Wednesday, September 26, 2007

I Figured It Out

Remember when I said Eric Canete's work reminded me of a MAD Magazine artist but I couldn't think of who it was?

I just got it.

Jack Davis
.

Nice work, Eric!

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Hey Now!

Fishing? Awesome. Comics? Not so much.

More in a bit.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Gone Fishin'

Literally. I'm leaving today for 4 glorious days up at a northern Arizona cabin to fish and drink, though not necessarily in that order.

Thanks for the helpful info in the last post; stay tuned on Monday to see who I listened to and who I didn't!

In the meantime:

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Help A Brother Out

Another skimpy pull list this week for yours truly, so does anyone have anything new I should try? Just askin'. Maybe an indie or small press comic that I'd enjoy.

P.S. JLA Hitman #1 is already on the list, despite being neither indie or small press.

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Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Longest. Meme. Ever...

...so if you're one of those "I only read comics to look at the pictures" types, this will seem wordy to you.

(Actually, if you're one of those "Jesus Christ, will this guy ever write a sentence that doesn't run 879 words" people, this will also seem wordy to you as well.) But it's a fun geekery exercise, and Lord knows my brain can always use exercise. Also, I blame Kalinara.

First, select your ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best. Then answer the questions below.

1. Philip Marlowe
2. Iron Man
3. Captain Kirk
4. Batman
5. Indiana Jones
6. Sherlock Holmes
7. Dr. Gregory House
8. Hawkgirl
9. Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne's character in The Usual Suspects)
10.
Arthur Dent

(Note: Right off the bat here I'm courting criticism from Mrs. 2GBC because I only had one female character, and she's of the spandex-clad variety. What can I say? I'm a guy. I identify with male characters more often than females. Let's just assume I lose the argument and move on.)

1. Divide the list up by even and odd. Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick? If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?

See, this is what I get for only having one woman. Crap. That'll learn me.

Team A: Philip Marlowe, Kirk, Indiana Jones, Dr. House and Dean Keaton
Team B: Iron Man, Batman, Sherlock Holmes, Hawkgirl, Arthur Dent

Well geez, I certainly know which team I'm calling if Braniac's threatening Metropolis, now don't I? Cripes.

Team A Roster:

Leader --- Captain Kirk (I mean, really. Like there's a choice here?)
Lancer --- Marlowe (He knows how to both give orders and take 'em, when to shut up and when to talk.)
Big Guy --- Indy (Likely the most physically gifted, and handy with swords, guns and whips.)
Smart Guy --- Dean Keaton (Scheming bastard. I'd take two of him if I could.)
Chick --- Er. Sorry, House. (Only one left. Plus, is the "chick" role defined by just being female? You know what, let's stop right there before I get myself in any more hot water.)

Team B Roster:

Leader --- Batman (If I didn't put him in charge, he'd just do whatever he wants to anyway.)
Lancer --- Iron Man (Avengers experience being second in command)
Big Guy --- Hawkgirl (I know, I know. But she's the only one left who can really swing a mace.)
Smart Guy --- Sherlock Holmes (If you don't know why... seek help. Or a library.)
Chick --- Arthur Dent (Um. I... that is... process of elimination, and all that.)

We're not switching anyone, because dammit, this is my hole I dug all by myself and I'm not backing out now.

(Side Note: I am almost positive I will regret this later. I should really read the entire meme before jumping into it.)

2. Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?

Out of Iron Man, Hawkgirl and Arthur Dent? Weird. Arthur's arc (such as it is) changes the least, I think, because really aside from his crush on Trillian he's more of a reader stand-in than anything else. Hawkgirl becoming... er... Hawkguy doesn't really make a whole hell of a lot of difference other than having that whole "eternal love for Katar Hol" thing a bit more salacious to conservative types.

Now, Iron Man as Iron Woman? Love the idea. Love, love, love it. First off, you've got the added dimension of being a female genius billionaire industrialist who has the added burden of getting past the chauvinism one encounters in the business world. Second, the "womanizing" aspect of Tony gets reversed, and I'd be interested to see how that plays out in the Marvel Universe and with reader perceptions.

Sweet Fancy Moses, I think I just wrote the best Iron Man story of the last 20 years. This will be expanded upon in a later post, I promise you that. OK, so far, the meme has been worth the time just for that thought alone. Fuckin' A!

3. Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible? Which couple would be more plausible to people from either principal's home culture?

Philip Marlowe + Hawkgirl vs. Indiana Jones and Dean Keaton.

Marlowe and Kendra Saunders? Holy Christ, there's another idea for an awesome comic! This meme is a goddamn gold mine! Those two would go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Somebody cook me up an Elseworlds title, stat!

Indy and Dean Keaton would stink together, mainly because they'd never, ever trust one another (although they both share a love for easy money).

Plausibility? Marlowe and Hawkgirl, easy. He lives in L.A., where if you saw a married couple consisting of a man and a woman dressed as a bird flying it wouldn't even crack the top 30 on the list of "strangest things I saw today while walking down the street".

Seriously. Marlowe. Hawkgirl. Busting crime and busting heads! I may not be able to think of anything else all day. Bless you, Kalinara!

4. Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?

So this team consists of Captain Kirk, Batman, and Dean Keaton.

In the words of Rorshach, "Hurm."

Well, Dean Keaton is the consummate con man --- he's gotta be the go-to guy on the social challenge. I'm giving Batman the mental task, since it's pretty well established that he's the Smartest Dude To Dress Up In A Rodent Costume Ever, and that counts for something. Kirk takes the physical duties, because I never get tired of watching the Double Jimmy/Two-Fisted Strike With Interwoven Fingers. (Get your mind out the gutter.)

5. 7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?

BWAHAHAHAH! House as Marlowe's boss? That's... terrible. I give it two days at most. Neither could stand each other, although Marlowe would play it cool, even after House made some snide remark about wearing socks with clocks on them.

6. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?

Iron Man in Sherlock Holmes stories? And the brilliant Elseworlds ideas just keep on coming. Iron Man would fit in beautifully --- he's the mad inventor always coming up with machines to do the detective work, and Holmes would swoop in at the end to reveal the criminal scheme with something Iron Man lacks --- the understanding of human nature. This thing writes itself.

7. 3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?

Kirk and Indy, huh?

1) Women, beautiful ones, in abundance, and keep 'em coming.
2) Knowledge of history preserved in museums for all to see forever and ever.
3) Eternal youth. (Avoids the toupee and paunch we all know they eventually develop.)

8. 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How?

Jesus, I didn't know there would be math involved. Let's see... Marlowe and Iron Man sent to kill Batman... wait... so the question boils down to "Can Batman Survive and How"?

I'll go with "Yes" and "Any Way He Damn Well Wants To".

9. 6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?

Sherlock Holmes: Arranges the subterfuge necessary to convince the children that Santa is present, with reindeer and everything by planting physical evidence like reindeer droppings. What?

House is, of course, Santa, only he's Grumpy Hobbling Santa With A Cane And Five O'Clock Shadow And Crippling Drug Addiction, because we all know he's kind of a big teddy bear way, way, way, way down deep.

Dean Keaton pulls off the heist of the Toys 'R Us to acquire the presents.

Arthur Dent stands around and drinks tea.

10. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts?

So many questions here. Does Kirk hitting on Kendra count as "fatally distracted"? Do Nth metal wings count as transportaion invented before 1900? Is hot, hot unspoken sexual attraction a "personality conflict"? I don't know if they'd make it, but I'd sure as hell read the comic.

Hey, let's do like Kali and tag everybody!

(Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go write that Marlowe/Hawkgirl script.)

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Monday, September 17, 2007

Chris' Reviews 9/12

Smallish pull list last week, so I picked up some stuff that looked intriguing; in other news, I read quite possible the single worst comic I've read all year, and that's not even using the standard 2GBC Hyperbole Quotient. Massive Spoilers Ahoy!

THOR #3

Well, color me surprised that so far Thor has been as good as it has been. I think the Stracyzinsky/Gaiman/Whoever premise of putting Thor in Oklahoma is unique, charming, and makes for a neat setup. Additionally, the idea that he has to go about the planet "waking" up his fellow gods makes for a quest with some longevity; don't get me wrong, in about two issues I need to see some hammer throwin' against Mephisto or something, but for now, I think we're good.

Of course, that's due in large part to the fact that the Thor v. Iron Man confrontation was something we've been waiting for for about a year and a half; and I must say, it doesn't disappoint. Thor's verbal smackdown of Tony is just withering, and if you know anyone who didn't think Tony was a complete shitheel during Civil War, well, just fax them a copy of page 8 and then wait by the phone for their apology.

