X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Mutants vs. Vampires Who doesn’t love a good vampire story, right? Even better if it includes any of the seminal X-Men. One of my coworkers is the ultimate American comics fanboy and he knows that (although I’m not quite as invested as he is) I like comics, too. One day during a free moment (and after I mentioned that … Continue reading X-Men: Curse of the Mutants – Mutants vs. Vampires
Midnight movies aren’t usually my thing. I made an exception this time because I knew G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was going to be a visually stunning, action-packed movie. The one thing to keep in mind when seeing this is that it is not art, it is purely entertainment. In other words don’t expect it to earn a Best Picture nomination. The movie doesn’t bring anything new to the table as far as original ideas are concerned either, but it sure looks pretty flaunting what it does have.
Twenty minutes into the movie is all it takes to get a good idea about what the rest of the movie is like. Everything revolves around four nanotechnology based warheads developed by international arms maker MARS which is run by Destro. The Joes want the city-destroying nanobombs in their hands while Cobra aims to terrorize the world with them. The rest of the movie is essentially a big game of tug-of-war with the warheads in the middle.
The plot is formulaic and uninspired but the execution of its parts is both explosive and exciting. The high point of this explosive action is a chase scene in downtown Paris involving a tanked up Hummer, Duke and Ripcord in powered armor suits, and Scarlett on a motorcycle. The damage done to the City of Lights in this scene is massive and irreparable and highlights a conspicuous absence of consequences in the movie. So many people are killed, both combatants and civilians, that I’m surprised the movie managed a PG-13 rating. Continue reading “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
Absolution #1
Avatar
I’m not really a super hero kind of guy but I love what Avatar does with the quintessential comic book trope. Instead of the torch bearers of morality that is the traditional portrayal of these characters, we get flawed and imperfect humans in a struggle to rectify their ideals with reality. John Dusk is a super hero who’s sick of seeing the same scum regurgitated by the system to continue their violent ways. When Dusk kills a perp his whole outlook changes. There’s nothing really outstanding about this title, I just love the dystopic super hero story.
The Boys #33
Dynamite
The Boys never gets boring, it just keeps getting better. If things keep going the way they are, there won’t be any supes left for The Boys to take care of. Not much story development in this issue but the action that does occur more than makes up for it. If you’re not reading The Boys, you’re missing out
Chew #3
Image
Most of you probably missed this title when it first came out due to the limited printing and high demand. By this point however, you should be well caught up considering they’re already on their second printing of the first issue. I love the top-heavy character designs by Rob Guillory and John Layman’s quirky premise is handled with expert comedic timing. This five issue mini-series should definitely be on your pull list. Continue reading “Wednesday Wrap-Up”
Air #10
Vertigo
By about the sixth issue of G. Willow Wilson’s and M.K. Perker’s Air I thought I had a pretty good handle on just what in the hell was going on. Amelia Earhart showed up in a floating city in the clouds and made everything clear to me. Now I’m in Mexico before the French conquered England and I feel like I’m just starting over again. While I may have lost the path of the story the comic continues to be fresh, crisp and smart. This series is definitely worth your time but this isn’t the time to jump in.
The Dark Tower: Fall of Gilead #2
Marvel
To tell you the truth, I’m just slogging through most of these tragic bits until I can leave the tales of Roland’s adolescence and move on to the parts of the stories where he’s a bad-ass ninja with cowboy boots and a revolver. Much like watching Titanic, we know Gilead will fall, we know Roland will live and his father will likely die. All that happens later though. For now Stephen King fans will have to make do with Roland going to jail. I get the feeling this is just leading up to a mountain of tragedy in the next four issues.
Executive Assistant Iris #1
Aspen
This comic is a steaming plate of bad-ass. While most of the issue is turned over to the task of demonstrating just how epically bad-ass it is, there is a kernel of a story in there. David Wohl seems to have an interesting story going for him but so far it’s obfuscated by a lot of business speak and ass kicking. Eduardo Francisco’s art lives up to the high standards set by Aspen’s other works and John Starr’s colors are visceral and vibrant. This isn’t a must have but you definitely need to take a look because there won’t be very many copies of these laying around.
Anna Mercury 2 #1
Avatar
Hooray! Anna Mercury is back! In this new series one of the constellation worlds has sent something into our world and it’s Anna Mercury’s job to recon this previously unexplored world that inhabits a dimension next to ours. The hottest red head in comics since Mary Jane Watson is in it up to her neck almost as soon as she hits the ground. I’ve got nothing but wonderful things to say about this comic. Buy this comic. Subscribe to it. You’ll thank me.
Berserker #0
Top Cow
Okay Milo Ventimiglia, thanks for the new comic series and all but weren’t you supposed to be working on Rest. Did that series ever finish? I don’t think so. Essentially Berserker is exactly what I thought it would be: a dude going crazy from blood lust killing anyone he meets. The surprise is that I enjoy the setup to what I know is coming. If Top Cow can keep that up, I’ll stick with the series.
The Boys #31
Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s dark and darkly humorous superhero story consistently meets or exceeds all of my expectations and #31 in the series – the first of a new storyline – is no exception. Expect plenty of ass kicking and even a bit of tragedy in this issue. Supes get put in their place and The Boys learn that they, too, can be hurt. A new storyline starts here so this is a great place to jump in with the single issues if you’ve only been reading the trades up till now.
Dead Irons #4
While I feel that this series lost its stride somewhere in the second issue, it does a fair job of picking it back up for the conclusion to the series. The story suffered most from not explaining its own mythology. It’s a mish-mash of monster traditions rolled into one comic miniseries with only the barest of explanations. The gritty art style absolutely lends itself to the western motif but is often found wanting when it comes to fine anatomical details like eyes. Having roundly criticized the comic I have to finish by saying that this conclusion was deftly executed and I would absolutely read a follow up series were the team of James Kuhoric and Jason Shawn Alexander to make one.
Can anyone name a Studebaker model other than the Avanti? I could not until my crash course in the gorgeous works of one of American’s storied but rarely seen automobile makes. Luckily, after around 40 years, the international Studebaker club decided to have their meet once again in Lancaster, PA this week and I got a history lesson on the brand that was originally founded … Continue reading Bat-mania: Commisioner Gordon’s 1951 Studebaker from Batman Forever
Limited Soles Hey everybody! Anyone try on Air Force 1’s? They are super comfy, like wearing a velour cigar robe for your feet! With the Velcro strap on the mid and high models and “Air Sole” in all, they have every bit of that old-school panache from the days when Casio watches were high-tech and 190hp was incredible power from a V8. They have been … Continue reading Bat-mania: More Bat-kicks (and some Supes shoes also)!
A lot of Batman fans these days may not be familiar with the story of his ever-faithful side-kick Robin what with his omission from these past two films. Actually, Robin barely gets any screen time these days. And in addition to this, most casual fans of Bob Kane’s classic creation have no idea that his side-kick’s shoes have been filled by more than one person. … Continue reading Bat-mania: Guest Post!
None other than Keaton Batmobile number five is up for sale on Ebay! The price is currently up at over $110,000 with the reserve not met and around 20 hours to go, this is wee bit on the expensive side. On the other hand, there were only four more of these Impala based and Chevy 350 powered icons ever made with the added bragging rights … Continue reading Bat-mania: Keaton Batmobile on Ebay!
