant Stan Sakai rounds things out with a fun little story that gives a smiling homage to another hero we know well for flying around. All this and a great pin-up from Arthur Adams. Great comic and lots of fun not just for fans of The Rocketter, but anyone who wants to sit down for a read.
MUSIC!!!
Can't say as I'm feeling overly "RAWR" today, so I'm going to keep things mellow.
That;s going to be it for today. Any prayers and well wishes for my mother-in-law, the Missus and the whole family are greatly appreciated. Thank you, and see y'all Sunday.
Good Morning, Spawn Campers. It's March 16, 2012, the Ides haves passed, two days ago was time for Pi, and tomorrow maybe some green pie, and this is The Side. Does it seem weird to anyone else that every other day seems like a "holiday" and every month is designated as a time that we're supposed to be aware of something. Yesterday was of interest due to Julius Caesar, so there's historic context their. The day before was amusing due to a specific number important to mathematics. Tomorrow is an Irish holiday which proper drunks refer to as "amateur night". I'm sure today is probably supposed to be recognized as something specific, but really, who cares?
There's too much of it and these stupid things have already started to overlap. The worst culprit is April 20th. Had someone at the bar I worked at ask me if I was going to celebrate 4/20 and I told them absolutely not and that the person who instigated the holocaust is not a person to be celebrated. They weren't sure what I was talking, because they were stupid. I told them that April 20th was Adolf Hitler's birthday. They tried to argue that it was the pot smokers holiday or something to that effect.
It was that point that I told them they really should put the bong down and pick up a book.
COMIX!!!
There's a void in my existence which is left because I can't get new QUEEN AND COUNTRY stuff on a regular basis. I'm on the verge of sending Greg Rucka an e-mail begging for such. I sit wishing the THE SANDBAGGERS DVD collection wasn't so expensive. Fortunately for me Nathan Edmonson and Mitch Gerads have heard my pleas and THE ACTIVITY #1 and #2 are in my hot little hands. Yes, I am a bit late to the game on this one, but I'm so glad I got a hold of it. This is some really outstanding Spy-Fi. Its not too over the top. The operatives have some great gear, but no jet packs or tricked out Aston Martins. These are top tier professions who handle problems for the CIA and other intelligence outfits. If a job goes a it wrong or there details or evidence that needs taken care of, these are the people that go in. The story is mostly mission driven, but the cast is very cool. We get scant bits as to their personal lives or lack thereof, but they all seem very likable. Don't go in expecting explosions on every other page or high drama. Do expect to see people who are very good at what they do beings very good at doing it. The art is phenomenal. The writing is sharp. this is the kind of book that could easily be over written, but Edmonson seems to really know when to stop and let Gerads handle the storytelling. This is a really great collaboration. I highly recommend this one.
I missed the first issue, but I did get THIEF OF THIEVES #2. I dig Robert Kirkman and Nick Spencer so that alone sold me. I wasn't let down. This book also isn't over the top action, but is a really great character driven work about an incredible thief who is looking go go straight and get his family back. Shawn Martinbrough is the perfect artist for this project. I was a big fan of his work with Greg Rucka on their run in DETECTIVE COMICS for DC. His noir style is incredibly grounded and in a book like this in which the expressions on people's faces have as much impact as the bullets fired, his mastery of these subtle things is crucial. Even though I missed the first issue I feel like I'm mostly up to speed on the important things. That's great, because usually is you miss the first issue you're lost. Nice to see a smart comic that accessible. This book made me care a bit about the main character Conrad, and while we don't have all the pieces to the puzzle that's his life I find myself hoping he can put it all back together.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON 9 #7 continues "On Your Own" which deals with Buffy's pregnancy. Kinda of a weird title to the story since all she's done is go to get support from her friends. Her plans go awry when the police officer who's been trying really hard to establish himself as a character runs into a nest of "zompires", who are some of the most un-sparkly vampires ever, and Buffy, Spike, and is his alien bug piloted spaceship fly to the rescue. As much as I want to ask why in the blue frak Spike has a spaceship with a bunch of giant alien bugs that serve him and speak English, I've decide that this is just a monumentally weird thing that I approve of. There's a twist ending on this one that is also monumentally weird, which I'm going to approve of for the moment based solely on monumental weirdness. This "season" of Buffy has been pretty oddball, but after the overly epic epiciness of the previous "season" I'll take oddball. I was a bit put off by Buffy's decision to terminate her pregnancy, and I did briefly consider bailing on the book, however this issue made me glad that I hung in there.
You know how I said the zompires in BUFFY were some of the most un-sparkly vampires ever? Yeah, the vampires in THE STRAIN #4are the most un-sparkly vampires ever. Icky, nasty and disgusting. These things are just outright creepy. The outbreak is coming and the CDC is a bit behind the eightball. The more they find out, the more disgusting these vampires seem to be. I do really like this book because its so very different from a lot of the more popular vampire fiction that's out there. They really do seem like diseased inhuman things. While not for the faint of heart, this is a really well done horror comic and I'm really enjoying it, even though it does creep me out.
MUSIC!!!
This tune gives me a sweet American Gothic vibe. Kinda weird that the local alternative/modern rock station is playing the hell out of it, but I dig it.