Also, I've never been so happy to see Iron Man get smacked like a Hank Aaron home run, electrocuted, nearly strangled, and cracked like an eggshell. Oh Thor, you silly God of Thunder, your wacky antics never fail to entertain!

Meantime, there's a touching bit with Heimdall, and some plot hammering regarding Asgard's status that had to be gotten out of the way sooner rather than later (despite Tony's completely wrong interpretation of what defines U.S. territory), and nice art to boot.

Best Moment: SHRAKOOOM!, which apparently is the sound a lightning bolt makes when it's zapping billionaire industrialist dickheads.

Worst Moment: I admit, I got a bit verklempt at the sad, insane guy stuck with Heimdall's soul in way that totally did NOT remind me of Star Trek III. Nope. Not at all. Nosiree.

Comic Book Goodness: 4/5. A payoff moment, the return of a familiar face, and have I mentioned it's nice to have Thor back? Also, SHRAKOOOM!


JLA WEDDING SPECIAL #1

So, I figured I'd get back into the JLA once McDuffie came aboard, and figured "why not jump on board with the one-shot?" The results were, um, mixed.

There's essentially 4 parts to the issue:

1) The bachelor party for Ollie, in which Hal acts like a doofus, John Stewart gets a line that pretty much defines why he's such a cool character, Batman is Batman, and a bunch of archers stand around skeeving me out with references to Ollie's sex life. This part is generally good.

2) Firestorm and Floaty Head Girl Who's Not Professor Stein (I'm not up on my Firestorm developments, so someone can explain who she is in the comments) duke it out with Killer Frost, who has Power Suit Luthor, Action Figure Cheetah, and Zoot Suit Joker along for backup, and that goes about as well as you'd think it would, ending with a score of Firestorm 0, Villains 2,344.

3) Lex assembles all the villains into a new Injustice League, which... you know, probably is the way things should be, except I just got done reading Justice, so it wasn't a particularly shocking development since I kind of assumed that all the DC villains were already working together. Also, it always bothers me when the Joker is lumped into supervillain teams, because the Joker doesn't give two farts about anyone but himself.

4) Batman and Roy (Red Arrow? Speedy?) investigate the crime scene from (2) above, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl visit Firestorm in the hospital and get ambushed by Dr. Light, Joker, Polarity, and Cheetah in a fight scene that's frankly kind of bad. The issue ends with a broken Kendra getting back to the Hall of Justice and Superman saying "The party's over!" (Eeesh.)

Sprinkled throughout are nods to McDuffie's work on the animated Justice League Unlimited, and while I'm still excited to read his ongoing JLA, there was just too much of nothing happening in this issue that couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a JLA action issue or behind-the-scenes character piece. Ultimately it comes up short at both.

Best Moment: The opening pages with Lex, Joker, and Cheetah parodying Brad Meltzer's opening pages of his JLA run, with the three trying to decide who's in the new Injustice League.

Worst Moment: I thought the Firestorm section was hard to follow and out of place, but then that's generally how I've always felt about Firestorm.

Comic Book Goodness: 2/5. At 4 bucks, I expected something other than a disjointed set-up piece, or something that actually had to do with, you know, the wedding. I understand now the point is to set up McDuffie's run, but still this one left me kind of cold (except for the fact that John Stewart's going to be in the League). Also: is it me or did the strippers that Hal hired remind anyone else of Marvel's X-Men Rogue, Psylocke, and Storm? Hee!


MOON KNIGHT #12

Oh, Sweet Jumpin' Waffles, this comic was awful. I mean, awful.

Forget --- try to forget, anyway (it's damn near impossible since there's pages where Tony Stark and his goons show up again to grill Marc Spector over Cap's visit) --- that this issue takes place before the end of Civil War. I have no problems with issues told in flashback, but this is the second issue in a row that does this, and the action is so muddled, the dialogue boxes so confusing, the characters so badly developed that I had to read it three times to understand (kinda) what happened.

And I hate reading bad comics more than once.

The gore is more gratuitous than ever (and for this comic, that's saying something), there's at least three Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moments where characters do things out of the blue for no apparent motivation, and everybody generally behaves like murderous six-year olds. It's Terrible with a capital "T", and it's off the pull list for good. Randy tells me there's a new writer coming on board, and I can only hope that what started with an interesting premise for Moon Knight's return somehow gets back on track. Also, I'd still like to know what the hell happened in this issue.

