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.
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.
OINK! It's Sunday, January 15, 2011, I is ashamed, and this is The Side. Nobody's perfect, and boy, I sure ain't. Yes, there's often plenty of typos in here. Yeah, I've had times in which I haven't posted when I said I was going to post. This week I had a serious headdesk moment.
COMIX!!!
Last go around I raved and raved about HEART from Image Comics. I poured over the first first three issues and took in the whole book. Loved every bit of it and its a really great book. Its also the first comic from Blair Butler and I noted this saying that this book is his first outing as a writer. Well, I got a comment on the Comic Kings website:
Not to be that guy, but… Blair Butler is a lady. Other than that, great review. I’ll have to pick up “Heart.”
Oh, he's so totally that guy.
GAH! It never occurred to me that Blair Butler is a woman. I've only know one person named "Blair" and he was a dude. There's that there Blair Underwood actor fella, he's a dude. The only "Blair" I know of that's a who was on THE FACTS OF LIFE. I even read an interview with Butler that was featured in one of the comics. Still had no clue she was a she.
This isn't like that whole Lady Gaga thing in which the song gets played, you ask "What the fuck is this garbage?", and then you she a picture of Gaga, and you ask "What the fuck is that?" And it seems obvious that that we're dealing with a Boy George type thing and its a cross dresser. But then they are claims that its a woman and you're stuck wondering "pre or post op". This is totally different.
Its also not the first time I've made this mistake. I spent months thinking Taylor Swift was a guy. People kept talking about how amazing Taylor Swift is and I'm wandering around half wondering who is he? He's certainly got a cool name. I was curious, but not curious enough to bother Googling Swift. Then I saw a magazine cover with a gorgeous girl on it and in big bold letters it said "Taylor Swift". I'm looking at the magazine thinking to myself, well I guess this guy must be popular to be the lead story in this magazine. Then the realization slowly crept in that Taylor Swift was the gorgeous girl on the cover.
This is even worse. Yes, Butler wasn't even a blip on my radar before Wednesday. I just knew there was an MMA comic out there that I wanted to check out. I had no clue that she was the girl on the cover of that one issue of BOOSTER GOLD. Usually when there's a writer I don't know very well, but their stuff blows me away like HEART did, I do a bit of research. Sure, my schedule has been pretty jam packed this week, but I could have at least checked out her website which was listed in the comic.
And its worse because I'm all for more women getting into the comic industry. Now one throws her hat in the ring and I think she's a he. I even read back through the comic armed with this new knowledge. The comic is from the viewpoint of an up and coming MMA fighter. Butler absolutely nails it. I would have thought that this comic was written by an MMA fighter. I don't expect women writers to write about hearts and unicorns and crap. I've ready plenty of hardcore stories from Gail Simone. Carla Speed McNeil's FINDER is still one of the best comics you probably aren't reading. I feel like a freaking hypocrite because it never dawned on me that the writer of comic that it brutal and honest about the stuff an MMA fighter goes through and is so pumped with adrenaline could have been written by a woman. I wouldn't blame Blair Butler one bit for wanting to kick my ass. Right now, I want to kick my own ass.
So, I want to apologize to Blair Butler, who isn't a guy. She's a woman who writes really awesome comics. And if you haven't picked up HEART yet, you suck nearly as bad as I do.
MUSIC!!
Rough weekend, but I did get to hear some really good music yesterday.
That's it for me this go around. Hope you enjoyed my tale of being a stupid sexist jerk, as well as the video with the cute little hamster. See y'all Wednesday, at which point I'll try to be a better person.
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.