Got the Petersburg Karate Open tomorrow and will be competing in the kata and weapons events. Hopefully, I'll have some nice new big trophies to put in the garage. I'll let y'all know Sunday. See ya them.
Hey howdy, buckaroos! Its Friday, January 13, 2012, eek, bad luck, and all that crap, and this is The Side. Not terribly concerned with the whole Friday the 13th being bad luck. If memory serves I've tended to have good days on Friday the 13th. The only thing that concerns me is being a bit off schedule as far as my weekly rhythm. Had a couple of short days at work which is kinda nice because I got to spend a bit of time with the kids. Still, it feels weird because today feels more like a Tuesday than a Friday.
Next thing you know I'll be trying to go buy comics tomorrow. Completely unnecessary since I got them already.
COMIX!!!
Snagged HEART #1-3 and got my doors blown off. ATTACK OF THE SHOW's Blair Butler makes his comic writing debut and he hits on all cylinders. Yes, I am absolutely biased. Its a comic about an MMA fighter, and I love MMA. The story follows Oren Redmond, a young guy who really has nothing going on and gets into MMA. We see him in the beginning of the story as a guy working in an office and hating it. His brother is an MMA fighter because he grew up wrestling and wanted to keep doing it. Oren decides to give it a shot. At this point you'd typically see the story take a turn in which Oren turns out to be insanely talented, and learns super secret techniques from his sensei and everyone is blown away by him. Not this time, Butler keeps it real. You see Oren's head in the trash can on day one puking his guts out. You see him getting the crap kicked out of him. He keeps going because he's feeling pretty good about this. He feels like he's earning his rest at night. Slowly but surely he gets better. He gets in shape. He figures out he has a sucky ground game. The coaches keep working him and he starts getting amateur fights. He does well and starts getting pro fights. Its not all glamour. There's a great scene in which he's working to cut weight, and the reader gets to know exactly how much it sucks. Oren also does stupid stuff like blowing money on tattoos. He's a likable, but not perfect character. Kevin Mellon blows me away here. His art is spot on. Its dynamic and still very technical. Its easy to draw a guy throwing a punch. Its not easy to draw a guy locking in a kimura from his back. Even the little things like giving the fighters' stats and listing their entrance music really made this book sing. This book is a gem. If you've never seen anything MMA and want to get an idea of what's up this book is a brilliant introduction. Also, if you've got a friend who loves MMA but isn't really into comics, let them check it out. I'm betting they'll dig it.
Moving from realism to fantasy let's head over to Dark Horse for BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON NINE #5. Buffy's having weird Slayer dreams and those of use who have been following the Buffy-verse for a while know that these tend to set the tone for things. There's buckets of things that go down in this book. Huge reveal at the end. Its really hard not to drop spoilers because of the extreme Oscar Mike Golf factor. This is really a set up issue in which we're getting some pretty significant plot beginnings to plot threads that we'll most likely be following for the majority of season nine. We get an inkling of a possibility of reconnecting earth to magic as well as huge personal changes for Buffy. Karl Molina (FRAY) guest pencils, and I love his stuff. I'm really excited to see where this season is going now.
Let's stick with vampirey type stuff with THE STRAIN #2. This is a really nasty story. The vampires here are pretty disgusting. These are the complete anti-Twilight vampires. Nothing even remotely sexy here. Still, its a good story. You've got to be a patient reader here because the vampirism pandemic is only just beginning. There's no huge body count let, but things are still just just beginning. Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and the others at the C.D.C. are still trying to get a handle on just what happened on the flight, and the three survivors aren't any help. The mystery is deepening for them, but we get a peek of the horror that's coming. The creepiness of this book is building, so if you love horror, you'll love this.
We wrap up this week with DARK MATTER #1. This is a nifty little sci-fi mystery. Six people wake up on a spaceship with no memories of who they are or how they got there. They look for answers and fight a robot. For a first issue, its pretty straight forward. The set up isn't anything really fresh, but its handled well enough. Each character seems to have their own skill sets that they're discovering. Its not bad at all, but hasn't really hooked me. It is good enough that I'm going to follow along for a bit and see where it leads.
MUSIC!!
Let's use one of Rooster's entrance music songs.
That's it for me today. Have a good weekend even if it feels like the middle of the week. See y'all Sunday.
Holey moley! Its Saturday, December 31, 2011, this post is a day late, and this is The Side. This post is late because I overslept yesterday, and got up just in time to check a couple things and go to work. Hate oversleeping, but at least I wasn't late for work. Besides, it seemed fitting that I do my year in review bit on the last day of the year.
YEAR IN REVIEW!
So much has happened this year that is feels like a blur.
I think the biggest personal thing was the loss of my Uncle Buddy. He was a great man and an an inspiration to many, and it sorely missed.
This was the year that DC Comics did their massive reboot, and also the year i stopped reading DC Comics. It seemed for a long time that they were trying to show me the door. Still books like Miller's BATGIRL, Morrison's Batman work, and Paul Cornell's stuff kept me on board. Those are now gone and so am I. I'm reading less comics now, but am really liking what I'm reading.