Best Moment: "Hello, Local Comic Shop? It's Chris. Please burn any remaining copies of this comic. It's for the best. Think of the children."

Worst Moment: "Maybe if I read it a third time it'll start to make sense."
Comic Book Goodness: 0/5. In retrospect, I really should have just taken my three dollars and lit them on fire.


SUICIDE SQUAD #1

Well, I won't lie; I've been waiting for this one for awhile. Oddly, though the entire thing takes place before Infinite Crisis (actually, it takes place even before Identity Crisis), the editorial message at the bottom of the first page tells us that it takes place before Salvation Run. Whatever. Not the point.

The point is that Ostrander's back with the Squad, and tell me if this seems familiar: Amanda Waller is leading them into a trap, Deadshot's trigger-happy, they're fighting old-school villains in the form of The People's Heroes (Pravda! Bolshoi! Molotov! Hee!), and nobody has any respect for Captain Boomerang. Plus: dinosaurs!

It all reads like it was written about 20 years ago, and I'm actually OK with that. There's a few disquieting moments --- Puma, for instance, falls for the tried-and-true Explosive In The Head trick --- and if Waller seems a tad out of character at times, I think it's because this is actually closer to where she was back when she was running the Squad, rather than her animated counterpart (or even Checkmate version).

Can't say I'd recommend this for everyone, but if you have any love for the old Squad or just are a fan of villain team-ups (and really, who isn't?), you'll probably dig this.

Best Moment: Is it wrong that I still get a kick when dinosaurs show up unexpectedly in superhero comics? No? Good.

Worst Moment: "Boomerbutt" once is kinda funny. "Boomerbutt" multiple times starts to get irritating. Just sayin'.

Comic Book Goodness: 3/5. Solid work, about what I expected, and for an eight-issue series I think it'll do nicely to soothe my Secret Six withdrawal.


FALLEN ANGEL #20 --- On the plus side, it feels like forever since we've actually been in Bete Noire, and it's good to be back. This issue focuses on Jude coming to terms with the fact that he's trapped in the city, and the efforts of Jubal to undermine his faith. That said, the art by Dennis Calero is all over the map here, ranging from "effective" to "that page looks like it took about two minutes to draw", and it hurts more than helps. It's better than usual after a lackluster four issues or so, and let's hope things get even darker in the next. CBG: 2/5.

X-FACTOR #23 --- A rare (in my book) so-so week for Peter David, as X-Factor starts to show crossover fungus developing on it, what with Huber exposed as the villain we knew him to be and the Somewhat Less Than Astonishing X-Men showing up and behaving like dorks. Major hooks into Endangered Species, and the setup for the upcoming Messiah Complex notwithstanding, the end leaves three of our heroes (four if you count a dupe) stranded in Antarctica, which could --- and should --- make for a highly entertaining next ish. CBG: 2/5.

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Friday, September 14, 2007

3 Items Of Note

1) While I wasn't looking, 2GBC turned 2 years old! Granted, probably a fourth or so of that timespan didn't have any actual, you know, posts, but hey; we'll take milestones where we can get 'em.

2) Didn't finish up reviews catch-up today because I'm actually reading comics that came out this week, and we'll review those on Monday instead. (And hoo boy, was Thor #3 satisfying or what?)

3) Non-comics related note: I dare anyone to watch Burn Notice on USA and not be hooked. It's funny, smart, sexy, and brilliantly acted. It's also, incidentally, the best modern-day take on Philip Marlowe I've seen in a long time; the setting and circumstances are different, but at his core, Michael Westen is Philip Marlowe in Miami. Great, great TV, and I'm glad I let my friends talk me into giving it a shot.

Have a great weekend!

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Thursday, September 13, 2007

Review Catch-Up Pt. II

OK, here we go, spoilers, etc., you get the picture.

FLASH #231 --- Waid's back, and so is Wally, Linda, and the twins, and they're a crimefightin' fam-a-lee! Bottom line is that this feels like a Flash book again, and it's bookended with the kids rescuing people from a ferry disaster in Keystone and some giant horribly betentacled monster attacking them. In between, a little history as to how we got here, a few seeds of marital discord, and a few one-liners. The only thing I didn't like was Daniel Acuna's artwork, which just seemed a bit too indistinct and muddy for me, though that may be a personal taste thing. CBG: 3/5.