The Nozz Compound discovered Netflix instant streaming and quickly dismissed any urge to get pay TV. What I really love is that because of it I've been able to share HEATHCLIFF, SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS, X-MEN EVOLUTION, JOHNNY TEST, and JACKIE CHAN ADVENTUREs with my kids. That's before i get into all the shows I can watch. Still got plenty of episodes of SCRUBS, MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE and BURN NOTICE to watch.
I finally beat FINAL FANTASY VIII. Don't hate me because I'm retro.
This was also the year Google Plus came out. I've taken pretty well to it. I've gotten a nice little group on there to discusses fun stuff. I've continued the monthly tournies I used to do on Google Buzz, but are now much easier. I've even started doing a little webcomic on there using the picture sharing and album features. Really digging it.
COMIX!!
ANGEL AND FAITH #5 was waiting for me in my bag this week. Christos Gage continues to nail the characters pitch perfectly. Phil Noto handles the art this issue. I love his cover work, but typically don't see much of his sequentials, so this was treat. "In Perfect Harmony" is an one-issue story dealing with Angel's former secretary and the current most popular vampire in the world, Harmony. During BUFFY Season 8, vampires went public and Harmony became a media darling including her own reality TV show. She still just as much of an annoying pain as she was on the TV show. Bad for Angel and Faith, but great for us readers. The previous storyline was pretty heavy in dealing with the attempt to resurrect Rupert Giles. This story gives us a little break, much like Whedon would do in the series give us that wink that we are supposed to be having fun here. Their utter exasperation with Harmony is apparent on every panel and its awesome because I think everyone is utterly exasperated with Harmony.Its an utter exasperation party, and everyone is invited! OH, and Clem is here as Harmony's personal assistant. Good ol' Clem. He's one of the most likable characters in the Buffyverse. This issue was really fun. The only thing I didn't dig was how Noto illustrated vampires getting dusted, but I can look past that easily. Great stuff.
MUSIC!!
Last year, for the final post of the year, I posted the song that rocked my socks the hardest. Seemed like the thing to do with year. I picked "Angela Surf City" by the Walkmen. First heard it in Local Heroes and was blown away. The great thing about this video is you can see the drummer really going to town. I wish I had half his stamina.
That's it for me for the year. No post tomorrow, so we'll pick things back up on Wednesday. Happy New Year everyone!
Its Friday, December 2, 2011, it feels like I just did this, and this is The Side. By this I don't mean doing a comic review, or posting the blog. It feels like I just got done with Christmas. That might have something to do with my not taking down the lights or putting tree away until October. I'm not knocking Christmas, I love it. However, i was thinking yesterday about taking the girls to go see Santa, and it really felt like it was something I just did last week.
Feels like this year is one big blur, which is probably a good thing. Not a banner year.
COMIX!
ANGEL AND FAITH #4 was waiting for me this week. This wraps up the "Live Through This" storyline which had Angel and Faith on a quest to resurrect Rupert Giles whom Angel killed at the end of the BUFFY SEASON NINE series. This comic has handled itself very well in acting as a first episode and letting us know who these characters are, where they're at now, and what's gone one before to get them here. Fortunately, they manage to do with a good amount of fun and action and don't beat the reader upside the head with the exposition stick. Angel's got plan to bring back Giles, which Faith thinks is probably a bad idea, and would rather use Angel's plan to restore his humanity. There's a bunch of demons to contend with, but the big problem are Nash and Pearl, who are very evil. We can tell they are evil by their pointy ears and extremely arched eyebrows. They've got a big beef with Angel, and are as powerful as all get out. That's a recipe for plenty of action. This story does have an excellent twist in the resurrection mission as well, and one that I didn't see coming. This series is a good read and not just for big Joss Whedon fans.
MUSIC!
Here's some upbeat redemption music.
Yes, it was another short post. Shame upon the house of Nozz. I'm looking to try to reorganize some things and make a little more time to get more content out. We'll see what how that goes, and I'll see y'all Sunday.
Its Friday, November 25, 2011, BLACK FRIDAY, which i don't think is considered racist yet, and this is The Side. I actually still feel full from yesterday. Food was great. The Missus is a hell of a cook. Watched DUTCH last night. Most of the entertainment came during the day when I stopped in at NWA HQ to say howdy as John was deep frying some turkeys. His cell phone rang, which was answered with John blast his turkey caller into the phone. So the caller got to hear an automated gobble as we yelled in the background.
"He's getting away! Darren, tackle him!"
"OW! It freaking pecked me!"
"Dinner's in a couple hours! Get his feathers off!"
"I'll wring his neck!"
COMIX!
I only got one book this week, and fortunately for me it was USAGI YOBIMBO #142. "Ice Runners" is a stand alone story in which Usagi comes across delivery men besieged by bandits. They're delivering ice as a tribute for a lord from the lord of their clan. This isn't easy since its the dead of summer. Lots of things at play here. Making the delivery in those conditions alone is difficult enough. Even being a delivery person for a lord in and of itself was treacherous. The political aspects here are also a factor. If the ice is delivered Lord Ito will gain favor and honor. If the runners fail, then he's in a position to be disgraced by a competing lord. There's also a good chance that the bandits may be agents of the competing lord. Usagi offers his aid, especially once he learns the runners are from Lord Ito. You really get the sense of how important the honor of the clan is to the runners. I do have to wonder about men who did stuff like this back in history. Right now, the U.S. Postal Service is looking to cut back on deliveries due to financial reasons. This story gave me a bit more appreciation for how easily things can be delivered. As always, elegant storytelling from Stan Sakai with a great story and beautiful art.