CHECKMATE #17 --- A great little done-in-one showing how Checkmate's hiring practices deviate somewhat from, say, GE or IBM. (Although, strangely, they're identical to the way I imagine Microsoft tests new employee candidates.) The Villain Formerly Known As Deathtrap applies for the job of Castellan (that's the castle's security director), and Rucka and Eric Trautmann give us an amazingly 3-D picture of Deathtrap's thoughts, fears, and motivations. I continue to be amazed that this book doesn't garner more attention. CBG: 4/5.

JONAH HEX #22-23 --- Well, JH #22 is basically an alternate script treatment for The Prestige that (like the movie) contains way more talking than is good for a story that ultimately doesn't really end, it just stops. Don't bother with it. JH #23 is a different animal, told as a flashback to school children. You're not going to believe this, but Hex fights some Native Americans --- but the bad guys really turn out to be the mustachioed white army officers! I know! Can you believe it? I totally did not see that coming! Le sigh. CBG: 2/5.

DETECTIVE COMICS #835-836 --- This has to be the laziest Batman story I've read in a long time; by relying on reader assumptions, stacked coincidences, and just plain wrong-headedness, this two-parter casts Scarecrow as a vicious serial killer who essentially kills people for fun now in broad daylight and taunts the local police... you know, just like every other serial killer ever. So instead of a somewhat fascinating villain with unique motives, John Rozum turns him into Generic Killer #446.

The plot holes are so big you can drive six starships through them --- Arkham has a "general population"? Why do they let him have his mask and stuff? How is he unseen in broad daylight? Why does Batman want to kill him? --- and too numerous to list all of them. Paul Dini, please answer the white courtesy phone. Your party is trying to reach good Batman comics. CBG: 0/5.

X-FACTOR #22 --- You're probably tired of me praising this comic, but I don't care. It's really good, with great characters and dialogue. In this issue, there's pity sex, a traitor in the ranks, and an interesting new villain who wants to use the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to protect mutantkind. Plus, Guido gets off the line: "You should see some of the skinks I've dated." This issue has a lot of pieces moving into place; if you're not reading this, I'm legitimately curious as to why. Loses a few points for the stupid "Endangered Species" back-up story with Beast swallowing Dark Beast's memories or some shit that totally reminds me why I don't read about the X-Men anymore. CBG: 3/5.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #29 --- To be frank, absolutely nothing of note happens until the last page, when Bucky gets captured by Lukin, Sin, and Crossbones. The rest is a bunch of hemming and hawing and not-really-action that reads like the first 600 pages of a Tom Clancy book, the boring part where everyone is trying to figure out what's going on and that just keeps on going forever and ever and everyone is chasing everyone else but they don't know it and OHMYGOD WILL SOMEONE SHOOT SOMEONE ALREADY?!? Yeah, it's like that. I can't decide if it should gain points or lose points for showing Sharon Carter vomiting while holding an AIM beekeeper at gunpoint. CBG: 2/5.

Tomorrow: Birds of Prey, Green Lantern Corps, and The All-New Atom!

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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Review Catch-Up, Pt. I: All Iron Man Edition!

We're kind of all over the map here, but I wanted to get reviews out today before everyone stops reading for the last time, even if these comics are a bit dated in some cases. Ha! Ha! I am, of course, kidding. Ish.

OK, need to get the Iron Man stuff out of the way today, then the other reviews (Detective, Captain America, X-Factor, Green Lantern Corps, Jonah Hex, Checkmate, Birds of Prey) tomorrow. As always.... Massive Spoilers Ahoy!

IRON MAN #20 - #21

Well, on the one hand, #20 was the World War Hulk tie-in, and served zero purpose other than to illustrate that:

A) Dum Dum Dugan has a grudging respect for Tony Stark, which, you know, blah, and

B) Tony has a doomsday weapon that will level Manhattan and everyone in it should it come to that, which, you know, stupid.

Because we already know that Marvel's not killing off 95% of their heroes, and I don't think even Quesada would blow up two American cities in one year, right? RIGHT?!?

Which means this ish is a lot of pointless yammering between Dugan and Tony (who's captive and talking through his suit via his Stupid New Powers™. The only redeeming factor: I confess, I didn't know Dum Dum's real name was "Tim".