MUSIC!
These guys have come a long way from the Dude Ranch.
That's it for me. No shopping for this guy because I like to wait for the week before Christmas before I get started on such things. However, there is a hardwood floor that needs putting down, so off to work for me. See y'all Sunday.
Hey gang! Its Sunday, November 13, 2011, I've got a ton of chores to do, and this is The Side. That's right kids, chores don't end when you grow up. They just get more in depth. Mowing the yard and cleaning your room, pail before fix the plumbing, sand down the floor, and fix the oven.
Oy vey.
Last post had a bit of traction and a lot of page views. Had a really great response over at Comic Kings. Maybe it was due to having picture of women all over the post. Well, I'm equal opportunity for my fans, so I've got a dude picture for ya, ladies!
BEATIN'S!
The UFC made its network debut on Fox last night. Unfortunately they only showed on fight. I say unfortunately because Benson Henderson and Clay Guida also fought that night and put out three rounds that earned both fighters a standing ovation. However, Fox said they only wanted to air one fight, so Dana White delivered what they wanted. The heavyweight championship bout between two undefeated fighters. The result: Junior Dos Santos defeated Cain Velasquez and is the new champ.
There was a lot of build up on the one hour show, which is completely understandable. This is the first showing of the UFC on network TV. Yes, there have been other MMA promotions on network, but the UFC is the biggest MMA promotion out there. If you have someone who hasn't checked it out before and this was their first time they needed to know who these guys are and what exactly is going to be going down here. I think the broadcast did an excellent job of that.
For those of us that do follow MMA, these guys are no strangers. These are the two toughest heavyweights around. My buddies and I couldn't even make a prediction on this one. This is also extremely gutsy of Dana White, the UFC president. Both of these fighters are capable of ending a fight in 30 seconds. What if it turned into the Mike Tyson thing and everyone gets all eager for a big fight and its over in the blink of an eye?
The fight itself was a quick one, but it did last longer than 30 seconds. There was some feeling out going on with some hard striking. Dos Santos snapped a front kick into Velasquez, who countered with an immediate takedown attempt. Dos Santos expertly slipped out of the takedown attempt. Soon after Dos Santos threw a bomb right hand catching Velasquez right behind the ear and sending him to the floor. Dos Santos capitalized with some ground and pound and referee John McCarthy smartly stepped in when one of the blows made Velasquez's arms go limp. It was a brief fight, but a really great one.
Congratulation to Junior Dos Santos.
COMIX!
Only had one book this week, and fortunately it was a good one. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON 9 #3 does what I like to see with a good Buffy story. Set things in motion, give you a good idea of where things are going, and then turn everything over in a very intelligent manner. There's a key move when doing this. If you add one piece of information that alters the context of everything you've read up until that point and it doesn't make everything before it pointless, then you've got a good turn around. We've been moving in a fun direction so far. There's vampires popping up that are more feral and stronger than usual. Bodies are being found all over the city. Something is after Buffy. Got it. Things got more interesting when Buffy meets a guy with the power to touch vampires are turn them back into humans. Of course, these humans died to become vampires, so they're dead. Still is pretty big news since the world has been cut off from magic. We get a bunch of answers as to what's been going on. The great thing is that these answers lead us to new interesting questions. I'm really liking this story, and combine that with great understanding and use of the characters are this book is a real winner.
MUSIC!
Wait! You mean this song isn't really by Dingoes Ate My Baby!
I guess i better get on those chores I mentioned. See y'all Wednesday!
Yawn! Its Sunday, October 16, 2011, one of these days I'm going to feel rested after sleeping, and this is The Side. Its completely due to the amount of sleep. It seems I'm not capable of functioning as well on six hours of shut as I used to. Used to be I'd get maybe four hours of sleep and then its off and running, but I don't think I'll be able to pull that one off anymore.
Its kind of a drag because its not until the kids finally hit the sack that we can watch whatever we want on TV, or put in whatever movie we'd like to watch. Its also less often when the Missus is hanging out with neighbors making it so I can play whatever video games I like and have full carté blanch over the viewing choices.
It used to just be a choice of what I wanted to watch or do. Now, I've got to choose between that and sleep. Right now, it feels like I chose poorly.
COMIX!!
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON 9 #2 starts us off this go around. Last issue we got a dose of where Buffy Summers is with her life, and its pretty normal stuff. She's working as a waitress. She's got an apartment with a couple of fun roommates. She's got to worry about paying her student loans. She just got relate-able again. That's good, but the bad is on the horizon. Bodies are popping up all over town and the police are thinking our favorite blonde Slayer has something to do with it. Andrew Chambliss steps in as writer after a strong series start from Joss Whedon, and he doesn't miss a beat. He's right on top of the distinct dialogue that the Buffy-verse is known for. We got to see where these characters are with issue one, and issue two let's us know that there's stuff going on. We do get an answer as to where all the John and Jane Doe corpses are coming from and that answer leads us to a lot more questions. We don't get a ton of over-the-top slam-bang action, but we do get good solid storytelling that's fun and engaging. Highly recommended.
PILOT SEASON: CITY OF REFUGE #1 makes me feel like I've dropped into a story halfway through. Its very possible since this is the first time I spotted this book and its an issue 1, but it seems I may have missed a previous series. Still, its not hard to fill in the blanks. Something really bad has happened, and people have come to a secured city for safety. The people in the city all receive implants which eliminate the capacity for violence. How it does this isn't spelled out all that well, but it works on the brain and that's all we really need to know. This city has not had a violent crime in eleven years. Security forces receive injects that temporarily counteract the implants. The implants are believed to be causing health problems. People don't like having their minds messed with. This story reminds me a lot of the film EQUILIBRIUM with some of the themes. Unfortunately, the comparison ends there. While the film was stylish and featured a ton of suspense and amazing action scenes, this comic is pretty slow. Its tough because there's so much going on that it requires a lot of exposition, unfortunately it doesn't have much going on to balance that. Yes, there is a hostage scene, and an element of danger, but the way it plays out doesn't really 'pop'. Its not a bad book, but you'll have to be a patient reader to really get through it.
MUSIC!!
Jumping in the wayback machine to visit a Van Halen tune. I used to really love this song. I didn't know the Blue Angels used it in a video, so that was a pretty pleasant discovery.
That's all for me for today. Time for about half a pot of coffee. See y'all Wednesday.
Brick not hit back. Its Sunday, October 2. 2011, my hand is a little sore, and this is The Side. Our annual karate demo went very well. I possibly may be getting some new students out of it which is kind of the point. Well, mostly we do the show to have fun and show off, but its pretty much the only real advertising we do all year aside from word of mouth. That and it livens up the annual church bazaar a bit.
This year we added in a bit a brick breaking. One of my students had some patio pavers that he wanted to get rid off. Seems about one in about every six of them are pretty damn stubborn, and sure enough it was the one I got on my stack. I blasted the thing twice and it wouldn't go. It does kind of work out though as that was the only unsuccessful break. It shows that it is a difficult thing to do, which it is. Fortunately I smashed the other brick fairly convincingly, and we've got that on tape.
Words of wisdom for martial artists: if you're going to break bricks, make sure you get some form of photographic evidence. That way, you never have to do it again.
COMIX!!
Let's start off with ANGEL ND FAITH #2. Angel's on a mission to resurrect Rupert Giles and Faith is hoping to keep him from going off the the rails. Resurrection in the "Buffy-verse" nearly never goes well. Typically you end up with a zombie. So, bringing Giles back, especially in a world without magic is a pretty talk order. It does look like our favorite vampire with a massive forehead has a plan to pull it off, and its actually got a shot. Lurking in the wings however are Nash and Pearl who worked with Angel during his "Twilight" possession. This issue works very well. Issue one let us know who the players are and bridged us over from BUFFY SEASON 8. Here we see exactly where everyone is on the chessboard and get a good glimpse at what the plan is. It plays off a very good episode from ANGEL season 1, so we have good link back to the old TV show. Where the book shines is how well it handles Faith. There's been two people that have really looked out for her on her road to redemption and one of them is trying to bring the other back to life. She knows its nuts and probably a really bad idea, but she's in it because she's got Angel's back and what if there's an off chance he can pull it off. Very good stuff.
RED KNIGHT #2 hit this week. I'm torn on it. Justin Cristelli has set up an interesting story. We have a vigilante operating in Norfolk. Norfolk is a bit of an underworld hub city here in that its where to go for super villains to lay low or to get their ducks in a row before moving on. It pretty well written. My gripe is the art, and I hate griping about art. JC Grande isn't afraid to go after tough shots, interesting page layouts, and varying camera angles. In fact, he handles it like a boss. The big problem is lack of grays. He doesn't vary his line weight and and there's no grayscale at all. It makes everything sit on the page and the only time something really jumps out is when there's something black on it. It makes me have to work at what i need to be looking it as opposed to having my eye naturally drawn there. He's obviously not afraid to detail out a page, which is impressive, so I fully believe that once he gets his grey on the pages will be really eye-popping. So, pretty good stuff and worth checking out, but still has room for improvement.
MUSIC!!
Yes, its true I hardly ever put a hip-hop song in my music section. This is because I can't get behind what the majority of hip-hop songs are talking about. Note I said "majority" and not "totality".
That's it for me today. I think its time for some Advil, coffee, and SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS on Netflix. See y'all Wednesday.
Fire bad. Tree pretty. Its Friday, September 16, 2011, the w00tness is upon me, and this is The Side. Its hard to turn things around sometimes. It could be a change of events, or just your attitude. When you're bummed out it can be pretty tough to feel like you've gotten your Mojo back. Got a buddy of mine who makes YouTube videos. He hasn't made one in a while, and I asked him if everything was alright. Things seem fine, but he aid he's lost his Mojo.