(Side Note: Then again, it might be funnier if it wasn't Tim, and Tony was just being a douchebag, intentionally calling him by a different wrong name every issue on account of the fact that the executive officer of SHIELD probably shouldn't have a name like Dum Dum if for no other reason than it's not really building public confidence, is it? See? Why aren't I writing Iron Man?)

(Additional Side Note: Yay! The run-on sentences are back!)

Buckle up and grab on tight, though, because reading the next issue (#21) right after this one is likely to give you whiplash, as we're yanked back into the Knauf's Mandarin storyline, there's no mention of WWH, Tony's still Director of SHIELD, etc. And two quasi-notable things happen here:

1) Graviton crushes an Initiative hero into a little ball made of hero and steel, which... Graviton? Someone decided we need to give Graviton some teeth? And didn't the Sentry throw him into the sun last year? I'm just baffled, because this is twice now that the Knaufs have used Graviton in their run, and we hadn't seen him once in like eight years before that.

2) Regular readers will note that I've generally liked the Knaufs' run thus far; this is true, but for the love of God get on with it, already. I know WWH intervened for a couple months, but it's taking far too long to get to some supervillain bashing, and frankly I'm getting bored with SHIELD.

That said, the stuff showing how Gadget (the smushed hero ball I mentioned earlier)'s death affect Tony is pretty well done, and the Maya Hansen reveal (she's working for Mandy now) is an interesting move, though I can't help but feel that they wasted two potentially good supporting characters for Tony too early (and, let's not forget, they killed Happy Hogan.)

Best Moment: I really can't think of one, for either comic, and that's not a good thing.

Worst Moment: Hey, look everybody! Tony Stark has a doomsday weapon! And Tim Dugan is the only one he trusts to employ it, which.... WTF? Avenger much, Tony? I can smell the lazy writing from here! (Also: "Tim".)

Comic Book Goodness: 1/5, but there's hope for the future. As much as I like the WWH main event, the two IM tie-ins have been wastes of issues, and Mandarin storyline needs to get going yesterday.

So, that's the state of in-continuity Iron Man. On the other hand...

IRON MAN: ENTER THE MANDARIN #1

Joe Casey writes, Eric Canete draws, and while I'm not sure what the point is (which, sadly, is a feeling I get with most of Casey's Marvel work) , it's charming in its own way.

Basically updating the Mandarin's origin story, but in a way that we don't even see most of it (!), this shows Iron Man being asked to investigate some mysterious new power broker in China (guess who), Mandarin telling the Chinese government that he's more powerful than they are (and that takes waaaaaaay too long), and IM and Mandy getting ready to throw down by issue's end.

I mentioned early on that it's charming, right? That's due almost entirely to Eric Canete's artwork, which is so different from your standard superhero fare that it reminds me more of something you'd see in Mad Magazine, believe it or not (and I'm thinking of a specific MAD artist, but damned if I can remember his name). And I think it works beautifully, really setting itself apart style-wise.

Best Moment: Seeing Tony, Happy, Pepper and company interacting like we're used to seeing them, back in the day. This is definitely old-school.

Worst Moment: That whole pissing match between Mandy and the Chinese generals could have (and probably should have) been done in one page.

Comic Book Goodness: 3/5. Interested to see how they're getting 6 issues out of this, I love the artwork, and it's old-school Iron Man. Yeah, I'm on board.

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Cheap Shot Central!

Apologies if this joke has already been made elsewhere, but...

I showed the cover of Jonah Hex #23 to my co-worker at Frobozz Software:




His response?

"Oh, is that the big wedding issue?"

Ba-DUM-dum! Thank you! I'll be here all week!

Meanwhile, still finishing up reviews, mainly trying to decide if the last issue of Birds of Prey was good, ridiculous, or offensive.

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Monday, September 10, 2007

Holy Fucking Christmas In May 2008

I mean, um, so, the trailer's out now.

Also: comics reviews tomorrow. See? I told you we'd be back!

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Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Yes, We're Aware Of The Date...

...but to be honest, we kind of pulled that whole 9/1 date we mentioned out of our ass, and didn't realize that it'd be a Saturday, so there.

That said.

I think we might be on hiatus for awhile longer. It's not you, it's me. Back in a week or so.