Getting your Mojo is really tough. You're out of your groove. You feel lousy about it. It can lead to things just not going right. It can easily spiral into feeling depressed. I'm not talking the clinical kind, but a real funk, and because of that funk its even harder to get you Mojo back. It might not even be entirely on you. You may have gotten some news, or found something out that threw you out of balance.
Best thing to do is to start small. Just do something that you can handle, even if its inconsequential like cleaning your place up. Accomplish something that you can say, "Hey, got it done and it looks good." It gives you a feeling of pride, even if its small. Repeat as necessary until you're ready to get bigger stuff done.
I was having the same problem this week. Tuesday, I was pretty much all done mentally and emotionally. I still had to work though, so I focused on that. Mistakes at work were part of the problem, so I focused on doing the best I could at work. It wasn't great. I wasn't perfect. Still, I didn't royally screw up. Next day, worked hard and made stuff happen. Yesterday, more of the same and ran a good karate class.
Today, I'm sore as all hell physically, but mentally and emotionally, I feel pretty damn good. I've got my Mojo workin', and am ready to roll.
So let's roll with a comic review.
COMIX!!
Its a Sarah Michelle Gellar kinda week as on the heel of the very cool RINGER debut, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON NINE #1 hits the stands. I won't lie, I wasn't thrilled with how Season Eight wrapped up, but ANGEL AND FAITH #1 was pretty good so I figured I'd give this a shot. I wasn't disappointed as Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty give us the return of... wait for it... Drunk Buffy. She didn't turn into a cave person this time, but Buffy Summers just can't hold her booze. No monster killing this issue, but we do catch up with the cast following the events of Season Eight as the issue splits between flashbacks of a Party at Buffy's new apartment and her dealing with one opponent that's truly her match: a vicious hangover. We do meet a couple of new cast members with Buffy's apartment-mates: Anaheed and Tumble. They both seem very nice, so I'm calling it now, I think one of them is possibly eeeeevil. Betting on Tumble with his not getting up off the couchness. There are a few things afoot that should play out something nasty down the road. Last season, Buffy severed Earth's connection to magic. There's still monsters and Slayers, but there will be no new Slayers, and magic users like Willow now have no juice. But there's some things that are being held by magic, and it looks like they're getting loose. I'm all in for this new season to see where it goes. This issue was a lot of fun, and the comic stopped being fun for a little while. Glad its back and glad its good.
MUSIC!!
It felt like a Foo Fighters kinda morning, so I'm going with it.
You guys have a good weekend. Hope your Mojo is workin' for you. See y'all Sunday.
Its Sunday, September 11, 2011, and this is The Side. Been a few weeks since I've posted a Sunday update. Its also been a while since I did a comic review. Let's get to it.
TEN YEARS AGO
I was on a roof when it happened. I had a rope tied around my waist with a guy sitting at the peak of the roof hanging onto the other end of the rope as I was power washing the shingles. This was the second time I was up there because the stains just weren't coming out, and I was redoing the stupid job. It was even goofier in that when I asked the lady who lived there if she wanted to come out and look at it after I was done, she told me it wouldn't do any good because she was legally blind and would barely be able to see the roof from the ground. Made me wonder why I had to go out there and redo the job. So I called my pal, Brian, to tell him how insanely stupid the situation was and before I could say much of anything he asked me if I had heard what was going on.
By the time I had the radio on it was clear that we were under attack. My father's house was close by, and we were heading there anyways to use the bathroom. My stepmother was home and had the TV on the news. My dad was part of an Air Force Reserve unit and was on base when it happened. I had heard what had happened, but the visual was still took me aback. The towers had fallen. The first image I saw was of the city from across the water. The cloud had engulfed much of the picture. My stepmother was very nervous. She wondered if my father would be activated and sent in. My brother was in the Air Force. We live in a military town. Our family and the families of everyone we know were going to be directly affected in some way.
I was still working, and my next stop was Norfolk. It wasn't lost on me that I was driving into one of the top strategic targets on the east coast. Essentially the top three are Washington, New York, and Norfolk. It was lunch time by the time we got there. We stopped to eat at Dog-n-Burger, which is a little grill joint that we liked a lot. It was a noisy joint with music playing and the staff and customers all chatting and carrying on. Not that day. The staff worked in silence as the new feed played in place of the normal music. Everyone ate quietly and listened. It was truly an eerie moment. The only other time that had happened was when the Cole was attacked.
I called my girlfriend's house even though I knew she'd be in class. Her housemate answered, which shocked me because he was a Navy guy. I asked what the hell he was doing home. It was his day off. He hadn't turned on the TV or the radio. He had no idea what was going on. That stunned the hell out of me.
The remainder of the day was spent painting a church. The thought of the events transpiring were stage front in my mind. We didn't know if the attacks were over. There was the chance that Norfolk could still be hit. Fear was trying very hard to take hold of me, but I kept working. The painting actually because sort of meditating.
That night I talked with my family members. My cousin was attending Columbia University at the time and we got confirmation that she was well away from everything and safe.
In the days that followed, we saw the locals here rally in support of the people that leapt into action to do what they could during the attacks. We rallied behind our troops who we knew were getting ready to go on the offensive to beat back the crazies that attacked our people. Of course there were a few hippy losers standing on street corners with their "War is Terrorism" crap signs pissing and moaning that our fighting forces were getting deployed. There's always going to be people who just don't get it, and think one big hug will solve the world's problems.
The world changed that day. America woke up to the fact that there's a group of people who would see us all dead just for how we live our lives. We were and are the enemy to a fanatical bastardization of a religion. There are still those people who say we'll never win this fight. They are right, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't fight. There will always be some group of crazies who want to kill people simply for not being just like them. Time and time again in history people have had to beat back the crazies. September 11, 2001 was when we got reminded of that.
COMIX!!
Murders, deception, a hidden romance, and a really bad poet all get served up in USAGI YOJIMBO #140. This issue completes the "Murder at the Inn" two-parter, which has Usagi teaming up with Inspector Ishida. This is an old-school detective story here. We follow the Inspector and Usagi as they make a few discoveries and then its promptly on to the "parlor scene" in which the detective lays out the case before the suspects and reveals the guilty party. We're not talking about any great twists and turns on the genre here, but this story is done with such an exceptional elegance that its just a joy to read. Stan Sakai is a master cartoonist and you see this with every page. There's not a lot of sword swinging action, but this is a detective story first and foremost. Great read, and beautifully executed storytelling. I recommend this especially to young cartoonists who really want to see how to do things properly.
On to 50 Girls 50 #4, which kind of annoys me. It started out as a bit of a space cheesecake book. Last issue they dropped that angle, and went for straight space sci-fi. They're trying to continue that with this issue, and have succeeded a bit. Its not a bad issue, but its confusing. The story as contained in this issue is fairly clear, but everything around it isn't. I've seen this same group of women in every issue, but aside from Oskana, I couldn't begin to tell you any of their names. That's not just because I'm checking out their figures in their skin tight spacesuits. Its an ensemble cast, and one that is still new to readers. This book seriously needs some captions to let me know who these women are, and what they do. Also, despite the title telling me twice that there's 50 girls somewhere in this story, I still haven't seen them. I count, maybe, seven. And with all this stuff going on around Oskana and it being alluded to repeatedly that there's something really wrong with her, I have no clue what the deal with her is. Its not a bad book, but I feel like I'm watching a story unfold with no clue who the players are.
MUSIC!!
This song was the hotness, and was getting major radio time, but then the 9/11 attacks happened and the song went away because it seemed kinda wrong to laugh and kid around for a while.
That wraps up today. Please take a moment to think about those who sacrifice to keep us safe and maintain our freedom. Thanks, and I'll see y'all Wednesday.
Great Caesar's Ghost! Its Friday, August 5, 2011, there's lots of people pissed about comics, and this is The Side. There's a lot of ticked off fans out there. There's fans that aren't happy at all about the stupid DC reboot (Guess how I feel about it!). There's people pissed that the new Spider-man in the Ultimate Marvel line is black. There's people pissed that Lawrence Fishburne is going to play Perry White in the next SUPERMAN movie. But let's focus for a moment about the latest boycott.
I discussed the court decision concerning Marvel and the Jack Kirby Heirs last Sunday. Linda tipped me off that a boycott of Marvel is trying to gain some steam because of that decision. I'm going to be blunt here. I boycotted Marvel back in '96 when they went exclusive with Diamond because they boned the indy guys. I could not support this company because of their decision. Now, if you feel strongly about this court decision to the point that you don't feel comfortable continuing to purchase Marvel products, then you should absolutely cease buying their stuff. However, if you are planning on ceasing buying their stuff in hopes of "sticking it to them" and making them pay off the Kirby heirs, then you're being stupid.
How exactly is this supposed to work? You want Marvel to compensate the Kirby heirs, so you're going to boycott their products, thus decreasing their revenue? So where's the money supposed to come from? Or maybe you think that decreasing that revenue on those products will somehow make them share the copyrights. You better have that Jedi Mind Trick handy.
This won't work. I already went into, at length, why Marvel shouldn't have to give them a dime, much less copyrights. But just so you know, these boycotts don't change anything. DC won't do away with this reboot nonsense because I stop buying the books. In fact, even if sales are horrible they still won't redact it. And people not buying Marvel products because of this issue won't change a thing. So, if you're not going to be supporting Marvel until they pay off the heirs then you've bought your last issue of IRONMAN ever. Don't worry, I'll be happy to tell you all about THE AVENGERS movie when it comes out.
COMIX!!
USAGI YOJIMBO #139 begins the "Murder at The Inn" storyline in which Miyamoto Usagi meets up with Inspector Ishida. We join Ishida as he and his officers are attacked while transporting a prisoner. Usagi intervenes to aid Ishida. A storm forces them to seek refuge at an inn with their prisoner, and things take a turn when one of the other guests is discovered dead in the night. Normally I wouldn't give away such a spoiler, but when the story is called "Murder at the Inn" we should expect there to be a murder. This is a classic set up chapter. We are introduced to the characters involved. Everyone is a suspect. Sakai-san handles this book with such a simple elegance that I'm drawn effortlessly into this story. There's all these little touches that are so very intriguing. I found myself asking a bunch of questions, but in a good way. Why is part of the inn's roof burned? Could one of the guests be in league with the criminal Ishida's transporting? Great mysteries should always make the reader have questions they need answers to. Looks like I'll have to wait a month for mine. Wonderful storytelling, and a joy to read.
50 GIRLS 50 #3 surprised me this time around. There was a serious drop in cheesecake factor. This actually threw me off. The first issue featured a planet whose atmosphere made the ladies' clothes fall off. Second issue had a bit of bondage and a gal fresh out of the shower. This issue was straight sci-fi, no cheesecake, featuring the ladies making contact with an alien race whose planet is doomed. They pick up on an asteroid which is going to take that planet out so they make contact in an attempt to rescue an entire civilization. This issue kinda felt like a throwback, in a good way. I still get that STARBLAZERS vibe off of it. This wasn't big, crazy, conceptual sci-fi. It was more of an "enjoy the ride" sci-fi. Very popcorn reading, and I say that in a good way. This comic proved that it can stand with out the T & A or girls tied up. Not too shabby.
MUSIC!!
You know what's sad? I've completely forgotten what song I yanked from YouTube for today. Hope its a good one.
Alright, I'm out of here. Time to get to work. See y'all Sunday.
HACK! Its Friday, July 1, 2011, I'm under attack from killer mucus, and this is The Side. I'm still sick, and honestly not feeling much better, but I wanted to get this weeks reviews out because the book were really good this week. I've been flip flopping back and forth all week before doses of DayQuil and NyQuil because I honestly don't have time to just be sick. Hopefully with the long weekend I'll have a chance to rest a bit.
COMIX!!!
Its about damn time THE GOON #34 came out. Eric Powell has been really busy lately churning out content, so its not like he's been slacking, but I've missed this book so much. After an all-to-brief prelude of pounding the crap out of sparkly vampires, the kids at the McGreg Home for Illegitimate, Wayward, and Possibly Homicidal Youths have a problem with the new girl. She's a Tween and, therefore, the devil. Can the Goon save kids even though he's liquored up to the gills? This comic is an out and out blast. If you've never picked this book up before you're in for a treat. Its flat out hilarious, and doesn't apologize for being just venomous in its humor. Rarely do I get a complete laugh out loud and confuse the missus moment in a comic but this one delivered repeatedly. Buy this book. Drop what you're doing and go buy it right now.
BATMAN INCORPORATED #7 takes us out west for a visit with Man-of-Bats and his son Raven. We get to see how things are with a "Batman on a budget". Gang activity on the reservation turns out to be much more as Man-of-Bats is targeted by Leviathan. There's a lot in this issue about the plight of Indians in this country, but it doesn't come across as too heavy handed. It illustrates what these characters have to deal with on a regular basis. This was a really good issue with a few twists and turns in it that made it very enjoyable. I expected the story to take one direction, but Morrison didn't take the easy, clichéd route. Chris Burnham continues to impress on the art. Great issue.
DETECTIVE COMICS #878 wraps up the "Hungry City" storyline. Snyder did some really great thematic stuff here, while still delivering a good story. It deals a lot with our expectations of people and our gut instincts about them. The plot line with return of James Gordon plays heavy here. There's been so many questions hanging in the air about this guy and we get a lot of them answered here. Great use of the story involving Tony Zucco's daughter in that. Snyder is showing himself as an excellent storyteller here. He's also got an incredible handle on Dick Greyson as Batman. Very good stuff.
THE WALKING DEAD #86 is still dealing with the aftermath of the "No Way Out" storyline. This isn't a bad thing as people who have read this comic for a while know that this isn't a rushed book. Kirkman knows how to take his time. This is great as it builds a lot of suspense and interest in the characters. This has always been a character driven book. Yes there is a little shirmish with some roamers, but we're led to worry more about Carl's fate, how Rick is handling it, and what may or may not be going on with him and Andrea. There's nothing there suggesting there's an affair going on or even building. These are two characters in this story that are still around from the first group, so they've got a lot of history. It could be a healthy amount of respect and friendship between the two. We'll see. Very compelling reading and that's what I've come to expect from this series.
ELEPHANTMEN: MAN AND ELEPHANTMAN #1 was on the flip side of THE WALKING DEAD this week, so you got two comics for the price of one. This comic has been around for a while but this is my first time checking it out. Its very solid sci-fi, with a detective story sitting in the middle of it. Our main character, Hip Flask, gets taste of what its like to be a human. By the end of it he's not sure if being a human is a good or a bad thing. I'm a little curious about this series, but that curiousity is a tad morbid. Its obvious that human women are romantically involved with some of the Elephantmen which is just really weird, and a bit kinky. So I can't say that I'm "in" as far as this book goes, because while I am curious about this world the storyline isn't what drew me in. I'm a bit on the fence, and might have to buy issue 2 before I really get on board here.
MUSIC!!
Federali over at Kings has a new video out. Check it!!
That's all for me today. I'll hopefully see you guys on Sunday with my thoughts on Google+. See y'all then. I hope.
